in him, and by faith in him only, and in his name we shall be saved f. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost. I believe that Jesus Christ was not begotten of a man, nor born by natural means, but that a divine power from God, God's Holy Spirit, did overshadow the virgin-mother of Christ, and made her, in a wonderful manner, to conceive Jesus in her womb; and by this his admirable manner of being conceived, he was the Son of God alone, and no man was his father g. Born of the Virgin Mary. Though God was his Father, and he begat him by the power of the Holy Ghost, and caused him miraculously to begin in the womb of his mother, yet from her he also derived his human nature, and by his mother he was of the family of king David, and called the Son of Man, his mother being a holy person, not chosen to this great honour for her wealth or beauty, but by the good will of God, and because she was of a rare exemplar modesty and humility: and she received the honour of being a mother to the Son of God, and ever a virgin, and all generations shall call her blessed h. Suffered under Pontius Pilate. After that Jesus passed through the state of infancy and childhood, being subject to his parents, and working in an humble trade to serve his own and his mother's needs, he grew to the state of a man, he began to preach at the age of thirty years, and having, for about three years and a half, preached the Gospel, and taught us his Father's will, having spoken the Gospel of his kingdom, and revealed to us the secrets of eternal life, and resurrection of the dead, regeneration, and renewing by the Holy Spirit, perfect remission of sins, and eternal judgment: at last, that he might reconcile the world to his Father, he became a sacrifice for all our f Matt. xxviii. 18. 6, 14, 15. 1 Pet. i. 21. Acts, ii. 36. Psal. ii. 6, 7, &c. 1 Cor. viii. 6. Heb. i. Luke, i. 35. Gal. iv. 4. Luke, i. 32. h Luke, i. 26, &c. Matt. i. 18. Luke, i. 45, 48, Matt. i. 25. sins, and suffered himself to be taken by the malicious Jews, and put to a painful and shameful death; they being envious at him for the number of his disciples, and the reputation of his person, the innocence of his life, the mightiness of his miracles, and the power of his doctrine: and this death he suffered, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea. Was crucified. Jesus Christ being taken by the rulers of the Jews, bound, and derided, buffeted and spit upon, accused weakly, and persecuted violently: at last, wanting matter and pretences to condemn him, they asked him of his person and office; and because he affirmed that great truth, which all the world of good men longed for, that he was the Messias, and designed to sit at the right hand of the Majesty on high, they resolved to call it blasphemy, and delivered him over to Pilate, and by importunity and threats, forced him, against his conscience, to give him up to be scourged, and then to be crucified. The soldiers, therefore, mocking him with a robe and a reed, and pressing a crown of thorns upon his head, led him to the place of his death; compelling him to bear his cross, to which they presently nailed him; on which for three hours he hanged in extreme torture, being a sad spectacle of the most afflicted and the most innocent person of the whole world . Dead. When the holy Jesus was wearied with tortures, and he knew all things were now fulfilled, and his Father's wrath appeased towards mankind: his Father, pitying his innocent Son groaning under such intolerable miseries, hastened his death; and Jesus, commending his Spirit into the hands of his Father, cried with a loud voice, bowed his head, and died and by his death sealed all the doctrines and revelations which he first taught the world, and then confirmed by his blood he was consecrated our merciful High Priest, and by a feeling of our miseries and temptations, became able to help them that are tempted: and for these his sufferings, was i Luke, ii. 51, 52. and iii. 23. John, iii. 4, &c. Acts, xiii. 39. Matt. xxv. 31, 32. Luke, xxii. 63. John, xviii. 4, 12, &c. Matt. xxvi. Matt. xxvii. Mark, xv. Luke, xxiii, John, xix. exalted to the highest throne, and seat of the right hand of God: and hath shown, that to heaven there is no surer way than suffering for his name; and hath taught us willingly to suffer for his sake, what himself hath already suffered for ours: he reconciled us to God by his death, led us to God, drew us to himself, redeemed us from all iniquity, purchased us for his Father, and for ever made us his servants and redeemed ones, that we being dead unto sin, might live unto God and this death being so highly beneficial to us, he hath appointed means to apply to us, and to represent to God for us in the holy sacrament of his last supper. And upon all these considerations, that cross which was a smart and shame to our Lord, is honour to us, and as it turned to his glory, so also to our spiritual advantages'. And buried. That he might suffer every thing of human nature, he was, by the care of his friends and disciples, by the leave of Pilate, taken from the cross, and embalmed (as the manner of the Jews was to bury), and wrapt in linen, and buried in a new grave, hewn out of a rock; and this was the last and lowest step of his humiliation m. He descended into hell. That is, he went down into the lower parts of the earth, or (as himself called it) "into the heart of the earth;" by which phrase the Scripture understands the state of separation, or of souls severed from their bodies: by this his descending to the land of darkness, where all things are forgotten, he sanctified the state of death and separation, that none of his servants might ever after fear the jaws of death and hell; whither he went, not to suffer torment (because he finished all that upon the cross), but to triumph over the gates of hell, to verify his death, and the event of his sufferings, and to break the iron bars of those lower 1 John, xix. John, xviii. 37. Phil. ii. 8. vii. 25. and ix. 12. and ii. 17, 18. and iv. 5. Col. i. 20. Isaiah, liii. 10. Heb. Luke, xxiii. 46. John, x. 17, 18. Tit. ii. 14, xii. 32. and xi. 51. Eph. ii. 13, 14. Heb. ii. 10. Col. i. 21, 22. John, vi. 51. 1 Pet. ii. 24. and iv. 13. 2 Tim. ii. 11. Gal. vi. 14. Matt. xxvii. 57, &c. prisons, that they may open and shut hereafter only at his command ". The third day he rose again from the dead. After our Lord Jesus had abode in the grave, the remaining part of the day of his passion, and all the next day,—early in the morning upon the third day, by the power of God, he was raised from death and hell, to light and life, never to return to death any more, and is become the first-born from the dead, the first-fruits of them that slept; and although hẹ was put to death in the flesh, yet now being quickened in the spirit, he lives for ever; and as we all die in Adam, so in Christ we all shall be made alive; but every man in his own order: Christ is the first; and we, if we follow him in the regeneration, shall also follow him in the resurrection o. He ascended into heaven. When our dearest Lord was risen from the grave, he conversed with his disciples for forty days together, often showing himself alive by infallible proofs, and once to five hundred of his disciples, at one appearing: having spoken to them fully concerning the affairs of the kingdom, and the promise of the Father; leaving them some few things in charge for the present, he solemnly gave them his blessing, and in the presence of his apostles, was taken up into heaven by a bright cloud, and the ministry of angels, being gone before us to prepare a place for us above all heavens, in the presence of his Father, and at the foot of the throne of God; from which glorious presence we cannot be kept by the change of death, and the powers of the grave, nor the depth of hell, nor the height of heaven, but Christ being lifted up, shall draw all his servants unto him P. And sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. I believe that Jesus Christ sitteth in heaven above all Acts, ii. 27. Acts, i. 9. P Luke, xxiv. 45, 50. Matt. xxi. 1 Cor. xv, 6, 45, 47. Heb. vi. 19. Rom. viii. 38, 39. 1 John, iii. 2. principalities and powers, being exalted above every name that is named in heaven and earth, that is, above every creature above and below, all things being put under his feet he is always in the presence of his Father, interceding for us, and governs all things in heaven and earth, that he may defend his church, and adorn her with his Spirit, and procure and effect her eternal salvation: there he sits and reigns as King, and intercedes as our High Priest; he is a Minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which God made and not man, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Captain of our confession, the great Apostle of our religion, the great Bishop of our souls, the Head of the church, and the Lord of heaven and earth: and, therefore, to him we are to pay divine worship, service, and obedience, and we must believe in him, and in God by him, and rely entirely on the mercies of God through Jesus Christ 9. From thence he shall come In the clouds, shining, and adorned with the glory of his Father, attended by millions of bright angels, with the voice of an archangel, and a shout of all the heavenly army, the trump of God; and every eye shall see him; and they that pierced his hands and his feet shall behold his majesty, his terror and his glory; and all the families of the earth shall tremble at his presence; and the powers of heaven shall be shaken, and the whole earth and sea shall be broken in pieces and confusion: for then he shall come to put an end to this world, and To judge the quick and dead. “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgment to the Son ;" and at this day of judgment, the Lord Jesus shall sit in the air in a glorious throne; and the angels having gathered together God's elect from the four corners of the world, and all the kindreds of the earth being brought before the judgment-seat, the records of their conscience shall be laid open; that is, all that ever they thought, or 4 Phil. ii. 8, 9, i. 4. Heb. xii. 2. John, xiv. 3. 2 Tim. iv. 1. &c. Eph. i. 17, 22. Rom. viii. 34. Heb. vii. 27. 2 Pet. 1 Pet. i. 20, 21. Heb. i. 6. Matt. xxiv. 30. 1 Thess. iv. 16. Rev. i. 7. Acts, i. 11. |