be the forerunner, then are there some to follow after; and not only so, but they which follow, are to go on in the same way, and to attain unto the same place: and if this forerunner be entered for us, then we are they which are to follow and overtake him there; as being of the same nature, members of the same body, branches of the same vine, and therefore he went thither before us as the first-fruits before those that follow, and we hope to follow him as coming late to the same perfection. As therefore God "hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together," (Eph. ii. 5, 6.) by virtue of his resurrection; so hath he also "made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," (Ibid. 6.) by virtue of his ascension. We are already seated there in him,+ and hereafter shall be seated by him; in him already as in our Head, which is the ground of our hope; by him hereafter, as by the cause conferring, when hope shall be swallowed up in fruition. Thirdly, The profession of faith in Christ ascended, is necessary for the exaltation of our affections. "For where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also." (Matt. vi. 21.) “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me," (John xii. 32.) saith our Saviour; and if those words were true of his crucifixion, how powerful ought they to be in reference to his ascension! "When the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven, Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee:" (2 Kings ii. 2.) when Christ is ascended up on high, we must follow him with the wings of our meditations, and with the chariots of our affections. "If we be risen with Christ, we must seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. If we be dead, and our life hid with Christ in God, we must set our affection on There is a double notion of Spoμcos, to this purpose: one of a man sent before to make preparations for others which follow; in which it is well observed by St. Chrysostom : Ὁ δὲ πρόδρομος τινῶν ἐστὶ πρόδρομος, ὥσπερ Ἰωάννης τοῦ Χριστοῦ· καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν ἁπλῶς εἰσῆλθεν, ἀλλ' ὅπου πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν· ὡς καὶ ἡμῶν ὀφειλόντων καταλαβεῖν. Οὐ πολὺ γὰς τοῦ προδρόμου καὶ τῶν ἑπομένων ὀφείλει εἶναι τὸ μέσον· ἐπεὶ οὐδ ̓ ἂν εἴη πρόδρομος· τὸν γὰρ πρόδρομον καὶ τοὺς ἑπομένους ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ χρὴ εἶναι ὁδῷ· καὶ τὸν μὲν ὁδεύειν, τοὺς δὲ ἐπικαταλαμβάνειν. Homil. 11. in Epist. ad Hebræos. Another notion there is among the Greeks of the fruit, which is ripe and come to perfection before the rest, as Isaiah xxviii. 4. Kai isTOL τὸ ἄνθος τὸ ἐκπεσὸν τῆς ἐλπίδος τῆς δόξης, ἐπ ̓ ἄκρου τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ· ὡς πρόδρομος úxo,, tanquam primitiæ, or fructus primogeniti, ficus præcox. Hesychius: Пgóδροσμα, τὰ ἐν τῷ ἄξονι ξύλα, ἢ τὰ προακμά ζοντα σύκα (lege Πρόδρομοι) for they indeed are properly τὰ προακμάζοντα σύκα, μια coces ficus. For so Theophrastus, speak ing particularly weg uns, hath these words: Υπολειπομένης γὰρ πλείονος τῆς τοιαύτης ὑγρότητος, ὅταν ἀὴρ ἐπιγένηται μα λακὸς καὶ ὑγρὸς καὶ θερμὸς, ἐξεκαλέσατο τὸν βλάστησιν· ὅτε δὲ τοῦτο συμβαίνει φανερόν, ὅτι ἐκ τούτου τοῦ μέρους ὁ καρπὸς ἀνίεται, ὅθεν nai ci węółęμos. De Causis Plant. I. v. c. 1. and paulo post: Πάλιν δὲ τοὺς προδρόμους αἱ μὲν φέρουσιν, οἷον, ἥτε Λακονικὴ καὶ Λευ κομφάλιος καὶ ἕτεραι πλείους· αἱ δ ̓ οὐ φέρουσιν. The first-fruits of the early figs were called góp, and the tree which bare them προτερική. Now as this early fruit doth forerun the latter fruit of the same tree, and comes to ripeness and perfection in its kind before the rest; so our Saviour goes before those men of the same nature with him, and they follow in their time to the maturity of the same perfection. † Τῆς κεφαλῆς καθεζομένης καὶ τὸ σῶμα συγ κάθηται· διὰ τοῦτο ἐπήγαγεν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, S. Chrysost. in Epist. ad Ephes. Hom. 4. things above, not on things on the earth." (Col. iii. 1. 3. 2.) Christ is ascended into heaven to teach us, that we are strangers and pilgrims here, as all our fathers were, and that another country belongs unto us: from whence we "as strangers and pilgrims should learn to abstain from fleshly lusts;" (1 Pet. ii. 11.) and not "mind earthly things;" as knowing that we are citizens of heaven, "from whence we look for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus," (Phil. iii. 19, 20.) yea "fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." (Eph. ii. 19.) We should trample upon our sins, and subdue the lusts of the flesh, that our conversation may be correspondent to our Saviour's condition; that where the eyes of the apostles were forced to leave him, thither our thoughts may follow him. Fourthly, The ascension of Christ is a necessary Article of the CREED in respect of those great effects which immediately were to follow it, and did absolutely depend upon it. The blessed apostles had never preached the Gospel, had they not been endued with power from above; but none of that power had they received, if the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner had not descended and the Holy Ghost had not come down, except our Saviour had ascended first. For he himself, when he was to depart from his disciples, grounded the necessity of his departure upon the certainty of this truth, saying, "If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you: but if I depart, I will send him unto you." (John xvi. 7.) Now if all the infallibility of those truths, which we as Christians believe, depend upon the certain information which the apostles had, and those apostles appear to be no way infallible till the cloven tongues had sat upon them, it was first absolutely necessary that the Holy Ghost should so descend. Again, being it was impossible that the Spirit of God in that manner should come down until the Son of God had ascended into heaven; being it was not fit that the second advocate should officiate on earth, till the first advocate had entered upon his office in heaven; therefore in respect of this great work the Son of God must necessarily ascend, and in reference to that necessity we may well be obliged to confess that ascension. Upon these considerations we may easily conclude what every Christian is obliged to confess in those words of our CREED, he ascended into heaven; for thereby he is understood to express thus much: I am fully persuaded, that the onlybegotten and eternal Son of God, after he rose from the dead, did with the same soul and body with which he rose, by a true and local translation convey himself from the earth on which he lived, through all the regions of the air, through all the celestial orbs, until he came unto the heaven of heavens, the most glorious presence of the majesty of God. And thus I believe in Jesus Christ, who ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN. And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. THE second part of the Article containeth two particulars; the session of the Son, and the description of the Father: the first sheweth, that Christ upon his ascension is set down at the right hand of God; the second assureth us that the God, at whose right hand Christ is set down, is the Father Almighty. For the explication of Christ's session, three things will be necessary First, To prove that the promised Messias was to sit at the right hand of God; Secondly. To shew that our Jesus, whom we believe to be the true Messias, is set down at the right hand of God; Thirdly, To find what is the importance of that phrase, and in what propriety of expression it belongs to Christ. That the promised Messias was to sit at the right hand of God, was both pretypified and foretold. Joseph, who was betrayed and sold by his brethren, was an express type of Christ; and though in many things he represented the Messias, yet in none more than in this, that being taken out of the prison he was exalted to the supreme power of Egypt. For thus Pharaoh spake to Joseph," Thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh took off the ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and they cried before him, Bow the knee; and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt." (Gen. xli. 40. 42, 43.) Thus Joseph had the execution of all the regal power committed unto him, all edicts and commands were given out by him, the managing of all affairs was through his hands, only the authority by which he moved remained in Pharaoh still. This was a clear representation of the Son of man, who, by sitting on the right hand of God, obtained power to rule and govern all things both in heaven and earth (especially as the ruler of his house, that is, the Church), with express command that all things both in heaven and earth, and under the earth, should bow down before him: but all this is in the name of the Father; to whom the throne is still reserved, in whom the original authority still remains. And thus the session of the Messias was pretypified. my Lord The same was also expressly foretold, not only in the sense, but in the phrase. "The Lord said unto (saith the prophet David), Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." (Psal. cx. 1.) The Jews have endeavoured to avoid this prophecy, but with no sucsome make the person to whom God speaks to be cess: Ezechias, some Abraham,† some Zorobabel, others David; others the people of Israel:§ and because the prophecy cannot belong to him who made the Psalm, therefore they which attribute the prediction to Abraham, tell us the Psalm was penned by his steward Eliezer: they which expound it of David, say that one of his musicians was the author of it. But first, it is most certain that David was the penman of this Psalm; the title speaks as much, which is, A Psalm of David :'¶ from whence it followeth that the prediction did not belong to him, because it was spoken to his Lord. Nor could it indeed belong to any of the rest, which the Jews imagine, because neither Abraham, nor Ezechias, nor Zorobabel,** could be the Lord of David, much less the people of Israel (to whom some of the Jews referred it), who were not the lords but the subjects of that David. Besides, he which is said to "sit at the right hand of God," is also said to be a "priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech :" (Psal. cx. 4. Heb. v. 6.) but neither Abraham, nor Ezechias, nor any which the Jews have mentioned, was ever any priest of God.++ βίδ, ἢ τῷ Ζοροβάβελ, ἢ τῷ λαῷ ταῦτα ἁρμός To which purpose saith St. Chrysostom, concerning the Jews of his time: Τί γάρ φασιν ἄλλοι πάλιν; ὅτι ὁ παῖς τοῦ Αβραὰμ ταῦτα λέγει περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ. Ibid. p. 320. As for that objection which is made by Aben Ezra, that it is not the Psalm of David, but peuned for and in the honour of David, because the title is as if it were a Psalm for David, not of David: it is by no means to be admitted, because it may not only very well signify a Psalm made by David, but if it do not, there is no title which shews any Psalm to be bis, and some of them we are sure are his. ** Τί οὖν, εἰπέ μοι, Ζοροβάβελ Κύριος του Δαβίδ, καὶ πῶς ἂν ἔχοι λόγον, ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς ἀντὶ μεγάλης τιμῆς κέκληται. S. Chrysost. in Psal. cix. p. 320. + This is the argument which the fathers used against the Jews; as Justin Martyr, in opposition to their pretence of Ezechias : Ἱερεὺς δὲ ὅτι οὔτε γέγονεν Εζεχίας οὔτε ἐστὶν αἰώνιος Ἱερεὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐδὲ ὑμεῖς ἀντειπεῖν τολμήσετε. Dial. cum Tryphone, p. 250. and from him Tertullian : Quod et in ipso hic accedit, Tu es Sacerdos in ævum. Nec sacerdos autem Ezechias, nec in ævum, etsi fuisset. Secundum ordinem, inquit Melchisedech. Quid Ezechias ad Melchisedech Altissimi sacerdotem, et quidem non circumcisum?' Adv. Marcion, l. v. c. 9. and so St. Chrysostom in the words beforementioned. Again, our Saviour urged this Scripture against the Pharisees, "saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? and no man was able to answer him a word." (Matt. xxii. 42-46.) From whence it is evident that the Jews of old, even the Pharisees, the most accurate and skilful amongst them, did interpret this Psalm of the Messias; for if they had conceived the prophecy belonged either to Abraham, or David, or any of the rest since mentioned by the Jews, they might very well, and questionless would have answered our Saviour, that this belonged not to the son of David. It was therefore the general opinion of the Church of the Jews before our Saviour, and of divers Rabbins since his death, that this prediction did concern the kingdom of Christ. And thus the session of the Messias at the right hand of God was not only represented typically, but foretold prophetically: which is our first consideration. Secondly, We affirm that our Jesus, whom we worship as the true Messias, according unto that particular prediction, when he ascended up on high, did sit down at the right hand of God. His ascension was the way to his session, and his session the end of his ascension; as the evangelist expresseth it, "He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God;" (Mark xvi. 19.) or as the apostle, God "raised Christ from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places." (Eph. i. 20.) There could be no such session without an ascension; and "David is not ascended into the heavens; but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly," (Acts ii. 34-36.) let all the blind and wilful Jews be convinced of this truth, that God hath not set at his own right hand, either Abraham or David, either Ezechias or Zorobabel, but "hath made that same Jesus whom they have crucified both Lord and Christ." (Acts ii. 36.) This was an honour never given, never promised, to any man but the Messias: the glorious spirits stand about the throne of God, but never any of them sat down at the right hand of God. "For to which of his angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy As in the Midrash Tillim, Psal. אר" יודן בשר" חמא לעתיר הבה" .36 .xviii מושיב מלך המשיח לימינו שכ' נאם יי' לשדני : R. Joden in the name of Rabbi Chama said, that in the time to come God should place Messias the King at his right hand, as it is written, (Psal. cx. 1.) "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand." So Moses Haddarsan on Gen. xviii. Hereafter God holy and blessed shall set the King Messias on his right hand, as it is written, (Psal. cx.) The Lord said, &c. |