was in Christ indeede because no man euer had it that was not in him many haue had haue it in abundance by depending wholy vpoÌ„ him The principal point is yet behind coÌ„cerning the life of glory Which though it properly belong to the world to come yet there is one chiefe thing apperteining therunto which is to be had in this world as an entrance to the other The death that insued vpon the breach of that charge * Gen. 2. 17. Thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good euill was the estate of mortalitie to the body and of condemnation both to body and soule Therefore the life that was in Christ must needs affoord vs remedy against both these Let vs take them in their order And first that by death the separation of the soule and body was signified it may euidently appeare as by the words themselues in their proper sense so also by the sentence of the Lord pronounced after the sinne according to the penalty before threatned In a Gen 3. 19. the sweat of thy face shalt thou eate bread till thou returne to the earth for out of it wast thou taken because thou art dust and to dust thou shalt returne Adam indeede liued many hundred yeeres after this sentence but at last the execution of it came b Gen. 5. 5. All the daies that Adam liued were 930. yeeres and he died But this is so well knowne and generally confest that it needs no furder proofe Let vs shew that there is life in Christ to destroy this death Ne ther neede wee goe farre to seeke for that matter Remember c Gâ—n 3. 15. what was threatned the diuell that the seed of the woman should bruse his head d Heb. 2. 14. If the diuell bee subdued who hath the power of death as the Apostle tells vs what shall become of death that is vnder his power The Lord himselfe tells thee by e Heb. 2. 14. his Prophet e Ose 13. 14. where he triumpheth ouer death trampling him vnder his feete O death I will be thy death Oh graue I will bee thy destruction But this was rather a discouragement of death then a destruction Heare f 1 Cor. 15. 54. the Apostle proclaiming the victory after the fight was ended Death is swalowed Verse 55. vp in victory He proceeds to insult ouer him O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory The Verse 56. 27. sting of death is sin and the strength of sinne is the law But thanks be vnto God who hath giue vs victory through I. Chr. Verse 21. 22. our Lord. GiueÌ„ vs victory How doth that appear For since by man came death by man also came the resurrection of the dead For as in AdaÌ„al meÌ„dy so in Christ shal albe made aliue 2. Tim 1. 10. through Christ I say gwho hath abolished death hath brought life immortalitie to light through the Gospell I wish it were so may some men say that death were indeede destoried that we need no longer stand in feare of him But what credit may be giuen to that which is refuted by sense in daily and hoverly experience Did not Aâ—aÌ„ die Are not Abraham Isaak Iacob al the prophets and Patriarchs dead Is not there proofe enough in the scripture that euery man must die h Psal 89. 48. What man liueth and shall not see death The Apostle seconds the Prophet i Heb. 9. 27. It is appointed to men that they shal once die What say you to that great conquerour of death himselfe The two tneeues that were executed with him withstood death longer theÌ„ he did The Souldiers came k Ioh. 19. 32. Ver 33. saith the Euangelist and brake the legges of the first and of the other which was crucified with Iesus But when they came to Iesus and saw that he was dead already they brake not his legges See I pray you the champion that should ouercome death is sooner subdued by death then either of these two ordinarie fellowes It was no wonder though the Iewes vpbraided him when he hung vpon the Crosse He saued others quoth they but he cannot saue himselfe Is it possible l Mat. 27. 42. to beleeue that there was life in him whose death his best friends coÌ„fesse Doth this seeme vnpossible to thee What wilt thou say then if I tell thee of a greater matter Hee ouercame death by dying The same stroke that tooke life from him through him m Heb. 2. 14. slew death himselfe him that had power over death euen the diuell Would you know more particularly how that could bee I may not enter into any large discourse of the point In one word it was thus The sting of death as the Apostle taught vs is sinne By which the diuell preuailed to the destruction of them that had sinned This sting was not onely blunted and rebated but pluckt out and cast away by our Sauiour For his death being a sacrifice for sin tooke sinne quite away n Iob. 1. 29. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world So that now the name of death is more terrible then the thing there is more feare then hurt in it Tell me what it could indanger or indamage thee to haue a snake creepe vpon thee yea if it were into thy bosom so the sting teeth and whatsoeuer els it hath power to hurt withall were first pulled out It might perhaps scarre thee or make thee start as a litle cold water will doe if it be cast vpon a sodaine in thy face but that is all the harme thou couldest haue by it Death then is thus disarmd by our Sauiour Christ but the destructioÌ„ of him is by his resurrection If thou wouldest see death dead indeed look into the graue where Iesus thy sauiour was laid There shewd death the vttermost of his power He thought himselfe sure enough of the victory when he had shut him vp without life in the sepulchre rolled a great stone to the mouth of it and saw a guard of souldiers set to watch him well there hee keeps him in that estate the same day he was crucified all the next and the beginning of the third What ensued Surely if hee had bin put in aliue hee would haue bin dead by that time There is no question then but that wee shall finde him dead in the graue So though his disciples Who the next day after the Iewes Sabboath o Luke 24. 1. Early in the morning came vnto the Sepulchre and brought the odors which they had prepared to embalme his body withall They made no doubt but they should finde him p Mark 16. 1. Mark 15. 47. where they had seene him laid For dead men are no starters Onely their feare was that they should not be able to roule away the stone from the doore of the Sepulchre
hope will make a man try any course that shall be directed him It is a rare thing to find any man so void of hope to liue that he will not take whatsoeuer is offered him to continue life Is the remedy more greeuous then the disease what is easier in the opinion of ordinary men then to belieue Shall I tell you what I conceiue of the matter There are 2 lets that stay vs commonly from the seeking and embracing of this life Either we are too wel coÌ„ceited of our selues or not well enough perswaded of him in whom this life is Would you haue me seeke for life Let them looke after it that lack it I haue life already in my selfe and need not depend vpon any other for it I am rich and increased with goods and haue neede of nothing o Reu. 3. 17. saith the Church of Laodicea and yet indeed as our Sauiour there tells her She was wretched and miserable and poore and blinde and naked This conceipt naturally possesseth all men and where this is rooted and flourisheth there is neither roome for spiritual life to grow nor will to plant it But this because it is so agreeable to the pride of our corrupt nature is the lesse to bee wondred at The other hinderance whereby wee are helde backe from this life is more strange and lesse excuseable There are many that make open profession to all the world that they knowe themselues to be naturally dead and to stand in neede of life to quicken them yea they goe farder and in wordes acknowledge that the life they want is in Christ and yet like those Iewes I spake of ere-while they care not to ioyne themselues to Christ that they may be made partakers thereof This I take to be generally the estate of most of vs that are called Christians Do we not all professe beleefe in Iesus Christ Do we not thereby acknowledge that we are dead in our selues and looke to receiue life from him And yet how few of vs are there that indeed are so perswaded Thinke not much that I make this greeuous coÌ„plaint If we did truely beleue that in heart which we confesse from the teeth outward were it posssible we should be so carelesse where can you find me one amoÌ„gst a greate many that either knowes or cares to knowe how this life is to be come by Doth thy hart leap within thee for ioy as oft as thou hear'st that there is life to be had in Iesus Christ p Gen. 42. 2. When Iacob in a time of famin heard that there was food in Aegypt hee sent his Sâ—nns thither with all speed to buy some How far would they haue gon for life that trauailed into Aegypt for meate Thou hast heard there is life in Christ for â—ll that sitst stil thy house I should say ly'st stil in thy graue and thinkest it enough for thee to haue heard of it Thou doost but deceiue thy owne wretched poore soule What could it haue auailed Iacob that hee heard where there was corne to be bought if hee had not sent his Sonnes to fetch it But perhaps thou mak'st accouÌ„t â—hat thou hast it sure If I should aske thee when or how thou camst by it I doubt me thy answere woulde bee to seeke Go to I will not presse thee so far though well I might For this life we speake of doth not steâ—le into a man while he lies a-sleeping but is followed and sought for before it be obtained But I will only demaÌ„d this one questioÌ„ of thee Hast thou indeed found life in Iesus Christ Oh that it were as â—ruly as it is commonly spoken I will not examin thee vpon any Interrogatories Let thine owne soule tell thee in secret betwixt it and thee whether thy affection to this autor of life bee such as the feeling of so greate a blessing can not possibly chuse but make it He that saith he beleeues there is life in Christ and vseth no meanes to become partaker of it either thinkes he hath no neede thereof or accouÌ„ts it not worth the hauing or saith he knoweth not what deceiuing himself with an empty shadow the substance whereof he neither hath nor careth for What shall I say of him who brags he is possest of life in Christ yet neither honors Christ nor reioyceth in his own happines What else But that his heart beleeues not what his toong auoucheth But I dwel too long in the general Let vs come now to the particulars and first to the life of holynes which is so absolutely from Christ that the Apostle saith it is not himselfe that liueth but Christ that liueth in him Will you heare him speake I through the lawe q Gal. 2. 19. 20. saith S. Paul am dead to the law and that I might liue vnto God I am crucified with Christ Thus I liue yet not I now but Christ liueth in me For the spirit by which wee liue is r Eph. 4. 15. 16. the spirit of Christ resting in him as in the head and spreading himselfe abroad into euery one of the members to giue them their proportion of life and growth This is that which Å¿ Rom. 8. 2. in another place is call'd the spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus and which is there said to haue freed vs from the law of sinne The Iewes bragd they were free by nature because they were Abrahams children t Ioh. 8. 33. 34. But our Sauiour aunsweres them that they were the seruants of sinne because they committed sin and could not be made free indeede but by the sonne Ver. 36. onely This our Baptisme teacheth vs as u Rom 6. 2. 3. 4. the Apostle sheweth at large The summe is that we are buried by Baptisme into the death of Christ that sinne may be slaine Ver. 11. in vs and raised againe by the power of his resurrection that righteousnes may liue and grow in vs. The conclusion is this Make account saith the holy Apostle that yee are dead to sinne but are aliue to God in Iesus Christ our Lord. x Eph. 2. 5. In whom wee were quickened when wee were dead in sinnes For y 1 Cor. 1. 30. Christ Iesus is made vnto vs of God wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption Where are they now who finde themselues so perplexed with the sight and sense of that their naturall corruption Me thinkes I heare the sighes and grones of a poore soule lamentably complaining that shee can finde no ende of her wretchednesse no bottome of her running sore If she heale vp one two breake out for it If she make head against pride couetousnesse setts vpon her behinde her backe While she is busie with all the force she can make to withstand the lusts of the flesh that outwardly assault her her owne thoughts inwardly commit fornication Though shee keepe her hands from murder yet her tongue wounds deepely and deadly with euill speeches To conclude when shee
the other three Euangelists euen to the height of the Godhead and that vnsearchable mystery of the most glorious and blessed Trinitie There is indeede some diuersitie of opinions amongst the Latin Fathers to which of the Euangelists the other 3. beasts Å¿ Ezech. 2. 5 Reuelat. 4. 6. Ezech. 2. 5. Reuel 4. 6. should be seuerally referred but it t Although Irenaeus lib. 3 cap. 11. makes Iohn the Lion and Marke the Eagle is generally agreed vpon that the Eagle belongs to Iohn for the reason aboue named Art thou then desirous ro vnderstand the great high points of diuinitie Cast thy selfe vpon the wings of this Eagle who wil cary thee vp as it were into the bosome of God and acquaint thee with such matters as but by reuelation from God himselfe could neuer possibly haue bin discouered or imagined And that we may the more be rauisht with the loue of this holy Gospell let me put you in minde of that variety the mother of delight which is easie to bee seene therein How sweetly hath our Euangelist tempered and as it were allayed the hard points of profound knowledge with enterlacing of delightfull Histories If at any time he soare aloft that he may seem to be almost out of sight for the height of those admirable mysteries of our Sauiours diuinity he comes down againe ere long and feedes our eyes with making vs see the vse and comfort of those glorious instructions And besides this varietie of matter which shineth in comparing one part of this Gospel with another there is yet a farther consideration to the singular commendation thereof Who is there if hee haue anie sense of Gods mercy in Christ but takes great pleasure to reade one and the same thing diuersly recorded by the other three Euangelists And what meruaile Seeing it is euen in prophane histories a matter of no small vse and delight to haue the memorie renewed and the affection quickned by the varietie of discourse as it vvere by the diuerse cooking of some one daintie kinde of meat But our Euangelist to the diuersitie of handling hath added also great store of newe matter not once touched by any one of the other the LORD hauing reserued for him the perfecting of that knowledge which the rest did beginne and further Manie excellent things are recorded by Saint Mathew Saint Marke S. Luke concerning the Sermons and miracles of our Sauiour yet are there but fewe of these proper to any one of them Only S. Iohn affords vs as in so short a Treatise great plenty of new and vnknowen variety u Piscator in prooem ad Ioan. 10. Sermons fowre miracles and that zealous prayer full of loue and comfort The sermons that I may speake a word or two of euery one of them in particular are these First x Iob. 3. 1. 2. c that kinde dialogue with Nicodemus and those worthy instructions concerning regeneration whereby wee are taught that our naturall estate is fleshly and vncapable of grace and glorie till the spirit of God by the waters of the Scriptures haue bredde in vs a newe and heauenly conception In the second place followeth y Ioh. 4. 7. 8. c. that sweete and comfortable discourse with the Woman of Samaria concerning the water of life which beeing once receiued into the soule turnes into a spring that can neuer bee dryed vp but sends forth continually aboundance of fresh liquor to coole and moysten the heart in all heate of tentations * Ioh. 5. 19. 20 c. The next Chap presents vs with the third Sermon wherein vpon occasion of the stiffe-necked Iewes murmuring against our Sauiour for willing the man whom hee had cured hauing beene thirtie-eight yeares bed-rid to take vp his bedde and walke though it were the Sabbath daie wee haue a glorious assurance of our Lords eternall God-head and equalitie with God his Father But that which exceedes in all heauenly comfort is a Ioh. 6. 26. 27. the fourth Sermon in which our blessed Sauiour as it were thrusts himselfe into our mouthes to bee eaten and drunke giuing vs full assurance that the eating of his flesh and drinking of his bloud that is belieuing in him shall feede vs without hungring or thirsting any more to euerlasting life which he according to his Fathers will and charge shal most certainely bestowe vpon all them that by true faith become one with him The b Ioh. 8. 3. 4. c. fift Sermon affordes vs a worthie example of our Lord and masters wisedom and authoritie to discerne and confound the subtill malice of his wilfull enemies With what diuine iudgement dooth hee looke into the depth of the Pharisies deceite who sought to entrappe him about the woman taken in adulterie With what admirable discretion dooth hee driue them away to their perpetuall shame and dishonour With what a maiestie doth he a little after conuince and reprooue them for their wilfull blindnesse and proude conceit of the knowledge they bragged of but had not Let vs come c Ioh. 10. 1. 2. c. to the sixt of those Sermons which our Euangelist only hath recorded In no place doth our Sauiour more plainly avow himselfe to bee the Messiah where haue wee the like certainty of his care and loue deliuered Hee giues his life for his sheep and casts himselfe into the very iawes of the Wolfe that his mouth might be stopped And to the singular comfort of vs that are not by nature Iews hee tells vs that wee also belong to his sheepfold Into which when wee once are receiued and acknowledged for sheepe no power of sinne Satan or death shall bee able to wring vs out of his hands because the Father with whom he is in nature all one is stronger then all The former sixe Sermons containe especially those benefites whereof wee are made partakers by our Sauiour Christ in this life but d Ioh. 11. 25. 26 c the seauenth expresseth our finall triumph ouer our last and greatest enemie Death himselfe Those helpe both to arme vs to the fight and to encourage and further vs in fighting but this crownes vs after victory If the body shall rise againe to glorie we may truely and safelie challenge Death and saâ—e e 1. Cor. 15. 55 Oh Death where is thy sting oh Graue where is thy victorie For if our bodies bee made immortall where is the power of Death become Who then can faint in a battaile the issue whereof will bee so certaine and happy especially if hee remember what gracious promises he hath from God in f Ioh. 14. 15. 16. the eight Sermon of the continuall assistance of the holy Ghost For howsoeuer those glorious matters principally concerne the Apostles yet hath euery Christian his interest in them according to a certaine proportion The Apostles coulde not erre in anie matter of Doctrine No true Christian shall so erre in matters necessarie to his saluation that hee shall
either were not vnderstood or be not remembred in effect it was this that our Euangelist vndertook the penning of this Gospell partly that hee might finish and perfect the History of our Sauiour Christs dooings sayings and sufferings all the time of his abode heere vpon the earth partlie that hee might confirme the Faithfull in the true Doctrine of his God-head and leaue his Gospell as a preseruatiue against the poyson of blasphemous hereticks So was it intended by him so it is to be vsed by vs that as hee comfortably speaketh x Ioh. 20. 31 1 We may beleeue that Iesus is the Christ the Sonne of God and beleeuing haue life through his Name Novv let vs returne to the diuiding of this Gospell Whereof wee may reasonablie and fitly make these two parts the former Saint Iohns description of â— Ioh. 1. 29 to he end of the Gospell our blessed Sauiour IESVS CHRIST whose Historie hee vndertakes to penne y Ioh. 1. to verse 29 from the beginning of the fift Chapter to the 29. ver of the same the later * The History it selfe in the rest of that Chapter and all the other to the end of the Gospell In the description our Sauiour is set out partly by a Our Sauiour described 1. by â—hings propre to in 2. by the tetimony of Iohn certaine things that properly belong vnto him partly by an outward testimony of Iohn the Baptist The former are b His natures Diuine ver 1. 2 Humane verse 14 either his natures diuine ver 1. 2. humane ver 14. or c His actions of his Godhead His mediatorship 2 his actions His actions proper to his Diuine nature as those of creation ver 3. or common to both as those of mediation verse 4. 5. d Iohns testimony signified ve 6 Exprest ver 15 16. c. Iohn the Baptists testimony is first signified v. 6. Afterwarde exprest verse 15. 16. 19. As for the other verses from the 6. to the 14. and from the 16. to the 29. they containe certaine explications which the Euangelist ads vpon occasions and belong to som one part or other of the former diuisions as in due place shall appeare The History it selfe is partly e The former part of the History from chap 1. 29. to chap. 19. 31. a discourse of such things as IESVS did spake or suffered before his death and to the time of his death from the first Chapter Verse 29. to Chapter 19. Verse thirtie one f The later part from thence to the end and partlie a report of those matters that are to be knowen and beleeued to haue bene done or sayd after his death from Chapter 19. verse 31. to the ende of the Gospell g Irenaeus lib. 2. cap. 39. sed praecipue 1. Chemnitius prolegom in harmon cap. 3. Now the historie it selfe cannot bee better diuided then h Diuision of the history according to the yeres of our Sauiours preaching after his baptisme according to the yeeres of our Sauiour after his baptisme and the beginning of his ministerie Whereunto it may well bee thought the Euangelist himselfe as it were leades vs by the hand because hee dooeth so particularly mention the feast of Passe-ouer from yere to yere The first Passe-ouer after our Sauiors Baptisme is named in i Iohn 2. 13. the second Chapter k Chap. 5. 1. the second in the fift For it shall appeare when I come to expound the place that there is great reason why we should take that feast to bee the Passeouer l Chap. 6. 4. The third we haue in the beginning of the 6. Chap. and that in expresse words m Chap. 13. 1. 2 The fourth and last was as euery man knoweth at the time of his death Chapter 13. So that I thinke it best thus to diuide the whole historie Our Sauiour at his baptisme as we learne out of n Luke 3. 23 Saint Luke was newly entred into the thirtieth yeere of his age and beganne his ministerie with the beginning of that 30. yeere more or lesse o The 30. yere of Christs age the first of his preaâ—hing froÌ„ cha 1. 29. to chap. 4. 1. The first part therfore of this Gospell for the history it selfe begins at the 19. verse of the first Chapter and continues to the beginning of the fourth conteining the 30. yeere of our Sauiours life p The 31 and 2. from thence to chap. 6. 1. There begins the 31. yere and second part of this Gospell which endeth at Chap. 6. q The 32. and 3. to chap. 10. 22 From whence we reckon the third part and 32. yeere to Chap. 10. verse 22. r The 33. and 4. to chap. 19. 31 where the fourth part 33. yere take beginning and end with the life of our Sauiour Chap. 19. 30. But this 33 yere was cut off in the midst according to Å¿ Dan. 9. 27. Daniels prophecie reueald vnto him by the Angel Gabriell that the Messiah in the midst of the 62. week shuld cause the sacrifice the oblation to cease Namely by offring vp the true sacrifice his own body wherof the sacrifices of the law were but shadows could haue no loÌ„ger vse nor place when the body it selfe was sacrificed as the Apostle proueth at large in t Heb. 10. 12. the Epistle to the Hebrewes The things that hapned after our Sauiours death and are to be knowen and beleeued by vs are either his buriall Chap. 19. vers 31. to the end or his Resurrection manifested and prooued diuers wayes Chap. 20. and 21. The particular distributions I reserue to their seuerall places now to the text 1. In the beginning was the word and the word was with Vers 1. 2. God and the word was God The same was in the beginning with God u Cyrill prolog in Ioan. All that come vp out of diuers Shires and Countries to London enter here into one and the same Citie and haue the generall view of it and the places of account therein yet are some more easily and daintily lodg'd and dieted then other admitted to a more particular sight of the principall buildings and goodly ornaments of it yea perhaps made acquainted some what more specially with the estate and gouernement thereof In like manner whosoeuer readeth or hearetlâ— any one of the foure Gospels is vouchsafed the knowledge of the same historie of our Sauiors life death the same doctrine of saluation by him But he that bestowes his time and paines in this Gospell of our Euangelist Saint Iohn is as it were entertained in a more stately and beautifull lodging and admitted to the hearing and vnderstanding of the very secrets both of his nature and office touching his owne Being and our redemption This appeares plainely in the very beginning of the Gospell where the great mysteries of Christian religion are deliuered These two first verses conteine a description of our Sauiours diuine nature
language may suite with their strange and new Religion English eares mislike the manner of their speech as Christian hearts doe the points of their doctrine Wee commonly translate the words for a witnes fitly in regard of the sense and easily for all mens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In testimonium vnderstanding This same came for a witnes that is This man who I said was sent from God came to bee a witness The Euangelists manner of speech is not fully deliuered who according to the custome of the tongue hee writ in saith worde for word he came to testimonie namely to giue testimonie which the Latin also followes though that language doe scarce beare it so well as the Greeke doth To draw into English such kinde of phrases is not to inrich the tongue but to corrupt it Wee haue no way to expresse the Euangelists speech and meaning in English but to say To giue or beare testimonie or witness This was then the office of Iohn Baptist To be a witness Now the vse of witnesses is for the confirmation of some truth or for manifestation of it For where there is no doubt nor question howsoeuer perhaps in forme of Lawe there may bee witnesses required yet indeede there needes none Where there is neede of them there the matter is not plaine in it selfe or at the least not acknowledged to bee true So that the point for which Iohns testimonie is to bee had hath of its owne nature or by the ignorance or peruerseness of men somthing not cleere or not confest What if it haue Could not God haue made it manifest by some testimonie from himselfe without such an extraordinarie course ossending a witnes as it were downe from heauen Yes out of doubt He that made the vnderstanding of man can make man vnderstand what pleaseth him He that framed the heart can perswade and incline it to what himselfe list But all such courses of reuelation from God were as extraordinarie as such a kind of birth and message and both the one and the other little enough in this case as the euent shewed For although the Lord testified of his sonne by his owne voice from heauen and by Iohn vpon earth yet was he scarcely acknowledged by any man As for the work of Gods mighty power in the soules of them that come to beleefe in Christ it was not wanting to any of these Iewes who aduisedly religiously gaue credit to the testimonie of Iohn the Baptist or set themselues to consider of it as they ought to haue done which if they had done it was not possible but they should haue seene both the loue of God in sending them such worthy meanes of instruction and the truth of that which Iohn deliuered by commission from him Doost thou wonder at the blindnes and frowardnes of the Iewes whome the testimony of a man in their owne iudgement not to bee excepted against could not moue to beleeue View thy self in this glasse and consider whether more witnesses acknowledged by thee to be sent from God to speake according to the truth of God be not of as small credit with thee in many points wherein thy obedience is required But of this more anone when wee haue a little better examined of what kinde this testimony of Iohn was That he might beare witnesse of the light The words haue beene all expounded already in the matter there are these two thinges to bee considered what manner of testimony it was that Iohn gaue what it was that he testified A testimony as all men knowe is ordinarily giuen by word of mouth wherein some matter in question is either affirmed or denied and they that giue these testimonies are called witnesses Amongst Christians there is another kinde of witnesses tearmed Martyrs by the Greeke name which is common to all that testifie any thing especially in matters of Law and iudgement The same word is heere vsed to signifie the witnesse that Iohn bare Those whome wee call Martyrs are such as by their death beare witnesse to some truth of God reuealed in his word suffering themselues to bee tormented and murthered rather then they will denie or not confesse a knowne truth of God when they are lawfully demanded of it Such was Stephen and so is hee called by Paul When the bloud of thy Act 22. 20 Martyr Stephen was shed The same title is giuen Reuel 2. 13. to Antipas whome our Sauiour calles his Martyr when Antipas my faithfull Martyr was staine among you For this cause Christ himselfe is named a Martyr from Iesus Christ which is a faithfull Martyr or witnesse and the first begotten of the dead As for Iohn who knowes not that hee was put to death by Herod for dooing his dutie in witnessing a trueth of GOD Yet hee is not thought to bee any of the Martyrs that giue witnesse by their death because it is commonly helde that the dying for no trueth makes a Martyr vnlesse the trueth concerne somewhat belonging to the profession of the Gospell so that neither Isay nor any of the Prophets are properly to be tearmed Martyrs I will not striue about the point especially since I doe but touch this by the way onely for Iohn I thinke hee is not properly to bee reckoned in the number of the Martyrs not so much because the matter for which hee reprooued Herod did not appertaine in any particular sort to the Gospell as for that he was not executed professedly for that he had sayde and did constantly mainetaine but for satisfying of the Kings promise and Horodias malice but whether that bearing witnesse could make him a Martyr or no questionlesse it was not that which our Euangelist here speakes of for it was not any testimonie of the Light How then did Iohn beare witnesse By preaching of Christ and auowing that hee was the Messiah ordayned and sent for the saluation of them that would beleeue in him This may some man say was common to him with the Prophets at the least with many of them and with all the Apostles that succeeded him who also therefore are called in the scripture by the name of witnesses Let vs make that wee say apparant to all men First for them all in generall Zachary the Father of Iohn Baptist speaking of our Sauiour and redemption by him sayeth that God spake of him and his comming to that purpose By the mouth of his holy Prophets Luk. 1. 70. which were since the world beganne And the Apostle telles vs that God had promised the sending of his Sonne afore by his Prophets in the holy Scriptures Rom. 1. 2. In particular I will make choyse of two onely Isay and Daniell Of which the former is ordinarily called the Euangelicall Prophet as if he had written the Gospell in his Prophecie And that not without cause For hee hath spoken very plainely of the birth life and death of our Sauiour Concerning his birth hee noteth that which was most