crucified with Christ and so broken for sinne neverthelesse I live and so am broken from sinne In the first there is a true Humiliation in the second a reall Reformation In both together there is a present Change of the State of Nature into the State of Grace Yea he is so Changed that he is not himselfe any longer not the man he was but â— new man a new Creature and hence it is that he saith I livâ— 2 Cor. 5. 17. Galat. 6. 15. Yet not I non amplius ego not I any longer not I the same man I was but another Not Saul now but Paul Not a persecutour of the Gospel but a Preacher of it Not an Enemy to the Phil. 3. 18. 2 Cor. 11. 30. Crosse of Christ But a friend unto it A lover of it one that gloryeth in it God forbid that I should glory save in the Crosse of Christ by whom the world is crucified in me and I unto the World Gal. 6. 14. I am crucified with Christ that is baptized into the death of Rom. 6. 3 5 6 7. Christ or planted in the likenesse of his Death which was by crucifixion that the old Man might be crucified with him that the sinne of the body and the Body of sinne might be destroyed that henceforth I might not serve sinne for he that is dead is freed from sinne Neverthelesse I live not the lesse but the more Coloss 2. 12 13 by being quickened with Christ and risen with him through the faith of the operation of God Transplanted in the likenesse of his Rom. 6. 4. 5. Resurrection to walke with him in newnesse of life Now the Rom. 7. 24. Body of Death being thus killed in this holy Apostle and the spirit of his minde being thus renewed hee reckons himselfe to â—e dead indeed unto sinne but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Ephes 4. 23. Rom. 6. 12. Uno verbo dici potect concrucifixus Faber Stapulensis in Examin Lord which in other tearmes hee signifieth saying Christo concrucifixus suâ—â— vivo autem as Montanus has it I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am Crucified with Christ there 's his Mortification or the first pat of his Regeneration and in these words we may observe two Remarkables 1 Exemplum A Patterne  and 2 Exemplatum A Parallel The Patterne is our Saviours Crucifixion The Parallel in S. Pauls concrucifixion Our Saviours Crucifixion was in example to S. Pauls And S. Pauls concrucifixion was in imitation of our Saviours Christ was crucified for Paul and Paul was crucified with Christ and wee should all be crucified with both The crucifixion of our Saviours Body for sinne was a patterne to every one of us as well as to S. Paul that all wee might learne to crucifie the Body of sinne in our selves His dying upon the Christus crucifixuâ— est idaea nostrae mortificationis Climac Crosse for our sinnes should teach us all the Apostles way of dying unto sinne Christs crucifixion is the true Idaea of out mortification and a Christian truly mortified is to the life the likenesse of Christ crucified Christ was crucified for all true Christians and all true Christians are as Paul in this was crucified with Christ Our Saviours crucifixion and S. Pauls concrucifixion were both mysterious both full of Paradoxes and our Saviours Person was as paradoxicall as his Passion They are both the subjects of many and many seeming contradictions In his Person hee was made a very contradiction for sinners and at his Passion hee endured the contradictions of sinners In his Person hee Heb. 12. 3. was the great Creatour himselfe that formed every creature yet was a Creature formed by that Creatour His Body was made of his Mothers substance yet hee it was that made the substance of his Mothers Body of which hee was made Hee was made after the World was what hee was not before the World was made yet was hee still after hee was made what he was before the World was made or hee so in it Hee was begotten before his Mother was borne yet was hee borne of his Mother before hee was begotten of her As old hee was as Daniel 7. 9. John 1. 14. 3. 16. the ancient of dayes his Father that begat him and older hee was then his Virgin Mother that gave birth unto him Begotten hee was of his Father and borne hee was of his Mother yet was hee not begotten by his Father as hee was borne of his Mother not yet borne of his Mother as hee was begotten of his Father He was the onely begotten Sonne of his Father and he was begotten of his Father onely His Father begate him without Virgo Mater utiqâ—e admirabilis singularis a seculo non est auditum quod virgo esset quae pâ—perit Mater esset quae virgo permanfit S. Bernard Ser. 10. Isaiah 9. 6. the office of his Mother And hee was the onely Sonne of his Virgin Mother and the Sonne onely of his Mother as hee was her Sonne and borne of her His Mother did bear him without the office of a Father On his Fathers side hee was God and not Man and on his Mothers side he was Man and not God yet betwixt both hee was both God and Man to mediate betwixt both at his first comming and to arbitrate betwixt both at his second No wonder then it was that his Name was called Wonderfull for every thing in him was full of Wonder and his Passion was as wonderfull as any thing His comming into the world had a world of wonder in it and so had his being in it and his leaving of it did leave as many behind it Hee was crucified yet was not crucified Hee suffered yet did not suffer Hee dyed yet did not die and hee rose againe saith S. Ambrose yet did not rise againe And are not all these S. Ambros de Spirit sancto seeming contradictions Is not every period a very Paradox yet all very orthodox and easie to be unriddled Two Natures were united in that one Person of Christ And Christ endured that in one of his Natures which the other could not endure As Man or in his Manhood he suffered was crucified and dyed and rose from Death But as God or in his Deity he could doe neither Thus the Life and Death of Christ were very mysterious full of mysteries and so are the Life and Death of every mysticall Member of Christ Every true Christian is such a Member and this Vessell of Election our holy Apostle was such a Christian Hee was one that had the characters of Christs sufferings in his mortified Body I beare in my Body the markes of the Lord Iesus saith hee Galat. 6. 17. conformed to the mysticall Head of the Church in sufferings Christo concrucifixus crucified with Christ and his estate now was very Mysterious he was both dead and alive at once Crucified
is a signal Conquest for a Man of a fiery Spirit to suppresse his Anger It is with Hercules to conquer one of the furies of Hell It was but Inhumanely spoken by Vitellius upon the Death of Otho as he viewed the Carcasses on the place where they fought the Battail O how sweet a perfume is a dead Enemie But it may be Divinely spoken by one that hath Conquered himselfe or Mortified his sinfull affections O what a savor of life unto life is the Death of such a Mortal sinne Such a bosome Enemy The Sinnes of every Man are every Mans greatest Enemies And the Kingdomes greatest Enemies are the greatest sins of the Kingdome I have been ever more afraid of the Sins of this our Nation then of any Souldiers from forreigne Nations Great talking there hath been of Danish Fleets and other Out-landish Forces But we have more cause to fear our Sea-mens sinnes and the sinnes of our owne Land If God be for us who can be against us And he will be for us if our sins be not against him but our Rom. 8. 31. sinnes are all against him and for their sakes he is against us Were it not for them we need not feare any Danish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St Chrysost Nemo leditur nisi à seipso Fleets or Spanish Armados or Turkish Navies nor all the Pyrates and Powers of Hell We have most cause then to be afraid of our selves to feare our owne sinnes Every Man may well pray as some of old were wont to do Ame Domine serva me Lord save me from my selfe In the Common Prayers when the Minister said Give peace in our time O Lord the People were wont to answer Because there is none other that fighteth for us but onely thou O. God A very strange Reply but not more strange then true for true it is that it is God alone that fighteth for us The Devill he fighteth against us The World that fighteth against us And the Flesh as much as either of both So that we our selves are enemies Quo sugiam poenitendo nisi ad ejus misericordiam cujus potestatem contempseram peccando Tertul. to our selves and fight against our selves And so may fitly pray Lord save us from our selves Now there is no way for us to save our selves from our selves but by turning of our selves to him that fighteth for us Wherefore turne your selves But it is not every turning that will serve the turne There is ease indeed to be had by this turning but this turning is not to be had with ease It is not turning with the Time nor turning to the Time that can turne the Time No but our turning of our selves in time from the sinnes of the Time God himselfe will turne unto our side and When a mans wayes please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him Prov. 16. 7. make us all to turne unto one side or rather turne away all this siding would men on all sides but turne themselves to him Wherefore turne your selves And how ever the Times turne this way and that way backward and foreward Yet let not us turn meer Cameleons in Religion as if we had no colour for it but what we borrow of those which are nearest to us Neither let us be turned about like Weather-cocks with every Wind of New Doctrine Let us not turne and turne and turne with every Polypus and every Proteus and every fantastical Changeling which turne to every new Religion Proteo mutabilior Eras Adag untill they have no Religion left to turne unto Turne not with them that are ever turning their old Religions out of themselves untill they have turned all Religion out of themselves and themselves out of all Religion There need but these two moving in our turning of our selves 1. Downwards 2. Vpwards First Downwards by Mortification Secondly Upwards by Vivification Downwards by a Death unto sinne Upwards by a New Birth unto Righteousnesse Downwards by an Humiliation Upwards by a Reformation And if we thus draw nigh to God he will draw nigh to us He will return to us with much Compassion towards our soules if Jam. 4. 8. Zach. 1. 3. we will turne to him with true Compunction for our sinnes He will be displeased with us for our sinnes till we be displeased with our selves for them For he can never take pleasure in us so long as we take pleasure in that which is so displeasing as sinne is unto him But when we are displeased with sinne in our selves then he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menand Hug. Cardin. l. 3 de Myster Ecclesiast pleased with us When we condemne our selves for sinning so against him we save him a labour we prevent him for condemning of us Paenitentia quasipâ—nientia saith Hugo Cardinalis True Penitency is a punishing of sinne in our selves to save our selves from Gods punishments For God will not for ever punish that which hath been once punished Poenitentia est quaedam doloris vindicta puniens in se quod se dolet commisisse St August Poenitentia quasi paenae tentio Guido de Monte Rocherii in Manipulo Curatorum God hath promised Remission of sinne to those that have Contrition for sinne At what time soever a sinner doth repent him of his sinne from the bottome of his heart I will put all his wickednesse out of my remembrance saith the Lord. But observe it well He that hath promised to pardon a sinner at what time soever he doth turne himselfe or truly repent him of his sinnes doth not promise that he shall repent or turne whensoever he will We cannot repent when we would therefore let us repent when we can We are not sure of time hereafter therefore let us take the present Repentance is a due debt and there is no longer day given in the Bond and therefore the payment must be presently And that 's the third Conclusion We must all turn our selves without delay Therefore also now saith the Lord Turne ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning Joel 2. 12. As it is never too late to amend so it is never Nâ—m sera nunquam est ad bonos more 's via Seneca Tragaed 8. too soon to be good Better late then never but the sooner the better They do well that do amend though it be at the very last But they better that amend sooner And they best of all that amend first of all The sooner men be good the easier it is unto them to grow better And the later they amend the harder it is unto them to grow better or continue good At this time there are many who might by this time have been better then they are had they been good but sooner then they were And would by this time have been worse then ever they were had they not grown better then they were untill this time The evill
with Christ and yet alive neverthelesse But why should wee thinke it strange to heare of a Man alive and dead at the same time Are not all Men living ever so Is not every Man alwayes dead and living so long as hee is a Man or living Alive naturally and dead spiritually or Qui luxuriatur vivens mortuuâ— est S. Hieron ad matr filiam dead mystically and alive spiritually Dead in sinne and alive in Nature or dead unto sin and alive in Grace When Paul was in the state of Nature hee was both dead and alive hee was alive Naturally but dead spiritually But when he changed the state of Nature for the state of Grace he changed the Natures of his life and death He was dead in sinne before but now dead unto sinne or sinne is dead in him Hee lived as a Naturall Man before but now as a Spirituall He lived in sin before but now Grace lives in him Hee is now dead to himselfe dead to his sinnes but alive to his Saviour living to the Lord of life Crucified with Christ and living to him alive in him Now this his mysticall death is very desirable It is rather to be wished then any kinde of Death that Augustus thought of It is a Death that may be lawfully sought for yea it is a Death that men must pull upon themselves as soon as they can with a holy kinde of violence and the more earnest any man is in doing of it the more he is to be praised for it and more worthy of praise is hee that thus killeth the old Man in himselfe then ever Cleombrotus was or Cato or Lucretia for Plato in Phaedone S. August de Civitate Dei l. 1. ca. 19. 23. killing as they did themselves yea hee deserves no praise that does not thus crucifie himselfe This is an Euthanasy indeed and there can be none without it They never can die well that doe not die thus whilst they live Nor can they ever live well that are not thus dead When Paul was crucified with Christ then hee reckoned himselfe to be alive indeed Christo confixus sum cruci vivo autem jam saith hee as the vulgar translation has it I am crucified with Christ and now I live Jam vivâ— now I live as if hee had not lived indeed till now that hee was thus crucified with Christ As hee liveth after his crucifixion so hee liveth by it Hee that layes downe a Duplex hic est miraculum quòd mortuum vitae restituit quòd per mortem Theophil in locum temporall life for Christs sake shall take up one eternall for it and hee that with Paul does part with an evill life does gaine a good one by it yea hee gaines two good ones by it one here and one hereafter for hee shall raigne with Christ that is crucified with him as well as hee that is crucified for him I am crucified with Christ saith our Apostle Christ was crucified and so was Paul but severall wayes Christ was crucified for Paul but so was not Paul for Christ Yet sanâ— sensu in some sense Paul was crucified for Christ but not so as Christ for Paul Paul was crucified for Christs sake and Christ for Pauls But Christ was crucified for Pauls sinnes so was not Paul for Christs Christ had no sinnes of his owne to demerit any crucifixion in himselfe or in any other for him but so had Paul And Pauls crucifixion was for himselfe rather then his Saviour yet it was of the sinnes in himselfe rather then of himselfe in his sinnes It was a crucifying of sinâ—â— in his mortall Body Not a crucifying of his mortall Body in sinne Christ was crucified for Paul in Body and Paul for Christ Per crucem Christi remotus est à me proprius affectus Aquin. Commenta in locum 1 Cor. 9. 27. in Minde Mente orucifixus sum As Theophilact expounds it In minde I am crucified with Christ In minde with him not in person for him It was not a corporall but a spirituall concrucifixion Yet it was in Body as well as Minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I beate my body downe saith hee and keepe in subjection And this subjection of the Body it selfe was spirituall It was not a crucifixion of flesh but of fleshly-mindednesse It was the suppressing of the Rebellions of Nature not the destroying of Nature it selfe The Nature of his life was altered by it But the Life of his Nature was not utterly abolished for still hee lived for all this kinde of Death This concrucifixion was not to Death but Life There are two kinds of concrucifixions 1. Corporall 2. Spirituall Those two Malefactours that dyed when Christ did upon Luke 23. 33. the Crosse were both crucified with Christ But not as Paul was in the Text for one of the two was never the better for that corporall concrucifixion Hee lost his temporall life upon the Crosse with Christ himselfe yet hee got not Life eternall for it from the Crosse of Christ Alas for him His was a Crosse indeed but none of Christs Hee suffered not for Christs sake but for his owne sinnes and there is seldome Life in such a Death A Crosse may be the Tree of Life unto a Penitent theefe But such Malefactours are seldome truely penitent Indeed the Crosse is vita justorum life to the Righteous but mors infidelium Death to the Wicked saith Cassiodorus The true Believer layes hold of an other a better Life then this present 2 Cor. 5. 1 2. Heb. 11. 35. as hee parts with this But the Infidell loseth this and gets no other for it The wretched and impenitent unbeliever by the Crosse of sufferings or by his sufferings upon the Crosse does lose even all his stock of Life and gaineth nothing The believing penitent loseth little and gaineth much hee parteth with a bad life and receives a better for it But our Apostle loseth nothing and gaineth all He gets a new life without giving the old away But his concrucifixion was of an other kinde It was not corporal but spiritual and such concrucifixions are twofold Primarie and Secondarie Now the first of these is that which every true Believer suffered in the Person of Christ when as Christ suffered in the Person of every true Believer For as all that fell by the sinne of the first Adam did sinne with that Adam in his person and Rom. 5. 12. fell in his Person with him So all that are saved by the sufferings of the second Adam did suffer with him in his person and are so saved with him Christiani omnes unà cum Christo tanquam illius membra in cruce pependerunt All Christians as the Musculus in locum members of Christ did suffer with him upon the Crosse The catholick Head of the Church was fastened to the Crosse and suffered for the whole Mysticall Body and all the mysticall Members that are fastened to the Body by
life of Nature But the second life being the life of Grace does give the Grace of life And this life of Grace is the only way unto the life of Glory and to the Glory of that life But first a Man must be crucified before he can be glorified he must die before hee can live and this his dying too must be before his death Hee must be as the Apostle was Dead and alive together Crucified with Christ and yet alive Dead and yet not dead Not dead in trespasses and sinnes and alive in Nature But dead unto sinne and alive in Grace and Nature A live unto God and dead unto the World Like Simon Mat. 19. 27. 2 Tim. 4. 10. Peter that forsooke the World for Christs sake Not like to Demas that forsooke S. Paul to imbrace the present World Like a dead man in the World hee must not doate upon it But live in it as if hee were departed from it Hee must not be like that younger Widdow that our Apostle wrote a warning of unto young Timothy that liveth in pleasure and is dead whilst 1 Tim. 5. 6. she liveth But like our holy Apostle himselfe that lived whilest hee was dead Hee must dy unto sinne before his Naturall Climac in scala Parad i. Death that hee may not dy in sinne when hee must needs dy a Naturall Death If hee suffereth sinne to live in him untill his Naturall Death hee must suffer a Death Eternall for living so in sinne Mans first Birth brings him forth a Sinner his second brings him forth a Saint By his first Birth hee is made what hee was not before his Generation By his Second hee is made againe what hee was not by his First and yet remaineth what hee was His Generation made him a Man His Regeneration makes him more it makes him a good Man a Man of God a Member of Christ This is that that this Apostle intended of himselfe in his state of Regeneration when hee said that hee did live and yet not he I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live yet not I. Now this may set our thoughts to the second Generall of the Text the Reading of the Riddle but I must deale with you as those are wont to doe with others that propose hard Riddles to them I must give you a longer time to consider of it then meerely this time of your hearing of it I must give you untill our meeting next in this place which must God willing be in the afternoone then I shall give you the reading of this Riddle but thus much for this Time S. PAULS CONCRUCIFIXION SERMON Second GAL. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ c. I Must beginne this After-noone abruptly as I ended in the Fore-noone lest I end this After-noone abruptly as I doe beginne and I shall beginne this After-noone where I ended in the Fore-noone that this After-noone I may end with this Text where in the Forenoone I did beginne In the Text I observed two Remarkables 1. The Propounding of a Riddle 2. The Expounding of the Riddle In the Fore-noone you heard the Riddle propounded This After-noone you are to heare it expounded The Riddle was propounded in these words I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live Now it is to be expounded by these words yet not I but Christ that liveth in me Not I but how doe these words Resolve or Reade the Riddle They rather seeme to make an other Riddle or to make the Text like the Prophets Mysticall Vision of a Wheele within a Wheele Here is one seeming contradiction upon an other a Riddle upon a Riddle for first hee sayes I live and then hee sayes not I and so seemes to say and unsay or to contradict himselfe Indeed had hee said no more but yet not I hee had not read the former but made an other But the clausile added in the close discloseth all not I but Christ that liveth in me This like a Key unlocks the Cabinet of the mystery This like an Oedipus unriddles all Like a Clue it guides the Reader thorow the Labyrinth of the Riddle to the Reading of it It shews what life it is that now hee liveth It speakes the change of his life from that of a Naturall man to that of a Christian He liveth now the life of one that is in Christ the Lord of life The life of one that hath the Lord of life Christ Jesus and the life of the Lord now in him not I now but Christ in me Hee cannot now say with the Heathenish Poet Ille ego qui quondam I the same Man that in time past did so and so but with the convert Ego non sum ego I am not I. I live yet not I Not I the same but I an other An other and yet I. I an other Man I a new Man Non amplins ego Not I a meere Man any longer but now a Christian Not I still contrary unto Christ but I a Convert now unto him and so I am not I and yet I am I am still but not still what I was I Acts 23. 6. Phil. 3. 5. Acts 9. 1. 1 Tim. 1. 13. Virgil. Aeneid l. 1. was a Pharisee but now I am not I was an enemy to the Crosse of Christ but now I am not I was a Blasphemer of his most blessed Name sed quantum mutatus ab illo But now how much am I altered from what I was So changed in my selfe I am that I cannot say I am my selfe Yea so unlike I am my selfe that I cannot but say that I am not my selfe It is not I Necesse est ut qui non vivit in se vivat Christus in illo Et hoc est quod â—it Apostolus vivo autem â—am non ego S. Bernard that liveth in my selfe But Christ my Saviour that liveth in mee Hee is not now the Man hee was and yet a Man hee is even as hee was Hee is now a new Man by his second Birth and yet hee is the same Man hee was by his first Hee is a Man still as hee was and still the same Man that hee was and yet hee is an other Man then hee was changed much from what hee was The same Man still in Person hee is and still the same in Parts But in Passions or Affections hee is now an other The same hee is in constitution of Body and in Quantity but in quality of Minde and in conditions hee is an other Man A new Creature It is the same Man that liveth still but he now liveth as an other Man He is not the same in Life His manner of Life is not the same A new Conversation does ever follow a true Conversion This Mutation aimes not at the Transformation of the Man But at the Reformation of his Manners It is not like the Poets Metamorphoses where Jupiter transformes Ovid Metamor lib. 3. Lib. 3. Lib. 4.
saith our Apostle God forbid ye we establish the Rom 3. 31. law Indeed they that are in Christ and have Christ living in them are not under the law but under Grace But how Not Rom. 6. 14. under the law to seeke for justification by it but yet they are under it to encrease their sanctification by it They are not under the Curse of the law to Condemnation but under the Course of the law they are for Commendation Not under the Rigor of it but under the Rule of it And he can never be a true disciple of Christ that will not be ruled by it He that would live with Christ in Heaven must live with him on Earth first He that would be like him in the life of Glory must be like also in the life of Grace And he that would be so must labour to be like him in his Moralls He that is Crucified with Christ must live like one that is so Crucified like one that is dead to sinne like one that is dead unto himselfe like one that hath Christ living in him and that can never be untill the life of Christ be represented in his life in the manner or morality of it It is this that our Apostle S. August Serm. 13. de verb. Dom. cheifely points at in the Text when he sayes Christ liveth in him Vnumquodque secundùm hoc vivat unde vivit Saith Saint Austine every thing ought to live according to that by which it liveth The Body liveth of the Soule And the Soule liveth of Christ Let both then live according to those things that give them life let the Body live so after the Soule and the Soule so after Christ that both soule and body may live together with Christ for ever hereafter It is from this kinde of life that a man may have hope in death And it is by this kinde of life that a man may assure himselfe that he is dead Death unto sinne is best attested by the life of Grace It was by this that Saint Paul could ascertaine himselfe of his concrucifixion By this it was that he knew himselfe to be a Mortified member of the mysticall body of Christ He found Christ living in him and that made him say that he was crucified with Christ It is no easie matter for a man to be as this Apostle was a Mortified Man Crucified with Christ But easie it is for a Man to know he is so if he be so yet many are mistaken in this matter and take themselves to be so when they are not but the reason is they doe not observe the Manners of a Man concrucified They doe not observe how it was with Christ when he was crucified or with Saint Paul when he was crucified with Christ They doe not enquire whether it be so with themselves When Christ was crucified he was Patient and so was Paul Isal 53. 7. in all his sufferings for Christ when he was concrucified Are all we so Are we patient in tribulations Can we suffer our 1 Pet. 2. 23. losses and crosses with patience When our Saviour was reviled he revlied not againe When he suffered he threatned not but Committed himselfe to him that Judgeth righteously Doe we doe so So did S. Paul Being reviled we blesse saith he and being Persecuted we Suffer it and being defamed we intreate 1 Corinth 4. 12 13. Againe when Christ was crucified he was very pious Are we Luke 23. 34. so He prayed for the pardon of his Persecutors doe we so So did the Protomartyr Saint Steven and so did Paul and Acts 7. 60. so doe all that are conformed to our Crucified Saviour And if we do not so it is a signe we are not crucified with our Saviour Againe when Christ was crucified he left the world He neither reckoned of the Pompe nor of the Glory of it And so it was with Paul when he was crucified with Christ The world Gal. 6. 14. was crucified to him and he unto the world Now is it so with us If it be so the world may fawne upon us but we will not S. Aug. lib. de Salu. doc cap. 16. fancy it and it may frowne upon us but we will not feare it If we be crucified to that and that to us we will not Court it for any Pleasure nor Covet it for any Profit We will not Chrysost in Math. hom 55. flatter it nor yet be flattered by it We will not seeke to win nor suffer our selves to be wonne by the alurements of it With Paul concrucified we will esteeme all worldly things as Phil. 3. 8. dung and drosse in comparison of Christ Againe when Christ was crucified he was a dead Man and Crucifixum esse est mortuum esse Musculus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Photius Ephes 4. 19. so was Paul and a dead man does not sinne he that is crucified with Christ as Paul was is dead indeed unto sinne and alive unto God Though sin it self be not departed yet the life of sin is gone Sin is mortified in him Now how is it with us How is sin now committed by us Doe we still sinne with greedinesse Does sinne still live in us and we still love to live in sinne If so we are not yet concrucified True it is that the old sinnes of Man as well as the old man of sinnes must have a time to dy after they be crucified There will be sinne in any Regenerate Man as long as he liveth though he be never so long concrucified before his death For if we say we have no sinne we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Yet if we be truly Crucified with Christ the love of sinne will abate in us yea our loving will turne into a loathing of it and though we carry sinne every whither about with us yet we will not be carried every whither about with sinne There will appeare the power of godlinesse in us Counter-manding the Commanding power of sinne though it cannot alwayes prevaile The flesh lusteth against the spirit Gal. 5. 17. and the spirit against the flesh and these two are so contrary that a man cannot doe the things that he would There is a continuall See Perkins in his combate of the Flesh and Spirit Combate between the Regenerate and the Unregenerate parts of any Regenerate Person Such a Person is like that mysticall purse that has both old and new coyne in it The first and second Regenetatus duplici constat homine interiore nimirum ut â—xteriore Zanch. Miscellan lib. 3. Adams are both in the old new Man a living dead man a renewed man crucified with Christ and yet alive Such a person was S. Paul a person that had both sin and sanctitie at once A person crucified with Christ and so dying daily unto sin but not quitedead unto it or dead it may be unto many sins but not to all or dead to all it may
to usward Ego ante mortem prae malis sum mortua Eras Some pleasant their lives as if the world should alwayes laugh upon them QuaÌ„vis pâ—jor est mundus cum blanditur quam cum indignatur Manchest Al Mondo's Cont. Mortis Jmmortal Sueton. de vita Tiberii Si salvabor salvabor Si praedestinatus sum nulla peccata poterunt mihi regnum coeloruÌ„ auferrâ— Si praescitus nulla opera mihi illud valebunt conferre Heisterbach l. 1. de memor Hist c. 27. VVe are instruments though not causes of our own salvation VVe bring nothing for it but something to it Nothing worth it but somthing with it Dr. Donne not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance saith S. Peter 2 Epist c. 3. v. 9. Both perishing here and perishing hereafter too may be prevented by repenting here in time Euripides brings in Hecâ—ba crying out amain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iam even dead with the very terrors of deathâ— And many in these evil Times have even killed themselves with the feares of being killed But others are still running neerer unto Death and to Damnation â—oo and yet are further every day then other from thinking of either They think they shall not die as yet and therefore as yet they think not of preparing themselves for death by turning of themselves Yea many live as if they thought they should ever live and therefore never think of turning themselves that they might live for ever Tiberius thought that all things came by destiny and therefore neglected all endeavours to prevent or alter any thing And many are like Tiberius at least in deportments if not in judgments They do not endeavour to turn themselves to turn the times to save their lives either in this present world or that to come Yea some are ready to say as that Italian Ludovicus did If we shall be saved we shall be saved And as that Lantgrave of Thuring did which Heisterbachius writes of If we be elected no sinnes can keep us out of Heaven but if we be reprobate no sorrows can keep us out of Hell This is a most irreligious kind of reasoning This is not the way for men to work out their own salvation with feare and trembling This is not the way to perswade them to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure True it is that all that Man can do is but in vain unlesse that God bestows his blessing on it But all in vain it is for Man to expect a blessing from the hands of God unlesse that he will do what God expecteth at his hands for the procuring of it For God will not do all things all alone for them that will do nothing for themselves with him when he is doing for them When God is working in men and for them then they in him must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 workers together with God In vain it is for men to call to In vain do men call to Heaven for help when they withstand the help of Heaven Many do invoke it and yet do hinder it They require help from others and abandon themselves and by their deeds contrarying their words they shew not to have desired what they have intreated and to have intreated that they might not be heard Malvez Romul Tarq. translated by the Earl of Monmouth Heaven for help if they will not use the help of Heaven which they call for In vain it is for men to have any Talents of Grace if they wiâ—l not put them out to use And they that have them and will not improve them deserve to have them taken away from them By Nature indeed we are all dead in trespasses and sinnes and cannot help our selves But when God by the Spirit of Life hath helped us unto the Life of the Spirit then we like men of spirit must bestir our selves to use his help When God Dr. Love's Watchmans Watchword hath begun with us then we must go on with him when he is turning of us then we together with him must turn our selves And being turned we must live too Turn live An early endeavour is then to purpose when it is put on with an earnest endeavour to persevere But it were better to begin late and hold out unto the end then to begin betimes and be presently weary of well-doing There is a Penny Maâ— 10. 22. Gal. 6. 9. promised to him that comes to labour in the Lords vineyard at the eleventh houre of the day But no Salary promised to him that ends his labour before the day of his life be ended We must go on then as well as begin It is Perseverance that crowns Repentance Turning it is that prepares the way of Living And Living it is that perfects the work of Turning Optima paenitentia nova vita Luther We must do the last as well as the first Indeed we can do neither well unlesse we do both But by doing both we may do well And that we may be sure to do so let us both turn and live Wherefore turn your selves and live ye Fâ—NIS St. PAVL'S CONCRVCIFIXION Preached in two Sermons at Hoxne in the County of SUFFOLK By Edw. Willan M. A. Vicar of Hoxne Galat. 6. 14. God forbid that I should glory save in the Crosse of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the World is crucified to me and I unto the World LONDON Printed for RICHARD ROYSTON at the Angel in Ivie-lane 1651. TO THE VVORSHIPFULL ROBERT STYLE Esq his very Generous and bountifull Patron AND TO THE VVORSHIPFULL NATHANEEL THRUSTON Esq his very Worthy Parishoner VVORTHY SIRS IT was by both your Worships that I was placed in the Pulpit where these two Sermons were preached By the one of you it was that I was perswaded and by the other it was that I was presented to it and therefore by both your Worships may both these Sermons be joyntly and justly claimed I shall not disclaime the right of either to them They were both my Service in that pulpit long agoe upon one of your Sabbaths one of my Working dayes But neither of your Worships ni memini male were that day neere to hear them as they were presented to the care be pleased to let them come so neere unto your Worships now that you may reade them as they are represented to the eye Mine Office doth bind me to live not to my selfe but others It makes me a Servant to all by Common Duty But my place to officiate doth make me by Speciall tyes and Service Sirs Your Worships devoted beadsman and poore Vicar EDVV. WILLAN S. PAULS CONCRUCIFIXION GAL. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ that liveth in me THat we are all alive and here together this Day we see But how many Dayes we shall be here Jam. 4. 13 14. Psal 89. 48. Heb. 9. 27. Moriendum enim certum est sed
be in some degrees but not in all There were still peccata quotidianae incursionis though not peccata pravâ— dispositionis in him sins of infirmity he had and sins of inadvertensie though not of high presumption and deliberation There are two degrees of Morall Concrucifixion non servirâ— peccato and mori peccato not to serve sinne and to dy unto sin The first is possible in this life saith Cajetan but not the second NonduÌ„ mortuus sed fixus est noster vetus homo Our old man is not Cajetan in c. 6 Epist ad Roman yet dead saith he but fixed unto the Crosse he is and so made sure for serving Sin any longer This inchoation of our concrucifixion is very feizible in this life But not the consuÌ„mation of it for that is to be affected rather then effected here From the service of sin we may be free but not from sin it selfe whilest here we live It is one of the hardest things in the World to be truly crucified to the World The Practicalls of Christianity are harder then the Theoreticalls And of all the Practicalls this is one of the hardest I would faine say with Paul that I am crucified with Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world but I cannot saith S. Chrysostome And so said Saint Chrysost in Math. Hom. 55 S. August de docu Spirit S. Bernar. in in Cant. Serm. 72. Austine too And so Saint Bernard Yet these were holy Men Concrucified and such as did even Sequester themselves from this evill World But so sensible they were of their owne infirmities in it that they seemed to themselves uncrucified to it They wanted much of Pauls degree of Mortification and wished as much for it But it would not come with wishing Yea Paul himselfe fell short of that Perfection of it which he wished Indeed he freed himselfe from Servitude to sinne though not without much Labour But with that Labour and much more he could not free himselfe from Sinne. Yet neverthelesse but much the more he strove to be as free as he could from sinne And so must we He did and suffered much to be Concrucified He fasted he prayed he watched he laboured he was in wearinesse and painefulnesse in watchings often in hunger 2 Cor. 11. 27. and thirst in fasting often in cold and nakednesse Yet all that he did and suffered would not doe it alone But it was 1 Cor. 15. 10. by the Grace of God that he was what he was All our Endeavours are but in vaine unlesse that God vouchsafes a blessing to them And all in vaine it is to expect a blessing at his hands unlesse we endeavour with our owne It is by Grace Ephes 2. 5. Phil. 2. 12. 2 Pet. 1. 10. that we may be saved yet must we worke out our owne salvation with feare and trembling And give all diligence to make our calling and Election sure we must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 workers together with God in this most godly worke of Morall Concrucifixion We must endeavour the effecting of it and pray the Father of Mercies to crowne our endeavours with his blessing And the Difficulty of the Worke should make us double our diligence to performe it Difficilia quae pulchra the best things are ever dearely purchased and the best workes hardly perfected Facilis est descensus Averni It is an easie matter to descend to Sanctitatis via ardua est Franciscus de Mendoza in li. 1. Reg. cap. 4. Tom. 2. Mat. 7. 13 14. Hell But very hard to ascend to Heaven Ardua est via virtutis Men may passe in the Broad Way and enter in at the Wide Gate without contending But at the Straite Gate there is no entring without much striving There must be vis impressa a violent force impressed upon a stone or any heavy Body to make it ascend And we must offer a kind of violence to our stony Hearts heavy with loades of sinne or they will never ascend to Heaven-ward It is very difficult indeed to be concrucified but not impossible Consider this Apostle and be encouraged This was as unlikely a man before his Conversion as any here Of all men the Jewes were most unlikely to be converted unto Christ and crucified with him And of all the Jewes the most unlikely were the Rulers And of all the Rulers the most unlikely were the Pharisees Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him John 7. 48. It seemes it was a thing unlikely that any such should ever become his Proselites but unlikely things are brought to passe sometimes and this very thing as unlikely as it was was more then once effected for Nicodemus was converted yet was he a Jew a Ruler a Pharisee A man of the Pharisees a Ruler of the Jews John 3. 1. Acts 22. 3 4 19 20. And Paul was a Jew too and a Pharisee too and a kinde of Ruler at least an unkinde Under-officer he was and very pragmaticall in his Office A new commissioner he was made with power Phil. 3. 5 6. delegated to him to enquire after all sorts of Christians and to persecute them all whether they were men or women A pâ—stilent Acts 24. 5. fellow he was as that Oratour Tertullus called him though not in his sense And a mover of sedition amongst all the Jewes and a Ring leader of tumults against the Church of Christ Hee breathed out Acts 9. 1 2. Acts 8. 3. nothing but threatnings and slaughters against the Disciples of the Lord And fearefull havock it was that he made with the Church yet Lupii â—xuit subito induitque agnum Geor. Abbot Cantua Archie de fuga in perse Linus de Passione Pauli Mat. 3. 9. See Archb. Abbot in his six Questions determin'd at Oxford at the beginning of the 5. De sug â— in persecutione Acts 13. 9. Saul abutens vel abusivum eorum Philo. Interpr Arquirius in Dictionario Theologico Eucherius de Nomin Hebraic 1 Cor. 15. 9. Paulus mirabilis vel electus S. Hieronim Arquirius Theolo Dictio John 22. 27. 1 Tim. 1. 15. Acts 9. 15. Acts 8. 1. Philem. 9. Acts. 13. 7. S. Hieronim de claris Scriptorib this furious Persecutour of those Christians was soon turned to a zealous Preacher of Christianity This Wolf was turned soon into a Lamb yea this crucifier of others was himself even crucified with Christ in his Life and suffered for Christ at his Death Let no Man therefore here exclude himselfe from hopes of Heaven Let none dispaire of his own conversion or concrucifixion God is able of stones to raise up children unto Abraham of hard and stony hearted sinners he can make most tender hearted Christians He can make wheate of tares corn of chaffe floure of braâ— good of evill gold of drosse light of darknesse life of death grace of nature Quidlibet ex quolibet A Paul of a Saul This great Apostle was Saul at first that is Superbus proud and lofty as Pharisees were wont to be But he became a Paul at last that is humilis humble and lowly mirabilis vel minimus so Eucherius Marvellous or the meanest Indeed he deemed himselfe the least of all the Apostles as well as the last not worthy to be an Apostle forasmuch as he had so much opposed the truth of the Gospel And it was marvellous indeed that ever hee proved such an Apostle as he did But see what God can do Those things that arâ— impossible with men are possible with God with him all things arâ— possible Mat. 19. â—6 Then be not faithlesse but believing Of the cheifest of sinners see one of the choycest of Saints of a Vessell of dishonour see now a Vessell of honour vas electionis a chosen vessel Of a young Saul that consented to the stoning of that holy Proto-Martyr S. Steven see now an aged Paul that converted Sâ—rgius Paulus Proconsull of Cyprus and from that changing of him unto Christianity had his own name changed amongst the Christians from Saul to Paul as S. Jerome avoucheth The Name of Paul in the oldest holy language soundeth wonderfull and full of wonder we may be that ever the Man was changed so in Namâ— and Nature But let us more admire the Power of God and godlinesse in Paul that did so change him in himself and yet so keepe him in the change that he might truely say as he did I am Crucified Buxtor Etimol with Christ neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ that liveth in me FINIS