the word Father be oftentimes vnderstood Essentially that is for the whole Godhead subsisting in all the Persons as namely when it hath reference vnto men or Angells or the rest of the creatures yet here being referred vnto the Sonne or the second Person it must needs be vnderstood Personally for the Father of that Sonne that is the first person in the Trinity True it is the Person of Christ consisteth of two natures his Deity his Humanity this humanity is a Creature as well as that of other men Yet notwithstanding seeing the Person is but one the Humane nature subsisteth not of it selfe but only in the Son of God by his Subsistance it is the first Person in the Trinity and he alone who is the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ. Howbeit the Natures being not one and the same but differing he is Sonne vnto his Father not by one only but by a double Filiation As he is the Word by way of Naturall Generation begotten from all Eternity of the Substance of his Father Of his Substance whereby he is Consubstantiall and Coessentiall with him God of God Light of Light very God of very God as it is in the Nicene Creed From all Eternitie for as the Sunne cannot be without his Beame so neither could the Father ever be without his Word but as himselfe is Eternall so is his Sonne Cöeternall with him also Lastly Begotten not made as Athanasius saith but how and after what manner is incomprehensible and vnspeakable It is enough for vs to know saith Gregory Nazianzen that the Father hath begotten to himselfe a Sonne as for the rest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let it be adored with silence And seeing as Ambrose saith neither Archangells know it nor Angells haue heard it nor the world comprehended it nor the Prophets vnderstood it nor the Apostles inquired after it nor Christ taught it but said no man knoweth the Sonne but the Father nor the Father but the Sunne and he to whom the Sonne will reveale it it is our duty to surcease from further searching into this deepe mistery It is sufficient for vs by Faith simply to beleeue that the Manner whereof Reason cannot reach vnto As touching the Manhood of Christ he is in regard thereof the Sonne of the Father also yet not by way of Naturall generation or else of Adoption as all the Saints of God are but by Grace of Personall Vnion whereby being prevented from hauing any Subsistance in it selfe it hath the very Subsistance of the Word or Second Person communicated vnto it So that although as Man he be not Generatus filius the Sonne begotten yet is he Natus filius Dei borne the Sonne of God according to that of the Angell Gabriell That holy thing that shall bee borne of thee shall be called the sonne of God Now the Sonne prayeth vnto his Father first to testify that his eternall Procession and Filiation is from him and that of him he hath receiued both that individuall Vnion by which his Humane Nature is hypostatically assumpted and vnited vnto his Divine that oile of gladnesse or pretious Vnction of the Spirit wherewith hee is Habitually graced and annointed farre aboue all his fellowes Secondly to manifest his Dispensatiue and voluntary subiection vnto his Father in the forme of a Seruant wherein though he were the Sonne and cöequall with the Father yet he learned obedience as the Apostle to the Hebrewes witnesseth Lastly to giue vs an example of imitation both to whom and to whom alone we are to addresse our Prayers namely to God our Father to none other Not to pray vnto him is meere Atheisme and profanenes to pray to any besides him is Idolatry and Superstition First therefore as Christ to his so are wee to pray to our Father Our Father is the holy and blessed Trinity both by Creation and Adoption For being extrinsecall actions they are vndivided and common to them all and so not the Father only but the Sonne and the Holy Ghost together with him created and adopted vs. To the holy Trinity therefore not excluding any of the Persons are wee to pray And to this our Saviour as by his example so by his Precept also directs vs when he commands vs thus to pray Our Father which art in Heaven Shall I spend time to proue that we are to pray vnto God our Father This were but to light a candle at noone day Search the Scriptures and you shall finde it every where commanded Hath he not made all doth he not sustaine all doe we not depend vpon his goodnesse for all whatsoever either wee are or haue If the eyes of all things looke vp vnto him expecting a supply of all their needs from him should not our eyes much more be fixed vpon him The very light of reason dictates the same vnto all and requires this duty at the hands of all Even Gentiles and meere naturalists haue ever duly practised it in all their needs invoking him whom they supposed to be God yea some of the learned among them as Plato and Aristotle and others also as Proclus saith haue written bookes of this argument and in them giuen excellent precepts and directions how to pray A Giant therefore was hee and we read of no more but hee who commanded that for the space of thirty daies together no man should presume to aske any thing of any God or man saue only of him selfe Atheists and prophane wretches are all those who in their heart denying either the Being or the Providence of God refuse to pray vnto him Such as among the Gentiles were the Epicure Philosophers and among Christians some few furious Hereticks Godles and irreligious also are they who beleeuing and acknowledging both yet never privately and but seldome publikely and then very slightly perfunctorily performe this duty Hence is it that the prophet David makes the not calling vpon God the speciall character of a foolish Atheist who if not with his mouth yet in his heart denies God and despises all religion No marvaile if they want the true wisdome seeing they aske it not of him who is the only donor thereof or if they aske it that yet they haue it not because they aske it overly with the lips and not sincerely from the heart But let vs my beloued brethren follow the president of our blessed saviour and as he so let vs ever addresse our prayers vnto him that is our Father Nothing can be denied vs that wee aske of him in the name of his sonne And if evill Fathers giue not insteed of bread a stone or insteed of a fish a serpent or insteed of an egge a scorpion vnto their children how much more will our Heavenly father giue vs his spirit and together with it all good thinges if we aske them of him As to our Father so to our Father only must we pray if wee will keepe our selues to the
even of that which is only by Reading which is the first office of the Ministery method and order would that in the next place I speake of Prayer which is the second And herevnto am I also invited by this Text. For to forbeare further prefacing this seuenteenth Chapter containeth in it a most heauenly and divine Prayer which our blessed Saviour and Mediator addresseth vnto his Father in behalfe of Christ mysticall as the Fathers tearme it that is the whole Church consisting both of Head and Members The Parts thereof are two a short Preface prefixed by S. Iohn and the Corps or body of the Prayer The Preface is my Text wherein relation is made of an Act invested with certaine circumstances The Act is Prayer The Circumstances are three Quis Quando Quomodo Quis the Orator who prayes Iesus These things spake Iesus and lift vp his eyes Quando when he prayes after he had spoken these things These things spake Iesus and then lift vp his eyes Quomodo after what manner he prayed The Manner is externall and standeth in two things in gestu oculorum and in Sermone oris In the Gesture of the Eyes He lifted vp his eyes vnto heaven in the Speech of his Mouth He said Of these things breefely plainely as it shall please God to assist Of all duties vniversally required of all men Prayer seemes to mee the most noble So noble that by it all the whole worship and service of God is in Scripture vsually denominated And although the Houses of God be consecrated to other vses as well as it yet are they not called Houses of Preaching or Houses of Sacraments but Oratories or Houses of Praier Prayer as Damascen expresseth it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mounting or flying vp of the soule vnto the throne of Grace It is the Sweet incense that sweet smelling sacrifice that savoureth so pleasingly in in the nostrills of our God It is that strong cord that draweth downe all blessings and graces from Heauen vpon vs. The importunity whereof of Iacobs makes vs Israels wrestlers prevailers with God that if wee will hee cannot goe from vs vntill he hath granted vs his blessing For it hath annexed vnto it the gratious promise of impetration Aske and yee shall haue seeke and yee shall finde knocke and it shall be opened vnto you Neither is there any thing so difficult or impossible with man but by Prayer it may be obtained By Prayer Abraham when hee was farre stricken in yeares and the wombe of his wife Sarah was now dead obtained a sonne of God even Isaackâ— By Prayer Iacob escaped the fury and danger of his brother Esau. By Prayer the children of Israell were delivered from their cruell servitude and bondage in Egypt By Prayer Moses stood in the gap pacified the wrath of God that he destroyed not his people By Prayer and the lifting vp of his hands the same Moses overthrew the host of the Amalekites By Prayer Iosua stopped the course of the Sunne and God was obedient vnto the voice of a man By Prayer Sampson revenged himselfe vpon his enimies and ruined the house of Dagon vpon the Philistines By Prayer Solomon obtained an incomparable measure of Wisdome from God By Prayer Hezekiah being at the point of death had fifteene yeares more added to his life By Prayer Daniell stopped the mouths of Lions the three children quenched the fiery fornace that not a haire of their head perished Ionas was discharged out of the whales bellie and the prison gates opened of their owne accord to enlarge St Peter It is a Panchreston available for all things It cureth diseases dispossesseth divils it sanctifieth the Creatures vnto vs vnlocketh the gates of heauen and procureth the coming of the Holy Ghost It is seasonable for all times fit for all places necessary to all persons without it no businesse whatsoeuer we vndertake can thriue or prosper It extendeth it selfe farre and wide to the benefit of all and in that regard excelleth Faith For the iust man shall liue not by anothers but by his owne faith and therefore we say I beleeue But Prayer is an act of Charity which seeketh not her owne but the good of others also and therefore wee pray Our Father Had not St Stephen prayed for his persecutors haply St Paul might still haue continued in his Pharisaisme And had it not beene for the continuall teares of holy Monica perhaps her sonne Augustine had perished in his Manicheisme Infinite are the brands that prayer hath pulled out of the fire vnspeakable the benefits it hath procured vnto others But what speake I of men It makeeth wondrously to the â—â—â—â—ing forth of Gods glory Could wee of our selues command all good wee would neuer become sutors for any thing but according to the counsell of Seneca fac te ipse faelicem wee would make our selues happy But by making our addresses vnto him we acknowledge our selues to bee Mendicos Dei Gods beggars every way insufficient in our selues and that we depend for all whatsoever either we are or haue vpon his alsufficiency alone which maketh so much to the advancement of Gods bounty and inexhaustible goodnesse as nothing can doe more you see beloued brethren how large a field I haue to expatiate in and how easie it is to overflow the bankes in the commendation of this holy exercise but that I remember how my Text limiteth me vnto the aboue named circumstances And therefore leauing this generality I come vnto them in particular The first circumstance is Quis the Orator who prayes Iesus These things spake Iesus and lifted vp his eyes That Iesus was very frequent in Prayer all the Evangelists with one consent testify Sometimes he went vp into a mountaine to pray sometimes he retires himselfe into a solitary place to pray sometimes he prayeth by himselfe alone at other times he takes some of his Disciples with him some times he spendeth whole nights together in Prayer when he was baptized he prayed and now that the time of his Passiâ—n is at hand he is carefull to prepare himselfe by making this heavenly Intercession to his Father In a word the whole course of his life seemeth to haue beene no other then a continuall practice of this duty This Duty I say for indeed so it was hee being a Priest and it being the office of a Priest to pray Wherefore hee that bestowed that Honor vpon him even then when hee annointed and consecrated him chargâ—â— him therewith Thou art my sonne saith he this day haue I begotten thee Aske of mee According to which Charge now being made a Priest after the order of Melchizedek In the dayes of his flesh he offered vp prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares vnto him that was able to saue him from death And although he be now set at the right hand of his father crowned with glory and maiestie yet being a Priest for ever he never ceaseth in such sort as becometh
vnto me Multi sonant voce â—orde muti sunt many sound aloud saith St Augustine with their voice that are dumb in their heart And the contrarie thereof is as true Multi sonant corde voce muti sunt many are silent with their lips yet loud with their affections The common rime though it bee not very elegant yet carries good sense with it Non vox sed votum non cordula musica sed cor non clamans sed amans cantat in aure Dei not the voice but the vow not the harp but the heart not lowing but louing musicke for Gods eares Secondly it serueth for instruction that although Mentall prayer may be available without vocall yet is not vocall so without Mentall For as the body without the soule so words without concurrence of affection are dead The Iewes drew neere vnto God with their mouth honoured him with their lips but the heart being removed farre off it is expressely said they called not vpon his name All Bablers therefore are here condemned who hope to be heard for their heathnish battologie Such are all they who pray in a language they know not like vnto Parrats or the Cardinalls Iay that could repeat the whole Creed but vnderstood never a word thereof A thing vtterly repugnant to nature to Scripture and the practise of all antiquity and is rather the dotage of a drunken braine then the serious exercise of true piety Such also are all they who vnderstand but attend not what they say suffering their thoughts to range about impertinent businesses as if a little lippe labour were enough for God The Schoolemen haâ—e a rule that a generall intention without particular attention is sufficient But it is a profane rule the Gentiles Hoc age shall rise vp in iudgement against it and condemne all those that practise it Lastly it may serue for direction how in what manner to mould and forme our Praying For as our Preaching so our Praying also must be conformed to his example Now if you please to search into it you shall finde this Prayer for the Matter most heavenly for the Method most orderly for the words most expresse and significant and for the length no way tedious as wherein is to vse the words of St Augustine Non multa locutio sed multa precatio not much talking but much praying Every thing is carried with deepe wisdome and advisednesse nothing rashly or tumultuarily Not a word but breatheth forth perfect holinesse and charity and to bee briefe nothing but what every way may become the son of God himselfe Oh that our Prayers might alwaies bee framed according to this patterne How acceptable would they then be to him to whom they are addressed But indeed wee imitate it not as wee ought For on the one side some of vs present vnto God I know not what curious contriuing of words as if he were sooner to be taken with the froth of humane wit then with Christian gravity and simplicity Others on the other side and those God wot sillie ones though they know neither what to say nor how yet least they should seeme destitute of the Spirit of Prayer they presume on the sudden without any meditation to poure out whole floods of words without one drop of sense spinning out their prayers to an enormious length forgetting that God being aboue in heaven themselues here on earth their words should bee both weighty and few Would a man preferre a petition to his Prince without due consideration of all things before hand But these loue to be too homely and familiar with God and I cannot better compare them then to little children who would faine tell a tale to Father or Mother not knowing either what it is or how to vtter it My advice vnto these should be first that they would no longer overweene themselues mistaking the Lips of Calues for the Calues of the lips Then that vpon knowledge of their owne inability they content themselues with short Ejaculations and such Prayers as graue and learned men haue provided for them Lastly that Humility and Charitie be their ordinary Prayers For besides Mentall and Vocall there is also Vitalis Oratio the Prayer of a godly life which cries as loud vnto God for a blessing as Abels murder or notorious sins doe for vengeance Without which though a man roare like Stentor and multiply words as the sand God turneth the deafe eare and will not vouchsafe to heare him But of this as also of the whole Preface thus much Howbeit before I conclude I must craue leaue to addresse a few words vnto you also my Lord who are the Angell of this Diocesse You haue heard what foule abuses there are both of Preaching and Praying it belongeth vnto your Lordship to see them redressed Some are silent and say nothing it were good their mouthes were opened Some insteed of Gods truth broach their owne perverse opinions it were fit their mouthes were stopt Others with their rude behauiour and outcries disgrace Preaching these might be taught a little more civility And others weaken the power of Preaching with too much curiosity these might be persuaded to a little more simplicity As for Publike Prayer it is too much neglected and despised and I feare the scandalous liues of Ministers is in part the cause thereof For although the efficacie as of the Word and Sacraments so of it also depend not vpon the quality of the Minister but Gods ordinance and the blessing of Balaam though a false Prophet were availeable yet the people are not so considerate but the lewd liues of Hophni and Phinees may soone bring the Sacrifices of God into contempt with them Your Lordship therefore may be pleased to haue a speciall eye vnto the reformation hereof And seeing the remisnesse of Heli will not effect it by rigor and severity to procure it that so the liues of your Clergy being answerable vnto their high calling exemplarie to their flock the Liturgy of the Church may recover its ancient credit and dignitie to the glory of God the honour of the Ministry and the building vp of Gods people in their most holy Faith which the Lord grant for his Christs sake V. 1. Father the houre is come glorifie thy Sonne that thy Sonne may glorifie thee Hauing dispatched the Preface wee are now to enter vpon the Corps or Body of the Prayer wherein you may be pleased to obserue with mee other three particulars Quem Pro quibus Quid to whom for whom and for what he prayes For vnto these three heads as I conceaue the whole prayer may conveniently bee reduced Of them therefore in order as it shall please God to assist And first of the first Quem orat to whom hee prayes This appeareth by the very first word of the Prayer Father the houre is come glorify thy sonne It is his Father to whom he prayes even the first Person in the Trinity For although
Oh those glorious Martyrs who so ioyfully suffered such exquisite torments for his names sake Hitherto wee sit quietly vnder our vines figge trees How soone the daies of triall may come who knowes God grant vs to be of like minde whensoever it comes Thirdly from his obedience to yeeld absolute obedience vnto the will of our Father and denying our owne wills to say vnto him not as I will but as thou wilt Away with hypotheticall and conditionall obedience if it make for my profit and advantage or may be without my losse hinderance Say we rather with Queene Hester If I perish I perish and with the three children Wee are not carefull ô Nebucadnetsar to answer thee in this matter Our God whom wee serue is both able and will deliver vs. If not yet know wee will not serue thy Gods Lastly from his loue the best wee can to requite him with loue The debt of loue we owe him is infinite because his loue to vs was infinite Which seeing wee can never repay to the full let vs endeavour what we can and bestow our selues vpon him even our reasonable service of him And thus much touching the first argument whereby he would perswade his Father to glorify him The second is drawen from the highest and chiefest end of all things the glory of God in these words that thy sonne may glorify thee And it may bee reduced into this forme That by which I shall glorifie thee and without which I cannot glorifie thee thou maist not deny vnto mee But by my Glorification I shall glorifie thee and without it I cannot glorifie thee Therefore my glorification thou maist not deny vnto me Of the truth of both these Propositions I am now to speake Which I shall eftsoones performe if first we may know what the Glorie of the Father is For what Glorie is in generall what it is to Glorifie wee haue already spoken of at full and therefore forbeare to speake any further of it That God the Father is Glorious nothing is more evident In Scripture he is called Pater gloriae the Father of glorie Rex gloriae the king of glorie Deus gloriae the God of glorie and so great is his Glorie that it is therefore to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an excellent or magnificent glory This glory is the splendor or brightnesse of his perfection aboue all other things The ground thereof is perfection that whereby it appeareth is the Splendor or brightnesse thereof Perfection is cum nihil deest when nothing is wanting Whence in Hebrew it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth All. And it is double either in suo genere in its kinde and so the Sun is said to be perfect because it hath the fulnesse of light or absolute to wit an interminable infinite entire possession of all good and so God only is perfect And this Perfection is againe double Substantiall or Personall The Substantiall is the very Godhead it selfe considered in its Nature together with all the essentiall properties thereof as knowledge wisdome iustice mercy power eternity and the like And this is so the Glory of the Father as it is also the Glory of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost For as the Creed of Athanasius hath The Godhead of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost is one and so the Glory equall and the maiesty coeternall This Perfection exceeds that of the creature infinitely and that in sundry respects For first whereas the Creature hath perfection only in its kind and one is destitute of that which is bestowed vpon another the Father hath the full possession of all Good whatsoeuer is or possibly can be imagined secondly whereas other things haue their perfection only suo modo according their capacity which because they are creatures can bee but finite the Father hath his modo perfectissimo after a most eminent and vnconceivable manner which because he is of infinite capacity must needs be infinite And lastly whereas the creature hath his perfection aliunde from another without him not from himselfe namely God according to that of the Apostle Quid habes quod non accepisti what hast thou which thou hast not receiued the Father hath his from himselfe and of himselfe without dependency or beholdingnesse vnto any other His Personall perfection is his Fatherhood or that whereby hee is the Father And this is proper glory incommunicable even to the Sonne or the Holy Ghost for neither of them is the Father And this glory stands in three things First that he is Prima persona the first person in order In order I say not in dignity for so all three are coequall The Sonne is the second the Holy Ghost is the third but hee neither is not may be called the second or third but only the first Secondly that he is the fountaine and originall of the Deity vnto the Sonne and the Holy Ghost vnto the Sonne gignendo by way of generation vnto the Holy Ghost together with the Sonne spirando by an vnspeakable manner of Proceeding Thirdly and lastly that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnbegotten and proceeding from none so that whereas the Sonne and the Holy Ghost receiue their Personality from him he receiueth his from neither These priviledges are so great that although the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost exceed not one the other either in essence or dignity yet the Father in regard of these is in Scripture by a kinde of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or excellency called God This double perfection of the Father is not without its Splendor Brightnesse by which it shineth and appeareth Were it without it it could scarce be called glory Now we know that the Father was neuer without his glory no not then whē things were not as yet created Else how could he be said to manifest his glory For manifestation is of that which is And doth not our Saviour likewise desire to be glorified with that glory which be had with his Father before the world was The Perfection thereof the Father by the Splendor and Brightnesse thereof shineth and appeareth two waies first inwardly to the holy and blessed Trinitie and then outwardly vnto others Inwardly to the Trinitie by intervention of vnderstanding and knowledge For shining internally with the fullest clarity vnto them it cannot but appeare vnto them and appearing they cannot but contemplate and admire it as the Ocean and magazin of all good Outwardly vnto others by workes conformable vnto his perfection as namely of Creation Sustentation Government Redemption and in the end Restauration of all things For in these the goodnesse Wisdome Power Iustice and Mercy of God doe shine and appeare to vs whom it hath pleased God to enable with vnderstanding to see and in some measure to comprehend them But the shining forth of all perfection and the appearance thereof in full strength is
bee made acquainted with the mystery of the Gospell In earth also hath hee power not only ouer men as is aboue declared but also as the Psalmist witnesseth over the beasts of the field the foules of the ayre the fishes of the sea and whatsoever passeth through the paths thereof Whence it is that the creature being sensible of the vanitie wherevnto it is now subiect longeth and waiteth for his second comming in hope then to be freed from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God Even the divels themselues and whatsoeuer is vnder the earth is subiect vnto him While he liued here on earth he cast them out commanded and restrained them at pleasure yea to others also he gaue power to cast them out in his name It is hee that hath the keyes of hell and death and by force of them he reserueth the sinning Angels in euerlasting vnder darknesse vnto the iudgement of the great day Finally vnto him is put in subiection not only this present world but that also as S. Paul saith that which is yet to come If all this be so will some say and Christs power bee so large why is it here restrained only vnto all Flesh that is vnto Mankinde I answere that these words are not to be vnderstood exclusiuely as if his power reached no further then vnto man but principally and especially and that for two causes First because he tooke flesh and therein suffered not for Angels or any other creature but only for vs men according to that in the Nicene Creed who for vs men and our saluation came downe from heauen and was incarnate Wherevpon saith the Apostle Hee tooke not on him the nature of Angels but tooke on him the seed of Abraham Secondly for that as all things in the first creation were made for man so in the recreation and restoring of man it was fit that power should be giuen ouer all things for man Wherevpon saith the Apostle All things are yours and yee are Christs and Christ is Gods The consideration of this large power of Christ extending it selfe not only over all flesh but all other things also for our benefit should teach vs in any caâ—e not to rebell against our Liege Lord but as becommeth dutifull and loyall subiects with all humblenesse to submit our selues vnto his soueraigne authority That which he requireth at our hands is according as S. Paul teacheth first to confesse with our tongues that Iesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father aduancing him aboue all powers thrones and dominations whatsoeuer and neuer to be afraid or ashamed to professe our selues to bee his Christian seruants notwithstanding any danger might accrew vnto vs thereby And secondly to bow the knee at the name of Iesus that is in heart to honour to adore to worship him to loue and feare him to put all our trust confidence vpon him and in one word to obey him And to this end we are to vse all possible meanes to settle and confirme this faith in vs that he is our Lord and hath absolute power and authority ouer vs and then diligently to study and enquire what his lawes are that so wee may both knowe what he commands and wherein we are to obey For the ignorance of the law excuseth not and it is good to see with our owne and not with other menseies For how doe we knowe whether they will direct vs But then vnto faith and knowledge are we to ioyne practice yeelding vnto him absolute constant and cheerefull obedience and that not only actiuely but if need bee passiuely also even with the expence of our dearest blood Neither need we to make question of doing any thing he commandeth For his scepter as Dauid â—aith is a right scepter and whatsoeuer he commandeth is iust It is also easie and not hard to be done For my yoke saith he is easie and my burthen light and his commandements â—aith S. Iohn are not greiuous The law indeed of workes is a rigorous law and vnsufferable Wherefore by S. Paul it is called a killing letter But the law of Christ is a law of grace requiring only repentance from dead workes beleefe in him that hath merited forgiuenesse of sinne and sincere â—ndeauour of new obedience God accepting the will for the deed To this therefore if wee willingly submit our selues we shall finde first Protection from him and he is the stronger man against all our enimies then provision in all our needs and necessities lastly rest to our soules by peace of conscience here and eternall refreshment in the next world Nay we our selues also shall haue power over the nations and raigne with him as kings world without end But if through stiffeneckednesse wee refuse the yoke and pull backe the shoulder rebelling against him knowe we that he who sitteth in heauen will laugh vs to scorne the while and in the end recompence vs with weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth All those that will not bow vnto him with the yron mace in his hand will he breake them to powder and hew in peeces all such as would not haue him to raigne over them Let vs therefore betimes serue the Lord with feare and kisse the sonne least he be angry and we perish from the way when his anger is kindled but a little O how blessed are all they that put their trust in the Lord. And thus much of the second point in quos over whom he hath power The third is A quo whence or from whom he hath his power Not of himselfe but from some other for thou hast giuen saith our Saviour Who is that He to whom he speaketh He speaketh to his Father Father glorifie thy Sonne It is his Father therefore of whom he receaued it and receaued it by gift And indeed the power hee hath quâ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he is the Word hee hath receaued from his Father and that by gift donatione naturali ab aeterno by naturall donation and from all eternitie For as hee is God of God and light of light so is hee also Lord of Lord the Father being the origen source and fountaine of the Deitie If so then the power he hath qua Emanuel as he is God-man must needs be much more from him I saith God haue set my king vpon my holy hill of Sion And that it is the Father speaking so of his Sonne appeareth when by and by he saith Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee So saith our Saviour also Omnia mihi tradita sunt à Patre all things are deliuered vnto mee of my Father And againe The father loueth the sonne and hath given all things into his hands And S. Iohn Iesus knowing that the father had giuen all things into his hands And finally S. Peter God hath made that same
and yet life continues As touching Power that is Gracious habits imprinted vpon the soule and enabling to operate I distinguish againe For some of them either in themselues or vs argue defect and imperfection and pertaine only to the condition of this present life such as are Faith Hope and Repentance and the like Others import perfection pertaine also to the next life among which excells Charity The former in the end of this life cease For we beleeue because we see not and hope because we possesse not and repent because we sinne But when wee see possesse and are free from sinne then Faith Hope and Repentance vanish away As for the latter they never cease but continue with vs evermore Yet here againe are we once more to distinguish For these habits may be considered either in regard of Substance or Degree In regard of degree we confesse they may suffer abatement For Faith may fall from its Plerophorie oâ— fulnesse to an Oligopistie or lower degree thereof and Charity also may remit much of its fervor So that in this respect a man may be said to bee moribundus declining as it were vnto death But in regard of Substance or Being we confidently affirme in such sort as is aboue said that they never perish and the spirituall man neuer dieth To winde vp all in a word actus intermitti potest gradus remitti sed habitus ipse nunquam potest amitti the act may suffer intermission for a time the degree abatement or remission but the habit or life it selfe never loosing or amission The question being thus clearely stated let vs now proceed to proofe That the life of Grace in all them that are giuen vnto Christ by the Father is eternall might be proued by many arguments All what I haue to say shall be reduced to one If the life of grace at any time fayle and the elect of God spiritually dye either it is through the deficiencie of the Procreant and Conservant causes of life or the efficiencie power of the contrary corrupting causes But it is neither through the one or the other Ergo neither doth the life of Grace at any time fayle nor the elect of God die The Major proposition needs no proofe For a third cause cannot be named and therefore of necessitie it must bee one of the two if there be any The Minor therefore I am by all meanes to fortifie and to maintaine that neither the Procreant and Conservant causes fayle nor the contrary corrupting causes prevaile The efficient and preseruing causes of spirituall life is as wee haue shewed the holy and blessed Trinitie the Father through his Sonne by the powerfull operation and working of the holy Ghost These if they fayle either it is because they cannot or because they will not continue this life To say they cannot is no lesse then blasphemie and contrary both to Scripture and reason For Omnipotence is an essentiall attribute of the Deitie so that he can no more cease to bee almightie then cease to be himselfe and loose his being In the Creed is this title ascribed vnto the Father how-be it not exclusiuely For the Sonne and the holy Ghost being coessentiall with him they are coequall also in might and power The sonne by the word of his power created all things together with his Father and by the same word vpholdeth all things And to the holy Ghost power also is attributed even the same power whereby things were created and wonders aboue the reach of nature are wrought If it bee said that the Sonne by taking our nature vpon him made himselfe inferiour to his Father I confesse it and withall that his mediatorie power is lesse then his Fathers Neverthelesse all power is giuen him both in heauen and earth such a power as no creature besides is capable of and which was giuen to this very ende that he might both giue life continue it vnto eternity Vnto which had it not beene sufficient without question greater had beene giuen for the Father may not fayle of his end Of the power of God therefore there can bee no doubt but that he is mighty to saue able to make vs stand able to keepe vs so that none vnlesse he will can take vs out of his hands What say we then to his will For as in him that is by vertue of the first life wee liue so if either hee withdraw himselfe from vs or suffer others to withdraw vs from him we cannot subsist Surely as he is able so if we may beleeue Scripture hee doth stablish vs in Christ we are kept by the power of God to saluation and our life is hid with God in Christ. But enquire we a little deeper into this mystery And first the will of the Father appeareth many waies By Election vnto life which being absolute not conditionall is immutable For the foundation of God standeth sure hauing this seale the Lord knoweth who are his And the names of all the elect are written in the booke of life out of which they can neuer be blotted For they are ordained vnto life and appointed by God to obtaine salvation through Christ. By his loue also which is the cause of Election I haue loued thee saith he with an eternall loue a loue which as it is without beginning so shall it likewise be without ending Nay if the loue of a mother is more to her child when she beareth it in her armes then while it was in her womb we may not think but the loue of the Father continueth at least as great towards vs when we are new borne of him as it was when we were yet but conceaued as it were by election Thirdly by donation of Christ to the elect For what greater testimonie either of his loue or of his will to saue then this So God loued the world saith Christ that hee gaue his onely begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life Fourthly by donation of vs vnto Christ. For it is the will of the Father that of those he hath giuen him he should loose none And here it is said that he hath giuen vnto the Sonne power over all flesh that to as many as he hath giuen him hee should giue vnto them everlasting life And lastly by the couenant made with vs. It is a couenant oâ— salt an euerlasting couenant And I will betroth thee vnto me foreuer saith God And againe This is my couenant with them saith the Lord my spirit that is vpon thee my words which I haue put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed saith the Lord from hence forth and foreuer And thus you see the Father is willing what the Sonne His willingnesse also appeares many
he mortify the deeds of the body In a word to this end hath the grace of God appeared vnto all men and instructed vs that we denying all vngodlinesse and worldly lusts might liue soberly iustly godly in this preseÌ„t world By all which it is cleare that all our corrupt lusts affections must be denied if we will be disciples in the schoole of Grace yet is it further to be observed that wheÌ„ the Apost saith we must deny all worldly lusts he meaneth fleshly lusts as they haue reference vnto the world to the profits pleasures of this present life So that in comparison of Christ when they let and hinder vs from comming after him whatsoeuer in the world is most deare pretious vnto vs must be despised and trodâ—n vnder foot We must with the holy Apostles be content to forsake all and to follow him If wee loue father or mother or sonne or daughter more then him we are vnworthy of him Nay if any come vnto him and hate not his father and mother and wife and Children and brethren and sisters yea his owne life also or as some thinke it may not vnfitly be translated his owne soule he cannot be my Disciple Wherefore as Hierom saith if Father or Mother shall lye in the way to hinder thee from comming after Christ bee not afraid to tread vpon the gray beard of thy Father and to trample vpon the belly of her that bare thee rather then to be barred from coÌ„ming vnto him As therefore to conclude this point a young man in the iudgement of Aristotle is an vnfit auditor of Morall Philosophy even so the meere Animall man by the verdict of Iesus Christ is vtterly vnmeet to be scholler in Christian Philosophy If hee will make himselfe meet for Christs schoole hee must of necessity deny himselfe which is the first Counsell The second is let him take vp his crosse daily The Crosse properly is a tree or engine of wood framed into such a forme where vpon malefactors were wont to bee executed and put to death The manner was either with cords to bind them or which was more vsuall with nailes to fasten them hand and foot vnto it and there to suffer them to languish and pine away vnto death in regard whereof they were wont aunciently to call it vltimum supplicium the extremest and greatest punishment because the basest sort of people only and such as were servants or slaues were in this manner executed therefore was it also termed servile supplicium a servile punishment This cruell and slavish death did our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ suffer to free vs from eternall death and to procure vnto vs everlasting life Wherevpon those pressures tribulations afflictions persecutions that doe befall a man not for his wickednesse but for righteousnesse sake for the profession of the Gospell of Christ are in the language of Canaan called the Crosse because they are the remainders of the afflictions of Christ which he in his body that is the Church doth yet still suffer And this is the Crosse which is here meant But it is further said His crosse Not that Crosse which a man frameth vnto his owne selfe or rashly pulleth vpon himselfe as sundry Martyrs in the primitiue Church seemed to doe whom yet I dare not censure because I know not with what spirit they did it For we may not like Coecias draw stormes and clouds vpon our owne heads and our Saviour himselfe advizeth vs when they persecute vs in one Citty to fly into another Then only are we bound to beare the crosse when without denying the truth we cannot avoid it Our Crosse then is that which is imposed vpon vs by God whether it be poverty or ignominy or imprisonment or banishment or whipping or racking or torment or death of what kind soeuer For God layeth not the same crosse on all but one Crosse on one and another on another as hee in his wisdome thinketh best But whatsoever the crosse is which God appointeth vnto a man that is his crosse And this crosse saith Christ must be taken vp It was the manner that he that was cruciarius to bee crucified was to beare his crosse or some part thereof vnto the place of execution So did Christ vntill meeting with Simon of Cyrene they compelled him to beare his crosse But malefactors beare it against their wills our Saviour willingly which was the very forme of his suffering and he requireth all those that will come after him to doe so too For to take vp the crosse imports not only a patient bearing of it when it is laid vpon vs but also a ready and voluntary vndergoing of it And this also saith our Saviour must bee done daily that is at all times and continually Not but that the Church hath sometimes her lucida intervalla her good daies for the rod of the wicked resteth not alwaies vpon the lot of the righteous and after stormes and tempests God sendeth calme Halcionian times How then Thus. Whensoever God sendeth the crosse vnto any he must actually take it vp in the time of peace and when there is no crosse though actually he cannot yet must he take it vp in the preparation and disposition of the mind And this is the substance of the second Counsell Let him take vp his crosse daily The Necessity of it if wee will come after Christ is easie to be demonstrated What more manifest in the Scripture then this that the Crosse is an vnseparable companion of the Church The Church is Lilium inter spinas a lilie among thornes Christ without his crosse is but a Chimoera so is the Church also without afflictions Many are the troubles of the righteous saith David In the world yee shall haue tribulations saith our Saviour Christ. Through much tribulation must we enter into the kingdome of God saith Saint Paul and againe All that will liue Godly in Iesus Christ shall suffer persecution Search the records of all times from the beginning of the world downe to this present and you shall find that Persecution hath ever attended vpon the Church Not to speake of particular persons the bondage of Egypt the captivity of Babylon the tyranny of Antiochus the ten bloudy persecutions of heathen Emperours the barbarous cruelties of Antichrist finally the fire the sword the massacres of this last age wherein our Fathers lived and we our selues yet liue doe make it more then manifest And indeed as long as Satan continueth to be malitious against vs how can it be otherwise Knowing himselfe to be eternally reiected and without redemption he beareth an eternall hatred against God And because he cannot wreake his teene vpon him being out of his reach he turneth his malice against mankind and among them those principally who by Christ are conquered out of his hands For as the Panther raging vpon the picture of a man bewrayes the
his faith not onely to the satisfaction and instruction but admiration of his hearers Among the rest two things there were which he much and often insisted vpon the one that he hoped onely to be saued by the merits of Iesus Christ the other that he constantly perseuered in the faith and religion professed and maintained in the Church of England in which he was borne baptized and bred and this he many times and earnestly protested in a very serious and solemne manner pawning his soule vpon the truth thereof His glasse being now almost runne and the houre of his dissolution drawing on though his memorie and senses no way failed him he desired to be absolued after the manner prescribed by our Church and according to his desire hauing first made a briefe confession therevpon expressing a hearty contrition together with an assurance of remission by the pretious bloud of his deare Sauiour he receiued absolution froÌ„ the mouth of a lawfull minister having receiued it professed that he found great ease coÌ„fort therein withall that he was desirous likewise to haue receiued the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist if the state of his body would haue permitted him not long after imagining with himselfe that he heard some sweete Musike calling vpoÌ„ Christ Sweet Iesus kill me that I may liue with thee he sweetly fell asleepe in the Lord as did the Protomartyr who ready to yeeld vp the Ghost prayed and said Lord Iesus receiue my spirit Thus he liued and thus he dyed neere approaching the great climactericall of his age And by this time I am sure you find and feele with me that we haue all a great losse in the losse of this one man His flocke hath lost a faithfull pastor his wife a louing husband his children a tender father his seruants a good master his neighbours a freindly neighbour his freinds a trusty freind his kindred a deare kinsman this whole countrey a great ornament The king hath lost a loyall subject the kingdome a true-hearted Englishman the Cleargy a principall light the Church a dutifull sonne the Arts a zealous Patron and religion a stout Champion we haue all lost onely he hath gotten by our losse he hath made a happy exchange instead of his congregation singing of Psalmes with them here he is now ioyned to the congregation of the first borne whose names are written in heauen with whom he beares a part in the euerlasting Halleluiahs instead of the Church militant he is inrooled in the Church trivmphant hauing his palme in his hand in token of victory instead of his freinds and kinsfolke here he is become the companion of the blessed Saints and glorious Angels instead of his wife and Children and lands and goods and attendants here he now enioyes the blisfull vision of the face of God and the full fruition of Iesus Christ by meanes whereof no doubt he shines as the brightnesse of the firmament nay as the brightest starre in the firmament and â—o shall shine for euer and euer Sic mihi contingat viuere sicque mori God graunt we may so liue as with him we may dye comfortably and so dye as with him we may liue againe shine in glory euerlastingly Who so is wise will ponder these things and they shall vnderstand the loving kindnesse of the Lord Consider then what I haue said the Lord giue you vnderstanding in all things SACRAE TRINITATI GLORIA This Sermon being presented to the veiw of the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of Exeter together with the Authors purpose of publishing these ensuing workes of his deceased friend it pleased his Lordship to returne this following answere which together with the Sermon may serue in part to let the world know his great worth though in a manner buried in obscurity Worthy Mr Dr Hakewill I Doe heartily congratulate to my dead friend and Colleagian this your so iust and noble a commemoration It is much that you haue said but in this subiect no whit more then enough I can second every word of your prayses and can hardly restraine my hand from an additionall repetition How much ingenuity how much learning and worth how much sweetnesse of conversation how much elegance of expression how much integrity and holinesse haue we lost in that man No man euer knew him but must needs say that one of the brightest Starres in our West is now set The excellent parts that were in him were a fit instance for that your learnedly defended position of the vigour of this last age wherevnto he gaue his accurate and witty astipulation I doe much reioyce yet to heare that we shall be beholden to you for some mitigation of the sorrow of his losse by preseruing aliue some of the post-hume issue of that gracious and exquisite brayne which when the world shall see they will marvell that such excellencies could lye so close and shall confesse them as much past value as recovery Besides those skillfull and rare peeces of Divinity tracts and Sermons I hope for my old loue to those studies we shall see abroad some excellent monuments of his Latine Poesie in which faculty I dare boldly say few if any in our age exceeded him In his Polemicall discourses some whereof I haue by me how easie is it for any judicious Reader to obserue the true Genius of his renowned Vncle Bishop Iewell such smoothnesse of style such sharpnesse of witt such interspersions of well-applyed reading such graue and holy vrbanity shortly for I well foresaw how apt my Pen would bee to runne after you in this pleasing track of so well deserued praise these workes shall be as the Cloake which our Prophet left behind him in his rapture into heauen What remaines but that we should looke vp after him in a care and indeauour of readinesse for our day and earnestly pray to our God that as he hath pleased to fetch him away in the Chariot of Death so that he will double his spirit on those he hath thought good to leaue yet below In the meane time I thanke you for the favour of this your graue seasonable and worthy Sermon which I desire may be prefixed as a meet preface to the published Labours of this happy Author Exon Palace Mar. 22. 1631. Fare-well from your loving friend and fellow-labourer Ios. Exon. TWO TREATISES 1 Concerning the force and efficacy of reading 2 Christs prayer for his Church OXFORD Printed by I.L. for E. F. 1633. ACT. 15.21 For Moses of old time hath in every Citty them that Preach him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day OMitting for the present whatsoeuer else might profitably be observed out of these words I will at this time only inquire these three things The first whether preaching in this place be distinguished from Reading The second whether Reading be a kind of Preaching The third whether reading be an ordinary meanes to beget Faith and convert a soule The
our minds should continually be taken vp To bend our eyes toward heauen and fixe our hearts vpon earth is a fouler solecisme in religion then that stage-player committed in action who when he said O heaven pointed to the earth and when O earth pointed vnto heaven Eies likewise that are vnchast full of lust how dare they looke vp vnto that holy place or that holy one that dwelleth therein As pure hands so pure eyes are to be lifted vp else shall our prayer be turned into sinne vnto vs. Such hands such eyes wee cannot haue vntill the heart be sanctified If that be cleane the eyes are cleane also and we may boldly advance them towards the throne of grace not wavering or doubting but stedfastly beleeuing wee shall obtaine what we aske The same Spirit that perswades vs to crie Abba Father testifieth of the Fathers loue and warranteth vs with confidence to repaire vnto him Et quid negabit qui iam dedit filios esse What will he deny who hath already vouchsafed vs the Adoption of Sonnes Nay quid negabit qui filium nobis dedit Haueing giuen vs his Sonne how can he but with him giue vs all things Indeed considering our owne vilenesse and the glorious Maiesty of God it is reason wee should cast downe our eyes and approach vnto him with feare and trembling Howbeit as hee said Qui apud te Caesar audet dicere maiestatem tuam nescit qui non audet nescit humanitatem so say I whosoeuer dares to present himselfe before God knowes not the greatnesse of his Maiestie but whosoeuer knoweth his facility and louing kindnesse needs not feare boldly to lift vp his eyes vnto the hils from whence his helpe cometh And if such confidence may be vsed in Private Prayer how much more in the publike congregation of the Saints For a three-fold cord is stronger then a single to draw downe the blessings of God from heaven And so many congregations are so many armies as it were offering such violence vnto the kingdome of God and with such importunatenesse assaulting him that it is impossible for them to be repulsed They therefore are much to be blamed who neglect I had almost said despise the assembly of Gods people preferring their owne private devotions vnto the publike Liturgy of the Church Of whom I say no more but this it is much to be feared least they that doe so pray with more pride and hypocrisie then true devotion when they are at home But de gestu oculorum of the gesture of his eyes so much Sermo oris the speech of his mouth followeth He lifted vp his eyes to heaven and said The Prayer was vocall and yet in regard of God voice needed not The Prayers of Hannah of Moses of Nehemiah were Mentall only yet God heard them If he were such a God as Baall of whom the Prophet Elias jestingly said Cry aloud for hee is a God either he is talking or he is pursuing or he is in a iourney or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked then speech happily might be necessarie But our God knoweth what is in man and needeth not that any should testify of man He discerneth the thoughts and intents of the heart and all things are open yea he knowes thoughts long before they be conceiued Neverthelesse this example of our Saviour Christ manifestly sheweth that Vocall prayer is also convenient yea in some cases necessary In publike Prayer and when wee pray with others as now our Saviour did with his Disciples speech is necessarie Else how shall the rest consent and say Amen therevnto Expedient also it is in regard of the Angels both good and evill The good for as our Repentance so our devout Prayers also doe much reioice them The evill for as a Father saith Confitearis Deum apud te vt Diaboli audiant circa te contremiscant propter te confesse God that the Divils may heare which are about thee and tremble because of thee Neither is it inconvenient in respect of our selues And first to discharge the debt we owe vnto God offering vnto him the Calues of our lips For the tongue was created to blesse God withall And as Beleeuing is of the heart so ought we also to confesse with the mouth Againe to stirre vp the more devotion in Prayer For as St Augustine saith Affectus cordis verbis excitatur orantis care of speech restraines the wandring of the minde and the more vehement and significant the words are the more is the heart affected Lastly because of the redundance of the affections vpon the body For as a vessell full of new wine will burst with the working thereof except it be vented so is it with vs in our strong passions vntill they be vttered While David held his peace hee was much troubled his heart was hot within him and the fire burned vntill hee spake with his tongue When his heart was replenished with ioy then his glory that is his tongue also reioiced And our Saviour Christ in the daies of his flesh because of his vehement sorrowes and feares offered vp Prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares And thus you see both what necessity and expedience there is of Vocall prayer But this is not all our blessed Saviour had a further aime in it when he thus prayed He vttered it by word of mouth not only for the present comfort of those that heard him but as I conceiue that it might be registred and recorded as a perpetuall Canon of that glorious Intercession which he maketh for his Church in heauen For although it were deliuered here on earth yet it pertaineth to the state of glory also and therefore would our Saviour haue it registred both that from hence the Saints might deriue sound comfort and consolation vnto their soules and bee furnished of a true patterne of Prayer with what wisdome sobriety and convenient brevitie they are to speake vnto God So that this Prayer is of singular vse in the Church and will bee throughout all generations for ever more But I presse this point no further All which hath beene said touching it I thus apply First it maketh for the comfort of plaine and simple yet honest minded people that although they haue but little skill to set words and formally to deliver their minds yet their Mentall Prayers and short Eiaculations are pleasing and acceptable vnto God God forbid it should be otherwise For in the approach of death when sicknesse hath sealed vp our lips or in the time of persecution when tyrants bereaue vs of our tongues haue we together with the losse of speech lost also ability to pray No verily For though with Moses wee sâ—y nothing yet our thoughts may cry so loud in the eares of God that he may say vnto vs as sometimes hee did vnto Moses Quid clamas ad me why dost thou crie
world make a flourish to the contrarie expressely confesseth that the Spirits of the Patriarchs and Prophets before the comming of Christ were not so worshipped and called vpon as the Apostles and Martyrs now are because as yet they were detained in those infernall prisons where they had not the beatificall sight of God Now if the Patriarchs then saw the face of God as farre forth as the Saints doe now as indeede they did the argument is so much the stronger if yet all that while they were never called vpon In the new testament likewise we finde no warrant for it even by their owne confession And Salmeron the Iesuite rendreth reasons thereof For saith he the Iew that never had called vpon any of the Patriarchs or Prophets would hardly haue beene drawne to pray vnto those newer Saints the Gentiles would haue thought that insteed of those many Gods which they had forsaken a multitude of other Gods had beene put vpon them As for the times after Christ and his Apostles it was long before it crept into the Church and when it entred it was but the opinion of some private men and not the publike doctrine of the Church All the Fathers which proued the Deitie of the Sonne of the holy Ghost by this dutie of Invocation must needs if they will not contradict themselues be against it So must they also and they are not the least or meanest part of them who held that the Faithfull hence departed are not admitted into heauen but continue elsewhere in some secret receptacles without the vision of God vntill the day of iudgement For vpon that vision even in the iudgment of our aduersaries their particular knowledge of all things here done on earth dependeth vpon this againe their Invocation In a word whensoeuer or howsoeuer it began as it grew on so was it still opposed and neuer gate publike strength vntill the blinde times of superstition overswaied true devotion The cafe then standing thus that Invocation of Saints and Angels is neither necessary nor pious nor profitable but rather impious and extreamely dangerous as being derogatory to the glory of God the honour of Christs Mediation and that no ground or warrant at all can bee found for it either in the old or new Testament or in the writings and practise of those holy Fathers who flourished when the Church was in her primitiue puritie the case I say thus standing our safest course will be to follow the precedence and direction of our blessed Saviour and with him to addresse our selues vnto our heauenly Father and to none other It is he alone who at all times can both heare and helpe Neither is he more able then ready and willing to grant our requests if we come vnto him in his sonnes name Night and day he stretcheth out his armes towards vs he invites vs with all louingnesse to come vnto him hee chargeth and commandeth vs in all our needs and necessities to direct our prayers immediatly vnto him Let vs not therefore sollicite any other mediators or spokesmen for vs as if we doubted of his fatherly goodnesse and affection towards vs but let vs rather come directly with all boldnesse vnto the throne of grace to the end we may obtaine mercy and finde grace to be holpen in due season So to doe is not Presumption but Faith and Dutie And so much for the first part of our Saviours prayer Quem orat to whom he prayes The second is Pro quibus orat for whom he prayes Hee prayes for the Church mysticall as some tearme it or as it may more fitly be called for Christ mysticall that is the whole body consisting both of the Head which is Christ and all the rest of his members That it may more fitly bee called Christ mysticall we haue the warrant of S. Paul who expressely calleth it so As saith he the bodie is one and hath many members and all the members of one body though they be many yet are one body euen so is Christ Where by Christ nothing can be meant but the whole consisting both of Head and Members Had the Church as it s distinguished against the Head beene vnderstood hee would haue said as St Austin obserueth ita Christi so is Christs that is the body of Christ or the members of Christ but hee saith ita Christus even so is Christ vnum Christum appellans caput corpus calling both the head and the body one Christ. The same doth St Austin elsewhere also obserue vpon those words of the Apostle He saith not and to seeds as speaking of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ. Now saith he some perhaps will say if Christ be the seed of Abraham are we so also Remember that Christ is the seed of Abraham and if by this wee also are the seed of Abraham then are we also Christ. Vnto this warrant of Scripture adde we the reason thereof that Christ and his Church being twaine and yet constituting but one mysticall body it is fit the denomination of the whole should be taken from the better and more worthy part which is Christ and not the inferiour which is the Church But of this by the way For Christ mysticall then doth our Saviour pray but first for himselfe and then for his members For himselfe from hence vnto the ninth verse for his members from thence vnto the end of the Chapter If any demand a reason of this order I answere first Christ is the more worthy person For hee is Emanuel God-man appointed by his Father to be the Head of the Church and in all things to haue the preheminence And therefore as he hath in our Creed before the Church so in this Prayer also he deserues to haue precedencie Secondly hee knew it could not goe well with his Church vnlesse first it went well with himselfe For vnder his Father he was to be the fountaine of life and grace the vniversall cause of all good vnto his Church and to this end was hee to be annointed of the Spirit without stint or measure So that vnlesse the ointment be poured vpon Aarons head it cannot descend vnto the beard and from thence vnto the skirts of his garment And vnlesse Christ be first replenished himselfe we cannot of his fulnes receiue either grace for grace or glory for glory That therefore it might goe well with vs he prayes first for himselfe But then in the next place he maketh sute for his Church as if without her welfare it could not be well with him For as for her he was incarnate so without her hee counts himselfe imperfect For so it must needs be if as St Paul saith she be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fulnesse of him that filleth all in all The reason because he is her Head And therefore though he fill all in all yet without her he wanteth of his owne fulnesse because he
is no other then a head without a body And this you see for whom he prayes as also in what order why in such order he prayes for them Whence briefly we may obserue first to what height of honour it hath pleased Christ to advance his Church in that hee hath made her not only Christian by vertue of her Spirituall vnction but also Christ by reason of her mysticall vnion with him then which what higher dignitie Secondly that in all things Christ is to be preferred even to our very liues yea our soules and their saluation as Moses and S. Paul sometime did because hee is of infinite more worth and desert then all Thirdly that Christ is the Principle of all good and that the life both of Grace and Glory is to be deriued from him alone If we seek it from Saints or Angells or any other creature they will but deceaue our hopes in the end as water torrents that passe away doe the trauellers of Temah and Sheba Lastly that as in hell the rich glutton could not finde so much as one drop of water so out of Christ not a drop of grace is to be had Carefully therefore are wee to labour that wee may be in him Being in him we cannot but be partakers of all goods together with him Neither need wee feare the losse thereof for he hath receaued it for vs and our life is hid with Christ in God And thus much of the second part Pro quibus for whom he prayes Come we vnto the third Quid orat what he prayes for first what to himselfe then what to his Church To himselfe he prayes for Glorification rendring divers reasons why it should be granted vnto Him Of all which we will speake in their order but first of the thing demanded Glorifie thy Sonne Glorie is no other then the splendor claritie brightnesse or shining of a thing resulting and rising from the perfection eminency or excellency it hath aboue other things For example the Glory of God is the perfection of his nature and attributes infinitely surpassing and out-shining the perfection of all creatures Among the creatures the Glory of the Sunne Moone and Starres is their incomparable brightnesse aboue other lights Of Princes their peerlesse soveraignty and state aboue the subject Of Man the soule and speech by which he excelleth the brute and dumb creature Of the Church her speciall priviledges aboue all other societies And so in other things So that Glorie is no other then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 greatnesse ioined with beauty or goodnesse Not every beauty or goodnesse but that which is exochally or eminently so In regard whereof in Hebrew it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Weight as causing those that behold it as it were to sinke vnder the burden thereof Wherevnto S. Paul as it seemes alluding ioyneth an exceeding weight with Glorie In the Chaldee it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pretiousnesse as being of greatest worth and value in which respect the Apostle ioyneth Riches with Glory In Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fame opinion from the effect thereof because in the minde it begetteth due estimation of it and in speech honourable mention In regard whereof it is defined by some Clara cum laude notitia an apprehension thereof together with praise by others laus consentiens bonorum or vox hominum incorruptè judicantium praise giuen by good men or the report of them that iudge rightly thereof Of which againe by and by Such is Glory Now to Glorifie imports two acts the one of bounty and liberality the other of Iustice. That whereby Glory is conferred bestowed where it is not or is augmented and increased where it is not in the full measure And so God is said to glorifie the creature according to that of the Psalmist Grace and glory God will giue This whereby the glorie that is is acknowledged ascribed vnto the thing that is glorious yea whereby it is made knowne manifest to others to the praise and honour thereof And so the creature is said to glorifie God And in this latter sense wee finde these three words of Praising Honouring and Glorifying in Scripture ordinarily to be vsed although in proper speech each haue its severall and peculiar notion For Praising is that act where by in words we giue testimonie of the vertue or goodnesse of a thing So the Philosopher Laus est oratio magnitudinem virtutis indicans praise is a speech declaring the greatnesse of vertue Honouring is an higher degree where by not in words only but by outward gestures and signes also we testifie of the excellence goodnesse of a thing Glorifying is the fruit or effect of both For in praysing by words and honouring by signes wee cause the goodnesse and excellencie of a thing to spread it selfe vnto the knowledge of many Whence insteed of glorificatio divers say clarificatio deriuing gloria from clarus as if it were claria to import the making of a thing illustrious to shine abroad St. Basil therefore defining 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to glorifie by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and S. Augustin by gloriosum dicere to say a thing is glorious say something but not all For as we haue shewed it steps further and includes more within it And thus you see in generall both what glory is and what it is to glorifie by which as by a threed we may easily be guided to that particular which here our Saviour craues when he saith Father glorifie thy Sonne For vndoubtedly he prayes that his father would bestow vpon him what glorie he wanted if he wanted any and the manifestation of that glorie which already he had if he had any or should haue therefore Wherefore to make all plaine we will enquire three things First What glory he was presently possessed of secondly what glory yet he wanted and thirdly how hee would be glorified Of these in order and first of the first That Christ now presently was possessed of glorie though haply not as yet in the full measure cannot bee denied For although the Prophet say that hee had neither forme nor comelinesse nor beautie yet indeed he was the fairest of all men full of grace and truth Outwardly and in the eye of naturall men beauty he had none he seemed a Worme rather then a Man but inwardly and to them that were spirituall hee both was and appeared glorious and they beheld his glory not as of man but as of the only begotten of the Father Omitting therefore this as granted of all hands let vs rather enquire touching his glory what it was It was double the glorie of his Person and the glory of his Office The glory of his Person againe is double For being the word made flesh so consisting of two distinct natures the Word and the Flesh though the Person be but one yet is there a twofold
glorie thereof one of the Word another of the Flesh. The glorie of the Word standeth in two things first that hee is the eternall Sonne of the eternall Father begotten after an vnspeakable manner of his owne substance and therefore the brightnesse of his glory and the expresse image of his Person A name too excellent for the Angells themselues For neuer did the Father say to any of them Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee Secondly that being so begotten hee is consubstantiall and coequall with his Father neither counteth he it robbery to bee equall with him For though he be the Sonne and not the Father yet being of the same Substance hee is one and the same God with him and may iustly challenge vnto himselfe the fulnesse of the Deitie as farre forth as the Father A glory infinitely transcending that of any creature The glorie of his Flesh is likewise double of Assumption and Communication Of Assumption by which it was taken into the divine nature For as soone as it began to haue being in the wombe of the blessed virgin it was prevented from subsisting in it selfe and was drawne into the vnitie of the Person of the Sonne of God eternally to subsist therein The highest dignitie that a creature can aspire vnto That of Communication is whereby glorious things are communicated vnto his humane nature And it is either Personall or Habitual Personall is that whereby as the nature of man is truely giuen to the Person of the Sonne so the Person of the Sonne is truely communicated vnto the nature of man Wherevpon because in the Person of the Sonne is the fulnesse of all perfection and all the essentiall attributes of the Deitie as namely Omniscience omnipotence omnipresence and the rest therefore doe wee say that all these attributes and that fulnesse of perfection are communicated also vnto the Manhood Howbeit not Physically and by effusion as if the same properties which are in God should formally and subiectiuely be in man as heat transfused from the fire is inherent in the water For that which is infinite cannot bee comprehended of that which is finite How then Personally in the sonne of God So that by reason of the hypostaticall vnion there is such a reall communion betweene them that the sonne of man is truly the Sonne of God and consequently also Omniscient omnipotent omnipresent and the rest The want of due consideration hereof was it that bred that monster of Vbiquitie and that great quarrell betwixt vs and the Saxon Churches Communication habituall is that whereby the fulnesse of grace was bestowed vpon him to be subiectiuely and inherently in his Flesh. And this is the glory of his Vnction For the spirit of the Lord rested vpon him the spirit of wisdome and vnderstanding the spirit of counsell and might the spirit of knowledge and of the feare of the Lord. By this Spirit was he annointed with the oile of gladnesse aboue his fellowes yea he receiued the spirit without measure or limit both for the essence vertue thereof intensiuely and extensiuely to all effects and purposes both for himselfe and others So that in his Will there was perfect iustice without taint or staine in his Minde perfect wisdome and knowledge both Beatificall whereby he saw God farre more clearly then any other as being more neerely vnited vnto him and Infused whereby he knew all heauenly and supernaturall verities which without the revelation of grace cannot bee knowne yea Acquisite and Experimentall also whereby hee knew all whatsoeuer by the light of reason and nature might bee knowne So that he was ignorant of nothing which hee ought to know or might make to his full happinesse And this was his Habituall glory Now the Glory of his Office breefely was to be the Mediator betweene God and Man An office of so high a nature that it could bee performed by none but only him who was both God and Man For herevnto it was necessary that he should be a Prophet a Priest and a King A Prophet as an Arbiter to take knowledge of the cause quarrell depending betweene them and as an Internuntius or legate to propound expound the conditions of peace that are to be concluded vpon A Priest to be an Intercessor and to make interpellation for the party offending and then to be a Fideiussor or Surety making satisfaction to the party for him A King hauing all power both in heauen and earth to keepe and preserue the Church so reconciled in the state of grace to tread downe vnder his feete all the enimies thereof Wondrous Glory and farre aboue that of any creature And this is the Glory he was already possessed of Wanted he yet any further Glory yes verily and that in regard both of his Divine and Humane nature Of his Divine for the Word had now emptied himselfe of his glory Emptied himselfe I say not simply and absolutely for he could no more in such sort abdicate his glory then cease to be himselfe it being essentiall vnto him and his very selfe but oeconomically and dispensatiuely vailing couering it vnder the cloud of his flesh For if as St Leo saith the exinanition of the divine Maiesty was the advancement of the servile forme vnto the highest pitch of honour then by like proportion the advancement of the servile forme was the exinanition of the divine Maiesty This Exinanition or Emptying of himselfe was in his Incarnation conception nativity obedience actiue to the law of nature as being the sonne of Adam and to the law of Moses as being the sonne of Abraham Passiue in suffering hunger and cold and wearinesse a thousand sorrowes wherevnto the infirmity of his flesh was subiect In this state Christ now stood neither had he as yet recovered the Glory whereof he had emptied himselfe nay he was not as yet come to the lowest degree of his humiliation For though they were instant and nere at hand yet his agonie his sweating of bloud his arraignment his crosse his death his emprisonment in the graue were not yet come All which did more more eclipse the glory of his Deity so that this Glory of the word as yet he wanted In regard of his Humane nature hee had not yet deposed humane infirmities as hunger thirst feare sorrow anguish and the like Neither had hee obtained incorruption impassibility immortality nor that glorious purity strength agility clarity of the body which he expected together with the fulnesse of inward ioyes and comforts in the Soule Adde herevnto that the actions of his mediation namely of his Prophecy Priesthood and Kingdome had not nor could not bee hitherto performe gloriously but only in such an humble manner as suted with the state of humiliation in which presently he stood To make all plaine though as the Schoole speaketh he were Comprehensor in termino affectione iustitiae yet he was viator extraterminum
houre is come therefore glorify thy Sonne What Hour vndoubtedly the houre of his bitter passion This appeareth evidently by that of our Saviour Loe the houre is at hand and the sonne of man is betraid into the hands of sinners That also of Saint Iohn They laid not hands on him because his houre was not yet come And yet more plainely by that of our Sauiour where hauing said the houre is come that the Sonne of man should be glorified presently hee speaketh of his death and addeth Father saue mee from this houre but therefore came I into this houre This Houre is here by way of eminence called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the or that houre both in regard of the great work that was to be performed therein as also for that it was long before determined by the Father to that worke But now saith Christ that hour is come that is it is instant and at hand And so indeed it was For the same night that hee vttered this prayer hee was betraid and the next day cruelly executed By which it is evideÌ„t that he was not ignorant of the houre but as he foreknew it so he was ready also to enter into it So that in these two words these three things come to bee considered the Houre the worke of the houre the knowledge he had both of the Houre the worke thereof But before I spake of any of them it is reason wee should shew the force of Christs argument how it followes The houre of my Passion is now at hand therefore thou oughtest to glorify mee Some as namely those of the Church of Rome make the reason of the sequele to be the merit of his passion for that by it hee should deserue his glory Now true it is that Christ both did and suffered many things worthy of most large and ample reward Howbeit for ought we can find in Scripture all was for vs with neglect of himselfe There was no perfection but either hee was already possessed of it or it was now due vnto him by vertue of the personall vnion At the first instant whereof all glorie would haue flowen to his Humanity had it not by speciall dispensation beene staid vntill hee was come to the lowest bottome of his humiliation Which being done and the stay remoued it could not but naturally flow vnto him So that how hee should merit for himselfe cannot well be conceiued without empeachment of his glorious Vnion As for those texts they alledge for proofe all of them shew rather ordinem then meritum that his glory succeeded his passion not that his passion merited his glory For as touching that to the Hebrewes Thou hast loued righteousnesse and hated iniquity wherefore God even thy God hath annointed thee with the oile of gladnesse aboue thy fellowes if it import merit it must be of Vnction and not of finall Glorification which they wil none of indeed cannot be For in the very first instant of his assumption assoone as the Humanity had being the ointment was poured vpon him so that it could not possible be preuented by merit Merit therfore is not the reason of the sequel What theÌ„ Surely the Promise of his Father For it was not the Fathers will that ignominie should alway rest vpon the sonne or that the slâ—â—es as it were of Glory should still be stopt against him Wherefore he promised When he should make his soule a sacrifice for sinne he should see his seed and prolong his daies and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand so that hee should see of the travell of his soule and be satisfied Yea he sware vnto him and repented not of it Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedeck that is who by performing the office of his Priesthood should passe into his eternall and glorious kingdome And vpon this ground it is that our Saviour affirmeth Christ ought first to suffer and then to enter into his glory And hence also it is that here he saith The houre is come glorifie thy sonne as if he should say more fully thou hast bound thy selfe by promise yea and by oath too that when by suffering I shall haue finished the worke of redemption for which thou sentest me thou wouldest fully satisfie me with glory Now the houre of my passion is come and I am ready and willing to vndergoe it Remember therefore thy promise and performe it For vnlesse thou wilt faile of thy word and fayle of thy word thou canst not because thou art truth it selfe thou must needs glorifie me And thus you see both the reason and necessity of the sequele in this enthymeme Whence we are lessoned first to imitate Christ and with him to ground all our prayers and hopes vpon our Fathers promise For he is omnipotent and can true wil performe Vnto Godlines he hath made the promise both of this the other life Liue we therefore godlily then feare we not boldly to approch vnto the throne of grace and to charge him with his promise both for the one and for the other thou hast promised and therefore glorifie me Againe as Christ could not haue ignominie and shame alwaies to rest vpon him but that obice remoto the stay and let being remoued Glory would surely flow vnto him by reason of the hypostaticall vnion so by vertue of the mysticall vnion we haue with Christ obice remoto assoone as the let and stay is done away it cannot be but that forthwith from him Glorie should bee deriued vnto vs. That let is Sinne. Sinne being crucified and slaine by death when we are ready to yeeld vp the ghost but specially when the day of resurrection is come we may say with Christ Father the houre is come glorifie thy sonne Lastly if we will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 raigne with Christ in glory we must first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suffer with him in humilitie Hee bare the Crosse before he could weare the Crowne we are predestinated to be conformed vnto the image of the Sonne And wee also in our flesh must fulfill the remainders of the afflictions of Christ if we will be glorified with him But of this enough Now let vs resume the three particulars aboue mentioned to be considered And first of the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the or that houre that is the houre decreed determined vnto the Passion of Christ. For hee that is the creator of time hath ever reserued the disposition thereof in his owne power And as hee hath ordained of all that shall come to passe euen to the lighting of a sparrow and the fall of a haire so vnto every thing hath hee set a season and a time to every purpose vnder heauen If to every thing and purpose then much more to this worke as being a businesse of greatest weight and consequence And seeing as the
pleased haue vsed some other meanes for the appeasing of his wrath Yes doubtlesse for he had abundance of spirit wisdome But he chose this as the best course for the declaration of his iustice and mercy justice in the rigorous exacting of satisfaction for sinne yea even from his owne sonne mercy in the free pardon of sinne by the death and passion of his sonne Excellently to this purpose Cameracensis God in the beginning gaue vnto man truth to instruct him iustice to direct him mercy to preserue him and peace to delight him But he rebelling against his creator they all fled from him returned vnto God Where iustice called vpon him for satisfaction and truth required performance of his word but Peace sought mitigation of wrath and mercy sued for pardon In this difficulty wisdome interposed her selfe and found out a meanes to content all namely by the incarnation and suffering of the sonne of God Wherevnto the Father yeelding all were soone accorded and so mercy and truth met together and justice and peace kissed each other For further ratification whereof it pleased the Father solemnely and vnalterably to decree that his sonne should suffer in the flesh Wherevpon our Saviour saith it was so determined and the Scriptures as they foretell it so they affirme that thus it must be and that Christ ought to suffer And according to this determinate counsell and fore-knowledge of God when the houre appointed was come he was delivered and taken and by wicked hands crucified and slaine Of which great worke being now to speake and to enquire into the Punishment fore appointed vnto him by his Father because some extenuate it too much as if he seemed only to suffer or suffered not what indeed hee did others againe too much aggravate it as if he suffered the very paines of the damned in hell wee will as warily and as carefully as we can steere betweene that Scylla and this Charybdis And to this end wee will diligently enquire foure things the species or kinde of punishment he suffered the extention the intention and the duration thereof And of each of these briefely in a word The kind of punishment was that which was due to sin and every way equivalent for the expiation thereof howbeit so farre forth and no further then was convenient for such a person First therefore he suffered not that Punishment of sinne which is sinne for God many times and that iustly punisheth one sinne by another The reason for that then he should haue beene a sinner either by inherent or actuall sinne and so could never haue made sufficient satisfaction for the sinnes of others Neither secondly did he suffer the personall punishment of this or that man as the gout the stone the dropsie and the like For he tooke not the person but the nature of man into him and so made himselfe subiect not to Personall but to Naturall infirmities only To say nothing that those paines are many of them so contrary and repugnant one vnto another as they are incompatible in the same person Nor yet thirdly did he suffer those punishments which proceede either from the conscience of inherent sinne or the eternall continuance of sinne such as are Remorse and despaire For in him was never any sinne whether Originall or Actuall Only it was imputed vnto him inasmuch as he vndertooke to satisfy for it These foreprised and excepted all other sorts of Punishment were laid vpon him And because in Sinne there is a double act an Aversion or turning away from God the chiefest good and a Conversion or turning vnto that which is only a seeming good and consequently the desert of a double Punishment the one of losse to be depriued of the true good in regard of the Aversion the other of sence to feele smart both in body and soule in regard of the Conversion our blessed Lord and Sauiour suffered both The Punishment of Losse being in regard of present comfort and ioy left vnto himselfe and in a sort forsaken of his Father of which againe anon in the due place The punishment of Sence for he felt during the while extreame both torment and paine outwardly in the body and horror and anguish inwardly in the Soule The Extension whereof was also exceeding generall for he suffered from all that any way could afflict him and in all whatsoever belonged vnto him From his Father therefore he suffered who for a time abandoned him and delivered him into the hand of sinners from the powers of darknesse who laid vpon him whatsoever their malice could devise from the Iewes who stumbled at him and despised him from the Gentiles who made a game and laughing-stocke of him from Magistrates who convented and condemned him from the people who arrested and accused him from the Clergie who charged him with cozinage and blasphemy from the Laity who cryed out crucifie him crucifie him from his enimies who cruelly persecuted him from his friends who in his greatest need started aside from him from forrainers who disdainfully shooke the head at him from those of his owne houshold who most treacherously betraied him and in a word from all sorts both of men and women yea from the Heaven which denied to giue him light from the aire which refused to vouchsafe him breath from the earth which would not so much as beare him frō what not And as from all so hee suffered also in all In his goods being stript even of his raiment and lots cast thereon in his good name being esteemed a deceiuer a blasphemer a drunkard a glutton a magitian a traitor to Caesar in his friends who were scattered as soone as the shepheard was smitten in his mother through whose heart a sword was driuen in his soule by strong feare before his passion and extreame sorrow in his passion in all the parts of his body his head being crowned with thornes his face spit vpon his cheekes buffited his hands feet nailed his sides peirced his backe armes scourged and the whole vpon the crosse barbarously stretched and racked in all his sences the touch by wounds the tast with myrre and vineger the smell with the loathsome savour of Golgotha the hearing with shamefull taunts and revilings and the sight with mowes and disdainefull behaviour finally in the whole person by death the separation of the soule from the body The Intension of all which was likewise exceeding vehement even proportionable vnto the desert of sinne wherefore he sticketh not to say Behold and see if there be any sorrow like vnto my sorrow And againe the sorrowes of hell compassed me round about Not that he felt the flames of hell fire or the same kind of torment which the damned suffer in hell farre bee such impiety from our thoughts but that which is equivalent therevnto Had he suffered only the death of the crosse and no more his martyrs might seeme to haue endured more bitter paines and
with more patience then he But this in no case may be imagined His 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his feare and consternation his strong cries his agonie and bloudy sweat his earnest prayer that if it were possible the cuppe might passe from him and that lamentable expostulation my God my God why hast thou forsaken me doe all mainely argue that his pangs were high strained and extraordinary For although he were not forsaken of his Father either by breach of personall vnion or losse of vnction or diminution of grace or despaire of protection and deliuerance yet he was abandond and â—eft destitute of all present comfort so that his sorrowes could not but bee aboue all other sorrowes And indeed how could it bee otherwise For not to speake of the paines of the body which yet some affirme to be more intense then could be of other men by reason of the perfection and finenesse of his complection his sorrowes were not for the sinnes of one man but of the whole world which could be no lesse then a world of sorrow And if his loue to vs were so infinite that he was content to suffer all these extremities for vs his sorrow for the miseries wee were in could be no lesse but must every way bee answerable vnto his loue So must it vnto his wisdome also for by it perfectly knowing and apprehending all the causes and reasons of sorrow it cannot be avoided but that according to this knowledge apprehension his sorrowes should be strained and intended The last point is the Duration of his paines or how long he suffered them They were not eternell nor might continue vpon him for ever Had they so continued hee had never conquered death nor hell and hauing not freed himselfe from them how could hee set vs free They continued therefore vpon him but that houre the time destined by his Father therevnto which being once expired all his paines and sorrowes ceased together therewith Here it will surely be obiected the punishment due vnto sinne is an eternall punishment If then the sufferings of Christ were only temporarie and not eternall how hath he suffered and satisfied sufficiently for sinne For time holdeth no proportion with eternity Wherevnto I answer first that in regard of the dignity of his person the shortest punishment inflicted vpon him is equivalent to the eternall punishment laid vpon others For hee is not a meere man but God and man And as there is not betweene time and eternity so neither is there betweene God and meere man any proportion at all I answere secondly that eternall punishment is due only to an eternall sinne not to that which is interrupted and broken off by grace Sinne though the act thereof bee transient yet it leaueth such a staine vpon the soule as continueth in it evermore if by mercy it be not blotted out and evermore disposeth vnto sinne Now he that is so disposed sinneth in suo aeterno and hauing as much as lies in him a perpetuall purpose of sinning he shall as he deserues perpetually and everlastingly bee punished But they for whom Christ died haue their sinnes broken off by grace their soules by little and little cleansed from the staines of sin in his bloud a hatred and detestation of sinne wrought in them together with a sincere loue and study of holinesse vntill sinne be vtterly destroyed and abolished in them Christ therefore thus purposing to put a full end to all their sinnes reason would that an end 〈◊〉 should bee set vnto his sufferings and their sinnes not being eternall that neither his sufferings should bee eternall And thus much for the Duration of his Passion The vse of all may be this First seeing Christ hath suffered all these things and that for vs it is fit that we by all waies and meanes should study to come to the full knowledge thereof It was not for Angells and yet they earnestly desired to looke into this mistery Vs it concernes only and nothing more then it and can wee possibly neglect the learning of it The Apostle Saint Paul accounted the knowledge hereof to be of all other the most excellent and all other things in comparison of it to bee but losse and dung Wherevpon he protesteth that among the Corinthians he was resolved not to know any thing saue Christ Iesus and him crucified Why then should not wee bee of the same and pray with him that wee may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height That knowing what great matters hee hath done for vs wee may be the more incited to bee thankefull vnto him for it Secondly seeing it pleased the Father thus to decree that his sonne should suffer all these things for the satisfaction of his iustice and that otherwise he would not be appeased for sinne we may thereby learne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how precisely rigorous God is in the punishment of sinne together with the vilenesse and odiousnesse thereof The due consideration whereof would both terrifie vs from the committing of sinne and worke in our hearts a loathing detestation of sinne For if God will not be pacified without full satisfaction how dare we commit it And if nothing can cleanse the leprosie thereof but only the bloud of the sonne of God how can we but abhorre it Thirdly seeing he hath resolued to appease his wrath and to rest satisfied for sinne in the sufferings of his sonne wee may therein as in a crystall glasse clearly behold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great loue of God towards man It was not for the sinning Angells and their redemption that he gaue his sonne but for vs men and our salvation Rather then he would loose the whole race of mankind he would spare nothing no not his best beloued With whom although he were ever well pleased yet he must needs suffer for vs that in him he may be also well pleased with vs. Feare we not therefore nor despaire of grace Though our sinnes be never so many and greivous yet the sonne of God hath satisfied for them all Tender wee this payment vnto his Father and it cannot but be accepted But yet lastly seeing his sufferings were but a short time and so not intended for eternall sinnes but those only which were to haue an end it may giue vs a cave at to breake off our sinnes be time least being iustly cut off in them they proue eternall to vs and so we haue no benefit in the sufferings of Christ. For as the Apostle St Paule saith if obstinately and wilfully we resolue to sinne after we haue received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinnes For this is to tread vnder foot the Sonne of God to count the bloud of the Couenant wherewith we were sanctified an vnholy thing and to doe despite vnto the spirit of grace But of this second part the worke of the houre enough The third
reserued vnto that day When the creature shall bee deliuered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God and vnto Faith whereby wee see onely as in a mirrour intuitiue beholding of the face of God by vision shall succeed And this is the glory of the Father Now to gloriâ—ie him cannot bee to giue or adde glory vnto him For as we haue shewed he is absolutely Perfect and lacketh nothing and his propertie is to giue vnto all but to receiue from none It is therefore to manifest his glory to make it publikely known throughout the world as if our Sauiour had said Father vnlesse thou glorify me the brightnes of thy glory will exceedingly be eclipsed obscured but if thou glorifie me then shall the Glory bee greatly manifested by me and I shall make it knowne farre and neere among the sonnes of men This being the meaning of these tearmes let vs now examine both the Propositions of the argument aboue propounded trie the truth of them The Maior is That by which I shall glorifie thee and without which I cannot glorifie thee thou maist not deny vnto me An evident and vndoubted truth else never would Christ haue said it especially in a matter so much concerning him For if as Solomon saith the lip of vanity becommeth not a Prince much lesse would it become him who is the wisdome of the Father and very truth it selfe And if nothing can concerne him more then his owne Glorification then certainely to speake sleightly and impertinently in a matter of such moment would haue argued much weaknesse And indeed it is so apparently true that our Saviour only affirmes it without vouchsafing it any confirmation at all as if hee knewe that his Father neither would nor could deny it Neuerthelesse the truth thereof may yet further appeare First by the continuall practise of all the Saints conformable vnto this of Christ. For in all their addresses vnto God they ever vrged him with his Glory as the strongest argument to perswade when the Lord had threatned to smite the people of Israel with the pestilence and to disinherit them because of their murmuring and incredulitie Moses thought nothing would sooner moue him to commiseration and pittie of them then the impeachment otherwise of his honour For saith he the nations which haue heard the fame of thee will speake saying Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware vnto them therefore hath he slaine them in the wildernesse As if he should say thou maist not doe it because it will discredit both thy truth and power Againe Daniel when the seauenty yeares of Iudahs captivity were neere at an end entreateth the Lord to remember them in mercy and to returne theÌ„ backe againe into their owne country But what argument vseth he to perswade For thine owne sake saith he because the citty and thy people are called by thy name As if he should say least otherwise thy Glorie by failing in performance of thy promise towards thy people should bee called into question what Psalme almost is there in which the Prophet David presseth not vpon God this reason Returne O Lord deliuer my soule oh saue mee for thy mercies sake For in death there is no remembrance of thee in the graue who shall giue thee thankes Bring my soule out of prison that I may praise thee the righteous shall compasse mee about for thou shalt deale bountifully with mee Quicken me O Lord for thy names sake for thy righteousnesse sake bring my soule out of trouble It were infinite to quote particular passages In a word did not our Saviour when he taught vs to pray direct vs ever to conclude with this argument For thine is the kingdome the power and the glory And did not St Paul according to this direction end his Prayer with ascribing Glory vnto God in the Church by Christ Iesus throughout all ages If then others haue mightily prevailed with God in vrging him with his Glorie shall we thinke that the Sonne of God can be lesse prevalent with his Father pressing him with the same argument Father glorifie me for so I shall bee able else not to glorifie thee Secondly the manifestation of the Fathers Glory is the architectonicall and soueraigne end of all things This he himselfe principally intended in all his works this he set vp as a marke for all to ayme at The Lord saith Solomon made all things for himselfe even the wicked for the day of evill The predestination also of the Saints and their adoption to be children by Iesus Christ was as S. Paul testifieth to the praise of the glory of his grace yea of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory for euer Amen For to the praise of the glory of his Power all things were created To the praise of the glory of his Wisdome all things are ordered and gouerned To the praise of the glory of his Mercy are wee ransomed in Christ from the bondage of misery And to the praise of the glory of his Iustice are impenitent sinners reprobated and condemned And reason it should bee thus For as out of him all things were educed as being the fountaine and prime cause of all so vnto him it was fit all things should be reduced as vnto the last and chiefest end of all Right even as out of the sea all riuers flow and then reflow back againe vnto it Neither indeed was it possible to be otherwise For God being in himselfe blessed and all-sufficient cannot rest in any thing that is extrinsecall and without himselfe In himselfe therefore he must find it and what other can that be then his Glorie His Glorie therefore did he necessarily propound vnto himselfe as the soueraigne end of all his actions and vnto it here doth our Saviour subordinate his owne Glorification So that hence also the truth of our Maior plainely appeareth that vnlesse the Father will be without his Glory and without his Glory he neither will nor can be he must needs grant to his Sonne that without which hee cannot glorifie him Thirdly and lastly the glory of the Father is most deere and pretious to him It is vnto him as the apple of his eye which at no hand may be touched yea as his very selfe because it is himselfe Hence it is that hee is so iealous of his glory neither can endure that it should be giuen to any other And hence it is also that he threatens never to hold him guiltlesse whosoeuer taketh his name in vaine yea that he will most severely bee revenged of all those that any way dishonour him Because saith S. Paul when they knew God they glorified him not as God nor were thankfull c. therefore God also gaue them vp to vncleannesse through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their bodies
betweene themselues This spirituall punishment is the greatest of all iudgements in this life and is vsually attended with eternall shame and confusion of face in the next And reason it is that they who sleight that which God holdeth so deare should themselues be sleighted of him and seeing they disdaine to glorifie him that he by iust vengeance should glorifie himselfe vpon them So dealt he with Pharaoh Nabuchadnetzar Antiochus Herod and other proud tyrants and so will hee one day deale with all those that set so light of his Glory Is then the glory of the Father so deare and pretious vnto him Is he so iealous and charie of it that he will not haue it in any case touched or blemished Then surely that which maketh for his Glory and without which the Sonne cannot glorifie him may not bee denied him And so much for the Maior The Minor Proposition is But by my glorification I shall glorifie thee and without it I shall not be able to glorifie thee This though it be as true as the former yet the truth thereof is not so evident as of that For it may bee obiected that our Saviour now praying for his Glorification implies therein that he was not as yet glorified For wee vse not to sue for what we are already possessed of but only giue thankes for it Yet by and by he saith Ego glorificauite I haue already glorified thee on earth As he was God he had from all eternity glorified him in heauen As he was Man he had here on earth glorified him by his doctrine life obedience miracles And if wee as yet vnglorified doe glorifie him how should not the Sonne much more be able to doe it Vnto all which I thus answer breifly that glorifying is double either Inchoate or Compleate As touching the Inchoate it is true that as the Father had in part already glorified him as in particular by the raising vp of Lazarus so had the Sonne also in part glorified the Father But as touching that which is Compleate neither had the Father as yet so glorified the Sonne nor the Sonne the Father Wherefore as our Saviour is to be vnderstood here to pray for his perfect Glorification so are we to conceiue it also of the Fathers as if hee had said more fully vnlesse the Father perfectly glorifie the Sonne neither can the Sonne perfectly glorifie the Father For as God declared the glory of his power in deliuering Israel out of Egypt by a mighty hand with many signes and wonders yet had his mercy and truth yea his power also beene much impeached had hee not proceeded according to promise to settle them safely in the land of Canaan so the Father although he had begun to shew his glory in the incarnation of his Sonne and all other his noble acts yet if he did not goe on to cōsummate and perfect his Sonnes glory by supporting him in his last combate raising him from death taking him vp into heaven and setting him at his right hand with all power and authority the glory of his goodnesse wisdome mercy iustice and omnipotence would bee exceedingly blemished But when once the Sonne shall be so glorified then shall he by vertue of the power giuen him powre forth of his spirit vpon the sonnes of men subdue the world vnto his obedience trample all his enimies vnder his feet and recover the kingdome vnto his Father Whereby it will manifestly appeare that hee is the eternall Father very God the author of life and saluation sweet in his goodnesse true in his promise iust in retribution wise in all his actions and most powerfull also in his executions And so much likewise of the Minor The vse whereof may serue first for confutation For it answeres a vaine quarrell of the Arrians against the coequalitie of the Sonne with the Father The Father say they must needs be greater then the Sonne because the Sonne saith Pater clarifica filium father glorifie thy sonne and he is greater who giues then he who receaues glory Wherevnto I answer in the words of S. Augustin Quòd si ille qui glorificat c. If he that glorifieth be greater then he whom he doth glorifie let them grant that they are equall who glorifie one the other For it is written that the Sonne also glorifieth the Father I saith hee haue glorified thee on earth So also elsewhere saith our Saviour the spirit shall glorifie me And there being in the holy and blessed Trinitie such an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Circuminsession as whereby each Person dwelleth in other it cānot be but each of them should knowe and knowing mutually and eternally glorifie one another Secondly it serues for information that as Christ our head referred his owne Glorification vnto the glory of his Father so we that are his members should doe the like and in all things seeke to glorifie our Father Nay if Christ to the praise of the glory of his Fathers grace was content to become sinne and a curse for vs how much more are wee bound in euery thing to intend his glory of whom hee exacteth no such thing It is the rule of the Apostle S. Paul Whether yee eat or drinke or doe any thing else doe all to the praise and glory of God All whatsoeuer either we are or haue we haue receiued of him and it is he who by Christ hath redeemed vs both bodies and soules let vs therefore glorifie him both in bodies and soules for they are his Thirdly and lastly seeing our Saviour vrgeth his desire to glorifie his Father as a speciall argument to perswade him to grant his request it may serue for singular comfort vnto vs that as long as our actions respect Gods glory and are ioined therewith they cannot but be accepted He will surely blesse them and giue them good successe sith his glory cannot be divided from them A holy life glorifying God is a vitall prayer Though wee heare no speech from it yet it cryeth aloud in the eares of God and saith Father thou maist not deny to glorifie me for through the whole course of my life I study nothing more then to glorifie thee And thus much of our Saviours second motiue drawne from the highest and most soueraigne end of all the Glory of his Father Vers. 2. As thou hast giuen him power ouer all flesh that he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him His third reason is drawne from the Power bestowed vpon him by his Father thus Thou hast giuen him power over all flesh to the end he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him Ergo thou oughtest to glorifie thy sonne The Antecedent of this Enthymeme is deliuered in the Text in expresse tearmes The Consequence is only insinuated implied For clearing whereof it may please you to obserue with mee first that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated as is not a
note of similitude but importeth a reason or cause In regard whereof Euthimius expoundeth it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if he had said forasmuch or because Secondly that the word Power is in the originall not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betwixt which two there is great difference For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth power of right or authority and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Power of might or ability Which although they may and oftentimes doe concurre in the same person yet many times they are divided For some there are who haue right and authority but want might and ability and others there are who haue might and ability but want right and authority These for want of right doe not iustly what they can doe and they for want of might cannot doe that which otherwise they might justly doe These things duly considered the reason of the Consequence will easily appeare For if God haue given him authority as indeed hee had hee ought withall to giue him ability For that without this is fectlesse and to no purpose and it sits not with the wisdome of God to doe things in vaine This were with Herod and the Iewes to set a crowne on his head to put a reed in his hand to clap a purple robe on his backe to make a mock king of him As therefore he hath giuen him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 right and authority so must hee also giue him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strength and ability But Ability hee can haue none nor giue life to them that are giuen him which is the end propounded vnto him except his Father glorifie him This appeares thus The glorification which the Sonne desires stands especially in his Resurrection Ascention Session at the right hand of his Father and Returne to iudgement If then he rise not againe we are yet in our sins as St Paul saith and haue no right either in the first or second resurrection Death hath still power vpon vs yea vpon Christ himselfe and vtterly bars vs from eternall life Againe if he ascend not neither can wee The way vnto heauen is not opened neither are there any mansions there prepared for vs. And what life can there be if we be excluded from those ioyes aboue Thirdly if hee sit not at his Fathers right hand then can he not gloriously interceed for vs with his Father nor send his spirit vnto vs nor governe vs by his spirit nor subdue our enimies vnto vs without which wee cannot be partakers of that life Lastly if hee returne not againe to iudge both the quicke and the dead then can hee not according to promise returne any more to take vs home vnto himselfe that where he is there we also may be to behold that his glory and by beholding to bee made like vnto him wherein standeth our eternall life And thus you see the necessity of this Consequence Thou hast given mee power Therefore must thou glorify mee Come wee now to the Antecedent In which for the fuller handling thereof we may obserue these foure particulars Quid In quos A quo Quorsum Quid what is given him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Power In quos over whom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 over all flesh A quo from whom from his Father thou hast giuen Quorsum to what end that he may giue eternall life to all that his Father gaue him Of these in order First Quid what hath the Father given him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 power that is as we haue aboue shewed Right and Authority over all flesh This is double for it is either Essentiall or Oeconomicall Essentiall is that which he hath qua 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he is the Word In regard whereof being God coequall with his Father looke what Power the Father hath he hath the same also inhering in him namely an infinite vnlimited independent and soveraigne power And this because it is of his very essence so that hee can no more be without it then not be God therefore doe I call it Essentiall And yet as I take it this is not heere meant For the end of the Power heere spoken of is to giue eternall life Now to purpose an end implies Election Deliberation and so an indifference before choice so that it is arbitrary not necessary But this Essentiall power of Christ is not arbitrarie but necessary as proceeding not of choice but of the necessity of his nature and therefore cannot be here meant The Oeconomicall Power then is that which he hath quà Emanuell as he is God-man and hath taken vpon him the forme of a servant For the Man Christ Iesus is our Mediatour therefore our King it being one office of his Mediation to be a King And hence it is that our Saviour affirmeth that authority is giuen him to execute iudgement because he is the sonne of man or as some expound it quatenus as he is the sonne of man In this nature also it is said that the government is vpon his shoulders that he is made a Governor to rule his people Israell This Power because he hath not as the former of the necessity of his nature but only of voluntary dispensatiō therefore I call it Oeconomicall And because it is Oeconomicall therefore is it not infinite vnlimited as is the Essentiall but Subordinate vnto it True it is the humane nature subsisting in the Word the very Word together with all the divine attributes are cōmunicated vnto it so that it may be said the man Christ is Omnipotent hath infinite power But this must cautelously be vnderstood not that the Manhood hath in it formally subiectiuely such infinite power but only personally and by grace of Vnion Otherwise the humane nature being finite is no more capable of infinite power then it is to be God which is impossible The Power then which the Manhood of Christ hath residing in it is finite and created but yet such as is farre greater then of any creature besides For to which of the creatures besides is the Subsistence of the sonne of God communicated If to none then can they not haue such power as hee that subsisteth in the Deity Whence the holy Apostle affirmeth of him that he is advanced farre aboue all Principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come againe that God hath highly exalted him and giuen him a name which is aboue every name that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in Heauen and things in earth things vnder the earth and that every tongue should confesse that Iesus is the Lord. And yet againe that hee is made farre greater then the Angells inasmuch as hee hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name then they Read the rest of that Chapter for all makes to this purpose
Iesus whom yee haue crucified both Lord and Christ. Howbeit this power the Father giues not as the former Donatione naturali by naturall donation sed gratuitâ by free voluntary gift And therefore as notwithstanding the former he was co-equall with the Father so in regard of this hee is subiect to the Father Wherefore in this respect hee saith Pater major me est my Father is greater then I and though he be Lord of all yet the Father calleth him his Servant And the Schoole in regard of his humane nature saith that he is Subiectus sibi ipsi subiect to his owne selfe But it will be obiected that Christ obtained his kingdome by conquest how then could he receaue it from his Father by gift Wherevnto I answere first that the right title he had was from the gift of the Father before he went about to conquer it secondly that the power also whereby he conquered it hee receaued from the gift of his Father In regard whereof the Father sticketh not to challenge the conquest vnto himselfe Sit thou saith he vnto the Sonne on my right hand vntill I make thine enimies thy footstoole Which yet is thus to bee vnderstood that the Father by the Sonne and the Sonne vnder his Father by power receaued from him hath subdued and mastered all his enimies But when receaued he this power from him and how long was he to hold it He receaued it then when hee receaued his vnction His Vnction he receaued in the instant of his Incarnation For assoone as the Personall vnion began so soone was he annointed with the oyle of gladnesse aboue all his fellowes that is with the fulnesse of all such graces as were fit for the menaging of so great power as wisdome counsell zeale of iustice strength and the like And no sooner was he annointed but presently hee was a King Melchizedeck a king of righteousnesse wise to doe iudgement iustice It is true he suppressed this power for a time For the Word emptied himselfe of his glory and his humane nature was to suffer many things Wherevpon it is said He could doe no miracle in his owne country nor might not send his Disciples into the way of the Gentiles It was as a sword in the sheath or as Dauids authority before Sauls death At times indeed he shewed some tokens thereof as in stilling the Sea commanding spirits raising the dead and the like yet the execution thereof could not be plenarie till after his resurrection and when he was set at the right hand of his Father Licet Christus quantum ad divinitatem c. saith Lira Although Christ according to his divinity had from all eternity this power in heauen and earth and authoritativè by way of authority had it he also as man from the first instant of his conception yet executivè by way of execution hee had it not before his resurrection but would be subiect to possibility for our redemption But how long was this power to continue with him Forever For as he was a priest so also was he to be a King for ever after the order of Melchizedecke Thy throne ô God saith David is for ever and ever a text which Saint Paul to the Hebrewes applyeth vnto Christ. And Daniel His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not passe a way and his kingdome that which shall not be destroyed And the Angell Gabriell Hee shall raigne over the house of Iacob forever and of his kingdome there shall be no end Yea but doth not the Apostle say that when he shall haue put downe all rule and all authority and power then the kingdome shall be delivered vp by him to God even the Father and that then the sonne himselfe shall also be subiect vnto him It is true hee saith so But we are further to know that the kingdome of Christ containeth in it two things the mediatory function of his Kingly office and his Kingly glory That he shall lay aside for then there will be no further necessity nor vse thereof He shall not need to fight any more with the prince of darknesse nor to governe his Church as formerly by the word and sacrament For God as he is now something in vs so then shall he be all in all vnto vs. But this hee shall hold for ever as being by the acts of his mediation iustly acquired and according to covenant bestowed vpon him by his Father As therefore the Father even now raignes although he haue delivered the kingdome to the Sonne even so then shall the Sonne also raigne although he deliver vp his kingdome vnto the Father And thus hath Christ omnem potestatem in omnia in omnia secula all power over all things and vnto all eternity The vse of this point briefly may be this First seeing Christ vsurped not this power but receiued it by lawfull donation from his Father therefore neither should wee presume vpon any office or place vntill wee be lawfully called therevnto Should we runne without sending wee should but incurre the displeasure of God be authors of much confusion and mischiefe in the Church Secondly seeing he receiued this power together with his Vnction it may lesson vs not to affect any calling till wee be annointed with sufficient gifts for the discharge thereof Go teach baptize all nations saith our Saviour to his Apostles but withall he furnisheth them with cloven tongues and filleth them with the Holy Ghost To adventure on a businesse without due abilities as it proceedeth from abundance of boldnesse so will it be recompenced with equall measure of shame Lastly seeing his power continueth for ever and of his kingdome shall be no end wee may take knowledge that it will bee in vaine for any to oppose themselues vnto it Hell gates shall never be able to prevaile against it how much lesse the policies of mortall men or their strongest attempts For that which is eternall is invincible and can never be destroyed And thus much of the third point A quo from whom The fourth and last is Quorsum to what so great power was given him For wee may not thinke that God doth vse magno conatu nihil agere with much a doe to effect nothing And if nature which is but the creature of God doe nothing in vaine and wise men ever propound some end vnto their actions much more ought we to iudge so of him who is both the author of nature and wisdome it selfe An end therefore was intended and that doubtlesse of highest consequence For otherwise what need so great power and glory to atchieue it If in the creation dixit factum est the word was no sooner said but the thing was done yet here not words no nor so great power without his glorification will not serue the turne this it seemes is of a higher straine then that What then may it be This that to as many as are
given him of his Father he may giue eternall life This I say properly and directly for accidentally he may be vnto some a rocke of offence and the savour of death vnto death namely to all those that shall presume to rise vp against that authority and power which his Father hath giuen him For the further vnfolding of this point foure things are here to bee observed Quid Vnde Quibus Quamdiu Quid what the gift is it is Life Vnde whence it is from the Sonne that hee may giue Quibus to whom it is giuen to as many as thou hast giuen him Quamdiu how long the gift lasteth it is eternall life And of these in order though not according to their worth and desert for who is sufficient for these things yet as it shall please God to enable and assist First Quid what is the gift It is Life Life is double Naturall and Spirituall Naturall is that which things liue by power of nature But this is not heare meant For the Father bestowes this generally on all men whereas the life here intended is to be conferred only on those whom the Father hath given vnto the sonne The Spirituall is likewise double Sinfull or Holy Sinfull is that whereby men liue vnto sinne But because they that so liue are dead vnto righteousnesse the wages thereof is nothing but death neither can this be here meant For this is to be counted rather a Death then a Life whereas the Life here-spoken of is the end wherefore so great power was giuen vnto Christ and so cannot bee but a happy and blessed life The Holy life is therfore here vnderstood a life which none can liue vntill he be dead vnto sinne and elevated by grace aboue nature even that life which in Scripture is called the new life and includeth in it both the life of grace and the life of glory Now because this Spirituall life is denominated Life from the proportion it holds with Naturall life especially that of man vnlesse we first know what this is distinct knowledge of that we cannot well haue any This we cannot know but by the direction of Naturall Philosophy For Naturall life is a terme properly belonging vnto it and the rule of Logicke teacheth that looke to what art the termes doe belong from thence are wee to fetch our demonstrations I must craue pardon therefore if I search a little into it Howbeit I resolue to be very briefe and to trouble you with no more then is necessary for clearing of what is intended Life is of some defined by motion and operation And so seemeth Aristotle to define it where he saith Vivere est intelligere sentire to liue is to vnderstand heare see touch and the like But this definition is more popular then proper For life is one thing the operations of life another and they differ as the cause and the effect Yet because it is best discerned by the operations thereof therefore haue they thought good so to describe it For those things are said to liue which any way moue themselues Moue I say for those things which moue not liue not And moue themselues by an internall principle of their owne For neither doe those things liue which are acted only by an extrinsecall and forreine principle such as was that statue or engine of which the Poet Duceris vt nervis alienis mobile signum and such as are also clocks and watches and the like devices The same Philosopher therefore elsewhere speaking more accurately of this matter defineth life by Being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith hee to liue is to be Which is not yet Simply to be vnderstood as if whatsoeuer had being had also life but respectiuely vnto things that liue for their life is their being And so much doth the Philosopher himselfe insinuate saying more fully 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 life to things that liue is being But such a Being as naturally moueth it selfe Whēce it is not vnfitly defined by one to bee essentia parturiens actiones such a being as is in trauell with action This naturall life is threefold Vegetatiue Sensitiue and Intellectual The Vegetatiue is in Plants that Being whereby they grow and receaue nourishment The Sensitiue is of Beasts Fowles and Fishes that Being whereby they see heare touch tast smell and moue from place to place The Intellectuall is of Angels and Spirits that Being whereby they vnderstand and will These all of them are iointly and together in man For with plants hee hath growth and nourishment with beasts fowles and fishes sense and lation with Angels and Spirits vnderstanding and will Wherevpon it is that the Philosopher maketh the life of man a rule to all the rest And therefore is to be defined Such a Being as is able to produce all these operations but specially those that are Rationall because they are most properly Humane To come then to an issue by all that hath beene said it appeares that to the constitution of the natural life of man and generally of all natural life three things are required Esse Posse Operari being ability and operation Being that there may bee ability and ability that there may be operation For no life where no operation no operation where no ability no ability where no being And such is the naturall life of man Proportionably wherevnto as to me it seemes Spirituall life may thus be defined Such a new or spirituall being as enableth to produce spirituall or supernaturall actions In which definition all those three things necessarily required vnto life are as you see comprehended And first Being not naturall but spirituall superadded vnto nature Superadded then when we are first ingrafted and incorporated into Christ. For no sooner doe we subsist in him but forthwith old things passe away and all things are made new From thence forth become we new creatures new men renewed in the inner man and in the spirit of the minde hauing new hearts new affections new senses all new In a word then are we made Spirituall men not only conformed vnto but also transformed into the image of Christ himselfe Secondly abilitie For together with our new being we receaue also the Spirit of power whereby as while we were out of Christ wee were able to doe nothing so now being in him we are able to all things For then the holy Ghost is pleased to infuse and imprint on our soules the gratious habits of Faith Hope and Charity and the rest and all to facilitate the performance of spirituall duties Lastly Operation without which abilitie is but vaine For to what end is power if it be never brought forth into act Operate therefore it doth and bringeth forth the fruits of spirit loue ioy peace long suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse temperance and the rest All which S. Paul reduceth vnto three Pietie Sobrietie Righteousnesse
answerable vnto the soule is Christ the Mediator who therefore in six hundred places of Scripture is said to be our life And himselfe saith of himselfe I am the resurrection and the life and againe I am the way the truth and the life Secondly as the Soule so hath Christ also life in himselfe As the Father saith he hath life in himselfe so hath he giuen vnto the Sonne also to haue life in himselfe and S. Paul saith that the Spirit of life is in the Sonne And S. Iohn This life is in his Sonne And againe This life was in him and the life was the light of men Thirdly as the soule hath not only life in it but also a quickning power so hath Christ also So S. Iohn As the Father so the Sonne quickneth whomsoeuer he will And S. Paul The first Adam was made a living soule and the second Adam was made a quickning spirit Fourthly as the soule vntill it be personally vnited quickneth not so neither doth Christ vntill he be mystically vnited Of this Vnion I cannot now speake I shall hereafter when I come to those words That they may be one as we are one I in them and thou in me In the meane season thus S. Paul I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in me that is I liue by Christ vnited vnto me And S. Iohn He that hath the Son that is he that is vnited vnto him hath life but he that hath not the Sonne that is is not vnited vnto him hath not life Fiftly as the Vnion of soule and body makes and constitutes Man so vpon our Vnion with Christ are we made new men Christian men spirituall men yea as is aboue proued very Christ. So speaketh S. Paul in the place alleadged and elsewhere yee are of God in Christ Iesus that is by being in Christ yee haue receiued of God a new essence or being Sixtly as from the naturall being of man comes naturall life so from the spirituall issues spirituall life Because I liue saith our Saviour yee to wit who receiue of my spirit and so are spirituall men yee I say shall liue Seventhly and lastly as from humane life proceed humane operations so from the spirituall proceed spirituall actions This hath beene already shewed wherevnto I now only adde that of S. Paul If Christ be in you the body indeed is dead vnto sinne but the spirit is life vnto righteousnesse And thus you see how and after what manner spirituall life is conveyed vnto vs from Christ. It is further added that this life is not only from Christ but that he is the donour and giuer thereof It is from him but by way of gift For so it is said that he may giâ—e So also elsewhere The bread of God is he which commeth downe from heauen and giueth life vnto the world And S. Paul the wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Wherevpon S. Peter calleth it the grace of life And the scripture every where imputeth the whole worke of our salvation from the beginning vnto the end thereof vnto meere grace Now as he saith Gratia non est gratia nisisit omnimodo gratuita grace is not grace vnlesse it be every way of free gift And certainly if it be not of free gift it is of merit and due preparation in our selues But I beseech you what merit what preparation of himselfe was there in Adam vnto life while as yet he lay like a dead lump of clay before his maker What in Lazarus when he had beene quatriduanus foure dayes in the graue and began to putrifie and corrupt Surely none at all No more can there be in vs who before we receiue this life are vtterly dead in trespasses and sins If the creature disposed not himselfe vnto his creation nor man vnto his generation nor the science vnto its incition how can we prepare our selues either to our renovation or regeneration or ingrafting into the mysticall body of Christ In a word can sinne be a disposition or preparation vnto Grace I trow no. Yet whatsoeuer we doe before we are new creatures and liue the spirituall life is at the best but splendidum peccatum a gay and glittering sinne For the agent is altogether sinfull and carnall and whatsoeuer is of flesh is flesh Doe we gather grapes of thornes or figgs of thistles or good fruite of an evill tree No verily For such as the tree is such fruit it yeeldeth Good it cannot yeeld till it be made good Made good we are not till wee beleeue Till we beleeue therefore can wee doe no good If so then what is not of Faith is sinne and pleaseth not God And what pleaseth not him cannot dispose vnto grace Being then without merit and disposition vnto grace it must needs follow that as spirituall life is by Vnion so it is also by way of gift from Christ. The vse of all may be first to teach vs that all they who are not vnto Christ mystically vnited are spiritually dead and what actions soeuer proceed from them notwithstanding all the specious and goodly shew they make are not living actions For being not acted by the spirit of Christ they are not like vnto bodies animated by a humane soule but vnto such dead bodies rather as are raised vp by magicians and are stirred and moved only by the spirit of Satan These may seeme to liue but indeed liue not And if spirituall life bee the only blessed life then must these needs bee in a most ruefull and miserable case Secondly it teacheth vs that if we desire to liue this wee must indeavour by all meanes to be vnited vnto Christ. He is come vnto vs that we might haue life yea and that we might haue it in abundance If we come not to him it is our fault if we liue not And iust cause shall we giue him to complaine of vs as he did of the Iewes yee will not come to me that yee might haue life Our comming is by Faith By it Christ dwelleth in our harts and by it is the iust man said to liue This purgeth and purifieth our soules and produceth in vs the works of charity which are the right operations of Spirituall life Thirdly seeing we liue by Christ it is reason we should also liue vnto him For as S. Augustin saith every thing should liue to that by which it liueth as the body because it liveth by the Soule ought to liue vnto the Soule Hence therefore is it that S. Paul would haue all that are dead vnto sinne to reckon themselues aliue but aliue vnto God through Iesus Christ our Lord. Hence also he affirmeth that none of vs liveth to himselfe but that we liue vnto the Lord and that himselfe through the law is dead to the law that he might liue vnto God But most
expresly thus saith he we iudge that if one died for all thē were all dead that he died for all that they which liue should not henceforth liue vnto themselues but vnto him which died for them and rose againe You will say how are we to liue vnto Christ I answere as the body liueth vnto the Soule The Body liueth vnto the Soule when it is serviceable and obedient therevnto especially when it followeth not the sway of inordinate passion but the direction of right reason In like manner we liue vnto Christ when we serue and obey him not living after the flesh but after the spirit For not they that walke after the flesh are in Christ but they only who are lead by the spirit of Christ. S. Peter expresseth it by liuing not to the lusts of men but to the will of God And by and by setteth down the Iusts of men to be the will of the Gentiles namely lasciviousnesse lusts excesse of wine revellings banquetings abominable idolatries and the like Vnto all which he opposeth liuing according to God in the spirit Fourthly and lastly hence we may learne humility to ascribe nothing to our owne selues For what are wee in nature but stinking carkasses If we liue it is by the meere grace of Christ. Come vnto him of our selues to be quickned by him we could not It was his Father that drew vs vnto him Not vnto vs therefore not vnto vs but vnto the Father through Iesus Christ bee ascribed the whole praise and glory thereof for evermore And thus much of the second point Vnde whence this life is The third point is Quibus vpon whom it is conferred and bestowed Vpon those saith my Text and all those whom his Father hath giuen him Who are they For of them Christ very often speaketh All saith he that my father giueth me shall come vnto me And againe This is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which hee hath giuen me I should loose nothing And yet againe My Father which gaue them me is greater then all And so also sundry times in the sequele of this present Chapter For clearer vnderstanding hereof therefore we are to knowe that there is a double donation by which men are said to be giuen vnto Christ the one Common the other Singular The Common is that whereby the Father hauing given vnto the Sonne all power both in heauen and earth deliuereth all things also into his hand giuing as it were liverie and seizing of them that from thenceforth hee may dispose of them at his pleasure And thus all men whatsoeuer both elect and reprobate are giuen vnto him But this is not here meant as by and by shall appeare Another donation therefore there is more speciall and singular whereby the Father deliuereth vnto the Sonne some of the creatures as vnto a head to be his members or to persist in our present similitude giueth them as a body to the soule to be acted and quickned by him that is to be ruled and ordered not only by the Scepter of his Power but of his Grace and sanctifying Spirit Now who are these Surely not all flesh for all are not vnited to him and so liue not by him Who then They that are elected and chosen vnto life of whom it is said Multi vocati pauci verò electi many are called but few are chosen And that these are here meant plainely appeareth by and by where he saith I haue manifested thy name vnto the men which thou gauest me out of the world that is not to all but some only selected and culled from the rest And againe Thine they were and thou gauest them mee How thine By free election and now mine by speciall donation And yet againe I pray not for the world but for them that thou hast giuen me for they are thine Where you see the world distinguished from them that are given him and excluded from being the Fathers together with them Whence it followeth necessarily that the donation here meant is not of all but those only who in speciall sort are the Fathers namely his chosen and peculiar ones For the better vnderstanding hereof and that you may knowe how and in what order the Father is pleased to proceed in this gracious worke thus I take it you are to conceaue thereof First the Father seeing all mankind by the fall of Adam to bee corrupted and in the state of damnation out of his meere mercy and loue decreed not to loose the whole race of man but to renew and repaire againe his image in some of them to the praise of the glory of his grace prouided yet alwaies that his iustice for sinne be fully satisfied Secondly for the satisfaction of his iustice he further decreed to send his sonne into the world that taking our nature vpon him he might therein suffer whatsoeuer was due to sinne and so mediate a peace betweene God and vs. Then thirdly out of the corrupt Masse of mankinde he selecteth and chuseth some particulars even such as he pleaseth with a purpose infallibly to bring them to everlasting life And in regard of this act it is that our Saviour saith tui erant they were from al eternity thine and againe tui sunt by the constant continuation of the same purpose they are still thine In the fourth place those that are thus elected the Father giueth vnto the Sonne to accomplish his purpose vpon them and by vertue of the power and life giuen him to quicken them vnto eternall life Being thus giuen wee are now Christs Wherevpon also the Church is bold and saith My welbeloued is mine and I am his and S. Paul directly affirmeth that we are Christs And being Christs fiftly lastly he actually enliues quickens them raising them vp from the death of sinne and convaying into them the spirit of life in such sort as wee haue formerly declared But doth Christ bestow life vpon all them that are so given him yea verily my text expressely affirmeth it that he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him This was the very end wherefore the Father gaue them to him And shall we thinke that the Father tooke not order sufficient for the attaining of his end God forbid For because he would not faile of his end therefore did he giue so great power vnto his Sonne Such power that nothing except he would could plucke them out of his hands and so much life that if hee would hee might giue it in abundance Shall we say that the Sonne though he hath power yet wants will Farre be such blasphemy from vs. For he testifieth of himselfe that hee came downe from heauen with this resolution not to doe his owne will but the will of him that sent him and now that he is come that he seeketh not his owne will but the will of the Father
that sent him yea that it is meat vnto him to doe the will of him that sent him and to finish his worke Now this is the Fathers will that of all which he gaue him hee should loose nothing but as my text saith giue vnto them eternall life It is therefore the will of the Sonne also And because according to the old rule Qui potest vult facit hee that both can and will doth vndoubtedly Christ being both able and willing giueth vnto all the elect everlasting life Hence of his Sheepe that is of the elect he saith I giue vnto them eternall life and they shall never perish And againe All that the Father giueth me shall come vnto mee that is shall beleeue in me and liue and him that commeth vnto mee I will in no wise cast out If Christ giue not eternall life to as many as are giuen of his Father then hee looseth some of them For they that liue not eternally perish eternally But the Sonne plainely affirmeth that all that are giuen him he keepeth in his Fathers name and looseth none of thē so that in the last day he may truly say Loe here I am and the children which thou hast given mee And thus to them and to all them whom the Father hath given him hee giueth life But did the Father intend it or doth the Sonne bestow it only on them excluding all others To this question because my text directly answereth nothing I shall haue iust occasion hereafter fully to handle it where our Saviour denieth that he praies for the World I forbeare the resolution of it for the present and reserue it till then as the fitter place In the meane season This vse may we briefly make hereof First it may serue as a cristall mirror wherein to behold the infinite vnspeakable goodnesse loue of the Father towards vs. When we were in the same masse of corruption together with all mankinde it pleased him by free election to single vs from the rest and to bestow vs vpon his Son that hee might bring vs vnto life Vpon what merit None at all For wee were as deepe in the same condemnation as the rest But such was his good will and pleasure and this is the glory of his grace Miserebo◠cuius misertus fuero I will haue mercy on whom I will haue mercy Seeing secondly by the gift of the Father wee are Christs let vs know that he is a good depositary of such care and faithfulnesse that he will not neglect his Fathers pledge of such strength and ability that nothing is able to wrest it out of his hands Were wee our owne or were wee our owne keepers we should surely perish But now Christ is charged with vs who is the safest keeper and who is resolued to preserue vs safe vntill the time that he is to redeliuer vs backe againe vnto his Father who thenceforth shall be all in all vnto vs. Wherefore thirdly the best course we can take is wholly absolutely to resigne our selues into his hands To trust to our selues or to any other is to rely on a broken reed But he is a sure rocke vpon whom we may securely build The Father is wiser then wee and he knew well enough what he did when he commended vs to his Sonne And the Sonne loueth vs farre better then we can loue our selues When wee were his enemies he was content to dye for vs now wee are his friends doth he abate of his loue towards vs Not a whit Let vs therefore with all confidence entrest our selues both soules and bodies vnto him to dispose of vs at pleasure So shall wee rest safe from all dangers and in the end be prouided of everlasting salvation In the meane season let vs in the last place loue yea and long for his second comming that being his there where hee is wee may be also For here though wee be safe yet are we not without assaults those assaults many times shake our Faith and fill vs full of doubts and fears This indeed is our weaknesse For otherwise in regard of the Fathers purpose and the Sonnes protection wee are safe But when he shall returne againe to take vs home to himselfe then shall all doubts and feares cleane be banished For we shall no more beleeue but see our selues free from all dangers and in perfect safety Wherfore come Lord Iesus come quickly And of the third point Quibus to whom thus much The fourth and last in Quamdiu how long this life continues It continues not for a time only as doth the naturall life which after a short while suffereth interruption and is broken off by death but it is an eternall life as my text saith and continueth for ever more vnto the proofe whereof before I descend I must craue leaue to remoue certaine rubs out of our way which otherwise may let and hinder vs in our course For Spirituall life in regard of the degrees thereof being double of grace and of glory there are who restraine eternity vnto this only excluding that as if the life of grace sometime attained not the degree of glory but the life of glory once attained continued eternally Howbeit that the life of Grace is also here meant plainely appeareth by the words immediatly following where our saviour saith This is life everlasting to know thee c. For to know God in Christ is an operation of Spirituall life So also elsewhere He that beleeueth hath eternall life And againe Hee that hath the sonne hath life life I say eternall for so it is forthwith expounded that yee may know that yee haue eternall life Where you see that the words are not of the future tense shall haue but of the present hath life which what other can it be but the life of Grace And of this it is affirmed that it is eternall and so cannot faile of glory But further when it is said to be eternall we are to know that there is a double eternity the one Simple and absolute the other only Respectiue Simple eternity is that which is so both a parte ante a parte post hauing neither beginning nor ending And so is God only eternall The Respectiue is that which is so only a parte post hauing indeed a beginning but afterward never ending And so Angells the Soules of men are said to be eternall and in the same sense doe we vnderstand it of Spirituall life that in regard of the future it is eternall Yet here againe we are to distinguish To the constitution of life three things as wee haue said are required Being Power and Operation As touching the Operations of life we confesse they may suffer intermission For as in an Epilepsie or fit of the falling sicknes no worke of life appeares and yet the partie liues so in the acting of sinne from which the best men are not alwaies free spirituall operations during the while cease
shall be saved and no other Ye see brethren what a large field I haue to expatiate in but the time forceth me to be briefe In other Churches vpon whom the Crosse now lieth heauily this theam perhaps requires a larger handling yet is it not vnseasonable in this our peace to touch it in a few words in regard of the hopes of our enimies and our owne feares if need be to prepare vs for the Crosse. And thus much of the second counsell The third and last is let him follow me This many happily would thinke and many indeed doe thinke to be all one with comming after Christ for what is it to follow but to come after Were it so then were I here to make an end But I suppose there is a farther matter intended in it and therefore let me intreatâ— your patience to adde a word or twaine concerning it Wee are to follow Christ non pedibus sed affectibus not with our feet but with our hearts and affections and we are to follow him Docentem Ducentem both teaching leading vs. For it might be demanded if we must deny our owne selues that is our reason and wills with all their ability and power who then shall direct vs who shall guide vs For our minds being blind we cannot of our selues see the way and our wills being in bondage vnto sin we cannot walke in the way Wherevnto Christ readily returneth this plaine answere Follow me I will be your Teacher I will be your Leader First then Christ is our Teacher even hee who is every way most sufficient to teach He is the eternall word of his eternall Father the very Truth it selfe and the substantiall Wisdome of God He is made of God the grand Counseller of the Church the Angell of the covenant the Apostle of our profession the only Prophet and Doctor of the Church He came out of the bosome of the Father and knoweth all his counsells in him are hid all the treasures of wisdome and knowledge and he hath received the Spirit without measure Being therefore such a Teacher him are we to follow and we are to follow his teaching Audiendo credendo by hearing and beleeuing whatsoever he saith The divine oracle from heaven expressely commandeth vs to heare him This is my beloved sonne in whom I am well pleased heare yee him And our Saviour affirmeth that whosoever are his sheepe heare his voice and will not heare the voice of any other implying that whatsoever heareth him not is none of his sheepe But it is not sufficient to heare vnlesse we also Beleeue that is assent to all that he saies assuring our selues that whatsoever hee affirmes is true and whatsoever he commands is iust To beleeue is the first ground of Christianity He that beleeueth not cannot vnderstand the mysteries thereof O portet discentem credere he that will be a scholler must beleeve his Master if hee will not hee deserues to bee turned out of schoole Christ will not be argued with be it aboue reason or seeme it against reason yet will he be absolutely beleeued And reason for being God who neither can deceiue nor be deceived his bare word is more certaine then a thousand demonstrations Certainely they are none of Christs sheepe that doe not Beleeue and without Faith it is impossible to please God to be iustified in his sight or to obtaine life everlasting Therefore whosoever will come after Christ must thus follow him docentem teaching So must he also Ducentem follow him Leading Hee leadeth and guideth vs two waies Spiritu Exemplo inwardly by his Spirit outwardly by his example By his Spirit first For as Saint Paul saith As many as are lead by the spirit of God are the sonnes of God but if any haue not the spirit of Christ he is none of his Now as the word of Christ sounds outwardly to the eare so doth the Spirit of Christ speake inwardly to the heart He helpeth our infirmities and after a secret and vnconceivable manner suggesteth and putteth good motions into our minds exhorting and persuading vs to the practice of all holy and good duties Which direction of the spirit we are to follow Obediendo by obedience Not to obey the good motions of the Spirit is to resist him to greeue him and to quench him but to cherish the sparke that he hath kindled in vs and to yeeld obedience vnto his holy inspirations and perswasions this is indeed to follow him Which if we doe not wee are yet in the flesh and if wee bee in the flesh we are not in Christ Iesus for they only are in Christ who walke not after the flesh but after the Spirit As Christ leadeth by his Spirit so doth hee also goe before vs by his Example Longum iter per praecepta breve efficax per exempla the way of precept is long and tedious but of example short and effectuall But whose example are we to follow Mans It is not safe for be he neuer so good yet may he erre himselfe and mislead vs. Gods That indeed is safe because he cannot erre nor misguide vs but he is invisible cannot be seene Therefore he became man that being visible in the flesh he might giue vs example Which we are to follow imitando by imitation For as Augustine saith Summa religionis est imitari quem colis It is a chiefe point of religion to imitate him whom wee worship But wherein are we to imitate him In creation of the world in redeeming mankind in meriting for others In working miracles and the like as it is reported of that mad Salmoneus Qui nimbos non imitabile fulmen Aere cornipedum cursu simularat equorum who would needs counterfeit Iupiters thundring and lightning by driuing his chariot over a copper bridge darting torches at the faces of men No if wee would burst our selues with pride we cannot imitate God in these things Potestas subiectionem maiestas exigit admirationem neutra imitationem saith Bernard the power of God requireth subiection his maiesty admiration neither imitation How then Appareat Domine bonitas tua cui possit homo quia ad imaginem tuam creatus est conformari let thy goodnes o Lord appeare wherevnto man being created after thine owne image may be conformed To be breefe wee are to imitate Christ in all those holy duties which hee commandeth and whereof he hath made himselfe an example They are all summed vp in one word Obedience this hee commanded this he practised And he practised it both actiuely and passiuely and in both is he to be imitated He obeyed the law of his father the Morall law as being the sonne of Adam the Ceremoniall as being the sonne of Abraham And this actiuely exampling vs to walke even as he walked in all duties by God enioyned vs. It would bee too long to particularize in all those
that receaue it The body of Christ not many Bodies but one Body Whence I argue as wee by receauing the Sacrament are made Christs Body so is the Bread But wee are not made his Body corporally by way of Transubstantiation Ergo neither is the Bread nay much lesse is the Bread But Saint Chrysostome saith Not by faith only but in very deed True Yet not as if he that is ioyned to Christ by Faith were not indeed ioyned for as Saint Augustine saith The Apostle deceiueth vs not who saith that Christ dwelleth in our harts by faith He is in thee because faith is in thee Nor as if he would exclude Faith and that a man might be vnited vnto Christ by some other meanes without Faith How then His meaning plainly is this that wee are ioyned vnto Christ by Faith and by charity and that this coniunction is not only imaginary as some may foolishly conceiue by the apprehension of the mind and phantasy or by participation of the spirituall gifts and graces of Christ but true and Reall by communication of his very Flesh vnto vs. Of which more in the next testimony Saint Cyril saith that wee are conioyned vnto Christ corporally by communication of his flesh and againe that in the Sacrament wee corporally and substantially receiue the Sonne of God Wherevnto I answere that Saint Cyril disputeth against a certaine Heretike who held that wee are one with Christ by Faith in his Deity and not by coniuction with his Flesh and to this purpose wrested that saying of our Saviour wherein he calleth himselfe a Vine vs the branches and his Father the Husbandman To refute this he endeavoureth to shew that wee are ioyned vnto him not only by that Faith whereby wee beleeue him to be the Sonne of God and that Charity whereby wee loue him and spiritually embrace him but also in our Flesh to his very Flesh and that therefore Christ not only in regard of Deity is the Vine and wee his Branches but also in respect of his Body May it not saith hee conveniently be said that his humanity is the vine and wee the Branches by reason of the identity of nature And to proue this he drawes his argument from this Sacrament for that by it not only the gifts and graces of his Deity but also his true reall Body is after an inscrutable and vnspeakable manner communicated vnto vs. True it is he vseth the word corporally but he saith also by the participation of the same flesh Whereby he insinuateth that hee intendeth not by that word to expresse the Manner how we are vnited but the Thing wherevnto wee are vnited after a Bodily manner but vnto the Body Else this absurdity will follow that wee by the Sacrament are after a Bodily manner in Christ as well as Christ is in vs for Saint Cyril affirmeth both that wee are corporally in Christ and Christ corporally in vs. Whereas therefore Cyril saith not only by Faith and charity but also corporally he doth not exclude the one but admitteth both as appeareth by that he saith both spiritually and corporally are wee the Branches and Christ the Vine And the plaine meaning is that not only in regard of the Spirit or Deity of Christ and our faith charity but also in respect of his very Flesh are wee truly ioyned vnto him More briefly wee are vnited not to his Divinity or Humanity alone but vnto both N. N. Wherevnto for more explication addeth Theophilact When Christ said this is my Body hee shewed that it was his very Body indeede and not any Figure correspondent therevnto for he said not This is the figure of my body but this is my body By which words the bread is transformed by an vnspeakable operation though to vs it seeme still bread And againe in another place Behold that the Bread which is eaten by vs in the mysteries is not only a figuration of Christs flesh but the very flesh indeed for that the Bread is transformed by secret words into the flesh And another Father more ancient then he aboue twelue hundred yeares past handled these words of Christ This is my Body saith It is not the figure of Christs Body and Blood as some blockish minds haue trifled but it is truly the Body and Blood of our Saviour indeed I. D. The testimonies of Theophilact I might safely if I would passe over in silence for that hee liued some nine hundred yeares after Christ and therefore is too young to be reckoned among the ancient Fathers Neverthelesse let vs heare what he brings Christ saith not This is the figure of my body but this is my body True neither was it fit to speake otherwise For in the institution of a Sacrament what forme can be more fit then that which is proper to a Sacrament That forme is to giue vnto the signe the name of that whereof it is a signe Hence is circumcision called the covenant and the Lamb the Passeover and Baptisme our Death and Buriall with Christ. The reason because of the resemblance that is betweene the Sacraments and those things whereof they are Sacraments as Saint Augustine saith As also to raise our thoughts from setling on that which is earthly and elementall in them to the contemplation of that heauenly grace which is signified and exhibited by them as Theodoret saith But of this what doth he collect That it is his very body indeed and not any figure thereof Not any Figure Those that are both his ancestors and betters say otherwise Tertullian The bread that was taken and given to the Disciples Christ made his body saying This is my body that is the Figure of my body Augustine The Lord did not sticke to say This is my body when hee gaue the signe of his body And againe The Lord at his supper commended and deliuered to his Disciples the figure of his body and blood Amhrose The new Testament is confirmed by blood in a Figure of which blood wee receiue the mysticall cup. Hierom Iesus tooke bread and giuing thankes brake it transfiguring his body into the bread Finally for it would be infinite to alledge all what more frequent in the writings of the Fathers then Signes Sacraments Figures Symbols Types Anti-types Mysteries Samplars Images Similitudes Remembrances and the like Against all whose yea Theophilacts Nay is not worth a straw Yet for all this if you will giue him leaue to interpret himselfe I see not but his Nay may easily bee reconciled to their Yea. For in the next passage by you vouched he faith It is not only a Figuration as if hee should say A figure it is but it is not only so not a bare and naked Figure but a Figure endued from on high with the efficacy of the Spirit according to that of St Cyprian The truth is present to the signe and the spirit to the Sacrament As
for the Transformation of Bread into Flesh which he speakes of though still it seeme Bread it is plaine hee meanes not that of Transubstantiation for in this Bread ceaseth to be but in that he confesseth it still to remaine and that it is Bread which is eaten by vs in the Mysteries Which yet he more plainly expresseth where hee saith God in mercy condescending to our infirmity preserueth the Species or Nature of Bread and wine but trans-elementeth or changeth it into the vertue of his flesh blood where it is farther to be obserued that hee saith not into flesh and blood but into the vertue thereof intimating a Change not of Substance but of Operation and Efficacy Your next witnesse is Magnetes an author to me vtterly vnknowne saue that Gesner in his Bibliotheca reporteth that he was very ancient and that about thirteene hundred yeares since hee wrote in the Greeke tongue certaine bookes in defence of the Gospell vnto Theosthenes against the Gentiles that flandered it and that he is quoted by Fr. Turrian By which words it seemes that hee never yet saw the Presse and what is alledged out of him is warranted only by Turrians testimony But Turrian is one that deserues no credit at our hands as being a Iesuite and knowne to haue plaid many foule tricks this way Yet if to make your author agree with the rest of the Fathers you will giue the same construction to his words that aboue is giuen vnto Theophilact you may Otherwise his authority is as easily reiected as alledged N. N. St Hilary vseth this kind of argument If the word of God were truly made flesh then doe wee truly receiue his flesh in the Lords supper and thereby he is to bee esteemed to dwell in vs naturally St Cyril proueth not only a Spirituall but also a Naturall and Bodily vnion to be betweene vs and Christ by eating his flesh in the Sacrament I. D. That Hilary speaketh of the Lords Supper or of our Coniunction with Christ by Eating thereof I thinke it will hardly be proved Had he so meant how cometh it to passe that he never alledgeh those words of the Sacrament This is my body which would haue made more for his purpose but ever voucheth the sixt of Iohn which maketh little to the Sacrament Howbeit if you will needs vnderstand him so I will not striue Know then that in those bookes St Hilary disputes against the Arians To them he obiected that saying The Father and the Sonne are one One answered they as wee are with Christ by Will not by Nature wherevnto he replied that wee are even by Nature one with Christ. And this he proues first because both in Christ and vs there is the same Humane nature by the Incarnation of the Sonne of God which hee calls the Sacrament of perfect vnion Secondly because the Faithfull are ioyned vnto him by his Spirit dwelling in them which regenerateth quickneth sanctifieth them and not only conformeth them vnto him but also transformeth them into him And for proofes hereof hee alledgeth divers passages of St Iohns Gospell such as your selues confesse no way to belong vnto the Sacrament Thirdly for that by Baptisme we are ioyned vnto Christ and that not only by consent of will but naturally according to that of Saint Paul As many as are baptized into Christ haue put on Christ. Whereunto lastly if you please you may adde for that also in the Lords Supper wee are vnited vnto him by Eating his Flesh and Drinking his Blood All these waies saith Hilary are wee Naturally ioyned vnto Christ. If so then not only by the Eucharist And if for the establishing of the other meanes there needeth no Transubstantiation at all as of the Sonne of God into Man of Faith into the Spirit of Christ or of Baptismall water into the Bloud of Christ neither is it necessarie for this that bread be Transubstantiated into the Body of Christ. Or if to bring Christ into vs and our mouth you will needs transubstantiate the bread into his body I wonder what Transubstantiation you will devise to bring vs into him and his mouth For Hilary affirmeth that by the same Mysticall coniunction not only is Christ in vs but also wee are Naturally in him The same Answere may serue for Cyril also wherevnto for farther explication of the word Naturally and Naturall so often vsed both by Cyril and Hilary I adde that in them Naturally signifieth Truly Naturall True if wee may beleeue him who best knew their meaning even Cyril himselfe For thus he Not according to naturall vnity that is true vnity By nature wee are the children of wrath where by nature we are to vnderstand truth So that Naturall vnion is true vnion and naturally to be vnited is truly to be vnited which I hope may bee without Transubstantiation N. N. Theodoret doth proue that Christ tooke Flesh of the blessed virgin and ascended vp with the same and holdeth the same there by that he giueth to vs his true flesh in the Sacrament for that otherwise hee could not giue vs his true Flesh to eat if his owne flesh were not true seeing that he gaue the same that he carried vp and retaineth in heauen I. D. I marvell much not one of the Fathers being more expresse against Transubstantiation then Theodoret that yet you durst to praise him in the maintenance thereof Evē for this cause doth the Preface to the Roman Edition goe about to weaken his authority and Gregorie of Valentia flatly condemneth him It is no wonder saith he if one or two or more of the Ancients haue thought or written of this matter not so considerately and rightly Adde herevnto that Theodoret was noted by the Councell of Ephesus for some other errours besides But how much Theodoret maketh against Transubstantiation you shall heare hereafter Now you may be pleased to knowe that in the place by you cited he disputeth against an Eutychian Hereticke who held that the Humanitie of Christ was abolished and absorpted by his Deitie This hee would proue by the Eucharist that as the Symbols before Consecration are one thing but after it are changed and become another even so the Body of Christ after the Assumption thereof is chāged into the Divine Substance Now if Theodoret had beene Transubstantiator hee had beene finely taken for Transubstantiation abolisheth the substance of Bread and turneth it into the substance of Christs Body But hee taketh the Heretike in his owne nets affirming the Mysticall signes after their sanctification doe not depart from their nature and that therefore Christ after the Assumption thereof retaineth his Humanity still Whereby you may see that although it be yeelded that Christ giueth vs his true Flesh in the Sacrament yet in the iudgement of Theodoret he so giueth it that the Mysticall signes retaine their Nature still which vtterly overturnes your Transubstantiation N. N. S. Irenaeus S. Iustin and S.
Chrysostome doe proue not only this but the Resurrection also of our Bodies by the truth of Christs Flesh in the Sacrament for that our Flesh ioyning with his Flesh which is immortall shall bee immortall also I. D. The truth of Christs Flesh in the Sacrament and the Coniunction of our Flesh with his Flesh neither is nor ever was by vs denied And therefore to heap vp Fathers for the proofe thereof is but to spend your labour to no purpose That you should proue is the Presence of Christ by Transubstantiation Which hitherto you haue but little aymed at In the Sacrament say these Fathers our Flesh is ioyned to Christs Flesh Ergo our Flesh shall rise againe The Antecedent is true and the sequele is good But what ioyning doe they meane The taking of Christs flesh into the mouth They neuer dreamt of it And if it were so it would follow that all they that eat Christ Sacramentally among whom how many Reprobates are there shall rise againe vnto life everlasting For I hope you will not say that the sacred Flesh of Christ doth quicken any vnto everlasting death How then is it By eating him not only Sacramentally but also spiritually and by Faith For by this meanes Christ becomes the food of our soules which redounding vpon the Flesh by making it the Temple of the Holy Ghost and an instrument of righteousnes fitteth and prepareth it to a glorious Resurrection Hence our Sauiour He that eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud hath life everlasting and I will raise him vp at the last day And the Apostle S. Paul If Christ bee in you the Body indeed is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life because of righteousnesse But if the spirit of him that raised vp Iesus Christ from the dead dwell in you hee that raised vp Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you And that this is the meaning of the Fathers appeares by that they say Our bodies come not into corruption but partake of life by being nourished with the body bloud of the Lord. For that our bodies in litterall sense should be nourished with Christs body is to make it the food of the belly not of the minde then which saith Bellarmine nothing can bee deuised more absurd And what I pray you is Nourishment properly Only to take meat into the mouth No but the alteration and conversion of the substance thereof into the substance of that which is nourished which to affirme of the Body of Christ is horrible impiety Of force therefore must the Fathers be vnderstood to speake of such a Nourishment by the body of Christ as is spirituall Now if the Nourishment be spirituall such is the Eating also and it is as absurd to say that the soule is nourished by bodily eating as that the body is nourished by spirituall eating Will you haue all in a word The things that wee eat with our mouth in the Sacramēt are not the causes but the pledges of our Resurrection So saith the great Councell of Nice We must beleeue these things to be the symbols or pledges of our Resurrection N. N. And the same S. Irenaeus doth proue farther that the great God of the old Testament Creator of heauen earth was Christs Father For proofe whereof hee alleageth this reason that Christ in the Sacrament did fulfill the Figures of the old Testament and that in particular wherein bread was a figure of his Flesh which he fulfilled saith Irenaeus making it his Flesh indeed I. D. The Marcionites whom Irenaeus confuteth taught that the God of the old Testament was not the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and that the Creator was knowne but the Father of Christ was vnknowne Against this hee endeauoureth to proue that the Father of our Lord was he who created the world That this he intendeth manifestly appeareth by those words where hee saith Others saying that another besides the creator is his Father and offering vnto him those creatures that are here amongst vs shew that he is greedy and covetous of that which is anothers And among other arguments this he vseth for one Bread and Wine are the creatures of the Creator of the world which creatures Iesus Christ vseth in the Sacrament the one to be his Body and the other to be his Bloud and therein are they offered to his Father Ergo the Creator is his Father Were he not his Father he would never haue takē that which belongs vnto another or whervnto he had no right and convert it to his owne vse So that here your Author hath notably deceaued you For Irenaeus proueth Christ to bee the sonne of the Creator not by his omnipotence in turning Bread and Wine into his Flesh and Bloud a thing that neuer came into his thought but from his right and title to the Creatures which maketh nothing for Transubstantiation Touching the Figures of the old Testament and how they prefigured our Sacraments we haue spoken enough already N. N. What is so sacrilegious saith Optatus Milevitanus as to breake downe scrape and remoue the altars of God on which your selues haue sometimes offered and the members of Christ haue beene borne c. What is an altar but the Seat of the Body and Bloud of Christ And this monstrous villanie of yours is doubled for that you haue brokē also the chalice which did beare the Bloud of Christ himselfe When the mixed chalice and the Bread broken taketh the word of God the Eucharist of the bloud and body of Christ is made Bread receauing the calling of God is not now common bread but the Eucharist consisting of two things one earthly another heavenly the earthly thing is the old forme of bread the heavenly is the body of Christ newly made vnder that forme Let vs now consider also the persons to whom this Commandement was giuen they were those twelue Apostles whom Christ at his last Supper taught the new Oblation of the new Testament giuing them authority by this precept to consecrate to make present and to offer to God his body and bloud I. D. Where little or nothing is objected the answer is soone made Optatus saith that the altar is the seat of Christs body and bloud and that the chalice beareth his bloud Irenaeus saith that after consecration the Eucharist of the body and bloud is made that in it there is a heavenly thing and the Apostles had authority to make present the body of Christ. Ergo the body and bloud of Christ is really corporally locally and by way of Transubstantiation present in the Sacrament A poore and silly consequence which all the wity our author hath wil neuer be able to make good For those words of the Fathers may be salued and verified if Christ be Present any other way And Present hee is Sacramentally to the signes and spiritually to the Faith of
As the heavenly bread which is the Flesh of Christ after its manner is called the Body of Christ being in truth the Sacramentâ— of Christs Body Marke that which is called Body is not so in truth but only in signe and after a manner Pope Leo Christ being lifted vp into heaven set an end to his Bodily Presence being to abide at the right hand of his Father vntill the times appointed by God for the multiplying of the Sonnes of the Church be accomplished If till then he haue set an end to his Bodily presence then till that time he is no more here Fulgentius the holy Catholike Church throughout the whole world ceaseth not to offer vnto Christ the sacrifice of Bread and Wine in Faith and Charity If a Sacrifice of bread and wine then is it bread and wine after consecration Pope Gelasius certainly the Sacraments of the body and bloud of Christ which wee receiue is a divine thing wherefore by them are wee made partakers of the divine nature and yet the substance or nature of Bread and Wine cease not to bee And verily the image and similitude of the body and bloud of Christ are celebrated in these mysteries And They passe by the worke of the holy Ghost into a divine substance continuing notwithstanding in the propriety of their nature Lo the Substance and Nature of bread remaine and the Sacrament is but an image and Similitude of Christs body What can be more plaine Theodoret Himselfe hath honoured the Visible Symbols with the name of his body and bloud not changing their nature but adding grace vnto nature And againe disputing against an Eutychian Heretike who to overthrow the Humanity of Christ had thus argued that as the signes in the Eucharist are after Consecration changed so the body of our Lord after the assumption thereof was changed into the Divine substance hee bringeth in Orthodaxus thus answering Thou art taken in thine owne nets for the mysticall signes after consecration depart not from their proper nature For they remaine in their former substance and figure and forme and are visible and tangible as formerly they were but are vnderstood to bee thee things they are made and beleeued and are honoured as being the things they are beleeued These passages of Gelasius and Theodoret are the very racke gibbet of you Papists wherevnto the best of you know not what to answere but only that by substance Accident is meant An incredible obstinacy and madnesse and needing rather a Physitian to cure it then a disputer to confute it For with as good reason may you say that by white blacke is meant and by Heaven Hell and any thing by whatsoever Lastly Gregory the Great proueth the truth of Christs body against Eutychius by those words of our Saviour Handle mee and see Can you proue the truth of Christs body in the Sacrament by the same argument Verily if that which is neither felt nor seene be not Flesh Bone neither is the Flesh of Christ in the Sacrament for it is neither felt nor sâ—ene And if bread bee transubstantiated only by vertue of those words This is my body then in the Apostles time there was no Transubstantiation at all For as Gregory saith The manner of the Apostles was only by the Lords prayer to consecrate the host of the Oblation And thus haue you a full grand Iury of the ancient Fathers all of them liuing within sixe hundred yeares after Christ and with joynt consent crossing your new vpstart fiction of the Reall Presence To these I might easily adde a long list of those who succeeded in after times as Bede Rabanus Maurus Walafridus Strabo Bertram Waleram Bishop of Medburg Druthmarus and others not one of them in their times taxed for errour in this point But I will only relate what the Doctrine of the Church of England was about seauen hundred yeares after Christ as appeareth by those Homilies that then were publikely read vnto the people The holy Font water that is called the well-spring of life is like in shape to other waters and is subiect to corruption but the holy Ghosts might cometh to the water through the Priests blessing and it can after wash the body and soule from all sin through Ghostly might Behold now wee see two things in this one creature After true nature that water is corruptible water and after ghostly mystery hath hollowing might So also if wee behold that holy housel after bodily vnderstanding then see wee that it is a creature corruptible and mutable if we acknowledge therein ghostly might then vnderstand wee that life is therein and that it giueth immortality to them that eate it with beleefe Much is betwixt the invisible might of the holy housel the visible shape of his proper nature It is naturally corruptible Bread and corruptible Wine is by might of Gods word truly Christs Body and his bloud not so notwithstanding bodily but Ghostly Much is betwixt the body Christ suffered in and the body that is hallowed to housel The body truly that Christ suffered in was borne of the flesh of Mary with bloud and with bone with skinne and with sinews with humane limmes with a reasonable soule liuing and his Ghostly body which we call the housel is gathered of many cornes without bloud and bone without limme without Soule And therefore nothing is to bee vnderstood therein bodily but all is Ghostly to be vnderstood Thus the Homily and thus much thereof haue I thought good here at large to set downe to the end you may know that our Ancestors in this Iland notwithstanding your loud craks to the contrary haue not alwaies at leastwise in this point beene Papists Besides these testimonies of antiquity wee haue their customes also against you St Hierom reporteth that in the Primitiue times after the holy Communion was ended they were wont to feast together in the Church and to spend the residue of the Eucharist that remained Hesychius saith that it was the custome not to reserue till the morrow as your manner now adaies is but to burne what fragments soeuer remained of the consecrated Elements Evagrius and Nicephorus both doe testifie that the ancient custome of the Church of Constantinople was to send for little children from the schoole such as otherwise were barred from the Communion to giue the remainders of the Sacrament to them Had the Church in those daies verily beleeued that it had been the true and Real body of Christ doe you thinke they would so haue profaned it by feasting vpon it and bestowing it on children Or that they would with such impietie and sacrilege haue burned and consumed it in the fire It is altogether incredible As incredible therefore that they held it to be the Lords Body But of Antiquity enough Fiftly and lastly it implieth in it innumerable contradictions which according to the rule of Logick cannot
of Faith because it is not a matter altogether so necessary for all men and because for this reason peradventure it is omitted in the Nicen Creed the knowledge of which Creed seemeth to be sufficient for fulfilling the Precept of Faith Lastly for this cause peradventure Augustine and other of the Fathers expounding the Creed doe not vnfold this mystery vnto the people Thus he But perhaps your Author hath reason for what he saies Certainly none at all Only he rakes together all the vehement and passionate speeches whatsoever hee can finde to haue passed from any of our pens in heat of contention to worke all the disgrace he can vpon vs. And if any of vs for proofe of his Conclusion draw his Argument from an Article of Faith then shall say as sometimes through too much eagernesse men vse to doe the Controversie is about such an Article loe saith your Author by and by a difference in matters Essentiall and Fundamentall whereas notwithstanding we all agree in the Article and the difference lies only in the Conclusion And seeing in all disputations it is the manner to fetch proofs from common Principles assented vnto on all sides what folly is it leaving the Question in debate to make that the matter of controversie wherein we all perfectly accord If any in pursuing their quarrels haue suffered themselues to bee transported with passion farther then becomes Christian charitie I acknowledge humane infirmitie vndertake not to defend them Yet you may knowe that others haue proceeded much farther For in that of Theophilus Patriarch of Alexandria and Epiphanius B. of Cyprus against Chrysostome they grew to such violence that Epiphanius and he cursed one the other many were slaine in taking of parts the Cathedral Church of Constantinople and the Senate house were burned to the groūd Chrysostome himselfe lost both his Bishopricke and life in banishment Which made Baronius beginning to entreat thereof to vse these words A shamefull contention in the Church the lamentable narration whereof I now take in hand wherein shall bee described the bickering and cursed persecution not of Gentiles against Christians or Hereticks against Catholikes or wicked men against good iust men but which is monstrous and prodigious of Saints and holy men one against another But what is there all peace in the Romish Church no quarrell no contention at all So would your lying Masters haue all their credulous schollers to beleeue though all the world knowe to the contrary For haue there not beene therein about thirtie Schismes and some of them continuing many yeares together wherein Pope hath beene against Pope one thundring excommunications against another and by their factions renting the whole Christian world asunder Haue there not beene long quarrells betweene the Franciscans and Dominicans about the Conception of the blessed Virgin Mary Doth the Church of France at this day admit of the Councel of Trent which you count the chiefest stake in your hedge Was there not of late a foule bickering betweene the state of Venice and the Pope about the power hee would haue vsurped over them I suppose you are not such a stranger in England but you may haue heard of the infamous dissentions betweene the Secular Priests and Iesuits Which themselues were not ashamed to publish to the world For a tast thus say the Seculars of the Iesuits and you may assure your selfe they were repaid in their owne coine Howsoeuer Iesuits talke of their perfections holinesse and meditations exercises yet their plat-forme is heathenish tyrannicall satanicall and able to set Aretine Lucian Machiavel yea Don Lucifer in sort to schoole It seemeth impossible for Antichrist to invent a more sleightie plausible and colourable devise nor with greater art more cunning tricks bring it about to make him be credited then the Iesuits haue invented and put in practise Iesuits teach that the Catholique Church must now hang vpon the Monarchie of K. Philip and his heires A Iesuit maintained that a man that is no Christian may be Pope There is not a Iesuit nor a Iesuits fautor any where to bee found but hath a foule tast of Atheisme Iesuits impudence to deny all truths against them as lies obiect any slaunderous lie as a truth The Pope said of them that on the one side they pretended piety and zeale and on the other shewed the very spirit of the Divell in pride contumacy and contradiction c. They haue three maxims times are changed and wee are changed in them all for the time and nothing for the truth divide and rule Of Father Parsons also thus in particular A bastard vnhonestly begot basely borne a Wolsey in ambition a Midas in Mundicity a traitor in action The villany of this bastardly Renegate Parsons cursed be the houre wherein he was borne the sonne of sinne of iniquity of sacrilege of the people of the Divell The great Emperour illegitimate irregular abstract quintessence of all coines coggeries and forgeries Parsons the bastard of Stockersey O monster of mankinde fitter for Hell then middle earth Thou giuest occasion to divers to thinke thou art not a meere man but some Fairy-brat begotten by an Incubus or Aërish spirit vpon the body of a base woman I might be infinite in this kind but this is enough to let you see that all the distemper lies not on our side but that your very ring-leaders can outrage one another and farre exceed vs in bitternesse and tartnesse And least you should thinke that all your quarrells are rather about by matters then in points of Doctrine know that herein also you are miserably distracted and divided Your ancient Schoolemen Thomas Scotus Durandus Occam and the rest what almost doth any one of them say but is straight gainsayed by another Is it not ordinary also with your new writers Bellarmine Suares Gregory of Valentia Stapleton and others one to controll and confute the others opinions Bozius saith Warmington blameth many excellent Divines namely Bellarmine calling them new Divines and teachers of false Doctrine The Vulgar translation of the Bible I suppose is made Authenticall by your Trent Fathers yet saith the Iesuit Mariana there hath beene of Late especially in Spaine such disputation moued about it among Divines and pursued with such heat and eagernesse and implacable hatred on each side that from reproaches and contumelies wherewith they disgraced one the other they came at length vnto the tribunalls and that side which was most confident vexed their adversaries most greevously accusing them in point of religion as wicked proud arrogant such as boldly elevate the authority of the bookes of God and the credit of that interpretation which the Church every where vseth and is tearmed Vulgar preferring and bringing in new interpretations contrary to the Lawes both of God and man and the decrees of the Tridentine Councell not long since published And now at this instant what deadly warres are
the present Roman Church is still in some sort a part of the Visible Church of God but no otherwise then other Societies of Hereticks are in that it retaineth the profession of some parts of Heauenly truth and ministreth the true Sacrament of Baptisme to the salvation of the soules of many thousand infants that dye after they are baptized before shee haue poysoned them with her errours Thus he Wherevnto I adde that of St Hilary God in the Churches of the Arrians called many by the word and Sacraments to the knowledge of the truth whose eares were more pure then were the mouthes of their teachers The issue of all is this You are a Church but neither the Catholike Church nor a sound member thereof What then An Hereticaâ— and impure Church And if Salvation may be had therein it is only by those truths you haue common with vs and not the Papacie wherein notwithstanding there can bee no more security had thereof then of life in a pesthouse of which though there may be a possibility yet the danger is such that a thousand to one if a man escape the infection And what folly is it to leaue that Church wherein there is security and to cleaâ—e vnto that wherein there is no hope but only of a poore possibility Willet remaines for whom what better advocate then himselfe That many Kings and Queenes of this land are Saints in Heaven is not by any protestant denyed For they might be carried away with some errours of the time then not revealed yet holding the foundation through Gods mercy they might be saved It is a divers case when a man sinneth of infirmity or simplicity and when hee offendeth willingly and of obstinacy To stumble in the darke craueth pitty to grope at noone-daies is great folly I say therefore in this case as our Saviour to the Pharisees If yee were blind yee should not haue sin but now ye say we see therefore your sinne remaineth And as St Paul the time of ignorance God regarded not God therefore might shew mercy to them that erred of Simplicity which is no warrant for them that should now be seduced willingly And such are you Recusants to whom wee can promise nothing but fearfull things though of our fore-fathers wee hope all good That which your Author farther addes of himselfe let the same Willet answer Though divers saith hee of those ancient Kings became Monks yet neither was the Monasticall life so farre out of square as now it is they made it not a cloke of idlenesse and filthy liuing a nursery of idolatry and grosse supertitions but they desired that life as fittest for contemplation and free from the encumbrances of the world Neither doth this one opinion of the excellency of Monasticall life shew them to be resolute Papists for it followeth not because they were Monks that consequently they held Transubstantiation worship of images and the more grosse points of the Romish Catechisme Will you haue any more In few words thus Anciently Monks some of them were lay-men some were married they bound themselues with no vowes they made no distinction of meats they laboured with their hands and liued not in Citties but remote places By all which you may see Polydor Virgill had reason to say It is incredible how much nowadaies they are degenerated N. N. Your fourth and last reason the quarrells and bitter speeches of Luther Melancthon Zuniglius Beza Carolus Molniaeus Amsdorfius Hosiander Protestants of Zurich of England c. I. D. This reason differeth not in substance but only in quotations from the second Which quotations whether they be true or false neither will I spend time to search neither is it any whit materiall And therefore neither will I vouchsafe it any farther answer then that which already I haue given to the second The best Churches haue seldome beene without their quarrels and vsually are menaged with two much passion The malice of Satan is the cause of the one and humane infirmity of the other Which infirmity seeing wee cannot altogether put off while we liue here in the flesh Christian charity would rather pitie it then vpbraid it Neverthelesse that which is amisse may not be defended neither meane I to goe about it Only I perswade my selfe that if wee vnderstood one the other better our quarrells would never be so vehement For what was it that set Luther and Zuinglius so farre asunder but misprision And what caused such hard censures to passe vpon Hosiander but his owne inconvenient speeches and other mens mistakings These are the two principall quarrells here mentioned by you giue me leaue therefore to shew so much in them but briefly The quarrell betweene Luther and Zuinglius was about Christs presence in the Sacrament which as you hold to be by way of Transubstantiation so did Luther by way of Consubstantiation Which how it could be vnlesse the body of Christ were every where Zuinglius others could not conceiue and being pressed therewith he and his followers not being able to avoid it maintained that also But how by reason of the Hypostaticall vnion and coniunction thereof with the word For the Word being every where and the Humane Nature being no where feuered from it how can it be say they but every where And hence the distraction and therevpon all those passionate speeches Now saith Zanchy if they meane that the body of Christ is present according to his personall being they say true contradict not those who speake of his Naturall being or being of Essence D. Field thus expresseth it The humane Nature of Christ hath two kinds of being the one naturall the other personall the first limited finite the second infinite incoÌ„prehensible For seeing the nature of man is a created nature and essence it cannot be but finite and seeing it hath no Personall subsistence of it owne but that of the Sonne of God communicated to it which is infinite and without limitation it cannot be denied to haue an infinite Subsistence to subsist in an incomprehensible and illimited sort and consequently every where Thus then the body of Christ according to his Naturall being is contained in one place but according to his Personall being may rightly be said to be every where So Field whereby you may easily perceiue that the warres betwixt hony-bees are not such but the casting vp of a little dust will soone stint them For if this distinction had well beene conceiued this Vbiquitary strife had quickly beene ended If any notwithstanding haue beene so grosse as to maintaine an Vbiquity according to Essence or Naturall being which I can hardly beleeue I must professe I know no excuse for them The second quarrell is against Hosiander who seemeth to define Iustification by a transfusion of the Essentiall righteousnesse of Christ into vs and a confusion as it were and mixture of it together with vs. And against this divers haue written very
affectione commodi that is though in regard of holinesse and righteousnesse he were already peâ—â—â—â—y blessed and arrived at his end yet by reason of thâ—â—pprehension of those vnpleasing and afflictiue evills which now were and yet were more to be vpon him the ioyes delights of heauen were not imparted to him So that the fulnesse and complement of Glory he had not yet attained Which being so the third and last enquirie how hee would be glorified may easily be resolued For as appeares by what we haue said he desires the dispelling and remouing of all those thicke mists and clouds which hitherto eclipsed his Deity that is the deposition not of his Humane nature for that is now become an essentiall part of his Person and shall continue therein vnto all eternity but of all humane infirmities and that low condition to which he had humbled himselfe to the end the glory of his Deity might at length appeare and shine forth most perfectly He desires furthermore that his Father would be pleased to glorifie him by preseruing and supporting him in the last act of his tragedy I meane his bitter agonie and passion by loosing the sorrowes of death and raising him from the graue by taking him vp into heaven setting him at his right hand crowned with maiesty and power and finally by conferring vpon him all glorious endowments both of soule and body and ioyning him vnto himselfe not only by the affection of perfect iustice but of comfort and delight also Hee desires lastly to bee glorified by the full manifestation of his Glory both that which already he had and that which yet he was to haue that not only Iewes but Gentiles also by the mission of his holy spirit and the preaching of his Apostles might know him to be the eternall Sonne of God of the same substance with the Father and no way inferiour vnto him Man also but such a man as is assumpted 〈◊〉 the vnitie of the second person in the Trinitie slaâ—â—â—â—ed and condemned yet iust and innocent dead and buried yet raised vp againe and liuing humbled low yet exalted high even to the highest top of all as hauing a name given him aboue every name And that these things being generally knowne of all he might be magnified and adored of all and at the name of Iesus all knees might bow both of things in Heaven and things in earth and things vnder the earth and every tongue might confesse that Iesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father And thus you see how our Saviour would be glorified The consideraâ—ion of all which may be vnto vs of singular vse and comfort For first seeing Christ who cannot be denyed what ever he demands hath prayed for his glorification what vanity is it for any man to thinke or hope that he can hinder or obscure it Let Iewes persecute him put him to death set a watch about his sepulcher to keepe him down yet can they not let but hee shall reviue and rise againe Though tyrants by open violence oppose the profession of his name and Hereticks by Sophistrie seeke to vndermine it and Antichrist assault it both waies by violence and sophistrie yet maugre all their cunning and malice his Father shall surely glorifie him Yea he is God manifested in the flesh iustified in the spirit seene of Angells preached vnto the Gentiles beleeved on in the world and received vp into glory Onely now it remaines to expect and pray for his returne in glory Secondly the Glorification of Christ is the pledge and earnest of our Glorification For had not he risen ascended and beene receiued vp into glory neither should wee The gates of death had beene bard vpon vs and of heaven shut against vs we should haue beene covered with eternall shame and ignominie But now Christ like another Sampson hath broken through the gates of death our head is risen and wee in him Hee is ascended and gone from vs but gone to prepare a place for vs that where he is there we may be also and behold that his glory and beholding it be made like vnto him bearing his glorious image For as now because hee is full of grace wee of his fulnesse receiue even grace for grace so being full of glory of his fulnesse wee shall also receiue even glory for glory Memorable is that saying of Tertullian As he hath left vnto vs the earnest of his spirit so he hath receiued from vs the earnest of our flesh and hath caried it into heaven as a pledge that the whole summe shall one day be reduced thither Rest therefore secure oh flesh and bloud yee haue livery seizan of heauen and the kingdome of God already in Christ. Thirdly Christ so earnestly suing for his Glorification it is our duty by all meanes both to procure and further his Glory which if wee cannot doe in such sort as his Father doth yet are wee to performe it in such a sort as we may If not gloriosum faciendo by bestowing glory vpon him yet gloriosum dicendo by praising and magnifying his glory By faith we are to be assured thereof by confession to acknowledge it by our holy Christian life to testify that the faith of our hearts and the confession of our mouthes accord and agree together and as much as lies in vs to labour that others may glorifie Christ together with vs. Fourthly and lastly as Christ did so are wee warranted by his example to pray for our owne Glorification that God would be pleased to perfect that glory vpon vs which here by grace he hath begunne in vs. Hence is it that the Saints are said not only to loue but also to long for the second comming of Christ as knowing that till then it cannot be obtained that the Church also so earnestly prayes Turne my beloued and be like the Roe or young Hart vpon the mountaines of Bether and againe yea come Lord Iesu come quickly But may we with Christ desire that the Glory begun in vs be manifested vnto others we may For wee are commanded to provide things honest in the fight of all men and to let our light so shine before men that they also may see our good workes Only wee must take heed that wee affect it not from men principally nor make it our maine end for this would be the foule sinne of Vaine-glory but that with Christ wee seeke it of our Father in the first place and to the end that being glorified of him hee may be glorified by vs. For not hee that commendeth himselfe or is commended of others is approued but hee whom God commendeth And so much for Quid what our Sauiour craueth to himselfe Now that he may not be denied his request he presseth his Father with sundry weighty and important reasons all which God willing we will handle in their order The first is drawen from the circumstance of time thus The