fast hold of our former preposition In and to say with the holy Apostles in this place Credo in Deum c. I might be much more plentifull in uses on this subject but that I promised and intended brevitie and therefore this shall suffice Luther said well that there was much Divinitie in Pronounes And here you see that there is some also and that not a little even in prepositions And in Jesus Christ his only Sonne our Lord c. WHere we may first observe as S. Augustine speaketh Quomodo in Patrem sic in Filium credendum est That as we are to beleeve and put our trust in God the Father as I shewed unto you the last day so likewise are we to doe the like in the Son too And in Iesus Christ his onely Sonne c. which shewes him to be God as well as man because we are to put our trust and beliefe in none but only God And therefore Si Deus non sit Filius sed creatura non ergo colendus nec adorandus as the Father goes on If the Son were only man and not God hee were not to be worshipped and adored neither were we to invocate and call upon his Name no nor yet to beleeve and put our trust in him but being God of the substance of his Father as the Nicene Creed professeth The God-head of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost being all one the glory equall the Majestie coeternall as Athanasius Creed hath it therefore we must worship this one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance and as we said I beleeve in God the Father so likewise must we say I beleeve in God the Son yea and in God the Holy Ghost too as I may have occasion to shew more at large if I ever come to the handling of that Article I beleeve in the Holy Ghost Now this doctrine of beleeving in the Son and of his God-head and the like teaches us with the more confidence and boldnesse to rely and depend upon him in the matter of our redemption and to have recourse unto him in any our necessities and troubles whether of body or soule because he is God and therefore able to accomplish and bring to passe whatsoever he hath undertaken and findes to bee necessary and needfull for us And indeed to whom else should we goe as Saint Peter saith seeing he only hath the words of eternall life Ioh. 6.68 And therefore Come unto me saith he himselfe all yee that are heavie laden and I will refresh you and ease you Matth. 11.28 But this doctrine and use comes to be handled almost in every Sermon and therefore I proceed And in Iesus Christ his only Sonne our Lord. Where you see the next circumstance is the two names of this sacred Person that we â—rofesse to put our trust and beleefe in first Jesus then Christ And in Iesus Christ His first Name Jesus was the name appointed him by the Angell Gabriel which was Gods messenger sent unto his Mother the Virgin Mary before hee was conceived in her wombe Luke 1.31 32. where it is said by him unto her Feare not Mary for thou hast found favour with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy wombe and bring forth a Son and shalt call his name Jesus The reason also of the Name being set downe in Saint Matthewes Gospell viz. because hee shall save his people from their sins Matth. 1.21 For the word indeed signifieth a Saviour and Deliverer and therefore is a name fitly given to our Lord Christ because the worke of our salvation both from sin and punishment is wholly and onely wrought by him Wholly because as the Apostle saith He is made unto us of God Wisdome and Righteousnesse and Sanctification yea and Redemption too 1 Cor. 1.30 And therefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Hebr. 7.25 Yea and only too For there is no salvation in any other neither any other name under heaven whereby men can be saved Acts 4.12 And therefore he saith of himselfe I am the way the truth and the life and no man commeth to the Father but by me Ioh. 14.6 So that he that beleeveth in the Son hath everlasting life and hee that beleeveth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Ioh. 3.36 Because as there is but one God so but one Mediatour betweene God and men the man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 So that he may justly say as in the Prophet Torcular calcavi solus I have troden the wine-presse alone and of all the people there was none with mee Esay 63.3 For howsoever there have beene many Iesusses in ancient times as Iesus or Ioshua the son of Nun Moses successour Acts 7.45 Iesus the son of Iosedecke Ecclus. 49.12 Iesus the son of Syrach Ecclus. 50.27 also Iesus one of Saint Pauls work-fellowes called Iustus Coloss 4.11 And these or some of these have had their names also given them by reason of saving and delivering yet their deliverances have not beene like this from which this IESUS the Sonne of God which we professe here to beleeve in doth deliver those that put their trust in him But their deliverance have beene onely corporall this spirituall their 's temporall this eternall theirs from bondage slavery or some pressures of the body this from the most dangerous and fearfull sin and sicknesse of the soule He shall deliver his people from their sins ut supra And therefore as I can never be weary of writing or speaking of this saving Name Jesus but when I thinke I have written and spoken enough could enter into a new discourse of it and begin againe so be you never weary of hearing reading and beleeving in it seeing that through this Name all that beleeve in him shall receive remission of their sins as all the Prophets witnesse as it is said Acts 10.43 yea and rejoyce in it too saying with Saint Augustine O Jesu nomen dulce nomen delectabile nomen comfortans O how sweet how delightfull how comfortable is thy saving name Jesus unto mee For here is fuell indeed to kindle the fire and feed the flame of joy to keepe it ever burning on the altar of our hearts that we can say I beleeve in Jesus i. e. the only Son of God and Saviour of the world This is that joy which when we have once truly entertained no man can take from us as our Saviour himselfe saith Ioh. 16.22 wherewith compare what pleasure soever and it is but griefe all sweet is sowre unto this and there is nothing that may delight but it seemes troublesome and offensive in respect of this as devout S. Bernard hath well observed But this is odor sanitatis saith the Apostle a sweet smelling savour unto God Ephes 5.2 Dulcedo animae sanitas
children Iob 1.6 To which I answer that Christ is called Gods only Son because he alone is his Son by nature and eternall generation and none but he whereas the Angels are his sons but by creation as indeed are all the creatures of the world besides and his elect and chosen children by a more speciall grace of redemption and adoption as it is said As many as received him to them he gave power to be the sons of God even to them that beleeve in his Name Ioh. 1.12 And againe When the fulnesse of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman and made under the Law that he might redeeme them which are under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons Gal. 4.4 5 verses And therefore as S. Iohn saith Behold what love the Father hath shewed on us that we should be called the sonnes of God 1 Ioh. 3.1 So that as I say we are sons indeed by grace and adoption but Christ is his only Son by nature and eternall generation as I said before and none but he And therefore unicus dicitur quia nec comparationem recipit cum creaturis nec similitudinem as S. Augustine speaketh He is called Gods only Son because there is neither comparison nor resemblance betwixt his Son-ship and that of the creatures He being a Son of Gods owne substance for ex ore altissimi prodiâ—i I came out of the mouth of the most high primogenitus being the first borne of all creatures as Ecclus. 24.5 and unigenitus the only begotten Sonne of God as before out of Ioh. 1.18 A Son then begotten not created not of grace but nature before not in time as all the creatures are and therefore an onely Son Hereupon himselfe taking his farewell of his Disciples Ioh. 20. as Mr. Hum. Sidenham hath well observed hee shewes them this intervallum and distance betweene his generation and their adoption in saying I goe to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God not to our Father but to mine and yours This separation implies a diversitie and shewes that God is his Father indeed but our Creator and therefore he addes my God and your God mine by a privilege of nature yours of grace mine out of the wombe as it were of everlastingnesse yours out of the jawes of time And therefore seeing Christ only is properly and truly Gods Son and none but he it may serve thus farre to be a comfort and consolation unto us yea and to strengthen our trust in God in that the love of God hath beene so wonderfull and his mercie so unspeakable towards us as that he hath not spared his owne and his onely Son for us as it is said God so loved the world that hee hath given his onely begotten Son that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Ioh. 3.16 sufficit pro unico The third and last circumstance is that he is called our Lord And in Jesus Christ his only Sonne our Lord So saith S. Paul to us There is but one God which is the Father of whom are all things and wee in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and wee by him 1 Cor. 8.6 And therefore he saith of himselfe to his Disciples Yee call me Master and Lord and yee say well for so I am Ioh. 13.13 For God hath made him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom yee have crucified saith S. Peter Act. 2.36 Now this is as S. Augustine saith because Spoliavit antiquo hostem singulari dominio suo asciscit nos He having vanquished and overcome our old enemie the Devill and spoiled him of all principality and power he now rules and reignes over us himselfe by the power of his Word and holy Spirit guiding and directing us in all our wayes and protecting and defending us in all our dangers so that our spirituall enemies shall no more be able to prevaile against us As also in regard of our redemption because he hath purchased us to himselfe being before captives and slaves of the Devill and therefore may justly challenge a lordship and dominion over us And this may serve first to comfort us That hee being our Lord and we abiding under his protection we need not feare what any enemie whether spirituall or temporall whether Devill or wicked men can doe unto us For if God be on our side who can be against us saith Saint Paul Rom. 8.31 And therefore let us not feare them which can kill onely the body but rather feare him which is able to destroy both body and soule in hell as it is said Matth. 10.28 And indeed in the second place his Lordship over us ought to beget a feare in us towards his holy name according to that of the Prophet If I be a Lord where is my feare Malac. 1.6 For howsoever as he is a Saviour hee most truly deserves our love yet as hee is Lord both of heaven and earth and Judge both of quicke and dead he as justly requires our feare Now both these titles as yee see are here ascribed unto him and given him even in this one Article of our Creed for as hee is in this last clause of it stiled and called our Lord so before hee was called Jesus a Saviour here Dominus which is nomen Majestatis a name of feare and Majestie there Jesus which is nomen benignitatis amoris a name of benignitie and love This shewes him to be an eternall being and a giver of being to all his creatures That that hee is the Authour of our well being that had made our selves in a miserable being so that it had beene better for us never to be than to be in such a miserable estate as either we were all by nature or they all shall be that are and shall be without this Jesus this Saviour uterque hic profitetur Dominus Salvator he is here professed to be both both Lord and Saviour ut pro potestate qua omni suae creaturae dominatur jure metuendum ostenderetur pro bonitate vero qua misericorditèr quosdam salvat dignum dilectione demonstraretur as S. Augustine speakes i. e. that in regard of his power whereby he rules over all his creatures it might be shewne that hee ought worthily to be feared and in regard of his goodnesse whereby hee saves some he might be demonstrated to be worthy likewise of all love but as one saith Many are willing and readie to embrace Christ as Jesus to save them who yet like not to have him urged upon them as their Lord to governe and command them sufficit pro hoc atrticulo Which was conceived by the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Mary THese two circumstances of the conception and birth of Christ expresse to the full the manner how he tooke our humane nature upon him and became man for as all mankind is so generated and brought forth into the
with any jewels stollen from the Aegyptians or fabulous fictions of the Gentiles or sorraine and far-fetcht dresses of humane Arts and Sciences nâ—ither with any other strong and strained lines and the like Sed tantummodo Evangelicis verbis enunciare But fairly smoothly to derive my proofes and interpretation thereof onely from the sacred founâ—aines as I said before For as S. Ierome saith Fides pura aperta confessio non quaerit strophas argumenta verborum that is Subtill and Scholasticall disputes or other verball arguments are no whit requisite in the pure and publike profession and confession of our Christian faith And this sufficeth for the title Now to the words themselves AN EXPOSITION UPON THE Apostles Creed Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem Factorem Coeli Terrae c. That is I beleeve in God the Father Almightie Maker of Heaven and Earth c. WHere first wee are to take notice of the first word Credo I beleeve which shewes as S. Augustine saith Quod non debemus discutere divina judicia sed credere In locum Serm. 181. nec rationem requirere sed fidem simpliciter immobiliter exhibere That wee ought not to question or dispute of divine mysteries but to beleeve them nor so much to require a reason of them as simply and undoubtedly yea immovably and without staggering to submit our faith and credence unto them For there are many things belonging to the salvation of Gods children which if everie plaine and simple man were driven to finde out a reason for upon the paine of his damnation hee were never able to doe it and so consequently could never be saved Nay the most learned and chiefe pillars of the Church of God themselves have beene at a stand in some of them which made S. Paul to cry out Oh the deepnesse of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgements and his wayes past finding out Rom. 11.33 And therefore Succumbat ratio fidei captiva quiescat Humane sense and naturall reason must yeeld and submit themselves when faith comes in place For faith is the evidence of things not seene saith the Author to the Hebrewes Chap. 11.1 that is not perceived or understood by the eyes of the body no nor of the minde neither but onely beleeved to be so because God which cannot lie hath said it is so So that Fides incipit ubi ratio desinit There is no place no roome for faith till reason can goe no farther For if wee could comprehend the deepe mysteries of God by reason then it were knowledge and not faith that should apprehend and lay hold upon them Now our knowledge in this life is imperfect saith S. Paul but in the next life we shall know even as we are knowne and see face to face as we are seene For then that which is perfect being come that which is imperfect shall be done away 1 Cor. 13.9 10. But now in this life abideth faith and hope as there followes vers 13. which gave occasion to S. Augustine so often in his works to call this life Tempus fidei The time of faith and beleeving answerable to that of S. Paul elsewhere Nunc per fidem ambulamus c. Now wee walke by faith and not by sight 2 Cor. 5.7 Againe if by knowledge onely men might attaine unto salvation then none but the great Clerks and learned Rabbies of the world should be capable thereof and the illiterat and ignorant poore man such as S. Peter and S. Iohn were before their calling Acts 4.13 should be quite excluded from all hope of grace and mercie But God whose mercies are above all other his works hath otherwise provided that now by the meanes of faith and beleefe the meane as well as the mightie and the poore as well as the rich may be made partakers of salvation And therefore for use and conclusion of this point let us not strive so much in this life to know as to be strong in faith and firmly to beleeve for if wee beleeve now wee shall know hereafter For too great a desire to know hath wrought our woe it being the only occasion first of our sinne and secondly of our miserie Quod homo voluit scire antequam crederet saith Cusanus That man would know before he did beleeve For by this meanes Arbor scientiae complures privavit arbore vitae The tree of knowledge hath deprived many of the tree of life And never any but heretikes did Concludere fidem intra limites humani intellectus as Alfonsus à Castro speakes that is Shut up their faith within the narrow lists and limits of mans shallow and simple understanding but it is the part and propertie of a true Christian Captivare intellectum in obsequium Christi To captivate and subdue his understanding unto the doctrine of Christ Secondly this word Credo I beleeve tells us that we must not only not dispute in matters of faith but so far subject our reason unto faith that wee doe it also without doubting without staggering For Dubius in fide infidelis est It is scarce faith at all if there be any doubting in it as appeares by that speech of our Saviour unto his doubting Apostle Thomas Put thy finger here and put it into my side and be not faithlesse but beleeve Ioh. 20.27 And Vt aliquid fides vere appelletur certitudinem exigit firmitatem in eo qui eam tenet saith the former Alfonsus that is Whatsoever is properly and truly called faith hath certaintie in it and stedfastnesse of beleefe in him that holds it Otherwise saith hee if assurance and stabilitie be wanting and any the least scruple arising it is not to be accounted faith but doubting only or opinion This being the difference between faith and opinion Quod qui credit tenaciter adhaeret That he which beleeves sticks so close unto his Tenet that no man or meanes shall be able to withdraw him from it or to wry him another way whereas hee that doth but hold opinion onely Sic accedit suae sententiae ut aliquantulum haesitet mobili intellectu assentiat Hee comes but doubtingly and with an uncertaine assent unto it As to the opinions of the Philosophers which were truths onely of consequence upon supposed grounds still disputable and therefore still uncertaine Whereas our doctrine the doctrine of Christians is a truth of foundation without question and therefore not disputed but beleeved and thorowly setled in our hearts by the operation and power of him who is both the Author and the Finisher of it as the Scripture speaketh And therefore in these fundamentall grounds of our Christian faith away with doubting and hesitation For hee that doubteth and wavereth in these is like a wave of the sea tossed of the wind and carried away as S. Iames saith Iam. 1.6 But let everie one amongst us not onely men but women also yea and children
and we that have beene ruled but with an iron rod in the time of the Law able to breake all the kingdomes of the earth to powder have now the golden scepter of grace stretched out over us to guide us thorow the paths of righteousnesse in this world unto the land of everlasting happinesse in the world to come And therefore let us praise the Lord all wee Heathens and sing unto him all we nations because Jesus Christ that is the Anoynted Saviour as well to us Gentiles as to the Jewes is conceived by the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Marie and this sufficeth for his two names Iesus Christ It followeth His onely Sonne our Lord. Where you see that everie good Christian professes to beleeve how that Jesus Christ is first the Sonne of God secondly his onely Son and thirdly our Lord of these in order And first of the first his Sonne First he is the Sonne of God which when you heare Beloved you must take heed that you doe not understand it onely as he was man conceived by the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Marie as followes afterward to be handled in the description of his manhood when we shall come to those articles for so he is usually stiled the Sonne of man as well as of God but here he is to be beleeved the Sonne of God from the beginning before ever he became man or ever man was or indeed before the world was A Sonne Qui non in temporibus esse coepit sed ante saecula sempiternus incomprehensibiliter à patre genitus as Cyril speakes Which had not his beginning in transitorie and fleeting time but was begotten by his Father before all worlds as it is in the Nicene Creed God of God light of light verie God of verie God begotten not made being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made as there followes so that as the Father is eternall so is the Sonne eternall too as saith Athanasius in his Creed Now if any should be inquisitive to know Quomodo aeternus aeternum as S. Augustine speakes how one eternall should beget another seeing according to our naturall reason that which begets is before that which is begotten I might answer as in my former Catechisme about the name of Father Generationem ejus quis enarrabit Who shall declare his generation Esay 53.8 seeing the Angels thereof are ignorant and it is unknowne to the Prophets and therefore Non à nobis discutiendum sed credendum as S. Augustine It is rather to be beleeved than disputed or inquired into too farre but yet because the Lord hath given us many earthly comparisons both in his word and works by which wee may make some resemblances and attaine unto some glimpse of knowledge in those things that are heavenly therefore with the same Father wee will expresse it as plainly as we can to your apprehension and conceit entreating you with him that if there be any thing that you cannot thorowly and plainly understand that yet you would beleeve considering as the Prophet saith That untill you beleeve you cannot understand as S. Augustine reads it Esay 7.9 Intellectus enim est merces fidei as he further saith Understanding is the reward of faith and therefore seeke not to understand that thou mayest beleeve but beleeve first that thou mayest understand afterward Nay thou shalt understand if thou firmly beleevest if not in this life yet in that which is to come when thou shalt see face to face and know as thou art knowne Well then Quomodo aeternus aeternum sayest thou How doth one eternall beget another S. Augustine shall answer for mee Quomodo flamma temporalis generat lucem temporalem Even as a temporall flame or fire doth beget a temporall light where the begotten light is coequall in time to the begetting flame neither being before nor after other so that where there is a flame you may be bold to say there is light and where you see such a light there you may be sure is also a flame or fire so that Ex quó incipit flamma ex illo incipit lux Looke where the flame begins then also the light even at that verie instant of time And therefore as S. Augustine goes on Da mihi flammam sine luce do tibi Deum Patrem sine Filio Shew mee a flame without light and I will beleeve that God the Father may have a time to be without a Sonne but not else but as the light from its verie first beginning begets shining so God the Father from all eternitie hath begot this Son which in some places of the holy Scripture is called the Word of God In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God c. Joh. 1.1 In other places Sapientia Patris The wisdome of the Father as Luk. 11.49 Sometimes Virtus potentia Dei The vertue and power of the Lord other times Brachium fortitudo Domini The arme and strength of the Lord and the like All which shew him to have his verie essence and being with and from God from the verie beginning of eternitie even before all times in this onely to be distinguished from the Father that the Father is of none whereas the Sonne is of the Father and the Holy Ghost is from them both being but one God howsoever three persons so that as learned Mr. Hooker saith The substance of God with this propertie to be of none doth make the person of the Father the verie selfe-same substance in number with this propertie to be of the Father maketh the person of the Sonne the same substance having added unto it the propertie of proceeding from the other two maketh the person of the Holy Ghost so that howsoever in the God-head there be three persons yet wee acknowledge but one God for the Father is God the Sonne God and the Holy Ghost God and yet not three Gods but one God as Athanasius in his Creed and therefore this one God howsoever but one in substance and essence when hee was to make man seemes to distinguish himselfe into persons by saying within himselfe Let us make man in our image according to our likenesse Gen. 1.26 in which words and those immediately going before Et divinitatis unitas personarum pluralitas aperte ostenditur The unitie of the God-head and pluralitie of persons is plainly and evidently shewne For whereas the next words before are And God saw that it was good he presently added saying Let us make man c. which adding of a verb of the plurall number to a noune of the singular number shewes plainly as well a pluralitie of persons as singularitie of essence in the God-head And so likewise doe the two nounes of the singular number Image and Similitude shew evidently Non in Deo esse plura exemplaria That there are not in God more patternes and samples to be resembled than one according to the image and