father There was a man of Beniamin The new Testament is full of the like examples some of them wee heard before a few more will suffice There Ioh. 5. 5. 2. 1. was a mâ—â— there saith our Euangelist speaking of the poole at â—ethesda There was a man one of the Phaâ—ises Aâ—â— 5. 1. 10. 1. A certaine man named Ananias There was a certaine man in Caesarea I mâ—ght rehearse many more of the same kinde but these are more then enow and by this I thinke wee haue sufficient warrant to conclude that the holy Ghost in this History of Iohn speakes as hee doth ordinarily in other places of the like kinde without any intent to signifie his nature of whom he speakes and this is the simplest and Plainest interpretation of these former words The later Sent from God offer these two things to our consideration who sent what this sending was What needs any question of the former may some man say Doth not the Euangelist speake plaine enough and tell vs that God was the sender Hee was sent from God But we learned in the beginning of this Gospell that the worde God somtimes signified the diuine nature which is but one and the same in all three persons sometimes some one of them And we haue here the more reason to make this inquirie because one of the persons namely the second is he of whome Iohn was to witnes Not to vse more words then neede wee are directed by Iohn himselfe to vnderstand this of GOD the Father This I prooue by this our Euangelist in this present chapter where he reports part of the Baprists tesimonie touching our Sauiour in this sort He that sent mee to baptize with water he said vnto me vpon whom thou Ioh. 1. 33. shalt see the spirit come downe and tarry still on him that is hee which baptizeth with the holy Ghost Who is this that sent Iohn to baptize Not the diuine nature For he is distinguisht from the Sonne and the holy Ghost who can it be then but the Father God the father gaue Iohn a token whereby he should know the Sonne that was the Messiah the comming downe of the holy Ghost and his abiding on him S. Mathew sets out the point as distinctly The second Person is in the water newly baptized the third sits vpon him in the likenes of a Doue the first proclaimes him from heauen This is that my Sonne Mat. 3. 17. that beloued one in whome I am well pleased As if hee should in plaine tearmes haue said to Iohn This is hee of whome I sent thee to beare witness The like distinction for the Father and the Sonne wee haue in Saint Luke where Zachary the father of Iohn prophecying Luke 1. 76. of his sonne sayeth that hee shall be called the Prophet of the most high namely of God the Father as it appeares by the speech of the Angell Gabriell to the virgin Mary Hee shall be called the Sonne of the most verse 32. high Then followes Iohns office Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord namely the Lord Iesus for whome Iohn prepared the way But how did God the Father send him Surely hee may well bee said to haue bin sent in regard both of his person and of his office His person as it is wel knowne I will but point at the particulars was after an extraordinarie manner from GOD as I saac was giuen to Gen. 18. 10. Abraham and Sarah by him His father and mother were both striken image and she also barren insomuch Luke 1. 7. that when shee was conceiued with childe contrarie to her expectation and beyond all likelihood and naturall possibilitie shee hid her selfe fiue monethes till shee might bee more sure of that which to Ver. 24. 36. many would seeme vnpossible and to take away too much occasion of speech from the common sort For his office it was assigned him by GOD and notice also of that Assigâ—ment giuen to his father before the child was conceiued Hee shall goe before him saith the Angell in the spirit and power of Elias Neither was he only thus foreappointed for this excelâ—ent office but when the time came that hee should enter vpon it he receiued a speciall commission and warrant from God for the execution thereof The worde Luke 3. 1. 2. of God came to Iohn the sonne of Zacharias in the wildernesse It is to no purpose to spend time in seeking how this worde came whether by any inward motion of the spirit onely or by some outward vision also wee may safely be ignorant of such matters hath not pleased the holy Ghost to reueale in the scriptures yet if wee may lawfully ghesse it seemes most likely that it was without any such outward shew because the Euangelist makes no mention of it in setting downe the History This last sending onely is thought by some to bee signified in this place If they had said no more but chiefly I should ensily haue assented to them Now they say onely I doubt whether they haue any sufficient warrant so to restraine the holy Ghosts words or no and therefore thinke it most conuenient to allow them as large an extent as they will reasonably beare You looke perhaps that I should now proceede to deliuer the Enangelists meaning and accordingly to adde such proofe and exhortation as may helpe vs forward in the embracing of the Gospell But I thinke it fittest to forbeare that for a time till I haue expounded the other part of the verse that I may take all together It followeth then to speake of the name and why the Euangelst records it The name as it soundeth in our language hath little resemblance of the originall whence it commeth Which if any man thinke a fault let him take heede that he doe not rashly condemne the holy Ghost who in the Greeke hath had small care to expresse the Hebrew sounds following continually the custome howsoeuer not answering the originall tongue Shall I need to bring any particulars for proofe of that I say Looke ouer the new Testament and wheresoeuer you finde the name of any Prophet where the Greeke differs from the Hebrew you haue an example of that which I affirme Begin with Moses if you will and so goe forward to Malachy You shall finde that the holy Ghost keepes one and the same course in naming of them without respect of their significations or sounds The reason of this is that the parties were wel known to the Iewes by those names according as the 72. Interpreters had translated them after the manner of the Greeke tongue Other languages Except perhaps the Flemâ—sh by the same warrant haue iustly taken the same liberty and not doubted as they needed not to fit the He. brew and Greeke names to the fashion of their seuerall tongues So that if any man shall either curiously affect or superstitiously obserue the nature and sound of those names which
long continued negligence To which purpose I haue especially made choice of this piece of Scripture If any man pretende the hardnesse of the matter what is more easie or more pleasant then a story If any man despise the plainenesse of it as a thing not worth his labour because a storie what is more strange or mysticall then such a Storie The Gospell is the easiest part of the Newe Testament But the Gospell of Saint Iohn is the hardest part of all the Euangelists writings yea I dare boldelie saie it because I am sure I shall speake it truely there is no one part of all the Scripture setting allegories and prophecies not fulfilled apart that conteines matters more needefull or more hard to be knowen then this present Gospell or message of ioyfull tydings brought to vs by the holy Euangelist the beloued Disciple of our Sauiour Christ 2. Of whome that I may speake a little for the farder inciting of vs to hearken diligently to that hee writes first I will entreat of his person then of his writing That which k 2. Pet. 1. 20. 21 the Apostle Peter sayth of the olde Testament that no prophecie of the Scripture is of any priuate interpretation but that holy men of God spake as they were moued by the holy Ghost is also to bee applied to the writings of the newe Testament which proceeded from the same spirit of God by the like inspiring and directing as it is confessed by all both Protestants and Papists that make any profession of Christian Religion For the Apostles of our Sauiour Christ were the Penners of all these books saue l The Gospells of S Marke and S. Luke and the Acts. three and m Ioh. 16. 13 to them the holy Ghost was both promised by him to leade them into all truth and n Act. 2. 3. 4 accordingly sent so that there can be no question but the new Testament as well as the olde is the certaine truth of God equall in authority superior in plainnesse knowledge of particulars belonging to euerlasting saluation But you wil demand perhaps how we may be assured that the Apostles were the immediate Authors of these books First we haue the same proof of the new Testament that wee haue of the Olde the ioynt consent of Christians in all ages from time to time Secondly who seeth not the admirable prouidence of God in preseruing these bookes in such glorious reputation maugre the power malice of the mighty ones of this world their great master Satan Thirdly who can be so shamlesse as to deny or suspect the credit of those auncient Christians who liuing in the Apostles times might did certainely knowe either by o Gal. 6. 11 Col. 4. 18. 2. Thes 3. 17 1. Cor 16. 21 the hand or by some marks which the Apostles vsed as it were signing and sealing or by enquirie of the Apostles themselues that those bookes were indeed of their writing From them this knowledge came to their next successors and successiuely to vs that now liue by such a generall consent of so many thousands in all ages that it were more then impudencie to make question of the matter howsoeuer our Papists in these dayes to make all men depende on them that they may shew themselues to be Antichristian will haue the assurance of this point as of all other matters of faith to be fetcht from them that now liue from the authority of the Church of Rome that now is I may say the like of those other 3. Bookes the Gospels of Mark and Luke and the Acts of the Apostles which were acknowledged by the first Christians to thaue been endited by the spirit of God and as p August prolog in Ioan. it is recorded by some to haue beene approued for such by the Apostle S. Iohn who doubtlesse liuing till after the decease of all them that are saide and belieued to be the writers of these and the other books of the new Testament would haue disclaim'd the authority of thē informed the Church against them if he had not certainly knowen that they were al the holy Ghosts owne enditing But it is not my purpose nor is it necessarie to that I haue in hand to dispute this question onely it seemed to me not amisse to speake thus much in this entrance as it were by the way to preuent such obiections as might perhaps disquiet the mindes of some not so thoroughly setled For whose better satisfaction I will add that which is of most importance namely the matter conteined in these books which is apparantly such for the substance of it as the heart and head of man were neuer able to deuise yea such witnesse q 1. Cor. 2. 9. 10 the holy Apostle Saint Paul as neither ey hath seene eare hath heard nor euer came into any mans heart But God hath reueiled it to vs by his Spirit which searcheth all things yea the deepe things of God This strangenesse of the matter is seconded in them that beleeue to saluation by an vnspeakeaioy and comfort in their soules conceiued vpon a feeling of the pardon of their sins and a certaine hope of euerlasting happinesse in the life to come In the last place comes the testimony of the spirit of God which as it were the broade seale makes vp the assurance both of the matter and the bookes in which it is comprised If you aske me how I can discern the witnesse of the Spirit from the illusion of Satan and the imagination of mine owne brain giue me leaue also to demand a like question of you How could the Prophets whose ministery it pleased the holy Ghost to vse from time to time make a difference betwixt the motions of the Lord himselfe and the suggestions you mention were they any more able to express this power of discerning then the faithfull now are I grant they could make proofe of their calling and the reuelations they had by a miraculous foretelling of things to come But neither were those prophesies any certaine proofes till the euent confirmed the truth of them and my question remaines still vnanswered How they could discerne that the things which they prophecied of were reuealed to them by God and not suggested by any deceitfull working of the diuel Beare with mee I beseech you if I a little forget my selfe in a matter of such importance and difficulty wherein I would be yet more bolde with your patience but that I trust and purpose to handle this point more at large vpon some iuster occasion hereafter The conclusion is that no reasonable man much more that no Christian may without great inciuility or weakenesse of faith make any question of the truth of these books which haue continued in estimation and authority by the space of so many hundred years in despight of so many so learned and so mighty enemies whereas the doctrine it self by which through the power of God it hath and doth
verse he is said to be the light of men In the 7. verse that Iohn came to beare witnesse of the light of whom did Iohn beare witness but of the Messiah Iesus Christ Iohn seeth Iesus Verse 29. comming to him and saith Behold the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinne of the world And a little after he Verse 33. professeth that it was reuealed to him by God which sent him to baptise that hee vpon whom Iohn should see the spirit come downe and tarry still on him was he which baptiseth with the holy Ghost Now vpon Iesus Verse 34. did Iohn see the holy Ghost light and settle and thereupon confidently affirmeth that he is the Son of God I might add hereunto that he is the Word by beliefe in whom we haue the prerogatiue to bee the Sons of God Verse 12. And who knows not that he is Christ l Gal. 3. 26. we are al the Sons of God by faith in Christ Iesus That m Ioh. 1. 14 the word which was made flesh dwelt among vs was no other but Iesus of whom Iohn bare witnes But what should I stand heaping vp needless proofes in a matter that is out of question The conclusion of the first point is this that the Word of which our Euangelist speaketh is Iesus Christ It followeth that we should inquire how this name The word belongeth to our Sauiour In which inquiry if I should but euen recite the conceits and subtilties of diuers writers I should spend all the rest of this hower in that only and weary my selfe and you to smal purpose Therfore to make short I will commend to your farder meditation some few reasons of this name which to me seeme the most likely These reasons coÌ„cern our Sauior eitheras he is the Son of God or as he is the mediator betwixt God man For the former the n Nazian lib. 2â— de filio Athana sius Hilarius Ambrosius Augustinus Cyrillus c. ancient later Diuines that haue labored to shadow out that vnspeakable mysterie of the holy Trinitie haue thought it fit to giue vs a little glimse of this dazling light by comparing God the Father to our vnderstanding God the Sonne to that which inwardly our vnderstanding conceiueth I will endeauour to speake as plaine as possibly I can to the capacitie of the simplest When a man inwardly discourseth and reasoneth with himselfe it is sure and cuident that he frameth in his mind a certaine kind of speech or sentence and as it were a word without sound which is called the conception of the mind If he desire to communicate this conceit of his to other men hee formeth some outward speech and words either vttering them with his mouth or writing them with his pen. Thus doth he delâ—uer out a Copie of that the Originall wherof he reserueth still within where it was first bred Let vs according to the weakenes of humane capacity apply this to the vnsearchable mystery of the Sonne of God Confider them reuâ—rently and humbly that God being from all eternitie infinite in wisedome hath alwayes had some conception in him as a man hath when he discourseth in his vnderstanding This conception in man though it remaine in the soule yet is not of the substance of the soule But in God that is most simple and without all manner of composition there can bee nothing that is not of his Diuine substance This conception of God is the second person in Trinitie the Sonne of God Would any know why the like conception in man is not the Sonne of man Let him remember that the Sonne must be of the same nature with the Father as our conception is not without vnderstanding but Gods is of necessitie because as I said ere while there can bee no composition I adde nor imperfection in the diuine Nature The first reason then why the Sonne of God is named the Word is this that he is begotten by his father in such manner as our inwarde word or conception is framed in vs. These things I confesse seeme to mee somewhat curious and subtill that I can hardly perswade my selfe they were intended by the Euangelist neither would I haue aduentured to propound them to you but for reuerence of o Dionys Roma apud Athanas Athanas de de finit Euseb de praepar Euang. lib. 7. cap. 4. Hilar lib 2. de Trinitate c. very many learned Diuines who from time to time haue continued this exposition But there is more likelihood that the holy Euangelist in giuing our Sauiour this name had respect to his mediatorship p Origen lib. 1. in Ioan Clem. Epiphan haer 73 Chrysost hom 2. in Ioan. Euthymius ad hunc locum either because it is he that reuealeth the knowledge of the father vnto vs or for that he was promised to be the Messiah That the former is a part of our Sauiour Christs office and hath bene performed by him from time to time it hath bin held time out of mind and may be prooued for these later times out of the Scripture Who almost is ignorant that q Tertul. contr Iudae cap. 9. the ancient writers were of opinion and the later haue receiued it as it were from hand to hand that the second person in Trinitie appeared oftentimes to the Fathers in the olde Testament euen as often as he that appeared is specified by the holy Ghost to be Iehouah I shall not need to quote the seuerall places Begin at Gen. 12. 7. and so goe forward and where you find that the Lord appeared to Abraham Lot Isaac Iacob or any other of the Fathers in the old Testament there make account you see heare the Sonne of God declaring some part of his fathers will to them to whom he speaketh If wee come to the New Testament whom haue wee there preaching but the Sonne of God r Heb. 1. 1. At sundry times and in diuers manners God spake in the old time to the Fathers by the Prophets in the last dayes he hath spoken to vs by his Son whom also he hath commanded vs to heare Å¿ Mat. 3. 17 This is my beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased heare him And indeed whom else should wee heare since t Ioh. 1. 18 No man hath seene God at any time but the onely begotten Son which is in the bosome of the Father hee hath declared him Fitly then may hee bee called the VVord who is the Embassador of God his Father to make his will knowen to mankind by word of mouth in his owne person and by the ministery of them whom it pleaseth him to employ to that purpose To make this opinion the more likely u Ioan. Maldon ad hunc locum a popish Interpreter in his Commentarie vpon this place confidently affirmeth that the Chalde Paraphrast translates Iehouah by this word Memar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a word as
vpon his words doubt of the holy Euangelists credite and doctrine that had been so many hundreds of yeares continued and confirmed by so many glorious Martyrs with their bloud and maintaitained against all the wisdom power of the world before Mahomet was euer heard of And yet what brings he but ignorance and impudency against the eternitie of our blessed Sauiour All he can say is this that if God haue a Son he must needes haue a Wifeto not vnderstanding in his wilful ignorāce that the Lord God hath no more neede of a Wife to the begetting of his Sonne then of hands to the making of this world Yea if comparison might bee made it is easier for God to beget a Sonne like himselfe which is naturall to him then to make the World which dependeth vpon his will and hath no other necessity of being Thus wee are faine to speake according to our poore vnderstanding wee knowe that God hath a Sonne how himselfe knoweth As for the Iewes we will send them to be taught of their owne country-man Iohn the Baptist whome they worthily magnifie as a man sent from God He it is d Ioh. 1. 27 sayth Iohn of our Sauiour that commeth after me which was before me whose shoo-latchet I am not worthy to vnloose But if their owne long continued and greeuous calamity with the destruction of their owne City and Temple in which they trusted be not of force to draw them frō the blasphemous errors of their wicked ancestors surely there is no possibility for any man to perswade them Therefore we will leaue them to the gracious mercie of God to be conuerted to the truth in his good time e Phil. 3. 21. By that mighty power by which he is able to subdue all things vnto himselfe and commend our selues to his fatherly blessing that we may bee strengthened in faith against all the assaults and practises of Satan and his instruments and may neuer doubt of the eternity of our most glorious Sauiour but alwayes ascribe to him with his Father and the holy Spirit one true immortal inuisible and onely wise God all glorie power obedience and thanksgiuing for euer and euer Amen THE SECOND SERmon vpon the first Chapter of IOHN Iohn 1. Verse 1. 2. 1. In the beginning was the VVord and the VVord was with God and the VVord was God 2. The same was in the beginning with God IT is generally thought and I thinke not vntruly that the blasphemous heresies of f Anno 85 Ebion and g Anno 95 Cerinthus who denyed that our Sauiour was God or had anie being before he tooke flesh of the holy Virgine his mother was one especiall occasion of writing this Gospell To root out that impious conceit and to establish the faithful in an assured beliefe of our blessed Sauiours eternall God-head our Euangelist truly and with Apostolicall authority affirmeth that the VVord was in the beginning Neither doth he content himselfe therewithall but for the further instruction of them that belieue hee addes that The VVord was with God and was God yea that The same VVord was in the beginning with GOD. The first point of our Sauiours eternitie was expounded as it pleased God to enhable mee in my former exercise I am now by his gracious assistance to goe forwarde with that which followes The VVord was with God Wherein for the words themselues first wee must enquire what is meant by God then what the Euangelist woulde teach vs when hee sayth The VVord was with God 1. h Orig. in Ioa. lib. 2. Chrysost in Ioan. hom 2 God when the word is properly taken not applied to a creature signifieth either the Diuine nature in all three persons The Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost or only the first of the three The Father Examples of the former are in euerie leafe and page of the Scripture Let vs alleage one or two out of this Gospell i Ioh 4. 24 God is a spirit Not God the Father onely but the Sonne also and the holy Ghost For this spiritualnesse is a propertie of the diuine nature not of anie one person therein else should not the other two bee spirituall The k Ioh. 16. 2. time shall come that whosoeuer killeth you vvill thinke he doth God seruice Surely no man that killeth Christians for beleeuing in CHRIST IESVS can thinke hee doth seruice to the Trinity For our Sauiour CHRIST is one of the three But the idolatrous heathen and the superstitious Iewes make accompt that they performe acceptable seruice to God namely to the diuine nature when they destroy them that acknowledge the three persons to bee one God or deny that there are more Gods then one or worshippe our Sauiour Christ as God Of the later the old Testament affords vs few examples or none the new very many and to make short wheresoeuer God and the Sonne or Iesus Christ are mētioned together there by God the Father is signified l Ioh. 3. 16 So God loued the world that he gaue his only begotten Sonne God what not the diuine nature For that hath no Son to giue else should the second person haue a Sonne and the third to because both the Sonne and the holie Ghost are the diuine nature or God no lesse then the Father But euery mans owne reason teacheth him that the Sonne is the Fathers Sonne So that by God which gaue his Sonne God the Father is vnderstood The same Father is also meant by the name of God when hee is mentioned with Christ m Rom. 1. 8 I thanke my God sayth the Apostle through IESVS CHRIST euen him whom in the next Verse before he had called God our Father Verse 7 Verse 9 and whose Sonne in the ver following he maketh Iesus Christ God is my witnessewhome I serue with my spirit in the Gospell of his Sonne Of the same kinde are all those places where there is any mention of praying to God in or thorough CHRIST For to him hath our Sauiour taught vs to pray n Luke 11. 2 VVhen yee pray saie Our Father vvhich art in heauen o Ioh. 16. 23 VVhatsoeuer yee aske the Father in my name hee will giue it you Now let vs see in whether of these two significations the word God is to bee taken in this place Surelie not in the former because then The VVord should haue beene with himselfe which is no reasonable speech For who vnderstands not that euery thing which is said to be with an other is diuerse from that with which it is sayde to bee Therefore if the VVord vverewith God the VVord was not God But the Euangelist directly auoucheth that the VVord vvas God What remaines then if by God wee will haue the Diuine nature to bee meant but that wee must confesse there are two Gods The VVord and hee vvith vvhom the VVord vvas But it is certaine in Religion and reason that there is but one God And therefore God
Ver. 22. the Father and God the Sonne are indeede two persons but not two Gods Wee see then that the Father is truely and really a distinct person from the Sonne who though hee be neither made nor created by the Father yet is begotten of him and so hath not his being of himselfe but of his father and therefore in the manner of his being is distinguisht from the Father So is the holy Ghost or spirit from both of them You wil aske me by what he is distinguisht from them I answere Ver. 23. by his proceeding from them First it is manifest he is distinct from the father because he is not of himselfe in regard of his person as the father is Secondly although he agree with the Sonne in that each of them hath his being from a Third namely the Father yet in the particular maner of his being he is distinguisht froÌ„ him For the Sonne is begotten by the Father so hath his being but the holy Ghost is not begotten but proceedeth From whome doth the holy Ghost proceed From the other two persons the Father and the Sonne Of his proceeding froÌ„ the Father our Sauiour m Ioh. 15. 26. speaks distinctly and plainely The comforter shall come whom I will send you from from the Father the spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father Therefore also hee is called the spirit of the Father It is not you that speake n Mat. 10. 2â— saith our Sauiour but the spirit of your Father which speaketh in you Now that he also proceedeth from the Sonne it may thus appeare All things o Ioh. 16. 15. saith our Sauior that the Father hath are mine And speaking to the Father he p Ioh. 17. 10. saitâ— All thine are mine The later of these two Texts may be vnderstood I grant of those things that are as wee speake without God but because it hath vsually beene applyed to proue this point I thought fit to alleadge it You will reply that all the Fathers is not the Sons That personall property whereby he is the Sonne is not the Fathers but the Sonnes that by which the Father is the Father is not the Sonnes but the Fathers Whatsoeuer else the Father hath the Sonne hath also But that the holy Ghost proceeds from the Father is not the personall property of the Father and therefore the Sonne hath that and so with the Father as it were by breathing produceth the holy Ghost who therfore is called the spirit of the Sonne and of Christ q Gal 46. God hath sent the spirit of his Sonne into your hearts If any man r Rom 89. haue not the spirit of Christ the same is not Christes It is not said indeed that the holy Ghost proceedeth from the Sonne as it is that he proceedeth from the Father but since he is called the spirit of the Sonne as wel as of the Father wee truely gather that hee proceedeth no lesse from the Sonne then from the Father though the one be exprest and the other be not To conclude then we see what the properties are by which the persons are distinguisht among themselues The Father begetteth neither is begotten nor proceedeth the Sonne is begotten but proceedeth not the holy Ghost neither begetteth nor is begotten but proceedeth All these 3. He that begetteth He that is begotten and He that proceedeth are all one and the same God to bee blessed and praised for euer and euer Amen Therefore are all 3 absolutely equall in all matters appertaining to the nature of God only there are 2 things wherein the Father hath as it were some praeeminence among the persons The one I noted by the way before that He is of himselfe so is neither of the other but both are of him The other is that the father is the first in order in these respects he is sometime called by Diuines the fountaine vâ—rse 25. of the Trinitie And whereas it is said in that Creed ofteÌ„ named that None of the 3 persons is afore or after other the meaning is that none of them is in time afore or after Verse 26. other all being eternall as the next verse sheweth saying that All 3 are coeternall that is alike eternall The Sonne also hath the like preaeminence aboue the holy Ghost For both he is in order before him beeing the second and the holy Ghost is of him as well as of the Father But these praeeminences concerne the persons which are distinct not the diuine nature which is wholly absolutely one as by which these 3 persons are one God To whome be all glory c. THE THIRD SERmon vpon the first Chapter of IOHN Verse 3. By it were all things made and without it was nothing made that was made Verse 4. In it was life c. ALL true knowledge of things ariseth either from an vnderstanding of their inward nature or from a consideration of their workes and actions The former teaching vs the hidden causes is the pefecter but the harder the later shewing vs the secret nature by the manifest effects is the lesse perfect but the more easie That nothing might be wanting whereby any man might be drawne or perswaded to the acknowledging of our Sauiour Christs Godhead our Evangelist hath both laid open the mystery of his nature and set out to all mens viewe the wonderfull glory of his workes Hast thou a desire to fill the depth of thy vnderstanding with the profouÌ„d knowledge of his eternall being Behold sufficient matter of continuall meditation and study In the beginning was the word and the word was with God c. Will not thy capacity or leasure serue thee to sound the depth of these bottomelesse mysteries Behold a shorter and easier meanes of knowledge by which thou maist see the glorious Sonne shining in his workes whome in his naturall brightnesse thy dazled eies cannot looke vpon If thou canst not perfectly comprehend the infinitnesse of his light yet thou shalt certainely discerne that it is infinite And with this desire and hope lette vs come to the expounding of this verse Wherein we are first to vnderstand what it is that our Euangelist here teacheth Secondly to see how it proues our Sauiour Christes diuinity In the former part I will speake of the clauses of this verse seuerally then I wil consider the matter of them ioyntly both together By him were al things made that is to speake plainly He made all things I am not ignorant that Å¿ Erasmus ad hunc locum some meÌ„ cast more doubts then need because the word Him in the greeke may bee referred either to God or to the Word and therfore they thinke it meete and needful so to translate it that it may be certainly and necessarily by the very translation restrained to the Word so that in their opinion we must say t Istud not IpsuÌ„ It not Him For mine owne part I will not striue
can hardly perswade my selfe to thinke so For thought it be true that by flesh and bloud man oftentimes is signified yet the wordes in that sense are neuer so diuided or placed Let vs take the examples which they alleage that so expound these wordes Flesh and bloud hath not revealed these things to thee Flesh and bloud Mat. 16. 17. 1. Cor. 15. 50 cannot inherit the kingdome of God All the rest are like these wherein who doth not easily marke both that Flesh is still set in the first place and Bloud neuer Flesh and Bloud not Bloud and Flesh and also that they are alwaies ioyned together and not seuered the one from the other If our Euangelist had meant to haue spoken of man by that kinde of speech hee woulde haue said which are borne not of flesh and bloud May wee diuide those former places Flesh hath not reuealed Bloud hath not reuealed Flesh caÌ„not inherit Bloud cannot inherit These were marueilous strange kinds of speech not agreeâ—ble to the phrase of the holy Ghost in Scripture Wherefore thoh I acknowledge that interpretatioÌ„ to be true for the generall sense of it yet I see not how I may like of it in the particulars especially seeing the holy Ghost vseth a diuers manner of speech in these 2 later from the former There hee said no more but Not of bloud In the other he denies also the will or desire not of the will of the flesh not of the will of man Let vs then if you please vnderstand by bloud the matter by flesh the man the efficient cause and maker as it were what shall wee say of the will of the flesh and man Surely I will not grratly striue with any man who thinkes it should be taken for concupiscence It is enough that I propounded the reason of my doubt before Giue mee leaue now to deliuer what I conceiue of the matter which is no more but this that I had rather vnderstand by will desire then lust What then shall bee the sense of it This as I take it that the Euangelist giues vs to vnderstand that the Sonnes of whom hee intreates are not borne according to or by any desire of man which might procure or affect or wish that kinde of Son-ship How fitly this will agree with the scope of the place it shall appeare by and by when I haue examined that which remaines All that wee haue said hitherto concerning this birth is to shew whence it is not Not of bloud not of man VVhence is it then Of God God sometimes notes the nature of the God head sometimes some one of the three persons How may wee most fitly expound it in this place What if wee referre it to the Ioh. 3. 5. sanlen in concord Euang. cap. 1. holy Ghost the spirit of whome euery man must bee borne that shall enter into the kingdome of God I doubt mee wee shall hardly finde any one place of Scripture where the worde God signifieth any seuerall person but the Father I deny not that in some place that is said to be don by God which in som other is particularly ascribed to the Sonne or to the holy Ghost but I say that in those places where God is so named the nature is to bee vnderstood nd not any one person The compareing of these places together doth teach vs that the Sonne and the holy Gost are by nature God but it doth not proue that where God is named there either of these two persons is specially signified Neither is it necessary to apply this to God the Father but rather the opposition standeth betwixt the diuine humane nature not of man that is not of man-kind or of the nature of man but of God of the diuine nature which is one and the same in all three persons Thus haue wee the meaning of the Euangelist that the Sonnes hee spake of arise not to that dignity by any power or wisedome of man but meerely and only by the mighty worke of God himselfe who begets them to himselfe by the effectuall working of his spirit and of his owne gratious fauour vouchsafeth to adopt them for his Sonnes I doe the rather make the sense so large because I woulde not willingly omitte any thing which it may bee reasonably presumed the holy Ghost did or might intende For the cleerer vnderstanding whereof let vs cal to minde what was before deliuered at the twelfth verse that there is a double Son-ship in respect of GOD the former is that whereof our LORD disputes with Nicodemus by which wee are borne againe Ioh. 3. 35. c. of the spirit and fitted for the later which is our Adoption by GGD the Father The prerogatiue of being the Sonnes of GOD is our being adopted which is not vouchsaf't vs by GOD at the first while wee are in our corrupt naturall estate but then only bestowed vpon vs when by beleeuing wee are become one with IESVS CHRIST the naturall Sonne of GOD his Father The other Sonne-ship is but a preparing of vs therevnto by which that beleefe is begotten in vs by the powerfull working of the holy Ghost in the ministery of the worde In this sense the thirteenth verse dependes thus vpon the last wordes of the twelfth Saint Iohn had said that they become the Sonnes of GOD which beleeue in the name of the Messiah Hee proceedes to shewe how they attaine to this beleefe By being borne not of bloud c but of God They haue it not by nature in their birth they get it not by any naturall desire or will but they are borne anew of God and haue it by him framed and formed in them The doctrine of both these points is most true the wordes will beare them both they will both stande with the scope of the place and purpose of the Euangelist Chrylost in Io. homil 9. The oph ad hune locum that I am not afraid of doing any wrong to the Text though I make so large an interpretation therof Let vs then in the feare of God handle these things some what particularly but shortly as the time requireth What a prerogatiue it is for men to bee the Sonnes of God wee heard in the last exercise here the Euangelist farder sets foorth the excellency thereof by shewing the basenesse of our naturall birth which for the matter of it is bloud for the making at the best but humane whereas the other is wholly and only from God I will not amplify the former point touching our naturall birth as I might doe but only referre you to the consideration of it by your selues For your better direction wherein I will name two Iob. 10. 9. 10. 11. Ezech. 16. 4. 6. places of Scripture which I commende to your humble and diligent meditation In the former the naturall breeding of man-kind is purposely described in the later his birth is shewed by way of allegory if wee consider the intent of the holy Ghost but
the godhead that there is but one God Secondly of the Trinity of the persons Where the first poynt must be to proue that there are three persons the second to shew how they are distinguisht one from an other And because there is in our Church seruice a treatise to this purpose knowne in part to all that are present commonly called the Creed of Athanasius who like a valiant champion maintein'd the godhead of Christ against the Assaults of Arius I will referre you from point to point to that discourse That there is but one God the same one God witnesseth himselfe in scripture o Exod. 20. 2. 3. I am the Lord thy God thou shalt haue none other Gods but me Which is not ambitiously spoken as if some one God would haue the honor froÌ„ all the rest but enioyned with authority by him who onely had right to claime such preheminence Els neither had he done done iustly that gaue this charge and how should he be conceiu'd to be God that is knowne to be vniust and the Iewes to whom he gaue it should haue hurt themselues as much by displeasing all the other Gods whom they refused to acknowledge as help themselues by pleasing that one whome they did acknowledge Vnlesle perhaps wee may ridiculously think that for quietnes sake the other Gods were content to put vp this iniury or that they were all agreed to part stakes as the heathen absurdly feyne of their three Gods Whereof Iupiter the eldest took heauen for his share Neptune the second got the gouernment of the Sea and Pluto the yongest rather then he would sit out quite was content to play small game as we say and to take Hell for his part rather then nothing These are liker fancies of men in a dreame then discourses of learned writers And yet neither could these three brothers well agree at all times and to say the truth Iupiter whom the other two aknowledged for their Soueraign was the onely God in the Iudgement of the heathen But whatsoeuer they imagined wee are sure our God doth so speake of himselfe p Deut. 32. 39. Behold now for I am he and there is no Gods with me That appeares by the effects I kill saith he giue life I wound and I make whole Are not these the works of god In whose haÌ„ds are death life but in Gods But hath this God only that power Are there not other that haue it aswell as he No sure as himselfe addeth There is none that can deliuer out of my hands Thus he speaketh of himselfe thus the prophet Moses q Exod. 33. 11. that talked with him face to face speaketh of him Vnto thee it was shew'd r Deut. 435. saith Moses to I srael that thou mightst knowe that the Lord hee is God and that there is none other but hee alone And afterward Vnderstand v. 39. therfore this day and consider in thy heart that the Lord he is God in heauen aboue and vpon the earth beneath there is none other I might recken vp many like testimonies But whom will not these content if enough will content him Will any foolish blasphemer now except against these proofes as if they were to be vnderstood of the general nature of God not of any one who onely is God how fond and absurd must such an exception needs bee seeing all men know by reason that generalls haue not any reall being diuers from the specials or species nor can be said to perform any particular action For example to make the matter as plaine as I can Man as it signifieth that nature which is common or generall to euery seuerall man is not any thing subsisting by itselfe but hath it whole being in the particulars of that kind Therefore also it cannot be said that the generall nature of man doth reason or speake but that this or that man doth so But God saith I kill giue life neither can the general nature which is leudly absurdly conceiv'd say truely of itselfe Behold I am hee and there are no gods with me neither were such a speech to any purpose or of any vse as if it were to bee thought that any man could imagin that there are more then one general nature of any one kinde There is then but one God only For if there were more God could not say there are no more euen as Adam after Caine and Abel were borne could not affirme That he alone was man and that there was none beside him The same trueth is confirmed in the new Testament by the Å¿ 1. Cor. 8 4. Apostle Paule We know saith he that an Idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one As if he should haue said Howsoeuer there are diuers idols of this and that shape men idols and women Idols yet we know there are no such diuine powers in the world as these according to the fancy of men represent yea we are are sure there is but one God The heathen indeed haue many whom they call God and Lord but to vs that vnderstand the truth there is but one Ver. 6. God So doth the Scripture euerie where speake of God as of one t Rom. 1. 21. 23. When they knew God they glorified him not as God The glorie of the incorruptible God What shal I need to heape vp many testimonies in a case that is not doubtfull All the wise and learned both Christians Iewes Heathen agree with one consent that there cannot be any more then one God All this notwithstanding wee finde that in the Scripâ—ure there are more then one that are sayde to bee God First there is one called the Father whom al men acknowledge to be God u Rom. 1. 7. Grace be with you and peace from God our Father x 1 Cor. 8. 6. To vs there is but one God which is the Father y Eph. 1. 3. Blessed bee God euen the Father of our Lord Iesu Christ Secondly as I shewed before Iesus Christ or the Word is also vouched to bee God In the former verse The word was God * Rom. 9. 5. Christ is God ouer all belssed for euer Thirdly it is manifest in the same Scripture that the holy Ghost in like sort is God For although there be noâ— one place wherein hee is so tearmed by name yet the comparing of one text with another puts the matter out of question The Lord saith to the people of Israell that if a Num. 12 6. there be a Prophet amongst them he the Lord wil appear to him in a vision he will talke with him in a dreame It was the Lord therefore that spake in and by the Prophets This Lord saith b 1. Pet. 1. 11. Saint Peter was the spirit The spirit testified before of Christ c 2. Pet. 1. 21. Prophecie came not in olde time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they
were moued by the holy Ghost So God is said to bee hee d Act. 2. 24. 25. 1. 16 that spake by the mouth of Dauid and the same God it tearmed the holy Ghost in an other place It is welknown that euerie where in the olde Testament the Iewes are accused resisting God That e Act. 7. 51. Stephen expoundeth of the holy Ghost O yee of vncircumcised harts and eares ye haue alwaies resisted the holy ghost as your fathers so you If then there bee but one God and â—et three distinct one from another be euerie one of them God how can it be denied that there are three persons f Mat. 28. 19. the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost To this the beginning as it were of our Profession leades vs when wee are baptised in or into the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost Now for the better conceiuing of this great mysterie touching the three persons it is necessarie for vs to vnderstand what a person is And then wee shall the more easily perceiue that euerie one of the three is a person And here if I should stand curiously to deliuer an exact definition of the thing and tell you that a Person is an indiuiduall â—ubsistence in an intellectuall nature or a seuerall or singular thing that subsisteth by it selfe in a nature indued with vnderstanding I should either leaue you more vncertaine then I found you or bestowe more time in expounding the wordes then shall neede I hope to make you discerne of the matter it selfe Wherefore to speake plainely rather then artificially it may please you first to bee perswaded that although the word person bee not in the Scripture applyed to the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost yet euerie one of them is so described therein that wee may and must needes conceiue him to bee a person according as wee vnderstand the word First who knowes not that there is no person but where there is a nature that hath reason and vnderstanding For no man euer calles any creature that is not indued with reason by the name of a person Who will or may say of tenne or twentie Lions Horses Oxen Apes or any creatures of the like kinde that there are tenne or twentie persons For example if wee haue a denne or a stall that will receiue tenne Lions or tenne Oxen no man will say such a denne or stall will holde tenne persons But if there bee a Table whereat tenne men may sit it is an vsuall speech to say it will holde tenne persons So that first to the being of a Person it is necessary that the thing which wee call a Person bee by nature indued with reason otherwise it cannot by any meanes be a person Secondly wee are farther to vnderstand that the word person notes vnto vs some one of that kinde and not many considered together For it were absurd to say of those tenne men before mentioned though necessarily they haue euerie one of them the vse of reason that they are a Person Thereâ—ore by Person wee meane any one of such a kinde Euery man euery woman euery childe is a person because euery one of them hath vnderstanding by nature and is seuerall or distinct by himselfe from al other so that no other man woman or child in the world in heauen or in earth is or can be the same person Some man perhaps will imagin that those qualities or vertues which are no where to bee found but where first there is reason as iustice wisedome temperance fortitude and such like may bee tearmed Persons especially since euerie one of these is seuerall from other But that cannot bee because whatsoeuer is a Person must depend on nothing as a part or property therof but must be intire of it selfe None of these qualities are such but all of them haue their being in some one person or other Salomons wisedom and Samsons strengtâ— haue no being but in Salomon and Samson with them they are if they cease to bee they are not The case is farre otherwise with Salomon and Samson themselues Let the wisedome of the one and the fortitude of the other be turned into folly and Cowardise yet shal each of them be still a person as before he was yea if there were no more Men Women nor Children in the world but they two or either of them yet should they both if both continued or the one of them if the one continued bee two persons or one person So then to the being of a Person it is required for the generall that the thing bee of such a kinde as hath natuâ—ally reason or vnderstanding more parrticularly that it be one singular thing of that kind and that it be such a thing as hath a subsistence by it self and depend not vpon any other as a part or property thereof whersoeuer we find such a thing we haue a Person yea so many Persons as wee haue such things Now let vs apply this to the blessed Trinity And first concerning the nature of God it neither is nor can be doubted but that he is the very fountain spring of all vnderstanding FroÌ„ which the smal streams continually do flowe which wee see in the shallowe channelles of the creatures g Psal 94. 9. Hee that planted the eare shall hee not heare Hee that formed the eye shall hee not see h Rom. 16. 27. To God only wise be prayse through Iesus Christ foreuer Amen Secondly it is apparaÌ„t in the Scripture that the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost are distinct each from the two other so that there is i Athanal Creed ver 24. But one Father one Sonne one holy Ghost and neither the Father is the Sonne or the holy Ghost nor the Sonne the Father or the holy Ghost nor the holy Ghost the Father or the Sonne Which proueth manifestly that euerie one of these three hath his subsistence by himselfe and so is a person Looke not that I should repeate that which before I deliuered take that one place for all Baptise them in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost These three names Father Sonne and holy Ghost doe not signifie three vertues or qualities of one person but three distinct persons Therfore are they also alleag'd by the Apostle as three witnesses k I. Iohn 5. 7. There are three that beare record in heauen the Father the Word and the holy Ghost But this mater belongs rather to the second part of this discourse wherin I am to shew how they are distinguisht one from an other But ere I come to that point and yet I will hasten to it all I can I must needes forewarne you that none of vs for ought that hath beene or shall bee sayde conceiue of God as of the creatures There is one generall nature common to all men whereby they are men and so men as that euerie seueral person is a
Is it not enough that wee are assured by the holy Ghost in the Scripture that the Lord hath giuen them charge ouer vs Many and many times are wee defended and guided by them though wee see them not As the Diuell laboureth all hee can to drawe or thrust vs into daunger So doe they striue against him to keepe vs from it or to pull vs vs out of it How many times haue wee beene stirred vp by them to the seruice of God and the workes of our calling How often haue they made vs remember and see that wee were entring into the way of destruction It is indeede the blessed spirit of the Almightie that inclines our hearts and affections to like of and yeelde to holy motions but the Angels are they that ordinarily make these motions Beleeue then in Iesus Christ and thou art presently furnisht of a most sufficient guard both for state and strength d Psal 34. 7. The Angel of the Lord pitcheth round about them that feare him and deliuereth them King Salomon in all his royaltie in the midst of them e 2. Chr. 9. 15. 16 that carried 200 targets and 300. shieldes of beaten golde was not so richly nor so safely guarded such honour such securitie doth beleefe in Christ procure all true Christians how meanely soeuer the worlde account of them It will here perhaps bee demanded by some whether those wicked spirits which we commonly call Diuells be of the number of those Angelles or within the compasse of those All things which the Euangelist sayth were made by Christ But the question is aunswered already because these spirits are not God and yet haue a true being it must needes bee that they tooke their beginning by Creation from him Without whome nothing was made that was made Besides it is not vnknowne I thinke to any man that these euill Angells are all one for the substance of their nature and being with those other holy and glorious spirits yea the Lord doth vse them oftentimes as executioners of his iust wrath vpon the wicked I will not stand to inquire whether euer hee doe imploy those his Angels of Light in any such kinde of seruice or no or whether this office bee put off to those euill spirites onely once it is a matter out of doubt that these later are sometimes so imployed f 1. Sam. 16. 14. The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an euill spirit sent from the Lord vexed him And of the Israelites it is sayd in g Psal 78. 49. the Psalme That the Lord cast vpon them the fiercenes of his anger indignation and wrath and vexation by the sending out of euil Angels Such was h 1. King 22. 21. that lying spirit which offered himselfe to deceiue Ahab by the mouth of his false Prophets As for that wickednesse of theirs which now by long custome is as it were turned into nature and hath taken so full possession of them that they are vtterly reprobat to all goodnesse it was not made with them but bred and brought in by them they receiued not that corruption with their nature but by their choise of euill corrupted their nature Their estate by creation was happie their nature holy i Iud. v. 6. But they kept not their first estate but left their owne habitation as Saint Iude tells vs and as k 2. Pet. 2. 4. the Apostle Peter plainly saith They sinned The Lord found no stedfastnesse in them as l Iob. 4. 18. Eliphas affirmeth in the booke of Iob They are now euill and nothing but euill but from the beginning they were not so Yes saith one euen from the beginning witnesse our Sauiour himselfe who doubteth not to affirme that The deuill hath beene a murderer from the beginning What From the beginning of his creation That were indeed to make God the author of sinne properly and immediately But how should the Diuell bee a murtherer when as yet there was none whom he could murther yea after that Adam was created which certainly was after the creation of Angells who were in all likelihood the beginning of Gods workmanship the Diuell was not yâ—â—â— murderer For Euah by whome he preuailed to the destruction of Adam and her selfe with their whole posterity was not yet framed But as soone as the Diuell had seene the man and the woman his malice against God his enuy at their present happinesse and future glory made him attempt that murder which he so soone committed So that from the beginning is nothing else but from the first time that hee had opportunitie to doe a murther I deny not that hee was ready enough before to haue done the like but our Sauiour speakes of that actuall mutther Neither yet doe I graunt that hee was naturally so inclyned by reason of any euill created in him But this I say that being holy by nature hee wilfully rebelled against God before the creation of Adam and by that rebellion of his defaced in himself the Image of God in which hee was created and was giuen vp by God to his owne wicked heart without hope or possibilitie of recouerie This in part our Sauiour himselfe in that place signifieth when hee addes immediatly vpon the former words that Hâ—e abode not in the truth For by this speech hee doth imply that hee was first in the truth Let vs not bee afray de then to confesse that the Sonne of God made the Diuell but let vs knowe and remember that hee made him not a diuell Hee is a Spirit by creation an euill spirit by declining from that puritie wherein hee was created His being is from the will of God his being euill from his owne will But that which concernes ve especially in this matter is this that how great soeuer his power seeme to bee in the world how extreame soener his malice bee against God how desirous soeuer he bee of our destruction yet hee in whom wee beleeue that did create him both hath him at coÌ„mand as a creature and would neuer haue created him if hee had not beene able to bring his owne purpose to passe for the saluation of those that trust in him in despight of Saâ—â—n and all his instruments Therefore take courage to thy selfe whosoeuer thou art that hast committed thy selfe to Iesus Christ to bee saued by him Dooth Satan rage against thee Dooth hee beleger thee on euerie side Dooth heee come with open mouth like a Lion to deuoure thee Hee that made him and thee knowes his strength and thy weakenesse Sooner shall hee burst himselfe with swelling enuie or fret himselfe away to nothing with bootelesse anger then separate thee from thy Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ Hee loue thee for the first creation a thowsand times more for the second generation Though thy first righteousnesse was lost by sinne thy second grace shall ouercome sinne But let vs proceede to the creation of visible things Whereof I shall neede to say