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A03336
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A sermon preached at Pauls Crosse the third of March, 1610. By Theophilus Higgons. In testimony of his heartie reunion with the Church of England, and humble submission thereunto. Published by command
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Higgons, Theophilus, 1578?-1659.
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1611
(1611)
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STC 13456; ESTC S104096
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44,137
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62
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of vnction The first importeth his Diuinity the second his Humanity The first is taken from the Hebrewes to shew that he is a Sauiour of the Iewes the second from the Greeks to shew that he is a Sauiour also of the Gentiles For though he was sent onely to the Iewes yet hee was not sent only for the Iewes He was sent to them onely pradicatione verbi to call them to repentance by preaching the word of life he was sent for vs all solutione presij to redeeme vs from sin by paying the ransome thereof in the effusion of his bloud Both names are here ioyned together for as each people Iew and Gentile hath the same Sauiour and are both vnited in him so each hath right equally in the same benefits which hee hath purchased for both And though obstinacy become to Israel yet that is vntill the fulnesse of the Gentiles become in and so all Israel shall be saued Rom. 11.25 26. He the Iew that was first shal be last but yet he shal be called in and before the end So much of the words now to the matter No man commeth vnto the Fahher but by the Sonne Iohn 14.6 No blessing commeth from the Father also but by the Sonne and whatsoeuer we aske of the Father in his name he will giue it vnto vs Ioh. 15.16 He is the ladder of Iacob Gen. 28.12 reaching from the earth in his Humanity to heauen in his Diuinity that so by him we may ascend from our earthly habitations below vnto the heauenly places aboue Therefore saith our Apostle Blessed bee God euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which hath blessed vs with all spirituall blessings in heauenly things in Christ As namely the blessings of Election Filiation Redemption in which as in the rest the Father vseth the Sonne howbeit not as an instrumentall meanes but a cooperatiue cause Whatsoeuer things he Father doth the same doth the Sonne also Ioh. 5.19 Yea the same doth the holy Ghost also For though the internall actions of God be proper vnto each person by himselfe yet the externall are common vnto them all To the point The First blessing was of Election The Father chose vs in his Son He chose vs in him before the foundation of the world Ephes 1.4 The Second blessing was of Filiation The Father hath adopted vs in his Sonne so that he was a Son by nature we by grace in him he by generation we by adoption in him The Father hath many sons in one Sonne He the Father hath predestinated vs to be adopted through Iesus Christ vnto himselfe according to the good pleasure of his will Ephes 1.5 The third blessing was of Redemption God the Father was in Christ recontiling the world vnto himselfe 2. Cor. 5 19. Jn regard whereof the Father spake from heauen saying This is my beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3.17 In him and with vs. For if the sacrifice offered vp by Noah which was but of birds and beasts had such efficacic and vertue that God smelled a sauour of rest therein Gen. 8 21. much more did he smell a sauour of rest in the bloudy sacrifice of his onely begotten and dearely beloued Sonne For behold here is a greater then Noah and a greater sacrifice then his His sacrifice yeelded a sauour of rest vnto God by acceptation this by desert his by the mercy of the Father this by merit of the Sonne Now since the whole sum and parts of our saluation are thus comprehended in our Lord Iesus Christ we must not deriue any parcell thereof directly nor indirectly positiuely nor consequently vnto any other Man or Angell but looke alwaies vnto him the author and finisher of our faith Heb. 12.2 If we seeke saluation it is in his name if any gifts of the spirit they are in his vnction if fortitude it is in his dominion if purity it is in his conception if indulgence it is in his natiuity if redemption it is in his passion if absolution it is in his condemnation if remission of the curse it is in his crosse if satisfactiō it is in his sacrifice if purgation it is in his bloud if mortificatiō it is in his graue if newnesse of life it is in his resurrection if immortality it is in his reuiuing if inheritance of heauen it is in his entrance thither if safety it is in his kingdome if secure expectation of the iudgement to come it is in the power of iudging which the Father hath committed vnto him For the Father iudgeth no man but hath committed all iudgement vnto the Sonne Iohn 5.22 Why Because all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father Let vs honour him therefore and the Father ascribing praise and honour and glory and power vnto him that sitteth vpon the throne and vnto the Lambe for euermore Amen Apoc. 5.13 Thus much of the foure particulars in the last verse of my texe It remaineth now that according to my * Pag. 30. designe I reflect vpon the generall doctrine which is contained in the same and so by it I will make a transition vnto my own particular case The consideration whereof hath treated with me to make speciall choice of this text in regard of sundry markeable effects of Gods mercy loue and grace towards me which as I feele comfortably in my selfe so I would impart willingly vnto you The generall doctrine streaming out of the premises concerneth the glory of God which he seeketh and obtaineth in all his works In our glory he aduanceth his owne as our Apostle saith He declareth the riches of his glory vpon the vessels of mercy which hee hath prepared vnto glory Rom. 9.22 Here his glory is shewed in his mercy which sometimes he sheweth in his iustice also but with different effect toward vs. For then he is glorified in vs not of vs he getteth glory we giue it not we are passiue in the one actiue in the other First he is glorified in vs that is to say in our destruction by his iustice I will get me honour saith God vpon Pharaoh and vpon all his host Exod. 14.4 Glorificabor in Pharaoh as the vulgar hath it and neerer vnto the originall I wil be glorified in Pharaoh that is my honour and glory shall be declared eminently in his ruine and fall Fiet voluntas Dei aut à nobis aut de nobis the will of God shall be done vpon vs if not by vs as here you may see in the lamentable submersion subuersion of this puissant and mighty King Secondly he is glorified of vs that is to say in our saluation by his mercy Call vpon me saith God in the day of trouble so I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 50.15 Here is a good harmony concord God deliuereth man Man glorifieth God God is honoured and man is saued Both these glorifications are ioyned together by Moses after he had seene the confusion of Pharaoh and
may behold and hate the turpitude and deformity of sinne from this one effect that it putteth vs in the state of dead men as S. Paul speaketh of the widow liuing in pleasure shee is dead euen while she liueth A spirituall death in a naturall life Thou hast a name saith God vnto the church of Sardis Apocal. 3.1 that thou liuest but thou art dead And so J may say vnto a sinful man it is but a name a shadow of life which thou hast for thogh thy body liue by thy soule yet thy soule liueth not by grace and consequently thou art separated from GOD the author and fountaine of thy life Thus a sinner is farre from God and God is farre from a sinner the first in grace the second in mercy But from whom God is farre in mercy he is neer in iustice for their destruction sleepeth not 2. Pet. 2.3 So much of the second motiue or cause to wit the great loue of God wherewith he loued vs when we were dead in sinne Now ensueth the third and last namely GRACE for so it followeth by grace you are saued Whereof I will intreat as briefly as I can It may be a question why Not before is now turned into Vos Before he said God loued vs to wit Iewes and Gentiles Now he saith You are saued to wit the Gentiles The answere is Though Iewes and Gentiles haue a common right in Christ yet the right of the Iewes was more singular then ours and in order at the least before ours by reason of their priuiledges as I shewed you before Whence it is that our Sauiour himselfe testifieth in this manner I am not sent saue to the lost sheepe of the house of Israel Math. 15.24 Likewise he gaue his commission vnto his disciples Goe not into the way of the Gentiles but goe rather vnto the lost sheepe of the house of Israel Math. 10.5.6 Conformable whereunto is the testimony of Saint Paul vnto the vngratefull Iewes It was necessary that the word of God should first haue been spoken vnto you but seeing you put it from you and iudge your selues vnworthy of eternall life loe wee turne vnto the Gentiles c. Whereupon the Gentiles glorified God and receiued the Gospell with great alacrity of heart that so it might bee verified which the Prophet declared long before Reioice ô barren that didst not beare breake forth into ioy and reioyce thou that didst not trauaile with child for the desolate hath more children then the married wif◠Esay 54.1 Specially therefore the Gentiles were saued by grace But by what grace There is the grace of God toward vs which respecteth vs as the obiects of it there is the grace of God in vs which respecteth vs as the subiects of it So that we are in the first grace the second grace is in vs. It is the first therefore not the second by which we are saued For we are not saued by the grace of God wrought within vs by his Spirit but shewed vnto vs in his Son You are saued by grace that is by the free and voluntary fauour of God the Father in Iesus Christ his Sonne For the grace of which S. Paul doth here speake is referred vnto God euen the Father howsoeuer our translation supplying some words which are not in the originall seemeth to refer it vnto the Son But the matter is not great For this grace is equally in all the persons but originally in the Father exhibitiuely in the Son by whom and in whom the Father hath declared his mercy loue and grace To proceed then We are saued by grace What by grace only We are saued by Christ by faith by hope by grace By all these but in a different manner By Christs death as the only meritorious cause by Faith as the proper instrumentall meanes by Hope Rom. 8.24 as sustaining our expectation of things to come by Grace as mouing God If therefore the question bee as it is properly in this place what was the first motiue of our saluation The answere is The grace of God For as the end of our saluation is his glory so the beginning of it is his grace Our election to life is free our vocation inwardly by the spirit outwardly by the word is free our iustification by the bloud of Christ is free our sanctification by the holy Ghost is free finally our glorification in heauen is free also as Fulgentius obserueth very well Datur ex gratia non solùm iustificatis vita hona sed etiam glorificatis vita aeterna Not only a good life vnto them who are iustified but also eternall life vnto them who are glorified is giuen freely and by the grace of God Not of works lest any man should boast himselfe Ephes 2.9 This is the argument vpon which S. Paul doth spend a great part of his Epistles this is the thing which he doth euery where inforce to wit the grace of God in Iesus Christ O S. Paul S. Paul Vas misercoridiae tuba gratiae the vessell of mercy and the trumpet of grace For in none was the mercy of God more expressed then in thee and in none was his grace more exalted then by thee And this he doth not to destroy actum operis but opinionem meriti not the performance of good works but the opinion of merit thereby and specially the merit of Condignity which the Church of Rome defendeth precisely in this sense to wit that after the first iustification by Christ the second being by works as they teach a man being in state of grace may performe and some doe performe such good works as in their owne worth and proper value deserue eternall life This they call merit of Condignity But this is an indignitie to God a disgrace to his grace and blasphemy against his honour More truely saith our Apostle Non sunt condignae c. the afflictions of this present life are not worthie of the glory which shall bee shewed vnto vs Rom. 8.18 Neither our actions nor our passions can deserue the same And I pray you marke the opposition in this behalfe SVNT they are worthy saith the Church of Rome NON SVNT they are not worthy saith S. Paul Away away with merit let vs establish the grace of God which is more honourable vnto him and more comfortable vnto vs. But J leaue the prosecution heereof and after a brief reflexion vpon that which is already past I will proceed vnto the residue of my text First then concerning the Mercy of God Trust in it Trust in it onely Trust in it euer Trust in it without diffidence for in the mercies of the most High you shall not miscarrie Psalm 21.7 Trust in it onely without any other plea. We doe not present our supplications before thee for our owne righteousnesse but for thy great tender mercies Dan. 9.18 Trust in it euer without wearinesse for his compassions faile not Lam. 3.22 As the oyle did not cease till there