Sermon
5
Christ Alone
Exalted
By
Tobias Crisp
With explanatory notes by John Gill
Christ’s
Pre-Eminence
“That
in all things he might have the pre-eminence.” Colossians 1:18
This admirable,
sweet, and comfortable apostle of the Gentiles, makes it the master-piece of his
apostleship, to woo and win people unto Christ: “We are the ambassadors of
Christ, beseeching you, in Christ’s stead, to be reconciled unto God:” as in all
the rest of his epistles, so especially in this, and more especially in this 1st
chapter, he shows an excellent faculty he hath this way, in this business of
wooing people to come to Christ: he observes what most effectually takes with
people to beguile their spirits, as he speaks himself, with a kind of craft to
catch their affections; especially, if you observe from the 15th verse of this
chapter, and so on, you shall find, the apostle meets with everything that is
most enamoring and taking with the people. The world is mightily taken with
beauty, with completeness, of person; Oh! saith one, let me have a beautiful
person, it is no matter how poor: if beauty be so taking, then, saith the
apostle, I will present a rare piece indeed to you, in presenting Christ; for
such is the beauty of Christ, that there is no beauty like his; he (saith he) is
“The image of the invisible God;” that is one commendation of his. But, will
some say, so is every man as well as Christ; what rareness is there in Christ in
this regard? It is true, man is after the image of God, but where the apostle
calls him “The image of the invisible God,” he speaks in an eminent manner;
therefore, you shall find him expressing himself more fully, in setting forth
the rare beauty of Christ; “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person,” (Heb. 1:3). He is the image of God to the life, as
I may say; he is so like him, you cannot know one from the other: he hath so the
perfections of God, that there can be nothing more like than he is unto the
Father, expressing the brightness of his glory. But there are some, though they
find beauty, yet that alone will not take; besides that, some men look for
lineage, what stock a person is of: is he come of a good house, of a noble and
royal blood? blood is a great matter, especially with high spirits. Well, if
this will take, then there is no stock like of Christ; he is of the greatest
house in the world; “The firstborn1
(saith the apostle) of every creature:” he comes of that great house, of God
himself. And so doth the creature too, you will say; what rarity is there in
Christ above the creatures? they all come of God.
I answer; But, beloved, the creatures are of, and in the
house of God, as the apostle speaks of Moses, “As servants in the house,” (Heb.
3:5); Christ as a Son; Christ is not only of [a] royal house, but he is born of
[the] first royal house; he is the natural Son of the Father, “This is my
beloved Son;” so that he is of the very blood-royal; (as I may so say with
reverence) and he is not a younger brother in this house neither, for he is the
first-begotten of the house; that is a great matter among persons to marry the
heir of a family; so he is. Nay, more than that, he is the only-begotten of the
house; there is never another in all the family; and that is a great
encouragement, he is “the only-begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth,”
saith the apostle, (John 2:14). So that if men go all the world over, to find a
match in the noblest house, they will never meet with such a one as this of the
Son of God. Thus he commends him. But yet some are ready to say, “Suppose he be
of a noble house, he may be in disgrace, and he may live privately, and have no
authority, nor be able to do any great matters.” If this will do, then the
apostle commends Christ as the rarest, in respect of his power and authority;
“All things were made by him, and for him;” that is, all things in the world are
at his command and beck; they bow unto him, they stoop before him; “At his name
every knee shall bow, both of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth;” everything goes through his hands.
“Yea, but it may be, will some say, he is in disgrace in
court that is a blur upon him.
I answer, No, he is not so great in the country, but he is as
great in the court too; for, as he hath the whole world under his power, so he
hath the great king at his back; he commands in heaven, as he doth upon earth;
there is nothing he can ask of the Father, but it is answered; he never has a
nay; if any come to be suitor to him to put up a petition, he is sure to speed.
But, for all this, he may be but a poor man, though he have
never so great power in court and country; if he be poor, I shall live but
poorly with him; if he were rich, and had abundance of wealth, then there were
some hope, some encouragement to take such an one.
I answer, Christ is not greater in court and country, than he
is rich in treasure; so you shall find in the 19th verse, “It pleased the
Father, that in him all fulness should dwell.” All fulness; all the treasures of
wisdom are hid in him; he hath the whole world to dispose of; therefore silver
and gold are not to be compared unto him.
Yea, but yet there is one thing more; though he hath riches,
yet he may prove a niggard [miser; Ed.], close-fisted, he may keep all to
himself; the party that hath him may be poor enough, for want of contribution.
But, beloved, he is not more rich himself, than he is liberal
to contribute of his treasure, to make those that are his, sharers to the
uttermost of all that he hath. Therefore, in chapter 2:10, (for he follows this
subject all along,) the apostle tells us, not only, in verse 9, “That in him
dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily,” but “You are complete in him who is
the head of the body.” The head, you know, is not a niggard: what fulness the
head hath, it communicates to every part: Christ is a head, and a head of
fulness, the fulness of the Godhead. And, as the head is not sparing, but
disperseth, and scattereth all that is in it, so that every member shall have a
share; and not share merely to keep life and soul together, as we say, but a
share to make a man complete: so, if any persons in the world would devise what
they could desire in such a one to match themselves unto, you shall find that a
creature cannot frame those perfections, in its fancy, which it would enjoy; I
say, men cannot frame any perfections, to come so near the real perfections of
Christ, as a shadow comes near the substance. You have a proverb, that
“Bachelors’ wives, and maids’ children, must be rare creatures;” that is, their
fancy will devise what kind of one they will have, and what kinds of perfections
they desire. Let the fancy devise what kind of perfection it can, to please
sense, Christ shall really out-strip, in perfection, all these fancies, more
than a substance doth out-strip a shadow.”
Now, the apostle, having delivered himself thus fully by way
of wooing unto Christ, he comes to close in the words of the text; and so
declares the end and purpose for which he sets out Christ in so many
excellencies as he did; the end of this was, “That in all things he might have
the pre-eminence;” that he may be taken for the most excellent thing in the
world; that all things may be rejected, rather than he; and he set above
everything in the world. So then, the point in brief is this, in regard of the
rare excellencies, and perfections, and usefulness of Christ, which are
incomparable, he ought to have the pre-eminence in all things. In handling of
which, we shall consider,
First: What the pre-eminence is, which Christ ought to have.
Secondly: Why he should have the pre-eminence in all these;
And then a word or two of application.
First, What is this pre-eminence that Christ should have. I
will not insist upon the word pre-eminence: you all know, to give a person or
thing the pre-eminence, is no more than this, to set up such a person or thing
above all others, and especially for those uses and purposes we have occasion of
them for: I say, to choose such a person before any other, as a person who can
better, and more certainly bring to pass what we desire, than any else can. So
that in brief, to give Christ the pre-eminence, is, to set up Christ above all
things in the world; to choose Christ, rather than anything, for every use and
purpose to make of him: I say, above and before anything whatsoever, as
apprehending him infinitely more able and sufficient unto such purposes than
anything else is.
But more particularly, that we might the better see what the
pre-eminence is, that Christ ought to have; you must know, that there is an
infallible pattern drawn out unto us, according unto which we are to write our
copy. In general, therefore, the pre-eminence we are to give unto Christ, is,
the pre-eminence that the Father hath given unto him before us, and revealed
unto us, that we may, in our way, give the same to him; therefore, we must
consider a while what pre-eminence the Father gives unto Christ. You shall find,
that the Father in many things infinitely sets up Christ above all things in the
world: he chose Christ before all things in the world. For instance: first, the
Father gives Christ the pre-eminence of his affections, his love and his
delight. There, is nothing in the world, the Father loves and delights in, as he
doth in his Son. All the delight the creatures have, from the Father, are but
beams from the sun of righteousness, in the eyes of God. That Christ hath more
abundance of the Father’s love, than any creature in the world hath, I will give
you but one passage or two, for the clearing of it. Look into Proverbs 8:30, 31.
By the way, you must note, first, that wisdom, spoken of in this chapter, is
generally understood by all, to be Christ alone; and that which is indeed
affirmed of wisdom, can be affirmed of none but Christ. Among other particulars,
note these two, to manifest it is Christ, and that he hath that choice affection
of the Father: “I was set up (saith Wisdom here) from everlasting.” I was set up
from everlasting: none was everlasting but the Father to set him up; none could
be everlasting but the Son to be set up. All creatures had their beginning and
being in time. Now, observe the affection of the Father in this; I was set up
from everlasting; it doth properly set forth the nature of pre-eminence. Wisdom
speaks of many things; God did lay the foundations of the earth, made the sea,
and several creatures; but I was set up from everlasting; as much as if he
should say, these have their place in the world, but my place is above them, in
the affection of God. And, that this setting up is meant of God’s affection to
Christ above any creature in the world, mark what he speaks in verse 30, “Then I
was by him, as one brought up with him: I was daily his delight in the habitable
parts of the earth; I was by him as one brought up with him;” the meaning is,
Christ is here considered as the darling of the Father. All the creatures in the
world are brought up by God, in a large sense; but he was brought up with him,
that is to say, he was the very fondling of him. When Abraham had an Isaac,
Isaac must be brought up with Abraham, and Ishmael must be sent abroad; Ishmael
shall have a portion, but shall not be brought up with him. This shows the
difference of affection to one before the other. Bringing up with him as an
argument of affection; “I was brought up with him, I was daily his delight:” He
made the creatures, but Christ was his only delight; that is, he could not look
upon any creature in the world, and delight in it, but this delight he had in
his Son, did swallow up the delight he had in any creature. In brief, the love
and delight of the Father hath such a pre-eminence in the Son, that the truth
is, there is no creature in the world doth actually participate of one jot of
the love of the Father, but by the Son, and for the Son’s sake; as the Son
becomes the channel, or rather the spring, that receives from the ocean of God’s
love. That love the creature participates of, it participates of it by Christ;
you know, when we partake of sweet streams that run in rivers and channels, we
are beholden to the spring for the stream; and what the spring receives, that it
conveys to the channel from the ocean. The heart of God, as I may so speak, is
the ocean, the first (1 John 4:19) rise of all love to the creature; Christ is
the spring that first receives from him, and then through him is all love
diffused to the creature.
You know, that by
nature we are children of wrath, subjects of the hatred and displeasure of God,
being at enmity with God; how do we partake of God again?. “God is in Christ,
(saith the text,) reconciling the world unto himself:” so that this uniting
again to the Father, in the participating of the love of the Father, comes again
in Christ; “You that sometimes were afar off, hath he made nigh by the blood of
Christ:” afar off, in respect of the affection of God, in regard of our sinful
nature; but made nigh, that is, reduced again into the affection of God by the
blood of Christ.2
Here is the pre-eminence of Christ
above the creature, he hath infinitely more of affection; he is the spring and
fountain of that affection that the creature partakes of. Now, then, we are to
give this pre-eminence unto Christ, that reveals, this unto us, that so we may
see the pattern according to which we are to walk, and do likewise. We should,
so make Christ the choicest in our affection; we can never place love and
affection more orderly, than by placing affection according to the pattern God
sets; so far as we affect according to God, and imitate him in affecting, so far
are our affections placed aright: to put the cart before the horse; to affect
things of lower degree, above things that are higher; to give pre-eminence to
things that should come behind, and to bring that behind that should have
pre-eminence, is the disorder of man’s affection; it swerves from the pattern
and example of God himself. So then, Christ hath the pre-eminence over all
persons with us; when he is really promoted and exalted above all creatures in
the world in our affection: “Whom have I in heaven but thee?” saith Asaph; “I
desire nothing in the earth in comparison of thee.” Here is the pre-eminence of
affection given unto Christ, when there is nothing in the world in the affection
comparable unto him. You shall see the like in the Songs 5:9, 10, the church
discoursing about her beloved, the strangers ask her, “What is thy beloved, more
than another beloved?” she answers, “My beloved is the chief of ten thousands.”
Here is the pre-eminence ascribed. When the people of
Secondly, The Father gives Christ this pre-eminence besides;
namely, in a far more enlarged and multiplied proportion of gifts and parts
above all creatures. Christ is the Benjamin of his Father, whose mess is more
than five times as much as all the rest of the brethren. The apostle tells us,
“That God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name,”
(Phil. 2:9); and he hath anointed his Christ, “He hath anointed him with the oil
of gladness above his fellows,” (Heb. 1:9). You shall find, that God promotes
Christ even above angels; Hebrews 1:5 insists mainly upon this point, in how
many respects God exalts Christ above angels; “To which of his angels said he at
any time, thou art my Son, this day have begotten thee?” But, I say, principally
in respect of parts and gifts, you shall find that that which God bestows upon
Christ, is far more than he bestows upon any creature. In John 3:34, it is said,
“God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him;” we receive drop by drop of that
we have; we have it but scanty, to that which Christ hath; he hath received the
Spirit not by measure. The truth is, Christ receives a proportional gift as
head; now a head not only requires to have what should supply itself of spirit;
but such a proportion as is sufficient to supply all the parts, from the head to
the foot; therefore, it must needs have more than the several parts themselves;
we need no more than for our own sustenance. Christ is our head, and therefore
as a head must have the pre-eminence; that is, a larger proportion of gift’s
than others; for others are but to find for themselves, but he is to maintain
himself, and to maintain the whole body too. Thus should we give Christ the
pre-eminence, to which the Father hath exalted him above creatures, giving unto
him more than unto creatures; nay, giving unto creatures all they have by him; I
say, so should we give him the pre-eminence likewise. Whither should a creature
go for water, but unto the spring? whither should the creature go for strength,
but unto the fountain of strength? Is it not a derogation unto Christ, that all
fulness should be in him alone, and we forsake this fountain of fulness to go
unto broken cisterns that will hold no water? Mark it well, as often as ever you
run to any creature in any necessity or exigency, either before you go to
Christ, or instead of going to Christ; so often you rob Christ of that
pre-eminence that God hath given unto him, and you should give unto him. If any
creature in the world seem in your fancy to have a helpfulness, a likelihood of
strength, and of supply; and this likelihood of supply seems more likely than
one from Jesus Christ; so far is the pre-eminence of Christ brought down, and
the creature hath gotten a pre-eminence above him. Look to it, beloved, while
you run to the creature, to the world, for this, and that, and the other thing,
and think it must come this way, or it will never come, Christ is wholly
neglected of you: and you that are of a more spiritual strain, that when you are
under any trial, run to any grace, or temper of spirit in you, or any
qualifications, or any performances you can tender; and look after them, as the
thing that most likely will furnish you with what you want, while you look
faintly and coldly upon Christ, and the freeness of that grace that Christ
brings alone with himself; so long you deny unto Christ the pre-eminence of
those parts and gifts God hath given unto him above other things. If God hath
given unto any creatures more than unto Christ, you might rather have sought
unto them than unto Christ; you might more properly look and wish for supply in
them than in Christ; but if Christ hath more than any creature in the world;
nay, if Christ be made the sole and only fountain of supply, whether for the
spirits or the outward man; then must he have this pre-eminence to be sought
unto rather than anything in the world, for the furnishing of you, and supplying
you with that, that must come from this fountain.
Thirdly, The Father gives Christ this pre-eminence to be the
foundation to bear up all things: the apostle tells us, “Other foundation can no
man lay, than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” (1 Cor. 3:11); and in
speaking of Christ, “As the brightness of the Father,” (Heb. 1:2), he saith
also, “That he doth uphold all things by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3): God
then gives, to Christ this pre-eminence to be the foundation. The creature
therefore robs Christ of his pre-eminence, when Christ must not be the
foundation to bear up all things, but other foundations shall be laid; as if
there were a firmer or securer bottom to bear up than Christ himself. In Isaiah
38:16, you shall see what pre-eminence the Father gives unto Christ as the
foundation; “Behold, (saith he,) I lay in Sion for a foundation, stone, a tried
stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation.” St. Peter hath an addition
hereunto, in 1 Peter 2:4, 5, “An elect, precious stone, a living stone, unto
whom coming, ye as lively stones are built up a spiritual house.” Mark what
pre-eminence he hath given to Christ, to be such a kind of foundation to uphold
all things.
To give a touch of these things: first, he is a stone, the
firmest bottom in the world, for the security of that which is laid upon it from
sinking: give Christ this pre-eminence too. Beloved, look unto him, and consider
him as a stone, an immoveable rock; such a rock as you may sit down with this
confidence; that though heaven and earth shake and come together, whatsoever is
laid upon him shall never totter.
He is a “tried stone,” saith the text;
that is, more than barely a stone. You know what pre-eminence those medicines
have, that have probatum est
over-written; that is an approved medicine, and, upon trial, found to be good.
You know what pre-eminence that armor of proof hath, when a musket is discharged
upon it, and the bullet pierceth it not; this is of pre-eminence above others.
Christ is “a tried stone;” there is a probatum est
written over the head of this stone; he was tried by the Father, he is tried by
believers, he is tried by his enemies; and a
probatum est is written over his head, that he is a
stone with a witness, (Heb. 10:l4. Zech. 4:7). Tried by the Father, first, in
his secret council; he found that nothing in the world could stand under that
business which was to be done; he was tried by him on earth; “he made the
iniquities of us all to meet on him,” (Isa. 53:6), and yet they could not make
his back to break; here he was tried, he made him a butt for all his wrath, the
whole quiver of his envenomed arrows; yet he stood to it: he was tried by
believers; they have put him to it to the utmost: he is tried by his very
enemies, who find him a grindstone to grind them to powder; bulwark of security
for all such whom they oppose.
He is not only a tried stone, but “a
precious tried stone,” saith the apostle, that is more: he gives him this
pre-eminence, to be a precious stone. You know, when the Holy Ghost sets forth
the glory of the church in the Revelations, under the name and title of such and
such precious stones, of which the foundation, the gates, and the walls were
made, it is set forth in way of excellency, that they are precious stones; here,
I say, is pre-eminence, that Christ is a precious stone, as well as a tried
stone; precious to God, nothing so delectable as what he doth; precious to
believers, precious in respect of beauty (no beauty like his); precious in
respect of his value; nothing of worth comparable to him; “the fruit of the body
for the sin of the soul, thousands of rams, and ten thousand rivers of oil,”
come not near in value to the ransom of the soul; but Christ hath ransomed it,
and is raised from the grave. All the creatures in the world, gathered up
together, could never make up a sum to buy out the soul: therefore he is
precious, precious in value and worth: all receipts in the world spend out their
virtue, and are dry things, to the virtue and excellency of Christ: such is the
virtue that is found in Christ, that let him but come and lay his mouth to the
foot, where the thorn is, he draws out the thorn; nay, he lays his mouth to the
plague-sore, (Num. 21:8, 9; John 3:14,15) of the soul, and he sucks out the
venom; it is true, he drinks his own bane; for the present, it costs him his
life: but he sucks out the poison (1 Cor. 15:56), from the person that makes use
of him. There are many precious stones, they say, that are of admirable virtue,
but yet none is compared unto Christ. He is “a sure foundation,” saith the
prophet, that is more; not only precious, but sure; so sure, that lay what load
you can lay upon the back of Christ, he stoops not; and, therefore, he was
excellently typified by those brazen pillars in Solomon’s temple; they were made
of brass, on purpose to show their strength, whereon the whole weight of the
porch of the temple lay. Christ hath this pre-eminence given unto him of the
Father, that although an infinite weight were to be imposed upon him, yet he
should go away with all. And in this regard, Sampson was a type of him, who;
being barred up in the city among the Philistines, takes the gates of the city,
and carries them up into a mountain, and there lays them: he is so “sure a
foundation,” that lay the load of all the sins you ever committed; lay the load
of all the sins of all the people that shall be saved by him, yet he stoops not;
these break him not, he will carry them away as easily as Samson the gates: add
to that, the load of all your duties and performances, and businesses in the
world; lay all upon Christ, he will do all for you. But, must not we do them? ye
will say. Yea, he will do them for you, and in you: first, he will do them for
you, namely, in fulfilling righteousness in his own person, which he presents to
his Father, as that righteousness whereby believers shall be justified before
the Father. As he doth all for
them, so he doth all righteousness in
them. Your duties are as the duty you do to a deceased friend; you think it is
the last duty you shall do for him, to carry him to the grave; though you may
have bearers, you shall go under the corpse, but the bearers shall have all the
weight upon their shoulders, so that you go easy, in respect of the assistance
of the bearers: all the duties we have to do, may seem weighty; this is a hard
saying, and that is a hard saying, who can obey it? But, know, that the Lord
Christ is such a pillar, such a bearer, to take all the weight of duties upon
his back, that he carries the burthen; and so carries it, that you shall go but
as the friend of the corpse, the burthen shall be off from your shoulders. In
all duties God calls for of any person, the strength of Christ is made perfect
in the weakness of him that is to do them. Christ takes not men simply from
doing, but he takes away the heaviness and the task. We look upon duties as a
yoke and burden; but mark what Christ saith, “Take my yoke, for it is easy; and
my burden, for it is light.” How can this be, that it should be a yoke, and yet
easy; a burden, and yet light? It is a yoke and burden in itself, to any person
that carries all himself, without Christ; but easy and light when Christ bears
the weight of it. Again, add to this, He is so sure
a foundation, that, besides duties; lay all your
burdens upon him, his back is broad enough to sustain all; the burden of your
spirits, the burden of your outward man, all the burdens of the church in
general, while she is under the greatest calamities: Christ, I say, is
a sure foundation to bear all
these; to bear the burden of all the cares of all the people of God; “Cast your
care upon him, for he cares for you,” saith the apostle. Finally, he is
a sure foundation; commit all
your comforts unto Christ, he will uphold all your comforts, he will renew them
and enlarge them.
Besides, he is an elect stone, singled out by God himself,
for this very office, in respect of his excellency and usefulness, to have the
pre-eminence. And as he is elected unto it; this imports, it is God’s own act
that Christ should have such a pre-eminence, to be the foundation. Besides, as
it is the act of God, so there is a certainty that God himself must be drawn
dry, before Christ shall, or be left any jot unable to do that which is imposed
upon him: look, therefore, what God himself, in heaven, is able to do, as he is
God: all this is Christ made able to do, by him that sends him about this
employment: so that he must be spent, before Christ shall be dry. If a father
hath a child, that he prizes as his own life, a slave in the galleys, he will
send the ransom of his son to the galleys; he will spend all that ever he hath,
rather than his son shall not be redeemed. There is no wise man [that] sends a
servant about any employment in the world, but he furnishes him thoroughly to
dispatch that business about which he sends him: it is a vain thing for a master
to send a servant for five pounds worth of anything, and not give him so much
money. Doth God send Christ into the world to redeem sinners, to sustain the
burden of sins, and not furnish him to do the work he sends him about? He might
as well have kept him at home, if he did not furnish him thoroughly, that he
might dispatch it.
Finally, He hath such a pre-eminence, as to be a
living-stone, and such a living-stone, as makes all stones living that come near
him. Here is the pre-eminence Christ hath; of the loadstone, you observe, all
iron or steel that comes near it, it draws all to it, and communicates, of its
own virtue, to the iron it draws: this is: most like to Christ; Christ is such a
loadstone, that he draws many after him; and, as he draws them after him, so he
communicates his own virtue to them: so that now, as he is a living-stone, he
communicates life to them, though they were dead in sin: and not only so, but he
communicates a power to them, to make other things lively. You have an
observation, when once a knife is touched with a loadstone, it will draw
another: it is most certain Christ hath this virtue to draw souls to himself,
and when he draws them, they partaking of life from him, he gives unto them to
be instruments of life unto others— “When thou art converted (saith Christ to
Peter), strengthen thy brethren.” Now, seeing Christ hath all this pre-eminence
given unto him by the Father, to be such a foundation to bear up all things, let
us give him this pre-eminence to lay all upon him, and not upon anything else
whatsoever; and so far as we do lay all upon “this stone, this tried stone, this
precious corner stone, this sure foundation, this elect corner stone, this
living-stone;” so far as we will venture all upon him, we so far give him the
pre-eminence: but, if he will be setting buttresses to the house that is built
upon a rock, what is this but a disparagement to the foundation? If the
foundation be firm and good, wherefore then served buttresses? It is apparent
the house will sink, when it cannot stand alone without them: so far as you set
up any props unto Christ the foundation, that is to bear up all by himself, so
far you disparage Christ; so far you bring him down, and give him not the
pre-eminence. I see the time steals away. There are many particulars, wherein I
should show you how you may give the pre-eminence unto Christ. But I must
hasten.
Consider, briefly,
Why should Christ have the pre-eminence? Why should not other things sit
cheek-by-jole with him?3
I answer, Because it is the good will
and pleasure of the Father he should have the pre-eminence. What is the reason
Joseph must be the chief man in
Secondly, Christ must have the pre-eminence above all other
things in the world, as he is born unto it; he is heir of all things. You know,
it is the right of the heir to have the inheritance, or, a double portion above
his brethren; Christ, therefore, being the heir of the world, the first begotten
of the Father; nay, the only Son; it starts with nature, he should have the
pre-eminence above a younger brother.
Thirdly, Christ hath bought this pre-eminence; he hath paid
for it to the uttermost value of it. He that buyeth a lordship, it is fit he
should be lord of the manor; it is not fit any inferior tenant should be above
him, as long as he hath purchased and given a price for it: Christ hath
purchased this pre-eminence, and he paid the Father the uttermost farthing; “He
beheld the travail of his soul, and was satisfied” with it; and therefore he
ought to have it.
Fourthly, Christ ought to have the pre-eminence of all
things, in that he alone is able to manage this pre-eminence. You know there are
many favorites in states sometimes, that have the doing of all businesses of
state, in respect of the favor of the prince; but the state comes to ruin, and
they also, if they be not able to manage the state. If any creature in the world
should have the pre-eminence given to him to manage all affairs in the world,
but Christ himself; certainly, it would prove to the world, as the poet feigned
it did by the son of Phoebus, that went about to drive the chariot of the sun:
Phoebus could manage the same in order; but Phaeton, a novice, a stripling, an
ignorant fellow, comes in; he steps up to rule the sun, and the whole world is
set on fire: I say, it would be so at least with the world, if any creature
should have the pre-eminence to manage the affairs of it. Look to the wisest man
in the world, and most able to manage the affairs of the world; yet he hath so
many irons in the fire, some of them burn for want of looking to; therefore,
Christ should have the pre-eminence, because he can go through stitch with
whatever business he undertakes.
Fifthly, Christ should have the pre-eminence in all things,
because he hath best deserved it at our hands: we usually honor those people to
whom we are most bound; according to the kindness received, so is our exalting
of the person. Now, what creature in the world comes near to Christ in loving
kindness and desert at our hands? Where had we been, had not Christ slept in
between us and the Father to make peace with the Father for us? Oh! what a
fearful account should we have come unto at the great tribunal of the Lord, had
not Christ before hand cancelled all that God could charge us withal, and
blotted out our transgressions, and presented us without spot or wrinkle, or any
such thing in the sight of God; “In him you live, move, and have your being;” by
him you have access to the throne of grace, through a new and living way; all
you have, and all that you are, all that you hope for hereafter, come only from
this fountain, this Christ, who hath purchased all of the Father for you. If any
creature in the world can do these things for you, let the creature be exalted
above him; but if he leave all the creatures of the world behind, and out-strip
them, good reason there is, according to his desert, he should have the
pre-eminence. The apostle, considering the infinite desert of Christ to be
exalted by men, breaks out into this vehement expression, “If any man love not
the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed with a great curse, (1 Cor. 16:22),
so deserves (John 21:17) this Christ at the hands of man.
Now for application of it: is it Christ’s due to have the
pre-eminence? then bring down everything that exalts itself above Christ; rear
and set up the thrown down and dejected Christ in you; you that have exalted the
world, and made it your god, bring down, this idol, grind it to the dust, set up
the Lord Christ; if you will have anything in the world, let Christ hear of it.
When men would have anything of a king, they never go to the scullion in the
kitchen; but to the favorite, by whom the king hath declared he will deliver
things. When the people came to Pharaoh, he sends them to Joseph, as, Joseph
said, he would do; so, I say to you, would you have anything of God, go to
Christ, go by Christ to him. If you come in any other name in the world, if God
answers you in that you would have, he answers you with a curse; “This is my
beloved Son, hear him;” as he with direct you, so you shall speed: if Christ
say, your sins are forgiven, they shall be forgiven; if Christ will make a deed
of gift to you; of liberty from bondage, of grace, or of glory; if Christ hath
once past the deed, the Father will underwrite to it and subscribe it: “If the
Son make you free, then are you free indeed:” for “of his fulness we do receive
grace for grace.” In John 17:2, it is said, “The Father hath given to him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life.” As you will have these
things, go to Christ; if you go anywhere else in the world, but to Christ, you
shall go without; they are to be had nowhere else. God hath given him the
pre-eminence; he must rule all, he must determine, and the Father will yield;
“The Father hath given all judgment to the Son, and he himself will judge no
man. The government is laid upon his shoulders:” therefore you must go where God
sends you, if you will speed for anything of him.
Learn of Christ more, let Christ be the Alpha and Omega; in
all things, begin in Christ, end in Christ; do all by Christ, get all by Christ.
But must not we serve in duty, will you say?
I answer, ye must serve in duty and obedience, but look not
that that duty should bring anything; it is Christ brings everything you get;
you get nothing by duties: assure yourselves, while you look to get by that you
do, you will but get a knock; because of so much sinfulness in the duty; but if
you will have any good, you must get it by Christ: your duties you perform, are
that wherein you are to walk in the world, and before the world, that you may be
profitable to men; but as for getting anything, assure yourselves, while your
labor to get by duties, you provoke God, as much as lies in you, to punish you
for such presumption, if not for the filthiness of the things you perform.
And as you must bring everything down that exalts itself
above Christ; so you must set Christ above everything; know, this will be “the
great condemnation, that light,” that is Christ, “is come into the world, and
men love darkness rather than light:” they love to run to other things, and to
forsake the light; this will be the condemnation. So far as Christ is slighted,
and other things promoted above him, so far you take away the great end for
which Christ was sent into the world, which was, “That he might have the
pre-eminence in all things.”
Footnotes:
1
He is the first parent, or
bringer forth of every creature into being, as the word will bear to be
rendered.
2
This must be
understood, as the Doctor explains it, of the open participation and enjoyment
of the love of God, and not of the secret love of God, and the cause and origin
of it; which is his own sovereign will, and not the blood of Christ.
3
Side by side, or in equality with
him.
