was in Christ indeede because no man euer had it that was not in him many haue had haue it in abundance by depending wholy vpoÌ„ him The principal point is yet behind coÌ„cerning the life of glory Which though it properly belong to the world to come yet there is one chiefe thing apperteining therunto which is to be had in this world as an entrance to the other The death that insued vpon the breach of that charge * Gen. 2. 17. Thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good euill was the estate of mortalitie to the body and of condemnation both to body and soule Therefore the life that was in Christ must needs affoord vs remedy against both these Let vs take them in their order And first that by death the separation of the soule and body was signified it may euidently appeare as by the words themselues in their proper sense so also by the sentence of the Lord pronounced after the sinne according to the penalty before threatned In a Gen 3. 19. the sweat of thy face shalt thou eate bread till thou returne to the earth for out of it wast thou taken because thou art dust and to dust thou shalt returne Adam indeede liued many hundred yeeres after this sentence but at last the execution of it came b Gen. 5. 5. All the daies that Adam liued were 930. yeeres and he died But this is so well knowne and generally confest that it needs no furder proofe Let vs shew that there is life in Christ to destroy this death Ne ther neede wee goe farre to seeke for that matter Remember c Gâ—n 3. 15. what was threatned the diuell that the seed of the woman should bruse his head d Heb. 2. 14. If the diuell bee subdued who hath the power of death as the Apostle tells vs what shall become of death that is vnder his power The Lord himselfe tells thee by e Heb. 2. 14. his Prophet e Ose 13. 14. where he triumpheth ouer death trampling him vnder his feete O death I will be thy death Oh graue I will bee thy destruction But this was rather a discouragement of death then a destruction Heare f 1 Cor. 15. 54. the Apostle proclaiming the victory after the fight was ended Death is swalowed Verse 55. vp in victory He proceeds to insult ouer him O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory The Verse 56. 27. sting of death is sin and the strength of sinne is the law But thanks be vnto God who hath giue vs victory through I. Chr. Verse 21. 22. our Lord. GiueÌ„ vs victory How doth that appear For since by man came death by man also came the resurrection of the dead For as in AdaÌ„al meÌ„dy so in Christ shal albe made aliue 2. Tim 1. 10. through Christ I say gwho hath abolished death hath brought life immortalitie to light through the Gospell I wish it were so may some men say that death were indeede destoried that we need no longer stand in feare of him But what credit may be giuen to that which is refuted by sense in daily and hoverly experience Did not Aâ—aÌ„ die Are not Abraham Isaak Iacob al the prophets and Patriarchs dead Is not there proofe enough in the scripture that euery man must die h Psal 89. 48. What man liueth and shall not see death The Apostle seconds the Prophet i Heb. 9. 27. It is appointed to men that they shal once die What say you to that great conquerour of death himselfe The two tneeues that were executed with him withstood death longer theÌ„ he did The Souldiers came k Ioh. 19. 32. Ver 33. saith the Euangelist and brake the legges of the first and of the other which was crucified with Iesus But when they came to Iesus and saw that he was dead already they brake not his legges See I pray you the champion that should ouercome death is sooner subdued by death then either of these two ordinarie fellowes It was no wonder though the Iewes vpbraided him when he hung vpon the Crosse He saued others quoth they but he cannot saue himselfe Is it possible l Mat. 27. 42. to beleeue that there was life in him whose death his best friends coÌ„fesse Doth this seeme vnpossible to thee What wilt thou say then if I tell thee of a greater matter Hee ouercame death by dying The same stroke that tooke life from him through him m Heb. 2. 14. slew death himselfe him that had power over death euen the diuell Would you know more particularly how that could bee I may not enter into any large discourse of the point In one word it was thus The sting of death as the Apostle taught vs is sinne By which the diuell preuailed to the destruction of them that had sinned This sting was not onely blunted and rebated but pluckt out and cast away by our Sauiour For his death being a sacrifice for sin tooke sinne quite away n Iob. 1. 29. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world So that now the name of death is more terrible then the thing there is more feare then hurt in it Tell me what it could indanger or indamage thee to haue a snake creepe vpon thee yea if it were into thy bosom so the sting teeth and whatsoeuer els it hath power to hurt withall were first pulled out It might perhaps scarre thee or make thee start as a litle cold water will doe if it be cast vpon a sodaine in thy face but that is all the harme thou couldest haue by it Death then is thus disarmd by our Sauiour Christ but the destructioÌ„ of him is by his resurrection If thou wouldest see death dead indeed look into the graue where Iesus thy sauiour was laid There shewd death the vttermost of his power He thought himselfe sure enough of the victory when he had shut him vp without life in the sepulchre rolled a great stone to the mouth of it and saw a guard of souldiers set to watch him well there hee keeps him in that estate the same day he was crucified all the next and the beginning of the third What ensued Surely if hee had bin put in aliue hee would haue bin dead by that time There is no question then but that wee shall finde him dead in the graue So though his disciples Who the next day after the Iewes Sabboath o Luke 24. 1. Early in the morning came vnto the Sepulchre and brought the odors which they had prepared to embalme his body withall They made no doubt but they should finde him p Mark 16. 1. Mark 15. 47. where they had seene him laid For dead men are no starters Onely their feare was that they should not be able to roule away the stone from the doore of the Sepulchre
of whose punishment we are so affraid And yet what was this extremity in comparison of the intolerable wrath of God in the fire of hel where there is neither ease of pain nor end of misery f Psal 2. 12. O kiss the Son least he be angry and ye perish in the way g 1. Cor. 10. 22 Doe we prouoke the Lord to anger Are we stronger then he h Reuel 6. 15 Doe not the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chiefe Captaines and the mightie men hide themselues in dens and among the rockes of the mountaines Doe they not Verse 16 crie out most lamentably to the mountaines and rockes Fall on vs and hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth vpon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb Oh miserable comfortless wretches Flee you from the Lamb It is hee i Ioh. 1. 29 that taketh away the sins of the world If there be ny drop of mercy it is by the bloud of the Lamb if there be any hope of comfort it is in the gentlenesse of the Lamb. They are absolutely without al possibility of the least relief that can find no fauor at the hands of the Lamb. If the Lamb frown who wil look cheerfully vpon vs And dare any wretched miscreant nourish in his heart doubtfull thoughts of our blessed Sauiours eternall God-head For it is almost incredible that any man should be so desperate as blasphemously to denie it If we could heare but as it were a far off the hideous shreeks and most wofull lamentations of that wretch I spake of ere while our haire would stand vpright on our heads with horror and our hearts sink in our bodies for feare k Ioh. 5. 22 Hath not the Father committed all iudgement vnto him Must we not all stand before his throne to receiue sentence from him either of life or death Oh I where wilt thou bestow thy self poor naked miserable distressed soule It is vnpossible for thee to hide thy selfe To behold the wrathfull countenance of the Iudge it is intolerable Oh! how wilt thou tremble when thou shalt heare that dreadful voice l Luk. 19. 27. Those mine enimies that would not that I should raigneouer them bring them hither slaie them before my face Slay them I but so that they shal alwaies be dying and neuer dye For so is that â—eatefull â—entence which will loose the ioints make the knees knock together when it shall be heard m Mat. 25. 41 Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuell and his angells Is it not better for vs then to acknowledge Iesus Christ to be God while we liue here may learn it then to be driueÌ„ to confess it when it shal auaile vs to nothing but to increase our iust damnation I am sory a sham'd that in this cleere sun-shine of the Gospell any man making profession of Christian religion should make doubt of so main a ground therof Neither would I haue wearied you my selfe with so large an exhortatioÌ„ but that I know too wel there is too iust occasion of it Yet I may not forget my selfe too much That which hath bin said is sufficient with the blessing of God without it nothing that can be say de Let vs now come neerer home and betake our selueâ— to that which is more proper to our calling For as the Angells that are ministring spirits though they be faine oftentimes to oppose themselues against the malice and fury of satan his instruments yet haue not this office properly assign'd vnto them but as it furthereth their principle charge to helpe them forward which shall be heires of saluation so the ministers of the Gospel must account it their especial duty to instruct comfort them that are the true members of the body of Iesus Christ To you therfore beloued in the same our Sauiour will I now addresse my speech euen to all you that beleeue in Christ to iustification Haue you learned that the Messiah your Sauiour is God almighty Do you firmly and stedfastly beleeue this without wilfull gain-saying or doubting Assure your selues the holy Ghost hath set you in the waie to euerlasting life But me thinkes I heare some poore soule sighing in himself striuing if it were possible to conceale his own thoughts from his own heart What is it thou dost so labour to suppresse what art thou so affray de to be knowen of Be not dismaied nor discouraged If thou tremble like n Marke 5. 33. her that heard our Sauiour aske who hath touched him remember with what ioy to her selfe she was discouered Promise thy selfe no lesse from him who will certainly o Mat. 11. 28 refresh all them that being heauy laden come vnto him What Those that haue now and then some doubt in them of his eternall God-head I euen those in despight of Satan and all his treacherie Let mee reason with thee a little Dost thou not beleeue that the scripture is the vndoubted word of God yes thou doost Art thou not perswaded that the same Scripture teacheth thee that thy Sauiour Christ is very God Thou art But thou hast many times some doubting of the point within thy heart What Dost thou doubt willingly as one that either thinkes it not to be so or at the least that was neuer resolutely perswaded that it is so Let me say more to thee Wouldst thou haue him bee God or no If thy affection desire to honour him all that may be if thy weake faith labour to ouercome this doubting Satan would haue thee doubt makes thee afraid thou doubtest but indeed thou dost beleeue It is not a property of the most sanctified men to bee without tentations but not to yeelde to them with ioy and liking True faith may be weake though perfect faith cannot Weaknes of faith wil admit occasion of doubting but not giue place to doubting Doost thou not finde it in thy selfe thy doubting neither brings forth denying nor receiues any kinde entertainement at thy hands then art thou wholly free from wilfull gainesaying or doubting Satan can not make thee beleeue that thy Sauiour is not God Only he makes thee afraid least he should not be God And how comes hee to this aduantage Surely by no other meanes but by driuing thee to examine the point by reason There can be but one God which is he that sent Iesus Christ into the world and not Iesus himselfe If thou tell him of the three persons hee demaunds further how thou canst conceiue that there should be three such persons and all they but one God As if p 2. Cor. 5. 7. wee walkt heere by sight and not by faith I know it is possible to beate the Deuill at his owne weapons and by the force of reason to maintaine against him that there is a Trinity of persons though that mystery by discourse
death Do you perceiue that the Lord himlelfe hath giuen that condition of ours the name of death The olde Testament furnish â—th vs with many examples to precue the first sinne comâ—itted by vs in Adam cast vs all into the state of death â—ut this death so often there spoken of is partly the mortalitie of the body and partly the eternall punishment of the soule in hell fire the other death of sinnei â—eldome or I thinke neuer mentioned in any of those books The new Testament supplyes vs with very great plentie of example of both kindes Of the one I will say nothing at all because euery man continually obserueâ— them Of the other I must needes speak because perhaps they are not so ordinarily markt of all men q Mat. 8. 22. Let the dead bury their dead saith our Sauiour The dead to be buried are they whose carcases are left without life by the departure of the soules froÌ„ theÌ„ as the historie that place manifestly sheweth But who bee the dead that must bee the buriers of those corpses Who else buâ— they that are dead in sinne dead to righteousnessâ— and so looke after nothing that concernes euerlasting life any more then men naturally dead doe after the things of this present life So saith r Luk. 15. 32. the kind Father of the prodigal Sonne This thy brother was dead Dead The parable had said no such thing of him What theÌ„ was that death the Father speaks of Questionles the death of sin whereby he had liued lewdly wasted his goods with verse 13. riotousnesse and as his brother angerly obiected had deuoured them with harlots This the Apostle expresseth Verse 30. when speaking of vs all in our naturall estate before grace he f Epb. 2. 5. 7. saith that we were dead in sinnes and trespasses This may yet farder be manifested by the title that is giuen to that condition into which wee enter by regeneration First t Ioh. 3. 5. our Sauiour saith we must be borne againe what needs that if we were neuer dead And u Rom. 6. 2. the Apostle S. Paul affirmeth that they which are so borne againe are dead to sinne Then till they were so borne againe they liu'd in sinne The life of the one is alwaies the dea'h of the other If thou liue to sinne thou art dead to righteousnes If thou liue to righteousnes thou art dead to sinne Therefore x 1. Pet. 2. 24. S. Peter ioynes them both together That we being dead to sinne might liue to righteousnesse S. Paul hath the like speech in vnlike tearmes When y Rom. 6. 20. saith he yee were the seruants of sinne yee were freed from righteousnesse But now being freed from sinne Verse 22. made seruants vnto God Marke I pray you how one of these as it were destroies the other A naturall man without grace is free from righteousnesse yea as free as a dead man is from all matters of this worlde A spirituall man indued with grace is free from sinne yea as free as Lazarus was from all the cares of this worlde while he lay in his graue without life or breath But I may not forget my selfe too much The summe of all is this that our Sauiour Christ himselfe and by his example our Euangelist describeth the estate into which we are brought by becomming members of his body by the tearm of life because ourformer estate out of which he deliuered vs was in name nature an estate oâ— death Now hauing examined the words let vs come to the doctrine it selfe In him was life which is all one as if the holy Euangelist should haue said This word or promised Messiah of whom I haue begun to intreat and intend to write this story not only was eternall hauing his being before any thing created ever began to be that with God euen then when there was nothing beside God but was also himselfe very God From him al things that are or euer were had their whole being in him the spirituall life both of grace and glory was so plaÌ„ted that who soeuer desires to be partaker of it must haue it only as in him being come into the world This is that which we are to learne out of this place In the handling whereof I will first deliuer the doctrine that our spirituall life is by Christ then I will speake of the manner how it is by him Concerning the former point first I wil propouÌ„d it in general then I wil shew it in those particulars of holynes happynes The manner also hath 2. things to bee considered That this life was in Christ that it was in him eueÌ„ while he liued here vpoÌ„ the earth Touching the first point that our estate is to be recouered by our Sauiour Christ let me put you in mind of those places which I once before alleag'd which are indeed the very foundation of the Gospell By sinne the diuell got dominion ouer vs God in iustice leauing vs when we had forsaken him Satan iniustly seizing on vs as it were intruding himselfe into a house void of any owner to keepe possession But the Lord God though he would not presently thrust out by the head shoulders or pluck out by the eares that presumptuous intruder yet tels him that he should not imagin he had gotten or should hold quiet possession for euer I will put enmity * Gen. 3. 15. saith the Lord betwixt thee the woman between thy seed her seed What shall be the euent of this long doubtfull contention He shal breake thy head thou shalt bruise his beele Though Satan be strong armed by that meanes may seeme to keepe his palace without disturbance yet there comes a Luk. 11. 11. 22 a stronger then he that ouercomes him takes from him al his armoâ— wherin he trusted diuides his spoils This shews manifestly that the deuill shall lose his possession but perhaps he may reenter or if he do not yet are wee by this meanes rather freed from misery then restored to felicity Let vs go forward therfore and heare the promise that God makes to Abraham the Father of the faithfull b Gen. 12. 3. In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed c Gal 3. 16. S. Paul thus expounds To Abraham and his seedwere the promises made He saith not to the seeds as of many but to thy seed as of one which is Christ And this promise thus made the same Apostle cals the preaching of the Verse 8. Gospell The Scripture saith he foreseeing that God would iustifie the Gentiles by faith preached before the Gospell vnto Abraham saying In thee shall al the Gentils be blessed This belssing our Euangelist describes where setting downe the end of the Gospel he tels vs that d Ioh. 20. 31. by beleeuing we shal haue life through his name What shall I need to
the effect but also the manner of our comming by it is signified Will you haue a plaine example of it q 1 Cor. 15. x1 Since by man came death by man also came the resurrection of the dead We haue here the effect of Adams transgression and of Christs resurrection The next verse shewes the maner of both more Ver. 22. euidently For as in Adam saith the Apostle all men die euen so in Christ shall all bee made aliue How die all men in Adam but r Rom 5. 12. as beeing one with Adam in whose loines they were when he sinned Å¿ Heb. 7 9. 10. as Leui was in his father Abrahams when he paide tithes to Melchisedech So are all raised againe in Christ Not simply all but all his t 1 Cor. 15. 23. The first fruits is Christs then they that are Christs at his comming Wouldest thou then bee made partaker of this life of which thou hast heard so many admirable and glorious things This life is in Christ How wilt thou do to fetch it out of him Deceiue not thy selfe it is not so to he had Hee that will enioy the life which is in Christ must not thinke to come to him and take a snatch and carry it away with him He keepes it close shut vp within himselfe Not refusing to impart it to other but desiring to ioine other to him that they may bee sure to holde fast for euer that hee giues them If hee should commit it to thy custodie and let thee depart from him with it what wouldest thou doe or what meanes couldest thou vse to keepe it safe Satan is craftie and mighty It is a great venture but either hee would cosin thee of it by deceipt or robbe thee of it by force What say I a venture It is out of question thou wouldest neuer be able to keepe it from him If thou haue any experience of his vndermining and assaulting thee thou knowest how hardly and with what adoe it is now held when yet thou art knit by faith to him in whom the very fountaine of it is Doost thou not feele how strongly he pulls to rent thee from him that sometimes thou canst scarce tell whether hee haue seuered thee from him or no If thy experience bee small in thy selfe didst thou neuer see a poore soule stand quaking and trembling looking ruefully about on euery side shrieking and crying out for feare least hee should bee separated from Iesus Christ At the least perswade thy selfe it is not for nothing that our Sauiour himselfe when hee labours to assure his sheepe that they shall neuer bee wrung out of his hands puts them in mind of his fathers Almigh â—ie power u Ioh. 10. 27. ver 28 My sheepe heare my voice and I know them ind they follow mee And I giue them eternall life and they shall neuer perish neither shall any plucke them out of my hand Is not here assurance enough They know his voice that they may not bee deceiued by harkning to a stranger They follow him hauing him stil in sight least they should mistake some other for him Hee giues them eternall life How shall they die that haue life euerlasting He secures them in saying they shall neuer perish They haue life and shall hold it fast to the end Is there yet more None shall take them out of his hand This confirmes all the rest What though the deuill be haling and drawing of them continually Hee shall not preuaile How shall wee bee assured of that For then wee are safe indeede Heare what followes My father which gaue them mee is greater then all and none is able to take ver 29. them out of my fathers hand What needed all this if it bee so easie a matter to keepe life when once thou hast it Thou makest account to take life of our Sauiour and when thou hast it to be gone with all speed Alas poore man thou wilt keepe it but a little while lwis if thou haue no better help then thine owne But if thou cleaue fast to Iesus Christ and stirre not an inch or an hayres bredth from his side thou maist perhaps heare the diuell roaring at thy backe or see him running vp and downe prying and seeking some aduantage to seize vpon thee it may bee hee will offer to snatch at thee and lay holde vpon thee cling to rhy Sauiour as the childe dooth to the mother when hee is in feare and then doubt not but he that is greater then all will keepe thee out of Satans iawes maugre all his power and malice Beare with mee I pray you if I seeme to be ouer-large in this point I feele such an increase of comfort and assurance in the meditation of this matter that I can not leaue it till I haue lookt a little neerer into the particulars thereof especially those that concerne the temporall death of the body and the eternall both of it and the soule Now the life whereby wee are deliuered from the one and the other death as it hath oft bin said is in Christ For the better and fuller conceiuing whereof wee must remember that faith whereby we are ioined vnto Christ that wee may partake of that life which is in him maketh vs al one with him There are a similirudes by which the Scripture expresseth this spirituall coniunction the one is that bond which is betwixt man and wife by which they that were two become one flesh This is most excellently set out by x Eph. 5. 23. the Apostle S. Paul where he shewes that Christ is the head of the Church as the husband thereof that the Lord nourisheth cherisheth it as his owne flesh And no maruaile though he do so For as it followes we are members of his body of his flesh of his bones Yea so members of them that wee are one flesh with him by reason of this bond of marriage that so chaynes links vs together No man can be so fond as to vnderstand this of our humane nature as if therefore wee were said to bee one flesh because hee wee are of the same nature For neither are all men one flesh though they be all of the same nature if the Apostle had intended to speake of that point he would not haue said that wee are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh but rather that he was bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh For it is well knowne to al men that in regard of the nature of man they that are the Church I meane a great part of them eueÌ„ al that died before our Sauiour and were partakers of the life we speake of had it before he was made man but for their sake some others hee had not taken that nature vpon him But the mysticall coniunction whereof x Eph. 5. 23. 29 the Apostle professeth to speak in that place hath the beginning and ground in Christ not in
of the sonnes of the Diuell his owne children and giuing vs a sound and certaine title thereby to the inheritance of his glory in heauen And shall I neede to vse many words in amplifying so rare a kindnes in setting out so inestimable a benefitte Small fauours require inlarging infinite blessings will not admitte it They by amplification may bee made greater then they are these the more you speake of them the lesse you make them For what is it but a diminishing of that which is infinite to atteÌ„pt in any kind of manner I say not to inlarge but euen to expresse it He that striues to speake much and almost makes no ende of commending that which is excellent seemes to haue perswaded himselfe and to desire that other men should beleeue that hee hath spoken all that can be said in the matter As for me I professe the contrary assuring my selfe and you that when I haue said all that possibly I can deuise I shall be as farre from the infinitnesse of the benefit as when I first began to speake of it Yet may it somewhat helpe our conceyt of the matter though it cannot come neere the excellency of the thing And with this perswasion let vs a little consider the prerogatiue of this Son-ship There is a great opinion and not without good cause of the estate of our first paâ—â—nts Adam and Eue while they were in Paradise before their fall They had the image of God wherein they were created shineing Gen. 1. 26. in them so gloriously that all the fishes in the sea the foules in the aire the beasts in the earth and euery thing that moueth and creepeth on the earth were subiect and obedient to them What adoe haue wee in our estate as now it standeth to make not Beares or Lions but those of whome we haue necessary and continuall vse horses and other cattle to performe any kind of seruice to vs The whip the goad the wand the spur the yoke the bit all the meanes of terror and extreamity that wee can possibly deuise cannot preuaile so much against these tame creatures as autority and maiestie did in them with those beasts that are now most fierce and cruell The Prophet Dauid though he were a King of great command ouer Gods owne free people yet when he considered those little poore seruices which the creatures in our present estate such as it is ordinarily doe vs and the gouernement wee haue ouer them breaks out into an exclamation of wonder What is man saith he to the Lord that thou art mindfull of him and Ps 8. 4. the Sonne of man that thou visitest him How would hee haue esteemed Adams rule ouer the creatures that values our gouernement of them so highly What should I speake of their familiarity with God who vouchsaf't himselfe to talke with them to informe and direct them It is recorded as a singular fauour and honour done to Moses that the Lord spake vnto him face to face as a Exod 33. 11. man speaketh to his friend How were our first Parents fauoured honoured that were to haue ordinary conference with him from time to time But to come to the point for which al this is alledg'd what was their estate for all these honors fauors but the condition of seruants They were threatned with death death both of body and soule if they transgrest the bounds that were set them Of the tree of knowledge of good and euill thou shalt not eate of it for in the day thou Gen. 2. 17. eatest thereof thou shall dy the death Put case they had coÌ„tinued in obedience to God their Creator according to their allegeance duty What could they haue lookt for but either a confirmation of that estate which they then inioyed or at the most the reward of their seruice the wages for their worke They could neuer haue attained to this dignity To be the Sons of God And is it not a prerogatiue trowe you to be brought by Christ into a more excellent estate then that which Adam in his innocency and glory had iust cause to wonder at Blessed may we say was the day and houre Oh the goodnesse power of God that brings light out of darknes that euer Adam harkened to the voice of his wife perswading him to eate of the forbiddeÌ„ fruit Not that either the sin was small to transgress the commandement of God or that it was the purpose of Adam in sinning to be occasion of so great a blessing But for that the Lord of his meere affection loue according to his owne former counsaile predestination turned misery to happines death to life We were seruants to a bountiful and gratious Lord we are made Sons to a most kind louing Father Our seruice if it had beene neuer so good could haue procured no more but wages Our Son-ship conveies vnto vs assurance of a goodly inheritance There is no seruant though hee bee put in neuer so great trust haue neuer so much autority bee neuer so highly in the Princes fauour like Daniell in the prouince Dan. 2. 48. of Babell or Ioseph in the Kingdome of Aegypt but is many degrees inferiour to the Kings Sonne Gen. 41. 40. Moses was a most faithfull seruant in the house of the Lorde and disposed of all things after the direction and to the especiall liking of his master Such as his seruice was such was his honor He had the gouernmeÌ„t of the people of God committed to him no man might refuse Heb. 3. 5. to yeeld obedience or demaunde a reason of that which hee commaunded VVas hee therefore comparable to Christ who ruled as the Sonne ouer his owne Verse 6. house VVhat was Abrahams eldest seruant to his youngest Sonne VVhat was Ioab to Salomon Dauid was a man of no meane imployment vnder Saul of no small desert toward him and his whole estate yet when he was earnestly perswaded by his fellow seruants to enter into the Kings alliance by marriage what answere made hee Seemeth it to you a light thing saith Dauid to bee a Kings Sonne in lawe Did it seeme so 1. Sam. 18. 23. great a matter to so worthie a seruant to become Son in law to a King and can wee thinke it a little honour to bee made the Sonnes of God Saul though hee were a King was but a man Dauid though hee were a seruant in condition was a King in true vertue Wee are men nay wretches wormes nothing Hee that will adopt vs is God most mightie most glorious euen Iehouah himselfe Dauid though hee should become Sonne in lawe to the King could haue no title to the Kingdome by that aduancement Our Son-ship makes heauen Gauel kind giues euery one of vs a ful intrest to the inheritaÌ„ce If yee bee Sonnes yee are heyres Moses could not looke for any Rom. 8. 17. such preferment though Pharaohs daughter tooke him for her Son And yet it is
ende of doing Shall I endeauour to make it plaine in the seuerall kindes of these Sinnes First for the omitting of that we are enioyn'd to doe who sees not that this is nothing that hath any being in nature but only a fayling in our duty Neither are we in this case guiltie of hauing done euill but of haueing left good vndon In one word here is no action at al nor any substance the author of the being whereof wee shall need to enquire after Let vs come to the sinnes that are cōmitted Whether we consider the inward thoughts of the heart or the outward actions of the body what finde we that we may call a creature The action whatsoeuer it be is his that doth it i Gen. 4. Cain murders Abell k Luke 22. 48. Indas betraies his Lord and Master Is there any substance or creature made by either of these actions If you seeke for the auctors of thé facts they are well knowe Cain commits the murder Iudas the treason What doth God but continue the naturall strength which he gaue them whereby they are able to doe all such actions as belong to such creatures Cain hath power to giue a stroke one or more that may cause death Iudas hath power to bargaine and couenant with whom he will to walke into what place he will to kisse whome he will to what ende himselfe list It is no sinne to haue this power but to vse it otherwise then we ought That we haue it is from God that we abuse it it is from our selues But this only by the way least some scruple should arise in some man mind touching Gods actions in the sinnes of men The conclusion is that we haue as yet found no sinne wherof God should be the maker The hardest point is yet behind concerning the inward wickednesse and corruption of nature For although I am perswaded that the law of the 10 Commandements is only the rule of our actions teaching what we should or should not doe and not the patterne of our nature shewing what wee ought to be yet I am out of doubt that this proneness to sin and vntowardnes to al good which euery mā findeth in himselfe is iustly displeasing to God because his image therby is defaced iustly charged vpon vs as sinne because by our fault it hath seized on vs. Therefore taking this for the present as graunted let vs examin the matter see whether there bee any thing in this naughtinesse of our nature which may be truly said to be the creature of God First it is out of all question that the soule it selfe in which this corruption resteth is the workmanship of God I breathed as it were by him into the body perfitly Gen. 27. formed in the creation of man Whether it bee immediatly created by him still as I doe verily perswade my self or come frō the parents as the matter of the body doth it is not much to our purpose for the point wee haue in hand It is enough for the thing we handle that wee acknowledge God to be the maker of it Secondly it is not to be doubted but that as the substance of the soule so the qualities thereof also proceed from the same God as from their maker For hee that m Gen. 1. 27. made man after his own image and likenesse made those faculties of vnderstanding and will and those qualities of holynesse and righteousnesse n Eph. 4. 24. wherein that image only or especially consists Is it not thē to be feared least we should make God the author of this naughtinesse by which we are prone to euill since it is a quality abiding in the soule Some haue thought to shift off the matter by denying that the corruption of our nature is any thing else but an absence of goodnesse for want of which wee can neither doe nor desire ought that is good But this doth too much excuse the badnesse of our hearts which are proclaimed every where in Scripture not only not to incline to that which is good but to affect and like of that which is euill yea to be wholly bent to euill and to nothing else o Gen. 6. 5. The Lord saw that all the imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart were only euill continually Therefore p Rom. 6. 17. the Apostle pronounceth of all men that while they are in their naturall estate not freed by grace they are the seruants of sinne And all such q I. Ioh. 3. 10. S. Iohn calleth the children of the Deuill and doubteth not to affirme that the whole worldlyeth in wickednesse But what needes any more or 5. 19. better proofe then that discourse which the Apostle maketh where he sets out the greeuous misery of our corrupt nature vpon experience that he himselfe had that all men haue of their vntowardnesse to do good euē after they haue receiued the spirit of regeneration r Rom. 7. 14. 15. c. I see a law in my members rebelling against the law of my minde and leading me captiue vnto the law of sinne which is in my members I leaue it to euery mans consideration to iudge what wee are before grace if we bee such after it If then this our naturall corruption be more then a priuation or absence of that righteousnesse which was and ought to be in vs what is it but an euill quality If a quality it must needes haue had a beginning either with the soule or after it If so from whom can it be imagined to haue had that being but from him that is the autor of all being Wherevpon it seemes necessary to follow that sinne is to be reckned in the number of those All things that were made by Iesus Christ But this was disclaimed before as blasphemous What shall we say then Shall we deny that euery quality is made by God How can wee possibly doe so with any reason For euery quality hath a being and euery being is good Neither is there any good but from God as the autor thereof Else were not he the only true good if there were any thing good beside him which is not good by him What remaines but to affirme that this Corruption or naughtinesse is no quality How may that appeare I will endeauour to make it plaine by a likenesse or similitude What thinke you of the distempers that happen often times in the body When it shakes and quiuers with the cold of an ague when it burnes like fire with the extreame heate of a feuer When it flowes with moysture in a dropsie Are these alterations new qualities created by God Consider the rottennesse in an apple or a consumption in the body I speake of or in any member of it Can you conceiue how these things may bee without the creation of any new quality Imagin the like of that corruption which possesseth the soule of man Certainely putrefaction and rottennesse are not qualities made
by the Creatour but rather corruptions of the naturall qualities where with hee inriched and beautified his creature What then Are they nothing but the priuation or absence of that which was giuen by nature Yes sure Take example of the apple before named The colour and tast of it may be gone and all vertue to nourish and yet the fruit not be rotten The body of a man or any other creature may haue lost power to moue yea life it selfe too and yet not forth with bee putrified or sauour He stinkes before this time quoth Martha of her brother Lazarus for he hath beene dead foure daies The qualities of the soule being things that belong to the nature of it according to the creation alwaies continue with the soule but they may be distempred and disordâ—ed without any new worke of god by creating other instead of them Marke I pray you a little when a man by study attaines to the knowledge of any art doth the Creator make such a new quality Doth he not rather blesse him to the perfiting of that which was as the first created in him If this knowledge decay by any disease of the body or by any carelesnesse of the minde is the former quality perhaps lately made as it were vnmade againe Or may we happely haue the like made and mard from day to day I might say the like of morall vertues The reason is all one You will say perchaunce that you see not how there can be any such corruption in the qualities of the soule as you discerne plainely to happen in the body Surely I confesse mine ignorance in the same point with you Neither do I any way go about to shew how it is but me thinks I see by good reasoÌ„ that it is so If we had as much knowledge of the nature of the soule and the qualities thereof as we haue of the body and the humours therein I doubt not but we should as plainely discerne the one as we see the other Let all this be graunted may some man say that this naughtinesse of nature insues vpon the committing of the first sinne as a corruption of the created qualities which the soule was indued withall at her making I would faine knowe why this may not challenge God for the autor of it as well as those creatures which you confesse before to take their beginning from the slyme and mudde of the earth and water mingled together They come of the corruption of those principles of all bodyly things at the least all vnder the moone as these are said to be from the decay of those qualities For the better satisfying of al meÌ„ touching this doubt I would entreat them to coÌ„sider these manifest differences First that the Lord directly and principally intending the bringing forth of those creatures as tending to the perfection of the world accordingly fitted the nature of the earth and water that by the power of the Sunn such thing might be formed of them But the wickednesse of our nature being not in such sort appointed by God but only vpon a supposition of the fall of man by sinne this corruption proceedes not from necessity of nature but from the iust curse of God vpon all vs. that sinned Secondly it is farder to be obserued that those creatures so bred become seuerall distinct things from that where of they are bred hauing a being in themselues and no way depending on the slyme or mudde So is not this corruption we speak of which hath no being in it self distinct from the qualitie but so cleaues to it that without it it cannot conâ—inue one minute no not so much as in any reasonable â—magination A scion or grift taken from a tree and set in some other stocke or prickt into the ground may oroue a diuerse plant and tree from that whence it was cut But a wen or bunch growing out of the tree thogh it receiue nourishment from it and grow with it is no new creature nor substance by it selfe So is it with those things that breede of slime as with the grists so with the naughtinesse of our nature as with vnnaturall swellings in trees or liuing creatures Thirdly which I desire to haue markt the Lord hath an especiall hand in giuing life to those forenamed creatures and in framing their members that they may be apt for motion The Sunne slime as it were afford temper the matter wherof they are to be made but the Former of it is God himself May we auouch the like of that corruption where with our nature is defiled I trow not God in Iustice will haue it to be he doth not by creation giue it being And thus much of the creation of all things mentioned by our Euangelist Now let vs consider why hee doth here mention it and what he intends to proue by it There are 3 seuerall opinions concerning the Euangelists purpose in this verse al agreeing with the words course of the Text and such as may well stand each with other For if we say as Å¿ Leontiâ—s in Io â—ap 1. some haue done that Sainâ— Iohn by telling vs that Al things were made by him would exempt him from amongst the creatures and sette him on the Throne of the Creatour what say we that is either vnworthie of our Sauiours honour or not agreeable to the maine ende of this description which is to shew that the promised Messiah had not his first being from the holy Virgin his mother Neither doth this coÌ„trary the iudgement of those writers t Alcuinus in Ioa cap. 1. who think that our Euangelist following as it were the order of time first shewes our Sauiours diuinity then his humanity in setting out the former after hee hath told vs what he was before the beginning of the world proceedes now to informe vs what he did at the creation of the world Doth the third u Ignatâ—us ad Tarsens epâ—st 7 and most common opinion please vs that this is brought in to proue his Godhead This indeed I take to haue bin principally intended but so as that both the other are likely Did hee meane to shewe that our Sauior is God Certainely hee woulde haue vs knowe then that he is not a Creature only These two points imply each other The third suits with them well enough For S. Iohn might intend to proue his diuine na ture by the creation of all things and withall purpose to declare what he did in the creation Which opinion also is somewhat the more likely because the Euangelist bringes it in vpon repetition of his being with God as if he meant to shew what he did then with God as well as that he was with God But because the proofe of the Messiahs Godhead is the main scope of this Gospel I will keepe my selfe to to that point in the rest of my present exercise The question is whether the creation of al things be a sufficient proofe of his
that leadeth vnto life It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed then hauing two hands or two feete to be cast into euerlasting fire This is that life of glorie which is verie often called euerlasting life and whereof our Euangelist speaketh continually almost in euerie Chapter of this Gospell diuers times especially in the thirde the fift and the sixt The life of grace is more often in the Epistles k Rom. 6. 4. 8. 2. That wee might walke in newnesse of life The spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus l 2. Cor. 4. 10. That the life of Iesus might also bee made manifest in our bodies m Eph. 4 18. Strangers from the life of God I haue beene somewhat the larger in this matter because it helpeth much to the vnderstanding of many texts of Scripture to knowe the different sense of the word in question For the place in hand it is commonly thought to be meant of that natural life which all liuing creatures receiue from their creator as if the Euangelist should haue sayd that not onely all things were made by him as the author of their being but also that they had their life too from him But this sauing their better iudgemeÌ„t that so expound the text seemes to me somewhat vnlikely For why should the Euangelist repeate that in this verse which hee had deliuered so fully immediately before All things were made by him Was there any feare that some exception would bee taken to these wordes could any man imagine that this making of all things implyed no more but the outwarde fashioning and framing of them and not also the inwarde forme and wholenature If wee will giue the wordes leaue to reach as farre as by their nature they doe All things must needes import the same thinges in their best estate with all their naturall qualities properties and whatsoeuer else belongs to their being that which they are For example let vs speake a word or two of some particulars By him were all trees made What would a reasonable man vnderstand by this speech That the body of the trees onely or the roots boughes and branches and leaues and not the life of the Trees was made by him Surely to speake according to truth all these without the life and forme doe no more make a Tree then a body without a soule doth a Man I might say the like of men By him were all men made If the Lord God had onely framed Adam of the dust of the ground and not breathed into his face the breath of life might hee haue beene sayd to haue created a man No surely vnlesse a carcase bee a man after the soule is departed out of it But let vs thinke the Euangelist might haue such a meaning would he trow yee haue spoken as hee doth if he had meant as you say In him was life that is say you Hee also gaue life to all things that hee had made Who can so much deceiue himselfe as to conceiue that Saint Iohn would deliuer his minde so darkely and doubtfully Beside was not this you speake of a creature If so it was before compris'd vnder those generall tearmes All things and needed no repetition Neither will this interpretation of the word agree fitly with that which followeth Is it not euident that the life and the light are of the same kinde both naturall or both supernaturall But the light as it shall appeare anone is that of grace to faith not of nature to knowledge For the light of nature did comprehend the Creator so far as to acknowledge it selfe to proceede from him and to depend vpon him Therefore n Rom. 1. 20. the Apostle Saint Paul doth not accuse the heathen of ignorance for not knowing God to be their maker but for not honouring him according to the knowledge they had of him The inuisible things of God saith hee that is his eternall power and Godhead are seenâ— by the creation of the world being considered in his workes that they might bee without excuse Because when they knew Ver. 21. God they glorified him not as God So then the Heathen for all the darkenesse of nature did comprehend the life that was the naturall light of their soules If you answere that they did not perfitly vnderstand all things that concerne him as the Creator you say true but not much to purpose For who is there that euer did oâ— can especially while hee liues in this world compassed about with this house of clay so fully conceiue those points as they are to bee and shall be after this life vnderstood But some man will say perhaps that although the giuing of life to all things was signified in the making of them yet the preseruing and maintaining of it was not Nor of their being which can no more bee continued without the power of God support them in it then their life can Therefore the Apostle describing our Sauiour Christs Godhead sets it out by this verie worke thereof when he sayth of him that o Heb. 1. 3. He beares vp all things by his mightie word and p Act. 17. 28. in another place where hee tels the heathen that they liu'd and mou'd in God hee addeâ— also that in him they had their being If then there were no necessitie to expresse the sustaining of all things in their being no more was there to note particularly the continuing of them in life Yea perhaps it might be dangerous to mention the later and conceale the former least some men should gather that all thinges stand in neede of God to preserue their life but not to continue their being Giue mee leaue to apply one of my former exceptions to the cleering of this matter also How strangely doth the Euangelist speake if his meaning be as you make it In him was life That is Hee preserues all thinges in life Could this point bee more obscurely deliuered What reason can you giue mee why the holy Ghost should say was when he intended to signifie the continuall preseruing of life why did hee not rather say In him is life Or in him the life of all thinges is continually preserv'd But if by life you will haue the preseruing of things in their being signified I desire to see some warrant of Scripture or ground of reason for the vsing of that word in that sense Surely there can bee no such found in any place of all the Scripture either or the word life or for the phrase In him was life What remaines then but q Clem. Alex andr pae lagog lib. 1. cap. 6. A thanaâ— lib. 3. â—â— homâ— Ambâ—o lib. 3 de fide cap 3. to expound the word of that supernaturall life by which wee liue through faith in Christ This is the life of which our Euangelist so often speakes in this Gospell comming to vs by and in Christ Let vs heare our Sauiour himselfe speake t Ioh. 5. 24.
heape vp any more testimonies in a matter nothing doubted of we haue found that we sought that life is to bee had in Iesus Christ See I pray you consider a little with me how many greate reasons we haue to bee inflamed with the loue of Iesus Christ If we regard excellency of nature in which respect e Velleius Epi cur apud Cicer. de nat deor l. 1. the graund Atheists of the worlde thought the heatheÌ„ imagined Gods worthy of honor seruice behold he is God If length of yeers he is eternall without beginning or ending But these things rather cause admiratioÌ„ then moue affection which is then most effectually stirred vp when the sense of some benefit receiu'd hath taken ful possession of our hearts If there be any man with whom these respects canot preuaile what is he but meerely senslesse neither knowing what he hath nor feeling what hee wantes What said I Not knowing what hee hath There needes not so much If no man can bee ignorant that hee is all men must need vnderstand that they are beholding to him by whome they are Looke not vpon the goodly feature of thy body think not on the excellency of thy soule vnderstand not that thou hast vnderstaÌ„ding forget that thou canst remember only deny not that thou art because thou prou'st it by denying it and thou hasâ— cause enough to loue the author of thy being Doth this benefit of thy naturall being somewhat affect thee Oh how wouldst thou bee rauisht if thou couldst see the blessednes of thy supernaturall estate I will not goe about to shew thee the misery in which thou art now by the corruption of thy nature I will not so much as say thou art miserable I reserue those points for some other opportunity the next verse will giue mee occasion to speake somewhat of them Only giue meeleaue to proclayme life in Iesus Christ Doost thou heare what I say I wil repeate it againe and that as loud as I can that all may heare it The Word the promised Messiah Iesus Christ the Sonne of God hath life in him for all that will be partakers of it Dost thou sit still at the hearing of this proclamation No maruaile How should a dead man stit Wouldest thou haue a better proofe that thou art dead indeed Well if there be no remedy but that thou wilt continue stil in death I wil leaue thee in it turne to them whom I see running vp and downe to seeke out this life Why do you vexe weary your selues with seeking that which is vnder your noses f Rom 10. 6. The righteousnesse of Verse 7 this faith speaketh on this wise Say not in thy heart who shall ascend into heauen That is to bring Christ from aboue Or Verse 8. who shaldescend into deepe That is to bring Christ againe from the dead But what saith it The word is neere thee euen in thy mouth and in thy heart g Gen. 21. 15. 16. When Agar being turned out of Abrahams house with her Sonne Ismaell had spent the bottle of water that she brought from home heleft her Sonne vnder a tree and went a bowe shoote off that she might not see him dy And yet as it appeared afterward she might hard by a well of water though shee knewe it not God opened her eies saith the text and she Verse 19. saw a well of water This is the case of those men to whoÌ„ I now speake Are yee turned out of doores from God your heauenly Father Doe you finde your selues out of all hope to recouer his fauour Are you dead and would you liue but that you can see no meanes of life Be of good comfort and cheere vp your selues The water of life is neerer then you are aware of You are in it and knowe it not It comes vp to your very lips Doe but open your mouths and it will run in Agar sate her downe and did not so much as looke about her to see if Verse 16. she could light vpoÌ„ any spring or pit of water to maintaine life in her Sonne and the Lord himselfe cald vnto her and fhew'd her where she might fill many bottels And will he suffer thee thinkst thou to wander from place to place to seeke life Behold it is in his Son Thou shalt not need to climbe vp to heauen h lib. 3. 13 Iesus Christ of his owne accord without thy desire or thought of any such matter came downe from thence brought life with him Sound not the depths to fetch it out from below i Luk. 24. 6. Euen from thence also the same Iesus Christ came vp with life Art thou dead There is life in him If thou wert not dead neither couldst thou receiue nor he bestow life vpon thee k Mat 9. 12. Can a whole man be cured or l Ioh. 8. 33. 34. a free man set at liberty Was m Ioh. 11. 6. 39. not Lazarus dead before he could be raised againe to life Therfore did our Sauiour stay in the place where he was 2. dayes after he had word of his sicknes that he might be dead and buried ere he should come to restore him to life againe Tell me not how long thou hast bin dead The strength of death growes not by continuance as sicknesse doth He that hath bin dead but one hower is as void of life as he that died a yeere ago When our Sauiour came to raise Lazarus he had bin dead 4 daies Lord said Martha he stinks by this time There wanted life and when that came neither continuance of time nor noysmnes of â—aâ—or nor the bands at his hands and feete were able to make any resistance for the detayning of the prisoner If the force of life be so greate that no contrary power is of strength to make head against it may it not well seem exceeding strange that so few recouer life or once looke after it n Ioh. 5. 39. 40. Our Sauiour complaines of the Iewes that although they search the Scripturs with an opinioÌ„ that euerlasting life was to be had out of them those Scriptures testified of him that he was the autor of that â—ife yet they would not come to him that they might haue life There is no reason that we should expect better intertainement then he found Hee that will not beleeue that the light shines when it is plaine to be seene wil hardly giue credit to him that tels him afterward it did shine Yet me thinks I cannot chuse but wonder that this life which is in our Sauiour should so generally be neglected I am loth to say despised or refused bâ—â— I must of necessity coÌ„â—ess it is not embraced as it shâ—uâ—d be Would you know what the reason of it is what â—â—e we vnwilling to haue life That is not possible seing our chiefest care is to maintaine life Doe wee despaire of means to come by it The least shew of
But that feare lasted not long q Luke 24. 2. 3 When they looked they saw that the stone was rolled away And they went in but found not the body of the Lord IESVS What should they now thinke Or how should they come to learne what was become of him Sure they were that there hee was laid and being dead had no power to conuay himselfe away from thence The likeliest was that some body had taken him vp and caried him away to some other place Sir r Ioh. 20. 15. saith Mary Magdalen to one who shee thought had bin the Gardiner If thou hast borne him hence tell mee where thou hast laide him and I will take him away Thou shalt not neede to bee in feare of hauing thy garden annoyed or troubled with him any further ſ Ioh. 20. 2. His Apostles were informed of this doubtfull matter To Ver. 6. assure themselues the better they runne to the sepulchre they find the linnen clothes in which hee was wrapped the Ver. 7. kerchiefe that was vpon his head not lying with the linnen clothes but wrapped together in aplace by it selfe Hauing Ver. 17. seen this they return back whēce they came Mary staies to her Iesus discouers himselfe What should I make many words The proofe of this point belōgs to an other place Death had done his worst in despite of him the Lord Iesus is risen again leauing him ashamed cōquequered To e Luk 24. 5. 6. this the Angels beare witnes Why seeke yee him that liueth among the dead He is not here n but is risen I speake of knowne things it is enough to name them Wee see for all this goodly discourse that death still seizeth vpon all men let them be neuer so well setled in Iesus Christ he plucks them vp carries them away with him into the graue What is become of the holy Apostles where is his blessed mother the virgin Is there life in the head when the members of the body die so fast euery day And not one or two a ioint or a finger or a limme but the very principall parts yea all one other Doost thou doubt whether there bee life in him or no who hath wrastled with death and ouerthrowne him Can death preuaile against him now he liueth whom he could not keepe in subiection when he had him dead buried u Rom. 5. 9. 10. Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more death hath no more dominion ouer him For in that hee died he died once to sinne but in that be liueth hee liueth to God Sinne had his due a sacrifice of infinit worth to pay the price of mans redemption now must God also haue his due that hee that liueth to him may liue for euer But I would not haue any man so much deceiue himselfe as to imagin that the dying of them which are in Christ is an argument of the continuance of the authoritie or power of death No no beloued there is an other reason of this dissolution Alas alas death doth not aduance his owne estate and kingdome by this meanes but serues the Lords turne to bring his purpose to effect It fares with him in this case as it did in the death of our Sauiour That which hee thought to establish his power by by that he destroied it So is it in the death of those that are Christs The body as now it is is neither capable of immortalitie and fit for the seruice of sinne How shall it be prepared to receiue the one how purged and clensed from the other but by death Flesh bloud x 1. Cor. 15. 50. saith the Apostle can not inherit the kingdome of God neither doth corruption inherit incorruption Wouldest thou haue part in our Sauiour Christs immortalitie that thou mightest bee free from death Die then that thou maiest be ridde of mortalitie Art thou affraid Of what Least death should be too strong for thee if he once ger thee into his clouches Hast thou not an example in Christ I am aliue y Reuel 1. 18. saith he but I was dead and beholde I am aliue for euermore But thou fearest because thy body shall be turned into dust O foole * 1 Cor. 15. 36 saith the Apostle that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die Keepe thy corne aboue ground because if thou put it into the earth it will consume that thou shalt neuer finde it againe Where then shall the fresh greene blade appeare When shall the stalke grow vp When shall it eare When shall it flower Shall not all this glorie bee lost if the graine bee not sowed in the furrowes of the earth And art thou so I will not say fearefull but foolish and childish that thou darest not die once that thou maist liue for euer Plucke vp thy spirits and bee no longer a childe but a man were it not better for thee to die a thousand deaths then to bee continually disquieted with the motions of thy corruption Thou hast now some life of Christ in thee by the power of his spirit which inables thee to fight against sinne and to preuaile But there is no finall subduing of it till the body be destroied which doth so incline draw thee to the seruice thereof Neither hath the spirit of God quiet or full possession of thy soule as long as that corruption abides therein And that as it was bred with thee must die with thee there is no other course appointed by God to rid thee of it I doubt not but thou art now resolu'd to desire death whē it shall please God seeing there is no way to life but by it with this resolution I leaue thee that I may speak a word or two to thē that are yet out of Christ And how shall I addresse my speech vnto them It is needlesse to inflame them with a desire of life For they are wholly possest with that already It is in vaine to perswade them they shall neuer die if they be in Christ For all experience teacheth the contrary Shall I exhort them not to feare that which they cannot auoide They may learne that in the schoole of reason what remaines then At the least giue mee leaue to aduise you how you may make the best of that which can by no meanes bee escaped You are resolued there is no way with you but one Die you must and it is vncertaine how soone Yet if you may die so that you may be sure to liue againe that for euer what hurt can there be in death what feare should there be of it A crab stock that hauing his head boughts armes cut off is graffed with a pippin or some other dainty fruit can not reasonably complaine of hurt but rather hath great cause to reioice and glory Hath hee any wrong done him that hauing his cottage of clay pulled downe hath a goodly palace of stone built for his dwelling
of falshood as if hee had made them worse then they are that he might magnify our Sauiour Christ the more What if wee proue their knowledge in the things they most brag of to be vnperfect Cicer. in Acad. Socrat. apud Plato We shal say no more then many of themselues doe who yet are learned nor bring any proofe of the light that shines in darknes For the doctrine of the Gospel doth not perfit the learning whereof the Grecians boast but teach an other kinde of knowledge then euer they dreamt of But that wee may if not giue them full satisfaction yet at the least stop their mouthes let vs honor them with the reputation of learning and if they wil needes haue it so with the commendation thereof to yet with this prouiso that euen in that knowledge wherein they hold themselues so skilfull they may easily be proued to haue err'd often grossely But let vs take no aduantage of those errors lette them al bee wise States-men expert warriers greate Clarkes deepe naturalists temperate moralists cunning artificers good common-wealths-men for the publike benefit good husbands for their priuat estates for all this they are in darknesse and ignorance For what are they but ignorant that knowe not the true God nor how he is to bee worshipt What light is there in them that see not the way to their owne happiness nor vnderstand where it is to be had I should neuer done if I should let me not say refute but recite their manifold errors touching God himselfe the foundation of all religion Giue mee leaue therefore I pray you to omit them all saue a very few of the most principall First whereas there is but one God as the very light of Nature sheweth they set vp in their blind fancies infinit multitudes of Gods Goddesses to the number of I wot not how many I am sure a greate many thousands that as the Prophet saith of the Iewes according to the number of their Cytties yea Ier. 2. 28. and far aboue it too so were their Gods Yet had this bin the more tolerable though indeed it were most intolerable if they had not added a second errour worse if worse may be then the first Bee it that they could not content themselues with one God but must needs haue heapes of them for fayling was it possible they could be so absurde and senslesse as not to deuise them all of one kinde and nature Say there was some colour for to imagin there should bee a difference of sexe and so hee Gods and shee Gods yet was there not any the least shewe of reason to conceiue they might bee of diuerse natures There is wonderfull variety of nations people in the world yet all are of one kind of the same proportion of body of the same nature of the soul But the Gods of the heathen many of them can they heare it without blushing are vtterly of a diuerse kind one froÌ„ another Some of them were Gods both by the Father amd Mother some only by the Fathers side some by the mothers side only some by neither What say you to the Sunne the Moone diuerse starrs Could these be of the same kind with the former Certainely beasts foules fishes creeping things onions garlicke I am asham'd to say all I could were Gods of an other nature then those before mentioned Do you think these meÌ„ that made themselues such Gods had any spark of light in them Is it not pitty but these companions shoulde be held to be wise learned What dreames of a sick mans distempered braine what old wiues fable what idle fancy of a child that builds Castles in the aire is either so absurde or so impious And such as their opinions were of their Gods such was their worship By murders adulteries incests filthy speeches abhominable gestures sorceries coniurations The least sinne of this kinde was their doating Idolatry that hee which only made an idoll of God and did him no farder dishonour might well be counted a holy man amongst a route of such prophane miscreants Could these men let them boast of their knowledge as much as they list could these men I say know wherin their owne happinesse consisted or how they might attaine vnto it How should he that is ignorant of God from whom all things receiue as their being so their well being euer vnderstand what felicity is or how it may be come by There needes no other nor can bee any better proofe of their ignorance in this point then the multitude of diuerse and many contrary opinions One of the heathen a learned Roman hath left vs record Varro apud Aug. de cruitder of almost 300. seueral conceits touching the soueraingne good or felicity of man It were a hard matter for a man to chuse among so many especially where hee hath no certaine marks whereby to direct him in his choise But what a misery is it for one to vex and tire himselfe in seeking when the thing he seekes for is not neere the place of his search To examine the opinions seuerally were more labour then profite I wil only point at â—ome maine errors as in the other part of their ignorance concerning God First then what true knoweledge can be lookt for at their hands touching persite happinesse whose bse thoughts haue imprisoned theÌ„ selues within the narrow compass of this short and vncertaine life wherein there is so little quietnesse to bee found and so much misery to be indur'd that their own Cicer. Tuscul quaest lib. 1. Gods as they say haue counted it a mans greatest felicity either neuer to haue bin borne or to dye quickly yea haue bestowed death on their fauorits as the richest reward they could giue them And if any of them tooke a conceit of the immortality of the soule yet they spoiled man of one part of his happiness by leauing the body void of al possibility to liue again Yea what was the felicity they allowed the soule but such a kinde of vaine pleasure as the mind of a natural wise maÌ„ would rather despise then delight in But these also were very few the greatest part not of the commoÌ„ sort only but of the Philosophers too either denying or doubting of the immortality of the soule How should such blinde men knowthe way to true felicity Or if they might haue lighted on it by chance how could they haue perceiu'd it Well let vs take pitty of their ignorance shew theÌ„ that true happinesse is only in the inioying of God What are they the neerer Al their learning wil not teach theÌ„ how to find him The best they can imagin is to procure his fauor by sacrifices or to deserue his loue by their shadow of vertue Alas poore wretches How highly soeuer they value this their painted vaine glory he that searcheth the hearts condemnes it of hypocrisy To whoÌ„ dost thou offer thy sacrifices Which of thy Gods is it thou
the worde in common speech where the patterne or a thing it selfe that is inutated or counterfetted is called the Truth The truth Vritas vincit iantationem excelleth the imitation So the Lord is named the true God This is euerlasting life to know thee the onely true God Ioh 17. 3. Some thinke that by this truth or trueness the light is signified to bee such by nature and of it selfe not by Ciril in Ioa. lib. 1. cap. 9. grace or participation And so may the Lord bee called the true beeing because he is so naturally and imparts to all things such being as they haue But of this signification I thinke there is no example to bee found in Scripâ—ure The two former agree very well to our Sauiour who is indeede the true light without any darkness of error or falshood in him Hee whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God for God giueth him not the spirit by measure Ioh. 3. 34. And of him were all the ceremonies of the lawe shadowes and figures as the Apostle hath shewed at large in the Epistle to the Hebrewes especially in the ninth and tenth Chapters But the best way to vnderstand the true sense of the worde is to compare it with other of the same kinde in the Scripture For which purpose what shall wee neede to goe any farder then this Gospell Wherein wee haue two like speeches vttered by our Sauiour of himselfe My father saith hee giueth you the true Ioh. 6. 32. bread from Heauen What true bread was this It is euident that hee speaketh it of himselfe whom a little before hee had called the meate that indureth to euerlasting Verse 27. life Heere he compares himselfe with that Manna whereof the Iewes boasted and wherewith they say Moses fed them euen with bread from Heauen To this our Sauiour answereth that Moses gaue them not bread from heauen but my father giueth you saith he the true bread from Heauen They had bread from heauen by the ministerie of Moses as they proued by the place Psal 78. 24. of the Psalme He gaue them bread from heauen How then saith our Sauiour that Moses gaue them not bread from heauen and that his father giues them the true bread Surely that bread which they had by the meanes of Moses was true bread and did truely the office of bread to feed their bodies What then Doth he meane that it was but a figure of the heauenly bread which God was to giue and now in and by him did giue them This was true indeede but not so much to purpose as our Sauiours speech was beeing rightly vnderstood Hee Ver. 27. had perswaded them before to labour for the meat that endureth to euerlasting life They would needes haue Ver. 30. Ver. 31. him shew them some signe that is worke some miracle whereby they might be occasioned to beleeue him that there was better bread then such as their fathers had eaten in the Wildernes To this our Lord answeres that Moses gaue them not bread from heauen namely no such Ver. 32. bread as could endure to life eternall That bread that could so feede them was the true bread and was giuen by his father in comparison whereof the other was not worthy the name of bread The vse of the bread is to nourisn and continue life and that bread which can not worke such an effect in him that eates it is not true bread Your fathers saith he afterward dideate Manna in the Wildernes and are dead How Ver. 49. Ver. 50. then was that true bread This is the bread that came downe from heauen that hee which eateth of it should not die Loe heere we haue the true bread which performes that in truth to the soule that the other doth but as it were offer to the body Therefore also he tells them a little after that his flesh is truely meate and his bloud truly Ver 55. drink A like place we haue in the same Gospell where he tearmes himselfe the true Vine I am the true Vine Why is Ioh. 15. 1. he the true Vine Because hee doth indeede truely and effectually nourish comfort susteine those that cleaue to him by faith whereas the best Vine in the world hath somtimes dead branches and at the last dieth it selfe Now then if any man demaund in what sense Christ is the true light in the very same say I in which hee doth affirme that he is the true bread and the true Vine The Sonne which is the fountaine of this visible light doth not so truely shine and giue light to the eyes of the body as Iesus Christ doth inlighten the vnderstanding which is the eye of the Soule Iesus Christ may Ambros de fide contra Arian cap. 3. some man say Why not rather God the Father or at least the whole Trinitie whose ioint action it is to inlighten and not the Sonnes alone These obiections are easily answered For it is more then plame that our Euangelist speakes only of the Sonne in this whole description What reason is there then to vnderstand this one verse of any other but of him alone How should this point applied either to the Father or to the Trinitie haue any due place in this discourse Is it not also apparent that the light here spoken of is the same whereof Iohn bare witness and which is said in the verses following to haue come vnto his owne and to haue giuen the priuiledge to men of becomming the sonnes of God Consider yet farder how vnfit it had bin for Saint Iohn hauing called the Worde by the name of the light in the former verses here vpon a sodaine to giue the same title to any other of the persons or the Godhead Will any man take the worde in such diuers sort if hee bee not constrained to doe so by cleere euidence of the Text But so to vnderstand it were to couer the place with darknesse not to make the sense of it cleere and euident But the action of inlightening is common to all three Persons So are all actions of any person of the three which concerne any other beside the Persons themselues To choose to iustifie to sanctifie to redeeme to instruct to inspire to comfort c. are all common workes of the Diuine nature Yet are they appropriated in the Scripture seuerally to the seuerall persons as all men know and as I must shew particularly when I come to the 33. verse In the meane while let vs goe forward with the exposition of this verse wherein we are next to consider what the doubling of the article may teach vs. The light the true light was it not enough to haue said The light For surely that implies an especiall excellencie of the light wee meane There bee perhaps many candles torches starres and moones but the sunne onely is the light They are lights but not the light If that would not serue the turne
to their opinion who vnderstand this place of Gaudentius in Euang. tract 12 our Lords being in the world all the time he liued here â—pon earth in the nature and shape of man The reasons whereby some men would prooue the contrarie are of no great force They say Saint Iohn would cleere our Sauiour from being thought to haue beene in fault that men did not beleeue and from being supposed to bee a creature But both these doubts were satisfied before more sufficiently and the later ariseth onely from that which is heere affirmed Hee was in the world as if the Euangelist had made himselfe more worke then needed It was sayde before that the light shineth in darkenesseâ— that it lighteth or inlightneth euerie man Yea the fault of not beleeuing was layde where it is The darkenesse comprehended it not How then could the light bee suspected Or how should hee bee taken to bee a creature but in regard of his manhood which is no error nor inconuenience Hee was auoucht before to be God and to haue made all things none excepted Now then seeing wee haue found that This being in the world is to bee vnderstood of our Sauiours conuersing with men here in the flesh it is no hard matter to know what is meant by the world from thence to gather the meaning of the Euangelist What is the world what else but the earth Therefore when the Euangelist saith He was in the world his meaning is that the Messiah of whom he hath spoken so much was conuersant here vpon earth amongst men This he deliuereth here in this general descriptioÌ„ before he come to the history it self which setteth out the course of his life and carriage at large It is needlesse to say any thing in proofe of this matter I shall haue necessarie occasion to handle it at the foureteenth verse the whole Gospel is of nothing else Yet I may not forget to note in a word how gratiously it pleased the Son of God to deale with the world He liued amongst men he kept company with men he came as himselfe speaketh eating and drinking He was Luk. 7. 34. familiar with men hee applyed himselfe to their customes and fashions in all thinges lawfull and as a worthy Scholler of so excellent a Maister sayth of himselfe Hee became all things to all men that hee might by 1. Cor. 9 19 all meanes saue some Iohn Baptist as it was fitte for him led an austere life withdrawing himselfe from the company of men abstayning from the lawfull vse of that varietie both in diet and apparayle which the Lord of his rich bountie hath afforded to men They that would in any thing vse his ministerie either for instruction or baptisme were fayne to come to him and attend vpon him Our Sauiour was ready ordinarily at euery mans call Who euer came with petition to him and went away vnsatisfied Sometimes hee deferred Ioh. 4. 49. the matter and would make as if hee hearde not yea sometimes hee seemed to aunswere somewhat roughly as to the woman of Canaan but it was Mat. 15. 21. not to deny their requests but to encrease their faith He meant not by such delayes to continue their paine or trouble but to double his mercy both vppon their bodies and vpon their soules Where hee sawe neede of helpe and want of meanes to begge it by reason of ignoraunce or some other infirmitie hee most kindly offred himselfe and his seruice Wilt thou be made whole sayth he to the man that had lyen 38 yeares Ioh. 5. 6. bed-red To conclude such was the conuersation of our Sauiour vpon earth that nothing wanted to shewe who hee was nothing hindred men commonly from comming to him but that which in all reason should haue allured them so great maiestie with so great meekenesse such power to helpe with such readinesse to bee imployed O the blindnesse of men sayth one O the pride and frowardnesse sayth another They worthily perished that made themselues vnworthie of such vndeserued kindnesse What would they haue had more then was offered them yea they could neuer haue desired so much as was afforded them And could they bee so vnkinde shall I say or vnwise and wilfull as to make light account of stay your sentence a little we are not come to that point Take heede least by reprouing of other you condemne yourselues What want you except the bodily presence of Christ that they had No one man sauing those Disciples that continually followed him heard so many of his Sermons sawe so many of his miracles knew so much of his kindnesse as wee all doe or may doe That which they might heare in a long time by peecemeale wee may read in a few howers altogether before occasions of manifold busines distract the mind and confound the memory Wee see not the blind restored to sight the lame made to goe the dead raysed to life What could wee haue seene There was seldome aâ—y outwarde meanes vsed to these purposes by which â—he eyes of men might bee fed If they heard him speak to signifie that he would haue such or such a thing done and sawe the effect ensue accordingly it was all the aduantage they had of vs that now liue and euery day may heare and read the historie of these thinges recorded If hee were then amongst men in his person hee is now amongst them in his word I wil say nothing of the difference betwixt these two meanes of bringing men to beleefe Let the euent speake It is manifest by the historie of the acts that more were conuerted to the faith in one yeare after our Sauiours death by the ministery of the word in the mouthes of the Apostles then in all the three yeares and vpwarde of his preaching and working miracles The vse of this later was but to credit the persons that their doctrine might bee receiued Wee professe that wee are resolued of the trueth of all things deliuered in the Scriptures Then certainely our Lord is amongst vs in these dayes though not in the same maÌ„ner yet in as great measure for means of knowledge and beleeuing What intertainement had hee then by them hath he now by vs The former wee must learne of the Euangelist of the later wee shall heare more anone Concer-cerning the people that liued in our Sauiour Christs time and heard and sawe what he spake and did what would any reasonable man looke for but that they should acknowledge him and honour him as the Messiah by trusting in him So they should haue done And did they so Read the record The world knewe him not Is it possible there should bee such blindnesse where there was so good light Could the light bee vnseene that shone so brightly It is woorth the doing to consider this point a little better And first let vs examine the wordes what is meant by the world what by not knowing The world in the first part of this verse
his power and skill to mine own helpe It is all one as if I had a boxe of most precious oyntment in my hand which I knew to bee very soueraigne but vnderstood not how it is to be applyed To shut out this excuse remember what Iohn Baptists office was He was sent to beare witnes of the light that all men through him might beleeue Cal to minde how faithfully Ioh. 1. 7. Act. 19. 4. he demean'd himselfe in it Iohn verily baptized with the baptisme of repentance saying vnto the people that they should beleeue in him which should come after him that is in Iesus Christ This being the estate of matters among the Iewes while our Lorde was here vpon the earth were they not iustly to be blam'd for not beleeuing Or could they plead ignoraÌ„ce for excuse It is true indeed that they knewe him not to bee the Lorde of life But this ignorance proceeded of wilfulnesse and preiudice What can they say for themselues Did they not knowe such an one was to come They had it continually in their mouths it was the hope of their life the ioy of their heart the glory of their nation whereof they were not a little proude But they knewe not that this was hee But they might haue done nay they could not haue chosen but haue knowne if they had not wilfully shutte their eies against the light of his miracles and stopt their eares against Iohns testimony of him Therefore doth our Euangelist worthily charge them with not beleeuing in his name whom Iohn testified and his owne works declared to be the Sauiour that was promised to Israell This then is the point that the Euangelist offers to our consideration in these wordes that the Iewes beeing the peculiar people of GOD to whome the Redemption that was to bee wrought by the Messiah first and principally appertained refused to accept him for their Sauiour It were infinite almost I will not say to set out but to set downe the seuerall iniuries they did him the indignities they offered him through the whole course of his life and ministerie amongst them His daily working of miracles was imputed to vaine glorie as if hee sought by them to make himselfe famous in the eies of the world This vile conceite his owne kinsmen had of him Depart hence say they and goe into Iudea Ioh. 7. 3. 4. that thy Disciples may see the workes that thou doest For there is no man that doth any thing secretly and he himselfe seeketh to bee famous If thou doe these things shew thy selfe to the world Yea that diuine power by which hee cast out Diuels was maliciously absurdly and impiously Mat. 12. 24. ascribed to Beelzebub the Prince of the Diuels His familiaritie and kindnes in conuersing with them and applying himselfe to their humours as farre as lawfully hee might was laden with the reproach of gluttony and drunkenness Behold a man which is a Luke 7. 34. glutton and a drinker of Wine a friend of Publicans and sinners What should I speake of the monstrous blasphemies they often vttered against him That Hee was a Samaritan that hee had a Diuell Yea they Ioh. 8. 48. were not ashmed nor affraide O the admirable patitience of God waiting for their repentance to iustifie themselues to his face in such horrible profaneness Say wee not well I quake to repeat it that thou art a Samaritan ver 52. and hast a Diuell And least any thing should bee wanting to the height of all impretie they adde by and by after Now know we that thou hast a Diuell The Diuell himselfe his profest enemie that coÌ„fest he knew him to be the Son of God His owne people for whose sake he came into the world knew that hee had a Diuell What should I say or imagine Whence should so deâ—estable damnable a speech proceed Are men Are the Iewes Are Christs owne people worse then the Diuell But I will not presse these things too farre because they are a degree beyond the not receiuing of him whereof the Text speakes If they had behaued themselues toward him in generall as kindely and dutifully as some in particular did now and then vpon occasion all had bin nothing as long as they receiued him not by beleeuing in his name Saul woulde haue offered sacrifice to God I take it at the best of the fattest and fairest of the Amalakites cattell But obedience is better then sacrifice He should haue hearkened 1. Sam. 15. 22. to the voice of the Lord by Samuel and haue slaine them all What shall wee giue the Lord say the people Thousands of Rammes ten thousand riuers of Oyle The first borne the first fruit of our bodies Doe iustly saith the Mic. 6. 7. 8. Prophet Loue mercie So much doth it concerne a man to humble himselfe to the will of God But this beleeuing was a matter of very great importance because vpon it depended all hope of deliuerance by the Messiah All disobedience and sinne is liable to damnation but yet there is possibilitie of forgiueness though the transgression bee exceeding great Onely this one sinne of not beleeuing makes a man vtterly vncapable of any Ioh. 3. 29. fauour as long as hee continues in it In the maladies of the bodie though the meanes of Physick be not vsed yet oftentimes the strength of nature ouercomes the malice of the humour and recouereth the Patient It is not so in the diseases of the soule where the corruption euery day increaseth the fault once coÌ„mitted as it were the hurt receiued admits no cure but by pardon An easie cure I confesse a ready So much the greater was their obstinacie and folly that I may speake of them as fauourably as may be that would not imbrace so certaine and so present a remedy But this will the better appeare when wee vnderstand more fully what it is to beleeue in Christ In the meane while I will onely put you in minde to consider a little with your selues of this matter I am out of doubt euery one of vs condemnes the Iewes and not withouâ— cause Let vs take heede that we giue not an heauy sentence against our owne selues thereby We haue offer of saluation by the same meanes wee doe or may know more then they could of the particulars thereto belonging and namely of that which is required on our part to beleeue in his name It is not our assenting to the truth of the doctrine in generall our particular knowledge oâ— the course of mans redemption our magnifying the ministers of the Gospell as the Iewes did Iohn Baptist our mislike detestation of Popery that can be sufficient to the sauing of our soules I grát we go beyond the Iews in acknowledging thus much in approuing of it But there is more required to the pardon of our sins obtaining a right to heaueÌ„ We must beleeue in the name of Chr if we do not it shall profit