is finite his innocent theirs sinfull his obedience is applicable and beneficiall vnto others if theirs be memorable for imitation it is well it can neuer be applicable for expiation The obedience that maketh others righteous must be complete absolute continuall so was neuer any humane obedience it is interrupted often it hath manie intermissions therefore I maruaile what security they can finde that follow after it I should be the more affraid for such a helpe without it I haue nothing to feare but my cause alone if I should repose my selfe vpon this broken staffe I must feare it and my cause too Refugium nostrum non est tale The obedience of Iesus Christ is perfect obedience full of securitie voyde of feare He is the person then by whose obedience many are made righteous His obedience was admirable and it sutes well with his person which is wonderfull singular and not to be matched Dauids sonne and Dauids Lord the sonne of Mary and the father of eternitie the sonne of man and the sonne of God Who being in the forme of God thought it no robberie to be equall with God but he made himselfe of no reputation and tooke vpon him the forme of a seruant and was made like vnto men and was found in shape as a man He humbled himselfe and became obedient vnto the death euen the death of the Crosse Two entyre perfect natures combined glewed together in one person Emmanuel God and man This makes another doubt whether his obedience was performed in the humanitie or in the diuinitie or in both together I answer that he was obedient in the humane nature alone not in the diuine If the diuine nature could haue yeelded obedience had not his incarnation beene superfluous If the diuinitie had bene obedient it must haue died too for he was obedient vnto death and is it possible to haue a mortall diuinitie There was no congruitie that one nature should vndertake the obedience imposed on the other behold a confusion for the Godhead to entertaine and handle the businesse of the manhood Therefore his obedience was performed in the humanitie Destroy this Temple and I will raise it vp in three dayes This hee spake of his bodie So S. Peter saith That he bare our sinnes in his body and our Text teacheth vs That it was the obedience of one man It was not then diminutio diuinitatis no abatement of his godhead but depositio corporis an humiliation of his bodie alone And that had not auayled without an vnion and concurrence of both natures in one person Tolerare passiones nunquid posset nisi homo Mori crucifigi humiliari posset nisi homo S. Aug. in Psal 90. If he had bene God onely he could not haue bene obedient if man onely he had not beene sufficient But when the same person that was creator of all things became obedient and obedient vnto death what is it that his obedience could not worke the death of all the creatures of the world is not equiualent it is preponderant and preferred in the ballance of Gods iustice Tam potens fuit ad priuilegium tam diues ad pretium vt si vniuersitas captiuorum in redemptorem suum crederet nullum tyrānica vincula retinerent The obedience that the sonne of God performed in his humanity was so potent for priuiledge so rich for price that if the whole multitude of captiues had beliefe in him none could remaine in the tyrants bands But of the validitie more hereafter now we are confined to the affaires of his person If man had not ouercome the enemie hee had not beene ouercome iustly Againe if God had not giuen saluation we could not hold it firmely vana salus hominis And if this man had not bene God he should not haue beene partaker of incorruptibilitie and then hee could not transmit it to vs hunc hominem Deus non vt alios regebat sed gerebat This man as Saint Augustine saith excellently had a prerogatiue aboue all others God did not gouerne him barely as he doth euery one else but he bare him too His manhood was inseperably conioyned and supported in the vnitie of the godhead so as death it selfe that seuereth man and wife asunder that deuideth bodie and soule and parteth all things else could yet make no seperation here but then euen in the death of his bodie the diuinitie did adhaere and was coupled with it in the graue otherwise it had followed the condition of all flesh else seene corruption and abid in death Seeing then that there is so firme an vnion of the Godhead and manhood in one person the obedience which the manhood performed may rightly be valued at an infinite rate as if it had beene done by the Deitie it selfe If Dauid thought he did Saul wrong and was touched at the heart when he had cut off the lap of Sauls garment and yet the garment was not himselfe but neere vnto him then may the Godhead much more iustly reckon euerie thing done vnto himselfe that was done vnto this flesh which cannot be seuered from himselfe Concerning the manner of his obedience manie things are of profitable consideration which I suppose you haue heard lately but none more memorable then the alacritie and cheerefulnesse of his obedience which I purpose to insist on Desiderio desideraui I haue earnestly desired to eate this Passeouer with you Hee was sure that he himselfe should then also be made a Passeouer and be offered vp as the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world hee knew then that he should suffer a most painefull and ignominious death which any man else would haue desired as earnestly to auoide as he did vehemently long to vndertake Not that death was any way pleasing to him in it selfe but to declare his affectionate readinesse in obedience to his father and his great thirst of our saluation You may reade of the like profession that he maketh in the Psalmes Sacrifice and meate offering thou wouldest not haue but hast fitted me vp a body Then said I lo I come In the beginning of the booke it is written of me that I should fulfill thy will O my God I am content to doe it In which words I may commend three things to your obseruation 1. That God neuer appointed the sacrifices of the Olde Testament for ransomes of sinne but for figures of the true Sacrifice 2. That the obedience of his Sonne is a full propitiation to appease his wrath 3. That the Sonne offereth that sweete smelling sacrifice of his obedience with all cheerefulnesse In this point the Metaphor wherewith the Sonne of God doth expresse the voluntarie addiction of his obedience is emphaticall and worthy of reuiew Aures perforasti mihi He alludeth to the ciuill ordinance Exod. 21. If a seruant care not for his freedome and say I loue my Maister and will not goe out of his
his credulous temeritie in beleeuing the Serpents promise Irridens vtique Deus non approbans hoc dixit quod putabas te similem fore nostri ergo quia voluisti esse quod non eras desijsti esse quod eras S. Ambr. de Elia ieiun For God speakes it by derision not by allowance Thou haddest a conceit to become like vnto vs therefore in affecting to be more then thou wast indeede thou hast lost euen that excellencie which thou didst receiue When S. Paul writ to Timothie that Adam was not deceiued but the woman he meant not to extenuate the mans offence or to exempt him from the fraude or imposture of the Deuill but to shew whether sexe was more credulous infirme and like to be seduced Herein he concludeth the woman to be the weaker vessell and forbiddeth her to teach in the Church because that when she was yet perfect and sound the Serpent began with her as the easier to be deceiued Saint Paul did thinke that the Serpent would resort to his former instrument and so hold the ministrie in lesse regard for the weakenesse of their sexe Behold S. Pauls proiect in the words to Timothy Here in this Text another matter is in hand No question here whether the man or woman was first in preuarication were that the point the Deuill in his pride would haue the start of both Hee was a sinner from the beginning The propagation of sinne is the thing now considerable and what person it was that brought a succession of sinne throughout all mankinde And as well here as in all other places the Scripture attributeth the matter of propagation not to women but to men Therefore we will dismisse Eue if you please as our Sauiour Christ dismissed the woman taken in adultery not for an innocent but because she is not here impleaded Adam is the man which the Apostle now chargeth Wherewith is it For gluttonie or intemperance of his throate No there was affluence of all other delicacies in Paradise to satisfie such desires Is it for his curiositie and vaine loue of knowledge Neyther For although that be a fault to be wise beyond sobrietie yet could it not haue brought so heauie a sequele What was it then He affected that fruite Non vescendi libidine sed animositate exultandi not in any lingering desire to the meate but in a kind of lustinesse to breake out What greater lustinesse then that this childe of the earth was not content to be like vnto God vnlesse he might also be equall with him Quid huic deerat quem misericordia custodiebat docebat veritas regebat iustitia pax fouebat Sed heu ad multam insipientiam perniciem sibi ac posteris suis descendit de Hierusalem in Hiericho Siquidem incidit in latrones à quibus legitur despoliatus Annon despoliatus qui domino veniente nudum se esse conqueritur nec vero poterat revestiri vel ablata sibi recipere vestimenta nisi Christus amitteret sua O venenum quod non curatur nisi veneno Saint Paul heere frameth two inditements against him the one for disobedience the other for transmitting his sinne By one mans disobedience many were made sinners Obserue the right valuation and true qualitie of Adam his trespasse that it was not any light errour but an absolute prevarication of both Tables a disobedience to God and a grieuance vnto men Primordialis lex est data in paradiso quasi matrix omnium praeceptorum That first Law saith Tertullian giuen in Paradise was the summe and comprehension of the whole diuine Law that was published afterwards Therefore in the breach thereof all manner of offences are conteyned But if the fruite were good why should it not be tasted if it were euill what did it in paradise The fruit certainely was good but obedience better because the whole law is performed with obedience Indeed nothing is more expedient for the soule then obedience And if it behooue euery soule to obey the seruant his Lord the childe his father the wife her husband all to obey the Prince how much importeth it man to obey God for rebellion is as execrable as witchcraft which is a manifest reuolt and disauowing of God and he hateth nothing more then the disobeence of his commaundements That now is this one mans case As by the disobedience of one man c. If I should here discusse where his disobedience began first whether in his minde or in his body some happily would say as S. Augustine writeth That it were more worth our labour to seeke remedie to get out then to argue how or by what part we came first into the pit of sinne And that God willing shall not bee omitted in the fit place but reserued to another time In the meane while Quod si quisquam dicat If any man thinke saith S. Augustine that the bodie is the first cause of all sinnes certainely he hath not well considered the whole nature of mankind Indeed the bodie that is corruptible aggrauateth the soule and the earthy mansion keepeth downe the minde Vt vidi vt perij vt me malus abstulit error Oftentimes our right eyes offend vs because they roll they wander they are regenerate but in part and death entreth into the soule 〈◊〉 that window Si oculus tuus fuerit nequam totum corpus est tenebrosum If thine eye be euill thy whole body is full of darkenesse Shut that window in the name of God make a couenant with it turne it away that it behold not vanitie Giue not your members as weapons of vnrighteousnesse vnto sinne Surgit ira noli dare irae linguam ad maledicendum noli dare manum aut pedem ad feriendum non surgeret ista ira irration abilis nisi peccatum esset interius sed tolle illi regnū non habeat arma vnde contra te pugnet discet etiam non surgere cum arma non coeperit inuenire S. Aug. Tract in Ioh. 41. The bodily members are the instruments they are not the originall of sinne Will you haue a proofe thereof in the matter we handle It is not to be doubted but this one man and the woman too had seene the Tree of the knowledge of good and euill formerly without any lust or desire to taste the fruite the faith that he then bare to God was a guardian to his heart and that to all his senses But after his heart had once reuolted from faith and loyaltie all the outward senses were corrupted with it instantly Euerie man is tempted when hee is drawne away by his owne Concupiscence and is entised Then when lust hath conceiued it bringeth forth the act of sinne but the beginning is from the mind within Out of the heart come euill thoughts murthers adulteries fornications thefts false testimonies slanders Non potest fieri saith S. Augustine vt habeat mala facta qui habet cogitationes bonas
praestaret corporibus obedientium praecepto suo foelicissimum quoddam temperamentum certi status donec in melius conuerterentur non morte hominis qua corpus ab anima deseritur sed beata commutatione ab animali ad spiritualem vitam For if God by the space of fourtie yeares gaue a continuance to the Israelites attire without any hinderance or wearing them out how much more would he haue giuen a most happie temperature of a certaine perpetuitie to their bodies obeying his commaundement vntill they had receiued a better chaunge not by death wherein the soule doth forsake the bodie but by a blessed chaunge from the naturall to the spirituall life This is the receiued opinion of Diuines That if Adam had not sinned then assoone as the number of Saints had beene accomplished men should haue been translated from earth to heauen from their naturall life to the spiritual life as we reade of Henoch and Elias Immortalitie is the last beame and as it were the close of Adams brightnesse to giue continuance to the rest of his endowments and by them also immortalitie it selfe is illustrated For if it be seuered from the rest then is it a detriment and no benefite as in the wicked and damned immortalitie shall be no radiant beame of light but a perpetuitie of darkenesse This is one point to be considered in Adams immortalitie Another that his immortalitie must not be measured by the extent thereof for so you shall finde it but short narrow diarie an immortalitie peraduenture of one dayes continuance But looke vpon it in the foundation and there you may finde matter to proue it For if Adam after hee was made infirme and bruised by sinne adiudged to death and expulsed out of Paradise did yet for all that linger in the earth after it was cursed too nine hundreth and thirtie yeares Iared nine hundreth sixtie two yeares Methusalem nine hundreth and sixtie nine yeares might they not haue liued more easily so many thousands or millions of yeares in their healthfull Parke if they had persisted with integritie No doubt they might That holy place which cast out sinners would neuer haue admitted death For assurance hereof hee had an infallible pawne and pledge in the Tree of life as a Sacrament that consigned immortalitie to him So he had this complemēt of Gods image because it was in his power not to die Farewell then mortall and immortall Adam immortall from God and mortall by your selfe immortall in creation and mortall in trespasse mortall in acte but immortall in possibilitie and power Now you haue according to the slendernesse of my vnderstanding the whole quadrant of mans perfection the height and depth and length and breadth euen all the dimentions of the image of God squared on one side with absolute authoritie ouer all the creatures on the other side with the perspicacie of knowledge on the third with sinceritie of righteousnesse on the fourth with possession of immortalitie that which way soeuer he be placed you may finde him a perfect and happie man And who could haue desired more I ghesse what you think but so it would not haue bin well I would haue all Praedicatores non argumentatores Magnifiers rather then disputers of Gods workes Peraduenture you wish that these rich iewels might haue beene so fastened to our parents that they should not haue lost them and that man when he had all this honour might haue beene no changling If the creature had receiued this what should the Soueraigne haue reserued for himselfe Immutabilitie is so peculiar to God alone that it cannot be communicated to any other Doth he not say Gloriam meam alteri non dabo I will not giue my glorie to another Doth hee not say Ego Deus non mutor I am God and in me is no change Doth hee not therein plainely let vs vnderstand that all things else must be variable Doth not our Text tell vs that his purpose was to make a man and not a God Was it not sufficient that God made him right I but hee left man power to sinne also True yet in that he sinned the fault was not in God that left him power but in the man himselfe that abused this power and converted it to the vse of sinne which he receiued for the glorie of not sinning Albeit he sinned by meanes of the freedom which he receiued yet did he sinne not because he could but because hee would sinne will you haue that proued When the Deuill and his complices transgressed the holy Angels did not transgresse Why Not because they could not for they had free-will too but because they would not O malum liberum arbitrium quod adhuc incolume parum habuit firmitatis O vnhappie free-will which had so little constancie when it was sound Let vs put the case that God had giuen man such a light as hee could not extinguish What praise what glorie what retribution should he haue expected for doing well if he could not haue done otherwise what then If God made man right and afterward left him in the hand of his owne counsell was it not that his well doing should be the more glorious when hee had power to doe otherwise When the kinde father had giuen one moytie of his goods to an vnthriftie sonne which wasted it by prodigalitie Where was the fault in the father that gaue it or in the sonne that spent it to his ouerthrow Cur ergo non faceret Deus hominem quamvis eum peccaturum praenosceret cum stantem coronaret cadentem ordinaret surgentem adiuvaret semper vbique gloriosus bonitate iustitiâ clementiâ Wherefore then should not God make man although hee had a foreknowledge that the man would sinne when as hee crowned the man standing ordered his fall and did helpe his rising euen God that is alwayes and euerie where glorious in goodnesse righteousnesse and clemencie So let him be acknowledged and praysed in the Church through all generations AMEN FINIS THE MISERY OF MANS FALL ROM 5. VERS 9. As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many also be made righteous THE obedience of Christ is much magnified and very iustly it fayled not in the least tittle it continued to the last period of humane things euen vnto death he preferred it aboue life and was content to lose his life rather then his obedience therefore it was great euery way But how we may reckon so securely of it as if we had performed it our selues or how one mans obedience may serue so many thousand beleeuers euen good consciences sometimes wauer others that haue not beene instructed wonder and certaine scoffe at it as a Paradox For satisfaction of all the Apostle here maketh the matter plaine by a golden comparison of the ruine and restitution of mankind These two being contraries must follow one rule But there is no other course