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 MICAH 7.8 Reioice not against me ô mine enemie though I fall I shall rise againe when I shall sit in darkenesse the Lord shall be a light vnto me AT LONDON Imprinted by WILLIAM HALL for William Aspley 1611. GEntle Reader whereas in the former impression by reason of importunate haste of the Worke some few faults escaped and especially page 4. l. 22. in this second thou shalt finde them corrected Farewell A SERMON PREACHED AT PAVLS Crosse the third of March 1610. EPHES. 2. vers 4.5.6.7 4 But God who is rich in mercy through his great loue wherewith he loued vs 5 Euen when we were dead by sinnes hath quickned vs together in Christ by whose grace you are saued 6 And hath raised vs vp together and made vs sit together in the heauenly places in Christ Iesus 7 That he might shew in the ages to come the exceeding riches of his grace through his kindnesse towards vs in Christ Iesus THere is a fourefold condition or estate of Man The first of Innocency the second of Sinne the third of Grace the fourth of Glory The first by creation from God the second by propagation from our Parents the third by regeneration from the Spirit the fourth by reall possession of Heauen Now as the substance of my text leadeth me to entreate peculiarly of the third conditiō or estate which is the state of Grace so the very first word and entrance thereof BVT a discretiue particle directeth me vnto a consideration of our second estate to wit the state of Sinne which the Apostle describeth in this manner 1. And you hath he quickned that were dead in trespasses and sinnes 2. Wherein in times past you walked according to the course of this world and after the Prince that ruleth in the aire euen the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience 3. Among whom we also had our conuersation in times past in the lusts of our flesh in fulfilling the will of the flesh and of the mind were by nature the children of wrath as wel as others It followeth now in my Text But God who is rich in mercy c. This is the connexion and dependency of these wordes Before there was the state of Sin here is the state of Grace the one opposed vnto the other whereby the deformity of the first dignity of the second doth more spectably appeare For in the former we learne what we were by nature corrupted not created nature in the other we learne what we are by grace In the former we behold our owne misery in the second we contemplate the mercy of God In the former we see our captiuity in the second our deliuerance In the former we see our death in sinne in the second our life in Christ Therfore excellently saith our Apostle Where sin abounded there grace abounded much more that as sinne had raigned vnto death so might grace also raigne by righteousnes vnto eternal life through Iesus Christ our Lord Rom. 5 20.21 Thus the state of sinne in time and order is before the state of Grace as the euening was before the morning Gen. 1.5 and the darkenes before the light You were once darkenes but now you are light in the Lord. Ephes 5.8 For some liued without the Law as Gentiles some vnder the Law as Iewes now both are vnder grace But it is one thing to be in grace another thing to be vnder grace Many liue now vnder grace but not in it many liued heretofore in grace but not vnder it For properly to liue in grace is opposed vnto the state of sinne to liue vnder grace is opposed vnto the state of the Law The first is the state of persons who haue grace dwelling in them the second is the state of time wherein grace is offered vnto all Both are ioined heere together in my Text. The state of time we are vnder grace the state of persons wee are in grace so that we are deliuered from the power of the law and of sinne from the condemnation of the first and from the dominion of the second Sin preuaileth not to dominion why we are in grace The Law preuaileth not to condemnation why we are vnder grace And this is the scope of my Text. Wherein there is such amplitude and varietie of matter that plenty it selfe hath made mee poore it being hard to say where and whence I should take the beginning of my discourse as also it is hard to say where I may conclude the same But since the time hath power ouer my thoughts at the least ouer my words and boundeth them within the limits of an houre or two I cannot speake all of a little in my Text as I would therfore I will speake a little of all therein as I may obseruing fiue generall circumstances as they present themselues in order vnto your view The first is the Author of our saluation God or God in Christ For God was in Christ reconciling the world vnto himselfe 2. Cor. 5.19 The second is the causes which mooued God vnto this excellent worke and they are three First Mercy v. 4. not bare mercy but with an addition rich in mercie Secondly Loue and that not a naked loue but with an addition great loue Thirdly Grace iv 5. not simply grace also but with an addition exceeding riches of his grace v. 7. And here with this motiue or cause I will ioine the effect also by grace you are saued The third is the persons or subiect vpon which the benefits are conferred Vs. Wherein you may obserue First the extension of the subiect to wit Iewes and Gentiles both included therein Secondly the condition dead in sinne The fourth is the benefits bestowed vpon vs and they are three First viuification of the spirit Hee hath quickned vs together in Christ vers 5. Secondly resurrection of soule and body He hath raised vs vp together vers 6. Thirdly Session of both in heauen He hath made vs sit together in the heauenly places in Christ Iesus The Fifth and last is the end and finall cause of all this happinesse towards vs and indulgence from God That he might shew in the ages to come the exceeding riches of his grace through his kindnes towards vs in Christ Iesus First of the Author THe Author of our saluation is he that is the author of our creation GOD. Non est qui reficiat nisi qui fecit saith S. Bernard None can make vs good of euill but hee that made vs something of nothing It is he that in my creation dedit me mihi gaue me vnto my selfe by creating me after his owne image It is he that in my Redemption dedit se mihi gaue himselfe vnto me by redeeming mee with his owne bloud But you must vnderstand that this
other the one negatiue he maketh not the wicked innocent the other affirmatiue he visiteth iniquitie Consider secondly the extent of the one and other His mercy extendeth vnto thousands his iudgement vnto three or foure generations Here is mercie and riches of mercie This therefore being so peculiarly annexed vnto the diuine nature the Church for many hundred yeeres harh vsed that excellent Collect O God whose nature and property is euer to haue mercy c. And this bringeth vnto my remembrance the saying of Tullie so much applauded by S. August lib. 9. de Cruit Dei when hee pleaded before Caesar for the life and liberty of Ligarius his friend O Caesar saith he none of thy vertues is more admirable or gracious then thy MERCIE Men come neere vnto God in nothing so much as in sauing the afflicted Thy fortune hath nothing greater then that thou hast power thy nature nothing better then that thou hast will to shew mercie and to saue others So I may say of all Gods proprieties none is more admirable and gracious then his mercy It is not his power it is not his knowledge it is not his wisdome but it is his Mercy wherein we chiefely reioice I should despaire if there were not mercy in him since there is so much iniquity in me But because of sinners hee shall be called mercifull 2. Esdr 8.31 Thus his mercy hath an aduantage by our sinnes to declare and to expresse it selfe For though in him there is an habit if I may so speake of mercy alwaies yet the act of mercy requireth sinne precedent in vs which giueth matter and occasion vnto the same There is a double matter of mercie the one whence it proceedeth the other where it is shewed The first is in God onely the second in vs. The heauens neede not the mercy of God saith August in Psal 32. because there is no misery in them but the earth needeth it and where the misery of man hath abounded there the mercie of God hath abounded much more If therefore I haue committed sinne then I haue fit matter for the declaration of his mercy In this ô Lord thy goodnesse shall be praised if thou be mercifull vnto vs who haue not the substance of good works 2. Esdr 8.36 In truth many haue the shadow not the substance of good works Now though it is an euill cause saith Seneca which requireth mercy yet there is no cause so euill which can despaire of mercy For as I haue the matter of or for mercy in me to wit my sins so if I haue the means to apprehend this mercy which meanes is faith alone the mercy of God shall bee commended through mine iniquity and my owne sinne shall turne to my owne safety All things worke together for the best vnto them that loue God euen to them that are called of his purpose Rom. 8.28 Omnia cooperantur saith S. Augustine all things worke etiam peecata Domine euen our sins also ô Lord. For by sinne we haue experience of our infirmity our infirmity draweth vs vnto humility humility lifteth vs vp vnto God in God euery man hath his quietus est perfect rest and endlesse peace Thus it is true that sinne which naturally and of it selfe worketh damnation may occasionally and by accident worke saluation also but by his power who brought light out of darkenesse and worketh our good out of our own euill I dare not therefore adde this grieuous sin vnto my other sinnes to despaire of mercy For as to commit a sinne it is the death of the soule so to despaire of mercy it is to descend into hell And some feare not to affirme that Iudas sinned more by despaire of mercy then by treason against his Lord. For what is more sacrilegious saith Fulgentius then to deny Gods mercy in forgiuing our sins If he be a skilfull physitian he can cure all our infirmities if a mercifull God hee can forgiue all our sinnes Therefore Dauid Psal 103. exhorteth his owne soule to praise the Lord and again to praise the Lord. Why He forgiueth all thy sinne healeth all thine infirmities If this be so let no man despaire of the physitian and remaine in his sicknes let no man extenuate Gods mercy and pine away in his sinnes For Christ died for sinners Rom. 5.8 And Christ came into the world to saue sinners 1. Tim. 1.15 If I were not a sinner he were not a Sauiour Qualecumque fit ergopeccatum c. Whatsoeuer then thy sinne be God can and will pardon it if thou by despaire doest not close vp his hands and shut vp the gate of indulgency against thy self Finally he concludeth his exhortation out of the prophet Esay 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his wayes and the vnrighteous his owne imaginations and returne vnto the Lord and he will haue mercy vpon him and to our God for he is very ready to forgiue Yea multus ad ignoscendum as he rendreth it neerer vnto the originall text In hoc multo nihil deest in quo est omnipotens misericordia omnipotentia misericors He can pardon for his mercy is omnipotent he will pardon for his omnipotency is mercifull Therefore let no man despaire Thus much of the first motiue or cause to wit the mercy of God And so I come vnto the second which is his LOVE as it followeth here in my Text through his great loue wherwith he loued vs euen when we were dead by or in sins Here is loue the cause of mercy I haue loued thee with an euerlasting loue therefore with mercy haue I drawne thee Ierem. 31.3 The riuer of mercy issueth from the fountaine of loue But of this I haue spoken * Pag. 8. before Now for the Text it selfe you may obserue First that this affection or attribute is comfortable because it is loue specially in God Secondly that this loue is commendable because it is great Thirdly that this greatnes is admirable because it is toward vs. Concerning the First to wit the affection or attribute loue in God the beloued disciple teacheth vs that God is loue 1. Io. 4.8 And so loue is attributed vnto him in the abstract because it is in him not as an accident and by participation but by essence as S. Bernard speaketh diuinely of this other properties in God He loueth as charity he knoweth as truth he fitteth as equity he ruleth as maiesty he gouerneth as the beginning he defendeth as health he worketh as power he reuealeth as light he assisteth as piety All these things the Angels doe yea we also doe but yet in an inferiour manner not by that good which we are or haue in our selues but which we participate of him But it is otherwise in GOD whatsoeuer is attributed vnto him is God himself For he is a simple vncompounded being in whom all things are one So that the variety of his attributes is not from a diuersity of affection in him but of effects vnto vs. But J
were not the seede of Abraham wee had not the seale of the couenant the promises appertained not vnto vs at least according to the letter All which things the Iewes might plead as peculiar vnto themselues alone Therefore S. Paul hauing demanded What is the preferment of the Iew and what is the profit of circumcision answereth Much euery manner of way and chiefly because vnto them were committed the oracles of God Rom. 3.1.2 But since wee Gentiles were not priuiledged by any of these graces but were strangers from the couenant and wholly inthralled into the captiuitie of sinne and Satan heerein the loue of God is more spectable and more commended in vs then in them because hee quickned Vs also when we were dead in sinne So that now we are succeeded into the state nay more into the very name of the Iewes themselues For hee is a Iew who is one within Rom. 2.28 And wee are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit Philip. 3.3 For it is true my brethren that God delighteth not in outward things without an inward affection not in Ceremonies not in Sacraments not in Sacrifice not in his owne People Nay more Christ acknowledgeth not the blessed Virgin to be his Mother if she heare not his word and keepe it Luke 8.21 Whereby he did not reproue her but instruct others in this behalfe It is not therefore succession from worthy persons it is not birth from religious fathers it is not the splendor and dignity of a particular place vpon which wee may securely rest yet these these are things and principall things too wherein the Church of Rome doth so confidently repose And as the literall Babylon Esay 47.8 so she the mysticall Babylon Apocal. 18.7 glorieth in this manner and saith I sit being Queene and am no widow and shall see no mourning Howbeit her destruction is ordained of old the sentence of condemnation is past the writ of execution is gone forth The Kings of the earth shall hate the whore the sometimes Mother Church now become a whore and make her desolate and naked and shall burne her with fire Apoc. 17.16 I come now from the Obiect vs vnto the quality thereof dead in sinnes There is a spirituall death of the soule a temporall of the body an eternall of both I speake not of the two latter they are deaths for sinne not in sinne of which alone my text doth here peculiarly intreat This spirituall death therefore of the soule in sinne is sometimes in Thought onely when we yeeld not consent thereunto For there is first suggestion either externally from Satan or internally from our concupiscence then delectation and finally consent which properly bringeth sin vnto her birth Otherwise S. Bernard asketh in the person of a regenerate man An forte iam non ago illa sed patior si vtique non consentio Mea dixerim peccata non quia facio sed quia sustineo I am rather a patient then an agent in my sinnes c. Sometimes this spirituall death is in Action to wit transient action for there was an immanent action before For a sinne may be actuall in the mind though not acted in the body Sometimes this spirituall sinne is in Habit and custome when sinne is not only inhabitant for so it is in all though not imputed vnto all it remaineth in act not in guilt but regnant in our soules Of which our Apostle speaketh in this maner Let not sinne raigne in your mortall body that you should obey it in the lusts thereof neither giue you your members as weapons of vnrighteousnesse vnto sinne Rom. 6.12 All these deaths of the soule are figured and represented in certaine persons whom our Sauiour raised vp from the death of the body The first in the Centurions daughter Mark 5.40 Her body lay yet in her fathers house and there she was raised vp vnto life The second in the widowes son Luke 7.12 His body was carried forth into the Citie and there he was raised vp vnto life The third in Marthaes brother Iohn 11.39 His body was laid in the graue and there he was raised vp vnto life Now our spirituall death was of the last and worst sort We were dead in the habit and custome of sinne dead in al our faculties and powers Dead in the Will which is the Queene-regent of the soule dead in the Vnderstanding which is her Counsellor dead in the Memory which is her Secretary dead in the Affections which are her messengers and seruants So dead in all that sinne raigned and grace was extinguished in our soules And yet ô Lord didst thou loue vs when wee were dead men Euen thou also who art the God not of the dead but of the liuing He did so Brethren our great sinnes could not euacuate his good purpose He loued vs in his election then by manifestation the first before all time the second in time And thus he was not changed by hauing loue now which he had not euer but we were changed by receiuing grace which we had not before Wherefore God loued vs when we were spiritually dead he loued vs I say in respect of his owne purpose not of our works And now as the Prophet Ieremy spake literally of his owne greefe but typically of Christs Was there euer Dolor sicut dolor meus griefe as my greefe Lam. 1.12 So I may truly say of Gods loue O Lord was there euer Amor sicut amor â—uus loue as thy loue No man hath greater loue then this that he lay downe his life for his friend Iohn 15.13 It is true no man hath greater but thou my Lord hadst greater for thou laidst down thy life for thine enemies Therefore saith S. Paul God setteth out his loue toward vs seeing that while we were yet sinners Christ died for vs. Rom. 5.8 While we were yet sinners dead in sinne and had no means to relieue our selues For if in our restitution vnto life we had preuented God in desire or cooperated with him in act his loue had not bin so set forth as now it is But the truth is we were passiue not actiue in this excellent work and so passiue that there was nothing in vs to concurre with God It was not a slumber and so we were awaked it was not a wound and so we were healed but it was death and so wee were raised vp againe not by any vertue within vs but by an externall power For what motion or actiuity is there in a dead body to raise vp it selfe None Therfore as in his creation A dam was made a liuing soule when God breathed the breath of life into him Gen. 2.7 so in his renouation for he was an old Adam as soone as hee was a new God inspired grace into him and Adam was quickned againe from the death of the soule Whereby as we learne how much we owe vnto God how little vnto our selues in this worke of our restitution vnto the life of grace so we