is not offended in him Why then O thou incredulous Iew wilt thou not receiue thy Sauiour is it because he came poore without any shew of worldly pompe why that should make all men the rather to imbrace him and the more thankefully to acknowledge him because that he which might haue come in Maiestie Cum caelestibus Attended on by Angels would come in pouerty and haue his bed made cum iumentis among the beasts that perish that so by his comming poore we might be all made rich through him and therefore O Iew I doe aduice thee that as thy Fathers accomplished the decree of God in condemning him so doe thou according to the will of God in beleeuing on him and thou shalt be happy for he that beleeueth in him shall neuer perish To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be ascribed all Honour Thankes and Praise both now and for euermore Amen A Prayer O Eternall God who as in all things else so more especially in giuing thy dearest Sonne co-eternall coequall and co-essentiall vnto thy selfe to be made flesh subiect to our humane frailties and in all things like vnto vs sinne onely excepted hast shewed thy goodnesse and thy loue to man to be like thy selfe infinite and incomprehensible we most humbly beseech thee to giue vs grace to know thee and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ to be the onely true God whom to know is eternall life through the said Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen IEHOVAE LIBERATORI FINIS The Fourth Golden Candlesticke HOLDING The Fourth greatest Light of Christian RELIGION Of the Passion of the MESSIAS LVKE 24.46 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thus it behoued Christ to suffer YOu haue heard dearely beloued how miserably man is distressed by sinne The coherence of this Treatise with the former Treatises how he may be releeued onely by the Mercy of God and how this reliefe is applied vnto vs by the Incarnate Word for he is the true Samaritan that doth helpe the wounded man he is the blessed Angell that doth stirre the poole of Bethesda and giue vertue vnto the water to heale our sores to helpe our soules But alas this Angell as yet is but descended and the waters are not troubled and this Samaritan is but alighted and the poore semi-dead Traueller is not set vp vpon his horse to be carryed towards his Inne that is hee hath not yet entred into the waters of tribulations to saue our soules from drowning in Hell neither hath he put our sinnes vpon his backe that we being freed from the burthen might walke on towards Heauen this resteth yet behind and this Tragedie is yet vnheard and therefore though he much humbled himselfe by his Incarnation yet is that nothing it is but the beginning of sorrowes in respect of his sore and bitter Passion For to redeeme our soules from sinne the deepe waters must enter into his soule and all our sinnes must be laid vpon his backe and for our sinnes It behoueth Christ to suffer Hic labor hoc opus est And this is that which we are now to treat of Thus it behoued Christ to suffer CHAP. I. Of the manifold vse and commodities that we reape by the continuall meditation of the sufferings of Christ Three things that mooue attention THere be three speciall things that doe vse to moue attention 1. An eloquent Author 2. An important matter 3. A compendious breuity And all these three doe here ioyne and meete together in this Text of Scripture For First the Author of these words is Christ Luk. 11.49 First the Author of these words is Iesus Christ the wisedome of God Wisedome it selfe so incomprehensibly wise that all men wondred at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth Secondly the summe of these words is the Tragedy of Iesus Christ Secondly the matter is the Tragedie of himselfe the laborious life and the dolorous death of the Sonne of God the chiefest Tragedy of all Tragedies for the Catastrophe hereof hath the effusion of bloud and the mourning not onely of the Sufferer or Parents and Friends but of Heauen and Earth and all the whole world farre more dolefull then the mourning of Hadadrimmon in Valley of Mâ—gyddo The Actors of this Tragedy are Kings Vice-Royes Dukes Scribes Pharises High-Priests Elders of the people The Actors of this Tragedy the Apostles themselues and others all great Christ the King of Kings Herod the great King Pilate the Vice-Roy Annas and Cayphas high Priests Peter and Iudas great Apostles and those that were mute as the Sun the Earth the Stones the Vaile of the Temple and the very Graues did by apparant signes most dolefully bewayle the nefarious death of the Son of God yea more the Angels mourned and the Diuels trembled to behold the same The Theater on which it was acted was Ierusalem The Theater was Ierusalem the very midst and heart of the earth as some imagine according to that saying of the Psalmist Operatus est deus salutem in medio terrae GOD hath wrought saluation in the midst of the Earth Heere is the place where it was acted Hic hic mors vita duello Conflixere mirando Here life and death did striue for victory and here the beholders were men of all Nations Hebrewes Greekes and Romans and the time was their most solemne feast wherein all did â—eete to eate their Paschall Lambe And therefore if there be any Theame that may challenge our eares to lysten and our hearts to meditate vpon the same it is this for this is one of those things that was once done that it might be thought of for euer that it might be had in euerlasting remembrance And the continuall meditation thereof is 1. Acceptable vnto Christ 2. Profitable for vs. For First The continuall meditation of Christs passion what it doth if the rod of Moses which wrought so many miracles in Aegypt and the Manna which fed the children of Israel 40. yeares in the Wildernesse and the Booke of the Law which was deliuered vnto Moses vpon Mount Sinai were to be preserued in the Arke First It is most acceptable vnto Christ as testimonies of Gods loue throughout all generations how much more should we keepe the remembrance of the Crosse of Christ of the Body and Bloud of Christ and of the glad tidings of saluation which we haue by the death of Christ in the Church of God for euermore Our Sauiour gaue but two Sacraments vnto his Church and one of them is chiefely instituted to this end for a remembrance of his suffering for as often as you eate this Bread and drinke this Cup Luc. 22. you shew the Lords death vntill he come 1 Cor. 11.1 And the remembrance of Christs death saith Saint Chrysostome Est beneficij maximi recordatio Chrys hom 8. in Matth. caputque diuinae erga nos charitatis Is the commemoration of the greatest benefit that euer we receiued
worke for euer and euer because he cannot non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to worke by reason of the necessitie of his immutability those things which are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. aeternorum the acts of eternitie and this power is likewise two-fold The power of God in respect of his inward acts is twofold 1 Speciall 1. Speciall to each person 2. Common to the Father Sonne and Holy-Ghost First The speciall power is that which pertaineth vnto one person and not vnto the other as potentia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the power of begetting is proper vnto the Father and not to the Sonne nor to the Holy Ghost because this Power is his Power as hee is a Father and not as hee is God therefore it is proper and not common because that for the Father to beget and not to be begotten and for the sonne to be begotten and not to beget and for the Holy Ghost to proceede and not to beget nor to be begotten are Proprietates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 personall proprieties whereby the persons of the Godhead are distinguished betwixt themselues Secondly the common Power 2 Common is that which doth appertaine to each person in generall as well to the one as to the other as the Power of working those internall operations which are common vnto the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost such as are those acts of louing each other vnderstanding each other and the like Secondly the Power of God considered All the outward actions of God are comâ— on to each person of the Godhead in respect of his outward operations is that whereby God created all things gouerneth all things and can doe all things whatsoeuer pleaseth him And this is so common to the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost that it is most rightly said that opera trinitatis ad extra sunt indiuisa The outward workes of the Trinity are indiuisible that is common to each person And therefore this Power of God in respect of these outward operations though in our Creed it is ascribed vnto the Father lest that because he is called Father we should imagine some defect and impotency to bee in him as to the Sonne we finde Wisedome ascribed lest that because he is called Sonne we might conceit some ignorance or in experience to be in him yet as the wisedome of God Gen. 1.2 Iohn 1.3 Heb. 1.2 Iob 26.13 so is this Power of God and the workes of this Power common to each person of the Deity as we may see in the first of Iohn and the third Heb. 1.2 Gene. 1.2 Iob 26.13 And we find this Power of God to be 1. Proper vnto God 2. Absolute in all things That the power of God is so proper vnto God as that it cannot be communicated to any creature First It is proper yea so proper vnto God alone as that it cannot be communicated to any creature no not to the humanitie of our Sauiour Christ because the humanity existing and hanging vpon the crosse was not able to helpe it selfe but was faine to cry vnto his Father My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And therefore Aquinas doth most truely conclude that the soule of Christ was not capable to receiue into it selfe infinite Power no more then a creature is able to containe or comprehend his Creator and yet I confesse with the Apostle that in him Coloss 1.9 i. e. in the person of Christ dwelleth the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily yea and that the man Christ Iesus receiued grace not by measure Sed vsque ad plenitudinem but euen vnto the fulnesse i. e. so much as a creature is any wayes capable of because the Godhead did Communicate such perfections vnto the humanity as the condition of a creature could possibly beare yet is it manifest that all those perfections and excellencies wherewith the manhood of Christ was indowed and innobled were all of them created excellencies because no attribute of God can be Communicated vnto any created substance because euery attribute of God is God himselfe but whatsoeuer is giuen â—nd bestowed vpon any creature must needs be a created thing and therefore neither the wisdome nor the power nor the goodnes which are attributed vnto God as they are the essentiall properties nay the very Essence of God it selfe can be any wayes communicated to any thing but that which is communicated vnto vs must needes be some other thing from them as the goodnesse which we haue is a created goodnesse and not that nor any part of that goodnesse which is in God and therefore though the Power Wisedome and goodnesse of God as they are God himselfe are indissolubly vnited by a personall vnion vnto the humanity of Christ innobled with all possibly created excellencies yet are they so proper vnto the Deity as that they cannot be communicated to be the Essentiall properties of it or of any other creature whatsoeuer and so the very names of them that they are the properties of God doth sufficiently shew that they cannot be the properties of any other thing Secondly as this Power of God is proper vnto God alone so it is absolute because it is not so limited by the vniuersall Law of Nature That the Power of God is absolute in three respects as if beside or aboue it God could not do any thing that he would but it is plenary and vniuersall because nothing is vnpossible vnto him but that without all limitation or determination he can do all and euery thing which howsoeuer and whensoeuer it pleaseth him And it is called absolute or omnipotent in three respects First because he can doe whatsoeuer he will doe First he can doe what he will Psal 135.6 for whatsoeuer pleaseth the Lord that did he in Heauen and in Earth and in the Sea and in all deepe places and the Wise man saith that he can shew his great strength at all times when hee will and it is worth the obseruing that as he can doe what he will Sap. 11.21 so he c n doe it as he will he need but say the word and they are done Let there be light and there was light Gen. 1.3 He can do any thing without meanes with meanes with small meanes and many times contrary to the nature of the meanes that hee vsually vseth Without meanes as in creating all things of nothing with meanes Hosea 2.21 as to fructifie the earth by the dropping of the cloudes Psal 77.20 with weake meanes as to leade his people out of Egypt by the hands of Moses and Aaron and by the foolishnesse of Preaching 1 Cor. 1.21 to saue those that beleeue and contrary to the nature of meanes Sap. 19.20 as when to let Israel passe through it he caused the red Sea to stand vpon heapes and to preserue the three children Dan. 3.27 he made the fire to forget his owne vertue and not to singe
other by creation then is the second a creature and therefore but one God vncreated and if one bee from the other by generation then the first gaue the second either a part or his whole substance if a part then is God partible may be diuided which cannot be said of such spirituall indiuidible substance and if the first gaue the rest his whole Essence then haue all the same Dietie and so all must be the same Godhead And so Anâ—isthenes saith it was the opinion of the best Philosophers Plures esse Deos populares vnum naturalem That although the people worshipped many Gods yet indeed there was but one onely God by Nature And therefore against the Valentinians thirty couple of gods Jrenaeus contra Valentin and all others that professe many gods it must needes follow euen from reason it selfe that there can be no more gods but one not specificall but numericall i. e. so absolutely one Tertul. l. contra Hermog e. 17. that he is one alone besides whom there can be none other and is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely one for we deny all number in the Deitie vnlesse you meane in the personall proprieties and therefore Gregory Nissen saith well Quod in multitudinem extendere numerum Deitatum eorum duntaxat est Nyssen ad Eustach l. de trin qui laborant multitudinis deorum errore That to extend the number of the Deities into a multitude belongs onely vnto them which doe erroniously maintaine a multitude of gods for the Catholicke faith is this that wee should worship the Trinity in Vnity and the Vnity in Trinity that is Basilius Ep. 141. ad Caesarium the trinity of Persons and the vnity of Essence because all number is to be reiected from the Essence of God saith Saint Basil For the Diuine Essence is so simple and so numerically one that no diuersitie can be giuen whereby the very persons doe differ in regard of the Essence and therefore in respect of this identitie and vnitie of Essence in the three persons of the Godhead our Sauiour saith I am in the Father and the Father in me Iohn 14.10 Wherupon Saint Cyril addeth further for the explanation of the same that we may not say that the Father is from the Sonne nor contained in the Sonne nor the Sonne to be in the Father as we are said to be and to liue in God for that we are onely by the effects of his grace he in the vnitie of his essence i. e. wee are one with God by grace but the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost are one by Nature so that whatsoeuer the Father essentially is the Sonne is the same and the holy Spirit is the same That the Essence of God is distinguished into three persons Gen. 1. And yet we must know that this one onely one indiuisible Essence is distinguished into three persons which we call the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost for so the Scriptures plainely teach vs as Let vs make man in our image and behold the man is become like one of vs saith the Lord himselfe to shew that in this vnity of Essence there is a plurality of persons and againe the Lord rained vpon Sodom and vpon Gomorrha from the Lord out of Heauen Gen. 19. that is the Sonne rained from the Father as Iustin Martyr Tertullian Epiphanius Cyprian Irenaeus Eusebius Cyrill Sozomen the Councell of Smyrna held in the yeare of Christ 336. Socrates Eccl. hist l. 2. c. 30. wherein Marcus Arethusius against the heresie of Photinus and many others doe so expound that place And so the three men that appeared vnto Abraham and that Heauenly harmony of Cherubims saying Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabboth Esay 6. doe sufficiently declare the Trinitie of persons in the Vnity of Gods Essence Ob. But then it may bee some will say these and the like places are too obscure to confirme the truth of so great a point Sol. Why God did not fully and plainely reueile the mysteries of the Trinitie at the first I answere that God at first would not shew this great mystery vnto all lest that being so prone as they were in the infancie of the Church to fal into Idolatry they should shake off the seruice of the true God therby be drawn to worship many Gods but the more his Church did increase in abilitie to vnderstand the more did God reueile vnto it both this mystery of the Trinitie and also many other mysteries of the Incarnation Passion Resurrection and Ascention of Iesus Christ And therefore what hee obscurely shadowed in the time of the Patriarchs hee did more cleerely shew vnto his Prophets and most plainely in the time of the Apostles proclaime the same vnto all people For Christ bad them goe and baptize all men Matth. 28. in the name of the Father and of the Sonne 1. Iohn 5. and of the Holy Ghost And so Saint Iohn saith there be three that beare witnesse in Heauen the Father the Word and the Spirit And yet these three be but one saith the Apostle For as in one Sunne there are the body of the Sunne the Sunne beames and the heate Aug. de Trinit the beames are begotten of the Sunne and the heate doth proceed both from the Sunne and the Sunne beames but the Sunne it selfe proceeds from none Euen so in the one Essence of God there are the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost the sonne is begotten of the Father the Holy Ghost proceeds from both but the Father is of himselfe alone and as the fountaine begets the brooke Jdem de verbis Domim and both the fountaine and brooke doe make the Poole and yet all three is the same water so the father is the Fountaine which begets the Sonne and from the Father and Sonne proceeds the Holy Ghost That there are certaine similitudes of the Trinity to be seene in the creatures and yet is the Deity of all three the same in like manner the fire hath motion light and heate and yet but one fire and in the soule of man there are three faculties the vegetatiue the sensitiue and the rationall and yet but one soule and in all other creatures wee may behold certaine glimpes and similitudes that doe after a sort adumbrate and shadow out this ineffable and inexpressable mysterie for by their greatnesse we may consider the power of the Father by their beauty we may see the wisedome of the Sonne and by their vtilitie we may note the goodnesse of the Holy Ghost God left not himselfe without witnesse no not wholly of the manner of his subsistence if not to proue this blessed mysterie yet at least to illustrate it Thom. p. 1. q 32. art 1. and to proue as Aquinas saith Non esse impossibile quod fides praedicat That those things are not impossible which faith preacheth But it may be some
will aske touching my former illustration why is power ascribed to the Father Wisedome to the Son Quest and goodnesse to the Holy Ghost whereas all and each of the three persons haue the same power wisedome and goodnesse Saint Augustine answereth that amongst the creatures Resp it is wont to be obserued that in a Father is found a defect of power by reason of his antiquitie in a Sonne is seene ignorance by reason of his youth and inexperience of things and in the name of a Spirit there seemeth to be a kinde of fearefull vehemency Esay 52. as Quicscite ab homine cuius spiritus in naribus eius Whose Spirit is in his nostrils and therefore least the like might be thought to be in these Diuine persons we find power ascribed to the Father wisedome vnto the sonne and goodnesse vnto the Holy Ghost whereas indeed each one of them is of the same power wisedome and goodnesse as the others bee And although the Essence of God can neither be diuided nor distinguished yet the three subsistences or the three diuers manner of being in the Diuine Essence which we call the three persons The three persons are distinguished one from another two waies Father Sonne and Holy Spirit may be distinguished two wayes 1. By their personall actions 2. By their nominall relations First the actions of the persons are either 1. Outward or 2. Inward The outward workes of God are common to each person of the Trinity First all outward actions are called communicable because although after a sort they are appropriated to each person as the Father to send the Son and to create the world the Son to be sent to be Incarnate to redeeme mankind and the Holy Ghost to appeare in the form of a Doue like clouen tongues of fire to worke in our hearts for our consolation and sanctification yet Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indiuisa these outward workes of the Trinitie are so indiuisible that we cannot so properly ascribe them to any one but we finde that they may be likewise ascribed to any other for as Nazianzen truly affirmeth of the three persons themselues Non possuÌ„tria discernere quin subito ad vnum referar nec possum vnum cogitare quin trium fulgore confundar So may we say of their outward operations that although they be affirmed of one yet may they presently be referred to all three and so we finde them in many passages of the holy Scriptures as redemption and sanctification to the Father Act. 20.28 1 Pet. 1.2 Creation and Sanctification to the Sonne Iohn 1.3 1 Cor. 1.2 And creation and redemption to the Holy Ghost Psal 33.6 Ephes 4.30 And besides these outward operations are transient voluntary for that God in these things is Liberrimus Agens A free Agent so that he might haue chosen whâ—ther to doe them or not doe them and therefore in all these workes Election Creation Gubernation Redemption Sanctification Glorification there can be ascribed none other cause but quia voluit because he would for whatsoeuer pleased the Lord that did he in Heauen and in Earth in the Sea and in all deepe places And therefore these outward actions and so likewise those names which are giuen vnto these persons in regard of these actions as Creator vnto the Father Redeemer vnto the Sonne Comforter and sanctifier vnto the holy Ghost are not altogether sufficient to expresse the differences of these persons Secondly the inward actions of these persons are 1. Permanent 2. Necessarie 3. Incommunicable First they are so permanent The inward actions of God are euer in doing that as the Sunne doth alwayes beget his beames and both Sunne and beames doe send forth the heate so the Father from all eternity euer did and now doth and euer will beget his Sonne and both Father and Sonne doe spire and breath forth the Holy Ghost and therefore Origen saith excellent well Origen hom 6. in Ierem. Saluator noster splendor est gloriae splendor autem non semel nascitur deinceps desinit nasci c. Our blessed Sauiour is the brightnesse of Gods glory Sed quotiescunque ortum fuerit lumen ex quo splendor oritur toties oritur splendor gloriae Luke 12. but the brightnesse of glory is not once begotten and then afterwards leaues to be begotten but as often as the light riseth from whence the brightnesse springeth so often doth the brightnes of glory arise And our Sauiour saith he is the wisedome of God but the wisedome of God is the brightnesse of that eternall light Et ideo saluator semper nascitur The Father doth euer beget the Sonne And therefore as the Scripture saith Ante colles generat me Before the Mountaines were laid he begetteth me and not as some doe erroniously read it Generauit me He hath begotten me So the truth is that the Sonne of God is euer begotten and the holy Spirit euer proceeding Secondly these inward actions are no voluntary operations The inward actions are necessary I meane such as that the Father might either beget the Sonne or not beget him and the Father and the Sonne might either spire forth the Holy Ghost or not spire him forth but they be so absolutely necessary that they cannot otherwise be Cyrillus l. 1. c 3. thesauri because it is the property of the nature of God the Father to beget God the Sonne as it is for him to be a God so that he can no more relinquish or leaue to beget the Sonne then hee can leaue to be a God as Saint Cyril sheweth And Thirdly these inward actions are so incommunicable The inward actions are incommunicable that whatsoeuer is proper to the one can no wayes be ascribed to the other Quia hoc est proprium patris quod solus est pater quod ab alio non est nisidse For this is the property of the Father that he alone is the Father Et hoc est proprium filij quod à patre genitus est solus à solo hoc est proprium spiritus sancti quod nec genitus nec ingenitus est sed à patre filio aequaliter procedeus and that he is not from any other but onely of himselfe and this is the property of the Son that he alone is begotten of the Father alone coequall vnto him and coessentiall and this is the propertie of the Holy Ghost to be not made not begotten but from the Father and the Sonne equally proceeding And therefore we say that these incommunicable and proper operations of the persons doe so make the true and reall distinction of the persons that the Father cannot be the Sonne nor the Holy Ghost that the Sonne cannot be the Father nor the holy Ghost and that the Holy Ghost cannot be the Father nor the Son so that in a word all three is the same Essence and yet neither of the three can
be the person of the other Secondly from these inward operations of these persons doe proceed the nominall relations of the one vnto the other as father Sonne and Holy Ghost which doe likewise make a true reall distinction of the persons for the Father is not a name of Essence but of relation vnto the Sonne and the Sonne is not a name of Essence but of relation vnto the Father and so the Holy Ghost proceeding is not a name of Essence but of relation to the Father and the Sonne and therefore these names are so proper to each person that the name of the one cannot be ascribed to the other But you wil say that the Sonne is called Father as Esay 9.6 Sol. he is said to be the Father of eternities I answere that the name of Father is taken two wayes 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Essentially 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Personally Ob. First Essentially and so in respect of the creatures each person of the Trinitie may be rightly tearmed Father The name of Father is taken two-wayes Secondly personally and so the first person onely is Father because he onely doth beget his sonne And thus you see that although the Diuine Essence is onely one yet that there are three persons in this one Essence not that the Essence begets either Essence or person but because the person of the Father begetteth the person of the Sonne and both Father and Sonne doe eternally spire and send forth the person of the Holy Ghost Athana 2. Dialog de Trinit But for the manner how the Father begetteth the Sonne or how the Father and the Sonne doe spire and send forth the holy Spirit I must answere as Galenus did Galenus l. 15. de vsu partium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a point farre inferior to this which is of infinite profundity How this is done if you enquire you will be taken for one that hath no vnderstanding either of your owne infirmity or of the power of the Creator And the Fathers doe often dehort vs from the curiosity of explaining the manner of diuine mysteries for that worthy Nazianzene saith You heare the generation of the Sonne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazian orat 1. de theolog 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That we should not enquire too farre into the manner of Diuine Mysteries be not curious to know the manner You heare The Holy Ghost proceedeth be not busie to enquire how And in another place he saith Let the generation of God be honoured with silence it is much for thee to haue learned that he was begotten As for the manner how wee grant it not to be vnderstood by Angels much lesse by thee If the Fathers of the Councell of Lateran had followed the councell of this Father they had neuer gone so farre to enquire how Christ is in the Sacrament and so positiuely to conclude it to be by that vnheard vnknowne incredible and impossible way of transubstantiation And therefore if we would not erre with them or beyond them in this point farre more difficult then that let vs not be too curious to enquire how these things can be but let vs faithfully beleeue them to be a Trinity of Persons in the vnity of the Diuine Essence and each person to haue the whole Diuine Essence so communicated vnto it as that all the three persons must needes be co-eternall co-essentiall and co-equall But because the second Person which is the Sonne and which the Euangelist here meaneth by the Word as hereafter I shall shew vnto you was incarnate and made flesh you must giue me leaue to insist chiefly vpon that person and to discusse these three especiall points concerning the same 1. Touching this person how excellent he is 2. Touching this name here vsed why hee is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word 3. Touching this worke why he was incarnate and made flesh For the first I will onely shew these three things 1. That for time he is God Three things handled touching the person of the Son co-eternall 2. For nature co-essentiall and 3. For dignity co-equall vnto his Father CHAP. III. Of the Coeternity of the Word with his Father That the Word was before he was made flesh FIrst That this Word was before he was made Flesh the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first vsed here and the second in the fourth Chapter to the Galathians doth make it plaine for that they signifie one that first was and afterwards was made that which hee was not And therefore hee doth not say that the Word was made first and then was made Flesh but that the Word which in the beginning and before all beginnings was in the fulnesse of time was made flesh And this may be further proued by almost infinite arguments as First He is the Sonne of the Father the wisedome and the power of God and therefore either the Father was without a Sonne and then he could be no Father and God was without his wisedome and without his strength or else he was neuer without his Sonne but to say that God was without his wisedome or without his strength Aug. ep 6.6 is most absurd Ergo Non ex tempore genitus est qui cuncta tempora condidit And therefore he was not begotten in time which created all times saith Saint Augustine Secondly He is God for Si Dietas verbi non nostrae est insita carni tum Christus falsi corporis vmbra fuit Either Christ is God or he is no man nor any Sauiour of man and he is no titular God but by Nature God hee is the true Iehoua which was which is and which shall be And therefore euerlasting for thou art God from euerlasting and World without end But That Christ is a true God is proued That he is a true God both apparant Scriptures and vnanswerable reasons drawne from Scriptures doe make it plaine For First from Scriptures First The Scriptures call him the true Ieheua as we may see by the collation and comparing of these places viz. Exodus 3.2.13.4.14.24.20.2 and Acts 7.30.32 1 Cor. 10.4.9 c. And so the Scriptures call him God as Gen. 32.28 Psal 45.7 Esay 7.14 Mathew 3.3 Heb. 1.8 And therefore Saint Iohn saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Word was God And Christ himselfe saith Iohn 17.3 This is eternall life to know thee to be the onely true God and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ For these words are thus to be expounded that they know thee and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ to be the onely true God because these two persons are but the very selfe-same Essence So Thomas saith vnto Christ My Lord and my God Iohn 20.28 And so we finde the same truth expressed Acts 20.28 Rom. 8.5.1 Iohn 3.16 1 Iohn 5.20 1 Tim. 3.16 Psal 47.6 and in many other places of the Scripture which wee may
proued and that the Holy Ghost is God as all the holy Fathers haue as sufficiently confirmed yet that there are not three Gods but one God Athan. in Sym. as Athanasius sheweth therefore it must needs follow that all three haue but one and the selfe-same Essence and consequently that the Sonne is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Patri Consubstantiall or co-essentiall vnto his Father and therefore also hence it must needs follow that as Caluin saith our Sauiour Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A God of himselfe independent as absolute as the Father is And yet for the better vnderstanding of this point how Christ may be said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God of himselfe Thom. p. 1. q. 33. we must consider that Aliud est habere essentiam Diuinam à seipso How Christ is God of himselfe aliud habere essentiam diuinam à seipsa existentem It is one thing to haue his Diuine Essence from himselfe and another to haue his Diuine Essence existing of it selfe To say that the person of the Sonne hath his Diuine Essence that is his personall being from himselfe we cannot because it is from the Father the Father communicating his whole Essence vnto the Sonne and therefore we say that the Sonne Ratione 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in respect of his personall being is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God of himselfe but God of God and Light of Light as the Nicen Councell hath it because the person of the Sonne existeth from the person of the Father but to say that the Sonne hath his Diuine Essence existing of it selfe Idem ibid. is most certaine Quia remota relatione ad patrem sola restat essentia qua est à seipsa for taking away the relation of the Sonne vnto the Father there remaineth but the Essence which is of it sâ—lfe and therefore we say that the Sonne Quoad essentiam absolutam In respect of his absolute Essence is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A God of himselfe because the Essence of the Sonne is the very same that the Essence of the Father is And so to this truth set downe by Caluine Bellarmine himselfe subscribeth Bellar. de Christo But the old and new Arrians cannot endure to yeeld him to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same Essence with his Father but rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of some other such like Essence but not of the same substance as Athanasius sheweth Athan. in l. de expositione fidej And therefore they doe obiect First against the Word here vsed by the Fathers to expresse this truth Secondly against the truth and true meaning of the matter contained and declared by this Word Ob. Idem in l. de decret Con. Nicen. First for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though first found out by themselues yet of all others the Arrians could not indure it as Athanasius witnesseth because as they said neither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 essence nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same essence can be found any where in all the Scriptures Sol. That the word Essence is plainely deriued out of Scriptures Rom 1.20 To this Epiphanius answereth that although the name of essence in plain tearme is not found either in the Old or New Testament yet the sense and signification thereof the Synonomie and aequiualencie of the same is obuiously found in many places for the Apostle speaketh of his eternall power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Godhead and what is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Godhead but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very Essence of God Philip. 2. and so he speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the forme of God but the forme of any thing is no lesse Philosophicall then the Essence of that thing and Saint Peter saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That wee might bee made partakers of the Diuine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 but the nature of God and the Essence of God are both the same Besides Essence is deriued of esse to be and it is the abstract of the name or Word which in the concrete is called ens being but God is said to be both ens esse Exod. 3.14 the chiefest being and to be in the Scriptures as ego sum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am that I am and hee that is hath sent me vnto you and therefore if the Scriptures call him ens the being why may not we call him essence for though it cannot be well said That abstract names are most agreeable to God that man is humanitie in the abstract yet because God is most simple by nature we may as well speake of him in the abstract as in the concrete nay the abstract names are more properly agreeable vnto him then the concrete as to say that he is Truth rather then true Wisdome rather then wise iustice Dionys de Diuin nominibus rather then iust and so essence or being rather then to be as Dionysius saith And further we finde the word Essence vsed in the Scripture for where the prodigal Child saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luc. 15.12 Father giue me the portion of thy substance which pertaineth to me he vseth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to expresse his fathers substance and what is the riches or the substance of God but his Diuinitie and therefore the word Essence is not improper nor altogether inuented without Scripture to expresse the Nature of GOD. And for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 coessentiall or of the same essence That the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same Essence was not first vsed by the Fathers of Athanasius time the fathers answere that it was not first inuented by the fathers of the Nicen Councell as the Arrians falsely affirmed for one of themselues denying the Deitie of Christ said that if they should yeeld Christ to be a true God then must it follow that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same essence with God whereupon Hosius and the rest of the Orthodox fathers concluded that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same essence with God and it was vsed long before that time though not controuerted by Dionysius Romanus Dionysius Alexandrinus Origen Theognostus and others as Athanasius affirmeth Secondly they say that it was not so far fetcht as the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of another essence and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the like essence which themselues vsed to deny the coessentiality of the Sonne of God with his Father so free were they to deuise what they would to maintaine errours and so strict against the defenders of the truth Thirdly Luk 6. Deut 7.6.14.2.26 Ambros l. 3. c. 7. de fide they alleadge that the Scriptures vsed the like words as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Moses calleth the children of Israel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate a speciall people or a peculiar chosen people vnto himselfe a people as
it were of the like nature with God Fourthly they affirme that although the word it selfe is not found in the Scriptures yet that the full sense and meaning of the word is plainely found Aug. tract 79. In Joh. Cyrillus l. 1. de trinit as Saint Augustine doth most excellently proue out of those words of our Sauiour I and my Father are one Iohn 10. And that it is deriued from the Scripture for it is deriued of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Essence and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is deriued of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Lord saith of himselfe Ego sum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am he that is or I am that I am Exod. 3. And therefore seeing this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their verball winde shakes no corne nor cannot derogate any thing from the coessentiality of this word with his Father they proceed against the matter And so Secondly they doe obiect against the truth of the matter declared by this Word And First they argue thus Whose wils are diuers their natures Ob. 1 and essences are diuers but the will of the Father and of the Sonne are diuers for the Sonne saith vnto his Father Father if it be possible Matth. 26.39 let this cup passe from me neuerthelesse not as I will but as thou wilt therefore their Essence must needes be diuers Sol. That Christ as he hath two Natures so he hath a two-fold Will. I answere that the proposition is to be distinguished for whose wils are diuers hauing the same natures their natures must be diuers but in Christ there are two natures diuine and humane and therefore that his will is diuers or not the same will as his fathers is in respect of his humane nature though it be alwayes subiect and agreeable to the same we easily grant but that his will in respect of his diuine nature is any wayes different or diuers from his Fathers will we vtterly deny and we say not that the whole person of Christ but that Christ in respect of his diuine nature as he is the second person of the Trinitie is co-essentiall vnto his Father and therefore though the will of Christ as he is the Sonne of man be not the same as his Fathers will is yet that doth not proue the will of Christ as hee is the Sonne of God to be not the same as his Fathers will is because Christ hath a two-fold will the one as he is the eternall Word and the other as he is made Flesh Ob. 2 Secondly they say he that is mediator betwixt God and men is not of the same essence with God but Christ is the Mediator betwixt God and men 1 Tim. 2.5 saith the Apostle therefore he cannot be of the same essence with God Sol. That there are two sorts of Mediators I answere that the proposition is to be distinguished for it is true of such a mediator as Moses was the Messenger of God to men but it is false of such a Mediator as reconcileth wicked men to God by appeasing his wrath and making satisfaction for their sinnes for that no man can do so but he that is God by nature Now Saint Paul sheweth Christ to be such a Mediator as doth appease the wrath of God and therefore he sheweth euen thereby that Christ must needes be a God by nature and of the same Essence with his Father Ob. 3 Thirdly they say Christ is a Mediator and an Aduocate with God but he is no Mediator nor Aduocate with himselfe therefore himselfe is not of the same Essence with God Sol. I answere that the Name of God is to be taken two wayes First Essentially and so Christ is a Mediator with God Secondly Hipostatically for any person of the God-head and so Christ also is Mediator with God if you vnderstand God for the person of the Father not excluding the Sonne or the Holy Ghost for otherwise it is false because he is not onely Mediator with the person of the Father but also with himselfe and the Holy Ghost So likewise in the conclusion if you take God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the person of the Father we yeeld Christ is not God because God the Sonne is not nor cannot be God the Father And to the minor I say That Christ reconcileth vs to himselfe that Christ may bee said to bee a Mediator with himselfe if we consider the office of mediation Nam sacrificij modum non sicut vnus quidam ex nobis sacerdotibus affert seruiliter For he doth not seruilely like some of vs or any vnder the Law bring the substance of our sacrifice vnto the Priests which should first offer for themselues and then for the sinnes of their people because he hath nothing herein common with vs that he should receiue it at our hands to offer it for vs but as he is our sacrifice himselfe Cyrillus l. de recta fide ad reginas Sic sibi ipsi conciliat per ipsum in ipso patri So he reconcileth vs vnto himselfe and through himselfe and in himselfe vnto his Father as Saint Cyrill saith Fourthly they say If he be of the same essence with the Father Ob. 4 then is he essentially in the Father but he is not essentially in the Father for the Word was with God and not in God John 1.1 saith the Euangelist but to be with God signifieth not to be in God but without him as a booke held in my hand is with me though it be not in me therefore Christ is not essentially in the Father consequently not of the same essence with the Father To this Fulgentius answereth diuers wayes Sol. 1. If all that is sayd to be with God be without God Fulgent in resp ad obiect Arrianorum and all that is sayd to bee in God bee within him then are wee neerer vnto God then the Sonne of God for here you see he is sayd but to be with God and we are sayd to be in God 1 Cor. 8. for there is but one God the Father by whom are all things and wee in him sayth the Apostle but this is most absurd to say that wee are neerer vnto God then the Sonne of God and therefore it is as absurd to say that all which is with God is without God and all that are sayd to be in him to be within him Secondly Hee proueth that to be with God or with man doth not alwayes signifie to bee without God or without man for it is sayd that the vngodly reasoned with themselues Wisd 2.1 but when a man reasoneth he doth it within himselfe and not without himselfe C. 4.1 and it is sayd that the memoriall of Vertue is immortall because it is knowne with God and with men but it cannot be knowne with men vnlesse the memorie thereof be within men John 14.15 and so our Sauiour Christ sayth If any man loue mee and will
a God for so hee is alwayes with the Father but he goeth to the Father as he is a man and therefore he is inferior to the Father as hee is a man and thus Saint Cyrill Saint Chrysost Saint Aug. and Gaudentius doe expound it Thirdly they doe obiect that our Sauiour sayth I came Ob. 3 downe from Heauen not to doe mine owne will John 6.38 but to doe the will of him that sent mee therefore hee that sent him is greater then hee that is sent I answere first that Christ hath two wills the one as man Sol. That Christ hath two wils the other as God and hee came downe not to doe his owne will which he had as hee was man but to doe the will of his Father that sent him which was also his owne will as he was God for hauing the same essence hee must needs haue the same will with his Father and therefore as hee was inferior to his Father in respect of his humane will so he was equall to his Father in respect of his diuine will And secondly I say that he was not sent Per modum imperij That the Father sent not the Sonne by way of command or superioritie In respect of any superiority that the Father had to command him but by way of consent the Father being willing to let his Sonne goe as the Sonne was to be gone so that misit is no more then emisit they were both willing that the Word should be made Flesh But they vrge that he descended to doe the will of his Father Ob. but he descended not as Man but as God therefore he was inferiour to the Father not onely as Man but also as God I answere that the descending of Christ Sol. That the descending of of Christ is the assuming of â—ur flesh is nothing else but his exinination his incarnation and assuming the forme of a seruant for otherwise the Godhead can neither be said to ascend nor descend and so his son thus humbled thus incarnate did obay his Father and performe the Will of his Father but not in respect of the forme which he had in Heauen with his Father but in respect of the forme of a seruant which hee humbling himselfe assumed in earth And Fourthly they doe obiect that S. Paul sayth that when Christ Ob. 4 hath subdued all things yet then 1 Cor. 15.27.28 the sonne shall be subiect vnto his Father which hath subdued all things vnder him and therefore the sonne is inferior to the Father To this some doe answere Sol. that then the humane nature of Christ shall bee swallowed vp and wholly conuerted into the Dietie but this cannot bee for that Saint Paul in this very place sheweth the contrarie because the subiection argueth a distinction whereas if it were quite swallowed vp there could bee no distinction and therefore seeing there must be still a subiection there must be still that nature remaining which shall bee subiect to the other Nyssenus Chrysost Cyril and others Others will haue this saying of the Apostle to be spoken of the whole Church of Christ or of Christ as hee is in his members so that the sence should bee this then the whole body of Christ shall be so subiect vnto God that not any one member of the same shall in any thing bee contumacious or rebellious against the will of God But although this may passe without absurditie as being true in respect of the matter yet I doe not finde that it agreeth with the Apostles meaning in this place for hee speaketh of him to whom all things are subdued but all things are subdued vnto the person of Christ considered in himselfe anâ— not vnto the whole body of Christ or vnto Christ considered in his members as both the Prophecie of Dauid and this place of the Apostle make it playne and therefore Saint Ambrose Oecumenius and Theophilact doe expound it of the Sonne of God absolutely considered and that it signifieth not a seruile subiection any wayes betokening an inferioritie but an vnanimous agreement of the sonne with the Father which sheweth their vnitie and equalitie That Christ in glory for euer and euer as man shall be still inferiour and subiect vnto the God-head But I like best of Saint Augustines and Primasius expositions which doe interpret it of the humane nature of Christ which then shall bee truely subiect vnto God not because it was not subiect before then but with a more emphasis the Apostle would giue them to vnderstand that as euer before it was subiect vnto God so then also in that excellent glorie when all things are subdued vnto it it shall be subiect vnto God and the reason hereof is as some of the Greeke Fathers haue obserued because he writ vnto the Corinthians which were but verie lately conuerted vnto the Christian Faith from the vaine fables of the Gentiles which taught that the Gods did contest and striue amonst themselues And therefore least they should thinke that Christ subduing all things and putting all things vnder his feete would doe vnto his father as they sayd Iupiter did to his father Saturne adibus sedibus effugari to driue him out of house and home hee sayth all things shall be subiected vnto Christ excepting him which hath subdued all things vnto him and not onely this that all things shall be subiect vnto Christ but the Father but also that as now it is so it shall be then in that glory and triumph after all things shall bee subdued vnto the Man Christ Iesus yet then shall his humane nature that is Christ himselfe as he is man be still subiect vnto God his father so that hee which is and euer was equall to his father as touching his Godhead is and euer shall be inferior and subiect to his father as touching his Manhood Many other obiections they haue against the Dietie coessentialitie and coequalitie of the Sonne of God with his father but they are all so triuiall that they deserue no answere and are all deduced from those places that are spoken of Christ as hee is a man and misapplyed by them to denie his excellencie as hee is a God and therefore I neede not proceede any further in this point but onely to desire you from hence to obserue these few branches of instructions that doe most naturally spring from this roote as 1. The greatnesse of Gods loue This doctrine that the word Incarnate was a true God teacheth vs foure speciall things 2. The craftinesse of Satans dealing 3. The peruersenesse of Heretickes 4. The vnthankefulnesse of men First wee see this Word this Sonne of God was not made flesh to dignifie or to better himselfe for hee was before as I shewed you before a God in the best and highest degree from euerlasting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a God of himselfe How greatly God loued vs that God would be made man for our good A loue like
aegroti quantum ad iustitiam Dei In regard of the state of the patient to free him from sinne and to satisfie the Iustice of God For it behoued the Mediator betweene God and man Ne in vtroque deo similis longe esset ab homine aut in vtroque homini similis longe esset à Deo to haue something like vnto GOD and to haue something like vnto man lest that in all things being like vnto man hee might be so too farre from God or being in all things like vnto God hee might be so too farre from man and therefore Christ betwixt sinfull mortall men and the iust immortall God did appeare a mortall man with men and a iust God with God 1 Tim 2.5 and so the Mediator betwixt God and men was God and man Christ Iesus and fitly too saith Saint Augustine Quia ille congruè satisfacit qui potest debet Because that is most agreeable to reason that he should make satisfaction Two speciall reasons why Christ was made man which ought and can satisfie but we know that none ought to doe it but man and none can doe it but God and therefore God was contented to be made man and that for these two especiall reasons First to shew the greatnesse of his Loue to man First to shew the greatnesse of his loue for hee had seemed to haue loued vs the lesse if he had done lesse for vs but now Quid tam pietate plenum quam filium Dei pro nobis factum esse faenum What can more commend the loue of God to man then to see the word God made flesh for man Iohn 3.16 and therefore the Euangelist to shew the greatnesse of Gods loue to mankinde saith God so loued the world that he gaue his onely begotten Sonne that is to bee incarnate to be made flesh and to suffer death that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life Secondly to erect our hope that was already deiected Secondly to erect the hope and to strengthen the faith of man and to strengthen our faith which was alwayes wauering for wee saw two things that were to be done for man and yet could not be done by any man but such a one as should be God and Man The first was a remoueall of that great euill which suppressed vs. The second was a restoring of that great good that we were depriued of First Magnitude mali The euill that oppressed all men was foure-fold the greatnesse of that euill which suppressed euery man and could not be taken away by any man consisted in foure things 1. The waight of sinne 2. The height of Gods wrath 3. The power of death 4. The tyranny of the diuell And these could not be abolished by any creature but onely by him that created all creatures and can worke all things mightily according to the purpose of his owne will Secondly Magnitudo boni The good that man lost was two-fold the greatnesse of that good which was taken away from all men and could be restored by no man consisted in two things 1. The repairing of Gods image here in this life 2. The enioying of the blessed vision of God in the next life For none could restore the image of God to man but hee that was the liuing image of God Heb. 1.3 and the ingrauen forme of his person and the Kingdome of Heauen none could giue but God that giues it to all that loue him and therefore to take away the euill which we had deserued and to restore vnto vs that good whereof we were depriued God himselfe that made vs was contented to redeeme vs by taking our flesh vpon him Vt natura offendens satisfaceret That the nature offending might make satisfaction and because satisfaction could not be made without bloud for without bloud there is no remission Heb. 9.22 saith the Apostle he was made flesh that he might die and shed his bloud for vs Aug. serm 101. de tempore Vt iniusta mors iustam vinceret mortem liberaret nos iustè dum pro nobis occiditur iniustè That so his vniustly inflicted death might ouercome our iustly deserued death and might most rightly free and deliuer vs because he was most wrongfully slaine for vs as Saint Augustine speaketh Quest 2 Secondly It will be demaunded why the word that is the Sonne should be incarnate and made flesh rather then the Father or the Holy Ghost Resp Why the Son rather then the Father or the Holy Ghost was made man Saint Augustine thinketh that the cause pertained more specially vnto the Sonne then to the Father or to the Holy Ghost for that the Diuell attempted to vsurpe the dignitie and authority of the Sonne of God saying in his heart that he would be like vnto the most highest that is the image of the Father and sought to intrude himselfe into his glory to be the Prince of this world and the Head of euery creature which things were onely proper vnto the Sonne of God and therfore it behoued the Sonne to come into the world to ouercome the Diuell that would haue wronged him and all other men that were to be members of him But we finde many other reasons to shew why the Word was made flesh rather then the Father or the Holy Ghost As First because it is the office of the Word to declare the minde of God First because the Incarnation of God was made for the manifestation of God but we declare and manifest things by words and Christ is the word of the Father the wisedome the knowledge and the interpreter of his Fathers will euen as our word is the interpreter of our minde as Origen and Clemens Alexandrinus doe declare and therefore the word was rightly incarnate that God in him might be seene and heard and vnderstood of vs according to that saying of the Euangelist that which wee haue heard and seene 1 Iohn 1.1 and our hands haue handled of the word of life that declare we vnto you For as he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word in respect of his person which is a name of relation vnto the minde as Sonne is to the Father so is he the word in respect of his office i. e. of his office as he is the second person of the Trinitie for as it is the propertie and office of the eternall minde i. e. the Father to beget the word i. e. the Sonne so it is the propertie and the office of the Word to declare the Minde but because this spirituall inuisible and ineffable Word as he is God could neuer be seene nor heard nor vnderstood of vs therefore was he made flesh that he might be heard and seene And this the Apostle seemes to shew vnto vs when hee saith God heretofore at sundry times Heb. 1.1 and in diuers manners spake vnto the Fathers by the Prophets but in these last
dayes he hath spoken vnto vs by his Sonne for this is all one as if he had said that the word heretofore was vttered by other mens mouthes but now after he was made flesh he spake and reueiled his Father vnto vs by his owne voyce and with his owne proper mouth for so Tertullian saith that he which spake vnto the Fathers was this word GOD and so Saint Paul sheweth when hee brings in God saying The Word is neere vnto thee euen in thy mouth Rom. 10.8 and in thy heart and then he expoundeth this word of Christ saying This is the Word of Faith which we preach for they preached Iesus Christ so Saint Iohn himselfe seemeth to shew this reason why he had called Christ the Word when he saith John 1.18 The onely begotten Sonne which is in the bosome of the Father he hath declared for this is all one as if he had said This onely begotten Sonne is therefore the Word because he declareth the minde of God vnto vs so when he saith what we haue heard of the Word of life i. e. he is therefore the Word because we haue heard him and so when he saith There be three that heare witnesse in Heauen 1 John 5.7 the Father the Word and the Spirit for why should he say the Word when as the name of Father required that he should rather say the Father the Sonne and the Spirit but because the Sonne as the word of the Father doth beare witnesse vnto vs of his Fathers will and therefore seeing it was the office of the Word to declare the minde of God it belonged vnto the Word to be made Flesh that he might be heard and seene of vs. But then it may be obiected that the Holy Ghost should be incarnate as well as the Sonne for Saint Basil saith Ob. Whether the Holy Ghost is termed the Word that the Holy Ghost is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word as well as the Sonne and that hee is therefore called the Word because hee is the interpreter of the Sonne euen as the Sonne is the interpreter of the Father for he shall teach you all things saith Christ and to proue this he citeth those words of the Apostle that we should take the sword of the Spirit which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word of God and those words in the first Chapter to the Hebrewes that Christ beareth vp all things with the word of his power Basilius l 5. c. 11. contra Eunom Sol. or his mighty Word that is his Holy Spirit saith Saint Basil To this Aquinas answereth that Saint Basil herein speakes improperly for that the Sonne of God alone is properly called the Word and that Saint Paul by the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God doth not vnderstand the Holy Ghost but the word which came vnto the Prophets and was left vnto vs in the holy Scriptures and that the words of the Author to the Hebrewes are to be vnderstood of the command of Christ as if the Apostle had said that Christ beareth vp all things and gouerneth all things by his mighty command or according aâ— himselfe defineth Victorinus in l. aduers Arrium and would haue all things to be as Victorinus saith or else that Christ sustaineth all things by his mighty word that is after an Hebrew phrase by himselfe which is the mighty Word of his Father Maldonat in Iohn 1. as Maldonate saith Secondly the Word was made flesh Propter ordinem seruandum Secondly because God would obserue good order in all things because God which is the God of order would keepe good order in all things As First that the world might be repayred by the same instrument by which it was created but the Father made all things by his Word therefore he would redeeme mankinde by his Word Secondly that he which was the essentiall and vncreated image of God might restore that created image of God which was corrupted in vs. Thirdly that the naturall Sonne of God might make vs the adopted sonnes of God Fourthly that the Sonne by his example might teach vs the obedience of sonnes Thirdly because God would shunne all inconueâ—iences that might arise if he had not beene incarnate Thirdly the Word was made flesh Propter vitandum inconueniens because God would auoide all absurdities that otherwise might seeme to ensue for if the Father had beene incarnate then there had beene two Fathers and two Sonnes the Father in the Deitie had beene the Sonne in the Humanitie and the Sonne in the Dietie had beene the Father of the Humanity and neither of them had beene of himselfe without beginning but he that was the beginning of the Sonne in the Deitie had had his beginning from the Sonne in the humanitie but now he that is from the Father in the Deitie is likewise from the Father in the humanitie and he that is the Sonne in the Deitie is likewise the Sonne in the humanitie and if the Holy Ghost had beene incarnate then there had beene two sonnes one in the Deitie and another in the humanitie Et nomen filij ad alterum transiret qui non esset aeterna natiuitate filius And the name of Sonne had passed to another which was not a Sonne by an eternall natiuitie and therefore in all respects it was fittest and agreeable to all reason that the Word should be incarnate and made flesh as Saint Augustine saith But against this it will be obiected Ob. that seeing Opera trinitatis ad extra sunt indiuisa The outward workes of the Trinitie are indiuisible and common to each person so that whatsoeuer any one of them doth it is done by each one and that this is an outward worke of the Trinitie common to each person each person being an agent in this action the Fathers power the Sonnes wisedome and the Holy Ghost his goodnesse all concurring in this incarnation For First how can the Creator and the Creature That all three persons were the makers of the flesh of Christ especially a creature relapsed from God be ioyned together without great power the power of ioyning the disagreeing elements was very great the power of ioyning them to a created spirit was greater but hypostatically to ioyne a creature disioyned from his Creator vnto an vncreated spirit must needes be the greatest power that can be And therefore this incarnation of the Word could neuer haue beene done without the infinite power of God Secondly how can the first and the last be vnited together without great wisedome for this Word was the beginning yea before the beginning of all things and Adam was the last of all Gods creatures And therefore the Word God and the flesh of man could neuer be vnited without infinite wisedome Thirdly how can the Creator communicate himselfe so neerely vnto his Creatures without the greatest goodnesse that can be for it was a great benignity and kindnesse of
God to communicate himselfe vnto all creatures by his presence and it was a greater kindnesse to communicate himselfe to all the godly by his grace but it is the greatest of all to vnite himselfe hypostatically by his spirit vnto our flesh And therefore this could not be done without infinite goodnesse and so in this respect we find this worke of the incarnation ascribed to each person for the Father sent me saith our Sauiour and I came into the world saith he of himselfe and the Holy Ghost shall come vpon thee and the power of the most high shall ouer shadow thee whereby thou mayst conceiue saith Gabriel vnto the blessed Virgin And therefore seeing the whole Trinitie was the Maker of this Word flesh how can it be but that the whole Trinitie should be incarnate and made flesh Sol. That the Son onely assumed our Flesh I answere that this worke of the words incarnation is to bee considered 1. Inchoatiue 2. Consummatiue As it was inchoated and begun As it is consummated and finished In the first sense it is common to all the three persons of the Trinitie for it was made by them all three but in the second sense it was proper onely vnto the Word because it was assumed onely by the Word Aug. in Enchyrid C. 38. as Saint Augustine sheweth for as if three Maides should spinne and make a garment and then put it vpon one of them to weare all three should be the makers yet but one should be the wearer of the same Euen so though the Father did appoint Christ a body and this body was conceiued by the Holy Ghost yet neither the Father nor the Spirit did assume that body but only the person of the Sonne of God and therefore Saint Augustine saith truly Idem Ser. 3. de temp that Impleuet carnem Christi pater spiritus sanctus sed maiestate non susceptione The flesh of Christ was filled with the Maiestie of the Father and of the Holy Ghost but it was onely vnited to the person of the Word Ob. But then againe it may be obiected that seeing the nature of the Father and the nature of the Sonne be the very same for they be both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the very selfe-same essence as I haue sufficiently shewed vnto you before and the whole diuine essence is in euery one of them therefore how can it be but the Sonne being incarnate the Father should be incarnate also Sol. To this we answere briefly that although the nature of the Father and the nature of the Sonne be the very same yet Aliter est in patre aliter est in filio This very selfe-same essence is otherwise or after another manner in the Father The diuine nature limited in the person of the Sonne was made Flesh and after another manner in the Sonne and therefore we say that the Diuine nature simply considered cannot be said to be incarnate Sed natura diuina determinata limitata in persona filij But the diuine nature limited and determined in the person of the Son And this Saint Augustine doth most excellently expresse against the Iewes saying O Iudae Cytharam respice c. Behold O Iew the Harpe when it yeelds sweet and pleasant tune there be three things that seeme to concurre alike the skill the hand and the string and yet there is but one sound heard Ars dictat manus tangit chorda resonat The Art or skill directeth the hand toucheth and the string onely soundeth Tria pariter operantur they doe all three worke alike and yet neither the skill nor the hand doe yeeld the sound but onely the string Sic nec pater Operatio in tribus constat sed quemadmodum ad solam chordam soni redditio sic pertinet ad solum Christum carnis humanae susceptio nec spiritus sanctus susceperunt carnem tamen cum filio pariter operantur So neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit did assume the flesh and yet they did all agree in the working and making of this flesh but as the string alone doth yeeld the musicall harmony so the word alone did assume the flesh the worke is seene in all three but as the sound of the musicke pertaineth vnto the string alone so the assumption of our flesh pertayneth to the word alone and if any incredulous Iew with Nichodemus demaunds how this Word should be made flesh of a Virgin without the helpe of man let him tell me how Aarons rod Aug. de incarnat Dom. cont Iudaeos being a drie sticke could blossome and beare ripe Almonds and I will tell him how the Virgin did conceiue and beare a Sonne but he cannot tell the former though the lesser miracle and therefore no wonder that I cannot expresse the latter which is so ineffable a mysterie saith Saint Augustine And so you see the first Branch of this Text touching the person who was made the Word the Sonne the second person of the blessed Trinity fully discussed BRANCH II. CHAP. I. Of Christ his apparition before his incarnation and of the conception of Christ the manner of it and the reasons why hee was so conceiued 2. Branch Tres misturas fecit omnipotens illa maiestas in assumptione carnis nostrae ita mirabiliter singularia singulariter mirabilia vt talia nec facta nec facienda sint amplius super terram SEcondly We are to consider what hee was made Flesh for the Word was made Flesh Saint Bernard saith God did three workes three mixtures as hee calleth them in the assumption of our flesh so singularly wonderfull and so wonderfully singular that the like were neuer made before nor shall be made hereafter vpon the face of the Earth Coniunct à quippe sunt ad invicem Deus homo mater virgo fides cor humanum For now are ioyned together God and our Flesh a Mother and a Virgin a diuine Faith and a humane Heart for the Word and Soule and Flesh haue met and made but one Person These three are one and this one is three not by the confusion of substance but in the vnity of person This is the first and most super-excellent mixture or coniunction The second is a Virgin and a Mother a thing so admirable so singular that since the World beganne it was neuer heard that shee which brings forth a Childe should be a Maide and that shee should be a Mother which still remaines a Virgin The third is Faith and Mans Heart Inferior quidem sed non minus forsitan fortis an inferior copulation but perhaps not deseruing much lesse admiration For it is a wonder to see how the Heart of Man can yeeld Faith and beliefe vnto these two and to beleeue that God should be made Man that shee should remain a Virgin which had borne a Sonne for as Iron and a Gally-cup can neuer be coupled together Bernard Ser. 3.
Quem dixerunt regem Iudaeorum erat Creator Angelorum quem viderunt paruum in praesepio erat immensus in coelo Whom they had called King of the Iewes was the Lord and Maker of the Angels and whom they saw little and poore in the cratch was rich and immeasurable in Heauen Quod non capis quod non vides Fulgentius ser de Epiphania Thom in hymn Animosa firmat fides Praeter rerum ordinem Their faith did shew them that he was their God And so that starre which sent forth these three fore-named beames of light into the hearts of these Wise men did send from thence by reflection three other beames of light for our instruction for here we see this starre wrought in them First Illumination and Faith in their hearts What effects the Starre wrought in the Wise men for when they saw him they beleeued in him Secondly Confession and Inquisition in their Mouthes for when they lost him they made diligent search and inquisition after him saying Where is he that is borne King of the Iewes Deut. 6.16 Thirdly Diligence and Obedience in their Actions for they made hast to goe vnto him and when they came they came not empty-handed but they brought vnto him Gold Frankinsence and Myrrhe Aurea nascenti fuderunt munera regi Thura dedâ—â—e deo myrrham tribuere sepulchro And so herein these Wise men were wise indeed not because they had all the wisedome of the Gentiles but because they did thus seeke and find him In whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge Oh that it were so with vs that wee did know him beleeue in him goe vnto him search and seeke him and offer him our selues and ours to doe him seruice Pro myrrha lachrymas auro cor porrige purum Pro thure ex humili pectore funde preces And we shall not neede to fetch gold from Ophire What we shold offer vnto Christ but the gold of a pure Faith which will abide the fiery tryall neither shal we need to goe to the Apothecaries to buy their Frankinsence or Myrrhe but the sweet perfume of deuout prayers and the bitter teares of godly sorrow for out vngodly sinnes these are the most acceptable sacrifices vnto Christ And as the fore-named witnesses which were primitiae Martyrum the first fruits of his witnesses both of the Iewes and Gentiles doe testifie this truth vnto the world so to these are added the testimony of Iohn the Baptist for he was sent to beare witnes of that light Iohn 1.8 and he testified and bare witnesse of him that he was that Lambe of God John 1.29 which taketh away the sinnes of the world And because we should the better beleeue him and his testimonie herein he sheweth how he came to know him to be the true Messias euen by the testimony of the Spirit of truth for I knew him not saith he but he that sent me to baptize with water i. e. the holy Ghost said vnto me vpon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him the same is he which baptizeth with the holy Ghost and I saw saith he and bare record that this is the Sonne of God Iohn 1.33 And then the testimony of all the Euangelists the Apostles the Fathers the Martyres and all the holy Men of God which haue testified and sealed this truth vnto vs some with their words some with their workes and some with their deerest blood That God himselfe testified Christ to be his sonne Matth. 3.17 Secondly if these testimonies of the creatures be not sufficient to proue Iesus the Sonne of Mary to be the Eternall Sonne of God we find God himselfe the Creator of Heauen and Earth testifying the same for though the testimony of Iohn was sufficient Iohn 5.35 to satisfie any man because he was aburning a shining light in whom the Iewes themselues were willing to reioyce for a season as our Sauiour witnesseth yet Christ needed not to receiue testimony from man John 5.36 because he had a greater witnesse then that of Iohn euen the Father himselfe which sent him he bare witnesse of him and with an audible voyce he proclaymed the same twice from heauen saying first at the Riuer Iordan and then on Mount Thabor Matth. 7.5 that he was his Beloued Sonne in whom hee was well pleased John 5.36 And these are sufficient witnesses Quia dicta Iehouae dicta pura Because the words of the Lord are pure words as the Psalmist saith Or if any Athiest will not beleeue these Diuine Oracles let him beleeue his owne eyes If he will beleeue neither Angels Men nor GOD let him beleeue himselfe Matth. 7.16 for the very workes that I doe testifie of me for the workes of euery man doe testifie of him what he is because that is a sure rule of our Sauiour By their fruits you shall know them But then you must not vnderstand their workes as they are reported to bee for so wee are and may be many times deceiued for Iohn came Matth. 11.18 neither eating nor drinking and they said he had a Diuell and our Sauiour came eating and drinking and they said behold a Glutton and a Wine-bibber And the Prophet Dauid saith They laid to his charge things that hee neuer knew So the Christians of the Primitiue Church that were as carefull as men might possible be for their liues to leade a strict and an vpright life yet is it incredible almost to thinke what wicked reports were raised of them and therefore not the workes of man as they are by enuy or malice bruited to be for what will not enuy say but as they are in deed and verity doe manifestly shew what any man is and therefore Christ saith vnto the Iewes If you were the sonnes of Abraham Iohn 8.39 you would doe the workes of Abraham and Saint Iames saith Iames 2.18 Shew me thy Faith by thy Workes for the workes of a man truely considered is an infallible argument to shew what he is so the workes that our Sauiour did while he did liue on earth doe sufficiently proue him to be both God and Man and so his very enemies testified saying He hath done all things well Mark 7.37 he maketh both the deafe to heare and the dumbe to speake and those that doubted of him whether he was the true Messias or not said Iohn 7.31 When Christ commeth will he doe more miracles then these which he hath done and the works that he doth now raigning in heauen doe sufficiently proue him to be the Maker Preseruer Heb. 10.12.13 and Redeemer of men for he sitteth on the right hand of God Rom. 8.34 1 Cor 15.35 Matth. 11 6. making intersession for his Saints and ruling till he hath put all his enemies vnder his feete And therefore I conclude as I began that the Word was made flesh and blessed is he that
How the want of loue is the cause of many mischiefes in the world I onely pray it may neuer be so with any Christian soule that we make not the truth of God with all reuerence be it spoken as a Packe-horse to support our vile desires I am sure if there were more loue and charity among Christians lesse faults lesse errours would appeare to bee in the Church of God then now there seemes to be 1 Cor. 13. for charity suffereth all things beleeueth all things and is euer willing to make faults and errours lesser then they be whereas the want of loue will make the worst of euery thing euery errour to be an Heresie and euery infirmity to be hainous impiety nay want of loue will make sinnes where God made none We ought to loue all men and to hate all vices in whomsoeuer they be and make vertues to be vices whereas perfect charity will neuer hate the man though he be full of iniquity and therefore my conclusion of this point is that as Christ hath loued vs and gaue himselfe for vs so let vs loue Christ and loue one another for Christ his sake and he that doth these things shall neuer fall Part. 4 PART IIII. CHAP. Of the manner of Christs suffering how he suffered all that I haue shewed so as the Prophets fore-told and as the Apostles had seene the same with their eyes The incomprehensible manner of Christ his sufferings FOurthly Hauing heard of the person suffering Christ of the chiefest things that he suffered which are recorded by the Euangelists and of the necessity of that suffering in respect of those causes which did necessitate the same wee are now to cōsider the maner how he suffered expressed in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so to suffer that is so humbly so louingly so meekely so patiently and so euery way in respect of himselfe as that neither the tongues of men nor Angels are neuer able by any like to expresse it by any words to declare it That all predictions touching the Messias were all accomplished in Iesus Christ or by any apprehensions or thoughts of man to conceiue it And so in regard of men as the Prophets had foretold and the Apostles had already seene for so it pleased Almighty God before the comming of the Messias to fore-tell almost euery thing that should happen throughout all the whole life of the Messias euen from the first moment of his conception vnto the very last act of his Ascention that so all men might beleeue in him in whom they saw all those predictions fulfilled none other for the Prophet Esay had said that a Virgin should conceiue and beare a sonne Esay 7.14 Mich. 5.2 Hos 11.1 Esay 9.1 Micheas said that hee should be borne in Bethlehem-Iuda Hoseas foretold of his flight into Egypt and to be briefe the place of his dwelling in the borders of Nepthali the manner of his liuing Healing all manner of infirmities Cap. 53.4 and preaching the glad tydings of saluation and almost euery one of the least particulars that should happen vnto him at his death Zach. 2.9 as how he should be sold and betrayed by his owne Disciple Psal 41 2. how all his followers should flie from him how craftily and maliciously he should be apprehended Esay 53.10 how falsly he should be accused how basely he should be handled buffeted whipped and spitted vpon how vniustly hee should bee condemned and how cruelly he should be fastned vnto the Crosse to die an accursed death and as most accursed betwixt the wicked and how he should be generally mocked his garments taken from him and haue Gall to eate and Vinegar to drinke and what not all was fore-shewed that should happen vnto the Messias and therefore it behoued Christ so to suffer because it was prophesied that he should so suffer And as the Prophets did fore-shew how the Messias should suffer so the Euangelists and Apostles testifie how Christ did suffer all and euery one of those things that were written of him for they were eye-witnesses of the same 1 Iohn 1.1 and soth ey testifie vnto vs that which was from the beginning which we haue heard and seene and our hands haue handled of the Word of life that testifie wee vnto you i. e. that all the things that were written of him which was promised from the beginning wee haue seene them fully accomplished fulfilled in him which liued and conuersed amongst vs and which we preach vnto you Iesus Christ S. Mathew recollects 32. seuerall Prophesies that he saw fulfilled in our Sauiour Christ Saint Iohn addes many other and so doe the rest diuers more So that whosoeuer would with the men of Berea search the Scriptures from the first Booke of Moses vnto the last Prophet Malachy and marke out all the things that were spoken of the Messias that was for to come we shall if we doe but looke finde them all recorded in the writings of the Apostles and Euangelists to be most fully fulfilled in the person of Iesus Christ A sufficient condemnation to all Iewes that still looke for another Christ for why should not they beleeue their owne Prophets they said the Messiah should suffer these things Christ suffered them so as they were prophesied who then can be the Messias but he in whom all these prophecies were fulfilled but Saint Paul tels vs why they will not beleeue in him Why the Iewes beleeue not in Christ Rom. 11. because partly blindnesse is come vpon them vntill the fulnesse of the Gentiles be come in And now Lord if it be thy will open their eyes that they may see this truth and circumcise all infidelity from their hearts that they may beleeue thy Sonne Iesus Christ to be the Sauiour of the world And as this condemneth all vnbeleeuing Iewes so it confirmeth all true Christians in the faith of Christ and I wish to God that as the seeing of all these things fulfilled in Christ makes vs all to beleeue in Christ so the suffering of all these things for vs would make vs all to praise this our Lord Iesus Christ for his goodnesse to feare him in all our wayes to loue him with all our hearts and to serue him truly and faithfully all the dayes of our life O blessed God grant this vnto vs for Iesus Christ his sake To whom with thee O Father and the Holy Spirit three distinct persons of that one indiuided essence be ascribed all praise and glory both now and for euermore Amen A Prayer O Most blessed God that hast giuen thy dearest and thine onely Sonne not onely to be made man subiect to all infirmities but also to suffer all miseries throughout his whole life and in the end to be put vnto a most shamefull painefull and accursed death by wicked men for sinnefull men that hee suffering what wee deserued wee might be deliuered from thy wrath we most humbly beseech
office of this Angell here expressed to serue Christ to affright the souldiers and to delight these women to teach them to direct them Reuel 4.8 and to preserue them in all their wayes for as they neuer cease to serue the Lord so they neuer cease to preserue the Saints vntill they cease to serue their God and therefore to vse Saints Bernards exhortation Quantum debet hoc verbum inferre reuerentiam afferre deuotionem conferre fiduciam How ought this doctrine to moue vs and worke in vs reuerence for their presence confidence for their custody and obedience vnto God for so great an argument of his beneuolence vnto man as to giue his Angels charge ouer vs Et quam cauté ambulandum and how warily ought we to walke seeing the Angels of God are euer present with vs when all the men of the world are absent from vs It is reported of a godly Virgin that being often sollicited by a gallant vnto vnlawfull lust at last she yeelded that if hee met her at such a place he should haue leaue to worke his pleasure with her both came to the place appointed and the place was full of people then the mayden told him that now if he pleased he might vse her as he would he answered that now for shame he durst not doe it in the sight of so many men and women then she replyed and thinkest thou that I dare doe that in the presence of God and his holy Angels which thou darest not doe in the sight of mortall men and I wish euery one of vs did so that is to be ashamed to doe those things in the sight of God and his holy Angels Psal 139.2 Velleius paterculus which we are afraid to doe in the presence of men for they alwayes see vs though wee see not them they are about our beds and about our pathes and spie out all our wayes and therefore as Marcus Drusus when one told him he could build him an house of such a forme as that no man might see what he did therein answered that hee liked better of such an Architector as could build his house so as that euery one passing by might plainely see what was done therein so I wish to God that euery one of vs would striue and labour so to liue as it becommeth vs to doe in the sight of God and of his blessed Angels And so we see the Resurrection of Christ fully and plainely shewed vs to the eternall praise and glory of God and to the endlesse ioy and happinesse of all Christians through the said Iesus Christ To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be ascribed all power and dominion both now and for euer Amen A Prayer O Blessed God which gauest thine onely Sonne Iesus Christ to suffer death for our sinnes to descend into Hell to destroy our enemies and to rise againe for our iustification and so to declare himselfe mightily to be the Sonne of God and the true Sauiour of all men We most humbly beseech thee to raise vs from the death of sinne from all our sinnes and to giue vs grace to beleeue in thee to be thankfull vnto thee and to serue thee in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life that when we shall be laid to rest in our graues we may rest in assured hope to be raised vp by Christ to liue with him for euermore through the same Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen IEHOVAE LIBERATORI FINIS The Sixt Golden Candlesticke HOLDING The Sixt greatest Light of Christian RELIGION Of the Ascention of our SAVIOVR and of the Donation of the HOLY GHOST EPHES. 4.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore he saith when hee ascended vp on high heeled captiuity captiue and gaue gifts vnto men AFter that the blessed Apostle Saint Paul had by many arguments proued vnto the Ephesians that they should earnestly studie The coherence of this verse with what goeth before and most carefully labour to preserue the vnity of the Church of Christ he seemeth in the seuenth verse to answer a certaine obiection that might bee made viz. seeing the graces the gifts and the offices which God hath bestowed vpon his Church are so many and so manifold so diuers and so vnequall some hauing many graces some but few some one gift and some another how can it be that this vnity can be so faithfully preserued therefore the Apostle sheweth that the diuersity and inequality of gifts is not onely no hinderance but is indeed a great furtherance to cherish and preserue the same First Because all these gifts do flow from the same fountaine Iesus Christ Secondly Because they are all giuen and imparted for the same end and purpose that is to gather together the Church of Christ into the vnity of faith The first reason he proueth out of this Prophesie of Dauid who speaking of the Messias triumphing ouer his enemies saith Thou art gone vp on high thou hast led captiuity captiue and receiued gifts for men And The second reason he confirmeth at large in the verses following where he sheweth that Christ gaue some Apostles and some Prophets and some Euangelists and some Pastors and Teachers and all to this end that is for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministery for the edifying of the boâ—y of Christ till wee all come into the vnity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Sonne of God Two things contained in this verse And therefore we finde contained in this verse two speciall points First A confirmation of the Apostles alledged reason that all graces doe flow from Christ in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore he saith Secondly A Propheticall prediction of the Messias in these words When he ascended vp on high he led captiuitie captiue and gaue gifts vnto men That the Scripture is the best warrant for all Preachers For the first I meane not to stand long vpon it I will onely note this one thing that all we the Teachers of Gods people according to the example of this Apostle nay of Christ himselfe and of all Christs true Schollers should not teach any positiue point of doctrine vnlesse we can either directly or by necessary consequence proue and confirme the same out of the Sacred Scriptures for whatsoeuer hath not authority from the word of God Eadem facilitate refellitur qua probatur may as well be reiected as receiued Hieron in Matth. c. 23. saith Saint Hierom and whatsoeuer is therein contained it requires absolute faith without doubting because as Hugo Cardinalis saith Quicquid in sacris literis docetur veritas est sine fallacia quicquid praecipitur bonitas est sine malicia quicquid promittitur faelicitas est sine miseria Whatsoeuer is caught in the Scripture it is truth it selfe without fallacy whatsoeuer is commanded it is purely good without the commixtion of any euill and whatsoeuer is promised it is perfect felicitie without the least
goodnesse teaching vs 1. To be afraid to sinne 2. Neuer to desp of Gods goodn 3. To imitate God in each one of the seauen forenamed points 3. By his iustice and that 1. Negatiuely not making the wicked innocent 2. Positiuely by visiting of the sins of the wicked 1. Vpon themselues 2. Vpon their children where is distinguished of 1. Parents 2. Sinnes 3. Children 4. Punishments This Treatise containeth 1. An Introduction of the excellency of the knowledge of Iesus C. wher is shewed that 1. his life is our chiefest direct 2. himselfe our onely consolatiō 2. An explication of that great mystery of the Incarnation of the Word where is handled 1. Who was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where is shewed 1. That there can be but one God and yet that there are three persons in the vnity of that one essence how these three persons are distinguished 1. By their personal actions 1. outward which are 1. Communic 2. Transcient 3. Voluntary 2. Inward which are 1. Permanent 2. Necessary 3. Incommunicable 2. By their nominall relation Father Son and Holy Ghost And that the person made is the second person of the blessed Trinitie To his father 1. Co-eternall 2. Co-essentiall 3. Co-equall And this is fully proued all obict plainely answered and from thence shewed 1. The greatnesse of Gods loue 2. The craftinesse of Satan 3. The peruersnes of hereticks 4. The vnthankfulnes of men 2. Three especiall things touching the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. 1. What 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth i. e. the Word 2. Why Christ is tearmed the Word 3. Why the Euangelist vseth this word 1. Because this name of Christ was best knowne to the Iewes and to the Gentiles 2. Because it was the fit st word that he could vse to make way for his subsequent discourse 3. The impulsiue and the finall causes of the Words incarnation and the reasons why the Word rather then the Father or the holy Ghost was to be incarnate 2. What he was made flesh where is shewed 1. The manner of his conception the reasons and the end thereof 2. The matter that hee assumed 1. All our humane nature i. e. body and soule 2. All our humane frailties both of body and soule sinne onely excepted And here is shewed many excellent lessons that we ought to learne in respect 1. Of God 2. Of Christ 3. Of our selues 3. How the Word was made flesh or how the two natures diuine and humane doe make but one person in Christ where is shewed 1. The distinction of the two natures diuine and humane that they doe still remaine intire and inconfused is fully proued and the chiefest obiections made to the contrary are plainly answered 2. The vnion of the two natures in one personis explained and 1. The confirmatiō of the truth of this point is shewed and the greatest obie made against it are sufficiently answered 2. The manner of this vnion wherein it consisteth is expressed viz. 1. Not as the Arrians say onely in respect of 1. Cohabitation 2. Will and affection 3. Co-operation 4. Participation of his names and dignities vnto the manhood 2. But in the communicating of the subsistence of the Word with the subsistence of the manhood where is shewed that this vnion is 1. Inconuertible 2. Indiuisible 3. Inconfused 4. Inseperable 5. Substantiall 6. Ineffable 3. The chiefest benefits effects of the said vnion is shewed and that 1. In respect of Christ which are 1. An exēpt from all sin 2. A collation of ineffable graces into the manhood of Christ 3. A communication of the properties of each nature to the person of Ch. Where the obiection of the vbiquit indeuouring to proue the manhood inuested with Diuine properties are fully answered 2. In resp of vs viz our vnion and reconciliation with God all the happinesse we haue in this life or doe looke for in the life to come This Treatise containeth 1 An introduction of the meditation of Christ his death which is 1. Acceptable vnto God 2. Profitable for vs. 1. To hinder sinne 2. To kindle our charity 3. To erect our hope 2. A declaration of the passion of Christ wherein is handled 4. 1. The person suffering which was 1. A Man 2. A iust Man 3. A good Man 4. A King 5. A Priest 6. A Prophet 7. A God whereis shewed who are subiect to most affliction 2. The sufferings of Christ 1. In the garden of Gethsemane 1. Alone where is shewed 1. How the affections of Christ differ from ours in respect of the 1. Obiect 2. Maner 3. Effects 2. The cause of his agony in respect of 1. obiect 2. subiect where is †Explained 1. What might grieue Christ 1. In respect of himselfe 1. The greatnesse of his paine and shame 2. The deferring of his death and punishment 2. In respect of others 1. Small account he saw they would make of his death 2. The greatnesse of their punishment which hee knew they must suffer for that their neglect 2. What Christ might feare 1. The waight of sinne 2 The malice of Satan 3 The wrath of God 2 By others where is shewed 1. The treason of Iudas where is shewed 1. what Christ had done for Iudas 2. why Iudas betrayed Christ 3. how Iudas betrayed him 2. The flight of all the followers of Christ 3. The taking and binding of Iesus Christ 2. Before his Iudges viz. 1. Before Annas where 1. He is examined 1. Of his Disciples 2. Of his Doctrine 2. he is strucken by the hie P. ser 3. he is denied by his stoutest Ap. 2. Before Pilate the first time where hee is accused 1. Of impiety against God 2. Of treaso against Caesar 3. Before Herod where the mystery of cloathing Christ in white is explained 4. Before Pilate the 2. time where his scourging crowning with thorns c. is expressed 3. In Golgotha where is expressed 1. Those things that he suffered on the Cros 1. An accursed 2. A shamefull 3. A painefull 4. a lingring D where also is shewed the generality of his suffering 2. The 7. gracious words that he vttered many other speciall obseruat full of comfort 3. The necessity of Christ his sufferings in respect of the causes viz. 1. Instrumentall 1. The enuy of Satan 2. The malice of the Iewes 3. The couetousnesse of Iudas 4. The desire of the multitude 2. Efficient God himselfe for our sinnes out of the loue he bare to man 3. Finall 1. In resp of men 1 To saue the Elect by the vertue of his death 2. To make the wicked without excuse for neglecting his death 2. In resp of God for the glory of his blessed N. where is shewed that this should teach vs 1. To compassionate his death 2. To make vs thankefull for so great a benefit 3. To cause vs to loue him aboue all things in the world 4. To make vs ready to suffer any thing with him and for his sake 4. The
making but a mocke of God and of all godlinesse And therefore the Prophet sayth of such sinners that they haue made a couenant with death and an agreement with hell it selfe i. e. neuer to forsake that sinfull course of life till death doth send them quicke to Hell But I could wish that they would be herein false and as they haue broken the couenant of their God That wee should breake the couenant which we haue made with Hell if euer we would goe to Heauen which they haue made with him in Baptisme so they would break this agreement with Hell and cast off these cords from them for the reward of sinne is death and therefore much more of such fearefull sinnes as these bee And so you see the degrees by which sinne is increased CHAP. IV. Of the manner how euery Sinne is committed THirdly hauing seene how sinne is augmented The manner how euery sinne is committed is foure-fold and groweth more and more haynous by degrees like the Cockatrice egge that in a short time prooues to be a destroying fiery Serpent you must now vnderstand the manner how euery sin is committed and that we find to be 1. Of Ignorance 2. Of Knowledge 3. Of Infirmitie 4. Of Malice First The heathen man sayth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whosoeuer knoweth nothing sinneth nothing and Diuines say he that knoweth least sinneth least That ignorance is twofold But here you must vnderstand Ignorance to be twofold First Simple when a man therefore knowes not because he cannot learne Secondly Affected when a man therefore knowes not because he will not learne as those in Iob who said vnto God Discede à nobis quia scientiam viarum tuarū nolumus Job 21.14 Depart from vs for we will not haue knowledge of thy wayes and therefore the Prophet complaineth of such ignorant men quod noluerunt intelligere vt bene agerent that they refused to learne that they might doe well quod caeci licet ducem tamen non modo non quaerunt sed oblatum respuunt and that although they were starke blind and could see nothing Bern in ep ad magist Vincent yet not onely sought no guide but refused and contemned them that were offered as Saint Bernard speaketh The first may excuse vs à tanto licet non à toto That simple ignorance doth extenuate the sinne Acts 17.30 1. Tim. from the greater punishment though not from blame as Saint Paul sheweth of the Gentiles saying The times of this ignorance God regarded not and of himselfe That God had mercy vpon him because in persecuting the Church Hee did it ignorantly For this circumstance doth much extenuate a sinne when a man can pleade for himselfe with Abimelech Gen. 20.4 Lord wilt thou slay the righteous Nation As if he should haue sayd O Lord lay not this sinne to my charge for if I had knowne her to be his wife I would neuer haue intended to make her mine And therefore this moued our Sauiour at the time of his passion to say Father forgiue them Luke 23.43 for they know not what they doe Which is as if he should haue said if they knew that I were the Messias the sonne of God and the Sauiour of the world and would notwithstanding crucifie me Luke 24.43 then would I not desire thee to pardon them but now these things are concealed from them and therefore I desire thee that this sinne may not be imputed vnto them And so Saint Peter after he had declared their sinne how They had denied the Holy and Iust and had preferred before him a most vniust and wicked murtherer he deliuereth their comfort that if they would repent and beleeue in him they should obtaine remission and haue their sinnes done away at the time of refreshing Acts 3.17 Because they had done all this through ignorance And so the Lord himselfe sheweth this to be the reason why he spared Niniueh after the denouncement of her iudgement because There were sixescore thousand persons therein Ionas 4.11 which could not iudge betwixt good and bad which could not discerne betwixt their right hand and their left For a simple ignorance in a deuoted and well-meaning man such as Saint Augustine calls fidelis ignorantia a faithfull ignorance or the ignorance of a good faithfull man whose heart like Iehosophat 2 Chron. 20.32.33 is vpright towards God though he faile in many particular duties is either passed ouer in mercy as was the superstition of our forefathers Acts 10. or else is illuminated with knowledge in Gods appointed time Psal 50. vlt. as we reade of Cornelius and as the Apostle sheweth and the Psalmist promiseth To him that ordereth his conuersation right will I shew the Saluation of God Bosq de finibus bonarum l. 2. conc 12. p. 123. But the 2. that is affected ignorance Scaelus adcusat grauius non excusat augetque non minuit supplicium it doth inlarge the sin increase the punishment and it should treble the same sayth Bosquierus First For committing the sinne Secondly For neglecting to learne and Thirdly For affecting ignorance for when things are not knowne because men will not learne such ignorance is without excuse Quia aliud est nescire aliud est nolle scire Bernard in ep ad Valent Chrysost nescire ignorantia est scire noluisse superbia est Because this refusing to know is rather Arrogancie then Ignorancie as Saint Bernad sayth Gregor in Moral And therefore of such ignorant men quibus fuit inveniendi facultas si fuisset quaerendi voluntas Which had the meanes to know How dangerous a thing it is to be wilfully ignorant of the will of God if they had had the desire to learne the Apostle sayth si quis ignorat ignorabitur if any man know not God the same shall not be knowne of God for as the blinde and lame were not to enter into the Temple so the iudge biddeth vs educere foras populum caecum occulos habentes to bring forth and shut out of his kingdome those men which haue eyes and cannot see and which haue eares and doe not heare that is which are borne to know but will not learne and which are capable of discipline and yet will remaine vntaught Cokus de iure regis ecclesiastico And so in humane lawes we find the same truth Nam tantum abest vt ignorantia excuset c. For it is so far from reason that ignorance should any wayes excuse the fault of him which might know the truth that hee ought necessarily to haue knowne but through his negligence or wilfulnesse would not learne the same as that there is very great reason that he should be the more seuerely punished because that to be ignorant of those things which a man ought to know but will not learne non pro ignorantia sed pro contemptu haberi debet is rather to bee
of sinne Lanch de operibus dei p. 1. l. 4. c. 11. and so liable to the iust punishment that is due for such a sinne And therefore in the iudgement of the very heathen the will of sinning doth most iustly deserue the punishment of the sinne For It is obserued by Diuines that although Satans power be verie great to corrupt all other faculties of the soule of man as to darken the vnderstanding to dazle the fancie to delude the sences and to prouoke the appetite That Satan hath no power to compell the will yet that hee hath no power to remoue or to turne the will he may tempt and perswade but he cannot compell the same for seeing this is the primum mobile the highest wheele in the frame of our soule that moueth and guideth all our actions and according to which they shall be discerned and iudged therefore in the middest of mans greatest assaults God would not suffer Satan to preuaile and to command the will but hee hath left the same in our owne libertie so that Satan cannot destroy vs vnlesse wee bee willing to destroy our selues and therefore Saint Ambrose sayth Ambros de vita beata habetur 15. q. 1. can Non est Non est quod cuiquam nostram ad scribamus arâ—â—mnam nisi nostra voluntati qui nemo tenetur ad culpam nisi voluntate propria deflexerit There is no reason why any man should ascribe the cause of his miseries to any thing in the world saue onely to his owne will for we perish because we will perish perditio tua ex te Our owne will is the cause of all our woe our destruction is from our selues and from no where else for no man is drawne to sinne neither can it be a sinne vnlesse the agent doth some way yeeld some consent of will for if Satan had power to force the will aliquis iustorum non remaneret then not a righteous man should remaine vpon the face of the earth and therefore are all his temptations called perswasions or suggestions and not compulsions because they are all vsed to make vs voluntary agents to make vs yeeld consent of will for that as I sayd before Non est peccatum nisi sit voluntarium No act can be a sinne any way vnlesse it bee voluntarie some way And therefore as Apollodorus the tyrant dreamed that hee was fleaâ—d by the Scythians and boyled in a seething Caldron and that his owne heart should say vnto him I am the cause of this thy fearefull torments so it is most certaine that there is no damned soule in hell but he may iustly say his owne heart and his owne will sent him thither for let Sathan doe what hee will and let him striue what he can yet if man were true to himselfe The gates of Hell should neuer preuaile against him because no created power is able to compell the will of man And yet such is the power of sinne that although reason should shew vs what is good Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor yet it maketh vs to will onely that which is euill to leaue the incommutable and infallible good and to follow after base and vile affections and then God seeing vs nilling the good and willing the euill he giues vs ouer to a reprobate minde Aug. de l. arbit Vt cum vult homo recte agere non potest quia quando potuit noluit ideo per malum velle perdidit bonum pesse That if we would will well wee cannot because when we could will well we would not and therefore as our first Father Adam so all we that are the sonnes of Adam by willing euill haue and doe loose the power of willing good For Rom. 1.21.24 That our sinne hath depriued vs of all will to doe good As because the Gentiles when they knew God glorified him not as God neither were thankfull therefore God gaue them ouer to vile affections to doe those things that were not conuenient So because when we had our will free and none could command it wee willed euill and not good therefore God in Iustice giues vs ouer to such wilfull greedinesse of sinning that now of our selues we haue not the least will to doe good for if any man willeth good it is from infused grace and not from our inbred will Philip. 1.13 for God worketh in vs both the will and the deed sayth the Apostle but our naturall will is dead from good for sinne hath so defiled the same that it willeth and affecteth nothing but vile and vaine things and so it compelleth euery part and facultie of the soule to long and lust after euill for the vis irascibilis the irascible distasting and angry faculty which should be as a dogge to keepe away sinne doth now waxe angry at euery vertue and that which should detest euill in his brother doth rage and swell at the reproofe of his Father and the vis concupiscibilis the concupiscible faculty or desiring appetite which should desire nothing but goodnesse and what were iust and honest doth now affect nothing but lewdnesse and what is most vile and abhominable and it cannot doe any otherwise Max. l 1. de charitate Nomquemadmodum passerculus pede alligatus c. For as a little bird tyed by the leg when he beginneth to flie is presently drawne downe againe by the string So the mind of man tyed by base affections if it seeke to mount vp to heauenly thoughts it is presently plucked downe againe by sinne saith Maximus And so you see that Quam non mille ferae quam non steneleius hostis Nec potuit quicquam vincere vincit Adam This will of man which neither mortall enemies nor yet infernall spirits nor any other created thing could subdue is now defiled polluted and wholly corrupted by sinne That no outward enemy can compell our will And therefore I can freely yeeld vnto our aduersaries that wee haue free-will in regard of any outward compulsion for that Satan himselfe cannot compell it for if he could we could not iustly be condemned for doing that vnwillingly which we are wholly and forcibly compelled to doe Our inward naturall corruption is that which draweth our will to sinne but we haue not the least free-will in regard of our naturall corruption for as a stone tumbling downe the hill needes no man to driue it so the will of it selfe is so inclined to euill that of it selfe it can no more affect goodnesse then a stone of it selfe to runne vpwards and therefore Saint Iohn saith of the regenerate Iohn 2.13 that they are not borne of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Secondly as no action can be good vnlesse the will be right and the will can neuer be right vnlesse the vnderstanding be right as Seneca saith for though the will be the Mistresse and the Commander of
spoken or written by the best of men And this is the narrowest way to expresse him and yet we can reach no further for as he is in himselfe he is as I said before a light of an infinite brightnesse 1 Iohn 1 5. in whom is no darkenesse at all and as the Apostle saith Hee dwelleth in the light that none can attaine vnto 1 Tim. 6.16 no Eagles eye can fully look vpon the brightnesse of his light no vnderstanding can comprehend the incomprehensible excellency of his Maiestie and therfore we must rest our selues contented to know him so as we are able to conceiue of him and to expresse him so as our slender speech will giue vs leaue Casman in thest de Deo And thus we finde three speciall wayes of expressing what he is First by way of negation by remouing from him what we finde in the creatures or what euer is said of any of them Aug in l. de cognit verae vit de verbis dom ser 38. as when with the ancient Philosophers wee say God is not the Sunne not the Moone not a Man not mooueable not finite c. this is the best part of our Knowledge of him as Saint Augustine saith when we know rather what he is not That there are three especiall wayes of expressing what God is then what he is For as a curious Statue is composed and perfected by hewing and cutting something still from it and not by adding any thing vnto it So is our God knowne of vs by denying him to be such and such things as are common to the creatures and by paring away humane conceits from him when we goe about to conceiue what he is Secondly by way of affirmation and perfection as when wee do analogically and in respect of certaine similitudes ascribe vnto God the best and most excellent things that can be found in any creatures and so we say he is great strong faire mercifull iust c. Thirdly By way of supereminency and transcendent excellency as when we ascribe to God whatsoeuer excellencies that are spoken or may be spoken of him farre aboue all the excellencies of all other creatures whatsoeuer and so we doe referre and reduce all excellencies vnto him as vnto the common cause of them all or as vnto the fountaine from whence all these little channels of excellencies doe flow And therefore we say not onely in the concrete that God is iust mercifull wise strong good That the abstract names of all excellencies are onely proper vnto God and such like but also in the abstract that he is iustice mercy wisedome strength and goodnesse it selfe which cannot be said of any creatures for that all the best excellencies of the chiefest creatures are but as little sparkes in respect of a huge infinite fire or as a few drops of raine in comparison of the whole Ocean Sea if we should compare them to the excellency of God Nay we should find their wisedomes follie their strength weakenesse their beauty baldnesse and all their goodnesse to be nothing in respect of the goodnesse of God for he chargeth his Angels with folly and the Heauens are not cleare in his sight saith holy Iob. A description of God by way of 1 Negation 2 Affirmation 3 Supereminencie Now according to these three wayes God is described to be an immortall inuisible incomprehensible spirituall infinite eternall Essence the cause of all causes and the Author of all excellencies Here is a boundlesse Ocean and a very large description of God and I may sooner loose my selfe in the prosecuting of the same then to finde him fully as he is in any place which is fully and truely in euery place Aug. de trinitate But I remember that excellent rule of Saint Augustine Cauendum est ne dum de deo cogitamus non possumus inuenire quid sit aliquid de eosentiamus quod non sit We must take great heed least in seeking to know what God is we thinke him to bee what he is not and therefore that I may not erre in this point I will say no more but with himselfe which knowes himselfe best that he is Iehoua this he is and this is his Name for euer and as the old saying is Conueniunt rebus nomina saepe suis of all his Names this is the onely Name that doth expresse the Essence and the Nature of God for all other Names are but adiuncts expressing Qualis est essentiae Of what manner of being hee is as Eternall Omniscient Omnipotent or else qualis non est what he is not as Immortall Inuisible incomprehensible or deriued from the roote of this as Eheich 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some would haue it but Iehoua Nomen tetra grammaton This Name of foure letters the most Venerable and Ineffable Name amongst the Iewes as Galatinus saith deriued of Haiah Galat. l. 2. c. 9. The name Jehoua is the most proper Name of God as the Hebritians note which signifieth Esse an euerlasting being Est solummodo proprium essentiale nomen Dei is the onely proper and Essentiall Name of God Because all the other names of God whereof Saint Hierome collecteth nine besides Iehoua and such as are deriued from the roote thereof are names attributed vnto him in respect of his workes either internall as Father Sonne and Holy Ghost and such like which are names attributed vnto him Hieron in epist ad Marcell in respect of the inward operations of God or else externall as El Shadai Lord Creator and such like which are names attributed vnto him in respect of his outward workes as Galatinus sheweth And therefore when Moses desired to know the Name of God God nameth himselfe Eheich Ascher Eheich Exod. 3.14 which the Sept. translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am that I am putting the present Tense for the future Tense is my Name and it is all one as if hee had said more plainely Hee that was hee that is and hee that euer shall be For if you looke neuer so farre backe you shal neuer finde where his being began or if you inquire neuer so curiously into the time to come you shall neuer finde likelihood of his ending for Thou art God from euerlasting and world without end saith the Psalmist and so Yesterday to day 1 Tim. 1.17 and the same for euermore saith the Apostle and in this respect he is called the King of Ages which hath made the times Esay 57.15 and doth inhabit eternity Moreouer it is obserued that in this name Iehoua besides many other Mysteries that the more curious searchers into the same doe collect there is not onely shewed the being of God but also the manner of that being that is the three manner of subsistings in that one simple and eternall being or the Trinity of persons in that Vnity of Essence And I confess that seeing
there cannot be but one Iehoua one infinit eternall being that both the Father the Sonne and the Holy Spirit Each person of the Trinity is the true Iehoua are called each one of them Iehoua as you may most apparently see if you compare the 6. of Esay and the 9. where the great Iehoua saith vnto the Prophet Goe and tell this people heare and vnderstand not see but perceiue not make the heart of this people fat with the 12 of Iohn 41. Where the Euangelist saith that these words of the Prophet were spoken of Christ when hee saw his glory and spake of him and with the 28 of the Acts 25. Where Saint Paul saith The Holy Ghost spake these words by Esayas the Prophet and if you looke into the first of the Reuelations 8. where Christ assumeth the same name vnto himselfe saying I am Alpha Omega the beginning the ending 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which was which is which is to come And so into the 8 of Iohn the 58. where our Sauiour alludeth vnto the same Name saying Before Abraham was I am It doth sufficiently proue each one of these persons to be an infinite God subsisting in that one eternall Essence Zanch. de natura dei l. 1. c. 13. p. 35. because it is most certaine that the Name Iehoua is so propper vnto God that it can be ascribed to none else as Zanchius saith But because many other places of Scripture are more plaine and pregnant to proue this great Mystery of godlinesse I will not insist to wring out an apparant truth from the obscurest places Chrysost hom 2 in Heb. and because as Saint Chrysostome saith Nequue ad loquendum digne de Deo lingua sufficit neque ad percipiendum intellectus praeualet Our tongues are not able to speake worthily enough of God and our vnderstandings are not sufficient to conceiue of him as we ought to doe yea and that De deo loqui etiam vera aliquando periculosissimum est It may be dangerous sometimes to speake truths of God for as Euclides being demaunded of one what God did and in what things he most delighted did most truly answere that he knew not well what he did but he was certaine he delighted not in vaine and curious persons Maxim ser 33. That it is not safe to search too farre into the seeing of God so I say that curiosity in this highest point of Diuinity is very dangerous or as Saint Bernard saith to inquire too farre into this point is peruerse curiositie to beleeue it as the Scripture teacheth is infallible security and to see him as he is is most absolute felicity therefore I will wade no further into this depth but I will exhort and desire you all Potius glorificare eum qui est quam inuestigare quid est Chrysost quo supra hom 2. in Heb. Rather most faithfully to serue him which is then curiously to search what he is Ne in hac illicite curiosi in illa damnabiliter inueniamur ingrati least in this wee be found vnlawfully curious Prosper de vocat gentium and in the other most damnably vnthankefull as Prosper speaketh CHAP. II. How God is the giuer of Being to all Creatures and the fulfiller of all his promises AND yet I must note vnto you Zanch de natura Dei l. 1. c. 18. Why Jehoua is twice repeated that here Iehoua is twice repeated not to make Moses the more attentiue as some doe thinke it for the very speech of God at such a time and in such a manner was enough in my iudgement to moue attention but rather to signifie as I take it that as he is an eternall being in himselfe so he giueth being to all things else viz. 1. To all Creatures 2. To all his promises For First In him we liue we moue and haue our being Acts 17.1.28 saith the most learned Apostle of the Gentiles euen in the streetes of Athens and of him and for him and through him are all things Rom. 11.36 saith the same Apostle vnto the Romans the sole Monarchs of the whole World and so GOD himselfe saith Esay 44.24 I am Iehoua that made all things Which is all one as if hee had said As I am called the Creator because I haue made That all things doe subsist in God and created all things so I am called Iehoua Being because I gaue and doe giue their being vnto all the things that are And it is obserued that as in the Hebrew word Iehoua there is nothing but Consonants Iod He Vau Am which without their prickes that doe stand for the vowels can not be pronounced to shew how ineffable How ineffable is God and how vnexpressable the essence of God is So in the Latine word Iehoua there are contained all the vowels a. e. i. o. u without some of which no word can be spoken no name can be vttered and that in it there is nothing but vowels excepting h. which is no letter but the aspiration of the word to note vnto vs That God is the very life of all things that as the vowels together with the aspiration is the life and as it were the soule of euery word so is Iehoua the Lord God the very life and being as it were of euery Creature that can be named because that of him and for him and through him are all things Rom. 11.36 Non quod illa sunt quod ipse est sed quia ex ipso sunt Not that they are the same Bern. in cant serm 4. that he is but because they haue their existence and perfection from him as Saint Bernard saith Exod. 6.3 This place of Exodus explained Secondly when God saith He was not knowne vnto Abraham Isaac and Iacob by his name Iehouah it is not to be vnderstood of his essentiall being for so they knew him euen by this very name Iehouah as we may see in the fifteenth of Genesis and the seauenth verse and in the eight and twenty of Genesis and the thirteenth verse of the originall Text and so Tremellius reades it Gerard. l. 3 de nat Dei Neither is it to be vnderstood De gradibus diuinarum patefactionum Of the degrees of the diuine manifestations of God as Gerardus saith because sometimes it is the manner of the Scriptures to say that things are then when they are manifested to be Alsted Lexic Theol. c. 2. as it is said of the holy Ghost Quod nondum erat quia nondum innotuerat That he was not because as yet he had not manifested himselfe to be Iohn 7.39 for so he may be said not to be knowne vnto Moses nor vnto any man else because neither himselfe nor any of his names can be knowne of any man 1 Cor. 13. but onely in part as the Apostle sheweth And the example alleaged of the holy Ghost is mis-interpreted because
and then gaue them to vs Per manus eorum By the hands of them which brought them vnto vs for he is the giuer of euery good and perfect gift Iames 1.17 and all other things are but the instruments whereby hee conuayes and sends those gifts vnto vs 1 Cor. 9.7 And therefore why should we not wholly dedicate our selues and ours vnto the seruice of God For who planteth a Vineyard and eateth not of the fruits thereof And yet God may iustly say of vs Filios enutriui Esay 1.2 I haue nourished and brought vp Children but they haue despised me for though he made man and made all things for man yet cannot all these things make man to serue him as he ought to doe but that euery one of vs will follow after the lusts and concupiscence of his owne flesh which as the Poet saith Et nocitura placet placitura nocet Doth euen wound vs when it most delighteth vs. Thirdly seeing God giueth being vnto all his promises Psal 146.4 and keepeth his promise for euer as he hath done already in sending a Ioshua to giue the Land of Canaan vnto the Israelites and especially in sending Iesus Christ to giue eternall life vnto all beleeuers And that dicta Iehouae sunt dicta pura The words of the Lord are pure words That we should neuer doubt of Gods promises 2 Pet. 2.4 Wee should expectare impâ—â— aâ— â—em neuer doubt of the performance of Gods promises nor say with those incredulous Athiests in the second of Peter 2.4 Where is the promise of his comming But we should beleeue them to be as sure and as certaine as if they were already accomplished For he is Iehoua that will giue them their being in their appointed time Matth. 24 3â— Heauen and Earth shall passe away but his Word shall not passe That shall be surely accomplished CHAP. IV. Of the word LORD and how many wayes it is taken and of the reasons to perswade vs to serue him I Might now passe vnto the second part but that the translating of this word Iehoua by our last Translators into the word Lord for so we reade it The Lord the Lord God mercifull and gracious c. must here stay me a while For searching into the reason why Iehoua should be translated Lord Why Iehoua is translated Lord. I found that the seauenty Interpreters doe translate it so in euery place and that because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is deriued signifieth I am which is the same in effect as Iehoua and also because he is properly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Lord of any thing Qui plenum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in eadem rem habet Which hath full right and a most absolute authority ouer the same thing for Dominus primo dicebatur à domo He was at the first called Lord which was the Master of the House and had full right and authority ouer all the Houshold and wee finde that none but God alone can simply and absolutely say that he hath full right and authority ouer any thing in the World because he onely is the Maker and preseruer of all things and of euery thing Polanus Syntag. l. 2. c. 6. and therefore all other Lords are but Lords vnder him and from him and he onely is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord of himselfe and so indeede Lord of Lords And in this respect we finde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord and Iehoua to be equiualent and to fall into the same thing That God onely is an absolute Lord. Tertul. in Apol. c. 34. Lamprid. in Alex Seuer and therefore Augustus the first founder of the Roman Empire refused to be called Lord and so did Alexander Seuerus and diuers others because they thought the name of Lord to be too high a title for so meane Creatures as they knew themselues to be But we distinguish betwixt a Lord simply and a Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in some respect In the first sence none is Lord but God alone and therefore in this respect our Sauiour saith Be not you called Lords but In the second sence Dicam plane imperatoreâ—â— Dominum Tertul. quo sup saith Tertullian I may and will call the Emperor Lord and so saith Obadiah vnto the Prophet Elias Art not thou my Lord Elias 1 Reg 18.7 Because God which gaue them their rule and dominion in his stead hath also innobled them with his own names Et ego dixi dij estis And I my selfe saith God haue called you gods Psal 82.6 and haue giuen these names vnto you to be called Gods and so Lords And yet they should remember Saint Peters rule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not to Lord it so as to ouer-rule Gods people or as Saint Augustine saith Non dominandi superbia sed officio consulendi Not for the loue of Soueraignty but in a desire to doe them good and to imitate God himselfe Parcere subiectis debellare superbos To defend and helpe the innocent and to punish the wrong doer And so you see how Iehoua is rightly translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord because truely and absolutely hee alone is Lord of all things as the sole giuer of their being That we should feare and serue our Lord. Malach. 1.6 Psal 24.2 and preseruer of them in that being And this should incite vs to feare and to serue this our Lord for Si Dominus vbi timor If I am a Lord where is my feare The Prophet Dauid saith that the Earth is the Lords and all that therein is because he hath founded it vpon the Seas and prepared and established it vpon the flouds And so this Iehoua is our Lord because he made vs and hath giuen vs our very being and yet wee finde that hee is our Lord in a more excellent respect for as those Aug. de ciuit Dei l. 19. c. 15. which by right of warre might iustly be put to death and yet were redeemed and preserued aliue were called seruants and those that redeemed them were called their Lords so are we called Gods Seruants and he our Lord not onely because he made vs but also because when we might haue beene iustly put to eternall death for our sinnes we were redeemed and saued by the death of Iesus Christ And in this respect we finde that although the Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost be each one of them our Lord as our Creator and the giuer of our Being yet is Christ generally and most commonly throughout all the New Testament called our Lord as if this name were now wholly and solely to be appropriated vnto him Why Christ is most properly called Lord. because he is our sole Sauiour and Redeemer And therefore seeing the very name of a Seruant doth include seruitium a seruice to be performed vnto our Lord and Sauiour
of God for if thou beest a man full of sinnes here is a God full of mercy and in verie deede this is our chiefest comfort for be we Kings Nobles rich or poore yet after all our pompe and power when wee see our selues and consider our owne sinnes when death approacheth and sickenesse seizeth vpon vs wee must all say with king Dauid Miserere mei deus haue mercy on me O God according to the multitude of thy mercies or with poore Bartimaeus Marc. 10.48 haue mercy on me O Iesu thou sonne of Dauid Et hoc tutissimum est and this is the safest course for all sinners as Bellarmine wisely acknowledgeth totam spem totamque fiduciaem in sola misericordia dei reponere to place all our trust and confidence in the sole mercie of our most mercifull God for otherwise who dares present his best workes to bee iudged without mercie because as Saint Augustine sayth Vae laudabili vitae hominum si remota misericordia discutiat eam Deus Woe to the purest life of the holiest Saint if God should discusse the same without mercy And therefore after wee haue gone with the prodigall childe Luc. 15.13 into a farre countrey of wickednesse after we haue wasted all our goods all our graces and haue committed all our sinnes yet let vs not despaire Gen. 4.13 and say with Caine My sinnes are greater then can be pardoned but let vs rather returne vnto our Father and say with the prodigall childe Luk. 15 21. Father I haue sinned against Heauen and against thee and I am no more worthy to be called thy Sonne Yet I pray thee make me as one of thy hyred seruants or else let vs cry with Saint Augustine Aug. l. Meditat. saying O bone Domine noli attendere malum meum ne obliuiscaris bonum tuum O good Lord doe not remember my wickednesse lest thou shouldst forget thine owne goodnesse but consider O my God that although Ego admisi vnde me damnare potes tu non amisisti vnde me seruare soles I haue committed that for which thou canst damne me yet thou hast not forgotten that whereby thou art wont to saue me and though my sinnes be many yet thy mercies are more and the more thou forgiuest vnto me the more it will expresse thy goodnesse and the more bound I shall be to be thankefull vnto thee For hee loueth much Luk 7.47 to whom much is forgiuen saith our Sauiour Christ How God qualifieth punishments James 2.13 Niceph l. 17. c. 3. For the third that is the qualifying of punishments we finde that in his greatest anger against sinne mercy reioyceth against iudgement and that as Nicephorus saith Vindicta gladium misericordiae oleo semper acuit He steepeth his sword of vengeance in the oyle of mercy and he doth alwayes punish lesse then our iniquities deserue Ezra 9.13 as Ezra saith And this he doth not onely vnto the elected Saints but also to the reprobates and to the diuels themselues For First Touching the Saints it is apparant that their punishments doe proceed from mercy for when they are afflicted in this life Heb. 11. they are chastned of the Lord that they should not be condemned of the world Secondly touching the reprobates both men Angels both here and hereafter the mercy of God abateth much of that punishment which they haue most iustly deserued For Ruffin eccl hist First Here God being not like vnto Theodosius that put all the Thessalonians to the sword for the offence of few nor like that angry Goddesse Pallas Quae exurere classem Virgil. Aeneid l. 1. Argiuum atque ipsos voluit submergere ponto Vnius ob noxam That would destroy the whole Nauie of the Argiues for the onely offence of one onely Aiax but if it be lawfull to vse the comparison as the Persian Generall spared Delos for Apollo's sake So God in this life spareth whole multitudes of wicked men for a few good mens sake Act. 27.24 as he spared the liues of all the people that were in the ship with Saint Paul for the loue that he bare vnto this blessed Apostle and as he would haue spared fiue wicked Cities Gen. 18.32 if but ten good men had beene found therein and sometimes hee spareth the sinnes of the wicked for the very loue he beareth to the persons of the vngodly and though they still sinne against him yet doth he still spare them to see if his patience Rom. 2 4. and long sufferance will at any time lead them to repentance Secondly hereafter Quia non datur summum malum August in Enchirid cap. 12.13 That God in the strictnesse of his Iustice might inflict more punishment vpon the damned soules then he doth quoniam malum non inhaeret nisi in subiecto bono Because the being both of reprobates and diuels is euer good therfore the mercy of God pittieth that good and cannot be seuered from it but still loueth the same euen in its greatest torments and in that respect doth euer mitigate some part of that torment which the sinner iustly deserued and which God in the rigor of his Iustice might rightly haue inflicted on him But you will say the Scripture teacheth that they shall be punished in measure and that they shall haue iudgement without mercie And therefore how can they be said then to haue the least iot of the mercy of God Luke 16.24.25 Diues being denyed one drop of water to coole his tongue I answere that they shall neuer be eased of the least iot of that punishment that is once inflicted vpon them but I say that God neuer imposeth so much torments on the damned as in the strictnesse of his Iustice he might iustly doe and yet are they said to haue iudgement without mercie because the greatnesse of their insufferable paines doth swallow vp all sense and perseuerance of mercy and makes them thinke that God could not possibly inflict greater torments on them then they endure Zaâ—â—h de nat Des l. 4 c. 4. q. 4 p. 378. Whereas indeed if they perceiued it it is most certaine that they are not punished according to the height of that measure of punishment which their sinnes deserued and which God iustly could inflict vpon them but that in them also the Apostles words must take place that mercy reioyceth against iudgement Psal 25.10 And therefore well might the Prophet Dauid say that all Gods pathes are mercy Psal 145 9. and that his mercy is ouer all his workes because there is no place which can be imagined wherein there is not some impression of Gods mercy nor any Creature that can be named which can say that he doth no way taste of the mercy of God for God pittieth his owne workes euen then when he punisheth our workes that is our sinnes And yet here we must obserue that the mercy of God is twofold 1. Generall 2. Speciall For
he was contented to become Sanguinolentus propter te without forme or beauty for our sake Esay 52.3 Quando velauerunt faciem eius when the accursed Iewes buffeted and bespitted his glorious face yet was he alwayes gloriesissimus in se most gracious and glorious in himselfe and so the Apostles testifie that they saw his glory Iohn 1.14 as the glory of the onely begotten Son of God full of grace and truth And yet they saw the same but in part because of the infirmitie of their Flesh while they liued here in this life But Christ is the image of the Father Heb 1.3 That God is of an incomprehensible beauty and the ingraued forme of his person and therfore God must needs be gracious and amiable yea so amiable so louely that it is no maruell the very Saints Angels do so vehemently desire to see the face of God in Iesus Christ do esteem it their chiefest happinesse to be alwaies contemplating vpon the same And the reason why all men are not inflamed with the loue of his excellent Maiestie is because they know him not they haue not tasted how sweet the Lord is Quia ignoti nulla cupido for if men did know how graecious and how amiable the Lord is they would with Saint Paul long to be dissolued that they might but see him Secondly God is not onely gracious in himselfe That God is easie to be reconciled but he is also placable reconcileable vnto vs for though God be prouoked euery day yet doth his wrath indure but the twinckling of an eye he is ready to receiue vs into his fatherly fauour Psal 77.7.8.9 if we would but be willing to be reconciled vnto his Maiestie therfore the Prophet Dauid examining this point saying Will the Lord absent himselfe for euer and will he be no more intreated Is his mercy cleane gone for euer and is his promise come vtterly to an end for euermore Hath God forgotten to be gracious and will he shut vp his louing kindnesse in displeasure At last he concludeth Psal 77. v. 10. that it was his owne infirmity that is his vnablenesse to returne to God and not Gods vnwillingnes to be reconciled vnto him for the Lord is euer gracious ready to forgiue vs if wee were ready to receiue his grace yea hee beseecheth vs to be reconciled vnto himselfe and not wilfully to refuse his grace and fauour which he so louingly offereth vnto vs And therefore I wish to God that we had but that grace to accept his grace when it is so graciously offered vnto vs. That God is most bountiful vnto all his people Ezech. 16.7 Thirdly he is not onely ready to receiue vs into his fauour but he is also willing to inrich vs with all kinde of graces for though we be polluted in our owne bloud i. e. Loathsome in our selues and odious in his sight yet doth he wash v◠in the bloud of Christ and then indue vs with his most excellent graces faith hope and charitie and all the other vertues and good things that are in vs And though we be come naked into this World yet doth he clothe vs Job 1.21 and feede vs inrich vs and raise vs to all that we haue And in this kinde he is not onely gracious vnto the godly but also vnto the wicked for what hath any of them which he hath not receiued of the Lord It is he that filleth the Barnes of Diues as well as the Pallace of Dauid And therefore Saint Iames saith That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euery good giuing i. e. Euery temporall gift Iames 1.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and euery perfect gift that is Euery spirituall grace that is giuen to bring vs to perfection is from aboue and commeth downe from the Father of Lights The difference betwixt the gifts that God giueth to the godly and to the wicked Math. 6.16 But herein is the difference he bestoweth temporall graces vpon the wicked yea many times more plentifully then to the godly for hee seeth their desire is onely set on worldly things Therefore as he said of hypocriticall Fasters They haue receiued their reward that is Acceperunt suam sed amiserunt meam They haue what they would haue though they leese thereby what I would haue giuen them which is a losse not counteruailed with any gaine So he dealeth with the Worldlings God giueth temporall riches vnto the worldlings He filleth their hearts with his hidden treasure and he giues them often times especially to most of them their hearts desire that is the riches and the vanities of this life So foolish are they and ignorant euen as it were a beast before him But to the godly who loue not this World nor the things of this World hee shewes himselfe gracious after a more speciall manner in giuing them his heauenly graces that is graces which will bring them vnto Heauen and in giuing them worldly blessings too so much as hee sees needfull and conuenient for them Because Godlinesse hath the promise of the life that now is 1 Tim. 4.8 and of that which is to come And so you see how God is gracious in all respects amiable in himselfe placable vnto men and liberall vnto all his Creatures and in all these respects gracious after a speciall manner vnto his elected Saints and Seruants Psal 107.8.15 O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnesse and declare the wonders that he doth for the Children of men And that as the Apostle saith We would not receiue the grace of God in vaine i. e. That wee would not vainely abuse the good gifts and graces which our most gracious God doth so freely and so graciously bestow vpon vs. And so much for the second particle of Gods goodnesse Gracious CHAP. VII Of the patience and long sufferance of God THe third Particle of Gods goodnesse here expressed is that he is slow to anger that is How slow the Lord is to reuenge our sinnes that he is such a one that although we by our daily sinnes doe giue most iust occasions to prouoke his wrath and indignation against vs to destroy vs and to consume vs from off the face of the Earth yet the fire of his wrath is not suddenly kindled and his furious vengeance is not speedily executed But he is slow to anger full of patience long suffering and in a word such a one as reioyceth not to see the sinne committed that he may punish but still expecteth if the sinner will at any time repent and amend that he may spare him For so the Prophet saith The Lord will waite that he may be gracious vnto vs i. e. Esay 30.18 He doth tary and stay and looke if at any time or by any meanes we will forsake our sinnes that hee may stay his iudgements and be gracious vnto vs. O most sweete and
excellent saying And therefore the Prophet addeth Blessed are all they that waite for him And the testimonies of Scripture that doe confirme this point are almost infinite Ionas saith That he knew God was a gracious God Ionas 4.2 and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnesse and repenting him of the euill Therefore he would not goe to threaten destruction because he knew God was so ready to spare And the Prophet Dauid Psal 78. in the 78. Psalme and in the 106. Psalme and in many other places Psal 106. doth most fully and plainely set downe this truth Examples of Gods slownesse to punish sinne But the examples of Gods patience and long sufferance makes it more plaine For when Adam sinned hee came not presently but staid to the coole of the day before he would call him to account and when Adam was called Gods wrath did not appeare to be kindled for he said no more but Adam where art thou Gen. 3.9 v. 11. And when he appeared he said but hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I said vnto thee that thou shouldest not eate thereof Ionas 4.8 lest thou diest So when Ionas was angry vnto death for the gourd that sprung in a night and withered in another the Lord said no more but Ionas doest thou well to be angry So when Iudas betrayed the Sonne of God into the hands of sinners he said no more but Iudas betrayest thou the Sonne of man with a kisse So when the old World had so defiled it selfe that it made God sorry in his heart that euer he made man Gen. 6.6 yet would he not suddenly destroy this Augaeum stabulum but gaue it 120. yeeres to repent Verse 3. So he gaue to the Niniuites forty dayes and to the Israelites in the Wildernesse forty yeeres throughout all which time Psal 78.3.8.39 he was so mercifull that hee forgaue their misdeeds and destroyed them not nor would not suffer his whole displeasure to arise So for Iericho there were more dayes spent in the destruction of the same then in the creation of the whole World for the World was made in sixe dayes but Iericho was to be compassed seauen dayes before it should fall How God spared the whole World and so spareth vs notwithstanding all our wickednesse to this very day And so for this whole World notwithstanding the wickednesse of so many generations of men it stands vnpunished to this very day as if iudgement were forgotten or God were loath to be moued to be angrie And for our selues alas how many times doe we offend our God neglect his Sabboath blaspheme his name contemne his Word and abuse his seruants and yet still God stayeth his anger from vs and spareth vs when we spare not him And whence comes this but onely hence that our God is slow to anger for Si quoties peccant homines sua fulmina mittat Iupiter If God should punish vs as often as wee offend him wee should all perish and soone come to a fearefull end But it is obserued by many Diuines writing vpon those words of the Prophet The act of punishing is least agreeable to Gods Nature that God should rise as in Mount Perasim and should be wrath as in the vallie of Gibson that he might doe his worke his strange worke and bring to passe his act his strange act that the act of punishing is the furthest from God and least agreeable to the nature of such a soueraigne goodnesse for as the motiue of shewing mercy is within him and therefore is he called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Father of mercies as if mercy did as naturally proceede from him Mercy proceedeth naturally from God as the Childe doth issue from the Father So the motiue of executing iudgement and reuenge is without him in our sinnes and therefore is he neuer called the Father of vengeance but is as it were compelled either to punish vs or to be vniust in himselfe Quia abyssus abyssum inuocat because the greatnesse of our sinnes doth still crie for vengeance against the sinners God is compelled to punish And therefore many times when the Sword is drawne and the hand ready to strike yet mercy steppes in and as the Angell cried to the foure Angels to whom power was giuen to hurt the Earth and the Sea saying Hurt not the Earth nor the Seas nor the Trees Apoc. 7.2.3 till we haue sealed the seruants of God in their fore-heads Or as the Angell said vnto Abraham Lay not thine hand vpon the Lad Gen. 22.12 neither doe thou any thing vnto him So doth mercy say to God stay yet a while O Iustice and destroy them not vntill I haue tried them one yeere more whether they will bring forth any fruits of repentance or not for how shall I deliuer vp Israel Hosea 11.8.9 or why should Ephraim be destroyed Mine heart is turned within me and my repentings are â—indled together And therefore O doe not execute the fiercenesse of thine anger but stay a while to see what they will doe and so mercy stayes the hand of Iustice Our turning from our sins doth perfectly turne away Gods wrath from vs. and many times gets the victory and when it can moue vs to turne to GOD it turnes all the weapons in the Armory of Heauen like the Raine-bow which is a Bow indeed but without an Arrow with a full bent but without a string and with the wrong side towards vs as if now hee meant to shoote at Christ for our sinnes and not at vs which are the sinners And thus God which is euer ready and willing to shew mercy and compassion is still loth and slow to suffer his anger to be kindled to worke our woe and destruction And both these are excellently represented vnto vs in a twofold passage of the Scripture Luc. 15.10 the one in the Father of the prodigall Childe who runnes to meete his returning wandring sonne to shew vnto vs Didacus stella in Luc. 15. Quod non sit lenta neque tarda diuina misericordia ad subveniendum compunctis corde That the mercy of God is neither slow nor slacke to helpe and releeue repenting soules but is alwayes ready and willing to receiue them into his fauour and therefore cucurrit he ranne when he saw an occasion to shew mercy Gen. 3.8 God is quicke to shew mercy slow to punish the other in God seeking Adam in Paradice who walked with a slow pace as the originall word imports to shew how loth he was to be too quicke in indignation and therefore ambulauit He did but walke and come with a slow pace because he is slow to wrath yea when nothing will preuaile to recall vs from our sinnes but that he must punish vs yet as a compassionate Iudge pronounceth sentence against a malefactor with weeping eyes Qui fruitur paena ferus est legumque videtur
3. thes 1. but that through their contempt and diffidence and abuse of Gods goodnesse by turning the graces of God into wantonnesse they make them all like the vntimely fruit of a woman which perisheth before it seeth the Sunne or like the grasse vpon the house toppe that withereth before it be plucked vp How God is not alike good vnto all men Secondly Though it is most certaine that God is good vnto all yet is it as certaine that hee is not alike good vnto all but as the master of a house is good vnto all that are vnder him and so prouideth for them all men and beasts yet is there a gradation of his loue and goodnesse towards them in as much as he loues his wife and children better then he doth the rest of his familie so God is good vnto all but in a more speciall manner he is good to some rather then vnto others so among the Angels he was good vnto them all in that he made them and indued them with most admirable gifts of nature but he shewed more goodnesse vnto them which he preserued by his grace that they should not fall into condemnation then hee did vnto those which hee suffered to runne into destruction and so among men 2 Tim. 4.3 though he be the Sauiour of all men and doth good vnto all men yet is he specially good to them that beleeue or as the Prophet Dauid sayth Psal 73.1 to them that are of a right conuersation And therefore speaking of Gods goodnesse towards men wee say that although God be good vnto all in respect of his generall goodnesse yet in respect of his speciall goodnesse he is onely good vnto his Church vnto his Saints and chosen children he is good to them that feare him that put their trust in his mercie And this speciall goodnesse of God towards his Saints is chiefely seene in these two things which he extendeth and exhibiteth vnto them and not to others 1. In the decreeing of our eternall election Gods speciall goodnesse towards his Saints is seene in two things Aug. de fide ad Pet. c 35. cont Jul. Pelag. l. 5. c. 3. c. 2. In the executing of this decree for our saluation First God foreseeing all the whole race of Adam in the state of sin wherin they had fallen did before the foundation of the world intend purpose to assume into his fauor a certain number of men out of all that masse of corruption on whom hee would confer more speciall fruits of his goodnes then he meant to do on all the rest that they might be the speciall vessels of his mercie and goodnesse and made fit to follow the Lambe wheresoeuer he goeth And this election of some and not of all is sufficiently shewed in many passages of the holy Scriptures as in Ephes 1.4 Matth. 20.16 where our Sauiour saith God electeth some men and not all Many are called but few are chosen and Ioh. 13.18 I know whom I haue chosen and so the Fathers Schoole-men and all are all of the same iudgement that God decreed to glorifie some and not all Secondly As he shewed his goodnesse towards them more plentifully then the rest in thus purposing to saue them rather then the rest so he doth farre more plentifully shew the same vnto them in the executing of this decree of election and in bringing of them vnto eternall saluation And this hee doth two wayes 1. By effectually calling them 2. By giuing and conferring many singular graces vpon them First though God sent his Sonne to die for all men That God effectually calleth none but his Elect. that whosoeuer beleeued in him should not perish but haue life euerlasting and sends his Preachers to call all men to beleeue in him yet is all this ineffectuall to all those that are not inwardly called by Gods Spirit Quia inanis est sermo docentis nisi intus sit qui docet For we finde many called and often called by the Preachers of the Word which yeeld not obedience vnto the Faith of Christ Matth. 20.16 because as our Sauiour sheweth they are not chosen vnto life But whom God hath decreed to saue he doth inwardly effectually call by his Spirit and when we do outwardly Preach the Word he doth graciously open their hearts as hee did the heart of Lidia Act. 16.14 that they should imbrace and beleeue the same And this Saint Paul sheweth when he saith that whom God did fore-know and predestinate them he called i. e. Inwardly and effectually and so powerfully that when hee doth so call them 1 Sam. 3.10 they doe presently answere Loe I come or with Samuel Speake on Lord for thy seruant heareth And thus he calleth none but those whom he hath decreed to saue for so our Sauiour saith That no man knoweth the Father but the Sonne and he to whom the Sonne reuealeth him i. e. thus effectually by his Spirit And therefore God sheweth more goodnesse vnto them then hee doth vnto all others in that he doth more graciously call them rather then all others Secondly when he hath thus effectually called them he bestoweth many speciall and singular graces vpon them which he doth not vpon all others as chiefly Of certaine speciall graces that God bestoweth vpon his Saints 1. The grace of Preseruation 2. The grace of Iustification 3. The grace of Sanctification 4. The grace of Glorification First the grace of Preseruation is that which keepeth and preserueth these chosen and peculiarly beloued Saints of God from many euils both of 1. Sinne. 2. Punishment For First though as I shewed you before the goodnesse of God preserueth the wicked many times from committing many horrible sinnes which otherwise they would doe yet doth he after a more speciall manner guide the godly with his counsell Psal 73.24 as the Psalmist saith that they runne not with the wicked into the same excesse of riot How God preserueth the Godly from many sinnes Fot seeing by nature we are all equally indifferent to all sinnes how comes it to passe that wee abstaine from may abhominations and haynous impieties that wicked men doe practice is it from our selues or from the goodnesse of our Nature or is it not rather from the goodnesse of God that giueth his holy spirit vnto vs that as he preserued Noah from partaking with the wickednesse of the old world Gen. 6 9. and Lot from following after the abhominations of the Sodomites Gen. 19.7 Gen. 39.8.9 Ioseph from consenting to the lewd inticements of his Mistresse Elias from the Idolatry of Israel and the like so he might preserue vs from those lewd actions that the wicked doe Aug. Soliloq l. 16. Saint Augustine makes it plaine For Tentator defuit saith he Satan was away and time and place was wanting to doe the deed but this was thy goodnesse to preserue mee the Tempter came in time and place
hath most seuerely punished for their sinnes Ezek 18. and so in briefe he saith of euery one The soule that sinneth that soule shall die And therefore this should teach vs. First Not to frame vnto our selues a God all of Mercie and not to sing of mercy alone but of mercy and iudgement together that as we are to loue his mercy to be filled with grace so we might feare his Iustice to preserue vs from sinne For these be the two feet of God saith Saint Bernard whereupon hee walketh all his wayes That we should as well feare Gods Iustice as hope for his Mercie and these be the two wings of a Christian whereby he may flie vp into heauen Therefore seeing the one without the other is vnauaileable to support vs let vs not seperate those which God hath here euery where else ioyned together but let vs imbrace Gods goodnesse to keepe vs from despaire and let vs feare Gods Iustice to preserue vs from presumption Secondly This teacheth vs to expect a day of retribution for seeing the Iustice of God requireth that wicked men should bee punished as the Apostle sheweth and that here many of them doe scarce taste of Gods anger it must needs be That the Iustice of God requireth there should be a day of retribution 2 Cor. 5.10 Rom 2.5 2 Pet. 2.11 that all must appeare before the Iudgement seat of Christ that euery one may receiue the things done in his body according to that hee hath done whether it be good or bad and therefore what manner of men ought we to be in holy conuersation and godlinesse Secondly God will not onely punish wicked men in themselues for their sinnes That God punisheth wicked men in their children but he will also punish them in their children Tanquam in carne sua charissima As in the deerest things that they loue for he will visite the sinnes of the Fathers vpon the children And so punishing their children he plagueth them because euery man herein is like the woman of Canaan who said vnto our Sauiour Miserere mei Domine O Lord be mercifull vnto me my daughter is grieuously vexed with a diuel Matth. 15.22 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil sel ser 19. For that the Deuils being in her daughter was a torment and a misery vnto her selfe Simon de Cassia in Euang. l. ◠c. 24. Quia amor natorum dolorem traijcit in parentes Because the loue which the parents beare vnto their children doth transferre the griefe of the children vnto the parents and therefore doth God punish a wicked man both in himselfe and in his children But although it be Iust with God to visite the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children yet this seemeth strange with men especially considering the Prophet saith Filius non portabit iniquitatem patris The sonne shall not beare the fathers sinnes neither shall it be said any more Ezek. 18. that the fathers haue eaten sower Grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge but euery man shall beare his owne sinne and the soule which sinneth that soule shall die And therefore to reconcile this clause of the Law with that of the Prophet wee must discusse this point more at large Saint Augustine disputes it How it stands with Gods Iustice to punish the fathers sinnes vpon the children how the child should beare his fathers sinnes but hee doth not directly as I finde conclude it Saint Gregory concludes it that if a child follow the sinnes of his fathers he shall not onely be punished for his owne sinnes but also for his fathers sinnes but he did not sufficiently dispute it And therefore that we may rightly conclude vpon sure premises I must with the Schooles distinguish 1. Of Fathers 2. Of Sinnes 3. Of children 4. Of Punishments First Fathers are either proximiores those that beget vs or remotiores those from whence we are deriued as Adam That the sinne of Adam was not onely imputed but also deriued into his posteritie experience it selfe makes it plaine and the reason is as Aquinas truely saith because Adam now stood not as a personall man but as specificall i e. as one bearing in himselfe as the stocke of a tree doth beare all the branches the whole species or race of all mankinde and therefore if this roote had continued holy Rom 11.16 the branches had beene likewise holy but hee sinning he produced a most sinfull of-spring like himselfe because an euill tree could neuer bring forth good fruit Matth. 7.18 but in euery other man there is onely the person of this or that indiuiduall man Sinnes are not traduced from the Parents vnto the children and therefore the Schooles conclude that no actuall sinne can be traduced from the next fathers vnto the children not vertue frō the good not vice from the bad for so experience sheweth that a good man doth not alwayes beget a vertuous child nor a drunkard alwayes beget a drunkard but sometimes the cleane contrary as when the sonne of a miserable wretched niggard proues to be the most dissolute prodigall spend-thrift in the world else would they ingrosse the whole world to themselues and their posteritie or when an euill man begetteth a most vertuous and a godly child which doth not vnusually happen among men And yet we say that seeing in euery child there is the elementall seed of all vices which we haue naturally and originally traduced from Adam there be two especiall things which doe commonly cherish and preserue the immediate and next fathers sinnes in their children Two things that further the sinnes of the Parents to continue in the children that is 1. Inclination 2. Immitation For First seeing we receiue our whole substance from our parents we are naturally inclined to follow either the vertues or the vices Sepesolet similis filius esse patri either the good qualities or the bad qualities of the same substance from whence we are produced as the child of a good father to be good and the child of a vitious father to be euill Secondly seeing children are like Apes apt to imitate Children very apt to imitate their Parents vices and the examples of our Parents are like Spurres to driue their children on to follow what they see the good carriage of a godly father is a great incitement and a most effectuall meanes to worke goodnesse in his children and the bad example of wicked Parents is as a hammer to driue sinne and wickednesse into their children for we see Quo semel est imbuta recens seruabitodorem testa diu Whatsoeuer vertues or vices doe take roote in our bones when we are children will hardly be rooted out of our flesh when we are men And if to these two wee adde instruction either in good or euill things I know nothing more that can be said to make a perfect man or a perfect sinner These be the inducements and the causes why
kindred of a Traytor were thereby tainted and disparaged by the Macedonian Law And therefore we must abridge God of that which we see iust in man or else we must yeeld it is iust in God to visite and to punish the sinnes of the Fathers vpon the Children But For the second That for the Fathers sinnes the Child should be spiritually punished or inflicted with criminall punishments it seemeth more then strange and therefore Aquinas and many others thinking thereby to reconcile this place of the Law That God will visite the sinnes of the Fathers vpon the Children And that of Ezechiel where God saith The innocent Childe shall not beare the iniquity of his wicked Father doe say that God here doth vnderstand it of temporall punishment or corporall castigation which God often times layeth vpon the Children for their Fathers sinnes But in Ezechiel God meaneth that he will not spiritually punish or eternally plague the Childe for the Fathers sinne And I confesse that that place of Ezechiel is to be vnderstood that God will not eternally punish the Childe simply for the Fathers sinne for God vseth not to punish any one man for the sinne of any other man But as the Lord saith himselfe The soule which sinneth Ezech. 18.4 A difference betwixt spirituall and eternall punishment that soule shall dye yet I say that in Ezechiel he denyeth not what here he affirmeth and that hee meaneth the same thing in both places if both be rightly vnderstood for I make a great difference betweene a spirituall and an eternall punishment that God will eternally punish the Childe for the Fathers sinne I vtterly denye but that hee will spiritually punish the Childe for the Fathers sinne I see neither place denying it For as here hee doth not say that hee will eternally punish the Childe for his Fathers sinnes so there he doth not say that hee will no way spiritually punish the Childe for the Parents faults but as here his meaning is not that he will inflict any positiue euill vpon the sonnes of the wicked for the wickednesse of their Parents but that for the iniquity of the Parents hee will shut his hands and with-hold his grace from their Children and so willingly and iustly suffer them to commit the like or worse sinnes then their Fathers did because we being all naturally borne in sinne inclined and prone to all euill if God doth not by his sanctifying and preuenting grace preserue vs wee shall be sure enough of our selues without any intrusion or infliction of any positiue euill from God to fall from one wickednesse to another and to commit all sinnes euen with greedinesse So there his meaning is not to deny the with-holding of his grace from the Children of the wicked which is all that here hee threatneth but that he will not inflict any positiue punishment vpon them for their Fathers sinnes And therefore though God saith in Ezechiel that he will not punish the Children for their Fathers faults i. e. by any positiue punishment yet doth hee not denie That God denyeth his graces vnto the Children for the Parents sinnes but that the priuatiue punishment of denying his grace vnto them for their Fathers sinnes should be inflicted vpon them and that suffering of vs to sinne or not hindering of vs to sinne iustly inflicted vpon vs for our Fathers sinnes is a most lamentable and a most fearefull thing because such Children so iustly refused to be helped by GOD and so deseruedly left in the councell of their owne hands shall bee sure of sinnes enough of their owne to be plagued for that they shall neuer neede to say Ezech. 18.2 The Fathers haue eaten sowre grapes and the Childrens teeth are set on edge or that they are punished for their Fathers sinnes And so you see how God visiteth the sinnes of the Fathers vpon the Children and yet punisheth euery man but for his owne sinnes The first he doth by a spirituall desertion and deniall of grace vnto the Children for the Fathers sinnes and The second hee doth by a positiue infliction of punishment vpon euery man according to his owne sinnes for As he promiseth to blesse the Children of the godly for the loue that he beareth vnto their Parents as hee saith vnto Abraham Gen. 17.7 I will be thy God and the God of thy seede after thee So hee denyeth his grace many times vnto the Children of the wicked for the very hatred that he beares against their Fathers sinnes as most innumerable wofull examples doe make it plaine for you see the Iewes forsaking God to be forsaken of God to this very day and that bloud of Christ which their Fathers spilt to remaine vpon the Children of so many generations And we see so many Nations of men suffered Luc. 1.79 To sit in darkenesse and in the shadow of death as the seauen Churches of Asia and many other famous places of Greece and other Countries because their Fore-fathers haue forsaken their first loue and through their negligence haue extinguished the light of Truth And being thus left of God and depriued of grace what can be left in them or deriued from them but the fruits of that naturall corruption which is ingraffed in all men And therefore as it is truly said of all the off-spring of Ieroboam that being bereft of grace and left vnto themselues euen for their Fathers sinnes They walked in the wayes of Ieroboam 1 Kings 15.34 the sonne of Nebat which made Israel to sinne So we may say of the Children of wicked Parents that being left as they were borne in their pure naturals for their Fathers impieties they doe imitate the same workes and tread in the same steppes or worse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then their Fathers did And so it falles out true that as an euill Crow brings forth an euill egge so euill Parents doe bring forth for the most part euill and wicked Children God in iustice visiting the iniquity of the Parents vpon the Children vnto the third and fourth generation And so you see how God visiteth the iniquity of the Fathers vpon the Children Why God with-holdeth his graces from the Children of the wicked by with-holding his grace from them and how iust it is with God to doe the same because hee is a debtor to no man and the reason why he dealeth thus with the sonnes of men is First To shew the height of his hatred against sinne fire is kindled in his wrath and it shall burne to the bottome of hell and if his wrath be kindled yea but a little Blessed are all they that put their trust in him Psal 2.12 Secondly To punish the offenders as I said before in their dearest flesh to see if their loue to their Childrens welfare will make them any wayes feare to sinne for we see many men so obdurate and so hard-hearted vnto themselues as that they care not what is done or what becomes
this rather then they will leese their vayne and wanton pleasures So foolish are they and ignorant euen as it were beasts before him I haue read of Honorius a Roman Emperour that when one told him Rome was lost he was exceedingly grieued and cried alas alas for he supposed it was his henne so called which he exceedingly loued but when it was told him it was his Imperiall Citie Rome that was besieged by Alaricus and was now taken and lost then his spirits were reuiued that his losse was not so great as he imagined we may well thinke this to bee a simple and a childish disposition and yet our selues are worthie of the same condemnation for if we leese a little wealth a little pleasure a little vanitie things of themselues good for nothing because of themselues they can make nothing good and then as the prouerbe goeth that is too deere of a farthing which is good for nothing yet for these trifles wee will vex and fret weepe and wayle Zechar 12.11 and our mourning wil be Like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo but when we leese our soules in the desarts of sinne and when wee leese our God for sinne then with the Israelites wee sit downâ— to eate and drinke and rise vp to play Exod. 32.6 But seeing as the Emperor Seuerus sayd though wee bee all things and haue all things that the world can afford vs yet all things will auayle vs nothing without this thing because as I said before Christ is all things and all things without Christ are nothing seeing with Ixion they doe imbrace a cloud for Iuno a shadow for the body trash for treasure and a short momentarie dreame of pleasure in stead of the true and eternall rest which seeke their rest but not in Christ and seeing as hee sayth himselfe it is eternall life to know him with his father John 17.3 to bee the true and eternall God I will therefore craue your Christian patience and desire your carefull attention to hearken vnto the seuerall parts of this text and to retaine in your memories those chiefest obseruations that I shall collect from the same all I cannot and as I would I cannot I must ingeneously confesse it Nam mysterium singulariter mirabile mirabiliter singulare for it is a mysterie singularly wonderfull and wonderfully singular and indeede the mysterie of all mysteries and therefore Si profundum in profundo non reperiam humanam fragilitatem non diuinam potentiam confundo If I doe not handle the same as I ought to doe I shall but bewray mine owne humaine frailtie and no wayes impeach or disparage this diuine veritie And because as it is the first the greatest the chiefest and the comfortablest point of all Christian Religion so it hath beene and is and I feare euer will be most chiefely oppugned and depraued on all sides by all sorts of enemies and wicked Heretickes therefore as this mine introduction is somewhat large yet not to large either preparation or expectation for so great a matter as followeth after so you must giue mee leaue to insist the longer about it and not Myndus-like to suffer my porch to bee greater then my towne And if I shall seeme harsh in the prosecution and not giue full satisfaction vnto your desires and expectation you must know that they are poynts to informe the iudgement and apprehension and not to moue or to inflame the affection and therefore harder a great deale and more painefull for vs to handle them then to treat of any morall poynts of exhortation and though they be lesse delectable for the present yet are they farre more profitable for the future time especially vnto them that will most seriously consider them and most carefully remember them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Word was made flesh In which words as you may easily see the holy Euangelist setteth down the incarnation of this eternall Word and I for the fuller explanation of the same The whole treatise deuided into two parts must desire you to consider these two things 1. The summe and substance of this Words Incarnation 2. The chiefest cirumstances requisite for its explanation The 1. is heere fully expressed The 2. is from the other Euangelists plainely collected Touching the first here are three especiall things expressed 1. The thing that was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word 2. The thing that it was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Flesh 3. The manner of his making 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was made Or playner thus 1. Who was made 2. What it was made 3. How it was made the Word Flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not created not changed but made for the Word was made Flesh and of these by Gods helpe in order CHAP. II. Of the Trinitie of Persons in the Vnitie of Diuine Essence The first branch of the first part FIrst We must consider who was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word was made for the vnderstanding of which point wee must know that the diuine Essence is onely one impartible and indiuisible For so the Scripture teacheth vs Deut. 6. c. 32. heare O Israel the Lord thy God is one God and therefore know you that I am God alone and besides mee there is none other sayth the Lord himselfe 1 Cor. 4.8 and so Saint Paul sayth wee know that there is none other God but one Athanas in Symbolo Secondly So the Fathers teach vs for though the Father is God and the Sonne is God and the Holy-Ghost is God yet are there not three Gods but one God sayth Athanasius and these three are one if you consider the Diuinitie and this one is three if you consider the proprietie Nazin orat 3. de Theol. Amb. de fide l. 1. c. 2. sayth Saint Gregorie Nazianzen and so sayth Saint Ambrose Saint Augustine Saint Hillarie and all the rest Thirdly So reason it selfe teacheth vs for God is summum cns the first and chiefest being as himselfe professâ—th I am that I am and we haue learned that of the prince of Philosophers that there cannot bee but one chiefest being Quia ens vnum conuertuntur because that being one are all one Secondly God is infinite and therefore but one because that which is infinite comprehendeth all things within the circle of it selfe Thirdly If there were more Gods then one Reason sheweth that there can be but one God then they must bee either all without beginning or one must proceede from other either by creation or generation that they should be all without beginning is impossible for then it must needs follow that there should be multa principia prima disparata in vna voluntate non conuenientia many first causes and vnequall beginnings that could neuer agree and be of the same minde and will and therefore to say they should bee all without beginnings is most absurd If one be from the
Sol. But to this Danaeus briefely answereth that these men say he shall be called after the manner of the Hebrewes pro vere manifestabitur Danaeus Jsagog he shall bee truely manifested and declared to bee the Sonne of God Christ was a God from eternitie but he began to be a God existing in the humanitie when he was made flesh so that he shall be called doth not signifie that he should then begin to be but that then he should begin to bee manifested what he was before Besides wee may yeeld that then he should begin to bee and to bee called a God subsisting in the humane nature for this may apparantly bee collected out of the words both of the Prophet and Euangelist for in that the Prophet sayth vnto vs a Childe is borne this is to bee vnderstood of his humane nature and in that he sayth vnto vs a Sonne is giuen it is to be vnderstood of his Diuine nature Quia natus ex humanitate datus ex diuinitate datus qui nesciret exordium natus qui sentiret occasum datus quo nec Pater esset antiquior natus qui matre esset iunior sic qui erat datus est qui non erat natus est Because he is borne in respect of his humanity and giuen in respect of his Dietie for hee was giuen which had no beginning and he was borne which should haue ending hee was giuen which was as auncient as his father and hee was borne that was younger then his mother so hee that was was giuen vnto vs and he that was not was borne vnto vs as Eusebius Emissenus sayth and therefore this Sonne that euer was a God in respect of his Diuine nature could not bee called nor sayd to bee a God existing in the humane nature vntill this Sonne was giuen to bee in carnate and till this Childe was borne vnto vs and so I say of the words of Saint Luke that hee which was euer the Sonne of God in respect of his Godhead should now bee called the Sonne of God existing in the Manhood Secondly They obiect that Saint Iohn calleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ob. 2 The Word of God but God spake no words before the Creation when first he said Fiat lux Let there be light and therefore this word before then could not be To this I answere first Sol. that they doe exceedingly corrupt the Text in calling him The Word of God for Saint Iohn doth not call him The Word of God but simply the Word to shew the difference betwixt that Word of the Lord which came vnto the Prophets and Apostles and is left vnto vs in the Scriptures or that was at any time spoken by God at the Creation or since the Creation vnto the Patriarchs or any other seruant of God and this euerlasting Word which euer was and is an eternall God And therefore Saint Cyril saith Cyrillus l. 1. Thesauri That Christ is no accidentall but an eternall essentiall word That he is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Any sound of the Ayre which is breathed out of the mouth of God and is vttered by the helpe of the tongue because God hath neither mouth lippes nor tongue neither is he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nec 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nec 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any inward or inbred word or significatiue voyce of any such conceiued words because none of these is any subsistent thing but as it were an accident in the subiect which cannot be said to be in God but hee is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The essentiall substantiall and subsistent word as hereafter I shall more amply and plainely shew vnto you when I come to discusse the reasons why he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Word Thirdly they doe obiect that the wisedome of God saith Ob. 3 Dominus creauit me initium viarum suarum ante secula fundauit me Which according to the words is thus in English Prou. 8.22 God created me the beginning of his wayes before the Worlds he established me Sol. I answere that concerning this place of Salomon I finde diuers sorts of expositions First the Iewes say that by this Wisedome is vnderstood the Law which was created to be the beginning of Gods wayes and as they say two thousand yeeres before the World was made because in the thirtieth verse they finde two iom that is two dayes which they interpret of two thousand yeeres because a day with God is as a thousand yeeres Psal 90.4 Secondly the Samosatenian Heretickes say that this place is to be vnderstood not of Christ but of that vertue of God whereby he hath wisely created and discreetly gouerneth all those things that are created Thirdly the Arians yeelding that it was spoken of the Sonne of God doe say that it proueth him to be made and created by the Father and therefore not eternally begotten of the Father That the Law was not created But against the Iewes I say that it cannot be spoken of the Law because the Law is not created but promulgated and shewed vnto vs to teach vs to know what is good and acceptable vnto God for if it were created then it must be created of nothing and must be either a substance or an accident and the breach thereof would proue to be the offending of a creature and not the Creator which is most absurd and if it were created yet that it should be created two thousand yeeres before the World was made is more absurd for that it should be then created before any time because time beganne when the World was made as Moses sheweth And therefore if the Law were created two thousand yeeres before the World was made then Moses doth not well to make Time to haue his beginning when the World beganne and therefore the meaning of those words I was Deliciae eius die die which is an Hebraisme signifying Quotidie daily or alwayes is this that Christ before all Worlds was euer and alwayes the onely ioy and delight of God in whom as he saith himselfe he was well pleased hee was fully satisfied and contented Secondly Against the Somosatenians I say that whatsoeuer is spoken of any vertue or any wisedome of God must needes be spoken of Christ Luc. 11.49 because hee is the vertue and wisedome of God as Saint Luke sheweth And therefore the same things that are here ascribed vnto that wisedome of God are else-where ascribed vnto Christ the Sonne of God as you may see Iohn 1.1 Heb. 1.2 Colos 1.17 And so Iustin Martyr Justinus in Dialog cum Tryph. and Clemens Alexandrinus doe expound this place of Salomon of the Sonne of GOD. Thirdly Against the Arians I finde diuers answeres Whether the Arians corrupted the Text. First Some thinke the Arians as they vsed to doe in other places corrupted the Text and writ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Created me in stead of possessed me but I thinke this could not be because Iust Martyr that liued before the Arians were hatched and Athanasius himselfe doth reade it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Created me and therefore Secondly Epiphanius Saint Basil Saint Hierome and others Epiphan heres 69 Basil l. 2. contr Eunom Hieron in ep ad Cypr. doe thinke that the vulgar Edition is not well translated for that the Hebrew word which Salomon vseth should not be translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a iota but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the middest of the word The first is He created me and the other is he possessed me and therefore Aquila translates it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Tremellius Whether the Hebrew word bee rightly translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 created Iehoua possidebat me principio viae suae or ab initio operum suorum as others will haue it And so is the vulgar Latine and our owne last English Translation The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way And if this be true then those ancient Fathers Saint Athanasius Saint Basil Saint Cyril and others that were much troubled about this place might haue easily answered vnto this obiection of the Arians if they had corrected the Greeke Translation out of the Hebrew Text. But the Iewes contend that the word in the Originall doth aswell signifie to create as to possesse as Rabbi Shelomo Iarchi vpon Genesis 14.19 doth declare for there Moses vseth the same word which Salomon vseth here and although our last English Translation reades it Possessor of Heauen and Earth yet the vulgar Latine and the Septuagint reades it Creator of Heauen and Earth and therefore Thirdly Fulgentius answereth Fulgent in resp ad hanc ob Arrian that although Salomon should say The Lord created me yet could that make nothing against the eternall being of the Sonne of God for that we may easily see Salomon speaketh here of a two-fold generation of the Sonne of GOD. That Salomon speaketh of a two-fold generation of Christ First Of his Incarnation in these words The Lord created me the beginning of his wayes and then Secondly Least we should with Arians imagine that he was not before he was incarnate He sheweth that Ante colles genitus erat Before the mountaines he was begotten and brought forth i. e. In respect of his Diuinity First of his incarnation to be made man That in the first place he speaketh of his incarnation and this making of him to be flesh there followeth none absurdity for though hee speaketh in the present tense or preterperfect tense after the Latines yet is it set downe for the future tense after the manner of the Hebrewes who doe oftentimes especially in things pertaining to God set downe the future tense for the present because they are as certaine to bee done as if they were already done as Tertullian obserueth And the words immediately following To be the beginning of his wayes doth make this exposition the more apparantly true for what is it to be the beginning of his wayes Nisi quod ipse via nobis est factus but that hee was made to be the way for vs to walke in for hee was not made that hee should create new Creatures but that hee might renue those that were lost And therefore Saint Iames vseth the like speech of the godly James 1.18 saying Of his owne will begate he vs with the Word of Truth that wee might be as the first fruites of his Creatures And the Prophet Dauid vseth the like speech of himselfe Psal 51.10 when he saith Create a new heart in me O God And therefore to be the beginning of the wayes of God is to be the first fruites of those that are renued and not of those that are created for if you looke into the workes of Creation you shall heare him say Before the mountaines were setled and before the hills was I begotten Secondly of his eternall generation as he is God That in the second place hee speaketh of his eternall generation it is most manifest for hee changeth his phrase and saith Ante colles genita eram Before the mountaines was I begotten as the Chalde paraphrase hath it or Filiata eram I was sonned his sonne as some translate it for wee must note that created and begotten in the person of the Sonne of God are to bee distinguished or otherwise if we make created and begotten to be the same wee may say that the World was begotten which is most absurd And therefore seeing hee saith that this wisedome of GOD was both created and begotten and that these two words doe signifie two distinct and speciall things wee should consider in what respect hee is said to be created and in what respect he is said to be begotten and then we should plainely see that he is said to be created as he is the Sonne of man and that he is said to be begotten as hee is the eternall Sonne of God for here Salomon sheweth that he is said to be created in respect of that nature wherin he calleth his Father Lord for the Lord saith hee created me But hee calleth his Father Lord in respect of his humane nature and neuer calleth him Lord in respect of his diuine nature for he that is borne a seruant of his Fathers handmaide according to the saying of the Psalmist Psal 116.14 O Lord I am thy seruant and the sonne of thine hand-maide is also begotten of his Fathers Essence according to the saying of Christ Iohn 8. I and my Father are one And therefore though he calleth his Father Lord in respect of his humanity yet doth he neuer call him so but alwayes Father in respect of his Diuinity as I came from the Father and wee saw his glory John 1. as the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of the Father And so you see that these words of Salomon Naz. or 4. de theolog Athan. ser 3. cont Arr. Cyril l. 5. c. 4. 5. 6. 7. Thesauri Aug. l. 1. c. 12. de trinit The Lord created me are to be vnderstood of his incarnation and therefore can proue nothing against his eternall generation And this exposition of Fulgentius is confirmed by Nazianzen Athanasius Saint Cyril Saint Augustine and others And yet Fourthly Saint Hillary in l. de Synodis Aquinas l. 4. c. 8. contra gentes and Bellarmine l. 1. c. 18. de Christo doe answere that the eternall generation of the Sonne of God is sometimes called generation and sometimes creation because it is so ineffable that it cannot be fully expressed by any one word for generation signifieth a production in the same substance but with a certaine mutation of the begetter How the Word may be said to be both begotten created but creation signifieth a production of another substance but without any mutation of the
Creator and the Sonne of God is so produced as that hee receiued the substance of the begetter And therefore in that respect he is said to be begotten but he receiueth it without any mutation or alteration of the begetter and therefore in that respect he may be saide to be created And so he is sometimes said to be begotten and sometimes said to bee created not that any man should thereby denie his eternity and thinke him to be a creature but that from both these words wee might receiue what is fitting and reiect what seemeth to be vnfit for the declaration of this ineffable and inexplicable mystery Ob. 4 Fourthly They doe obiect the words of Dauid Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee And therefore before that day wherein hee was begotten his sonne hee was not his sonne Sol. The words of Dauid are spoken of Christ in respect of his manhood I answere That the words Inquire of me and I will giue thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the vttermost parts of the Earth for thy possessions doe sufficiently proue that these words are spoken of his incarnation and not of his eternall generation for how should he according to his Diuinity demand the ends of the Earth for his possessions when as hee giueth the Kingdome of Heauen which is a thousand times more then the Earth to them that loue him And therefore he which according to his God-head possesseth all things with his Father according to the forme of a seruant which hee assumed for our saluation he requireth of his Father that hee might haue The Gentiles for his inheritance and the vttermost parts of the Earth for his possessions Act. 13. And thus the Apostle doth expound this place in the 13. Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles Ob. 5 Fiftly They doe obiect the words of the Apostle that he is The first-borne of euery Creature Coloss â— 15 and therefore created in the number of the Creatures Sol. That the words of the Apostle are to be vnderstood of the humanity of Christ Rom. 8.29 I answere That this is also meant of his humanity for that the Apostle speaketh here of the Creatures restored and not created because he is said to be Primogenitus ex mortuis The first fruites of the dead for if he were called The first fruites of euery Creature according to his Deity by what testimonies can it be shewed that he is The first-borne of the dead before all Creatures when as they could not be said to be dead which were not yet created And therefore the Apostle saith That whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Sonne Iohn 1. that he might be the first-borne among many brethren To shew that he which according to his Deity is the onely begotten Sonne of God without brethren is according to his humanitie c. 3. the first-borne among many brethren for we must vnderstand this difference betwixt the first-begotten Sonne of God and the onely begotten Sonne of God that the first sheweth his humanity whereby he became man the first and chiefest among many brethren and the second his Diuinitie Iohn 1. whereby hee is the eternall Sonne of God without any brethren or otherwise it were in vaine to call him the onely begotten Sonne of God for that hee gaue power vnto others euen as many as beleeue in him to bee made the Sonnes of God and therefore if hee be not his Sonne by nature then without doubt he lost the name and the truth of being the onely begotten Sonne of God after he began to haue many brethren But because none of his sonnes by adoption Fulgen. in resp ad ob Arrian can be said to be the onely begotten sonne of God nor to be the Son of God â—ather then the rest be because the same name of sonnes is acommodated vnto them all although diuers rewards of retribution is promised vnto them according to the diuersitie of â—heir labours therefore is Christ still said to be the onely begotten Sonne of God because though there be many sonnes of God by grace yet there is none but he alone his Sonne by Nature And this difference doth our Sauiour Christ himselfe shew vnto vs when he saith I goe to my Father and to your Father Iohn 20.17 to my God and to your God because he is otherwise my Father and my God then he is your Father and your God for he is my Father eternally by nature and he is yours in time by grace and therefore hee that is first begotten in respect of his man-hood among many brethren is likewise still the onely begotten Sonne of God in respect of his God-head without any brethren And so you see that maugre all the spite of Hell it is most apparantly true that this Word is the true God for time coeternall vnto his Father CHAP. IIII. Of the coessentiality of the word with the Father and the obiections that are made against the same sufficiently answered SEcondly you haue heard of the eternall Godhead of this Word it followeth that I should shew vnto you how for nature he is coessentiall vnto his Father touching which point Athanasius saith Non res quaepiam extrinsecus adinuenta est filij substantia neque ex nihilo inducta est sed ex patris essentia nata est The substance of the Sonne is no outward thing either found or created but begotten of the very Essence of his Father euen as you see the brightnesse springing from the light or the vapour from the water Neque enim splendor neque vapor est ipsa aqua aut ipse sol neque res aliena For neither the light is the Sunne it selfe nor the vapour the water it selfe and yet they are none other things of another kind then be the substances from whence they spring euen so the Sonne issueth from the substance of his Father Et tamen patris sustantia non perpessa est partitionem And yet the substance of the father aâ—mits no partition for as the Sunne remaineth still the same Athanas in ep cont Eusebium and is no way lessened or diminished in respect of those beames that flow from him so the Father suffereth no mutation by hauing begetting Suam ipsius imaginem filium This his Son and eternall image but remaining still the same he begetteth his Son of the same Essence and we find not only all the Orthodox fathers but also the Scriptures plain enough to confirm the same truth for our Sauiour saith I and my Father are one And so S. Iohn hauing spoken of the Father Iohn 10 3â— the Word and the Spirit 1 Iohn 5.7 saith That these three are one And reason it selfe must needs confirme the same for seeing the Diuine Essence is most simple impartible and indiuisible and that the Father is God as none denyeth and that the Sonne is God as I haue already
keepe my saying my Father will loue him and wee will come vnto him and make our abode with him but to abide with vs doth not signifie to remaine without vs but to dwell within vs as the Apostle sheweth Ephes 3.16 17. when hee prayeth that the Saints might bee strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man and that Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith That to bee with God and to be in God is the same Thirdly He proueth that to be with God and to bee in God is aequiualent and the very same in many things for Moses sayth God is faithfull in whom there is no iniquitie and Dauid sayth the Lord is righteous and there is no iniquitie in him and yet Saint Paul sayth numquid iniquitas apud Deum is their iniquitie with God God forbid and Saint Iames sayth with whom there is no variablenesse nor shadow of turning i. e. in whom there is no mutabilitie and therefore as the Euangelist sayth eere The Word was with GOD so our Sauiour sayth else-where Iohn 10.38 I am in the Father and the Father is in mee And therefore it appeareth plainely that Christ is not with God as one man is with another as Saint Paul sayth that hee remained with Saint Peter fifteene dayes for so to be with one is to be without him as a guest by the affection of charitie and not to be substantially in him as the same by the law of equity but Christ is with God as the word is within the minde or the councell is within the heart or life it selfe within the soule so that as the soule cannot bee without life no more can God bee without this Word And therefore also wee must obserue a great difference That we are not in God as Christ is in God betwixt our being with God and in God and Christ his being with God and in God for when it is spoken of vs our naturall vnion with God is no wayes meant but either the power of the Creator or the pietie of the redeemer is alwayes vnderstood and therefore it is sayd that hee gaue vs power to be the sonnes of God but this Word is not made but naturally and eternally begotten the Sonne of God and therefore though we be called sonnes and hee called Sonne wee called Gods and he called God we sayd to be begotten and hee sayd to bee begotten yet heerein is the difference that hee is so naturally and essentially we so called by grace whereby it is giuen vnto vs to be made the sonnes of God And so much for the co-essentialitie of the Word with his Father CHAP. V. Of the co-equalitie of the Word with his Father and the chiefest obiections made against the same most cleerely and sufficiently answered THirdly You haue seene that this Word is co-eternall and co-essentiall with his Father it followeth that I should speake of his co-equalitie with his Father and this poynt is as cleere as the former because in an essence most simple there cannot be so much as imagined more or lesse and therefore Fulgentius sayth most excellently that seeing Christ is from euerlasting Baruch 3.25 because he is the eternall Wisedome and power of God seeing he is immeasurable because hee is great and hath no end and seeing he is most highest as Zacharias sheweth in his speech of Iohn the Baptist Luke 1.76 that hee should bee called the Prophet of the most Highest that is of Christ he must needs be in all respects equall vnto his Father Nam quid anterius sempiterno quid maius immenso quid superius altissimo For what can be before him that hath beene before all things what can bee greater then that which is immeasurable or what can be higher then that which is highest and so Saint Iohn sayth that the Iewes sought the rather to kill him Iohn 5 1â— because hee did not onely breake the Sabboth but also sayd that God was his Father making himselfe equall to God But the Arrians doe obiect that Christ did not teach himselfe Ob. 1 to bee equall with his Father but that the Iewes mistooke him and thought he did so I answere that this is false for as Saint Cyrill Sol. That the Iewes rightly vnderstood that Christ taught that he was aequall with God Saint Chrysostome Saint Augustine and others doe affirme the Iewes did rightly vnderstand our Sauiour and the Euangelist sheweth as much for if they had either mis-conceiued his meaning or mis-construed his words then surely either Christ or the Euangelist would haue giuen vs some notice thereof that so we might not erre after them especially in so great a matter for so we finde that when the Capernaits vnderstood his words of an Orall eating of his flesh our Sauiour perceiuing their error how they mis-vnderstood his words John 6.62 sayd presently the flesh profiteth nothing and that the words which hee spake were Spirit and Life and so when he sayd John 2.20 Destroy this Temple and I will build it vp againe in three dayes and the Iewes thought that he spake it of their stately Materiall temple v. 21. that was forty sixe yeeres a building the Euangelist presently tells vs that hee spake it of the temple of his Body but neither Christ nor the Euangelist doe here giue vs the least intimation of their mistaking of his meaning but doe rather approue their right apprehension of our Sauiours words and therefore it must needs follow that Christ taught himselfe to be aequall vnto his Father Ob. 2 Secondly They doe obiect that Christ himselfe sayth my Father is greater then I Iohn 14.20 and therefore Christ is not aequall vnto his Father Sol. Basil l. 1. in Eunomium Nazian orat 4. de Theol. Hilar. l. 9. de trinit To this Saint Basill answereth that the Father is greater then the Sonne ratione principij in respect of his beginning for that there is noted a certain kind of authoritie or maioritie in the Father because hee is the beginning of the sonne and doth communicate his whole essence vnto the sonne which the sonne doth not vnto the Father that is that the Father is the beginning of the person of the sonne but not of the essence of the sonne as I sayd before Others would haue the Father to be greater then the sonne ratione nominis onely in respect of the name because the name of a Father seemeth to be greater then the name of a Sonne How the Father is greater then Christ But Athanasius in my iudgement answereth best that Christ is aequall to the Father as touching his Godhead but inferiour to the Father as touching his manhood for Christ sayth I goe to the Father Iohn 4.28 because the Father is greater then I and therefore he is inferiour to the Father in respect of that nature wherin he goeth to the Father but hee cannot bee sayd to goe to the Father as he is
Euthymius vpon those words of the Apostle doe affirme Others translate it sermo which I translate speech as Prudentius Ades pater supreme patrisque sermo Christe So Beza In principio erat sermo and so Tertullian Saint Cyprian Saint Hillarie Saint Ambrose Saint Augustine Saint Hierome and diuers others and some call him the voyce of God according to that of the Psalmist The voyce of God is a glorious voyce as Claudian Christe potens redcuntis conditor aevi Vox summi sensusque Dei quem fudit ab alta Mente pater O mighty Christ maker of the world thou voyce and sence of the highest God which the Father begets in his most inward minde But most commonly the Fathers and almost all the Schoole of Diuinity following the vulgar Latine doe expound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie verbum the Word because Sermo speech doth seeme to consist of many words whereas a word doth altogether denotate and declare vnity But then it may bee obiected Ob. that none can expresse his whole minde by one simple word and therefore that speech is more likely to be the meaning of the Euangelist I answere That man indeed with one conceiued word Sol. can hardly expresse his whole minde and wisedome That as God is one act so he can expresse himselfe with one word but it is not so with God for as he is but Vnus simplicissimus actus One most simple act so hee doth apprehend and vnderstand all things Vno ictu vno conceptu at one instant and can expresse himselfe with one word And multiplicity of words doth shew the infirmity of man that with few words cannot expresse himselfe but the vnity and simplicity of Gods Word denoteth the superexcellencie of God that so briefly and so easily can doe all things Secondly We are to note why Christ is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Why Christ is tearmed the Word the Word Touching which point we must vnderstand that whatsoeuer speaketh vttereth forth words And wee finde that God Angels and Men doe speake though after a different and a diuers manner for though God being a Spirit wanteth mouth lippes and tongue and that the Apostle speaketh hyperbolically of the tongues of Angels Zanch. l. 3. c. 19. de operibus sex dierum as Zanchius noteth yet this is certaine that God and Angels doe often speake as we reade Genesis 1. Zach. 2. Esay 6.2.3 Although the speeches and the communications of the Angels be farre vnlike to ours Hieron to 7. p. 187. in c. 24. Jobi as Saint Hierome saith and that we can neither know nor vnderstand after what manner they either doe or haue heretofore spoken at any time either outwardly vnto the eare or inwardly in the minde of any man as Saint Augustine saith And therefore we say that there is a Diuine Angelicall and a humane word And to each of these i. e. God Angels and Men wee doe ascribe a two-fold word 1. One inward of the minde and vnderstanding That there is a two-fold Word 2. Another outward of the voyce and tongue After the first manner we are saide to speake when wee doe conceiue certaine thoughts and cogitations within our minde As Psal 53.1 Sap 2.1 Matth. 9. the foole hath saide in his heart there is no God and they saide within themselues but not aright And After the second manner wee are saide to speake when by any outward word Fulgent in resp ad ob Arr. or voyce we doe expresse and declare our inward cogitations And this is said to be onely the outward signe and voyce of the inward word for that the inward conception of any word is most properly said to bee the Word as Saint Augustine affirmeth Hilarius l. de Synod How in some things the Word God resembleth our outward word Now Christ is not any outward vocall word nor any transient voyce of God as diuers Heretikes said hee was but he is the inward essentiall and permanent word of God as Epiphanius Saint Basil and Saint Augustine doe declare And yet as Saint Basil saith hee hath some certaine similitudes and resemblances with our outward word for as the same springeth from our inward minde because the tongue vttereth what our minde conceiueth Matth. 12.14 for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh So is the Word God begotten from the minde of the Father and as the vocall Word is the liuely Character of the inward thought and doth represent the image of the same so is the Word God the liuing Image of the begetter and the very effigies or the ingrauen forme of his person Heb. 1.3 as the Apostle speaketh But he hath a farre more propinquity and likenesse with our inward and mentall Word as Saint Augustine teacheth For The likenesse of the Word with our inward word Aug de Trinitate l. 15. c. 10. c. 11. First As a man conceiueth and brings forth this Word in his minde so doth the Father beget his Sonne by his vnderstanding Secondly As the Word of the minde is from our knowledge our knowledge from reason and reason from the minde immaterially produced 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without any passion or corruption so is the Word God begotten of the Father as Saint Basil and Nazianzene doe declare Nazian orat 4. de Theolog. Thirdly As the minde doth so beget the Word within in selfe as that still the same remaineth in the minde Fulgentius ad Monimum as Fulgentius noteth So the Word God is so begotten of his Father as that he remaineth alwayes with the Father as The Sonne which is in the bosome of his Father he declared vnto vs and No man hath ascended vp to Heauen Iohn 3.13 but hee that came downe from Heauen euen the Sonne of man which is in Heauen Nam cum ad terrena descendit coelestia non dereliquit For when hee descended to the Earth and was made flesh he left not Heauen but as the word of the minde doth alwayes remaine in the minde so doth this Word God alwayes remaine in the bosome of God Fourthly as the conceiued word of the minde is the beginning of all working so is this word God the beginning of all creatures for by it all things were made John 1. and without it was nothing made that was made Fiftly as the mentall word is shewed by the voyce so is the word God manifested by the assuming of our flesh And yet because it is vnpossible to accommodate little vile How the Word God differeth from our word Basilius contra Eun. Aug. Ser. 190. de tempore and terrene things fully to expresse or in all things to agree with diuine and eternall things as Saint Augustine doth most excellently declare saying Cum Deus comparatur non potest comparari aequali scilicet comparatione When God is compared he cannot be compared with any equall comparison for to whom will you compare
God wherein euery one must be well instructed that would be partaker of humane felicitie and happinesse All which doth most apparantly proue that the Gentiles had so much knowledge of the true God as not onely was able I say not with Clemens Alexandrinus to bring them to saluation but to make them without excuse in the day of retribution because that they knowing God glorified him not as God but also as doth exceed the knowledge of many which make profession of Christianity and will no doubt rise in iudgement to condemne them in the latter day And as we see many of them vnderstood many things concerning the most true and euerlasting God so we finde some of them haue deliuered some things concerning this word and Son of God Heron. in ep ad Paulinum for though S. Hierome speaking of this word saith Hoc doctus plato nesciuit This word eloquent Demosthenes was ignorant of it 1 Cor. 1.19 because it is written I will destroy the wisedome of the wise Aug. l. 5. c. 3. de haeresibus and cast away the vnderstanding of the prudent Yet Lactantius saith that Zeno affirmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word to be the maker of this vniuerse and that Mercurius syrnamed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thrice great did often describe the power and Maiestie of this word and Saint Augustine affirmeth that the said Trismegistus did compose a booke whose title was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e the perfect word and that therein he left written Monas genuit monada in se suum reflexit ardorem Which is as much as if he had said the Father begate the Sonne or the minde begate the word and from both proceeded the Holy Spirit Idem l. 7. c. 9. confess and l. 7. Confess c. 9. hee saith that he saw certaine books of the Platonists wherein he found though not in the same words yet the very selfe-same matter proued by many reasons that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God Saint Cyrill also saith that the Philosophers haue affirmed the essence of God to be distinguished into three subsistences Cyrillus l 8. cont Iulian. and sometimes to haue deliuered the very name of Trinitie and Theodoret doth affirme that Plotinus and Numenius haue collected out of Plato that there are three eternities Bonum mentem vniuersi animam i. e. Goodnesse which answereth the Father that is the fountaine of the Deity the minde which signifieth the Sonne and the soule or life of this whole vniuerse Gen. 1.2 which is the holy Spirit that as in the beginning of the creation he presently moued vpon the waters to sustaine the same Clemens Alex. l. 5. strom so euer since he spireth and preserueth euery liuing thing and Clemens Alexandrinus saith that Plato in his Epistle to Erastus and Coriscus hath manifestly spoken of the Father and the Sonne and so Eusebius likewise and Eugubius and many others haue collected out of their writings that this name of the Sonne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word Seneca Traged Oedip. was not altogether vnknowne vnto the Gentiles but that as Oedipus in the Poets knew that he had a Father though not who he was so they did conceiue a certaine kinde of knowledge and vnderstanding though vndigested and imperfect ouershadowed as it were with humane reasonings concerning this eternall word God enough to saue them if they beleeued in him or else to make them without excuse if they knowing though not simply Verum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed aliquid veri 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This true word but something of this word did neglect and not seeke further into the knowledge of the same And this knowledge they might attaine vnto How the Gentiles came to haue any knowledge of the Word God either by 1. The illumination of God himselfe 2. The diuination of the diuels 3. The traditiō of their elders 4. Their owne exceeding diligence to seeke and search after the knowledge of diuine mysteries For First the Apostle saith that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 1.19 what may bee knowne of God that is his eternall power and Godhead God hath shewed it vnto them and as the Deitie it selfe 1 Cor. 13.12 might bee contemplated in his creatures as in a glasse or read by them Basilius hom 11. hexam as in a booke as Saint Basil saith So no doubt but he left therein certaine impressions of the Trinitie of his persons Ph. Mornaeus de veritate relig c. 5. Rom. 1.16 which though they could not fully attaine vnto the knowledge thereof no more then an vnskilfull Arithmetician can finde the iust summe that cyphering characters doe import yet they might perceiue something thereby and know that there was such a thing to be knowne And thus much God himselfe might shew vnto them not as Clemens Alexandrinus thought thereby to bring them vnto saluation because saith he Phylosophy was vnto them as the Law was vnto the Iewes a Schoolemaster to bring them vnto Heauen but that as the Apostle saith They knowing this God and not glorifying him as God nor seeking to be saued by this God might be without excuse in the sight of God August de cognit verae vitae c. 37. Secondly The very Diuels might make knowne the same vnto them for the Diuels beleeue that there is a God and they know him to be but one God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One in himselfe one in all things and they know him to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The most High and Omnipotent God neither doe they know the Father onely but they know Christ also for the euill Spirit said vnto the Sonnes of Scaeua Acts 19.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iesus I know and they know him to be the Son of God God himselfe as Sozomen out of this verse of Sybill doth declare O lignum foelix in quo Deus ipse pependit I may thee call a happy Tree whereon a God to hang I see And they know the sacred mystery of the Trinity for by them this disticke was related vnto a certaine Egyptian that desired to know this truth Serapis ad Thulem Selneccerus l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Principio Deus est tum Sermo Spiritus istis Additur aequaeua haec sunt tendentia in vnum The Father Sonne and Spirit all three Are one God of the same eternitie Aug. in Expos Ep. ad Rom. And so the Diuels knowing these things might suggest them and reueale them though aenigmatically and darkely vnto the Sybilles which as Saint Augustine saith were none of Gods Prophets from the Sybils they might bee spread vnto their Priests from the Priests vnto the Phylosophers Poets and Orators and from them they might be divulged and spread vnto the lowest ranke of the vulgar people Neither must we thinke that Sathan did it with intent to doe them
made flesh that is a true and a naturall man in all things like vnto his brethren sinne onely excepted CHAP. V. Of the comfortable instructions that we may collect from this Doctrine of the incarnation of the Word YOu heard what the Word was made Flesh What we may learne from this doctrine of Christ his Incarnation and from thence we may learne many comfortable excellent lessons for our instruction especially in respect 1. Of God 2. Of Christ 3. Of our Selues First in respect of God we may see and we ought seriously to consider it first his great loue and charity towards vs First Gods loue to man that he should giue his onely Sonne to be made flesh for our sake and therefore seeing he gaue his Sonne for vs and that while we were yet sinners while we were yet enemies vnto God how can it be but that he should giue vs all things together with his Sonne especially now being reconniled vnto him through his Sonne Rom. 5.10 for in him he is well pleased and through him he cannot bee offended with vs and therefore Christ to shew how dearely God loueth vs through him saith Whatsoeuer you aske the Father in my Name it shall be giuen you Secondly we may from hence see the faithfulnesse and truth of God in performing his promise Luke 1.73 and the oath that he sware vnto our Fathers Secondly that God is a true performer of all his promises Numb 23.19 touching the giuing of this Word to be made Flesh and therefore wee may assure our selues that whatsoeuer hee saith shall come to passe for he is not as man that he should lie or as the Sonne of Man that he should alter the thing that is gone out of his lipâ— Secondly in respect of Christ we may from hence see these two things First Christs perfect obedience First His great obedience in that he was contented in all things to submit himselfe vnto his Fathers Will and therefore we that doe beleeue in Christ should herein follow the example of Christ to be obedient vnto our heauenly Father Secondly how Christ humbled himselfe Secondly his rare and singular humilitie in that he being the Sonne of God and the eternall Word of God that could haue commanded all the Angels and by his stretched-out-arme without the assumption of our weakenesse haue made all his enemies his footstoole was notwithstanding contented Exininare seipsum to emptie himselfe as it were of his diuine riches and to clothe himselfe with our humane nakednesse and so to become the Sonne of Man and to be made flesh i. e. a vile a base and an abiect thing for vs Psal 144.4 for man is like a thing of naught his time passeth away like a shadow And therâ—fore we should not lift vp our hornes on high Phil. 2. nor speake with a stiffe necke but we should labour to haue the same minde in vs which was in Christ Iesus and learne of him to be meeke and lowly in heart Matth. 11. It was an humble speech of King Dauid when hee said I am a worme and no man a very shame Psal 22.6 or scorne of men and the out-cast of the people Hee was lowly in his owne eyes and did imitate herein our Sauiour Christ who as I shewed you before was not onely contented to be made a true man but also in the iudgement of the World to become no better then one of the basest of the people so rare a patterne of humility did he leaue vnto vs And yet now as the Poet saith Maxima quaeque domus seruis est plena superbis How farre we are from true humilitie Euery man is full of pride and as the prouerbe is euery Iacke will be a Gentleman Proijcit ampullas sesquipedalia verba It is strange to see how we strout our selues and speake great swelling words magnifying our selues by contemning others swaggering them out of countenance and thinking our selues to be gods and not men and with the Church of Laodicea to be rich and want nothing to be wise and valiant Reuel 3.17 and neither our manifold sinnes which are as the sands of the Sea nor our miserable estate which is most fraile and feeble so weake that a little sickenesse will euen vs downe with the dust can humble vs before the mighty hand of God so farre are we from learning true humility And Thirdly we see from hence our Sauiours loue Thirdly the great loue of Christ Bernard ser 1. de Epiphan and his aboundant great charity towards vs for quanto pro me vilior tanto mihi charior The viler and baser he made himselfe for me the dearer he shewed that he loued me but how could he euer debase himselfe more then he did not onely to appeare for a time in the visible shape of a man but also to assume for euer the true nature of man and though we be loath to take his sweet and easie yoke vpon vs yet he willingly tooke our heauy and bitter yoke on him for he tooke our infirmities and carried all our sorrowes Esay 53.4 and therefore O thou sweet Iesus that vsest to clothe thy selfe with the cloudes as with a garment and now clothest thy selfe with my naturall nakednesse that I might be adorned with thy supernaturall riches we beseech thee inflame our spirits with the loue of thee that nothing but thy selfe may be deare vnto vs because it so pleased thee to vilifie thy selfe for vs. Thirdly in respect of our selues we may from this doctrine of the words incarnation collect vnto our selues these singular comforts As First generally what fruits and benefits we haue What great benefits we receiue by the incarnation of the Word from this incarnation of the Sonne of God Beneficia nimis copiosa multa magna priuata positiua and they are exceeding great blessings innumerable and inualuable as repentance remission of our sinnes Grace Faith Righteousnesse Wisedome Sanctification and Redemption and in a word whatsoeuer blessing grace or goodnesse we haue we haue the same from this incarnate Word for Collos 2.3 in him are hidden all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge and from his fulnesse we all receiue and grace for grace Iohn 1.16 For neither his Deitie onely Quia non debuit Because he ought not nor his humanity onely Quia non potuit Aug. c 12. hom de â—vibus Because that could not was sufficient to bee a Mediator betwixt God and man Sed inter diuinitatem solam humanitatem solam mediatrix est diuina humanitas humana diuinitas Christi but betweene the bare humanity and the bare diuinity the diuine humanity and the humane diuinity of our Sauiour Christ doth mediate for vs vnto God and therefore by reason of this Incarnation of the Word God we are made Kings and Priests and a peculiar people vnto God Reuel 1.7 How Christ hath performed all
4. he saith Chap. 4. v. 3. Euery spirit Qui soluit Iesum which looseth or diuideth Iesus i. e. to make two persons of him is not of God and so in many other places hee doth most plainely shew that the eternall word and our humane nature vnited vnto the same word is but one and the selfe-same Christ i. e. one Christ one person And this is confessed by all antiquity All our Creeds and all antiquity confesseth the same truth touching vnity of Christ his person for in the Apostles Creede we say that we beleeue in Iesus Christ his onely Sonne our Lord which was conceiued of the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Mary and therfore he is but one person because he which is said to be the onely Sonne of God is said also to be borne of the Virgin Mary the same is said in the Nicen Creed and in the Creede of Athanasius it is said that although Christ be both God and Man yet is he no more twaine but one Christ and that not by confounding of the substances but by the vnity of person i. e. by the vniting of both natures into one person What should I rehearse any more for the third Councell of Ephesus the great Councell of Chalcedon the Councell of Lateran and all the ancient Orthodoxe Fathers as Iustin Martyr Irenaeus Saint Basil Saint Nazianzen Saint Damascen Saint Hillary Saint Ambrose Saint Hierome Saint Augustine and the rest of them haue most truely confessed and most learnedly confirmed this truth that although Christ hath two natures the Word and the Flesh yet doe these two make but one person one Sonne of God one Sauiour of men What the Hereticks haue conceiued and most impiously thought concerning the person of Christ But against this Cerinthus and certaine of the Pelagian Hereticks and afterwards Nestorius seperating Iesus from Christ or rather Christ from Himselfe haue affirmed that Iesus was but meere man hauing not onely a humane nature but a humane person and afterwards to be made Christ at the time of his baptisme when the Holy Ghost descended vpon him in the forme of a Doue and therefore they conclude that as he consisteth of two natures so he is likewise two persons which notwithstanding may be said to be one in respect of their co-habitation affection operation and participation as hereafter I shall further shew vnto you Ob. 1 And to confirme this damnable errour against the inuiolable truth they doe obiect that our Sauiour said Destroy this Temple when he spake of his humanitie and therefore the God Christ Iohn 2.9 and the man Christ are two seuerall persons for hee doth not say destroy me but destroy this Temple and I will reare it vp in three dayes to shew vnto vs that the Temple and the dweller in the Temple or the raiser vp of the Temple are not the same but diuers persons Sol. To this I answere briefly that this alledged instance may well proue two natures to be in Christ but not two persons for the soule of man is said to dwell in the body as in a tabernacle because the nature of the soule is different from the nature of the body and yet man hath not two but one person which consisteth of both natures i. e. soule and body for Iob saith that men dwell in houses of Clay Iob 4.19 2 Cor. 5.1 and Saint Paul saith if this earthly house of our Tabernable be dissolued And therefore Saint Chrisostome vpon these words of Saint Iohn and he dwelt in vs doth most truely gather that in Christ there are two natures but from these or from any other places it can neuer be proued that in him there are two persons Ob. 2 Againe they doe obiect that the Sonne of Mary had an Angell to comfort him Matth. 27.46 Iohn 12.27 and said My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And againe Father Saluifica me ex hac hora Saue me from this houre and such like speeches which are not consonant and agreeable to the Sonne of God and therefore the Sonne of Mary is one different and another person from the Sonne of GOD. To this I answer with S. Cyrill Sol. that as there are many things which doe agree with him according to the forme of God which cannot be agreeable to him according to the forme of a seruant so there are many things that do agree with him according to the forme of a seruant which doe not agree with the Sonne of God absolutely considered because he is both a true God and a true man so vnited together as that the properties of neither nature are confounded as hereafter shall be shewed Cyrillus deffâ—nt 4. Anath contra Theodor. and therefore all such sayings and allegations which are said of him or be referred vnto him in respect of one nature which are not properly agreeable to the other nature doe onely shew and most rightly proue two natures but not two persons to be in our Sauiour Christ CHAP. III. Of the manner of the vnion of the two natures and wherein this vnion chiefly consisteth SEcondly Wherein the Hereticks haue affirmed the vnion of both natures in Christ to consist for the manner of this vnion of these two natures in one person or wherein chiefly it consisteth herein resteth the greatest difficulty For First the Nestorians and their followers say that both these natures are saide to bee one by the vnitie of 1. Co-habitation 2. Will and affection 3. Operation 4. Participation First by the vnity of Co-habitation because the Word dwelled in the man Christ as in his choicest House and Temple accocding to that saying of the Euangelist and he dwelt in vs. Iohn 1.14 Secondly by the vnity of will and affection because the will of Christ was alwayes agreeable to the will of God and this they doe illustrate by the example of Man and Wife which though they be two persons Math. 19.5 yet are they said to be one flesh in regard of their mariage knot and especially in respect of their vnanimous hearts so the Sonne of God and the Sonne of Mary are two persons say they and yet may be said to be one Christ in regard of that indissoluble spirituall coniunction and affection that is betwixt them Thirdly By the vnity of operation because the man Christ was the Instrument which the Word God vsed for the effecting of all those great workes that he did while hee walked here on Earth Fourthly By the vnity of participation because the Word God did impart vnto the man Christ his name and dignity that hee should be called God and the Sonne of God and should be worshipped of all Creatures not for his owne sake but for his sake to whom hee was thus vnited How falsly the Heretickes affirme the vnion of the two natures to consist in the aforesaid points But how false and fained are all these subtle infernall distinctions to misteach the
manner and the matter wherein the true vnion of these natures chiefly consisteth it will easily appeare if we doe but obserue that all this may and doth agree with all the Saints and faithfull seruants of God for First God dwelleth in his Saints as in his Temples for We are the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 3.16 1 Cor. 6.19 and the Spirit of God dwelleth in vs saith the Apostle Secondly The Saints are one with God by will and affection 1 Cor. 6.17 Math. 6.10 for the Apostle sheweth vs plainely that he which is ioyned vnto the Lord is one spirit and wisheth rather that Gods will may be done then his owne as they doe daily in their prayers Thy will be done Thirdly That the Saints are Gods Instruments as be many times the wicked also whereby God worketh many excellent things the same Apostle sheweth where he saith That although there be diuersities of operations 1 Cor. 12.6 Rom. 15.19 yet it is the same God which worketh all in all Fourthly That the Saints are called The Sonnes of God and some of them also said to be Gods 1 Iohn 3.1 by the participation of many graces and titles which God hath giuen vnto them it is most plaine Psal 82.6 for I said you are Gods and the Children of the most High And so the Apostle sheweth Gal. 4.6.7 Gal. 4.6.7 and so in many other places And therefore seeing all the faithfull seruants of God may be truly said to be vnited vnto God in respect of the cohabitation of God in them and of their will and affection agreeable to the will of God and of the working of God in them and the bestowing of his names titles dignities and graces vpon them and that the vnion of this Word with our Flesh i. e. of the Diuine Nature with the humanity is farre otherwise then the vnion of the Saints with God it must needes follow that although it be true that there is a most perfect vnity of cohabitation affection operation and participation betwixt the two Natures of Christ yet this is not all but the vnion of them consisteth in a farre more excellent respect then any and all of these And therefore Secondly Brentius Smidelinus What the Lutherans teach concerning the vnion of the two natures of Christ and the rest of their Lutheran followers doe affirme this vnion of both these Natures to consist in the communication of the properties of the Deity to the humanity of Christ so as they are really transferred and the humanity inuested with the diuine properties And therefore they doe conclude that in respect of this reall communicating and transferring of attributes the manhood of Christ is omniscient omnipotent omnipresent and so forth But how grâ—sse this error is and how derogatory to the truth of Christian Doctrine it will easily appeare if we doe but consider those intollerable absurdities that of necessity must needes follow the same for First The absurdities that must needes follow the Lutheran Doctrine The Father and the Sonne should be hypostatically vnited one to the other and so be made one person for that it is most certaine as themselues must and doe confesse that the Father hath and doth communicate all his essentiall attributes and properties vnto the Sonne and therefore if the vnion of these two Natures consisteth in the communicating of properties the Father and the Sonne must be vnited into one person but this is most horribly absurd Therefore the other Secondly The whole Trinity should be incarnate because all the essentiall attributes of the Deity are common to the whole Trinity and to each person of the Trinity Thirdly The two natures of Christ could not be hypostatically vnited because there are certaine diuine properties which cannot be said to be communicated to the humanity of Christ as to be increated to be infinite to want beginning of time to be Ens independens an independant being and certaine things which Christ in respect of his Flesh had not before his passion and resurrection as to bee impassible immortall and such like Fourthly If this vnion consisted in the communicating of the properties then this transfusion of them must be reciprocall that is as the diuine properties are transfused into the humanity so the humane properties must bee likewise transfused into the Deity And then it must needes follow that as Omnipresency Omnisciency Vbiquity and such like are transfused into the humanity so passibility mortality and such like should be really transfused into the Deity but it were most absurd to say that the God-head is capable of humane fraileties And therefore it is as absurd to say that the Manhood was inuested with diuine Excellencies as they are Diuine And Fiftly If this were true then the humanity should be no humanity at all because freed from humane fraileties and inuested with diuine properties And therefore to expresse truly wherein this vnion consisteth Wherein the vnion of the two natures truly consisteth is shewed Thirdly We say that the vnion of these two Natures consisteth in the communicating of the subsistence of the Word with the humane nature that it assumed i. e. of the very being of the Word with the being of our Flesh so that it is an hypostaticall or personall vnion that is such an vnion as that both natures doe make but one person of Christ euen as the soule and body doe make but one person of man Jn Ep. Alex. Concilij anathem 2. for so saith the Councell of Calcedon the Councell of Lateran the Councell of Toledo Saint Cyril and all the Oxthodoxe Fathers that writ thereof Si quis non confitetur carni secundum subsistentiam vnitum Dei patris verbum anathema sit Whosoeuer confesseth not the eternall Word of the Father to be vnited vnto our flesh according to his subsistence let him be accursed And further wee say that the vnion of these two natures i. e. the God-head as it is limited to the second person of the Trinitie and the Manhood of Christ is 1. Inconuertible 2. Indiuisible 3. Inconfused 4. Inseperable Sixe speciall things obseruable in the vnion of the two natures of Christ 5. Substantiall 6. Ineffable First Inconuertible because neither the Diuine Nature is turned into the humanity nor the humanity into the Deity Secondly Indiuisible because the Natures are so vnited into one person that they can neuer be separated vnlesse we diuide the person of Christ which is most hereticall Thirdly Inconfused because the Natures remaine still intire without confounding either their Essence or their properties or their willes or any other operations whatsoeuer and therefore excepting onely his subsistence which is one that we make him not two persons with Nestorius we do affirme that in Christ there are two natures two willes two naturall proprieties and operations intire and vnmixed that we may not confound them with Eutyches for sith the natures are neither confused How the properties
nothing to helpe our selues no not so much as to imagine which way to doe our selues any good God of his meere loue was moued through his wisedome to finde out this meanes of vniting the Word with our Flesh that we might be vnited vnto God againe O that wee would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnesse Psal 107.8 and shew the wonders that he doth for the Children of men That wee would offer vnto him The sacrifice of praise and thankesgiuing and shew forth his prayses from one generation to another Seuenthly Because hereby is shewed the difference betwixt the Law and the Gospell for that the Fathers vnder the Law did see these things darkely and beheld Christ through the grates and lattices i. e. vnder the types and shaddowes of the Law as it were with Moses in foramine petrae through the holes and clefts of the rocke to behold a few glympses of the glory of God but we with open face may see him as in a glasse for now the vayle is taken away from Moses his face Cant. 2.14.15 all types are now accomplished all ceremonies are abolished and all the mysts of darknesse The difference betwixt the Law and the Gospell errours and Heresies are now especially dispersed for that not onely the day-starre hath appeared but also the Sun of Righteousnesse hath risen and shineth ouer the face of the whole world and this great mystery of godlinesse is and hath beene long preached vnfolded and most plainely shewed vnto the Gentiles as the Apostle sheweth Heb. 5.11 And therefore it is a shame for vs if we be dull in hearing and vnapt to vnderstand all necessary truthes for though the Iewes of old might be excused for their ignorance because they sate in darkenesse and in the shadow of Death yet are we without excuse because the cleere light of truth is continually preached vnto vs and therefore it will be our condemnation if we loue darknesse more then light Iohn 3.19 and desire rather to be still groping in the twy-light of morality i. e. the precepts of morall men then to walke in the true light of Diuinity which is the Doctrine of Iesus Christ And yet such is the misery of our dayes and the dulnesse of our people that as the Church of Rome teacheth implicite faith to suffice a man for his saluation i. e. to beleeue what the Church beleeueth though he know no more what that is then Baalams Asse vnderstood her owne voyce Numb 22. 31. So many amongst vs whom God hath indued with sufficient capacities to vnderstand many mysteries of faith if they would apply their desire diligence to learne them are contented with confused or at the best very generall notions that Christ died for them and that they hope by him to be saued That many men are very ignorant of the chiefest points of Christianity and if you enter into the particulars concerning his person they presently frame vnto themselues false and erronious conceits thinking perhaps Christ to be a man by an humane person and so are Nestorians or to be a meere man and so are Arrians or to haue his natures confounded and so are Eutychians or else the properties of these natures confused and so are Lutherans and so are wrapped in many monstruous Heresies not for want of meanes but for want of desire or diligence to vnderstand these truths But if any will be such that is not looke vpon the light for feare of blinding his eyes let him take heede of that fearefull saying Qui ignorat ignorabitur He that will not know Christ 1 Cor. 14.38 shall not be knowne of Christ and yet I meane not that euery one especially of the meaner vnderstandings should labour for perfect or exquisite knowledge herein or more then their capacities are able to comprehend for as we must not be too carelesse so we may not be too curious in these vnsearchable mysteries but my meaning is that men should not satisfie themselues onely with inuolued implicite faith or some generall notions concerning Christ but should labour euery man according to the measure of vnderstanding that God hath giuen him to learne and know in some competent measure the particular mysteries of our faith And so much for the first part of this Treatise the summe and substance of the words Incarnation Part. 2. PART II. The chiefest circumstances that are requisite to be knowne for the vnderstanding of this mystery of the words Incarnation CHAP. I. Of the Ancestors and family from whence Christ descended And what we may learne thereby SEcondly the chiefest circumstances concerning the words Incarnation are especially these three First His family from whence he was descended Secondly His natiuity whereby hee was declared And Thirdly His testimony by which hee was approued vnto the world to be the true Messias First for the family from whence Christ should descend It was prophesied long before Matth. 1. that the Messias should come of the seed and linage of Dauid and the Euangelists say that Christ was borne of a Virgin Luke 1.27 whose name was Mary First of a Virgin to fulfill the prophesie of Esay Chap. 7.14 And that he might be conceiued without sinne because hee was to redeeme vs from sinne Secondly of a Virgin called Mary that the verity of the Story might appeare most manifest and that the certaintie of his pedegree might be the more easily shewed Ob. But it may be obiected that Christ was to be like Melchisedecke without Father and without mother and therefore the Sonne of Mary is not likely to be the Christ because he hath a mother Sol. I answere that some affirmed Melchisedecke to haue both a Father and a Mother Hieron ad Euagr. and is thought by Saint Hierome and diuers others to be Sem the Sonne of Noah but he is said to be without Father and without Mother because by that name and in that place where be is said to haue come and to haue blessed Abraham there is no mention made of his Father or of his Mother or of his beginning or of his ending but for mine owne part I answere as I shewed before that this Melchisedecke was Christ himselfe and that he may be truly said to be without Father and without Mother if we vnderstand the same aright for that as God hee hath no Mother and as man hee hath no Father because Ioseph was but his legall and not his naturall Father But you will say then Ob. that hee could not come of the seede of Dauid because Mary was the Daughter of Ioachim Aug. contra faust Man l. 23. c. 3. 4. Luke 1.36 a Priest of the Tribe of Leui as the Manichees and others haue affirmed because the Scripture saith Behold thy Cosen Elizabeth which was the wife of Zacharias the Priest To this diuers men doe diuersly answere for Sol. Origen thinketh that they were Cosens not in respect of
Alij atque alij aliud atque aliud opinati sunt Diuers men haue diuers iudgements but in diuiding the worlds age into seauen parts I finde most agreeing in the same iudgement and in affirming Christ to be borne in the sixt age of the world the latter end of the same That Christ was borne in the sixt age of the world and why if we follow Damascens account or in the beginning of the same if we follow Saint Augustines account but which soeuer it was in the sixt age that there might be a correspondencie betwixt the workes of creation and of redemption Nam sicut primus Adam conditus fuit sexta aetate ad totius creaturae perfectionem Because that as the first Adam was made on the sixt day to be the complement and perfection of all creatures so the second Adam was made in the sixt age of the world to restore all mankinde vnto their integrity And this teacheth vs patiently to waite for the comming of Iesus Christ for if God deferred the first comming of Christ almost 4000. yeares but did at last fulfill his promise and came in his appointed time we may assure our selues that he will doe the like for his second comming 2 Peter 2 4. against all those that say Where is the promise of his comming Why Christ was borne in the raigne of Augustus and Herod Secondly He was borne in the Raigne of Augustus the two and fortieth yeare of his raigne as Tertullian and Saint Augustine say and in the one and thirtieth yeare of King Herods raigne as Beda saith or the two and thirtieth yeare as Eusebius saith And he was borne in the raigne of Augustus to shew vnto vs first that as Augustus was a temporall monarch so Christ should be a spirituall Monarch for that as the world can no more beare two temporall Monarchs then the heauens can beare two Sunnes Omnisque potestas impatiens consortis erit so the Church of Christ can haue but one head Secondly that as Augustus was the second Emperour so Christ was the second person of the Trinity Esay 9.6 Thirdly that being borne when all the world was at peace and yet taxed we might hereby see that although Christ was the Prince of peace Matth. 11.29 that immaculate Lambe which was meeke and lowly in heart yet he should be taxed for our sinnes and burthened for our transgressions Esay 53.5 And hee was borne in the raigne of Herod i. e. Herod the great to distinguish him from Herod Antipa and Herod Agrippa whereof Ascolanita necat pueros Antipa Iohannem Agrippa Iacobum mittitque in carcere petrum this first killed the children the second Iohn Baptist and the third Iames the brother of the Lord to shew vnto vs as both Saint Chrysostome and Leo obserue Chrysost in Matth. hom 9. Leo hom 3. in Epâ—ph Josephus antiq lib. 14. c 26. Phila de part temp that this is that Shiloh which was for to come because a Prince as Saint Hierome reads it or the Scepter should not depart from Iuda vntill Shiloh came but now Herod Patre Idumes matre ortus Arabica being an Idumean hauing got the Scepter from Iuda by Augustus his meanes and hauing in the thirtieth yeare of his tyrannicall rule destroyed all the Sanhedrim i. e. the Eldership of seauenty Iudges of the house of Dauid it must needs be the Messias must be borne Thirdly Why Christ was borne in December He was borne in December the tenth moneth of the yeare to shew that he came to make satisfaction for the 10. commandements and to shew that as 10. consist of the figure 1. and the cipher 0. so his person did consist of the figure of his Deity and the cipher of our humanity as some Diuines haue obserued Fourthly He was borne in the shortest day of this moneth Three things obseruable in this day of Christs Natiuity which was the fiue and twentieth day in the Winter Solstice in which day three things are obseruable first the Cold is greatest secondly the Sunne is lowest and thirdly thence-forward the dayes begin to increase So Christ was borne in the coldest day to teach vs not to pamper vp our vntamed flesh hee was borne when the Sunne was lowest to teach vs true humility and as when the day is shortest the Sunne is in his Tropicke so called of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to turne because now it turneth towards vs and so increaseth the length of our dayes more and more Ambros ser 2. de Natiuit and ascendeth vp into the Heauens higher and higher so from the day of Christs Natiuity the fauour of God is turned to vs our comforts are increased and the Kingdome of Heauen is inlarged for as Iohn Baptist saith I must decrease and he must increase John 3.30 so we find that after the birth of Iohn Baptist which was in the longest day as the Sunne descended so the obseruation of the ceremoniall and iudiciall Lawes decreased for the Law and the Prophets continued vntill Iohn but after the birth of Christ Matth. 11.13 which was in the shortest day as the â—unne thence ascended so the Kingdome of Heauen increased more and more Fiftly He was borne vpon the first day of the Weeke That Christ was borne vpon the first day of the Weeke which is our Saboath i. e. vpon the Sunday as Rupertus Antoninus Bonauenture Petrus de Natalibus S. Augustine and others doe affirme Vt quo die dixerat fiat lux facta est eiusdem diei nocte oriretur in tenebris lumen rectis corde retinens ordinem mirabilium suorum That vpon the same day as he said Let there be light and it was so there should spring vp light for them that are true of heart and therefore Saint Augustine saith that this day was euer venerable because that on this day God the Father began to create the world on this day God the Sonne began to redeeme the world on this day God the Holy Ghost began to sanctifie the world when he appeared on the Apostles Act. 2.3 like clouen tongues of fire on this day God made the light on this day was the true light produced that lighteneth euery one that commeth into the world John 1.9 on this day the children of Israel came out of Egypt on this day Christ came out of his graue and like enough that on this day Christ will come to giue vs an euerlasting rest and therefore we should alwayes sanctifie this day aboue all the dayes of the yeare that when he commeth he may not finde vs singing in the Tauernes but seruing him in his Church Tertul. l. 6. c. 9. contra Marc. Sixtly Tertullian and Saint Augustine say that he was borne in the night-time in the time of darkenesse because he came to dissolue the workes of darkenesse Luc. 2.8 and to proue this they alledge not onely what Saint Luke saith that the Shepheards
a man of sorrowes and Ieremy may well demaund si fuerit dolor if euer there was or if euer we heard of any sorrow like vnto the sorrow of Christ and yet for all these paines and sorrowes these incredible sufferings both of body and soule he bore them patiently hee indured them quietly and as a Father saith Perdidit vitam ne perderet obedientiam hee would rather leese his life then faile in his obedience but as the sheepe before his shearer was dumbe so opened he not his mouth not for all the paines that hee endured not for all the sorrowes that hee sustained so great was his Humility according to the greatnesse of his Maiesty But CHAP. VII Of the gracious words that Christ vttered vpon the Crosse Of the seauen gracious words that Christ vttered vpon the Crosse FOr the second that is the gracious words that he vttered while he stood crucified vpon his Crosse as all the Annals and Records of time can neuer shew his paralell in his sufferings neuer man suffered as he suffered so in all the bookes and writings of men in all the words that were euer vttered by voyce we shall finde not one saying equalizing any one of the sayings of Christ Neuer man spake as hee spake Iohn 7.45 his owne enemies confesse it and as his words were euer gracious so neuer more gracious then now vpon the Crosse For First In the mids of all his sufferings the first words that hee spake were not against any man but an earnest suite for his greatest persecuters Pater ignosce illis i. e. illis qui dixerunt crucifige Father forgiue them for they know not what they doe The first words Christ spake vpon the Crosse A lesson neuer to be forgotten to teach vs all to be euer ready not onely to forgiue but also to pray for our enemies for here we see Christ prayes for them which mocke and persecute him and therefore we must doe likewise if we will be Christians And this may serue also for our exceeding comfort Bernard Heb. poenos How effectuall was the prayer of Christ for if hee thus prayed for them that not onely crucified him but also cursed themselues saying His bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children Yea if his prayer was so effectuall for his persecuters that it brought 3000. soules of them vnto his Father at the hearing of one Sermon of Saint Peter Act. 9.1 and made Saul that most violently breathed out slaughters against his Church to serue him most faithfully while he breathed vpon the earth and caused that very Souldier as some doe thinke which pierced his heart to be connerted by his Spirit and to become a Christian Chrysost in Matth. hom 88. Matth. 27.44 a Professor a faithfull Bishop and a constant Martyr of Christ then what may we thinke that he will doe or how powerfull will be his prayers for them that serue him for them that loue him Secondly The second saying of Christ vpon the Crosse After that the theeues had most contemptuously mocked and flouted him as Saint Matthew testifieth one of them seeing and considering not onely how vndeseruedly hee was condemned but also how patiently he endured all his paines and how piously he prayed for his greatest enemies Luke 22.42 hee began to relent and to repent him of his former reuiling of him and to conceiue some hope of some fauour from him and said Lord remember me when thou commest into thy Kingdome our Sauiour presently answered This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise a most sweet and comfortable answere Verse 43. vnto a most comfortlesse malefactor No sooner had he requested but he obtained pardon and was acquitted from the death of his soule though he suffered the death of his body yea and when he desired but to be remembred he was granted presently to be admitted vnto euerlasting happinesse for This day saith Christ shalt thou be with me in Paradise and from a malefactor on the Crosse thou shalt be translated to be a Martyr in Heauen To teach vs To giue to them that aske and from them that seeke neuer to turne away our face and to assure vs that if we pray to God we shall be heard we shall be helped The third saying of Christ vpon the Crosse Iohn 19.26 27. Thirdly After he had thus kindly dealt with his foes hee turnes himselfe vnto his friends and saith vnto his Mother Woman behold thy Sonne and to his beloued Apostle Saint Iohn hee saith Behold thy Mother to shew that as neuer man so pittyed his foes so neuer man so loued his friends as he did and to teach vs by his example neither in prosperity nor in aduersity to forget that dutie which we doe owe vnto our Parents The fourth saying of Christ vpon the Crosse John 4 34. Fourthly When he had gone ouer those in particular hee said I thirst not so much for any drinke as for the health and saluation of vs all for this was meate and drinke vnto him to doe his Fathers will to pacifie his Wrath and to satisfie his Iustice and so to bring many sonnes vnto glory to teach vs that if Christ in the mids of his sorrowes did so much thirst for our health how much more should we hunger and thirst after righteousnesse and after the saluation of our owne soules and not as we doe thirst and wither away for thirst after the pride and pompe of these worldly vanities The fift saying of Christ vpon the Crosse Fiftly Hauing shewed his loue to his foes to his friends to all mankinde he returned vnto himselfe for as yet he seemes to haue forgotten himselfe and his owne paine through the vehemency of his loue which he bare vnto others and not onely perfectly seeing but also sensibly feeling the incomprehensible paine and sorrow that through the fiercenesse of Gods wrath was throughly inflicted vpon him and which he had already so long sustained for our sinnes he lifts vp his eyes and sends forth those words with a dolefull voyce Matth. 27.46 My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Not that he was or could be forsaken of the Godhead so hypostatically vnited vnto it but to shew vnto vs what infinite sorrowes he then suffered aboue all that we can conceiue or thinke and to teach vs in all distresse to haue our chiefe recourse to God in all humility to expostulate with his Maiestie why he should create vs to forsake vs for so with Christ we may be sure to be heard and releeued in what we feare and in good time to be deliuered out of our distresse The sixt saying of Christ vpon the Crosse Sixtly When Christ saw that the Scripture in euery particular thing that was written of him vntill his death was fulfilled he said Consummatum est All is finished Iohn 19.30 not onely to declare vnto vs that by his death the royall Law was fulfilled
Serpents head Gen. 3.15 Dan. 9.26 and that the Messias should suffer for our sinnes and be broken for our transgressions Esay 53.5 And the Father promised this for none other cause The loue of God to mankinde moued God to doe all this for vs. but this Because he loued vs For God seeing vs in such a miserable state as we had made our selues by sinne was moued with compassion ouer vs and was contented to giue his onely begotten Sonne to be crucified for vs rather then we should be eternally separated from him So our Sauiour saith God so loued the World i. e. So admirably so exceedingly and so incomprehensibly John 3.16 That he gaue his onely begotten Sonne that is to die for vs That whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life And so Saint Paul saith God setteth out his loue towards vs seeing that while we were yet sinners Christ died for vs. And surely it was a farre greater argument of his loue to giue his Sonne to die for vs then if hee had forgiuen our sinnes and acquitted vs without any satisfaction at all And therefore Saint Paul speaking of this loue of God calles it Too much loue as the vulgar Latine reades it Deus propter nimiam charitatem God through his great Ephes 2.4 or too much loue wherewith he loued vs hath quickened vs with Iesus Christ And this great loue of God will appeare the greater if wee consider that this Sonne of God which hee gaue to die for vs Omnis in Ascanio Charistat cura parentis was not onely his onely begotten Sonne which was very great that hauing but one onely Sonne he would giue that one to die for vs but was also such a Sonne in whom onely God was well pleased and with whom he was neuer offended as I shewed vnto you before And as the Father shewed Tantam charitatem so great loue in giuing his Sonne to die for vs so the Sonne shewed the like equall loue in being so willing as he was to suffer for vs for in the beginning or in the volume of the Booke it is written of me saith Christ that I should fulfill thy will O God Hebrewes 10.7 and I am content to doe it That is I am as willing and as ready to fulfill it as thou art to conceiue it yea I am grieued I am pained till I haue fulfilled it For it is meate and drinke to me saith Christ to doe my Fathers will And therefore once againe behold the great loue wherewith Christ hath loued vs Surely saith Saint Bernard Dilexisti me magis quam teipsum quia pro me mori voluisti Thou hast loued me more then thou didst thy selfe because thou gauest thy selfe to die for me For greater loue then this hath no man John 15.13 that a man should giue his life for his friends especially for his enemies Rom. 5.8 as he did for vs Cum inimici essemus While we were yet sinners â—nd regarded neither him nor our selues Bern. de Caena Domini Ser. 13. And therefore Saint Bernard doth most truly say that he did this Tanto dignantius quanto pro minus dignis So much the more wonderfully worthy of loue by how much the lesse worthy we were of his loue And in very deede there is no man breathing No Creature able to express the great loue of Christ to mankinde that is able to expresse how great was the loue of Christ towards mankinde But my conscience is my witnesse O my Sauiour what I haue done to thee and thy Crosse doth witnesse what thou hast done for me for thou wast God and I a man and yet thou a God wouldest be made man for me yea to become exiled poore and base for vs that were the vilest of all Creatures poore and base miserable sinners And not onely so but also to die a most cruell bitter and a shamefull death to deliuer vs from eternall death O what couldest thou haue done more for vs that thou hast not done The like example cannot be found in any History Rom. 5.7 for one will scarce die for a righteous man It may be they will ride and runne to saue a good mans life but to die for another we shall scarce finde any that will venter it Titus Liu. Decad 1. l. 2. Val. Max. l. 5. c. 6. It is true that the Curiatij and the Horatij are reported to haue aduentured their liues for the libertie of their Countrey And so Decius Curtius and Codrus did freely offer themselues to death for to preserue their peoples life but they did this either for ambition to be honoured for their facts and to be numbred among the Gods or else in desperation of their liues to be ridde out of their griefe when they saw none other helpe of their miseries but Christ when there was no necessity to compell him did all this and farre much more then I haue shewed for vs And that not onely Sine nostris meritis sed cum nostris demeritis When we deserued no good Bern. Ser. 15. in Cant. but especially when we were worthy of so much euill at his hands as was due to most deadly enemies as Saint Bernard saith CHAP. III. Of the finall causes why Christ suffered both in respect of Men and in respect of God himselfe AND so you haue seene the instrumentall causes of Christ his death and you heard the efficient cause why God punished Christ for vs and for our sinnes and why for vs because he loued vs with a great exceeding incomprehensible loue And how this should teach vs that as our hearts doe hate Iudas Pilate and all the rest of our Sauiours bloudie persecutors which were but the Instruments of his death so much more should we loath and detest our owne sinnes and wickednesse which were the maine principall cause that moued God thus seuerely to punish him And now it resteth The final cause of Christ his death that we consider the finall cause thereof and I finde that to be two-fold 1. In respect of Men. 2. In regard of God 1. In respect of Men. First In respect of Men I finde it likewise to be two-fold 1. The sauing of all the Elect. 2. To make the reprobate without excuse Math. 20.28 For the first Our Sauiour faith That he came to giue his life a ransome for many and to saue those that were lost And so Saint Paul saith Gal 4.4 That Christ was made vnder the Law to redeeme them that were vnder the Law and that Iesus Christ was sent into the World to saue sinners Now wee must know that as Bellarmine noteth there are diuers kindes of redemption as That there were diuers kindes of redemption First By Manumission as when the Lord did willingly of his owne accord let his slaues goe free Secondly By permutation as when one prisoner was exchanged for another Thirdly By
force as when by their friends they were rescued out of the hands of their enemies Fourthly By a ransome as when a price thought counteruaileable to the prisoners was paide for the deliuerance of the Captiues And thus Christ redeemed vs for we had solde our selues or rather giuen away our selues because we doe it for such trifles for nothing that it deserues not the name of a sale vnder sinne and we had past away our selues vnto Sathan and he would neuer suffer vs freely to be freed out of his hands neither was there any force nor friends that could any wayes restore vs vnto our former dignitie and therefore Christ came to repurchase vs that is to buy vs backe againe vnto God And though we fell our selues for nothing yet Sathan like a cunning Merchant that knowes well the worth of Soules would not part with vs at any reasonable rate and therefore Christ was faine to pay for vs not gold or siluer or any such like corruptible thing 1 Pet. 1.18 but his owne deare and precious bloud So dearely was he faine to pay for vs so dearely it cost him to redeeme our soules And so Christ came and offered himselfe How deerely it cost Christ to redeeme vs. vpon the Altar of the Crosse as a sufficient sacrifice to pacifie his Fathers wrath and to satisfie his iustice to saue our soules yea the soules of all them that beleeued in him from the beginning of the World to this present day That the bloud of Christ was the price to saue all men as well before his comming as now after his comming Gal. 4. and so forward to the finall period of all flesh For It was not the bloud of Goates or Calues that was the true propitiatory Sacrifice for the sinnes of the Fathers that liued vnder the Law but it was the bloud of Iesus Christ that was onely figured and signified by these Leuiticall shadowes by the Paschall Lambe by the Brazen Serpent and by whatsoeuer else that was giuen them as a Schoolemaster to bring them vnto Christ which purged their consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing God For he is said to be the Lambe slaine that is slaine in the figure Reuel 13.8 slaine in the purpose of God and slaine in the vertue of his passion to euery one that beleeueth him to be slaine for him from the beginning of the World And therefore all those that went before and all those that came after cried Hosanna to the Sonne of Dauid Math. 21.9 For as the looking to the Brazen Serpent was the onely meanes to saue all those people from death which were bitten by the fierie Serpents whether they were before it or behind it Numbers 21.9 or on either side of it neere it or farre from it so the beleeuing in the death of the Sonne of God was and is the onely meanes to preserue all men from the sting of sinne aswell those that went before him Et vnde mundi Philosophus erubuit ibi Apostolus thesaurum reperit quod illi visum est slultitia Apostolo factum est sapientia Quest That the merit of Christs suffering depends vpon the worthinesse of â—he person Resp as those that doe come after him And therefore Quod est grande ludibrium impijs est grande mysterium pijs The death and passion of Iesus Christ which is foolishnesse vnto the World is the sole comfort and consolation of all Christians as Saint Augustine doth most sweetly comment vpon those words of the Apostle God forbid that I should reioyce in any thing saue in the Crosse of Iesus Christ Gal 6. But here it may be demanded how the sufferings of Christ being but of short continuance should be of that worth and dignitie as to be a sufficient price for our eternall deliuerance and to make a plenary satisfaction for the sinnes of the whole World To this I answere that the merit of his suffering depends not vpon the quantity of paine or the continuance of time but vpon the worthinesse of the sufferer and that in two respects Heb. 7.26 1 Pet. 1.19.2.22 First Of his Innocency for he was holy harmelesse and vndefiled a Lambe without spot in whose mouth was found no guile And therefore Iustum est saith Saint Augustine It is a most iust and a righteous thing Aug. l. 13. c 14. de trinitate that the debtors should be set free because he which owed nothing did pay all our debt Maxim quadragess Ser. 1. Secondly Of his Excellency for he was not onely a most innocent man Quem nullum maculauit delictum But he was also a most omnipotent God as the Apostle sheweth when he biddeth vs Acts 20.28 To take heede vnto the Flocke which God hath purchased with his owne bloud And therefore as the Father is infinite which was prouoked so the Sonne is infinite which made the satisfaction that for an infinite offence there might be an infinite attonement and so the person dying being both God and Man his death must be of a greater value then the deaths of all the men of tenne thousand Worlds And therefore Saint Cyprian truly affirmeth Modicam guttam sanguinis Christi propter vnionem hypostaticam pro redemptione totius mundi sufficisse That the least droppe of the bloud of Christ by reason of the vnion of the Deitie vnto the Manhood That the sole sufferings of Christ is fully sufficient to satisfie for all sinnes to make but one person of Christ is of full sufficient vaine to make satisfaction for the sinnes of the whole World And this doth sufficiently confute all those that ioyne the afflictions of the Saints with the sufferings of Christ as a part or the accomplishment of the price of their redemption as if with Christ alone there were not as the Prophet saith Psal 130.7 plenteous redemption for though the Apostle saith I reioyce in my sufferings for you and fill vp that which is behinde of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his bodies sake which is the Church Coloss 1.24 yet this is not to be vnderstood of the propitiatory sacrifice for sinne for so Christ onely suffered all that was to be suffered for our sinnes as both the Prophet Esay Chap. 53.4.5.6 and the holy Apostles of our Sauiour Christ Saint Paul and Saint Iohn Esay 53.4.5.6 Heb. 9.26 1 Iohn 2.2 doe most fully and sufficiently declare He that is He 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by himselfe hath purged our sinnes and as Dauid onely entred the lists against Golias Heb. 1.3 when all the Israelites were but meere spectators So did Christ alone vndertake the combate against Satan and hath troden the Wine-presse alone Esay 63.3 as the Prophet speaketh and therefore Christ said All is finished that is not onely all that is written of me is now fulfilled Ille solus sordes omnium potest abluere Aug. hom 108. de tempore or all
saith of that valiant Scaeua Lucan l. 6. Quâ—m non mille modi mortis c. So these fearelesse Women feared not a thousand sorts of death So should euery Christian soule be vnwearied to seeke and vndaunted to professe our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ For whosoeuer will be ashamed of him here on Earth Marke 8.38 he will be ashamed of him before his Father which is in Heauen 2. Faecundity How these Women labour to increase the number of true beleeuers Secondly For the faecundity of the Church shee is like Sara that bringeth forth more fruite in her age then shee could doe in her youth her seede is as the sand of the Sea which cannot be numbred So these Women they runne and tell his Friends and Disciples that Christ is risen from the dead and so by this meanes they doe what lyeth in them to increase the number of Gods Children and so should euery man doe when he is confirmed to strengthen his brethren for it is our dutie to incite all others to beleeue in Christ and to declare Christ vnto them That they also may haue fellowship with vs 1 Iohn 1.3 in the fellowship which we haue with tâ—e Father and with his Sonne Iesus Christ 3. Peace How peâ—ceably the women came to seeke for Christ Thirdly For the peaceablenesse of the Church the Scripture saith thâ—t it is a vision of peace the Daughter of peace and the Mother of peace So these Women they came peaceably not armed like the Souldiers but harmelesly like Noahs Doue with nothing in their hands but sweete flowers nothing in their mouthes but sweete words Iohn 20 15. good Sir If thou hast taken him away then tell vs where thou hast laide him and as the Church saith Vbi pascit vbi cubat in meridie That wee may know where he is where he lyeth So should euery Christian man lay aside all bitternesse all maliciousnesse and put on the garment of meekenesse and gentlenesse for seeing God is a God of peace and the Church a vision of peace a City at vnitie within it selfe that man can neuer be the Sonne of God which is not the Childe of peace Euery Son of God must be the Childe of peace And so you see that as these Women so euery man or woman that seeketh Christ must be valiant fruitfull and peaceable And yet Secondly As these Women though they had each one of them all these graces in a good measure yet each one of them had not these or the like graces in the like measure for as Mary Magdalen was lesse fearefull so Mary Iacobi was more fruitfull then the rest How God bestoweth his gifts diuersly vnto men So God distributeth his gifts and graces euen as pleaseth him to one he giueth the gift of prophecying to another the gift of healing to Iohn the gift to speake of his Diuinity against Ebion to Marke the gift of handling his humanity against Marcion to Saint Peter the gift to worke mightily in the conuersion of the Iewes to Saint Paul in the conuersion of the Gentiles to some he giues the gift to be famous Orators excellent in perswasions like Apollo to others to be iudicious expositors of more positiue instructiâ—ns as beneficiall vnto the Church though perhaps more preiudiciall vnto themselues to some he giues the gift like Mary Iacobi to be fruitfull in number to preach often and to bring forth many Sermons to others like Mary Salome to be more peacefull yet no lesse faithfull then the rest to doe it seldome yet to doe as well as their fellowes And so in all the rest of Gods graces hee giues not the same gifts to all persons for Lactantius was good to confute the Gentiles but hee was not so good to confirme the Christians Origen was famous in the mysticall interpretation but not so iudicious in the literall exposition of the Scriptures Saint Augustine most excellent to discusse controuersies to confound Heretickes and most iudicious to interpret all positiue points but he was not so millifluous in his exhortations so among the practitioners of Religion some are faithfull to suffer some are painefull to worke some zealous to pray some are desirous to heare some like Mary Salome blessed peacemakers others like Mary Iacobi painefull inlargers of Gods Church and others like Mary Magdalen faithfull sufferers for Gods truth all good but not all the same gifts for as among Dauids Worthies all reached not to the first three so among the Worthies of Christ all haue not the same measure of grace That euery man should be contâ—nted with the gifts that God doth giue him And this should teach vs euery man to be contented with those gifts and with that measure of grace as God hath giuen him and euery man to labour according to the grace he hath receiued in his owne element whereto he is most inclined and not in other mens straine whereto perhaps he is more affected for the fruites of affectation can neuer be so sweete vnto the palate of an other as are the fruites of our speciall inclination And this should teach vs all so to affect one grace as not to reiect the other so to magnifie one man indued with such gifts as not to vilifie another inabled with some other gifts for this were to receiue the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ Iames 2.1 with respect of persons and it is not in man to haue what gift he pleaseth but it is God that distributeth and disposeth of his graces euen as it pleaseth him CHAP. II. Of the action of these Women which was a right seeking of our Sauiour Christ Three properties required to make euery action good THirdly The action of these Women is here expressed according to those three essentiall properties of euery good and godly action 1. The matter iust 2. The manner lawfull 3. The end pious All men are euer seeking for some thing First The matter and substance of their worke is said by the Angell to be an inquisition a seeking ye seeke saith he and so we doe all seeke for since Adam like a griping Vsurer who extorting more then his due leeseth principall and all desiring to be as God lost both God and himselfe the whole World is at a quare and in a continuall seeking but most of vs doe seeke amisse For Some seeke for wealth Some seeke for wealth Quaerenda pecunia primum And they preferre that before the health of their soules And therefore surely they may well feare because they carrie two heauy burthens vpon their backes the one is deliciarum putredo the rust of their couetous desires and the other is Curarum magnitudo The greatnesse of worldly cares Quorum vnumquodque ad subigendum nauigium sufficit Whereof each one is able to sinke a Ship the rust of our riches to be a witnesse against vs and the cares of this World to choake vs and drowne vs in
shewed vnto you before Saint Luke saith He is not here but he is risen to teach vs that these words are so excellently couched by the Euangelist as they might serue both for a confirmation of his former speech he is not here and also for an assertion and declaration of the chiefest matter that the Angell intended to instruct these women in that is the resurrection of Christ for he is risen CHAP. IIII. That the Messias was to rise againe and why Certaine obiections answered and why he was to rise againe the third day THirdly the Angell doth not onely affirme but he doth also illustrate and confirme this assertion of Christ his resurrection by two infallible arguments First à priori from those typicall instructions and Propheticall predictions which foreshewed that the Messias must rise againe Secondly à posteriori from those cleere demonstrations that doe proue this Christ to haue risen againe For the first he saith that Christ was risen as he said i. e. formerly by his Prophets and lately by himselfe for the resurrection of Christ was not onely prefigured by Adams sleepe by Isaacs laying vpon the Altar by Iosephs imprisonment by Sampsons breaking of the gates of Gaza and such like but in a more plaine and speciall manner it was prophecied and foretold by Moses Dauid and others of the Prophets which spake of the resurrection of Christ and so likewise by our Sauiour Christ himselfe Three speciall reasons shewing why Christ was to rise againe First to manifest Satans conquest Secondly to assure vs of our deliuerance And the reason why the Messias was to rise againe is specially three-fold First in respect of Satan that his subiection might be manifested for he had said that the Prince of this world was to be cast forth this Prince was conquered at his passion but this conquest was manifested at his resurrection Secondly in respect of vs men that we might bee assured of our deliuerance from sinne and Satan and of our iustification before God by the 〈◊〉 vertue and power of his passion for if Christ be not risen from the dead our faith is vaine our hope is vaine our religion is vaine and wee of all men most miserable for in this onely point consisteth the greatest difference betwixt vs and the Iewes and all other vnbeleeuing Gentiles Nam Christum esse mortuum ratio humana concedit for they will yeeld that Christ was dead humane reason might proue that vnto vs Ambros l. 24. c. 26. in Joh. sed eum esse suscitatum ex mortuis omnem fidem rationis excedit but that hee should rise againe from the dead they cannot thinke they will not beleeue because this exceeds the reach of reason and therefore Saint Ambrose saith that although sibi cur resurgeret rationem non haberet he had no reason to rise in respect of himselfe yet there was great reason that hee should rise for the confirmation of our faith and so Saint Paul saith Rom. 4.25 that hee rose againe for our iustification not that any part of the price of our redemption was vnpaid at his passion but that the euidence of our deliuerance was not manifested vntill his resurrection for as hee died to deliuer vs so he rose againe to shew that he had deliuered vs. Thirdly in respect of himselfe Thirdly to shew himselfe a most victorious conqueror of all his enemies that he might shew himselfe a victorious conqueror of all his enemies and a trampler of hell sinne and Satan vnder his feet as of those that could detaine him no longer in their hands and that he might shew himselfe to be the Sonne of God coequall and coeternall vnto his Father for as he was to declare himselfe truly to be the sonne of man by yeelding vnto death so he was to declare himselfe mightily to be the Sonne of God by the resurrection from the dead Esay 53. and as he should be led by Esayas prophecie as a sheepe to the slaughter when he was to be crucified so he should come from the spoile by Iacobs prophecie as a Lions whelpe Gen. 49.9 when he was to rise from the dead and therefore Saint Bernard saith that he Qui agnus extiterat in passione factus est Leo in resurrectione which stood as a lambe at his passion to take away the sin of the world became a Lion at his resurrection to spoile all principalities and powers and to make an open shew of them Collos 2.15 But here it may bee some will say doth resurrection from the dead declare a man to haue conquered death hell and Satan and proue him to bee the eternall and omnipotent Sonne of God 1 King 17.22 Marke 5.41 Luke 7.14 Iohn 11. why then the widdowes sonne of Sarepta the sonne of the Shunamite the daughter of Iairus the widdowes sonne of Naime Lazarus and all that did rise with Christ and appeared to their friends in Ierusalem may be said to be the conquerors of death and the eternall sonnes of God but this is most absurd and therefore resurrection from the dead is no sufficient argument to proue the conquest of our enemies and the diuine omnipotency of our Sauiour Christ Sol. I answere Quod hi resurrexerunt mortui iterum morituri that these men rose when they were dead to die againe after they were raised but Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more saith the Apostle death hath no more dominion ouer him Rom. 6.8 Secondly I say that all those were raised virtute aliorum by the vertue and power of others as the widdowes sonne of Sarepta was raised by Elias That all which were raised from death but Christ were raised by others and died againe the Shunamites sonne by Elizaeus and they did it potestate precaria non propria by a power obtained by prayer not proper in themselues a power non innata sed data desuper not their owne naturally but supernaturally giuen them from aboue and therefore though in their life time they raised others yet being dead they could not raise themselues but our Sauiour Christ did not onely raise others in his life time but also being dead laid in his graue pressed with stones sealed by the Priests watched by the Souldiers That Christ raised himselfe from the dead and sought to be detained by all the power of darkenesse yet hee virtute propria vt victor prodijt de sepultura as a most inuincible conqueror by his owne proper power raised himselfe to life and by the strength of his owne arme hee caused all things Bernard de resur Christ to make way vnto himselfe And this the Prophet Esay in the person of Christ cleerely expresseth saying Esay 63.3.5 I haue troden the wine presse alone and of the people there was none with me and I looked and there was none to helpe and I wondered that there was none to vphold and therefore mine owne arme brought saluation vnto mee
and my fury it vpheld me for as no man could take away his life from him he laid it downe himselfe as a man layeth downe his garments so though there was none to helpe him yet was it vnpossible that any or all his enemies should keepe away his life from him hee had equall power to take it vp as hee had to lay it downe at his pleasure and therefore St. Peter saith Act. 2.24 Ob. Act. 5.30 Act. 2.24 cap. 4.10 Ephes 1.20 Rom. 8.11 Sol. that he loosed the sorrowes of death because it was vnpossible that he should be holden of it But against this it may be obiected that the God of our fathers is said to haue raised vp Iesus from the dead and so in many places the suscitation and resurrection of Christ is ascribed vnto the Father and therefore Christ did not raise himselfe I answere that this doth not shew he raised not himselfe but it sheweth that the resurrection of the manhood of Christ is the indiuisible worke of the blessed Trinity essentially common to all the three persons for as the Father raised him so he raised himselfe for whatsoeuer the Father doth I doe saith Christ and so the holy Ghost raised him and therefore this rather confirmeth the truth of his resurrection by his owne power and vertue then any waies seeme to infringâ— the same Neither was it onely prophesied that he should rise againe from the dead but it was also more particularly shewed Hosea 6.2 that he should rise againe the third day for the Prophet Osee speaking of our Sauiour Christ saith after two dayes hee will reuiue vs and in the third day he will raise vs vp and we shall liue in his presence and Christ himselfe more plainly saith Matth. 12.40 that as Ionas was three dayes and three nights in the Whales belly so should the sonne of man be three dayes and three nights in the heart of the earth And the reason why hee was so directly to rise againe the third day may be said to be to fulfill all predictions That God foreshewed Christ should rise againe the third day that were fore-spoken concerning him that so the Scriptures might be fulfilled as our Sauiour himselfe doth testifie and so the Angell said that he was risen as he said and he said that he should rise againe the third day And this he said 1. Formerly in the old Testament 2. Lately in the new Testament First by his Prophet Osee hee said in plaine termes that in the third day he would raise vs vp i. e. his Son vnited to vs or else our flesh assumed by his Son but because as many of vs do now heare the Sermon and hate the Preacher praise his words and neuer practise the matter so did the Iewes then heare the prophesies but kill the Prophets retained the words but neuer beleeued the true substance of the matter therefore God did not onely by these dead letters but also by most liuely figures expresly shew that the Messias which should be slaine should in the third day be raised vp for Typicall testimonies shewing that Christ should rise the third day Gen. 22 4. First Isaac going with his Father to be sacrificed as a true type of that eternall Priest which was sacrificed for all men vntill the third day was no better then a dead man but at the third day he was reuiued restored and as it were raised againe from the dead Secondly Ioseph being sold to Egypt and sent by God to be a ruler next vnder Pharaoh Gen. 41.1 as Christ is vnder God his Father that he might be a type of this eternall King vntill the third yeare was no better then a dead man but in the third yeare hee was deliuered and made gouernour ouer all the land of Egypt Ionas 2.2.10 Thirdly Ionas being sent into the land of Niniue that hee might be a type of that great Prophet which the Lord our God had promised to raise vnto vs out of our brethren for three dayes was no better then a dead man lying all that while in the whales belly but after three dayes he was deliuered out of the belly of Hell and vomited out vpon the dry land All these fore-told the resurrection of Christ and therefore Christ to fulfill all these did rise againe the third day Christ himselfe shewed that he should rise againe the third day Secondly Neither did these preach louder vnto the Iewes that the Messias which was to come should rise againe the third day then Christ himselfe did vnto his Apostles that he would rise againe the third day for as soone as euer Saint Peter in the name of them all had confest that hee was the Christ the Sonne of the liuing God he did presently professe vnto him and the rest how hee must be killed and raised againe the third day and therefore to performe his owne words spoken by himselfe aswell as his Fathers words spoken by the Prophets hee would be mindefull of his promise and rise againe the third day and this the Angels doe excellently note when they said vnto the Women Luk. 24.6 Remember how he spake vnto you while he was yet in Galilee saying The Sonne of man must be deliuered into the hands of sinnefull men and be crucified and the third day rise againe An exceeding comfort vnto vs all that Christ will euer performe his word fulfill his promise and obserue his time to a minute for he is not as man that he should lie and therfore we should euer giue credence vnto his words for he will performe them all in their appointed times But here it may be demaunded Ob. why God appointed and decreed this third day to be the definitiue and set time of his resurrection rather then the second fourth or fifth or any other day before or after To this I answere that God is liberrimus agens Sol. That we are not curiously to search the reason of Gods free actions a free worker of his owne affaires and it is not for vs to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath kept in his owne power but as he doth whatsoeuer pleaseth him so hee doth them whensoeuer it pleaseth him Secondly I say that we find very excellent reasons that it pleased God to reueile vnto vs why Christ raised himselfe the third day that is 1. In respect of his enemies Christ raised himselfe the third day in three respects 2. In respect of his Disciples 3. In respect of all beleeuers First His enemies First of his enemies both in respect of the praedictions of the Prophets and the speeches of Christ himselfe knew that the Messias should rise againe the third day and therefore they hyred souldiers and appointed a guard to watch Turtul aduers Iudaeos c. 13. and to keepe the sepulcher that vpon that day this Iesus should not rise lest if he did he might be then thought to be the Messias
The question is betwixt vs and the Iewes whether Iesus the Sonne of Mary whom they crucified and buried and whom we preach and beleeue in be the true Messias or not and whether he raysed himselfe from his graue yea or no. To both these the Iewes answere no Not the Messias not raysed from the dead First Not the Messias because hee came not downe from the Crosse when he was fast nayled vnto the same for If he be the King of Israel said the chiefe of them their high Priests and Elders of the people Let him now come downe frrom the Crosse Math. 27.42 and we will beleeue in him Ah foolish Nation a Nation voide of vnderstanding and Children of your Father the Diuell Namque haud tibi vultus humanus nec vox hominum sonat For here you sing the same song Math. 4.6 and you harpe vpon the same string as he did If thou beest the Sonne of God cast thy selfe downeward saith the Diuell and if he be the King of Israel let him come downe from the Crosse say these Children of the Diuell Chrysost hom de cruce So you see the one would haue him to descend from the Temple the other from the Crosse the one from seruing God the other from suffering for man and both to descend whereas God made man to ascend Os homini sublime dedit caelumque tueri inssit And of all his Creatures he made him onely straight God made man to ascend to looke vp towards Heauen and bids men alwayes to haue Sursum corda Their hearts like their heads lifted vp their thoughts in Heauen and their conuersations in Heauen Phil. 3.20 And therefore whensoeuer we are inticed to descend from the height of Gods seruice or suffering vpon our Crosse and to settle our affections here vpon the base things of this World let vs know it is the voyce of Satan not of God Math. 27.42 I but let him come downe and we will beleeue in him saith this people and let vs enioy the pleasures and the vanities of the Earth and we will serue him saith the generation of this World Luke 16.31 But as our Sauiour saith vnto them in another case If you will not beleeue Moses and the Prophets neither will you beleeue though one should arise from the dead So Saint Bernard saith in this case If now you will not beleeue in him that raysed himselfe from the graue you would neuer haue beleeued in him if he had then descended from the Crosse Greg. Hom. 21. in Euang. Quia plus erat de sepulchro surgere quam de cruce descendere plus mortem resurgendo destruere That it was a greater matter to rise from the dead then to come downe from the Crosse quam vitam descendendo seruare Because it was a greater matter to raise himselfe from the graue then to descend from the Crosse and a farre more excellent argument of inuincible omnipotency being dead to destroy death by rising againe from the dead then being aliue to saue his life by descending from the Crosse And so I say to the base descending worldlings if they will not stay vpon the Crosse to suffer with Christ here they are not worthy to be exalted to raigne with Christ hereafter and if they will not beleeue in him and serue him for the hope of the ioyes of Heauen they are not worthy to be receiued into the number of his seruants because such men loue the World more then God and will not loue God but for the Worlds sake August de ver Dom. Serm. Like vnto the Woman Quae non maritum amat sed aurum mariti Which loues her Husbands wealth more then her Husband or not her Husband but for his wealths sake Secondly They say he raysed not himselfe from the graue but his Disciples came by night and stole him away and if this be true he could not be the true Messias Whether the Disciples stole away Christ from his graue or not But what his Disciples that forsooke him and forsware him while he was yet aliue and could if he had would haue rescued himselfe out of the hands of all his enemies Alas poore men durst they now silly Fishermen thrust themselues among the pikes of armed Souldiers to steale away a dead carkasse that could neither helpe himselfe nor them No no they were readier to hide themselues in graues then to aduenture to take him out of the graue And therefore Mary Magdalen that knew his Disciples did not nor durst not take him away thought rather when shee found him not in his Tombe that they which left him no rest in his life did also take him and tosse him now out of his graue Sic multum terris iactatus alto And so left him not neither in life nor death Dementia insanabilis So implacable was their rage against him But though shee was in the right that his Disciples did not meddle with him yet herein shee was deceiued Ambros in hunc locum lucae Putando Christum sublatum esse de monumento When shee thought that the Souldiers had remoued him saith Saint Ambrose because this victorious Lyon did Sampson-like carrie away the gates of Gaza Iudg. 16.3 and burst open the doores of his Sepulcher that his glorious Body might come forth yet the Womans weakenesse may be excused Quia cum pietate societus est Because her error proceeded of ignorance and was accompanied with an vpright conscience but who can extenuate or who will not aggrauate that extreame folly and horrible impiety of this wretched and malicious people How the High Priests did what possibly they could to hinder the Resurrection of Christ For they not onely refused to receiue him for their Sauiour and said Nolumus hunc regnare super nos Wee will haue none of this man we will haue none other man but Caesar to be our King But they did also persecute him as a seducer and crucified him as a false vsurper and then buried him without honor There were no Widowes to make lamentation nor any of his friends that durst shew it and being buried they locked fast his Sepulcher Molemque montes insuper altos imposuere They prest him downe with a mighty stone and they hired a band of armed Souldiers to watch him that he should neither rise himselfe nor his Disciples come and take him away And therefore his Disciples that were so lately amazed at his passion were now so stupified at this obsignation this sealing and watching and warding of him that they durst not once passe out of doores to looke after his Resurrection vntill these three Women which esteemed themselues more free from violence and thereupon presumed first to see the Sepulcher had informed them that this one had chaste a thousand and had put all that band of men to flight Or if their hearts had serued them to aduenture so great a danger and
others will haue this phrase to signifie his abode conuersation here among men thirdly others will haue it to signifie the state and condition of the dead as if the comparison were made betwixt those parts of the earth wherein the liuing doe inhabit and that place wherein the dead are buried and so they doe expound that place of Esayas that hee was cut off from the land of the liuing and so cast into the land of the dead Esay 53.8 which they say the Apostle vnderstandeth by the lower parts of the earth and fourthly others say that he descended into the place of the damned not to suffer Iohn 19.30 because that was finished on the Crosse nor to fetch any Fathers out of Lymbe but to signifie and to shew not onely by words but also by presence that seing by his death and Passion the wrath of God was appeased Satan was to haue no more power ouer the Elect which hee held captiue that he was now made Lord of all and that all power was giuen vnto him and a name aboue all other names Collos 2.15 and not onely to declare the same vnto them but also to subdue them and to spoyle principalities and powers and as my Text saith to leade captiuitie captiue And this is the exposition of most of the ancient Fathers for mine owne part I am of Zanchius minde Laâ—ch in Ephes c. 4. that in the word descendit all these foure expositions may bee comprehended because he descended into his mothers wombe to be conuersant here among men into his graue and into Hell and our very Creede expresseth all these foure he was conceaued by the holy Ghost i. e. in his mothers wombe there is the first hee was borne of the Virgin Marie and hee suffered vnder Pontius Pilate there is the second he was dead buried there is the third and he descended into Hell there is the fourth and these be the foure degrees of his humiliation That Christ descended into Hell and this the Apostle seemeth plainely to vnderstand by the antithesis by the coherence and by the scope of the words because hee saith that hee ascended to the highest part of Heauen and therefore this also that he descended into the lower parts of the earth is literally to bee vnderstood that he descended into Hell because no place of the earth is lower then Hell Secondly Touching the exaltation of Christ Saint Paul setteth downe two things 1. He describeth the Person ascending he which descended 2. He expresseth the action he ascended He which ascended is the very same person which descended First he saith that it is he which descended that hath ascended i. e. he which was made man which suffered was buried he ascended and who is he but God the Sonne the second Person of the Trinitie for so our Sauiour saith I went forth from the Father and I came into the world and againe I leaue the world and I goe to the Father and therfore it is the very self same Son of God and none other which both descended and ascended And so by these few words we finde two great heresies quite ouerthrowne first of them which say hee brought his body from Heauen because the Apostle doth not say he which ascended descended though this be true being truely vnderstood for he ascended God and Man which so did not descend but as God alone therefore he saith he which descended he ascended secondly hereby is ouerthrowne the heresie of Nestorius which said our Sauiour consisteth of two persons for if he which descended is the very same that ascended then it is apparant that by his descention That in Christ there cannot be two persons i. e. by the assumption of our nature hee is no other person then he was before but still remaineth one and the selfe same person and that the humane nature doth adde nothing vnto the Sonne of God for the constituting or perfecting of his person for otherwise he that ascended had bin another and not the same which descended for hee had descended a simple person and ascended compounded hee had descended an imperfect person and ascended perfect which is most hereticall either to say or think And this is the cause why we affirme that the person of Christ cannot be said to bee compounded of two natures tanquam ex partibus as of two parts Christ still remaineth a most simple person i. e not compounded but as hee was before the assuming of our nature so also now hee is still a most simple and a most perfect person bearing our nature as on â—â—areth on his garment but neuer to put it off againe because it is assumed into the vnitie of his person and so Saint Augustine saith that Christ descended like a naked man and when he ascended he ascended the same person but clothed with our flesh and therefore as he is not another man that taketh on a garment so the Sonne of God is not another person because he tooke vpon him the garment of our flesh and if the humane nature assumed did neither change nor perfect nor compound the person of the Sonne of God because he which descended is the very same that ascended and none other then by the same reason it cannot be said that Christ tooke man vpon him i. e. a humane person as Nestorius taught But therefore he vnderstood not the same How Nestorius was deceiued about the person of Christ because on the one side hee held that true philosophicall principle that the actions are of the persons and not of the natures and on the other side he held another principle which is also true if it be truely vnderstood that of contrary effects there must bee contrary efficient causes and hee saw that in Christ there were diuers and contrary actions and therefore he did thence conclude that in Christ there must needs be diuers persons whereof the one should be passible and the other impassible and so he made that hee which descended was not the same but another that ascended for he considered not quod idem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 potest diuersa pugnantia opâ—rari secundam diuersas in eo naturas that the same subsistent or person may worke diuers and contrarie acts in respect of the diuers natures that are in it as a man according to his soule doth vnderstand and according to his body hee doth not vnderstand in respect of his soule he is immortall and in respect of his body hee is mortall and so through his ignorance hee hath abused these true philosophicall principles being truely vnderstood to denie the truth of the Scriptures and to wrong the person of the Sonne of God but the Fathers truely explaining the sayd principles did confute his error and confirme this truth that he which descended is the very same that ascended and none other But from hence it is apparant that the word descendit is not to be taken in
Heauen which Oecumenius calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The receptacle of him that is sent Aug. l de fide symbolo c. 6. Cyril in Leuit. l. 9. Vigilius contra Eutych l. 4. and this the Fathers Saint Augustine Cyrillus Alexandrinus Vigilius Theodoret and others haue most fully shewed and proued vnto vs and that for these three speciall ends First That we might be assured our Sauiour Christ remaineth still a true and a perfect man in glory Secondly That we might know where to seeke and where to finde our Sauiour Christ Nam pontifex noster non vtique in terrà quaerendus Orig. in leuit sed in coelo For our high Priest Iesus Christ is not to be sought for in Earth but in Heauen saith Origen therefore as S. Augustine said of Mary Magdalen Aug. de tempore Ser. 133. Quid quaeris in tumulo quem adorare debes in coelo Why seekest thou him in the graue below whom thou shouldest adore in the Heauens aboue so much better might I now say vnto many men Alas why seeke you Christ here on Earth in Bread and Wine and I know not where when as he is no where to be found in respect of his Manhood but in Heauen there is the place where he sitteth on the right hand of the Maiesty of God Thirdly That we might know where we shall be for so our Sauiour saith Iohn 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast giuen mee be with me where I am Ob. But against this it may be obiected that Christ himselfe saith No man ascendeth vnto Heauen but hee that descended from Heauen Iohn 3.13 the Sonne of man which is in Heauen And therefore how shall we haue any hope to ascend vp vnto Heauen Sol. Saint Augustine answereth that we are not therefore to despaire because he ascendeth alone i. e. by his proper strength and power for we shall be eleuated and taken vp by the power of Christ who came therefore downe from Heauen that he might carry vs vp into Heauen that were falling downe into Hell or as the same Saint Augustine saith We ought therefore to be vnited vnto him That we must be vnited to Christ if we will ascend where Christ is that so it might be but one Christ which descended and ascended he descended as the head of his Church and he ascendeth with his whole body which is his Church hee descended naked and he ascendeth clothed with our flesh and he descended as a husband without a wife but he ascendeth married vnto his Church and so he and vs is but one one body one flesh Vnitas nos compaginat vni Aug. in Psal 122. p. 591. Our vnity with him makes vs one with him and therefore they onely shall not ascend which are not nor will not be made one with him but our conuersation is in Heauen and our life is hid with Christ in God and therefore he might well say No man ascendeth but he that descendeth if you vnderstand it of Christ mystically that is of him wholly of him and all his members because none but his members shall ascend into Heauen And so you see the place where Christ ascended into heauen Rupertus de offic diuin c. 8. Quomodo autem sit in coelo corpus domini curiosissimum est quaerere But to inquire how the body of Christ is in Heauen whether sitting or standing whether naked or clothed Aug. l. de fide sym which Clemens Alexandrinus denyeth because the Saints in Heauen shall haue no need of clothing or how he ascended into Heauen whether in a purple robe as Fredernus Nausea supposeth out of Esay Esay 63.2 whose meaning is far otherwise then Nausea thinketh and many other curious questions they are farre fitter to be buried in silence then to be once determined by any modest Christian because as Saint Augustine saith Curious questions ought not to be discussed Non est nostrae fragilitatis secreta coelorum discutere sed est fidei nostra de dominici corporis dignitate sublimia honesta sapere It is not possible for our weakenesse to vnderstand the secrets of Heauen it is inough that by faith we beleeue and conceiue worthy things Idem quo sup de fide symb and that holily and modestly concerning Christ And so much for the explication of the first part which is of the Ascention of our Sauiour Christ. Branch 2. BRANCH II. CHAP. V. Of the application of this Doctrine of the Ascention of Christ vnto our selues both in respect of consolation and imitation The Doctrine of Christs Ascention may serue for a double end SEcondly For the application of this Doctrine vnto our selues you must note that it may serue for a double end 1. Of Consolation 2. Of Imitation First Our Consolation is likewise twofold 1. That he is gone to Heauen For 2. That he is not vnmindfull of vs on earth For Aug. in Act. First Dum naturam humanam syderibus Christus importauit credentibus coelum patere posse monstrauit Whereas Christ hath caried our humane nature vnto heauen he hath thereby shewed that now Heauen is open for all beleeuers saith Saint Augustine O then how much should we reioyce hereat because now onely we see indeed which before we onely saw in hope the Chyrography and hand-writing of our damnation blotted out and the sentence of our corruption quite changed for now we see that nature Gen. 3.19 to whom it was said Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt returne to haue gone to Heauen and there to raigne without end Neither are wee onely made possessors of Heauen but we doe receiue more ample and more excellent things by this most ineffable glory of Christ then we haue lost by that inueterate enuy of the Deuill Nam quos diabolus de Paradiso eiecit Leo in Ser. de Ascent hos dei filius in coelo collocauit For whom Satan hath cast out of Paradise Christ hath brought them vnto euerlasting happinesse Secondly As it is our comfort that he hath giuen vs possession of heauen so it is as great a comfort vnto vs That Christ in Heauen forgetteth not his seruants here on earth that he being in Heauen is not vnmindfull of vs that are here on earth Indeed Pharaoh's butler forgat Ioseph when he ascended vnto his masters fauour and so it is an vsuall thing in the world for all great men that haue beene raised vp of nothing to be most vnmindefull of their poore friends and acquaintance they hold it a point of pollicie to know them not or at least to looke strangley and sternely vpon them whereupon it is most truely sayd Asperius nihil est humili cum surgit in altum None so disdainfull none so proud as they that haue ascended vp on high from meane estate but it is not so with Christ for though he be gone vp on high from
people and say hearing yee shall heare and shall not vnderstand and seeing yee shall see and not perceiue Acts 28.25 26. and therefore our Sauiour biddeth vs to goe and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost But it is obiected as Nazianzen saith that he is no where called God but the holy Ghost or the spirit of God Nazian orat 5. de Theol. and therefore he is not God I answer briefely that this is false for Saint Peter said vnto Ananias why hath Satan filled thy heart Acts 5.3.4 to lye to the holy Ghost thou hast not lied vnto men but vnto God And therefore seing the spirit of God created all things and being created preserued them as Moses sheweth Gen. 1.2 the spirit of God moued vpon the waters i. e. to cherish and to retayne them together and now in like manner hee sanctifieth and preserueth vs as Melancthon sheweth in that godly wish which he maketh Spiritus vt Domini nascentia corpora fouit cum manus artificis couderat ipsa Dei Sic foueat caetus qui Christi oracula discunt accendatque igni pectora nostra suo And especially seeing that the holy Scripture doth more plainely testifie the same almost in euery place wee say that the name of the Holy Ghost is first taken for the Essence of God Secondly The name of the Holy Ghost is taken for the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost as where the Prophet saith Take not thy holy spirit from me Psal 51.11 2 Cor. 13.5 and where the Apostle saith Know you not that Iesus Christ is in you except you be reprobates And againe Rom. 8.9 you are not in the flesh but in the spirit if the spirit of God dwell in you and so when it is said that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost we must vnderstand it of the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost And these gifts and graces of Gods Spirit are excellently deciphered and set downe vnto vs vnder the properties and conditions of those formes and figures wherein the Holy Ghost did appeare vnto vs and that is if I doe rightly collect them three speciall times The Spirit of God appeared in the likenesse of fiue speciall things First vnto the Israelites 1. In a pillar of cloud by day 2. In a pillar of fire by night Secondly at the Baptisme of Christ he descended vpon him like a Doue Thirdly At the day of Pentecost he appeared 1. Like the rushing of a mighty winde 2. Like clouen tongues of fire First like a cloud First He appeared in a pillar of cloud to shew vnto vs that as the cloud betokeneth 1. A shadowing from heate 2. A sending downe of raine As 1 King 18.45 the Heauens were blacke with cloudes and windes and there was a great raine so the Spirit of God doth ouershadow vs from the heate of the wrath of God it cooleth and refresheth our scorched soules and as the raine maketh the barren earth fertile and fruitfull In what râ—spect the holy Ghost is like vnto waters so doth the graces of Gods spirit make our barren hearts plentifull in all good workes for the Holy Ghost in many places is compared vnto water because that as water 1. Mollifieth the hard earth 2. Fructifieth the barren ground 3. Quencheth the greatest heate 4. Cleanseth the foulest things and so forth So doth the Spirit of God In what respect the Holy Ghost is like vnto water 1. Soften our hard hearts 2. Fructifie our barren soules 3. Quench the heate of lust 4. Clense vs from all our sinnes And so make vs to become fit temples for himselfe to remaine in vs. Secondly He appeared in a pillar of fire Secondly like fire to shew his consubstantiality with the Father and the Sonne saith Nazianzen because God is fire and so appeared in the fiery bush from whence it may be came that custome among the Chaldeans which afterward spread it selfe among many other Nations of the Gentiles to worship the fire for their God whereas indeed they should haue worshipped that God which is fire and did appeare like fire to teach vs that as the fire hath in it saith Oecumenius 1. Calorem 2. Splendorem 3. Motionem 1. Heate to warme mollifie and purifie In what respects the Holy Ghost is like vnto fire 2. Splendor to giue light and to illuminate 3. Motion to be alwayes working Euen so the Spirit of God First Warmeth and heateth the hearts of the godly with a feruent and a fiery zeale of all godlinesse he mollifieth their hard and stony hearts and it consumeth all the drossie substance of sinne and so purifieth their soules from all wickednesse Secondly Iohn 6.13 He illuminateth their hearts with the knowledge of God for he bringeth them into all truth and he maketh their light to shine before men that they seeing their good workes Mat. 5.16 doe glorifie their Father which is in Heauen Thirdly He maketh them alwayes to be in action and neuer idle but as it is said of Christ euer going about doing good Thirdly He appeared like a Doue Thirdly like a Doue when he descended vpon our Sauiour Christ at his Baptisme first because as Bonauenture saith he came not then to strike our sinnes by the zeale of his fury but to beare them and to take them away through the meekenesse of his Passion but on the other side Greg. hom 30. in Euang. hee descended vpon the Apostles like fire because in these which were simply men and therefore sinners he would kindle a spirituall feruency against themselues and cause them to punish those sinnes in themselues by repentance which God had pardoned vnto them through his mercy and secondly he descended on Christ like a harmelesse Doue and not like vnto tongues of fire because Christ was not to be taught Cyrillus hierosol Catech. 7. which is signified by the tongues for his lippes were full of grace nor to be sorrowfull for his sinnes which is signified by the fire because in him there was no sinne but his Doue-like properties were to be shewed that hee was innocent Iohn 1.29 meeke and lowly in heart for as of all the beasts of the field the little silly Lambe is in most respects best qualified and therefore is Christ called the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinne of the world In what respect the Holy Ghost is like a Doue so of all the fowles of Heauen the Doue in most respects is most excellent for she is annunciator pacis the messenger and proclaimer of peace shee brought the Oliue branch vnto Noah she wanteth gall she hath no bitternesse in her she neuer hurts with her bill nor clawes she is full of loue and yet she neuer sings any wanton tune but woo woo is her matutinus vespertinus cantus her mournfull morning and euening song and
all and so in very deede those that neuer learned to obey would guide and gouerne their chiefest gouernors And therefore I say that those Preachers whose rising hath bin by the people and who giue themselues to popular applause are either halting in their honestie or defectiue in their discretion and so most vnfit either to teach the wise or to gouerne the foolish for in the first they teach factious and dangerous positions and in the second they must either yeeld to popular desires or dissent from themselues and so leese the applause of the people which is one of the mainest things they hoped for and gaped after And so experience daily sheweth vs that either want of honestie to doe what they know or els want of wisdome and discretion to know what to doe hath moued the blinde and wilde zeale of many factious men so friuolously to intermeddle with extrauagant and needlesse discourses both of State and Common-wealth and so furiously to precipitate themselues to most dangerous contention in the Church of God and many times being hoysted vp to the sterne of dignitie to make way for the vulgar to spurne against authoritie And therefore as I would wish no more wealth of God then I had grace to vse it so would I wish no more learning nor any other grace then I had discretion to guide them for this is that salt whereof our Sauiour speaketh haue salt in your selues and therefore all learning and all knowledge without this will soone putrifie and proue fit for nothing but to be cast into the dung-hill as our Sauiour saith And so much for my two obseruations out of the word Brethren now followeth the request or the exhortation Pray for vs PART III. Part. 3 CHAP. I. Of the diuers kindes of Prayers both in respect of the matter and forme SEcondly In the request or exhortation I noted 2 things 1. The action Pray 2. The extention for vs. First for the action i. e. Pray lest I should wander or ride at randome in this wide ocean of matter I will diuide all that I meane to speake of this point into these fiue heads 1. Of the diuers kindes of Prayer Fiue things considered concerning Prayer 2. Of the partie to whom we should Pray 3. Of the place where we are to Pray 4. Of the time when we must Pray 5. Of the manner how we ought to Pray First for the diuers kindes of Prayer wee must know that Prayer is distinguished in respect 1. Of the matter 2. Of the forme First in respect of the matter prayer is said to be foure-fold 1 Tim. 2.1 1. Supplications 2. Prayers 3. Intercession 4. Giuing of thankes First Supplications are for the remouall of euils Secondly Prayers for the obtaining of good Danaeus tract de orat dom p. 47. Thirdly intercession in the behalfe of others And fourthly thankesgiuing for the good receiued That there are two kindes of prayer But we may more briefly say that prayer is either 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An inuocation or petition 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A gratulation or thankesgiuing First First Inuocation Inuocation or petition is either 1. To remoue euill 2. To obtaine good First euill is said to bee either of sinne or of punishment and we should pray against both first Saint Paul buffetted of the messenger of Satan prayed to teach vs that when we are inticed to sinne we should pray that God would not lead vs into temptation Secondly the euill of punishment is either temporall spirituall or eternall First all afflictions iudgements plagues warres and all other miseries whatsoeuer they are punishments for sinne and therefore we should pray that God would either take them away from vs or sanctifie them vnto vs that they might worke together for the best Secondly spirituall punishment is when for our former sinnes we are deliuered vp to a reprobate sense to doe those things that are not conuenient and therefore wee should most heartily pray that God would forgiue vs our former sinnes and not punish the same with this spirituall fearefull punishment Thirdly the eternall punishment is that euerlasting death which is prepared for the Deuill and his Angels from which we should continually pray to be deliuered All good comprehended vnder Grace and Peace Secondly The good that we should pray for is euery where comprehended vnder these two names 1. Grace 2. Peace 1. Grace whereby we may truly serue our God 2. Peace whereby we may quietly liue among men And these two Saint Paul doth alwaies ioyne together to shew it may be that he deserues no grace which desires no peace for howsoeuer disordered spirits say Non pacem petimus superi date gentibus iras Nunc vrbes excite feras coniuret in arma mundus Wee seeke not peace we long for warres yet all well-affected Christians that doe loathe to bathe their swords and to make them drunke with the bloud of men will say with Drances Nulla salus bello pacem nos poscimus omnes No good can come from warre because as Lucan saith Nulla fides pietasque viris qui castra sequntur Lucan l. 10. There is neither piety nor fidelity among the rabble rout of them that follow the Campe for loue of spoiles but as Saint Augustine saith Nocendi cupiditas vlciscendi crudelitas Aug cont Faust l. 22. c. 74. implacatus implacabilis animus feritas rebellandi libido Dominandi similia sunt in arma sequentibus violence cruelties rapes prophannesse and all lewdnesse are commonly to be found among them and therefore all good Christians will pray for the peace of Ierusalem they shall prosper that loue it because Omnia pace vigent pacis tempore florent All things doe flourish in the time of peace and all men may liue without feare and the more earnestly pray for grace But now me thinkes I heare men crying for peace in Christ and warres with men a sweet distinction to loue God and hate thy neighbour the deuill laughes at this to see thee such a subtill Sophister that when we pray giue peace in our time O Lord and at euery meale we eate we say God send vs peace through Iesus Christ our Lord thou canst presently distinguish that this is meant with God but not with men for thou canst b◠at peace with God when thou makest thy sword drunke with the bloud of men and thou canst then praise thy God best when thou inrichest thy selfe with the spoiles of the slaughtered for is not our life a warfare and are we not all souldiers Iob 7.1 to fight against the enemies of Iesus Christ Yea doth not Christ himselfe say He came not to send peace but the sword 1 Tim. 1.18 and to set the father against the sonne and the daughter against the mother Alas beloued it is true that we are all souldiers and must make continuall warre with Satan sinne and sinfull men but the weapons of our
foolish lusts that drowne men in destruction and perdition Secondly gratulation or thankesgiuing is the other kinde Secondly Thanksgiuing and the chiefest kinde of prayer First because to make request concernes our selues and sheweth our loue to our selues but to render thankes sheweth our loue to God Secondly because the other is a taking this is a giuing and our Sauiour saith Act. 29.35 it is a more blessed thing to giue then to receiue Thirdly because to make request shall cease when wee come to the place where there is no want but the Saints in heauen doe ascribe glory and wisedome and thankes Reuel 7.12 and honor and power and might vnto our God for euermore Fourthly because the Angels that feele no want doe alwaies praise the Lord saying Holy holy holy Lord God of hosts Esay 6.3 Luke 20. the earth is full of thy glory and therefore we that shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like vnto the Angels of God should not alwayes speake with the tongues of men to beg but sometimes with the tongues of Angels to praise the Lord for his goodnesse for this is the only thing that God requireth or that we can render vnto God for all the blessings that he hath bestowed vpon vs. And there bee three speciall reasons saith Antoninus that should moue vs vnto this duty of thankefulnesse Antonin p. 4. t. 5. c. 12. §. 1. Three speciall reasons to perswade men to be thankefull First the practise of all the Saints Moses and all Israel after their passage through the red Sea Iosua after his victory Dauid after his deliuerance out of the hands of Saul hee composed songs of thankfulnesse vnto God and the manifold precepts of holy Scripture that doe command the same Psal 113.1 for Dauid biddeth all the seruants of the Lord to prayse the Name of the Lord and he saith that it becommeth well the iust to be thankefull and the Apostle biddeth vs in all things to giue thankes vnto God 1 Thess 5. Secondly the consideration of all creatures which doe all of them teach men to be thankefull because euery creature saith Saint Augustine Est quoddam beneficium homini collatum A three-fold voice of euery creature is a gift bestowed on man for which man oweth thankes vnto God and therefore Hugo de S. vict saith that euery creature speakes these three words to euery man accipe redde fuge take restore flee The first is vox famulantis the voice of a seruant bidding vs to receiue the gifts of God the second is vox admonentis Hugo de S. Vict. l. 2. c 3. de Arca. the voice of a teacher bidding vs to render thanks vnto God the third is comminantis the voice of a threatner bidding vs flie the vengeance of God if wee bee not thankefull vnto God for these blessings And so many creatures by their owne examples doe teach man to be thankefull for the very dogge saith Saint Ambrose is so thankefull for a piece of bread vt pro Domino mori velit that he will die for his Master Geminianus de exempl l. 5. c. 56. and Geminian tels vs of a Leopard that was so thankefull vnto one that deliuered her whelpes out of a ditch that shee accompanied him through the forrest and deliuered him from the danger of all other sauage beasts C. Agrippa de de vanit scient c. 102. and C. Agrippa saith that a Serpent called Aspis vsed to eate at a mans table seeing a dogge killing his childe did to shew her thankefulnesse vnto the man kill the dogge immediatly after What should I say more but as Salomon saith vade ad Formicam disce sapientiam goe to any creature and he will teach thee to be thankefull to thy Creator Thirdly the manifold gifts and graces that wee haue receiued i. e. the grace of God which bringeth saluation to all men doth teach all men not to receiue the grace of God in vaine but to be truly thankefull vnto God for the same And as these three reasons should perswade thee to be thankefull Anton. p. 2 t. 3. c 9 § 1. Three things that should driue away ingratitude from vs. so there be three other reasons saith Antoninus which should dispell from vs all ingratitude First because as Saint Augustine and Saint Bernard say Quod dederat Deus gratis abstulit ingratis God will in iustice take away from the vngratefull what hee hath freely bestowed vpon them for so our Sauiour sheweth in the parable of the vineyard which hee would take away from the vngratefull husband-men and giue it vnto them that would yeelde him fruits in due season Secondly because ingratitude doth not only abstract from vs that good which we receiued but doth also inflict vpon vs the euils that we feared Ioseph antiq for Iosephus saith that Hezekiah sickened vnto death because he did not shew himselfe sufficiently thankefull for his wonderfull deliuerance out of the hands of Sennacherib and the Apostle saith of the Gentiles that because when they knew God Rom. 1. they glorified him not as God neither were thankefull therefore God gaue them â—uer to vile affections Thirdly because ingratitude for blessings receiued detaineth and keepeth from vs those blessings that are promised Nam ille non dignus est dandis qui ingratus est de datis for he is vnworthy of more that gaue no thankes for what hee had whereupon Saint Bernard saith that ingratitude is a winde that drieth vp the fountaine of Gods grace and Antoninus saith that by the ciuill Law the father may depriue his sonne of his inheritance if his sonne proue vnthankefull vnto him which otherwise hee cannot doe and so our heauenly Father may iustly depriue vs of the kingdome of heauen if we be vnthankefull vnto him for his blessings And therefore when we pray to God and make request for what wee neede let vs not forget to bee truely thankefull for what we haue but let vs remember that there bee three degrees of thankefulnesse the first is recognoscere Three degrees of thankfulnes to acknowledge his goodnesse with our hearts the second is laudare to praise him for his goodnesse with our mouthes and the third is retribuere to expresse the same in our liues and conuersations Nam si maledicitur Deus negatur malis factis tum bonis benedicitur confitetur for if wee deny God and curse him by our euill deedes then certainely wee doe praise him and blesse him by our good and godly deedes saith Saint Augustine Secondly Prayer in respect of the forme is manifold First Mentall prayer in respect of the forme is said to be fourefold As First mentall so Moses Exod 14.15 and Anna 1 Sam. 1.13 prayed vnto God when they said neuer a word and thus an afflicted soule may pray to God in the midst of company and when no man heareth him God which knoweth his heart doth heare his prayer Secondly
it is 344 Angels for three things most excellent 535 Angels appeared like men but were neuer made men 534 Alwayes serued Christ 535 How they punish the wicked 536 How they comfort the women 537 Testifie of the resurrection of Christ 566 The birth of Christ 411. 411 Angell a name of office and Christ often called an Angell 330 Angels how they are said to ascend 609 Anger what euill it doth 229 That it is two-fold 355 Angell cannot beget another 4 Anselmus what he said 66 Christ why hee would not answere Pilate 477 AP. Approbation of sinne how euill it is 15 Apuleius his Asse what she said 92 Appearance and shew of truth how vaine it is 213 Apollinaris and some Arrians heresie 348 343 Apostles words He is the first borne of euery creature how vnderstood 290 Apelles his heresie 343 Application of Christs Resurrection is that onely thing which helpeth vs. 586 Apostacy what a fearefull sinne 595 Apostles onely filled with the holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost 658 To approue sinne in others what a great sinne 25 Appollodorus what he dreamed 55 Christ appeared ofen in the shape of man before he was made man 329 Christ appeared like a man vnto Adam 329 To Abraham 330. to Iacob and Ioshua 322 Christ appeared to the Patriarches in a true body 345 Chrâ—st appeared like a sinnefull man but without sinne 346 Christ how he appeared to Saint Paul going to Damascus 388 Apparitions of Christ after his Resurrection twelue times at least 505 Why he appeared first to Mary Magdalene 565 Why he appeared first to Saint Peter among the men 570 Why he appeared to Saint Iames. 574 AR. Arrius his heresie and obiections answered 248 c. 299 Arrians whether they corrupted the Text of Salomon God created c. 287 Armour of a Christian of two kindes 730 Arrogancy of Iudas seene 461 To argue from Gods power without testimony of his will not good 172 AS God made man to ascend 561 Christ ascended three times 615 Time place and manner of Christ his ascention 620. 621 Christ ascended aboue all heauens 624 Our ascention to Heauen depends vpon our vnion with Christ 626 Doctrine of Christs Ascention to what end it serueth 618 That we should alwayes ascend to heauen 630 Our wings to ascend what they be 631 Christ ascended for foure speciall ends 639 Christ before his ascention would not bestow the gifts of the Holy Ghost and why 640 That there be foure sorts of ascenders 609 Angels how said to ascend 609 Christ whether wholly destitute of all assistance from the Godhead 447 That Christ assumed our flesh 369 AT Athiests deny the power of God 136 AV First Author of our conuersion to God is God 529 Saint Augustine reading the death of Dido what he said 51 Christ borne in the raigne of Augustus and why 494 Desparagement to Augustus his worth to ioyne any other with him 504 What the Author thinketh of transubstantiation 549 BA BAcke-parts of God what it signifieth 117 Balaam prophesied of Christ 412 BE. Being of God not safe to search too farre into it 124 God giueth being to all creatures 125 Wee beleeue not the assertions of the Iesuites not because we know not how they may be done but because wee know they cannot be done 177 Beauty of God incomprehensible 191 We are begotten to God by the truth 215 Saint Bernards preaching two kindes of Sermons 266 The father alwaies begetteth the sonne 275 Christ made the beginning of our wayes 288 Benefits of Christs Incarnation 359 Benefits of the vnion of the two natures of Christ in respect of Christ 382 In respect of vs. 390 Gods benefits recommended to our memories 60 Benefits how many Christ bestowed on Iudas 458 Euery benefit requires a dutie 542 To beleeue in Christ is to eate and drinke him 681 Best men most hated in the world 435 Bethelem the place where Christ was borne 407 c. Christ why betrayed by Iudas 459 BJ Birds flying hardly catched 13 Birth of Christ how meane it was why 409 Why first reueiled to the Shepheards 412 BL How blinde sinners be 58 Our blindnesse seene and confessed by the Philosophers 59 A fable of a blinde widdow 58 Bloud of Christ shed fixe speciall times 164 Bloud of Christ the price that paid for all men 501 Blasphemy against the truth what a heauy sin 240 Shedding of mans bloud what a fearefull sinne 240 BO Bodies cannot beget soules 4 That Christ had a true body proued 341. 342 c. All the obiections to the contrary answered 344. 345. c. A naturall body must be locall 155 Body of Christ cannot be euery where 157 How it may be said to be euery where 169 To be a true body and to be euery where is meerely contradictory 170 Bodies glorified haue their dimensions 170 c. Body of Christ glorified from the first moment of his conception 171 Still a physicall body 172 For a body to be in one place and in many places at the same time is vnpossible 175 We may not referre that to the body which is truely spoken of the whole person of Christ 344 Christ appeared to the Patriarches in a true body 345 Body of Christ how said to doe diuine operations 38 Body of Christ how it may be truely said to bee in the Sacraments 549 Bodies raised at the resurrection of Christ testified of the resurection of Christ 579 Bodies in heauen shall be still quantatiue 171 What a bondage it is to serue sinne 99 Christ why borne in the raigne of Augustus and Herod 404 Why borne in December 405 Why vpon the Sabbath day ibid. And why presently after midnight 406. Why borne of a woman 334 And why of a Virgin ibid. A bountifull man is gracious 190 God most bountifull vnto all people 192 God not bound to giue power to the wicked to serue him 210 BR Brethren how variously taken 689 Brotherhood in respect of the Spirit greater then that in respect of flesh and bloud 689 Gentile brethren how they loued one another 690 CA. GIuing Canaan to the Israelites a type of giuing heauen to vs. 127 God calleth effectually none but the elect 203 God not the cause why the wicked serue not God 210 Causes of Christs sufferings 493 Instrumentally manifold 494 c. Efficient God himselfe and why 496 Finall 590 CE. Cerinthus his heresie 374 CH. Substance changed cannot be what it was and what it is both at once 173 God can change any substance into another 173 Charity most requisite for Preachers 642 Charity what it is 652 The surest signe of saluation ibid. Children liable to death 9 Tainted with sinne before they are borne 9 Childhood the miseries therof described 69 Our children to be married to the godliest men 109 The wicked shall bee punished in their children 245 How it stands with Gods iustice to punish the fathers sinnes vpon the children 245 ChildreÌ„ very apt to imitate their Parents 246 All
of vs. 118 All the excellencies of Christs man-hood were created excellencies 146 God expressed to Moses what he is three manner of wayes 121 Examples of Gods mercy in seeking after sinners 181 We should carefully examine whether we loue God or not 189 Examples of Gods slownesse to punish sin 194 Good examples a great meanes to further godlinesse 360 Three sorts of men excluded from the Paschall Lambe 682 Excellency of diuine truth 215 EK The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether rightly translated created or not 287 FA. THree faculties of the soule of man 53 Euery faculty of the soule defiled by sinne ibid. Fathers how they extoll the power of God ibid. Faith seeth what reason perceiueth not 176 God called Father of mercies neuer called Father of vengeance and why 195 Faults of some not to be ascribed vnto all 221 God the Father alwayes begetteth the Sonne 275 The name of Father taken two wayes 278 God the Father of Christ not as he is our Father 291 The Father how greater then Christ 300 Father sent not Christ by way of command 301 Christ the fairest among the sons of men 353 Family from whence Christ descended 396 c. Faults of the Disciples Christ would not reueale 466 Faith foure-fold 647 Iustifying faith the properties of it 648 FE That we should feare our Lord. 131 That we should aswell feare Gods iustice as hope for his mercy 244 Feare is two-fold 355 Feare and sorrow how they differ 449 What Christ feared 450. 455 c. Whom we neede not feare 538 God in what sence to be feared 539 Magistrates and parents in what sence to be feared 538 Feare brought into the world by sinne 540 God how he ought to be feared 541 That we ought to feare in euery state of grace lapse and recouerie 441 FI. Fire and sinne cannot be concealed 20 Fire and sinne not resisted will necessarily increase 22 Christ in what respect sayd to be the first begotten Sonne of God 291 That we should striue to be the first in Gods seruice 590 Apostles onely filled with the holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost 658 Fiue kindes of kisses 460 FL. Flesh apt to conceiue sin 14 Flesh taken for the corrupted qualitie of man 8 Flesh of Christ made by all the three persons of the Trinity 325 Flesh diuers kindes 339 Our flesh assumed by Christ 369 Flesh of Christ how said to be Deified 369 How said to doe diuine operations 389 Christ how flouted by all men 481 482 Flesh the tenderer the more sensible of paine 483 FO Forgetfulnesse an infernall Fiend 60 To forbeare to punish sinne increaseth the number of sinners 90 Fore-sight of good and euill is not the cause of punishment or reward of either 95 Heathens fâ—lsly ascribed to Fortune what is true of God 139 To forgiue sinne the greatest worke of Gods power 140 God able to forgiue sinnes ibid. In the forgiuing of sinnes many particulars to be considered 183 God forgiuâ—th all sinnes or no sinne 184 God cannot forget to be mercifull ibid. Foâ—giuenâ—sse of sinnes our chiefest comfort 224 That wee ought to forgiue one another 236 And to foâ—get all iniuries ibid. Our foâ—e fathers how they exceeded vs in deuotion 731 To be in the forme of God is to be very G â— 280 To lay a good foundation the best way to teach 392 Fortitude of the women seeking Christ 521 Christ in heauen forgetteth not his seruants on earth 629 Foure points handled touching the power of God 13â— Foure sorts of men erre about the doctrine of Gods power 135 Foure speciall graces bestowed vpon the elect 204 Foure kindes of redemption 500 Foure sorts of ascenders 609 Foure-fold end of Christs ascention 639 Foure points considered about the gifts of God 640 Foure signes of fulnesse 665 Foure-fold feales or signes wherewith Saints are sealed 669 Foure sorts or receiuers of the Sacraments 680 FR. Christ assumed all our humane frailties 351 Friends of Christ how dearly he loued them 488 God expecteth not the like fruits from all men 602 The Saints are freed from all their enemies 636 Christ freeth vs from Satan to place vs in his owne seruice ibid. We are not freed from Satan to doe what we list 637 FV. Fury of the wicked restrained 178 All men are full of somethings 665 GA. WHy Christ went to the garden of Gethsemane to bee taken and what befell him there 441 Gaufredus Clareuallensis what he said 613 GI Gifts of God of two sorts 192 641 Hee giueth spirituall gifts to the godly ibid. And temporall gifts to the wicked ibid. Gifts of God are free gifts 640 Diuersly bestowed 523 Euery man should be contented with the gifts God giueth him 523 Diuersity of gifts among the Apostles and Fathers ibid. Gifts requisite for Preachers 641 Gifts to edifie the Church how giuen 657 Speciall gifts of God whereby the elect are saued vnpossibly to be knowne 646 Gifts of prayer the chiefest of all Gods graces 730 Gifts of the Magi what they shewed Christ to be 413. GE. Generation of Christ two-fold 288. Gentiles were not altogether ignorant of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 311 What they writ of this name of Christ 312 313 Gentiles how they might come to the knowledge of this word 313 3â—4 Gentiles expected the comming of the Messias 316 412 Generality of Christ his suffering 483 GO God how said to bee the Father of Spirits 6 Goâ—ly mens sinning differ in three things from the wicked 35 36 Godly life maketh a happy death 82 God loueth righteousnesse 90 No respect of persons 91 Most iust ibid. Iudgeth euery man according to his desert 92 How great and how mighty he is 102 How ineffable 125 A most faithfull performer of all his promises 127 How he guideth and gouerneth all things 138 Of his owne nature most intelligible 120 To vs incomprehensible 120 121 That there is but one God proued many wayes 269 270 God onely to be prayed vnto 710 Christ no titular but a true God by nature proued 278 279 280 c. To deny the God-head of Christ what a hainous sinne 305 God-head of Christ suffered not but sustained the man-hood to suffer 438 485 The godly how they doe ascend 614 Loue of goodnesse should make vs hate sin 66 Goodnesse of God to man how incomprehensible 101 103 Good and godly men ought to be cherished and promoted 110 Goodnesse what it is 196 Goodnesse of things two-fold 197 God good to all things 197 Perfectly absolutely and vniuersally good 198 Nothing absolutely good but God ibid. Goodnesse of God two-fold 198 Generall goodnesse of God seene in two things 198 All things made good in their kinde 199 Good for some vse yet not vniuersally good ibid. Goodnesse of God withholdeth the wicked from many sinnes suspendeth our iust deserued punishments 200 How it extendeth it selfe to all men 201 Yet not alike good to all men 202 Gods speciall goodnesse seene in two things 203 It preserueth the Saints
227 IV Iudas what benefits he receiued from Christ 458 Why chosen to be an Apostle 459 Why made the Purse-bearer ibid. Why he betraied Christ ibid. Why he gaue them a signe 461 How sought to be reclaymed by Christ 461 462 What his treason should teach vs. 461 His arrogancie and iniquitie how great 461 Why he kissed Christ 461 That it is a iust thing to punish sinne 90 Iustice is often peruerted with men 91 God iudgeth all men according to what they haue actually done 95 Euery one according to his desert 92 God most iust proued 91 God in the strictnes of his iustice might inflict more punishmeÌ„t vpon the damned 187 Whatsoeuer he doth is iust 237 Iustice of God taken diuers waies 237 Iustice of God requireth a day of iudgement 245 How it stands with God iustice to punish the fathers sinnes vpon the children 245 Iustice and truth how they pleaded against man 319 That we should as well feare Gods iustice as hope for mercie 244 Iudgements of God must be threatned when his mercies doe not allure vs. 696 Iustification what it is 208 Christ Iustified by his enemies 429 KI KIngdome of heauen could be giuen by none but by God 321 Kisses that there be fiue kindes 460 Kings and Magistrates to be prayed for and why 734 KN. God knoweth best when to helpe vs. 724 Knowledge most necessary for Preachers 642 Adams desire of knowledge brought ignorance vpon vs all 58 Sinnes of knowledge most fearefull inexcusable sinnes 29 And yet we doe what we know to be fearefull sinnes 29 The excellencie of our knowledge makes our sinnes the more horrible 30 All knowledge of God extinguished by sin 64 Three wayes of knowing God 120 We are not able to know him as hee is in himselfe 120 Knowledge of Gods power the foundation of our faith 134 We know many things negatiuely as what God is not which we know not positiuely 176 We know what God cannot doe though we know not what he can doe 176 To know Christ the onely thing that makes vs happy 259 It suppresseth all vices 261 The Gentiles had a measure of the knowledge of God 311 The diuels know God and the mysterie of the Trinitie 314 Knowledge of Christ two-fold 356 Knowledge of Iesus Christ the chiefest knowledge in the world 391 The diuell chiefly laboureth to corrupt it 391 We know not what is good for our selues 726 LA. LAbour vndertaken vpon hope of reward 1 Labourer presently to haue his pâ—ay ibid. Law of nature and of all nations teacheth to punish sinne 90 Lawes of men like a spiders web 91 Law of God like an yron net ibid. Lawes must bee made according to rules of mens abilitie to keepe them 210 Law in the Gospell 224 That the law was not created 286 To keepe Gods lawes made Dauid wiser then his teachers 571 Law of God giuen to be kept not to be talked of 600 Languages and readie speech requisite for preachers 641 LE. Letters how vsed by the ancient to signifie diuers things 473 LI. God the verie life of all things 125 Life of Christ a continuall suffering 437 A good life what it effecteth 601 Bad life what euill it doth 601 The wicked are lifted vp to bee throwne downe 612 Life of Christ a continuall suffering 437 LO Loaues of bread how multiplied by Christ 174 God onely absolute Lord. 131 Lord and Iehoua equiualent ibid. Lord taken two waies ibid. Men may be called Lords 131 Our Lord should bee feared and serued for three speciall reasons 132 Christ most properly called Lord. 132 Logos what it signifieth 306 Why vsed by the Euangelist 310 The best knowne name of Christ among the Iewes 311 God loueth not the wicked 189 Loue of God in giuing Christ to be incarnate how great it was 303 To loue God is not to offend him 305 Loue of the Father seene in giuing Christ to be incarnate 357 Loue of Christ seene in his incarnation 359 Our loue to God increased by the meditation of Christ his Passion 424 Loue of God to mankinde moued him to giue his Sonne to die for man 498 How great his loue was to man ibid. Loue of Christ to man how vnspeakable 499 How deerely we ought to loue Christ 508 To loue one another how wee are bound vnto it 511 Want of loue the cause of all mischiefe in the world 511 We ought to loue all men ibid. Loue of money what it doth 565 Loue shewed foure wayes 693 That there is a gradation in the loue of God 684 Man lost a two-fold good 321 LV Vntamed lusts what an odious sinne 240 Saint Lukes words he shall be called the Sonne of God how vnderstood 248 Lutherans what they teach concerning the vnion of the two natures of Christ 377 Lutheran doctrine what absurdities it brings foorth 377 MA. MAn following his vocation is the safer from Satan 13 Man receiued power to beget man like himselfe 7 Manner how euerie sinne is committed fourefold 26 Sinnes of malice haue two violent properties 32 Malice of Satan restrayned 178 Man what a poore and a miserable thing 104 Manhood described and the miseries therof 70 Manner how the Father begetteth the Sonne or the Holy Ghost proceedeth is ineffable 227 Manner of diuine mysteries not curiously to be searched into ibid No man truly rich 281 Malice of Hereticks seene in denying the God-head of Christ 305 Not to marrie with wicked sinners 109 Mankinde produced three waies before Christ his time 333 Manner how Christ was conceiued 335 It is ineffable 336 Christ made a perfect man 340 Marcion his heresie 343 Macedonius his heresie ibid. Manichaeus his heresie ibid. Manhood of Christ seene by the sufferings of Christ 343 Word made flesh why the Euangelist saith 369 How one thing may be made another thing three waies 37â— Manhood of Christ how adored 383 Mary rightly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mother of God 385 Mary of what Tribe she was 397. 398 Mathew and Michoa how reconciled touching the place of Christ his birth 407 Magi what they beleeued Christ to be 4â—3 Man of al creatures most subiect to sufferings 434 Malice of Satan Christ prayed against 456 Malchus how he vsed Christ 467 Masters that are ill make ill seruants 467 Malice of the Iewes against Christ 495 517 Manner of Christs suffering incomprehensible 5â—2 Mary Magdalen a sinnefull woman 529 How shee liued after her conuersion 533 Mary Magdalens how many there were 568 Why not suffered to touch Christ 568 Magistrates in what sence to be feared 538 Manhood of Christ how said to bee euerie where 5â—4 Martyrs how constantly they professed Christ 577 Manna had twelue wonders in it 703 ME. Memorie what an excellent facultie it is 60 Wherein it excelleth all other faculties ibid. God recommendeth all his benefits vnto it ibid. How defiled by sinne 61 How faithfull to record vaine and vile things ibid. How faithlesse to retaine good things 61 What we should alwaies remember 62 Meditation of
may be said two waies 167 In what sence God willeth sinne 167 Will of Christ two fold 296 301 To doe the will of God will sooner bring vs to know God then to heare his word 571 Wings wherewith we flie to heauen what they be 631 Wine how deceitfull it is 45 Why wisedome is ascribed to the Sonne 273 By the wisedome whereof Salomon speaketh Prou. 8 22. what is meant 285 How hard for the wisedome of God to please foolish man 3â—0 Christ how said to be with God 297 Not as we are said to be with God ibid. To be with God and in God how the same 298 Witnesses of the birth of the Messias 411 WO. Woe trebled to the inhabitants of the earth 46 Christ why borne of a Woman 334 Women why three went together vnto the Sepulchre 519 Why they were all three called by the same name ibid. They were a type of the Church and of euery christian soule 520 How sorrowfull they were ibid. How distinguished and knowne one from the other 521 How they signifie three properties of the Church â— 521 How fearelesse they were in seeking Christ 521 How they laboured to increase the numbers of beleeuers 522 How peaceably they came to the graue 522 Many women were made instruments of great goodnesse 532 Word of God diuided into two parts 12 That the word was before he was made flesh 278 The word GOD no accidentall but an essentiall word 285 The word how he may be said to be created and begotten 289 Words of Dauid this day haue J begotten thee how vnderstood 290 Words of the Apostle he is the first borne of euery creature how vnderstood 290 Words of Saint Luke be shall be called the Sonne of God how vnderstood 248 Words of Salomon the Lord created me how vnderstood 286 Words of Christ my Father is greater then I how vnderstood 300 Words of Christ I came not to doe mine owne will how vnderstood 301 Words of Saint Paul then the Sonne shall be subiect to the Father how vnderstood 301 Words of Christ I came from aboue how vnderstood 344 345 Words of the Apostle God sent his sonne in the similitude of sinfull flesh how vnderstood 346 Words of our Creede he descended into hell how vnderstood 580 581 c. The seauen gratious words that Christ spake vpon the Crosse 486 Christ called the Word because he declareth his father vnto vs. 322 How God can expresse himselfe with one word 307 Why Christ is tearmed the word ibid. How the word GOD resembleth our outward word 308 How it resembleth our inward word ibid. How it differeth from our word 309 Whether it be a name of Christ his person or hâ—â— office 310 Why Saint Iohn vseth the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word 310 The word why made flesh 317 318 Why the Word rather then the Father or the Holy Ghost 322 The word onely assumed our flesh 326 How said to be made flesh 368 c. All the world without Christ will auaile vs nothing 263 Philosophers striue to proue the world to be eternall 136 World made by God proued 137 World diuided into his seuerall ages 402 To flie the world the next way to finde Christ 571 Workes of our vocation to be followed 13 Outward workes of God common to each person of the God-head 145 274 They are transient and voluntarie ibid. Inward works of God are euerin doing 275 They are necessary and incommunicable i. e. proper to each person 275 Worke of the incarnation how common to the three persons and how proper to Christ the Word 326 God worketh one contrary out of another 351 Workes of Christ testifie him to bee the true Messias 417 Workes of any man testifie what he is ibid. Workes requisite to expresse thankfulnes 507 God worketh all the good that is in the Saints and how God worketh our willingnesse to doe good 530 Good workes what they be 670 God worketh foure wayes with meanes without meanes with weake meanes contrary to meanes 147 Workes of God proue the power of God 159 Our best workes haue need of mercy 185 Workes of mercy of two sorts 232 Outward workes of mercy chiefly sixe 232 God worketh diuers wayes 237 Wormewood wherefore good 527 Worth of the sufferings of Christ how to bee considered 502 Wounds of Christ why reserued by him 572 WR Wrath of God feared by Christ 545 Wrath of God quite turned away by our repentance 195 YO YOuth described and the miseries thereof shewed 69 ZE. ZEno what he said of the Word 312 IEHOVAE LIBERATORI FJNJS