certain information which the Apoftles had, and thofe Apostles appear to be no way infallible till the cloven tongues had fat upon them, it was first abfolutely neceffary that the Holy Ghost should fo defcend. Again, being it was impoffible that the Spirit of God in that manner fhould come down, until the Son of God had afcended into Heaven; being it was not fit that the second Advocate should officiate on Earth, till the firft Advocate had entered upon his office in Heaven; therefore in respect of this great work the Son of God must neceffarily afcend, and in reference to that neceffity we may well be obliged to confefs that Afcenfion.

Upon these confiderations we may easily conclude what every Christian is obliged to confefs in those words of our Creed, He afcended into Heaven: for thereby he is understood to exprefs thus much, I am fully perfuaded, that the Only-begotten and Eternal Son of God, after he rofe from the dead, did with the fame Soul and Body with which he rofe, by a true and local tranflation 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 prefence of the Majefty of God. And thus I believe in Jefus Chrift who afcended into Heaven.

And fitteth on the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty.

TH

HIS fecond part of the Article containeth two particulars; the Seffion of the Son, and the defcription of the Father: The first fheweth that Chrift upon his Afcenfion is fet down at the right band of God; the fecond affureth us that the God, at whofe Right Hand Chrift is fet down, is the Father Almighty.

For

For the explication of Chrift's Seffion, three things will be neceffary: first, to prove that the promised Meffias was to fit at the Right Hand of God; fecondly, to fhew that our Jefus, whom we believe to be the true Meffias, is fet down at the Right Hand of God; thirdly, to find what is the impor tance of that phrase, and in what propriety of expreffion it belongs to Christ.

That the promised Meffias was to fit at the Right Hand of God, was both pre-typified and foretold. Jofeph, who was betrayed and fold by his Brethren, was an exprefs type of Chrift; and though in many things he represented the Meffias, yet in none more than in this, that being taken out of the prison he was exalted to the fupreme power of Egypt. For Gen. xli. thus Pharaoh spake to Joseph, Thou shalt be over my 40, 42, 43. house, and according to thy word fhall 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 fofeph's band, and arrayed him in veftures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck: and he made him to ride in the fecond chariot which he had, and they cried before him, Bow the knee; and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. Thus Jofeph 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 ftill. This was a clear reprefentation of the Son of Man, who, by his fitting on the Right Hand of God, obtained power to rule and govern all things both in Heaven and Earth, (efpecially as the ruler of his houfe, that is, the Church) with express command that all things both in Hea ven and Earth, and under the Earth, fhould bow down before him: but all this in the name of the Father; to whom the Throne is ftill referved, in whom the original authority still remains. And thus the Seffion of the Meffias was pre-typified.

The

The fame was also exprefsly foretold, not only in the sense, but in the phrafe. The Lord faid unto my Píal, ca. 1. Lord, faith the Prophet David, Sit thou at my right band until I make thine enemies thy footftool. The Jews. have endeavoured to avoid this Prophecy, but with no fuccefs: fome make the Perfon to whom God fpeaks to be (k) Ezechias, fome (1) Abraham, fome Zerubbabel, others (m) David; others (1) the People of Ifrael: and because the Prophecy cannot belong to him who made the Pfalm, therefore they which attribute the prediction to Abraham, tell us the Pfalm was penned by his (o) fteward Eliezer: they which expound it of David, fay that one of his musicians was author of it.

But firft it is most certain that David was the pennan of this Pfalm; the title fpeaks as much, which is, (p) A Pfalm 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 reft which the Jews imagine, because neither Abraham nor Ezechias, nor (q) Zerubbabel could be the Lord of David, much less the People of Ifrael (to whom fome of the Jews referred it) who were not the Lords but the fubjects of that David. Befides, he which is faid to fit at the right band of God, is also said to be a Prieft for ever after the order of Melchifedech: but neither Abraham, nor Ezechias, nor any which the Jews have mentioned was ever any (r) prieft of God. Again, our Saviour urged this Scripture against the Pharifces, faying, Mitt. xxii. What think ye of Chrift? whofe Son is he? They fay 42. unto him, The Son of David. He faith unto them, How then doth David in fpirit call him Lord, faying, The Lord faid unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footftool? If David then call bim Lord, how is he his Son? and no man was able to anfwer him a word. From whence it is evident that the Jews of old, even the Pharifees, the moft accurate and skilful amongst them, did interpret this

Pfalm

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Pfalm of the Meffias; for if they had conceived the prophecy belonged either to Abraham, or David, or any of the reft fince mentioned by the Jews, they might very well, and queftionlefs would have anfwered 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 (s) Rabbins fince his death, that this prediction did concern the kingdom of Chrift. And thus the Seffion of the Meffias at the Right Hand of God was not only reprefented typically, but foretold prophetically: which is our firft confideration.

Secondly, We affirm that our Jefus, whom we worship as the true Meffias, according unto that particular prediction, when he afcended up on high, did fit down at the Right Hand of God. His Afcenfion was the way to his Seffion, and his Seffion the end of his Afcenfion; as the Evangelift expreffeth it, Mark xvi. He was received up into heaven, and fat on the right hand of God; or as the Apoftle, God raised Chrift from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. There could be no fuch Seffion Acts ii. 34, without an Afcenfion; and David is not afcended into 35, 36. the heavens, but he faith himself, The Lord faid unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footftool. Therefore let all the house of Ifrael know affuredly, let all the blind and wilful Jews be convinced of this truth, that God hath not fet at his own Right Hand, either Abraham or David, either Ezechias or Zerubbabel, but hath made that fame fefus whom they have crucified both Lord and Chrift.

This was an honour never given, never promised to any Man but the Meffias: the glorious Spirits ftand about the Throne of God, but never any of Heb. i. 13. them fat down at the Right Hand of God. For to

which of his Angels faid he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? But

Christ

Chrift was fo affured of this honour, that before the Council of the Chief Priefts and the Elders of the People, when he forefaw his Death contrived, and his Crofs prepared, even then he expreffed the confidence of his expectation, faying, Hereafter fhall the Luke xxii. Son of Man fit on the right hand of the power of God. And thus our Jefus, whom we worship as the true promised Meffias, is gone into heaven, and is on the 1 Pet, iii, right hand of God. Which was our fecond confideration.

Our next enquiry is, What may be the utmost importance of that phrafe, and how it is applicable unto Chrift. The phrafe confifts of two parts, and both to be taken metaphorically: firft, therefore, we must consider what is the right hand of God, in the language of the Scriptures; fecondly, what it is to fit down at that Right Hand. God being a Spirit can have no material or corporeal parts; and confequently as he hath no body, fo in a proper fenfe can he have no (t) Hands at all: but because God is pleased to defcend to our capacity, and not only to speak by the mouths of Men, but also after the manner of Men, he exprefleth that which is in him by fome analogy with that which belongs to us. The Hands of Man are those organical parts which are most (u) active, and executive of our power; by thofe the ftrength of our Body is expreffed, and most of our natural and artificial actions are performed by them. From whence the Power of God, and the exertion or execution of that Power is fignified by the Hand of God. Moreover being by a general cuftom of the World the Right Hand is more used than the Left, and by that general use acquireth a greater firmitude and ftrength, therefore the right band of God fignifieth the exceeding great and infinite Power of God.

69,

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Again, because the most honourable place amongst Men is the Right Hand, (as when Bathsheba went unto King Solomon, he fat down on his throne, and 1 Kings ii, VOL. I.

E e

caufed

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