vs to grow and preserueth our soules in life Though he be in heauen and we on earth no distance of place can stay this vnion for seeing the members of the body howsoeuer scattered through sundry parts of the world so farre that many of them haue neuer seene others in the face are notwithstanding knit together by the band of one spirit into one holy communion why should it bee denyed but that the head and members of this mysticall body are also one by the same Spirit suppose the head be in heauen and the members on earth or what need is there to enforce for effecting of this vnion such a corporall presence of Christ in the Sacrament as cannot stand with the truth of Gods word Now the comforts that ariseth vnto vs of our communion with Christ are exceeding great for first we haue with him a communion of natures hee hath taken vpon him ours and hath communicated his nature vnto vs. Of the first after a sort all mankinde may glory forasmuch as Christ tooke not on the nature of Angels but the nature of man yet if there bee no more the comfort is small yea the condemnation of man is the greater that the Lord Iesus came vnto man in mans nature and man would not receiue him But as for the godly let them reioyce in this that the Lord Iesus hath not onely assumed our nature but also made vs pertakers of the diuine nature before hee assumed our nature hee sanctified it and now hauing by his owne spirit ioyned vs to himselfe wee may bee out of doubt hee shall not cease till he hath fully sanctified vs. It is a notable comfort that the worke of our perfect sanctification is not left vnto vs to doe the Lord Iesus hath taken it into his owne hand to performe it what then shall hinder it I am perswaded that hee who hath begunne this good worke in you will performe it against the day of Iesus Christ. Hee who at his pleasure turned water into Wine hee who made the bitter vvaters to become sweet hee who makes the wildernesse a fruitfull land and the barren woman to become the mother of many children in a word hee who calles things which are not and causeth them to bee is hee not able to make sinners become Saints or shall hee not perfect that worke of the new creation which hee hath begunne in vs As for man he may begeâ— children but cannot renew their nature he may marrie a Wife but cannot change her conditions no more than Moses qui Aethiopissam duxit sed non potuit aethiopissae mutare colorem who married an Aethiopian woman but could not change her colour But the Lord Iesus hath so loued his Church that hee shall make head and remanent members euidently shewes that this spirituall life is but weake in vs. Last of all by our ingrafting in Christ wee haue this comfort that we are sure of the benefite of perseuerance and that because as the Apostle saith we beare not the root the root beares vs our saluation depends not vpon vs for that were an vnsure foundation it depends vpon him because we are in him we grow and increase yea the older we be in Christ the more we fasten our roote and flourish for they who are planted in the Courts of the Lord flourish in their old age and bring forth fruit and wheras other branches may be pulled away from their stocke eyther by violence of winde or force of the hands of men or at least consumed by length of time it shall not be so with them who are in Christ they keepe not him but are kept by him because I am not changed therefore yee are not consumed O yee sonnes of Iacob but as to those who are not planted in Iesus bee who they will they shall be pulled vp they shall not continue in honour The Princes of the earth their breath shall decay they shall returne to their earth and their thoughts shall perish the Iudges thereof shall bee made as vanitie as though they were not planted nor sowen or as if their stocke tooke no root in the earth The Lord shall blow vpon them and they shall wither the whirle-wind shal take them away like stubble O silly glory of worldlings which dieth to them oftentimes before themselues at least with them their beâ—utie consumes when they go from the house to the graue their pomp doth not descend after them Onely happy sure is the state of that man who is in Christ neyther life nor death things present nor things to come shal seperate him from the loue of God Now the lessons of instruction are chiefely two first is a lesson of humilitie seeing it is so that in Christ we haue life let vs be humble in our selues forasmuch as that which we haue we haue of another so taught the auncient fathers agreeable to holy scripture eleauen hundred yeers before vs which I mark the rather to point out the agreement in one truth between vs and the Fathers of the primitiue Church Ita sunt in vite palmites vt illi nihil conferant sed inde accipiant vnde viuant sic quippe vitis est in palmitibus vt vitale subministret illis non sumat ab ijs ac per hoc manentem in se habere Christum manere in Christo discipulis prodest non Christo the branches are so in the vine that they giue nothing vnto it but receiues from it that sap of grace wherby they liue but the vine is so in the branches that it ministers life vnto them and receiues nothing from them that therefore Christ abideth in vs and we in him is profitable to vs who are his Disciples but not vnto himselfe Thus they learned from our Sauiour who in his speach to his Disciples denyes that man is able to doe any good thing without him as the branch can beare no fruit except it abide in the root no more can ye except ye abide in me for without me ye are able to do nothing And that which is subioyned doth yet more humble vs praeciso palmite potest de viuae radice alius pullulare qui autem praecisus est non potest sine radice viuere though a branch be cut off from the root another may spring out but the branch which is cut off cannot liue without the root it withereth and is meet for nothing but the fire he that falleth away from Christ shall perish like a withered branch but the Lord Iesus shal not want another who shall grow vp in him we stand by faith let vs not be high minded but feare The second is a lesson of thankfulnesse wee who professe that we are in Christ should be fruitfull in good works herein saithâ—our Sauiour is my Father glorified that yee beare much fruit There is such a liuely power in this stock of
it in the graue longest from rottennesse and corruption and how when themselues are gone to preserue their names in immortall remembrance with the posteritie thus by the very instinct of nature are men carried away with a desire of eternitie but herein are they foolish that they seek it the wrong way they lay out their siluer but not for bread they spend their labour and are not satisfied immortalitie and life is to bee sought there where the word of the Lord directs vs let the Spirit of Christ dwell in thee and thou shalt liue otherwise though thou wert the greatest Monarch in the world though all thy meate were soueraigne medicines though thy body were laid in graue with as great externall pompe as worldly glory can afford to any creature and thy flesh were embalmed with the costliest oyntments these are but miserable comforts perishing preseruatiues thou shalt lye downe in dishonour and shalt be raised in greater dishonor to euerlasting shame and endlesse confusion Now as wee haue these three degrees of eternall life by the Spirit dwelling in vs so are wee to marke the order by vvhich hee proceedes in communicating them vnto vs first hee restores life to the soule and secondly he shall restore life vnto the body saith the Apostle where the one is done bee assured the other shall bee done the one is the proper end of his first comming therefore his Heraulds cryed before him Behold the Lambe of God who taketh away the sins of the world In his second comming shall bee the redemption of our bodyes when hee shall appeare hee shall change our vile bodies and make them like to his owne glorious bodie Let this reforme the preposterous care of men art thou desirous that thy body should liue be first carefull that life be communicated to the soule for surely the redemption of thy body shall not follow vnlesse the restitution of thy soule goe before Oportet cor nostrum conformari humilitati cordis Christi priusquam corpus conformetur glorioso corpori eius our heart must first bee conformed to the humilitie of Christs heart before that our body be configurated to his glorious body this is the first resurrection blessed are they that are pertakers of it for vpon such the second death shall haue no power But it is out of doubt qui non resurgit in anima resurget in corpore ad poenam hee that riseth not now in his soule from his sinnes shall rise hereafter in his body to iudgement But now leauing the condition to come to the comfort he that raysed vp Christ from the dead saith the Apostle shall also quicken your mortall bodies What necessitie is there here that he who raysed Christ shall raise vs yes indeed the necessitie is great the head and the members of the misticall body cannot be sundred seeing the head is raysed from the dead no member can be left vnder death the Lord workes in euery member according to that same mightie power by which hee wrought in the head his resurrection necessarily imports ours seeing hee arose not as a priuate man but as the head of all his members full of power to draw the body after him and to communicate that same life to euery member which he hath declared in himselfe Christ in risen from the dead and is made the first fruits of them that sleepe the first fruit is â—isen the after fruit shall in like manner follow Vexit in coelum carnem nostram tanquam arhabonem pignus totius summae illuc quandoque redigendae the Lord Iesus hath carryed our flesh into heauen as an earnest and pledge of the whole summe which afterward is to be brought thether hee hath not thought it inough to giue his spirit vnto vs here on earth as the earnest of our inheritance but to put vs out of all doubt hee hath carryed vp our flesh into heauen and possest it in the kingdome in the name of all his members Who raysed vp Iesus from the dead Then we see that our Lord was once among the dead but now is risen from them let vs not then be afraid when God shall call vs to lye down among the dead also shal the seruant be ashamed of his Masters condition or will the patient refuse to drink that potion which the phisition hath tasted before him No we must follow our Lord through the miseries of this life through the dolours of death through the horrours of the graue if wee looke to follow him in his resurrection in his ascension to be amongst those hundred fortie and foure thousand in mount Sion who hauing his fathers name written in their foreheads follow the Lambe wheresoeuer hee goeth singing that new song which none can sing but they whom hee hath bought from the earth When those women came to seeke the Lord Iesus in the Sepulchre all the feare they had conceiued concerning Christs death the Angels remoues it by sending them to meditate on the resurrection Why seeke yee him that liueth among the dead hee is not here but hee is risen Wee are not yet laid downe among the dead but or euer we goe to the graue we haue this comfort that the Lord by his power shall raise vs out of it where the head growes through the members will follow Per angustum passionis foramen transiuit Christus vt latum praeberet ingressum sequentibus membris Our Lord is gone through the narrow passage of death that he might make it the wider and easier to all his members who are to follow him We see by experience the body of a man drownes not though it be vnder the water as long as the head is borne aboue many of the members of Christ are here in this valley of death tost too and fro in this sea of tribulation with continuall tentations yet our comfort is we cannot perish for our head is aboue and a great part of the body liuing and raigning with him in glory there is life in him to draw forth out of these miseries all his members and hee shall doe it by that same power by which he raised himselfe from the dead For we are taught here that our resurrection is a worke not to be done by man nor the power of nature but by the power of God we are not therefore to hearken to the deceitfull motions of our infidelitie which calles in doubt this article of our Faith wee must not consider the imbecillitie and weaknesse of nature neither measure heauenly and supernaturall things with the narrow span of naturall reason but as it is Abrahams praise the father of the faithfull that when God promised him a sonne in his old age he was not weake in the faith hee considered not his owne body which was dead neither the deadnesse of Sarahs wombe but was strengthned in the faith and gaue glory to God being fully assured that he who
but that the workes of God may be made manifest which our Sauiour plainely teacheth vs when being demaunded concerning him that was borne blind whether it was for his owne sinnes or the sinnes of his Parents aunswered it was for neyther of them but that the workes of God might be made manifest in him And these workes of God manifested by affliction are of two sorts for not onely his meruailous power and constant truth in preseruing and deliuering his owne Church in all troubles against the power falshoode and malice of the world are manifested that all men may see it is not by the arme of man but by the power of God that his Church is continued vpon earth but likewise these manifold graces of God wrought secretly by his holy Spirit in the hearts of his children are made manifest to the world such as their constant faith their inuincible loue toward God their patience in the hardest sort of crosses And vnto these kindes of afflictions doe wee referre that which here is spoken These afflictions which are for Gods sake require these two things comprised by the Apostle in these words Faith and a good Conscience that is a good Religion and a good conuersation though thy life be so good that it be vnreproueable in the eyes of man yet if thou be not found in the faith thy suffering is not suffering for Gods cause and albeit the Religion thou professest be good if thy conuersation be euill though thou wouldest giue thy body to be burnt for Religion yet shall not thy suffering be suffering for Chists cause Let none of you suffer as euill doers but if any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed Non suppliciuÌ„ facit martyrem sed causa it is not the crosse makes the Martyr but the cause There hath beene no Heresie so grosse but some men haue beene bold to dye for it which is not Christian fortitude but miserable hardnesse of heart As the Lord Iesus hath his Apostles and Martyres so Sathan hath his false Apostles and Martyrs Martires Satanicae virtutis and therefore wee will conclude with Augustine Non est ex passione certa Iustitia it is not suffering that makes sure a cause to be righteous Sed ex Iustitia gloriosa passio but it is righteousnesse which makes suffering glorious For thy sake It is common to all the Godly to suffer with Christ as yee heard before but to suffer for Christ is not a honour communicated to them all the rarer that it is the more heartely should wee welcome it when God sends it The Apostle reioyced in the bonds wherewith hee was bound for Christs cause the golden chaines of earthly ambassadours are nothing so honourable as chaines of yron which are worne for Christs cause The Emperour Constantine honoured all the Fathers of the Counsell of Nice but made most of those who had suffered for the cause of Christ as in perticular hee kissed the hole of Paphnutius eye which had beene put out in time of trouble for Christs sake yet did hee reuerence it as the most honourable and precious part of his body no face so beautifull as that which is deformed no man so rich as hee who hath sustained spoliation of his goods if it be for Christs sake neyther is any death so glorious as that which is sustained for his cause Si enim beati qui moriuntur in Domino multo magis qui pro Domino for if they be blessed which dye in the Lord much more blessed are they wâ—o dye for the Lord. But now because no Christian is persecuted without some cause alleadged against him by his persecuters and that also in euery trouble his owne conscience saith that hee hath most iustly deserued it how can hee haue this comfort that he suffers for Christs sake The first is easily answered if we put a difference betweene the pretended and the true cause for which the wicked doe persecute vs. If Haman beare malice to Mordecay for his sake hee will forge a crime against all the people of the Iewes if Amazia can couer his hatred against Amos by pretending that Amos hath conspired against the King If the Princes of Darius enuy Daniels preferment they can delate him as a rebell to the kings proclamation If Ieremie exhort the Iewes to goe out to the King of Babell hee shall be accused as a confederate with the Chaldean It is a common stratagem of Sathans to staine the glory of Gods Children in their sufferings with false pretended crimes Vt qui conscientiae suae luce clarescunt fâ—lsis rumoribus sordidentur that they who are cleared by the light of their owne conscience may be defiled with false reports Sed bene sibi conscius non debet falsis moueri nec putare plus esse ponderis in alieno conuitio quam in suo testimonio but heeâ— who hath a good conscience ought not to be moued with false things nor to thinke there is more waight in any other mans traducing than is in his owne testimonie Our comfort doth stand sure if wee can say with Dauid They hate me without a cause And againe They are gathered together against mee not for mine offence not for my sinne O Lord. As for the other the accusation of our conscience in trouble charging vs with sinnes which no man can lay to our charge if wee will distinguish betweene the quarrell which conscience hath against vs and that wherewith the wicked doe charge vs it shall be manifest that the cause of our persecution is our disagreement with them in an euill course and not any sinne committed by vs against God and so shall our comfort still remaine that vvee are sufferers for Christs sake We are killed How farre forth this killing extends our Sauiour doth teach vs when hee sayes they are able to kill the body and doe no more Qui pro Christo moriuntur aliquid mortis accipiunt ne tot a contingat they may cast downe this earthly tabernacle but cannot hurt the man of God But here it is enquired seeing these godly ones were aliue when they sent vp this complaint vnto God how is it said they were slaine To this I answere that two manner of wayes are the godly pertakers of Christs afflictions euen when they are not troubled in their owne persons first by lympathie with others that are troubled for as the head of the misticall body accounts himselfe persecuted when his members are persecuted so among the liuely members therof the griefe and trouble of one is the griefe and trouble of the rest If we mourne with them that mournes and remember them who are in bonds as if wee were in bonds with them we are pertakers of their sufferings but now the want of this compassion in many who resting in their yâ—orie beds sorrowes not for Iosephs affliction proues them to be but dead
Iesus onely therefore blessed are they who are in Christ Hee that heares my wordes and belieues in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life And lastly we may obserue here what a powerfull Sauiour wee haue when to the iudgement of man he was weakest then did hee the greatest worke that euer was done in the world he was powerfull in working of miracles in his life but more powerfull in his death for then hee darkened the Sunne hee shooke the earth hee made the rockes to cleaue he rent the vaile of the temple a sunder and caused the dead to rise Mortuum Caesarem quis metuat sed morte Christi quid efficacius if Caesar bee once dead who will feare Christ euen when hee is dead is terrible to his enimies nothing can be more effectuall then his death By it he did a greater worke than was the creation of the world by it he brought in new heauens and a new earth by suffering death he destroyed him who had the power of death when hee was condemned of man hee condemned sinne that it should not condemne man passus est vt infirmus operatus vt fortis â—e suffered as a weake man but wrought as a strong one Sicut serpens mortuus c. As that Serpent without life erected by Moses in the wildernesse ouercame the liuing Serpents that stung Israell so the Lord Iesus by suffering death hath slaine that serpent that liuing in vs had slung vs vnto death Hic vides mortem morte peremptam maledictum maledicto extinctum per quae Diabolus iam antea valebat per ea ipsa tyrannidem ipsius esse destructam here thou seest saith Chrisostome death slaine by death and the tyrannie of Sathan destroyed by these same meanes by which before most of all he preuailed O wonderfull worke surely the weaknesse of God is stronger then man hee is that stronge One indeed stronger then Samson When the Philistines thought they had him sure within the portes of Azzah hee arose at midnight and tooke the doores of the gates of the Cittie and the two posts and carried them away with the bars thereof on his shoulders vp to the top of the mountaine which is before Hebron but our mightie Conquerour and deliuerer the Lord Iesus hath in a more excellent manner magnified his power for being closed in the graue clasped in the bands of death and a stone rolled to the mouth of the graue the Sepulcher sealed and guarded with souldiers he rose againe the third day before the rising of the Sunne he carried like a victor the bars and posts of death away as vpon his shoulders and vpon the mount of Oliues hee ascended on high leading captiuitie captiue Like as therefore wee receiued before great comfort through the consideration of Christs incomprehensible loue toward vs so is it now confirmed by the meditation of his power Let Sathan boast like Rabsache that the Lord is not able to deliuer Ierusalem out of his hands hee is but a blasphemous Lyar the Lord will rebuke him and will shortly tread Sathan vnder our feet it is the curse of the wicked hee shall be oppressed and there shall bee none to deliuer him but blessed bee the Lord who hath prouided a strong deliuerer for vs who certainly shall set vs free from our enimies and destroy all the oppressours of our soules Glory therefore be vnto him for euer Verse 4. That the righteousnesse of the Law might be fulfilled in vs who walke not after the Flesh but after the Spirit THe Apostle hauing taught vs in the former verse how the Lord Iesus hath freed vs from the condemning power of sinne doth now let vs see how we are freed also from the commanding power of sinne for hee sets downe this to bee the first and neerest end of Christs death in respect of vs the renouation of our nature and conformitie thereof with God his holy law which hee expresses more cleerely in another place when he saith that Christ gaue himselfe to the death for his Church that hee might sanctifie it and make it to himselfe a glorious Church not hauing spot or wrinckle or any such thing but that it should bee holy and without blame This is the end which Christ hath proposed vnto himselfe and whereof hee cannot bee frustrate as hee hath begunne it so he shall finish it he shall conforme vs to the law the righteousnesse thereof shall be fulfilled in vs there shall not bee left in our nature so much as a sinfull motion or desire but hee shall at the last present vs pure and without blame to his Father This righteousnesse of the law I vnderstand to be that perfect obedience to the Commaundements thereof which the law requires flowing from the perfect loue of God and our neighbour and it is fulfilled in vs two manner of wayes first by application or imputation of Christs righteousnesse vnto vs he is our head and we his members and are so vnited with him that now we are not to be taken as sundry but as one bodie with him By vertue of the which communion it comes to passe that that which is ours is his and that which is his is ours so that in our head we haue fulfilled the law satisfied Gods iustice for our sinnes Secondly it will be fulfilled in vs by our perfect sanctification though now wee haue but begunne obedience and in part the Lord Iesus at the last shall bring it in vs to perfection The Iesuites of Rhemes in their marginall notes on this Verse collects a note which the word here rendreth not vnto them Wee see say they that the Law which is Gods commandements may be kept that the keeping therof is iustice and that in Christian men that is fulfilled by Christs grace which by the force of the Law could neuer be fulfilled that the law may be fulfilled and also shall be fulfilled by the grace of Christ who hath deliuered vs from the Law of sinne is euident out of the Apostles words we confesse it and are comforted in it this is an end which Christ hath proposed vnto himselfe that he may make vs perfectly answerable to that holinesse which the Law requireth and in his owne good time he shall bring it to passe but that the Law is fulfilled of men in this life cannot be proued neyther out of this place nor any other place of holy Scripture Damnatum est pecatum non extinctum Sinne is condemned sayeth Caietane one of their owne but not extinguished And hereunto beside infinite testimonies of holy Scripture agreeth also the suffrages of pure antiquitie Non dicit familia tua sana sum medicum non requiro sed sana me Domine sanabor It is not saith Ambrose the voyce of thy familie I am whole and needes not a Phisition but
from vs that we should so doe Away with this wisedome of the flesh which is inimitie with God Perceiue againe how the spirit of God in such sort describes the nature of man vnrenued by Grace that no good is left in it out of vvhich the Semipelagians of our time may draw their vvorkes of preparation or merits of congruitie for vvhere as in the Soule of man there are but two faculties the Vnderstanding and the Will the spirit of God so describes his Vnderstanding that not onely hee saith the naturall man vnderstands not the things that are of God but as if that were not suffâ—cient to expresse mans miserable estate hee addeth neither indeed can he vnderstand them because they are spiritually discerned And againe his will hee so describeth it that it is not subiect vnto the Law of God and he addeth this neyther indeed can it bee what more can be said to abase the naturall pride of man he hath such a mind as neither vnderstands nor can vnderstand the things of God he hath such a will as neyther is subiect nor can be subiect to the Law of God This is the iudgement of gods spirit concerning the corruption of our nature vvee set it against the vaine opinion of all those vvho to magnifie the arme of flesh and the merits of man dreames of a good in our nature without grace which cannot be found in it Neyther let any man inferring more of the Apostles speach then himselfe concludes think it impossible that our rebellious vvill should be made obedient the Apostle takes not away this hope from man onely he denyes that nature is able to doe it Nature without grace may increase the inimitie but cannot make reconciliation but that vvhich is impossible to man is possible to God The nature of beasts birds and creeping things hath beene tamed by the nature of man saith Saint Iames but the tongue of man though the smallest member in the body yet so vnâ—uly an euill that no man is able to tame it Wee cannot change one haire of our head to make that vvhite vvhich is blacke far lesse can we change our hearts to make them holy vvhich are vncleane What then shall wee be out of all hope that vvhich vve are not able to doe shall vvee thinke it shall neuer bee done Let vs not so conclude though no man can tame the nature of man the Lord can Paul who vvas a rauening Wolfe in the Euening the Lord made a peaceable Lambe in the Morning Naturalists haue written that the bloud of the Goat causeth the hard Adamant to breake but the holy Scripture hath more surely taught that the bloud of Iesus hath vertue to turne a stony heart into a soft where it pleases the Lord of stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham There is nothing colder than ice yet sayth Augustine it is melted and made warme by the help of fire A thornie ground sayth Cyrill being vvell manured becomes fertile and the Lord sayth the Psalmist turneth a barren wildernes into a fruitfull land hee rayses the dead he makes the blind to see and the lame to vvalke he causes the Eagle to renue his youth shall we then close his hands and thinke it impossible for him to make the sinner conceiued and borne in sinne to cast the olde slough of nature and become a new creature And this haue I marked to keepe vs from that presumptuous iudging as to conclude any mans reprobation because of his present rebellion thou knowest not vvhat is in the counsell of God though in regard of his conuersation for the present hee be a stranger from the life of God And againe for our selues that vve may magnifie the mercie of the Lord our God vvho hath done that vnto vs by grace vvhich nature could neuer haue done that is hath made our rebellious harts subiect vnto his holy law and vve are sure hee vvill also performe that good worke which hee hath begunne in vs. The word which the Apostle vseth here to expresse mans naturall rebellion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noteth such a rebellion of mans corrupt nature as is not subiect according to order we are not to thinke that any rebell vvere he neuer so stubborne can exempt himselfe from subiection doe vvhat he can he bides vnder the Lords dominion but a naturall man saith the Apostle giueth not orderly subiection vnto God Ieroboam shooke off the yoke of his lawfull Lord and Rehoboam vvas not able to controll him But let man repine as he vvill can hee cast off the yoke of the Lord No no if man refuse to declare his subiection by an humble submission of his spirit to the Lords obedience the Lord for all that shall not lose his superioritie but shall declare his power vpon man by controlling him he shal bruise coutrary to Gods most holy will Woe be to him that striueth with his maker If the will of God be not done by vs assuredly it shall bee done vpon vs de his qui faciunt quae non vult facit ipse quae vult the Lord saith Augustine in a meruailous manner doth his will on them who doe that which hee will not and therefore woe shall bee vnto all which are opposit to God his most holy will Quid tam paenale quam semper velle quod nunquam erit semper nolle quod nunquam non erit what greater punishment can there be then this euermore to desire that vvhich neuer shall be alway to dislike that which foreuer shal be a wicked man shall neuer obtaine that vvhich hee desires but shall suffer for euer that vvhich he dislikes For remedy of this rebellion our Sauiour hath taught vs daily to pray thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen so we pray and the Lord giue vs grace that vve may practise it that in euery action of our life denying our selues vve make looke to our heauenly Father enquire for his will and follow it saying vvith our blessed Sauiour not my will O Lord but thine be done Verse 8. So then they that are after the flesh cannot please God HEre the Apostle concludes the miserable estate of them who walke after the flesh affirming that doe what they vvill they cannot please God To be in the flesh sometime is taken in a good part for it is all one with this to liue in the body but here it is taken in an euill part for to bee in the flesh and to be in Christ are opposit one to another so that to be in the flesh is to be in the state of nature vnregenerate a stranger from the grace of Christ and the phrase is very significant for it imports an vniuersall thraldome of mans nature vnto the lusts of the flesh That speach of the Apostle to Simon Magus I see that thou art altogether in the gall of bitternesse signifies much more
deliuering vs from so fearefull a condemnation Last of all as this is the happy estate of them who are in Christ that now there is no condemnation for them so is it the contrary miserable estate of the damned doe what they will euery action of their life makes out the processe of their most iust condemnation for to the vncleane all things are vncleane yea euen their consciences are defiled and their prayer is abhominable and turned into sinne but thanks be to God through Iesus Christ who hath deliuered vs from this most vnhappie condition To them who are in Christ. Albeit the former mentioned deliuerance from the wrath to come be most comfortable yet this which is subioyned should waken euery man to take heed vnto himselfe when we heare that this deliuerance is limited and restrained onely to them who are in Christ. It is true that by the offence of one man the fault came on all to condemnation but by the obedience of one all are not made righteous onely they who receiue the abundance of grace and gift of righteousnesse shall reigne in life through one Iesus Christ. As therfore we haue receiued within our selues by nature the sentence of death knowing that we are borne heyres of the wrath of God by disobedience so wisedome craues that we neuer rest nor suffer our eies to sleepe nor our eye-lids to slumber but that wee should recount our former sinnes in the bitternesse of our heart and water our couch with teares in the night and call vpon the Lord without ceasing in the day continually vntill we finde that we are translated from darknesse to light taken out of nature and planted in Christ and that first sentence of absolution be pronounced to our conscience by the spirit of adoption goe thy way thy sinnes are forgiuen thee For the Apostle vseth here this limitation of the comfort to certain persons thereby to declare that it appertaines not vnto the remnant of the world When the originall world was ouerwhelmed with waters none were saued but such as were in the Arke when Sodome was burnt with fire none were saued but those of the familie of Lot when Iericho was destroyed none were preserued but such as were in the Familie of Rahab all these are figures shadowing vnto vs that when the Lord shall come to cut downe the wicked with the sword or hooke of his iustice to cast them for euer into the wine-presse of his wrath saluation shall belong onely to those who are of the houshold of faith euen that whole familie whereof God in Iesus Christ is the Father which number is indeede exceeding small if they bee compared with the remnant and great multitude of the world therefore let not their euill example deceiue vs but remembring the kingdome of heauen suffers violence let vs cast away these burdens and impediments specially this sinne which hangeth so fast on that we may enter in time into the arke of God and Familie of Rahab that so vvee may bee saued Wee haue here then first to obserue a certaine distinction of mankinde whereof some are in Christ these are vessels of honour reserued to mercy others out of Christ and these are vessels of dishonour ordained vnto wrath This distinction is first made in God his secret counsell electing some and leaâ—ing others according to the good pleasure of his will and this is onely knowne vnto himselfe It begins first to be manifest when the Lord by effectuall calling seperates his Elect from the children of wrath and disobedience and then it is knowne but properly and truely of those onely who are effectually called for that now name which To them that are in Christ. The Apostle you see changes the manner of his speach when hee spake of the power of sinne remayning in our nature he spake of it in his owne person but when hee speakes of our deliuerance by Iesus Christ he speakes of it in the person of others Thus the Apostle by an holy wisedome doth order his speach for the comfort of the children of GOD for least that other weake christians might bee discouraged by reason of their sinnes hee speakes of remanent sinfull corruption in his owne person to declare that none no not the holy Apostles are exempted from it Of deliuerance againe he speaks in the person of others least any should thinke that the grace of Christ were restrayned onely to such singular persons as holy Apostles were not also extended to others Commonly these whâ— are of such a tender Conscience makes exception of themselues as if the comfort of other christians belonged not to them the Apostle therefore includes within the communion of this benefit all vvhosoeuer Pastors people learned vnlearned poore rich weake and strong prouiding that they bee in Iesus Christ. Men who are truely godly in the matter of misery chiefly contemne themselues therefore the Apostle calles himselfe the chiefe of all sinners but they neuer exclude others from the same communion of mercie I know sayes the Apostle that there is layd vp for mee a crowne of glory and not onely for mee but for all them who loue the second appearing of the Lord Iesus It is farre otherwise with naturall men blinded with presumption they extoll their owne righteousnesse aboue others in their conceit with the proud Pharisee condemneth euery other man as a greater sinner than himselfe they carrie in their bagge two measures by the one they take to themselues making much of the smallest good which is in them by the other they giue setting that by for light which is most excellent in another Our Sauiour properly expresses their corrupt iudgement when hee compares it to the light of the eye which can see any other thing better than it selfe and can espye a moate sooner in another than a beame in it selfe After this manner hipocrites looke out curiosi ad cognoscendâ—m vitam alienam dâ—sidiosi ad corrigendum suam curious searchers of the life of others carelesse correcters of their owne Mens peracute perspiciens alienos errores tarda est ad proprios cognoscendos defectus the minde that sharply lookes to the faults of others doth but slowly consider her owne defects but let vs learne by the precept of our blessed Sauiour and practise of this holy Apostle rather to looke to our selues searching out our owne sins then neglecting our selues to prattle vainely of the sinnes of other men That are in Christ. But now to come to the matter The spirit of God in holy Scripture expresses our vnion with Christ by fiue sundry similitudes first by a marriage wherin Christ is the husband and we the spouse Secondly by a body whereof Christ is the head and wee the members Thirdly by a building or house wherein Christ is the foundation or ground stone and wee the vpper building vpon him Fourthly by the
similitude of ingrafting wherein Christ is compared to the Vine and wee to the branches grafted into him Lastly by the similitude of feeding wherin Christ is compared to the foode and wee to the bodie which is nourished As for the similitude of Marriage the strongest bands of coniunction that euer was betweene two creatures was betweene Adam and Eue for Eue was his Wife his Sister and his Daughter his Wife being ioyned with him in marriage by God she became one flesh with him she was his Sister made immediately by the hand of that same Father who made Adam and that without Adams helpe shee was also his Daughter for of him shee was made bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh All these wayes are we alyed vnto Iesus Christ we are his spouse in respect of that mutuall contract and couenant which is betweene vs he hath marryed vs to himselfe in righteousnesse iudgement mercy and compassion We are his Sonnes and Daughters in respect of regeneration which is our new creation we are also his brethren and sisters in respect of the spirit of adoption by whom we acknowledge God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ to be our father also in him and his sonne Iesus to be our elder brother Yet is our allyance with Christ so neere that all these whereof we haue spoken can not expresse it and therefore ye shall finde that there is not a way by which in nature two things are made one but from it the spirit of God borrowes similitudes to declare how Christ and we are one in him as the branch in the tree we are of him as Eue was of Adam we are of him as the house is built on the foundation wee are one with him and that many manner of wayes one with him as brother with brother as husband and wife as the body and the head as meat and that which is nourished what meruaile theâ— considering all these that the Apostle with boldnes breakes out in this glorious triumph there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ seeing we are in him as branches in the tree it is not possible that we can wither or decay for want of the sap of Grace so long as he doth retaine it and that shall be for euer seeing we are built on him like an house vpon a sure foundation what storme can ouerblow vs let the winde rise and the raine fall wee shall not be ouerthrowne because wee are the building of God standing vpon a sure foundation seeing wee are his spouse who can haue action against vs our debts fall to be payd by our husband he liueth to make answere for vs seeing we are his conquered inheritance who will take vs out of his hand My sheepe can no man take out of my hand saith our blessed Sauiour Most happy then and sure is the estate of all those who are in Christ Iesus But leauing other similitudes let vs consider that this phrase to be in Christ is borrowed from planting or ingrafting Our Sauiour vses this same similitude Iohn 15. And in it we haue these things to consider First who is the stock or root secondly who are the grafts or branches ingrafted thirdly what is the manner of the ingrafting fourthly some comfors and instructions arising hereof The root or stock whereinto this ingrafting is made is Iesus Christ called by himselfe the true Vine by the Apostles the true Oliue by the Prophets the roote of Iesse and the righteous branch this roote that great husbandman the eternall God prepared to be as a stocke of life wherein he ingrafts all of Adams lost posteritie whom he hath concluded to saue to the praise of the glory of his mercie After that in the fulnes of time God hath sent him into the world clad with our nature and he hath done the work for which he came the Lord laid him in the graue and as it were set him in the graue but at once like a liuely roote hee sprang vp and rested not till his branches spred to the vttermost ends of the earth and till his top mounted vp vnto heauen for there now he sits and raignes in life who before was humbled to death The branches or graftes ingrafted in him are of two sorts first all the members of the Church visible who by externall Baptisme are entred to a profession of Christ baptised with water but not with the holy Ghost this kinde of ingrafting will suffer a cutting off if thou continue not in his bountifulnesse thou shalt also be cut off For they haue not the sap of grace ministred to them from the stocke of life but are as dead trees hauing leaues without fruit they haue a shew of Godlinesse but haue denyed the power thereof these are no better then Esau who lay in the same wombe with Iacob borne and brought vp in the same Family of Isaac which was the Church of God marked also with the same sacrament of Circumcision Naâ— sicut ille ex legittima matre natus gratiam superbe spreuit reprobatus est it a qui in vera Ecclesia baptizantur gratiam Dei non amplectuntur cum Esauo reijciuntur For as hee being borne of a lawfull Mother proudely despised Grace and was cast off so they who are baptised in the true Church of God and embrace not the grace of God shall be reiected with Esau neyther shall it auaile them that by an externall kinde of ingrafting they haue beene adioyned to the fellowship of the visible Church The other sort are they who beside the outward ingrafting whereof we haue spoken are also inwardly grafted by the holy Ghost in Iesus Christ in such sort that Christ is in them and they in Christ and can say with the Apostle Now I liue yet not I any more but Christ Iesus liueth in me these haue in them that same minde which was in Iesus the onely sure argument of our spirituall vnion with him for if any man haue not the spirit of Christ the same is not his and they who are quickned and ruled by this spirit are assuredly his As for the manner of the ingrafting it is spiritual wrought by the holy Ghost who creating faith in our heart by hearing of the Gospell makes vs to goe out of our selues tranfire in Christum so to relie vpon him that by his light we are illuminated by his spirit wee are quickned by the continuall furniture of his grace we perseuere and increase in spirituall strength in a word so we liue that in our selues we dye Euery lampe of the golden candlesticke hath his owne pipe through which these two oliues that stand with the ruler of the whole world emptie themselues into the gold that is euery member of the Church of Christ receiues grace from that fulnesse of Grace which is in him through the secret conduits of the spirit whereby he causeth
speakes of a naturall generation Let Paul speake before Agrippa of the heauenly vision and Festus shall count him a foole Let Lot speake to his Sonnes in Law of the iudgement to come vpon Sodome and they shall esteeme him as a mocker thus Naturalists can neyther vnderstand the words of mercy nor iudgement to be allured with the one or terrified with the other for he minds onely earthly things but as for the spiritual man he hath receiued that new mind Whereby he knowes him that is the true one hee is indued with new senses whereby he perceiues things which are excellent habet enim oculos interiores quibus videt iustitiae lumen he hath those naturall eyes whereby he seeth the light of righteousnesse And if from the vnderstanding we proceed to the affections whereupon can the naturall man set his affections but vpon those things which his vnderstanding commends for good for euery man hath his heart enclined to that which accoâ—ding to his knowledge hee thinks best for himselfe The Gadarens wil prefer their Swine before Christ and naturalists make more of their smallest earthly commodities than of those things which are aboue at the right hand of God 〈◊〉 the Christian accounts the testimonies of the Lord sweeter â—nto him then all the treasures of worldlings hee findes â—ore ioy in the lightsome countenance of God then in all abundance of Wheat and Wine the best things of this earth he accounts but doung the pleasures of the world are loathsome vnto him her glory is despised in his eyes habet enim olfactum interius de quo dixit Apostolus Christi bonus odor â—â—mus Deo in omni loco estque verbum illi odor vitae ad vitamâ— for he hath that internall sense of smelling whereof the Apostle speakes wee are vnto God the sweet sauour of Christ in euery place this makes the word of God vnto him either reason which should rule is ouer-ruled by the will or at least the crooked is led by the blinde that is a blinded vnderstanding directs the crooked will and peruerse affections a wrong way and what meruaile then if both fall into the ditch for where the eye which is the light of the body is darknesse how great must be the darknesse of the whole man and seeing the vnderstanding facultie of the soule giues no counsels nor conclusions but such as are deadly what can the will and affections doe but run headlong into the wayes of death This is that encrease of knowledge which we haue gotten by our Apostasie from God this is the fruit wee haue plucked from off the forbidden tree we haue a wisedome which brings out death the most excellent knowledge whereunto the quickest ingines could euer attaine by the light of nature profited them not vnto saluation Lanctantius compared all the learning of Philosophers to a liuelesse body wanting a head in seeing they were blind in hearing they heard not vnderstanding they vnderstood not while they professed themselues to be wise they became fooles As the sences are in the head so all spirituall vnderstanding of the way of life is in Christ Iesus by naturall philosophie they attayned to the knowledge of the creatures but learned not to know the Creator by natural reason they learned to discerne the sophistrie of men but not to resist the sophistrie of Sathan By practise also of Morall philosophie they attayned to a shew of those vertues which they called cardinall to a shew I say but as for true Prudence Iustice Temperance and Fortitude they attayned not vnto them without faith it is impossible to please God neyther can there be without it any thing which deserueth the name of vertue quid enim illis cum virtutibus qui Dei virtutem Christum ignorant for what haue they to doe with vertue who are ignorant of Christ the vertue and power of God All the light that is in nature is like to the sight of blinded Sampson for as he without a guide could not finde one pillar of the house no more can naturall vnderstanding finde out so much as one of the articles of our faith nascimur vniuersi viae ciuitatis prorsus ignari wee are all borne altogether ignorant of the way that leadeth to the citie of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle cals vs without a minde to know any thing pertayning to our owne saluation Whatsoeuer wisedome man hath without grace may leade him forward to euill but cannot teach him to eschew euill Achitophell was counted wise in his time and his wisedome and counsell as the oracle of God but hee had no wisedome to foresee nor preuent his miserable end he hanged himselfe in his impatiencie yet is the wit of naturalists in our time no better than his they are wise in their owne eyes and glories within themselues that by their subtile wits they haue gone through dangerous courses wherein others haue fallen yet they know not their end neither are sure that the politique deuise wherein they haue placed their confidence shall not at length be a snare to themselues Therefore the spirit of God vouchsafeth not vpon the men of this world the 〈◊〉 of wise men but calles them wise with arestriction they are wise saith Ieremie to doe euill Wiser saith our Sauiour in their owne generation than the children of God Basil properly compares them vnto Howlets which see somthing in the night but nothing in the day such are worldlings they haue some vnderstanding of the works of darknesse but no iudgement how to approue themselues to the light of God wise to compasse things present but carelesse for those which are to come Where if it be demaunded why then doth the Apostle attribute wisedome to them who vvalke after the flesh it is answered Prudentia dicitur cum res stulta sit quia sic ipsis videtur it is called wisedome because so it seemes to them who haue it albeit in very deed it bee foolishnesse The iudgements of the carnall and Christian man are so different that eyther of them esteemes another foolish but the one iudges with a warrant the other not so the spirituall Spirit they haue not As the waues of the Sea are stirred with euery winde so are their mindes perturbed through the tumultuous desire of their variable affections And as for peace of Conscience which ariseth of the sense of Gods mercy towards vs in Christ how can they haue it whose life is a continuance in inimitie with God for righteousnesse and peace doe kisse one another where there is no righteousnesse how can there be peace pax est haereditas ChristianoruÌ„ peace is the heritage of Christians The wicked haue their owne carnall securitie they blesse themselues in their heart when the word of the Lord doth curse them but the false conclusions of peace and safetie which they haue laid in their owne
Sunne and his clothes were white as the light Moses after fortie dayes talking with God on the Mount came downe with so bright a shining countenance that the Israelites might not behold him what then may we thinke shall be the glory of the children of God when they shall be transchanged with the light of Gods countenance shining vpon them not fortie dayes onely but for euer and euer And if euery one of their faces shal shine as the Sun in the firmament O how great light and glory shal be among them all if their bodies shal be so glorious what shal be the glory of their soule surely no hart can conceiue it no tongue is able to expresse it Fourthly our body shall bee raysed spirituall which is not so to bee vnderstood as if our bodies should loose a corporall substance and receiue a spirituall substance but then shall our bodies bee spirituall as now our Spirits by nature are carnall which are so called because they are subiect to carnall corruption pressed downe and carryed away after earthly and carnall things so shall our bodies then be spirituall because without contradiction they shall obey the motions of the spirit the body shall be no burthen no prison no impediment to the soule as now it is the soule shall carry the body where it will without resistance where now it is earthly heauie and tends downward it shall then be restored so lightsome and quick that without difficultie it shall mount from the earth to meet our Lord in the aire As our head ascended on the mount of Oliues and went through the cloudes into heauen so shall his members ascend that they may be with the Lord they shall follow the Lambe where euer he goes Let vs beleeue it and giue glory vnto God for hee who is the worker of our resurrection is also the worker of our ascension If the wit of man be able to frame a vessell of sundry mettels that our Resurrection is put betweene the Article of the remission of sinnes and that other Article of eternall life to â—each vs that then onely the Resurrection of the body is a benefite when remission of sinnes goes before it and eternall life followes after it whereof the Lord of his great mercy make vs pertakers through Iesus Christ. Verse 12. Therefore Brethren wee are debters not to the flesh to liue after the flesh AS it is true concerning vs that a necessitie lyeth vpon vs to preach and woe will be to vs if we preach not so it is true concerning you that a necessitie lyeth vpon you to heare and woe will bee to you if you heare not It is commaunded to vs that when wee speake wee should speake as the oracles of God and it is also required of you that ye receiue this word not as the word of man but as it is indeede the word of God therefore take heede how yee heare for as Moses said to the Israelites so say wee vnto you It is no vaine word concerning you it is your life Ye haue heard that maine proposition of Comfort there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ yee haue heard it confirmed explaned and applyed the miserable estate of them who walke after the flesh hath beene shewed vnto you as likewise the happy estate of them who walke after the Spirit and what comforts the godly haue both against the remanents as also against the fruits of sinnes hath beene declared vnto you Examine your selues and see how far forth these comforts belong vnto you If yee bee such as thinke with those scornefull men in Ierusalem that yee haue made a couenant with death and it shall not come neere you then goe on in your securitie and doe that which is good in your owne eyes but if yee finde by experience that death is already entred into your mortall body bee wise in time see that thou haue this onely soueraigne comfort against death the spirit of Christ dwelling in you otherwise flatter your selues in your securitie as you will miserable shall your end be Now the Consolation being ended the Apostle subioynes the Exhortation both these two consolation and exhortation are needefull for vs in the course of this life the one to keepe vs that wee faint not through the remanents of sinne left in vs and beginnings of death which already haue seased vpon vs exhortation againe to stir vs vp when wee linger in the way of godlinesse For it fareth with vs as it did with Lot in Sodome the Angels warned him of the imminent iudgement and exhorted him to escape for his life yet hee delayed and lingred hee could not bee gotten out of Sodome till they as it were violently thrust him out And allbeit the Lord admonish vs earely and late by his messengers of that wrath which is to come vpon the children of disobedience and warne vs in time to flye to the mountaine of his saluation yet alas so loath are wee to forsake our old finnes that the Lord is forced to double his exhortations vnto vs all which yet shall not auaile vs if the Lord lay not the hands of his grace vpon vs and by his holy Spirit make vs obedient to the heauenly vocation Let vs therefore take heede to the exhortations made vs by the Lord and that so much the more because it is most certaine that the sweetnesse of Gods consolation shall not bee felt of them who are not moued with his exhortation Contemplationis enim gustus non debetur nisi obedientiae mandatoruâ— the tast of Gods mercy by contemplation is onely due to them who make conscience of the obedience of his commaundements Therefore This particle is relatiue to the words preceding seeing it is so that by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in vs wee haue such excellent benefits wee are debt bond not to liue after the flesh but after the Spirit Of this wee haue first to learne that euery benefit wee receiued from God is an Obligation binding vs debters of seruice to God Debters Of this it is euident that the doctrine of grace proclaimes not liberty to men to liue as they will but rather bindes them to liue godly there can be no higher contempt done to the Lord than to turne his grace into wantonnesse Certainly the iniquities of Pagans doth not halâ—e so much offend him as the licentiousnesse of bastard Christians who will sinne the more freely because Christ hath suffered for sinne they heare that a man is not iustified by good workes and therefore being deceiued by Sathans sophistrie they cease to doe well not considering that good workes must proue wee are sanctified and sanctification must proue that wee are iustified In the second verse the Apostle said that Christ hath freed vs from the Law of sinne and here he sayth that hee hath made vs debters to righteousnesse these are not contrary they agree very well together hee hath loosed
vnto vs for an example for so are wee exhorted Let vs runne with patience the race that is set before vs looking vnto Iesus the author and finisher of our Faith these and such like are the workes wherein vve are commaunded to conforme our selues vnto him The other poynt wherein stands our conformitie with him is in patient suffering with him for righteousnes which wee shall not be able to doe except wee liue first after the similitude of his life what liker suffering to the suffering of Christ than the suffering of that reprobate theefe who dyed with Iesus at the same time the same kinde of death yet because his life was neuer like the life of Christ his sufferings shall neuer be accounted the sufferings of Christ. Similis in poena dissimilis in causa But as for the other whom the Lord Iesus conuerted vpon the Crosse to declare to all the world that euen in death hee retayned the power of a Sauiour able to giue life to them who are dead hee brought out in the last houre of his life the first fruites of amendement of life hee liued long a wicked malefactor but short while a conuerted Christian yet in that same space hee abounded in the fruits of Godlinesse confessing his sinnes giuing glory to the iustice of God rebuking the blasphemies of the other and pleading the cause of his innocent Sauiour thus being turned from his sinne hee began euen on the Crosse to liue with Iesus and therefore heard that ioyfull sentence This night thou shalt be with me in Paradise Now that wee may be moued to embrace this conformitie with Iesus let vs remember that the image of God by which wee were created conforme vnto him is the most auncient glory to which we can make claime and therefore if there be in vs any peece of manhood and spirituall wisedome wee ought to endeauour to recouer it which our enimie craftily and maliciously hath stollen from vs. O what a pittie is it to see that man cannot doe that in the matter of saluation which he can do in the smallest things pertaining to this life There is no man among vs vvho knoweth that any tenement of land or portion of earth possessed now vniustly of another did of old pertaine to his Fathers but if hee can hee vvill seeke to recouer it seeking by iustice to bring that home to himselfe which oppressors vniustly had taken from him Is it not then most lamentable that where the Lord Iesus the King of righteousnesse and Prince of peace offers to restore vs to our most auncient glory which is his owne image that vvee vvill not call the oppressours of our soule before him nor seeke to be restored to that glory which most deceitfully our aduersâ—ry hath stollen from vs but this commeth also vpon man by the subtiltie of Sathan that hauing once spoyled vs of the image of God hee doth what he can so to blinde vs that vve should neuer seeke it againe nor doe so much as receiue it when it is offered vnto vs. Iacob complained of Laban that hee had deceiued him and changed his wages ten times and Esau complained of Iacob as of a supplanter who first had stollen from him his birth-right and then the blessing also but more cause haue vvee to turne these complaints vpon Sathan who hath not onely stollen from vs the Image of God but daily stealeth away the blessing vvhereby it is restored vnto vs. Oh that vve had vvise and vnderstanding hearts that we might be stirred vp to an holy anger against the enimie of our saluation seeking in despite of him to be restored to that right vvhich by creation belonged to our fore father But alas what a beastly stupiditie is this that man will not doe so much for recouerie and maintenance of the image of God as hee will doe for preseruation of his owne portraiture drawne on a peece of timber if any man pollute it incontinent hee is offended and stomacks it as an iniuâ—ie done to himselfe but as for man who is the image of God he lyes downe like a beast content that Sathan should tread vpon him pollute defile him with all kind of abhomination all which proceeds from a pittifull ignorance of his own glory The second reason vvhich should moue vs to conforme our selues to Iesus is that hee hath first of all conformed himselfe vnto vs hee vvas not ashamed to take vpon him the shape of a seruant and to become man like vnto vs in all things sinne excepted and shall wee refuse to conforme our selues vnto him let it be farre from vs but rather putting from vs that foolish emulation by vvhich vvee striue to conforme our selues vnto this world let vs consider vvhereunto vvee are called euen to be pertakers of the diuine nature and may thinke it our greatest glory to be like vnto our head and husband the Lord Iesus Thirdly necessitie so craueth seeing vvee cannot be saued vvithout conformitie vvith him It is not Caesars money which hath not vpon it Caesars image and superscription he is not the Sonne of God vvho carryeth not the image of his Father for vvhom the Lord begets in the regeneration he communicateth to them his owne spirit which transformes them into the similitude of his owne Image No vncleane thing shall enter into heauenly Ierusalem neither shall any man see him in his glory who by grace is not made like vnto him That hee may be the first borne among many brethren The Apostle insists here in the explication of his former purpose adding that it is necessary wee should conforme our selues vnto him for ratifying that superioritie and priuiledge of the first borne vvhich God the Father hath estabished vnto his Sonne the Lord Iesus Christ and he maketh it very properly to serue his purpose for seeing it is so that Iesus our elder brother and Prince of our saluation hath beene consecrated by affliction and by suffering hath entred into his kingdome shall wee refuse to follow him in his tentations if so be vvee desire to sit vvith him in his glory The name of the first borne is ascribed vnto Iesus Christ three manner of wayes first as hee is God secondly as he is man thirdly as hee is both God and man our mediator and the head of his misticall body vvhich is his Church As hee is God hee is called by the Apostle Primogenitus omnis creaturae the first begotten of euery creature and that by such a generation as none saith Esay are able to expresse Now before the creature was what could there be surely nothing but the Creator Secondly as hee is man S. Luke calleth him the first borne that opened the wombe of the Virgin Thirdly as Mediator and head of his mysticall body as Prince of that kingdome vvhich is the communion of Saints hee is here called the first borne among many brethren and in an other place
Lord in the world to come As this is the comfort of Gods chosen so doth it point vnto vs the contrary miserable estate of the reprobate for there is nothing in heauen and earth which shall not stand vp against them to accuse them the Lord himselfe shall come neere them as a swift witnesse against them O miserable are they to whom the Lord is a Partie a Iudge and a Witnesse as our Sauiour said to the Iewes Moses and all the seruants of God shall be witnesses against them yea the dust of the feete of those who brought the glad tidings of peace shall witnesse against them the stones of the field said Ioshua the heauens and earth said Moses their moth-eaten garments said S. Iames yea they themselues said our Sauiour shall witnesse against themselues woe be vnto them they must be presented to iudgement but shall haue none eyther in heauen or earth to speake for them nothing without them nothing within them which shall not be a witnesse against them when they are iudged they shall be condemned and their owne conscience shall say righteous is the Lord and iust are his iudgements It is God that Iustifies Of this ye may see cleerely that Iustification as the Apostle vseth it here is a iudicial terme for he oppones it to accusation and condemnation but leauing that because wee marked it before in the poynt of Iustification we will adde this more that the Apostle brings not the reason of his comfort from his owne innocencie but from Gods mercy he saith not there is nothing in me worthy to be accused or to be condemned but his comfort is that whateuer it be God hath pardoned it This is it that breedes vnquietnesse and perturbation in many weake consciences they seeke within themselues that which should commend them to God as if they could not be saued vnlesse they were perfect this commeth of Sathans singular subtiltie who labours to creep in betweene vs and our warrant as if our owne innocencie were the warrant of our saluation and not Gods mercy nor Christs merit It is true it becomes vs for our greater comfort to nourish within our selues the tokens of Grace but to conclude that because they are weake therefore wee cannot be saued it is Sathans sophistrie with which wee should not suffer our soules to be abused Verse 34. Who shall condemne it is Christ which is dead yea or rather which is risen againe who is also at the right hand of God and maketh request also for vs. THe Apostle insists in his perticular triumph against sinne and hee demaunds now who shall condemne it may be as wee heard there be some bold to accuse but is there any saith the Apostle that hath power to condemne none at all and that hee proues from the death resurrection exaltation and intercession of Christ for as all these were done for vs so doe euery one of them render vnto vs the sweete fruit of consolation Of the comfort arising from Christs death we haue spoken before The next is his resurrection we haue comfort saith the Apostle in his death but much more comfort in his resurrection therefore saith the Apostle It is Christ who is dead or rather who is risen againe for if wee looke to Iesus dying albeit in death hee shewed himselfe a powerfull Sauiour yet in his death his glory was greatly obscured vnder the couering of mortalitie which againe in his resurrection was more clearely manifested for hee was declared mightily to be the sonne of God by his resurrection and hath made vs sure of the remission of our sinnes for hee had not come out of the prison of the graue if hee had not payed the vttermost farthing of our debt If Christ saith the Apostle be not yet risen then are we yet in our sinnes thanks be to God we may turne it to our comfort Iesus is already risen therefore wee are not in our sinnes As for his exaltation the Apostle saith hee sits at the right hand of God to speake properly the Lord who is a Spirit hath neyther right hand nor left but by these borrowed speaches the Lord who dwelleth in light inaccessible to whom wee cannot ascend by our selues that wee should know him descends vnto vs and speakes of his vnspeakeable Maiestie vnto vs in such manner as wee are best able to conceiue it so that when eyes and eares and hands are ascribed to the Lord wee are to thinke these hee hath per effectum non per naturam And this may rebuke that bolde blasphemie of the Papists who presume to paint the incomprehensible Maiestie of God vnder the similitude of an aged and worne creature expresly contrary to Gods commaundement In that day saith the Lord that I spake vnto thee out of the mountaine thou heardest a voyce but saw no Image beware therefore thou make none and in many places is the same presumption condemned by the Prophets Where if they excuse themselues that they paint the Lord in such a similitude as hee appeared vnto Daniell and no otherway I answere first this is false for sometime which is horrible to speake they paint him in the shape of an humane body hauing three heads but albeit it were true which they say yet doth it not excuse them for the Lords extraordinary facts are not to bee vsed as warrants to breake his ordinary and eternall Commaundements neyther doth it any more excuse them than that deed of the Lord whereby he caused the Israelits to take from the Egiptians their siluer gold and Iewels which they neuer rendred can excuse them that doe borrow steale and robbe from others but neuer restore But howeuer they excuse themselues as long as the word of the Apostle stands true they shall not rubbe off them the blot of idolatry they turne the glory of the incorruptible God into the similitude of a corruptible man The Maiestie of God is eternall the heauens waxe olde but he remaines the same why then doe they paint him vnder the similitude of a worne creature weakned by the length of dayes The Iesuites of Rhemes conuinced of darknesse are ashamed of the light that shines in this place of Scripture and passe by it without an answer they excuse the making of the Image of Christ and of his Saints but speak not one word to defend that grosse Idolatry whereby they turne the glory of the inuisible God into the image of a corruptible man It had ben good for them they had beene as dumbe in the defence of the rest of their abhominations as they are in this This speach therefore to sit at the right hand of God is a borrowed speach the Metaphor being taken from Kings who vse to set on their right hand those whom they honour most as Salomon did his mother Bathsheba and so the phrase will import that high honour and dignitie whereunto Christ