LXXII.

14.

1. Our Lord is the Saviour of all men, as having SERM. effected that Almighty God (who upon great provocations was justly displeased and angry with man, who had averted his face, and withdrawn his favour from mankind, whom our apostasy and rebellion had rendered a stranger and an enemy to us) hath deposed his wrath toward mankind, hath conceived a kind affection to it, doth cast a favourable aspect upon it; being thoroughly reconciled and made a friend thereto by our Saviour's mediation. This Matt. iii. is my beloved Son, ev evdóknσa, in whom I have 17. xii. 18. been well pleased, was the attestation given from God to our Lord; the meaning whereof in regard to men the holy choir of angels did interpret, when after the gladsome report of his birth, (that great Luke ii. 10, joy, which should be to all people,) they sang, Glory be to God on high, on earth peace, good-will toward men. Which St. Paul further declareth, when he saith, that by him evdóknσe, God pleased to Col. i. 20. Eph. i. 10. reconcile unto himself all things, upon earth, and in heaven; and when he saith, That God was in 2 Cor. v. 19. Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their sins. And, When we were enemies, Rom. v. 10. saith he again, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son: When we were enemies, that implies God antecedently to any man's conversion to have been appeased, and become favourably disposed toward all men, or toward those whom St. Paul speaketh unto, as men; so the reason of the case doth import, and so the analogy which St. Paul immediately after propounds between the results of Adam's transgression and our Saviour's obedience (as to provocation and reconciliation, to condemnation and absolution, to the intents of bringing death

SERM. and life upon all men) doth enforce. Whence it is, LXXII. that God declareth himself now to bear an universal

good-will to mankind, that he doth earnestly desire

the welfare of all men, and is displeased with the 1 Tim. ii. 4. ruin of any man; that he would have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, because there is one Mediator between God and 2 Pet. iii. 9. man; that he would not have any perish, but that all should come to repentance; this he affirms, yea

Heb. vi. 16,

18.

Ezek.

(for the confirmation of our faith and our consolation therein) he in the evangelical prophet swears it, As xxxiii. II. I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. So far toward our salvation is done, God meets us half way; he is reconciled unto us, it remains only that we be reconciled to him; 2 Cor. v. 20. that we hearken to the embassy from him: Be reconciled to God.

2. Jesus is the Saviour of all men, by satisfying the divine justice, and repairing God's honour in their behalf. The disloyal and ingrateful behaviour of man had so wronged, so endamaged, so dishonoured God, (had so abused the goodness, disparaged the wisdom, slighted the power, impeached and slurred the authority of his Creator, had so prejudiced all the rights and interests of God,) that by the divine wisdom it was thought fit, that he should not be restored into a capacity of mercy and favour, without a signal compensation made, and an exemplary punishment undergone, whereby the right of God should conspicuously be asserted, his love of goodness and dislike of wickedness should be remarkably demonstrated, and every creature in hea

b Λοιπὸν δὲ οἱ ἄνθρωποι οὐκέτι κατὰ τὰ ἴδια πάθη μένουσιν, ἁμαρτωλοὶ

d

ven and earth should be solemnly admonished of its SERM. duty; of the reverence and obedience it owes to the LXXII. great Creator, of the heinous guilt and horrible mischief it incurs by offending him. Such a compensation man was nowise able to make, or fit to undergo such a punishment: our Saviour therefore, out of infinite pity and charity, did undertake both; by a Phil. ii. 7. voluntary condescension putting himself into the low and weak state of man; subjecting himself unto that law which man was obliged unto, and suffering the pains which man had deserved. This he was pleased to do in man's behalf, and in our stead; and God was pleased to accept it as so done. His incarnation (or exinanition of himself, as St. Paul calleth it) was an act of that high duty and goodness, that it in virtue surpassed all the obedience which all creatures were able to render; that it yielded God more satisfaction and more honour than the joint endeavours of all the world could confer. His with so intense charity and cheerfulness fulfill- Vide Cyrill. in Eph. ing all righteousness did far more please God than Conc. p. all our most exact obedience could have done; his 133; 4enduring bitter pains and disgraces (considering the infinite dignity of his person, his near relation and dearness to God, his perfect innocence and rectitude, yea his immense charity, contentedness, and patience) more than countervailed the punishment due to the sins of all men. Such a payment was καὶ νεκροί. ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ λόγου δύναμιν ἀναστάντες ἀθάνατοι καὶ ἄφBaptos ȧcì diapérovov. Athan. in Arian. Orat. iv. 485.

- Τότε γὰρ καὶ θάνατος, καὶ κατάρα ἐλύετο, καὶ δαίμονες κατησχύνοντο καὶ ἐδειγματίζοντο θριαμβευομένοι, καὶ τὸ χειρόγραφον τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τῷ σtavρã πрoonλcũтo, &c. Chrys. in Johan. i. 14.

ὁ Ἡ ἔνσαρκος παρουσία τοῦ σωτῆρος θανάτου λύτρον καὶ κτίσεως πάσης owτnpía yeyover. Athan. ad Adelph. Ep.

καιώσῃ τὴν

σιν, &c.

SERM. more than served to discharge all our debts, (it LXXII. served to purchase an overplus of graces and blessEph. v. 2. ings;) so rich a price was more than sufficient to Heb. x. 10. ransom all the world from captivity; so goodly, so

ix. 12.

pure, so sweet, so precious a sacrifice might wor1 Pet. i. 19. thily expiate and atone all the guilts of men.

XCV.

Now if we inquire what our Saviour did redeem, the consideration of what he paid may, as St. Austin Aug. in Ps. tells, help to inform us; Quæritis quid emerit? Videte quid dederit, et invenite quid emerit. Do ye seek, saith he, what he bought? See what he gave, and find what he bought. However, that as the value and sufficiency of our Lord's performances, so the design and effect thereof did reach so far in regard to man; that his charity was no less extensive than his performance was complete, for our John i. 29. good, the holy scripture teaches us. For, He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the John vi. 51.world, saith the Baptist. And, The bread, saith he,

which I give is my flesh, which I will give for the 1 John ii. 2. life of the world. And, He is a propitiation, saith St. John, for our sins; and not only for our sins, 1 Tim. ii. but for the sins of the whole world. And, He is the Mediator of God and man, who gave himself (avrí

5.

xviii. 14.

iii. 17.

λνтρov vπèρ пáνтWV) a ransom, in the stead, and for all Heb. ii. 9. men, saith St. Paul. And, He tasted death for every John xi. 50. one, saith the author to the Hebrews. And, He was that one Man, who, as it was expedient, did die 2 Cor. v. 19. for the whole nation of men. And, God was in him, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing John iii. 17. their sins. And, He came into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might by

• Μὴ θαυμάζῃς εἰ κόσμος ὅλος ἐλυτρώθη· οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἄνθρωπος ψιλός, ἀλλ' υἱὸς Θεοῦ μονογενής, ὁ ὑπεραποθνήσκων, &c, Cyrill. Cat. 13.

LXXII.

him be saved, (or freed from condemnation.) And, SERM. As by the offence of one man judgment came upon all men to condemnation, so by the righteousness Rom. v. 18. of one, mercy came upon all to justification of life. The end we see of our Saviour's performances was, that he might wipe off the guilt of sin from all mankind', that he might reverse the condemnation passed thereupon, and that he might remove the punishment due thereto; or that, absolving the first man's sin, he might take it away from the whole race, as St. Athanasius speaks.

23, 24.

iv. 5.

21.

All men have sinned, and come short (or are Rom. iii. destitute) of the glory of God; being justified 23, freely by his grace, by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Christ hath redeemed us from the Gal. iii. 13. curse of the law, being made a curse for us. He was born under the law, that he might redeem those which were under the law. He that knew 2 Cor. v. no sin was made sin, (was punished and dealt with 11. as a sinner,) that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, (that we might be capable of being esteemed and dealt with as righteous by God upon his account.) So that the result is, divine justice being fully satisfied, and the honour of God fully repaired, (in regard to all sins past and future,) the mouth of vengeance being stopped, the claims of death and hell being evacuated, that general sentence of condemnation (passed upon all the sons of Adam) is suspended, death ceases to reign by any just power, or inevitable necessity; (it is, as St. Paul 2 Tim. i. saith, abolished or abrogated as to any lawful right, Gal. iii. 10, or necessary force it hath ;) the rigour and severity Rom. x. 5.

τἽνα ἐκείνου λύων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἀπὸ παντὸς αὐτὴν ἄρῃ τοῦ γένους. Athan. in pass.

IO.