in Christ all our wants are couered in his obedience Againe if in the time of death the feare and apprehension of the iudgement and anger of God terrifie vs we are to oppose this obedience of our Mediatour to the iudgement of God and to put it betweene Gods anger and vs yea we are to rest vpon it and to infold and wrap our soules in it and thus to present them to God Isai the prophet saith that the Messiah is a place of refuge shelter or shade against the tempest or burning heate of the wrath of God And Paul saith he is our propitiatorie to signifie that as the propitiatorie couered the arke and the lawe in the arke which is the hand writing against vs from the presence of God so Christ couereth our sinnes and puts himselfe betweene vs and the indignation of his father The third and last point of doctrine here deliuered by Paul is That faith is the meanes to receiue and to obtaine the obediēce of Christ for our iustice That this may the better be conceiued foure points are to be handled What this faith is howe it is a meanes to obaine iustice whether alone by it selfe or by the helpe of other vertues When and howe long it is the onely meanes For the first Faith is a speciall gift of God whereby we beleeue Christ and his benefits to be ours In the first place I say it is a gift of God because it comes wholly of God and not from the minde or will of man Thus Paul saith It is giuen you for Christ to beleeue in him and Christ our Sauiour Saith to two of his disciples O foolish and sloe of heart to beleeue If it be obiected that when we beleeue first we then beleeue willingly I answere it is so indeede yet is not this willingnes in vs by nature but by grace because when God giues vnto vs the gift of faith he giues vs also to will to beleeue None comes to Christ but he is drawne of the father and to be drawne is when the vnwilling will is chaunged and by the power of God made a willing will I adde further that faith in the Messias is a speciall gift for two causes First because it is a gift aboue not onely corrupted but also aboue the first created nature For it was neuer in mans nature by creation Adam neuer had it neither did the morall law reueale it vnto vs because it neuer knew this faith Neuerthelesse other vertues as loue of God and man feare of God c. are reuealed of the law and were in mans nature by creation Again whereas all other gifts of God are giuen to them that are ingrafted into Christ faith is giuen to them that are to be ingrafted because it is the ingrafting and therefore can not be giuen to them that are alreadie in Christ but to them that are to be in Christ. Further I say that by faith we beleeue Christ and his benefits to be ours For this is the propertie of faith whereby it differs from all other graces of God When Thomas had put his finger into the side of Christ he said My Lord and my God to whōe Christ replied Because thou hast seene thou hast beleeued Where we see that this is faith to beleeue Christ to be our Lord our god Paul saith I liue by the faith of Christ now what he meanes by faith he shewes in the next words who hath loued ME and giuen himselfe FOR ME. If any man shall demand vpon what grounds because we are not to goe by imagination I say vpon what groundes he is to conceiue a faith that Christ is his Christ I answer the groundes are two The first is the commandement of God to beleeue Christ and his benefits to be ours 1. Ioh. 3. 23. This is his commandement that ye beleeue in the name of his sonne Iesus Christ. Now to beleeue in Christ is to put our confidence in him and we can put no confidence in him vnlesse we be first assured that he with his benefits is ours And whatsoeuer we aske in praier we are commaunded to beleeue that it shall be giuen vnto vs. Now aboue all things we are to aske that Christ and his benefits may be giuen vnto vs of God This therfore must we beleeue The second ground is this We must consider the maner that God vseth in propounding the promise of grace vnto vs for he doth not onely set it forth vnto vs in a generall sort but also he vseth meete and conuenient means to applie it to the persons of men First of all he confirmes it by oath that we our selues might the better applie it and reape sure consolation thereby Secondly God giueth vnto vs the spirit of adoption which beareth witnes to our consciences of such things as God hath giuen vnto vs in particular and are onely in generall manner propounded in the promise And this testimonie must be certen in it selfe and also plainely knowne vnto vs els is it no testimonie Thirdly both the Sacraments are seales of the promise in the lawfull vse whereof God offers yea exhibits Christ vnto vs and doth as it were write our names within the promise that we might not doubt Now then looke as God giues the promise so must we by faith receiue it But God giues the promise withall applies it we therefore must receiue the promise and by faith applie it to our selues If any man shall say that he can not conceiue a speciall faith vpon these groundes by reason of his vnbeleefe I answer that he must striue against his vnbeleefe and indeauour to beleeue by desiring asking seeking knocking and God will accept the will to beleeue for faith it selfe so be it there be an honest heart touched with sorrow for sinnes past and a purpose to sinne no more That we may yet better know what faith is vnderstand that there be two kindes of false faith like indeede to true faith and yet no faith at all The first is when a man conceiues in his heart a strong perswasion that Christ is his Sauiour and yet carries in the same heart a purpose to sinne and makes no change or amendment of his life This perswasion is nothing but presumption and a counterfeit of true faith whose propertie is to purifie the heart and to shew it selfe in the exercises of inuocation and true repentance The second is when men conceiue a strong perswasion that Christ is their Sauiour and yet for all this contemne and despise the Ministerie of the word and sacraments This also is an other counterfeit For true faith is conceiued cherished and confirmed by the vse of the word sacramēts And we must there seeke Christ where God will giue him vnto vs now God giues Christ in the word and sacraments and in them he doth as it were open his hand reach forth all the blessings of Christ vnto vs. We must not
if he were now liuing on earth would be content with an office a thousand fold more base that he might inioy this cleere light of the knowledge of Christ. But alas there is no such Dauids now a daies It is our fault and the fault of our times that this knowledge is of little or no value and account among men and little fruit thereof to be seene And therfore it is to be feared that God will take this Treasure of knowledge from vs and send strong illusions to beleeue lies because it is little or nothing loued Paul yet further cōmends this knowledge in that he calls it The knowledge of Christ HIS LORD Now he is our Lord foure waies First by the right of donation because all the Elect are giuen to him of the Father in the eternal counsell of Election secondly by creation thirdly by the right of Redemption fourthly by right of headship in that as a liuing head he giues sense and spirituall life to all that beleeue in him And Paul calls Christ his Lord because he beleeued his owne election in which he was giuen to Christ his creation and redemption by him and his mysticall coniunction with him as with his head And here Paul in his example teacheth vs two things The first how we should know Christ and the doctrine of the Gospell For the right knowledge whereof there is required beside generall vnderstand of Christ his benefits with generall assent a speciall Application thereof It is not sufficient to beleeue the election redemption iustification glorification of Gods people but we must goe further and beleeue the very same things in our selues The reason may be taken from the contents of the Gospel For it containes two parts the first is a promise in which Christ with all his benefits is offered and propounded vnto vs. The second is a commandement to applie the said promise and the substance thereof to our selues and that by our faith And he that takes away this second part ouerthrowes halfe the Gospel of Christ. Here is the foundation of sauing knowledge which iustifieth and bringeth life eternall and the foundation of speciall faith The second thing to be learned in Pauls example is that we are to resigne our selues our bodies soules and to render all subiection to Christ. For in that he calleth him Lord he professeth himselfe to be the seruant of Christ. The ende of all preaching is to bring not onely our words and deedes but also our secret thoughts in subiection vnto him And the ende why Christ sits in glorie at the right hand of the Father is that euery knee may bowe vnto him of things in heauen and earth It behooues vs therefore to liue and carrie our selues in our places as true and vnfained seruants of Christ. The second degree in Pauls gradation is That he desires to Gaine Christ. Now to gaine Christ is nothing els but to make Christ his gaine as appeares by the opposition of the wordes For he saith he had deprined himselfe of all things that is made all things his losse that he might gaine Christ. And he is made our gaine if two things be done First he must be made ours that is thy Christ or my Christ in particular secondly we must put our confidēce in him For the first that Christ may be ours a double consent is required Gods consent to giue Christ and our consent to receiue him Gods consent that Christ shall be ours is giuen in the reuelation of the promise touching the womans seed made to our first parents in the continuall renewing of the said promise to our forefathers in the incarnation and birth of Christ in his passion in the preaching of the Gospell in the administration of both the sacraments baptisme and the Lords supper Our consent to receiue Christ is giuen when we beginne to beleeue in him yea when we beginne to be touched in our hearts for our sinnes and to hunger thirst after Christ. And thus by the concurrence of these two consents is Christ really made ours And further yet that he may be not onely ours but also our gaine we must set and fixe the whole confidence of our hearts vpon him alone for the forgiuenesse of our sins and the saluation of our soules For where the gaine is there must the heart be When riches increase we may not set our heartes on them because though they be good things yet are they not our gaine or treasure nowe Christ is not onely a good thing vnto vs but our gaine and the very fountaine of all good things therefore we must bestowe our hearts on him Hence we learne that the Popish religion teacheth wickednesse For it maintaineth that we are not onely to beleeue in God but also in the church it maintaineth an hope and confidence in Saints specially in the virgin Marie it maintaineth lastly a confidence in our owne workes so it be as they say in sobrietie This is to make the creature our gaine and to put downe Christ our Redeemer Againe Paul had said in the former chapter that Christ was his gaine both in life and death and yet nowe he saith that he still desires to gaine Christ. And by his example we learne that in this life our affectious must neuer be satisfied filled with the desire of Christ till we haue the full fruition of him Naturally our desires be insatiable in respect of riches honours pleasures but we must learne to moderate and stinte our selues in seeking earthly things beeing content with the portion that God doth alot vs and the insatiablenesse of our affections must be directed and turned vpon Christ. The woman in the Gospel that had the bloodie ishew desired but to touch the hemme of his garment we must goe further not onely to touch him but also by our faith to lay hold on him as it were with both the hands and to hang vpon him Thomas desired for his contentation but to put his finger into his side we must sette before our eies Christ crucified and his pretious blood as it were a fresh distilling from his handes feete and side and we must not onely touch this blood but sprinkle our selues with it yea dip and as it were diue out selues into it bodie soule and all The third and last degree in Pauls gradation is that he desires to be founde in Christ. And here his desire is twofold the first to be in Christ the second to be found so of God in the daie of iudgement The first To be in Christ is to be taken out of the first Adam and to be vnited vnto Christ as his very flesh or as a true mēber of his mysticall bodie Now this Incorporation and vnion into Christ is a mysterie and for the better vnderstanding of it foure rules must be obserued The first that not onely our soules are vnited to the soule or godhead of Christ but also that
as the first Adam makes vs like himselfe in sinne and death so Christ the second Adam renewes vs and makes vs like to himselfe in righteousnes and life And the head quickned with spirituall life will not suffer the members to remaine in the death of sinne The seauenth effect is to preserue safe sound the gifts and graces which he hath procured by his death and bestowed on them that beleeue and this he doth by the vertue of his resurrection For to this ende hath he conquered all our spirituall enemies and doth by his power conquer them still in vs so as none shal be able to take his sheepe out of his hands The last effect is to raise the bodie from the graue in the day of iudgement to eternall glorie If it be obiected that the wicked are also raised then by the power of Christ I answer that the power of Christ is twofold One is the power of iudgement the other a power of a Sauiour By the first Christ as a iudge raiseth the vngodly that he may exequute on them the curse denounced from the beginning of the world at what time thou shalt eate the forbidden fruit thou shalt die the death The second power is here tearmed the power of Christs resurrection and it belongs to him as he is our Sauiour and by it will he raise to life eternall all those that by the bond of the spirit are mystically vnited to him For by meanes of this vnion this raising power shall flow from the head to the dead bodies of them that are in Christ. Thus we see what the vertue here mentioned is and what Paul desires namely that he may haue experience of these effects in himselfe The vse of the doctrine followeth First of all in that Christ rose for vs and in that his resurrection is of endlesse efficacie here is the foundation of all our spirituall comfort For by this vertue of Christs resurrection frō death to life all our spiritual enemies are conquered and subdued and by the said vertue doth he daily more and more subdue them in vs. Vpō this groūd said Christ Ye shal haue affliction in the world but be of good comfort I haue ouercome the world And this victorie is for vs and it is made ours by our faith as Iohn saith This is the victorie which ouer commeth the world euen your faith Art thou then terrified and afraied with the conscience of thy sinnes with the crueltie of tyrants the rage of the world the paines of hell the pangs of death the temptations of the deuill be not dismaied but by thy faith rest on Christ that rose againe frō death to life for thee therby shewed himself to be a rocke for thee to rest on and to be the lyon of the Tribe of Iuda and thus shalt thou finde certen remedie against all the troubles and miseries of life and death Againe here we are taught to rise with Christ from our sinnes and to liue vnto God in newnes of life and for this ende to pray that we may feele the vertue of Christs resurrection to chaunge and renew vs. Great are the benefites which we reape by this vertue and we are to shew ourselues thankfull to God for them which we can doe no way but by newnes of life Againe the ende why Christ rose for vs was that we might rise from our sinnes and corruptions in which we lie buried as in a graue to a new spirituall life And the reward is great to them that make this happie change For he that is partaker of the first resurrection shall neuer see the second death as on the contrarie he which neuer riseth from his owne sinnes and euill waies shall certenly feele and indure the second death And further it must be knowne that the vertue of Christs resurrection and the merit of his death are inseparably ioyned together and therefore he that findes not the vertue of Christ to raise him to an holy and spirituall life acceptable to God falsly perswades himself of the merit of his death in the remission of his sinnes Christ by rising put vnder his feete all our enemies and ledde captiuitie captiue euen sinne it selfe It is therefore a shame for vs to walke in the waies of sinue and to make our selues slaues and captiues to it Christ by rising from death made himselfe a principall leader and guide to eternall life What wickednes then is it to walke in the waies of our owne heart and not to ' follow this heauenly guide The care and purpose to keepe a good conscience is a certen fruit and effect of Christs resurrection Thus S. Peter saith that the effect of our baptisme is the stipulation of a good conscience by the resurrection of Christ. Where the word which I translate Stipulation signifies an interrogation vpon an interrogation For the Minister in the name of God demandes whether we renounce the world the flesh the deuill and take the true God for our God And we vpon this demaund doe further in our hearts demaund of God whether he will vouchsafe to accept vs being wretched sinners for his seruants and thus we make profession of our minde and desire When Christ rose by the vertue of his resurrection the earth trembled and thereby this bruit creature in his kinde professed his subiection and homage to Christ that rose againe If then we beleeue that Christ rose from death for vs much more should our hearts tremble and we yeeld our selues in subiection to him in all spirituall obedience Some man may say you bid vs rise from our sinnes as Christ rose to the glorie of his Father whereas this is wholly Gods worke in vs and not ours I answer it is so indeed yet can we vse the outward meanes of hearing and reading and if we haue any sparke of grace we can aske and desire the spirit of God that worketh this in vs. Againe exhortations admonitions and such like are meanes appointed of God whereby he worketh in vs the thing which he requireth and commandeth Wherefore let vs listen to the voice of Christ Awake thou that sleepest stand vp from the dead and Christ shall giue thee life And worldly cares must not hinder vs in this worke for as Paul saith they which are risen with Christ must seeke the things that are aboue Againe here we are taught that we may not content our selues if we know Christ in the braine and can speake well of him with a glibbe tongue we must goe yet further and by all meanes labour that we taste and feele by experience how good and sweete a Sauiour Christ is vnto vs that our hearts may be rooted and grounded in his loue This is the thing which Paul aimed at which also we must seeke by all possible meanes to attaine vnto To proceede that we may haue right knowledge of our communion with Christ in his death two points are to be