forced to quit our Lives that we may secure our Religion and our Consciences Blessed be God we can enjoy these here and carry them with us into another World afterwards But if ever the Divine Providence shall call us to lay down our Lives and spend our Bloud in the service of our Lord and Saviour let us not count our Lives dear unto us so that we may finish our course with joy and testifie the Gospel of the grace of God as our Apostle speaketh Let us like the Primitive Saints rejoyce that we are counted worthy to suffer shame and even Death for the Name of Christ. Let us chearfully sacrifice our Lives for the sake of him who Died for us let us drown our Affections to the world in our own Bloud thereby propagating our Holy Religion and therein following the Pattern of the Blessed Apostles and Primitive Saints who manfully and undauntedly died for the faith on whose account and by virtue of whose Example it was that Thousands of Converted persons flock'd to the Waters of Baptism and were ambitious to Assert that Cause for which they saw those Excellent Christians lay down their Lives The Death of an Eminent Saint made a great number of Disciples in those days the Bloud of a Holy Martyr baptized whole Cities This I conceive was to be baptized for the dead This I offer as the most Plain and Easie the most Natural and Genuine Meaning of the Text. The fourth TEXT Enquired into viz. 1 S t Peter III. 19 20. By which also he went and preached unto the Spirits in prison which sometime were disobedient c. THIS is another Difficult Text of Scripture and in order to the Clearing of it I will give you a brief account of the Chapter It begins with the Peculiar and Proper Duties of Man and Wife which take up the first 7 verses but the rest of the Chapter treats of the Common Vertues and Graces which are required in all Christians as Meekness Patience Mercifulness and all the obliging and indearing offices of Love The Apostle chiefly exhorts to Patience that is to suffer with submission and chearfulness what ever should be inflicted on them And here he shews particularly how they ought to behave themselves towards their Persecutors They must not be Revengeful and render evil for evil v. 9. and he subjoins the Reasons of it in the following verses Again They must not be afraid neither be troubled v. 14. They must take courage maugre all their distresses and strive to banish all Fear and Cowardice all Disorder and Perplexity of mind Moreover they are obliged to sanctifie the Lord God in their hearts and to be ready to give an answer to every one that asketh them a reason of the hope which is in them and that with meekness and fear v. 15. The meaning is that they were not to disguise their perswasion but to make open profession of their Religion even before their Persecutors Further the Apostle tells them that they must not only profess Christianity but lead Holy Lives that thereby they may shame their Adversaries who falsly accuse them as evil doers v. 16. Lastly therefore he bids them be sure that they look to their Lives and Conversations that they suffer for well-doing not for evil-doing v. 17. And that they may not be unwilling to suffer thus here is set before them the Example of Christ who suffered for them For Christ also hath once suffer'd for sins the just for the unjust v. 18. This highly commends the Sufferings of the Blessed Iesus that he was himself an Innocent person and that he suffer'd for those that were Guilty whereas no Christians that suffer can altogether plead Innocency they all in some measure deserve what they suffer And now the Apostle takes occasion to expatiate on Christs suffering and the Happy effects of it to the end of this Chapter and in part of the next He shews the Design of our Saviours Passion viz. that he might bring us to God v. 18. that he might make us Holy and Righteous and indue us with the Divine and Godlike nature and that he might at last lead us to Heaven and Eternal Glory And this He was effectually enabled to do because though he suffer'd death yet he soon rose from the dead as you read in that 18. v. Being put to death in the flesh but quickned by the Spirit To pass by the Notion of those men who think they find some ground here for their Aethereal or Spiritual Vehicles understanding the words thus Put to death in his Terrestrial body but quickned or enliven'd with a Spiritual one for Christs soul and the souls of all the Saints after death say they are clothed with Subtile and Aetherial bodies To let this pass the Plain Meaning of the place is this and it is confirmed by several of the Fathers that this Iesus though he suffer'd and was put to death for us in the flesh as a Man as he had a Humane Body yet he was quickned by the Spirit that is he rose from the dead by the vertue and power of the Holy Spirit who was ever with him Or thus he was put to death in the flesh i. e. crucified in his Humane Nature but he was quickned in the spirit i. e. he was raised from the Dead by his Divine Nature A Parallel place is that in 2 Cor. 13. 4. Though he was crucified through weakness his body being but Weak and Frail and subject to death as all Humane bodies are yet he liveth by the power of God he reassumed his soul and lived again and still liveth by vertue of his Divine Power He died as Man but restored himself to life as he was God It was by Christs Divine Spirit that his separated soul and body were reunited which you find thus asserted by S t Paul Rom. ◠4. He was declared to be the son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead The humane spirit of Christ was joyned again to his body by his Eternal Spirit By Christs Divinity his Humanity was raised up and restored And now our Apostle inlarges here further upon this Quickning Power of Christs Spirit or Divinity in these words By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison which sometime were disobedient c. The Greek which is here translated By which is rendred by others wherefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ideò saith Oecumenius and so t is thought that these words bring in the Reason of what was said before But there are few that follow this Interpretation Our own Translation is more Plain and more Probable for those that are acquainted with the stile of the New Testament know that By is the frequent signification of the Praeposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it is most obvious and rational to refer the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the word
sufficiently Punished and there was nothing left to undergo And then as to their Moral Purgation if those persons repented at all it is reasonable to think that their Repentance in those unparallell'd circumstances was exceeding Great and that it proved on all accounts Effectual and Complete Those Waters were able to cleanse them sufficiently so that they needed not to be sent to these Purging Flames 4. This is against the received opinion of the Torments of Purgatory for they are said to end in a much shorter time The Offenders of the Old World had lain shut up in this Prison almost three thousand years according to these mens Interpretation of the Text and yet it is the general doctrine of those that assert the Pains of Pâ—rgatory that they are much sooner over and that it was not intended that these Torments should be of very long continuance 5. Why did Christ go and take the Antediluvian Wretches out of the Prison of Purgatory and none else For these are only mention'd here and we read of no others any where else Why did not 〈◊〉 Saviour clear that place and set open the Prison-doors to all and make a General Jail-Delivery Or will these men say that none went to Purgatory but those poor creatures who lived in 〈◊〉 time This they will hardly assert These and several other reasons may induce us to believe that by the spirits in prison are not meant the souls in Purgatory Secondly some imagine that Limbâ—â— Patrum is meant there by S t Peter Christ went to this place say they and fetcheâ— thence all the Souls of the Saints who died before his Coming Some of the Fathers as Athanasius Ambrose Cyrâ—l of Alexandria and others interpret the Apostle's words thus and it is their known Assertion that all the souls of the righteous as soon as they were separated from their bodies were impâ—isoneâ— in some Low Place under ground and there were detain'd till our Saviour came and inlarged them These are the spirits in â—â—ison 〈…〉 these words telling us that the spirits in prison whâ—â— Christ 〈…〉 were Separate Souls sent to that foresaid Apartment and Receptacle And whereas it is said Christ was quickned in the spirit he saith this is meant of Christs Separate Soul this being quickned went strait way to Limbo to visit the separate souls there But 1. Bellarmin talks very wiâ—dly on this point for the Soul being Immortal can't be said to be quickned or made alive and therefore it was unwarily and groundlesly said by him that Christs soul was quickned But 2 ly I answer to what he and others alledg concerning Limbus Patrum that there never was such a place for the separate souls to go to This according to those of the Church of Rome is that place where the souls of the Patriarchs and Faithfull under the Old Testament were lodged But this is a mere Fiction for the spirits of the deceased Saints go presently to Heaven and are not detain'd in any Prison much less so Long a time before they reach that place of Bliss Therefore we ought not to credit the Romanists when they tell us with great confidence that Christ went and preached to Abraham and the rest of the Patriarchs when he left this world and that he acquainted them that the work of Redemption was finished and that he took them up with him to Heaven Let them first prove that there was such a Prison for they confess it is now demolished and hath been ever since Christ and then we shall attend to what they say and not before 3. This Exposition is faulty because it is too Wide for the Text which refers only to those of Noahs days Now supposing Christ preach'd to them in prison how is it gather'd from the Text that Christ went and redeem'd All from that place And on the other side if they assert that Christ redeem'd only those who were before the Floud it would be proper to ask how they came to have this Priviledge above the rest but it will be hard to give a Reason of it So that one way or other it is Improbable Thirdly there are Others who by the Spirits in prison understand the Damned spirits or souls in Hell Here I will not deny that the word Prison hath respect unto the Place of the Damned as I shall shew you afterwards but that Christ went into Hell and Preached there to the inhabitants of that place I am not convinc'd how it can be made good from This Text Though I grant that some of the Antient Fathers make use of this place of Scripture to prove that Christ descended locally and personally into those infernal regions Particularly S t Augustin indeavours to prove it from these very words and concludes at last who but an Infidel will deny that Christ was in Hell As for several Other Writers of the Church they are divided in their Comments on this Text some think it refers to Limbus Patrum others to Purgatory and a third sort conceive it speaks of Hell that place where the souls of the Wicked and Reprobate are tormented This is the Prison the Apostle here means say they But how did Christ preach to the spirits there This Preaching is interpreted after a different manner for some say our Saviour went to Punish and Affright the devils to Triumph over the damned and to shew himself a Conqueror over Satan and all the Infernal Powers But these men grosly abuse S t Peter's words when they expound them thus i. e. when they interpret Christs Preaching to the spirits in prison of his Tâ—iumphing over the damned in hell the word preaching being never in the Sacred Writings understood in such a manner but all that are acquainted with the Holy Stile must needs acknowledge that 't is taken in a far other meaning therefore this must be look'd upon as a downright perverting of the Apostle's words only to serve their own ends Others are not content to say that Christ went to Triumph over the damned but they talk of something Higher viz. the Relieving yea the Delivering of the damned out of hell This say they is the Preaching here spoken of This is a Bold Flight and but few of the Fathers have ventured to soar so High But who would expect any such thing as this from the Learned Author of the Mystery of Godliness Yet there you will find him giving This Interpretation of the words viz. that the spirits in prison i. e. the Disobedient souls in Hell were redeemed by Christs Preaching they were a glorious spoil taken out of the hands of the devil But it doth not follow saith he there is any Redemption out of Hell now much less any Purgatory For there were two Notable Occasions for This such as will never happen again For it respects the souls of them that were suddenly swept away in the Deluge and the Solemnity of our Saviours Crucifixion and Asâ—â—nsion He undermined the Prince of death in
and making this place speak of two sorts of persons when it is most apparent that it speaks but of one But now according to the Sense I have before propounded the Reason in these words is plain viz. thus For for this cause viz. that they might be judged according to men in the flesh i. e. that they might pass a severe Judgement upon themselves and mortifie all their sinful lusts but live according to God in the spirit i. e. live new and holy lives was the Gospel preached to those that are dead Here you may observe a clear Antithesis in the words being judged or condemned is opposed to living and flesh to spirit and according to men to according to God For this cause the Gospel was preach'd to them that are dead in sin viz. that being once Converted they may judge and condemn themselves and mortisie the flesh and die to sin as Judging and passing Sentence are in order to Execution and putting to Death among men or according to men but be Alive to the spirit and walk according to Gods holy laws So then these two places mutually explain each other the dead to whom the Gospel was preached are the same with the spirits in prison to whom Christ went and preach'd In both places are meant the Spiritually dead those that are under the power and dominion of their sins Thus I hope I have fully shew'd who are the spirits in prison Now it remains that I explain how Christ went and preached to these spirits The Preaching here is not Christ Personal Preaching but his preaching by his Apostles after his Resurrection yea his Ascension at which time he sent his Holy Spirit to them by which they were enabled to preach the Gospel to Iews and Gentiles By which spirit for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 poured forth on his Apostles he preached i. e. he caused them to preach to the Unconverted world Jews and Gentiles who were yet in their sins It is rightly said that He preached because what was done by the Apostles Christs Ministers is said to be done by Christ himself And this which is here inserted he went though if is thought by D r Hammond to be a mere Expletive yet it is not so but hath its particular weight and import These two things I conceive are suggested to us by it 1. the Deputation of his Apostles Christ went not in his own person but he may be truly said to have gone by his Delegates and Ministers These went and that from place to place to preach the Gospel I look upon Eph. 2. 17. to be a parallel Text with this which I am insisting on He came or he went and preached peace to you who were afar off viz. to the Ephesians who were Gentiles and Idolaters He came not to these in person but he came or went by those whom he sent to preach to them Thus he went and preached to these spirits in prison So more signally he went to the Iews yea to them indeed first as S t Peter speaks Acts 3. 26. Vnto you first God having raised up his son Iesus sent him to bless you God sent him after his Ascension not him in person but Others in his name to preach repentance to turn every one of them from their iniquities as it follows in that place Thus Christ went he sent those who went 2. This speaks the Freeness of the act Neither Christ nor his Apostles staied till the Gentiles and Iews sought for the Gospel and Salvation by it but they went to them them they freely offer'd these to them The word then is not redundant and superfluous but very Pregnant and Emphatical God offers his grace freely God the Father sends God the Son goes With what Courtship and Unparallel'd Address did he seek and woe the love of Sinners whilst he was here on earth With what Concernedness and Passion did he beseech and sollicit the degenerate race of mankind And when he left this world and went to his Father behold he sent his Spirit to actuate his Church especially his Apostles whom he appointed to instruct and convert souls throughout the whole world He inspired them with extraordinary Gifts and Graces to make them able to discharge their office And accordingly they did discharge it with great power and vigour with marvellous and unexpected success They preached to the spirits in prison and that so effectually that they set them free from their Imprisonment But here it will be Objected what is this to the purpose what reason have you to assert that These words speak of Christ preaching by his Apostles to the Unbelievers both Jews and Gentiles in those times when as the Text plainly refers to the days of the Old World only for the preaching to the spirits in prison is said to have been when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was preparing How then can this belong to the times of the Apostles and their preaching to unbelieving Iews and Gentiles To solve this I have told you already that the words do not altogether refer to those Antediluvian Transgressors but in a Latitude and by way of Analogy they comprehend all that have sometime been disobedient But because what the Learned Episcopius hath offer'd viz. that the several generations of the Wicked are look'd upon as One Body of men and in this Large consideration the Preaching to those who lived in the days of Noah may reach even to them in the Apostles times because I say this may seem Unsatisfactory I will offer That which will abundantly satisfie all persons It is this that in these words there is an Ellipsis which is a Figure that is commonly made use of in the Scripture and therefore it ought not to seem strange in this place That this Ellipsis or Leaving out of a word is very frequent you may satisfie yourselves from those Writers who have made it their bufiness to treat of the Stile and Phraseology of the Bible they will let you see at one view what a number of Defective speeches there are in the Holy Writ So it is here and there being a Defect a Supplement must be made And what is that The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be inserted before the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the words are to be read thus By which he went and preach'd to the spirits in prison who were sometime disobedient as when once the long-suffring or patience of God waited in the days of Noah This word as which is a note of Similitude or Comparison being left out in the Greek ought to be supplied in the Translation That it ought to be so to make the sense entire will appear by setting before you some places of Scripture for I will not trouble you with instances of the Ellipsis of this particle in Prophane Writers