Christ who doth communicate to vs not onely his name his nature and his graces but also his priuiledges that we should be Kinges and Priestes that we should be Kinges and Priestes that we should haue interrest in the creatures and be wayted on of Angels therefore this is a great mistery that God is manifested in the flesh 4 From hence comes the mutual feeling and affection that is betweene Christ vs that he takes the injuries done to vs as done to himselfe as he saith to Saule why persecutest thou me when he went to Damascus to Acts. 9. persecute the Church he takes the benefites bestowed vpon his members to be bestowed on himselfe as he shal say at the last day when I was hungry ye gaue me meate Mat. 25. when I was thirsty ye gaue me drinke and he expoundes his meaning in saying that which ye did to one of these little ones that beleeues in me yee did to me as that which is done to the hand or foote by reason of a naturall coniunction reaches to the head so that which is done to Christians by reason of a spiritual coniunction reaches to Christ the head of the Church and on the other parte from hence comes the feeling griefes of Christians when Christ is blasphemed or dishonoured as Dauid sayeth Tâ—â— rebukes of those that rebuked they are fallen on me and the feeling comfort and reioysing that Christians haue when Christ is honoured his kingdome furthered and his will obeyed And from hence comes not onely the simpathie and â—eeling that Christians haue with Christ their head but that they haue one with another as members of the same body as the Apostle requireth Be like affected Rom. 12 one towards another mourne with those that mourne and reioyce with those that reioyce as in a naturall body there is not that feeling with the members of another bodie as of the same so in Christes misticall body there is not that feeling among the members of a strange body as among those that be the true Church and body of Christ therefore the scripture maketh thâ—â— a marke of a true Christian and disciple Iohn 13 1. Iohn 3. to loue thy brethren This is the great misterie that the sonne of God is manifested in the flesh whoâ— he is God is our father as he is man heâ— our brother and as he is God and man â—â— is our attonement maker therefore let â— not so looke to his humanity as we forgâ— his diuinitie least we be offended at â— basenesse as the Iewes were who callâ— him the Carpenters sonne and let vs nâ— so looke to his diuinity as we forget his humanity least we be dismaide at his brightnesse as the man was that said depart from me for I am a sinnefull man But let vs so consider the vniting of these two natures in his person that in him we may see our happye condition and know assuredly that as there is no saluation to them that are without him soe there is no condemnation to them that Rom. â— are in him hee knowes not religyon that knowes not this saith Maister Caluin Iustified in the spirit All that which followes in this verse serues but for the amplification of this mistery therefore hauing beene somewhat large in the former wordes I will bee briefe in the rest Iustification sometime in the Scripture dooth signifie to account a thing or a person iust and pure that is not so of himselfe and so it is taken commonly when it respectes vs who are by God esteemed iust by grace that are not so by nature but so it cannot be taken here for in this sence Christ cannot be said to be iustified except it bee from our sinnes that he had taken vppon him as our surety as Paule saith he Rom. 4. dyed for our sinnes and rose agayne for our iustification that is to say hauing by his Rom. 4. death payde the price of our sinnes hee was by his resurrection iustified and freed from them and in him wee are iustyfied from our sinnes and the punishmentes of them because the penaltye of our sinnes beeing payde by him can no more bee exacted of vs therefore Paule saith as by one mans disobediene manye were made sinners so by the obedyence Rom. 5. of one many were made righteous therefore contrarye to the opinion of the Papistes wee must fetch our iustification by the faith of the Gospell from him that is iust and hath kept the lawe and not from our selues that are vniust and cannot keepe the law therefore saith the Rom. 3. Apostle wee are iustified by the faith of Christ and not by the workes of the law and yet faith dooth not iustyfie vs as it is a quality in vs no more then to see patience or any other grace but as it is grace that layes hould of Christ neyther is it the quantitye or strength of faith that dooth iustifie vs but true faith how little soeuer that layes holde of the strength of Christ but I will stand no longer vpon this point though it be a speciall part of this misterye of godlynesse because the Apostle dooth not speake of this kinde of iustyfication heere as appeares when hee sayeth hee was iustyfied in the spirite Therefore iustification is heere to be taken in another sence that is to alow or acknowledge a thing or a person to bee that which hee is in himselfe when it seemed to some to be otherwise as where Mat. 11. it is saide wisedome is iustified of her children that is acknowledged to bee excellent wisedome Though other doe deny it and account it foolishnesse in this sence the Apostle speaketh heere when hee saith Christ was iustified in the spirite as if he should saye though hee were manifested in the flesh and seemed to bee a base person yet hee was found and acknowledged to bee the euerlasting and glorious God to the like effect the Apostle 1. Pet. 3. Peter speaketh of him saying Hee suffered in the flesh and was quickned in the spirite which is the same that Saint Iohn speaketh after hee had saide the worde Iohn 1. was made flesh hee addeth wee saw the glorye thereof as the glory of the onely begotten sonne of the father full of grace and trueth for though the sonne of God tooke on him our humane nature frailety he did not lay aside his deuine nature and maiestye but onelye couered vnder the vayle of the flesh as the sunne though it bee couered with cloudes yet the bright beames thereof doe sometime breake out and shew foorth it selfe to those that haue eyes so the beames of Christes Godhead did sometimes breake out and appeare to those that were not spirituallye blinde and not onelye in his excellent words and Doctrine speaking as it is sayde of him so as neuer man spake but in his gloryous transfiguration Mat. 17. vppon the mountaine which Peter calles the holy Mount where saith 2. Pet.
1. he Wee saw his glorye And also in his notable and deuine miracles turning water into wine feeding manye thousandes with a few loaues and fishes causing the rough sea and windes to bee still making warlike souldiers to fall backewarde and euen the diuells to giue place at his commandement therefore when it is said here he was iustified in the spirit the meaning is he was apparantly shewed knowne and acknowledged to be God in the flesh Seene of Angels He was not onely iustyfied and acknowledged to be the sonne of God in the flesh by men but also by Angels who were acquainted with it and witnesses of it they brought tydings of his birth to the shepheardes they brought Luk. 1. tydings of his resurrection to the women Luk. 24. they were behoulders of his ascention with the Apostles and they did not onely Acts. 1. see him but adore and worship him and Heb. 1. not onelye the good Angels but the euill Angels did acknowledge him this Mar. 3. is a great misterye that dooth appeare wonderfull to all creatures both good and bad that a babe lying in a manger and a man hanging vppon the crosse should be the sonne of God and Sauiour of the world Preached to the Gentiles This is a further amplifying of this mistery for Christ did not take flesh to the end to be hid and vnvnknowne especially after he had performed the worke of redemptiō for although he bad his disciples to shew his transfiguration Mat. 17. to no man till he was risen againe from the dead yet after that he would haue both it and all other partes of religion published to all men when the woman powred a boxe of ointment on his head he said wheresoeuer this Gospell should be preached that which shee had done should be spoken of for a memoriall of her thereby shewing that the Gospel should be preached thorow the world and if that little that shee did before his death should bee published and praised how much more his death it selfe This mistery of religion was hid 4000. yeares or thereaboutes from the Gentiles a long time it was contained in one familie and in one kingdome in which respect the Apostle calles the calling of the Gentiles to the knowledge of Christ by the Gospell a mistery hid from the ages Ephe. 3. past but when the fulnesse of time was come then God sent his sonne in the flesh a light to be reuealed to the Gentiles Luk. 2. as Simeon speaketh according to that which was promised to Abraham in thy seede shall all the nations in the earth be blessed therefore our Sauiour Christ commaunded his disciples to goe to all nations and preach the things he had commaunded Mar. 28. for which purpose hee gaue them extraordinary guifts and among the rest the guifte of speaking with dyuers Acts. 2. tongues according to that which Paule saith he ascended vp on high and led captiuity captiue and gaue guiftes to men and appointed some to bee Apostles c. 〈◊〉 4. Now as they were commaunded and inabled to preach to the Gentiles so they did as we may see throughout the booke of the Actes of the Apostles they preached first Acts. 13 indeed to the Iews but when they refused they turned to the Gentiles although they suffered reproofe and persecution for the same at the hands of the Iewes because the Iewes misliked the calling of the Gentiles some of them of ignorance thinking the promises belonged onely to them and not to the Gentiles except such as should enter into the Church by the auncient dore of circumcision and some of them of duty thinking their dignity of being the only people of God would fall if the Gentiles should be taken in which is set forth in the example of the elder brother who enuied Luk. 15. the entertainemen of the prodigall sonne Now this mistery of calling of the Gentiles is so much the more misticall because the Iewes who were the natural Oliue-tree were broken and the Gentiles who were of the wilde Oliue-tree were grafted in this is a great mistery that the Gentiles that were poore beggers which lay by the hedges Mat. 22. and high wayes as it is set foorth in the parable should bee called to the marriage of the Kinges sonne that no Gentiles that were strangers and forreners as the Apostle speakes to the Ephesians should be Citizens with the saints and of the houshold of God and as the Apostles did preach to the Gentiles so the summe of their Preaching and Sermons was this mistery of religion that God was manifested in the flesh as we may see in the Actes where Acts. 4. they teach that there is no name vnder heauen whereby we may be saued but the name of Iesus Beleeued on in the world Hauing sayde Christ God and man was preached to the Gentiles now he saith He was beleeued on the world Whereby we see that preaching goeth before faith as Paul saith How shall they beleeue except they heare and Rom. 10. how shall they heare without a Preacher and Peter saith God chose him that the Gentiles Acts. 15. should heare the Gospell and beleeue the preaching of the lawe though it hath an excellent vse to be a Schoolemaister to Gal. 3. leade vs to Christ and to prepare vs for Christ as it did those to whom Iohn Baptist preached the doctrine of repentance Luk. 3. yet it cannot worke faith in men that is the office of the Gospell which setteth foorth Christ Iesus and this misterie of our redemption that he hath wrought in the flesh as we haue heard before therefore is the Gospell called the word of faith which the Gentiles did heare and beleeue for although all that doe heare doe not beleeue yet none can beleeue but those that heare therefore it is said It pleased God by the foolishnesse of preaching to saue those that 1. Co◠1. beleeue Whereupon I inferre this briefe exhortation as a Parentheses that those who would be religious should not thinke reading either by others or by themselues sufficient but that therewithall they do ioyne ordinary hearing the worde preached which is the iust liuely effectuall meanes that God hath ordained for the beginning Gal. 3. and increasing of this grace of faith and all other gifts of sanctification For Christ beeing preached to the Gentiles he was not preached in vayne but as the Apostle saith he was beleeued on in the world not of all the world for the Apostle 2. Thes 3 saith all men haue not faith but in Acts. 13. the world that is as Luke saith in the Acts As many as were ordained to eternall life beleeued and therefore is true faith which doeth apprehend Christ called the faith of Gods elect which is according to Godlinesse Titus 1. This is not the least part of this great mistery that Christ is beleeued on in the world some maruell that
and the practise of godlinesse fewe are exercised in them which shewes a carelesse minde but hee that is desirous to keepe a good conscience will enquire how they may doe it If men would doe as the Disciples of Mat. 13. our Sauiour Christ did and as good men did Num. 6. 9. 1. Cor. 7. 1. Acts. 2. obserue their doubts and write them either in their mindes or in their tables and propound them in conuenient place and company they might be wiser then they be and doe their duties better then they doe and auoide many sinnes that they fall into as the prouerbe is the blinde eates many a Flie yea many a Spider Iesus answered Verily I say to thee except Verse 5. a man be borne of water and of the spirite he cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen Because Nichodemus asked how a man could be borne againe that was olde our Sauiour Christ telles him how and because he vnderstood Christs former words carnally he telles him they must be vnderstoode spiritually The Papistes take these wordes to bee spoken of baptisme and say except a man be baptised he cannot be saued putting a necessity in baptisme vnto saluation it is true indeed that baptisme is necessary and that to saluation as all the meanes of saluation which God hath appointed are necessary and cannot be contemned without peril of condemnation but baptisme is not necessary to saluation in their sence as if none could be saued except they be baptised for the thiefe that was crucified with Luk. 23. 1 Christ who was conuerted after baptisme was instituted was saued and yet he was not baptised so if any should die without baptisme when they would cannot haue it it hinders not their saluation if infants die before they be brought to baptisme though negligence herein may be a sinne in the parents yet is it no preiudice to the childe no more then it was to those children that died without circumsition when they might not apply it before the eight day for if the want of baptisme should be shutte from saluation then it were possible to ouerthrow the election of God which Mat. 24. Christ denies But although baptisme bee called the 〈◊〉 and sacrament of regeneration because it doth signifie and outwardly represent to our eyes that clensing and renewing which the holy Gost dooth worke inwardly in our harts yet it is not our Sauiour Christes purpose in this place to speake of baptisme at all but to teach Nichodemus that in his former speach he ment not a carnall but a spirituall birth the reason why he names water is because often in the Scripture the spirit is set foorth by water to Iohn 7 38. shew the working of the spirit in those that are borne againe as water dooth wash away the filthinesse of the bodie and make the same more cleane so the spirit dooth clense and purifie the soule therefore it 1. Cor. 6. 11. is called the spirite of sanctification so that in these wordes it is as our Sauiour Christ should say I doe not meane that a man should be borne againe carnally but that he should be borne againe spiritually as yee are borne first like your earthlye father who is flesh so you must be borne againe like your heauenlye Father who is spirite and bee made pertaker as Peter speakes of his deuine nature not in substance 2. Pet. 1. 4 but in qualities as hee saith Bâ—â— Leui. 11. 4. 4. Mat. 5. yee holy as I am holy And as Christ saith Be yee mercifull as your heauenly father is mercifull And in that Christ saith heere A maâ— must be borne againe of the spirit it shewe 〈…〉 that regeneration consists not in a ciuill reformation such as the lawes of the countrie the companie that men keepe and the respect of their credit and outward safety may drawe them vnto but hee meanes that Christian reformation which the spirite thorowe the knowledge and faith of the worde of God dooth frame men vnto begetting a knowing in or iudgement a hating in affection and forsaking in conuersation of those things which are euill in them by their first birth that are contrarie to the worde and that tende to condemnation and on the contrarie begetting in them a knowing in iudgement a loue in affection and following in conuersation of those things which be good that they haue by a new birth that are agreeable to the worde and that tende to saluation Except yee be borne againe of the spirite thus saith our Sauiour Christ yee cannot enter into the kingdome of God To the same effect spake â—ohn Baptist to some of the other Pharisies who Luke 3. 8 came to him to be baptised which was an entrance into the Church Bring forth saith he first fruites worthie amendment of life as if hee should say What should you doe in the Church or what should you doe with the badge or name of Christianitie when you are still corrupt and naughtie men So our Sauiour Christ saith to Nichodemus heere What shouldest thou or any such as thou art doe in the new state of the Church where God is a King rules by his word and grace and where men and women are subiâ—ct to him in minde and manners whent hou art still an olde man in the strength of thy ignorance and naturall corruption for the Church is the doore of the kingdome of God and none are to be leâ— into the kingdome of God in this world so farre as men can iudge that shall haue no place in the kingdome of God in thâ— world to come for if the Apostle woulâ— haue knowne and grosse sinners to be 〈…〉 thrust out of the Church when they be in 1. Cor. 5. then he would haue them to be kept ouâ— that they come not in and in that Phi 〈…〉 did admit Sin on Magus it was because h 〈…〉 Acts. 8. did dissemble that which was not in him and pretended faith regeneration whe 〈…〉 he had it not but though he deceiued P 〈…〉 lip he could not deceiue Peter who perce 〈…〉 ued that he was an hipocrâ—â—e in the ga 〈…〉 of bitternesse we now receiue children 〈◊〉 baptisme and enter them into the Church because the parents beeing faithfull the 〈…〉 â—eede is holy in the account of the seruan 〈…〉 of God as the Apostle saith but we mu 〈…〉 1. Cor. 7. 14. see some testimonies of grace in themselue 〈…〉 before we receiue them to the other sacr 〈…〉 ment if any one will obiect â—udas he w 〈…〉 then no open offender and also it was th 〈…〉 the Scripture might be fulfilled And those that haue by baptisme beenâ— enticed into the Church must know th 〈…〉 if when they come to yeares of vnderstanding they doe not answer to that they professed in Baptisme to renounce the deuill and his workes and to beleeue and obey Gods word though they haue a place in the Church and be