he might haue a nature wherein he might suffer and might satisfie Gods iustice for the sinne of man in the nature of man that he might make vs of the sonnes of men the sonnes of God it was most expedient that our Sauiour should be man Thus haue you heard of the mediator that is betwixt God and man the man Christ Iesus now are we to harken of the meanes by which this Christ recōcileth vs vnto God his father which is first in that he which knew no sinne was made sinne for vs secondly in that wee which knew no righteousnesse were made the righteousnes of God in him In that our Sauiour is saide to know no sinne his meaning is not that sinne is to him a matter strange a thing which he did neuer know for he taketh knowledge of sinne else how should he reproue the world because of sin how should he be the iudge of the world to giue to euery one according to his works But as it is saide of the virgin Mary which knew man and did conuerse and liue amongst them that yet notwithstanding shee knew no man that is after a carnall fleshly manner like as Adam is said to know Eue and Elkanah Hanna which was his wife In like sort it is said of our Sauiour that although he toke notice of sin did reproue it yet he knew no sinne as other men by louing and liking of it by being many waies polluted and defiled with it And therfore he saith vnto the Iewes which of you can reproue me of sinne nay although the prince of the world which is the diuel come euen to winnow and sifte our Sauiour yet he can find nothing in him for as the author speaketh to the Hebrewes he is holy harmeles vndefiled seperate frō sinners and made higher that is purer then the heauens And in deed how should he holy others which is vnholy in himselfe sanctifie other when himselfe needeth to be sanctified he needed not to be sanctified but for vs therefore that we might be holy euen as he also is holy he holied and sanctified himselfe Yea that he might purge our consciences frō dead works through the eternall spirit he offered himselfe without spot vnto God his father Thus he knew no sinne neither was there guile found in his mouth thus neither could the Iewes reproue him of sin neither the prince of the world finde sinne in him thus was he pure holy vndefiled separate from sinners and without spot And in truth so it behoued him for to be that so he might be made a sacrifice for sinne that is as the Apostle here speaketh sinne for vs. For as in the old law it behoued that the sacrifices for sinne should be most pure without spot and blemish so it behoued that he which gaue himselfe a sacrifice for our sinnes should be also without spot or blemish and as in the old law the sacrifices for sinne were called sin not because in their natures so they were but because they had sinne imputed to them euen so our Sauiour here is made sin not because he hath cōmitted sinne or sinne was inherent in him as in vs but because he was made not of man but of God a sacrifice for our sinnes which were imputed vnto him And therfore Austin when Christ was no sinner hee made him sinne for vs read the place diligently saith that father and least happily thy booke be corrupted or thy Latine interpreter haue erred looke in the Greeke and thou shalt finde not Christ to haue committed sinne but to be made sinne of God the father for vs that is a sacrifice for our sinne and a litle after for thou shalt find in the bookes of the olde testament the sacrifices for sinne to be called 〈◊〉 In this sence the calfe which was to be offered at the consecrating of a priest is in the English called a sinne offering but in the originall a sinne in like sorte if any of the people had wittingly sinned then he was to offer an hee Goate if by ignorance a she Goate and the partie that had sinned was to lay his hands vpon the head of the sinne offering to slay the sinne offering before the Lorde and the reason is added because it was a sinne offering In like manner the hee Goate in sundry places of the seuēth chapter of the booke of Numbers is called in our vulgar translation a sinne offering but in the originall sinne Now then if the sacrifices in the old law were called sinnes when yet in their nature they were not sinnes but sacrifices onely for sinne in like sorte may Iesu Christ the onely vnspotted and immaculate lambe of God in whom all the sacrifices in the law were but figures and in whom they had their end and accomplishmēt like as they were called also sinne especially when he is the onely sacrifice auailable for to put away sinne their was no power in al the sacrifices of the law to do away sinne but onely in this that they had respect and reuerence vnto him Thus then you see how that Iesus Christ which knew no sinne but was most pure and most holy and in all partes obedient to his fathers will is yet notwithstanding made sinne that is a sacrifice for sinne And in this that he which knew no sinne is yet notwithstanding made a sacrifice for sinne apparent it is that he was not made a sacrifice for the sinne of himselfe for he knew no sinne but was most innocent and free from blame but he was made a sacrifice for the sins of other and had not onely their sinnes imputed to him but bore the punishment of them in his most blessed soule and body From hence beginneth euery Christian to comfort himself in the mercies of his God when he seeth his sinnes imputed vnto Christ therefore cannot be imputed vnto him for when man had sinned that which was done could not be vndone yet such is the mercy of God shewed towardes man in the fauour of Christ that hee imputeth not vnto man his sinne but hath it in that account as though it had neuer beene so that although as the scholeman spake a thing done cannot be but done if we respect the act yet in the repute of God which neuer thinketh nor accounteth of it it is as though it had beene neuer done The which that the Lord our God might perswade vnto vs sometimes he saith our sins are bound in a bundle and cast into the bottome of the sea sometime that he hath put away our transgressions as a cloude and our sinnes as a mist somtime they are remoued from him as farre as the East is from the West sometime that he hath cast them behind him sometime that he will remember them no more that they shal be vnto him as though they neuer
were yea and that wee might the better conceyue of his goodnes towards vs concerning these our sinnes which make vs to hang downe our heads and to feare to come into his presence he sheweth that he hath crost his bookes in which our sinnes were written nay that hee hath cancelled the handwriting that was against vs that he hath acknowledged the receipt and giuen vs our quietus est Insomuch that now wee may safely walke abroad because we know he hath no writ to serue on vs or action to commence against vs. Thus the feare of Gods displeasure is ouerblowen and the sunne shine of his fauour resteth on vs because our sinnes are not imputed to vs. And to that end records the Apostle that heauenly note of that most kingly Prophet blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not his sinne and although it is true of man that he will repent him sometime of his kindnes the which he hath shewed and will seeke to call backe his former goodnes yet to the consummation of our comfort it is not so with God he will not cast vs in the teeth nor lay to our charge the things he hath once pardoned for whom he pardoneth once he pardoneth euer his thoughts are not as our thoughts neyther are our waies his waies he is not as man that he should lie or as the sonne of man that he should repent Wherfore we may with boldnes now lift vp our heades since we doe most perfectly know that our sinnes neither now are nor yet euer shal be imputed vnto vs. And if this be the first step by which we begin to grow into fauour with our God not to haue our sinnes imputed to vs surely thâ—se marchandizers of mens soules doe but abuse the world when they teach that they ought not to looke for this fauour of gods in pardoning our sins but to seeke to satisfie his iustice for our sin the which we are as wel able for to doe as to moue mountaines out of there places or to number the drops of water in the Ocean sea Nay this for to attempt is not onely to builde vp the babell of confusion vnto our selues but vnder the shewe and colour of peace to giue defiance vnto God and to make voide the means of that reconcilement which he hath offered in his sonne for if the Lord of mercy when he saw no other meanes to satisfie his iustice and to saue man sent his onely sonne who in his blessed body should satisfie his iustice for our sinne surely herewith not to be content is to despise the wisedome and counsaile of God to repute other their vaine satisfactions of greater merite then is the merite and passion of the Sonne They answere for excuse that they content themselues with the ordinaunce of God and rest in the merite and satisfaction of the sonne but they say all that he did was for their originall sinne and such sinnes which were committed before they were baptised but as for their actuall sinne which follow baptisme and those which they commit after they were entered into the couenant of grace for them they say Christ hath not satisfied but hath merited only that for them man himself by his fastings and praiers his watchings and almes deeds should satisfie the iustice of the father The which their most impious assertion how abhorrent it is from all Christian truth I pray you a while harken and consider for of whom spake the Apostle Iohn but of the regenerat and of what sinnes but of their actual when committed but as well after baptisme as before and who is then the propitiation for them but Iesus Christ the righteous if any man sinne wee haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sinnes and not onely for ours but for the sinnes also of the whole worlde Wherfore as this would giue small comfort to a Christian soule to heare that God would pardon one faâ—lt but not another so this would make but a little for the glorie of our Sauiour to heare that he saued from some sinnes but not from other wherefore herein they eclipse the glory of Christ and magnifie their owne for when our actuall sinnes both in quantitie and qualitie are farre more grieuous then is the originall in which we were borne The satisfaction for this one which is the lesse they ascribe vnto Christ but the remedie of the other they chalenge to theÌ„selues but beloued wee haue not so learned Christ But wee knew that he is a Iesus which saueth his people not from their sinne but from their sinnes euen al their sinnes as Iohn speaketh the bloud of Iesus Christ clenseth vs from all sinne if from all then from our actuall as well as originall from this which wee daily commit as well as from that in which we were borne So that as we find in scripture that Christ cured euery disease and infirmitie of the body and some of that qualitie which could not be remedied by the power of man euen so he cureth euery sicknesse of the soule hath made himselfe a brasen serpent to be stinged one soueraigne medicine for al. Descend therefore into this poole not of water but of the bloud of Christ not stirred by an Angell but by our Michaell who is as the Lord and although thou werst dead in thy sinnes yet stand vp and the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde shall take away thine euen thine actuall and originall all that thou hast and leaue none to be satisfied by thee All this some of the Papists will confesse but yet that they may stil maintein this diuelish doctrine of mans satisfaction they are not afraid to say that although Christ hath satisfied for our actuall and originall sinne yet it is but for the guilt and filthines it is not for the paine and punishment of the sinne so that although they graunt that our sins by Christ in respect of the guilt are taken away yet they leaue our sinnes in respect of the punishment to be susteined and satisfied by vs. The which if it were so how is it that the Scripture saieth that hee was wounded for our transgressions broken for our iniquities that the chasticement of our peace was layed vpon his shoulders that he made his soule and offering sacrifice for sinne and that with his stripes we are healed Surely this wounding breaking chastising scourging infer a punishmeÌ„t which was inflicted not for his sinnes the which he neuer knew but for ours which were imputed vnto him And therfore S. Peter speaketh he bare they were a burden not his owne sins but ours and not the guilt onely but the punishment too for it was on his body whilst yet he hangeth on the crosse And alas that at so great a light wee should shut our eyes why was he buffeted and
scourged why was he nailed and pearced why was his head crowned with thornes himselfe crucified among theeues why was his soule sore troubled within and frighted with the feare of his fathers wrath why did he pray to his father to remoue this crosse from him and crie out as a soule that was forsakē my God my God why hast thou forsaken me but that the Lorde in his great mercy to vs warde but iustice towardes him did punish in his blessed soule body the sins of all the faithfull in the worlde surely beloued if we were to beare the punishment of our sinnes then hath not Christ suffered for our sinne if he hath then do the Papist accuse GOD of great iniustice that he would punish vs for such sinne he hath already punished in his sonne But God is iust let the Papist blatter what he will and because he hath said it shall surely stand for it is part of that new couenaunt which he promised to make I will forgiue their iniquitie will remember their sins no more if he forgiueth how doth he call them to punishment if he wil not remember how doth he require satisfactiō for them can a creditor forgiue the debt and yet require satisfaction for the debt no more can God be said to forgiue vs our sinne and yet seeke to punish vs for our sinne If any man sinne saith the Apostle wee haue an aduocate Iesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sinnes not he saieth the papist but we now whether the Apostle or papist is to be beleeued iudge you And to speake to men whose eies affectiō hath not wholy blinded and from whose hartes wilful obstinacie hath not taken away all sense of reason is this rightly to cōsider of the weight of sinne and of his filth is this equally to ballance the iustice of the almighty the fiercenes of his wrath kindled against the wickednes of men surely if the punishment of sinne could so haue beene satisfied and the wrath of the father hath so beene appeased thou hadst not sent thy sonne O blessed maker neyther hadst thou needed to haue died for vs O Emanuell For we by our watchings fastings we by our hairie weedes and other penaunce we by our many praiers and consecrated water wee by hearing of Masses and going in pilgrimage will satisfie for all such punishment that is due for our sinne O foolish flesh that thus presumest before thy maker if God should deale with thee according to iustice the greeuousnes of thy sinne thou shouldest stand as a man wholy confounded not able to satisfie one of a thousand no not the least that euer thou cōmittest in thy life for when thy sinne euen the least of thy sins is infinite because it was committed against the infinite maiesty of thy God thy punishment therfore must be infinite and therefore not to be satisfied by thee in this finite life and if thou canst not satisfie for one how wilt thou satisfie for all especially when not onely in this that thou seekest to satisfie but also in the most holiest of thy workes and sorowest penaunce thou often sinnest and trespassess God Wherefore that which Cain spake in dispaire thou oughtest not onely to speake in the humblenes of thy soule my punishment is greater then I am able to beare but withal thankfulnesse to receaue the mercy of thy maker who hath giuen his sonne to beare in his body that which otherwise for euer thou shouldst haue borne in thine Looke therefore with the eyes of faith vppon this brasen Serpent which hath not onely taken away the stinge of the serpent which is your sinnes but euen all your swellings and rancklinges all your paines and maladies the punishment due to all your sinnes This also some of the papistes do acknowledge but yet not resting on the good word of God they distinguish betweene eternall and temporall punishments and they are content to confesse that Christ hath satisfied for their eternall punishment but as for the temporall they say that they must satisfie for it in themselues It cannot be denied but that God layeth on the sonnes of men many punishments in this life the which are to be reputed temporall because they are in this life which is but temporall but yet these temporall punishments endured by men in this temporall life or neither in part nor in whole any part of satisfaction for our infinite and eternall sinne For if we consider this as they are in the godly some say that they are not punishments for sinne but rather fatherly admonitions that they should not sinne because for their sinne Christ hath beene punished and hath satisfied not in part but in whole whatsoeuer the iustice of God could require for them or if wee consider these as they are in the wicked true it is that GOD sometime beginneth to deale roughly with them and to inflict in this life some part of the punishment which for euer hereafter they must in most grieuous manner suffer in hel But yet since there is no proportion betwixt a finite punishment and an infinit sinne since of the punishment and satisfaction of these no Papist speaketh but of such for whom Christ died and for whose eternall punishment Christ hath satisfied wee leaue to speake farther of these wicked ones and call now enquire whether Christ hath not fully endured all punishment due for the sins of the faithfull but hath left some temporall punishment as part of the satisfaction due for their sinnes to be endured suffered by themselues The which if it be so as the papist speaketh not onely blasphemy followeth our Sauiour because his satisfaction is made insufficient the sin of man of greater filth then the merite of his most blessed passion but also man speaketh with ouer great pride that he presumeth to satisfie where Christ hath not satisfied and to make perfect which he hath left vnperfect vnto vs or if it be true the which our Sauiour speaketh Consummatus est it is finished euen the worke of our saluation and redemption of the world if he as the author speaketh to the Hebrewes by one sacrifice not by many hath made perfect not left vnperfect and that not for a time but for euer and that not some but all which beleeue in his name why do we seeke to make vnperfect the satisfactiō of Christ or to turne away the destroying Angell by any other means then by the bloud of this immaculate Lambs sprinkled by faith on the dore postes of beleeuing heartes The Apostle Paule saith Christ was made a curse for vs that he might redeeme vs from the curse of the law now when the iustice of God did inflict vpon the transgressors of the law not only eternall punishment but temporall too and when Christ endured in his most blessed body euen all the punishment due to the transgressors of the law it must
A SERMON PREACHED AT NEVVPORT-PAIGNELL in the Countie of Buckingham By R. H. 2. COR. 5. 20 21. Now then are wee ambassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you through vs wee pray you in Christs steed that yee bee reconciled vnto God For he hath made him to be sinne for vs which knew no sinne that wee should bee made the righteousnes of God in him LONDON Printed for Robert Wilson and are to be sold at his Shop at Grayes-Inne new Gate in Holborne 1628. To the right worshipfull M. Iohn Tompson Esquier one of her Maiesties auditors in the Eschequer and iustice of Peace and Quorum in her Maiesties shires of Buck. and Bedf. all increase of worship with all spirituall good WHereas worshipfull Sir God hath giuen you not onely by your counsel to further but also by your good ensample to prouoke many carelesse people to the hearing of the word we cannot but reuerence this grace in you and wish it many waies multiplied for our coūtries good For when prophanes hath so poisoned the harts of many that they aske who is the Lord that they should heare his voice the world hath so swetned other that they doe run to it when they should poste to God In vayne were our labours except God stirred vp the hartes of some which might be leaders to the people to bring them into the house of God And although at the first many more sauage then this beast are hayled perforce into the Arke and come vnwilling like such which are muffled and would not be touched of the sunne yet when through Gods mercie they shall see all drowned which are without shal taste of some of that grace God giueth vnto his they will not a foote from the dore of his tabernacle but as mē whom the zeale of the Lords house hath eaten they shall fall downe and worship confessing that the Lord is God In regard wherof be not weary of well doing but stirre vp the grace God hath giuen you and know that God hath made you not onely for your selfe and for your houshold but also for the good of other In the view of which your goodnes as I much doe ioy so in lew of duety with all desire of your farther good I haue emboldned my selfe to offer to your Worship this small treaty of that great peace and reconciliation wee haue with God The which although now long fithence in a great assembly it hath beene most grauely handled by that blessed man of reuerend memory Iohn Foxe Yet since our course is diuers as the learned may iudge to satisfie other rather then my selfe I haue suffered this although vnwilling to be drawne into the light Thus commending it to Gods blessing and your Christian fauours my prayer is vnto this God of peace that he would giue vs peace with him and with our selues that wee may ioy in this couenaunt of peace witnessed in his worde and assured our heartes by the earnest of his spirit Amen From North Crowly Maiij primo Your worships in all dutie Roger Hacket A Sermon preached at Newport Paignell in the countie of Buckes taken out of the 2. Cor. 5. ver 20.21 Now then are wee ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you through vs we pray you in Christ steed that ye be reconciled vnto God For he hath made him to be sinne for vs which knew no sinne that we should be made the righteousnes of God in him AS many Scriptures thorough the body of the Bible doe moste plainly lay forth the worke I should say wonder of our redemption reconciliation with God the father so there is nothing wherein a Christian soule should rather seeke to solace her selfe then in the sweet meditation of this most heauenly doctrine by which she may see that God is now reconciled vnto her and that shee may through Christ merite haue accesse with boldnesse vnto the throne of grace for as this maketh a mans heart to melt his knees for feare to beate together to consider that God is his enemy and that he will call him to iudgement for al his sinnes so this filleth the hart with ioy and bones with gladnesse to record that God hath put away his sinnes and in great fauour hath respect vnto him for his good In regard whereof it standeth vs in hand that our heartes may be silled with this sweetnes and our soules haue their parte in this most heauenly solace attentiuely to consider the Apostle in this place In the vnfolding of whose wordes my purpose is first briefly to lay downe his meaning and then more amply to stand on those points which make for reconciliation betweene God and man Now then are wee embassadors for Christ as if the Apostle would say now then we come not of our owne heads without lawfull warrant for God hath put this word of reconcilement into our mouthes he hath sent vs in embassage vnto you and giuen vs in commission thus to speake Wherefore for Christ sake if you will doe any thing for him we pray you nay Christ praieth you for his place now we do supply and not only he but God in vs and by vs praieth and beseecheth that you would be reconciled vnto him If you desire his friendship but yet feare his presence because of your sinnes beholde his mercie he will not impute vnto you your sins but vnto you they shall be as though they had neuer beene If yet you doubt how this may be since that you know that God is iuste and punisheth sinne wheresoeuer he findeth it looke on your sauiour that which God in mercy pardoneth in you he punisheth with all iustice in his sonne For he which was most innocent and knew no sinne hath your sinnes imputed vnto him and not onely imputed but he is made sinne for you that is a sacrifice for your sins Thus the chastisement of your peace is layed on his shoulders and for your sins hee hath suffered an hell of torments in his most blessed soule bodie If yet you dare not presume his presence because you want your wedding garments consider that he was therefore made sinne for you that you should be made you cannot make your selues not the righteousnes of man which is inherent in you but the righteousnes of God which is imputed to you And to make all without doubt you are made this righteousnes of God not in your selues but in him euen in Christ Iesu which for your sake hath sanctified himselfe and fulfilled all righteousnes for you so that as your sinnes were not inherent in him but in your selues yet so imputed to him as though they were his so this righteousnes by which you are reputed righteous before your maker is not inherent in you but in him yet as if it were yours through Gods great mercy it is imputed vnto you Wherefore now let euery good Christian in a good assurance of hope come with boldnesse vnto the throne
epistles shewed that Christ was made vnto vs our righteousnes that we are iustified onely by faith that is by Christ apprehended by faith So he speaking of Christ saieth he is onely iust and the iustifier made that he sayeth the only iustifier And againe in an other place Blessed are they that thirst after righteousnes for they shal be satisfied now the Apostle Paule saith he doth shewe that Christ is our righteousnes and therfore he that hūgreth after this bread hungreth after righteousnes that came downe from heauen which God giueth not which man maketh to himself And in the end concludeth This is righteousnes of God not by which God is righteous but by the which God giueth vnto man that mā might be righteous before him Thus then you see that if we seeke to be found righteous before God wee must bring not that righteousnes which is of our workes but that righteousnes which we haue not in our selues but by faith in Christ Iesu For as Chrysostome speaketh this is Gods righteousnes since not of our workes And as vertuous Bernard discoursing on the merite of man the comfort of christians in the midst of their troubles My merite saith he is the mercy of God and so long as he shal not be without mercy so long I shall not be without merite what then shall I sing of my righteousnes nay I wil remember thy righteousnes onely euen the righteousnes of God which he giueth in Christ for by this he iustifieth the world For as there is no sitting at the supper of the great king except we are clothed with our wedding garmēt so there is no comming into the presence of the Father but with this robe of righteousnes the righteousnes of the sonne The which Pighius seing in this wise writeth Therfore it is that our righteousnes is placed in Christs obediēce because the same is imputed to vs which are incorporated into him as though it were our owne so that by it euen we are accounted righteous And as Iacob being not the first borne yet couering him self with his brothers sweet smelling garmēt did so insinuate himselfe vnto his father that vnder an other person he obteined the blessing of the first borne euen so is it meet that we lie hid vnder the purenes of Christ our elder brother that wee smell of his sweet couer our imperfections with his perfections that so comming into the presence of God our father we may receiue the blessing of righteousnes frō him And the same Pighius after not well vnderstanding the fauorers of the truth would seeme in this cause to conclude against them but with them as his words do speake But we say if we speake formally and properly that we are not iustified before God either by our faith or by our loue but by the onely righteousnes of God which is in Christ And that which Pighius speaketh the same we speake with our Apostle we are made the righteousnes of God in him Wherfore as Beda noteth out of Austin vpō the 126. Psalme Away with thy selfe away I say with thy selfe for thou doest but hinder thy selfe if thou shalt build thy selfe thou buildest thy ruines for except the Lord builde the house in vaine doe they labour that doth build the same do not therfore wil to haue thy righteousnes least thou be voided of the righteousnes of Christ What then wilt thou say shall I liue losely be nothing studious of good works God forbid for you are Gods workemanship created to good works which God hath prepared that you should walke in them Although those thy workes doe not make thee righteous before God yet they are fruites of that righteousnes which thou hast in Christ by them thou causest thy father to be glorified sealest vp thine election to thy selfe A good tree is knowen by his fruit a true faith by his loue What should we say they that are iustified in Christ doe liue in Christ nay Christ liueth in them his good spirite maketh them fruitfull vnto euery good worke but this is not questioned at this time what we should be in this life or how we should be iustified before man but by what meanes we should stand iustified before God and that wee say is not by our workes but by the righteousnes of God which is found by faith in Iesu Christ But yet the weake Christian will say how can this be one man may pay an others debt but how can one satisfie for an others sinne the Scripture sayth the father shall not eate a sower grape and the childes tooth shal be turned an edge but that euery one shall beare his owne burden and that the soule which sinneth shall die the death How then is the iustice of God satisfied that he which knew no sinne should be punished for our sinne that we which are full of sinne should reape the fruite of that righteousnesse that is in him How euen very well because he is not an other from thee but is one with thee for if we looke vpō that blessed vnion by which al faithfull soules are iayned vnto Christ the man is not more ioyned to his wife nor the science to the stocke nor the foode vnto the body which it doth nourish nor in the body one member to one other or they al vnto the head as is Christ Iesu vnto his Church and to euery faithfull soule that trusteth and beleeueth in him And therefore sometime we are said to be one bodie in him sometime to growe vp into him which is our head sometime to be members of Christ sometime to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh sometime to dwell in him and he in vs sometime to be one with him what should I say this the faithful know and thus wee must know except as S. Paule speaketh we be reprobats know ye not your owne selues how that Iesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates Thus beloued are we his vnworthy members vnited vnto him which is our head by those two most blessed handes his spirit which he giueth vnto vs and our faith which we reach to him Then goe to let this bee graunted that Christ and the faithfull are but one that he is the head of that misticall body whereof they are members then let vs see how the iustice of God is violated whilest he is punished we rewarded Thou sayest in thy vsuall speach that man seeth and man heareth yet it is his eare that heareth and eye that seeth euen so thou mayest say that it is man that hath borne the punishment of sin although it is his head Christ Iesu that hath borne and endured the same For as in the naturall body that which is proper to the eye and to the eare is attributed vnto the whole in
fauour Gods enimies but change there colours and forsweare their maister whom they before serued It is true that they therefore strike themselues vpon the thighe and are ashamed of their dealing towardes God Insomuch that they doe not onely seeke to bring vnder this body of sinne are to make the law of their members obedient to the law of their midde but when they see it is a matter beyond their power and that they cannot leaue vndone that euill which they would then they desire to be deliuered from this body of sinne and sigh with much sorrow that they cannot serue God with that puritie as they would Whose sinnes and imperfections God will not see neyther repute them as any breach of that couenant they haue made with him but he will so forgiue them in his sonne that vnto him they shal be as though they had neuer beene Yet out of this which hath beene spoken you see the demeanure of man towardes his God that he is eyther of the wicked sort which either care not at all for comming vnto God or which is worse appose themselues in defiance against him or if he be of the better sorte then eyther he thinketh himselfe vnworthy to be a friend of Gods which is a readie steppe to his future blessednes or if he purposeth to be Gods friend he either meaneth to be hereafter or if forthwith yet then he will haue God to receaue with him his earthly pleasures and desires and howsoeuer in his greatest faith and friendship with God hee hath a liking sometime vnto sinne and although he be sorie for it yet he neuer leaueth louing and liking her till he be deliuered from this body of his fleshe and is with Christ thus much for the parties God and man which are to be reconciled Now if wee looke to the person Iesus Christ by whom God reconcileth himselfe vnto the worlde in him euery Christian soule shall not onely finde comfort to asswage his griefes but a full direction to guide and gouerne him thorough this vale of misery vnto his spirituall and euerlasting rest For when their were two things in man that made him to feare the presence of his God his sinne and the want of that originall iustice after which hee was sometime created this Iesus in whom we trust doth not only purge vs from our sinne but being the very image of God and the ingrauen forme of his fathers substaunce he restoreth the image depraued in vs and maketh it most perfect euen as at first it was The which when a Christian shall well consider hee must needes confesse that there is but one mediator betwixt God and man the man Christ Iesus For when there is none that can take away sinne but God alone or restore the image that man hath depraued saue hee onely that made the image Much may be spoken of the grosse papists to maintaine their fancies of many mediators But all to no purpose as you see for without all question amongst men there is no other name by which a man shal be saued saue onely the name of Iesus Christ And he that will not be content to be saued by him but wil haue an other with him for his sauiour shal neither be holpen by any other nor yet finde sauing health in Christ And in truth in whom are all the promises of God yea and men but onely in Iesu Christ in whom did it please the father to reconcile all things to himselfe and to set at peace with him both the thinges in heauen and the thinges in earth but onely by Iesus Christ and the bloud of his crosse thus is he made not onely the anchor but the finisher also of our faith Iesus because he saueth vs from our sinnes that one yea onely in whom God doth regather all thinges both which are in earth and which are in heauen Wherefore wee that haue beleeued in the father let vs beleeue in him for in him the father is well pleased and for his sake will be well pleased with vs. True Iacob had not obteyned the blessing if in his owne rayment he had come and not in the robes of his eldest brother True none but the high priest and that but once in the yeere might enter into the holy of holiest True none of the people might offer sacrifice vnto God but by the priest yet whē now Christ clotheth vs with his righteousnes whē he hath rent the vaile and broken downe the partition wall when he made vs priestes and leades vs by the hand vnto his father wee cannot but hold vp our eyes and thanke God of this his great mercy shewed to vs in him Thus we looke on him as our onely Moses which hath deliuered vs from the bōdage of our spirituall Pharaoh thus wee looke on him as our blessed Iesus which hath giuen vs right will inuest vs in the possession of our promised Canaan Thus when wee behold him curing euery sore and euery sicknes we cannot but confesse that he is sent of the father in whom onely for euery maladie and euery sinne we should find but one yet all sufficient remedie Wherefore that which Barnard spake rauished with the comfort he felt in our Sauiour let vs say he is hony in the mouth melodie in the eare and a song of Iubile in the hart And as Ioshuah spake to the people when he had laied Gods manifold benefits before their eies now chuse you what God you will serue whether the Lord or the Gods of the nations that are rouund about but as for me and my house we will serue the Lord in like sort let euery right Christian say chuse you what sauiours and mediatours you will haue whether the Lord Iesu or the gods of the papist as for me and my house Iesus shal be a mediator and that onely vnto vs. The whith if we shall doe as we seeme to say God shall say to vs as he did of Marie which sat at the feete of Iesus and heard his voice Martha is troubled about many things but Marie hath chosen the better parte Thus you haue heard that this Iesus is the onely mediator of this couenant by which man is reconciled vnto God Now Iesus is the man by whom God in his goodnes doth saue the worlde and whom he hath made the mediatour of this couenaunt of peace so it is expedient for the full satisfying of all Christian mindes in him to consider his two natures his Godhead and his Manhood for except he had beene God he had not beene able and except he had beene man he had not beene fitte to accomplish the worke of our redemption and to reconcile vs vnto God his father Wherefore let vs first consider that this Iesus is God and the reasons why it was expedient that he so should be he is God
for it pleased the father that in him should dwel the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily and in truth being the sonne of his father not by adoption as are we but by essence not by grace but by nature being the very image of the father and the engrauen forme euen of his substance he could not but be God For as euery creature bringeth forth their yong after their kinde so the creator of all must needes bring forth after his kinde God of God euen of the substaunce and essence of himselfe And therefore Paul speaking of our sauiour saith that he was in the forme of God and thought it no robbery to be equall with God for although the person of the father is distinct from the person of the sonne yet in the essence and nature of the dietie they are one I and my father are one wherefore as Christ spake to the disciples of Iohn which came to know whether he were that Messiah that should come goe tell Iohn what you haue heard seene Euen so may we answere to them that doubt of the dâ—etie of our Sauiour goe tell what you haue heard of him For when thou hearest that the dead were raised by him and restored to life that the diuels were cast forth and stood at his commaund that he cured all sicknes by his worde that he calmed the waters when they did rage and made the windes be hush when they did bluster how caÌ„st thou but with Thomas fall at his feete speake to his glory and thy soules good My Lord my God how canst thou crie out with that elect vessel of a truth great is the mistery of godlinesse God is manifested in the flesh Now as our Sauiour is God of the same nature with his father so it is worth our labour to consider that it was most expedient that he so should be For otherwise how could he satisfie the wrath of his father due to our sins for when our sins were infinite according to the infinite maiestie of God whom they did trespasse it must needs be that he which is to satisfie for those infinite sinnes must either be of an infinite nature or must for all infinity be for euer punished But now since the sorrowes of death are fully losed in our Sauiour and he himself spake of them Consummatum est it is finished it must needes be since he conquered death and him that had the power of death which is the deuill also as S. Paule speaketh hee abolished death and brought life and immortalitie vnto light it must needes be that he should be of an infinite nature and therefore God For as none can forgiue sinnes but God so none can beare the burden of sinne but God for it draue Adam out of paradise and the angels out of heauen So that since Christ was to beare the burden of our sinnes which man and angell was not able to doe it must needes be that he should be greater then man or angell and that is God Nay when he willed vs which beleeued on his father to beleeue also on him and when we may not beleeue on any sauing on the Lorde of host for if we do we bring a curse vpon our soules most conuenient it is that our sauiour should be God especially since the Lord saith of himselfe that beside him there is no Sauiour To conclude if he were not God how should his eares be open to our prayers how should he see our sighes and inward gronings how should his merite be auailable to all except he were omnisufficient of himselfe and and through the infinitie of himself did make his merite of infinite price Wherfore that he might be able to beare the burden of our sin and to satisfie for the infinitie of the same that we might beleeue on him as we do on the father that his merite might bee made auailable to all it is expedient that he should bee God Now as he was God so is he also man therfore the Apostle when he had shewed that their was but one mediator betwixt God man he after addeth the maÌ„ Christ Iesu for who was to bruise the Serpentes head but the seede of the woman in whom was al nations to be blessed but in the seed of Abraham and this seede as the Apostle speaketh was Christ from whence came that righteous braunch that should reigne as king but from the seed of Dauid according to the flesh So that if to be the fruit of Maries wombe the which he was although most blessed if to be made of woman the which he was became for vs most cursed if to be the sonne of man with which name he often intituleth himselfe doth proue him to be man nay if to haue flesh bloud and bone the which we haue if to hunger and thirst the which we doe if to die and goe the way of all flesh doth proue our sauiour to be man then was he man in al things like to vs his brethren except only sinne euen man not in phancie but in truth of the very substaunce of his mother not of her shadow which had not onely a bodie but a soule too so that we may truely speake of him as we do of Adam Abraham all the rest he was man And as you haue heard out of the Scripture that he was man see was it most necessarie that he should so be for how could he die if he were onely God since the godhead is impossible and can no more suffer then doe the beames of the sunne which shineth on a tree suffer when the tree is fallen and cut downe Surely as Alamandurus answered the Manichees that would enforce him to beleeue that Christ was not man that he receaued a letter that Michael the archangell was dead to whom when they replied that that could not be because he was an angell In like sort said he no more can Christ die if he be as you say onely God And although he had some other nature than the nature of man wherein hee might suffer yet when man in his nature had offended and trespassed God it standeth in reason that God in mans nature should be satisfied For as Chrysostome reasoneth that Christ could not bee the Sauiour of our soules except he had a soule in which he might satisfie for such sins we had committed in our soules euen so we may conclude that he could not satisfie for the sinnes of man except that he had beene also man Nay wheÌ„ this was the end of his comming to make vs of the sonnes of men the sonnes of God for but by Christ we haue no power to be called his sonnes how could hee effect this to our good except hee which was the sonne of God should first become the sonne of man wherfore that