was in Christ indeede because no man euer had it that was not in him many haue had haue it in abundance by depending wholy vpoÌ„ him The principal point is yet behind coÌ„cerning the life of glory Which though it properly belong to the world to come yet there is one chiefe thing apperteining therunto which is to be had in this world as an entrance to the other The death that insued vpon the breach of that charge * Gen. 2. 17. Thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good euill was the estate of mortalitie to the body and of condemnation both to body and soule Therefore the life that was in Christ must needs affoord vs remedy against both these Let vs take them in their order And first that by death the separation of the soule and body was signified it may euidently appeare as by the words themselues in their proper sense so also by the sentence of the Lord pronounced after the sinne according to the penalty before threatned In a Gen 3. 19. the sweat of thy face shalt thou eate bread till thou returne to the earth for out of it wast thou taken because thou art dust and to dust thou shalt returne Adam indeede liued many hundred yeeres after this sentence but at last the execution of it came b Gen. 5. 5. All the daies that Adam liued were 930. yeeres and he died But this is so well knowne and generally confest that it needs no furder proofe Let vs shew that there is life in Christ to destroy this death Ne ther neede wee goe farre to seeke for that matter Remember c Gâ—n 3. 15. what was threatned the diuell that the seed of the woman should bruse his head d Heb. 2. 14. If the diuell bee subdued who hath the power of death as the Apostle tells vs what shall become of death that is vnder his power The Lord himselfe tells thee by e Heb. 2. 14. his Prophet e Ose 13. 14. where he triumpheth ouer death trampling him vnder his feete O death I will be thy death Oh graue I will bee thy destruction But this was rather a discouragement of death then a destruction Heare f 1 Cor. 15. 54. the Apostle proclaiming the victory after the fight was ended Death is swalowed Verse 55. vp in victory He proceeds to insult ouer him O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory The Verse 56. 27. sting of death is sin and the strength of sinne is the law But thanks be vnto God who hath giue vs victory through I. Chr. Verse 21. 22. our Lord. GiueÌ„ vs victory How doth that appear For since by man came death by man also came the resurrection of the dead For as in AdaÌ„al meÌ„dy so in Christ shal albe made aliue 2. Tim 1. 10. through Christ I say gwho hath abolished death hath brought life immortalitie to light through the Gospell I wish it were so may some men say that death were indeede destoried that we need no longer stand in feare of him But what credit may be giuen to that which is refuted by sense in daily and hoverly experience Did not Aâ—aÌ„ die Are not Abraham Isaak Iacob al the prophets and Patriarchs dead Is not there proofe enough in the scripture that euery man must die h Psal 89. 48. What man liueth and shall not see death The Apostle seconds the Prophet i Heb. 9. 27. It is appointed to men that they shal once die What say you to that great conquerour of death himselfe The two tneeues that were executed with him withstood death longer theÌ„ he did The Souldiers came k Ioh. 19. 32. Ver 33. saith the Euangelist and brake the legges of the first and of the other which was crucified with Iesus But when they came to Iesus and saw that he was dead already they brake not his legges See I pray you the champion that should ouercome death is sooner subdued by death then either of these two ordinarie fellowes It was no wonder though the Iewes vpbraided him when he hung vpon the Crosse He saued others quoth they but he cannot saue himselfe Is it possible l Mat. 27. 42. to beleeue that there was life in him whose death his best friends coÌ„fesse Doth this seeme vnpossible to thee What wilt thou say then if I tell thee of a greater matter Hee ouercame death by dying The same stroke that tooke life from him through him m Heb. 2. 14. slew death himselfe him that had power over death euen the diuell Would you know more particularly how that could bee I may not enter into any large discourse of the point In one word it was thus The sting of death as the Apostle taught vs is sinne By which the diuell preuailed to the destruction of them that had sinned This sting was not onely blunted and rebated but pluckt out and cast away by our Sauiour For his death being a sacrifice for sin tooke sinne quite away n Iob. 1. 29. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world So that now the name of death is more terrible then the thing there is more feare then hurt in it Tell me what it could indanger or indamage thee to haue a snake creepe vpon thee yea if it were into thy bosom so the sting teeth and whatsoeuer els it hath power to hurt withall were first pulled out It might perhaps scarre thee or make thee start as a litle cold water will doe if it be cast vpon a sodaine in thy face but that is all the harme thou couldest haue by it Death then is thus disarmd by our Sauiour Christ but the destructioÌ„ of him is by his resurrection If thou wouldest see death dead indeed look into the graue where Iesus thy sauiour was laid There shewd death the vttermost of his power He thought himselfe sure enough of the victory when he had shut him vp without life in the sepulchre rolled a great stone to the mouth of it and saw a guard of souldiers set to watch him well there hee keeps him in that estate the same day he was crucified all the next and the beginning of the third What ensued Surely if hee had bin put in aliue hee would haue bin dead by that time There is no question then but that wee shall finde him dead in the graue So though his disciples Who the next day after the Iewes Sabboath o Luke 24. 1. Early in the morning came vnto the Sepulchre and brought the odors which they had prepared to embalme his body withall They made no doubt but they should finde him p Mark 16. 1. Mark 15. 47. where they had seene him laid For dead men are no starters Onely their feare was that they should not be able to roule away the stone from the doore of the Sepulchre
heape vp any more testimonies in a matter nothing doubted of we haue found that we sought that life is to bee had in Iesus Christ See I pray you consider a little with me how many greate reasons we haue to bee inflamed with the loue of Iesus Christ If we regard excellency of nature in which respect e Velleius Epi cur apud Cicer. de nat deor l. 1. the graund Atheists of the worlde thought the heatheÌ„ imagined Gods worthy of honor seruice behold he is God If length of yeers he is eternall without beginning or ending But these things rather cause admiratioÌ„ then moue affection which is then most effectually stirred vp when the sense of some benefit receiu'd hath taken ful possession of our hearts If there be any man with whom these respects canot preuaile what is he but meerely senslesse neither knowing what he hath nor feeling what hee wantes What said I Not knowing what hee hath There needes not so much If no man can bee ignorant that hee is all men must need vnderstand that they are beholding to him by whome they are Looke not vpon the goodly feature of thy body think not on the excellency of thy soule vnderstand not that thou hast vnderstaÌ„ding forget that thou canst remember only deny not that thou art because thou prou'st it by denying it and thou hasâ— cause enough to loue the author of thy being Doth this benefit of thy naturall being somewhat affect thee Oh how wouldst thou bee rauisht if thou couldst see the blessednes of thy supernaturall estate I will not goe about to shew thee the misery in which thou art now by the corruption of thy nature I will not so much as say thou art miserable I reserue those points for some other opportunity the next verse will giue mee occasion to speake somewhat of them Only giue meeleaue to proclayme life in Iesus Christ Doost thou heare what I say I wil repeate it againe and that as loud as I can that all may heare it The Word the promised Messiah Iesus Christ the Sonne of God hath life in him for all that will be partakers of it Dost thou sit still at the hearing of this proclamation No maruaile How should a dead man stit Wouldest thou haue a better proofe that thou art dead indeed Well if there be no remedy but that thou wilt continue stil in death I wil leaue thee in it turne to them whom I see running vp and downe to seeke out this life Why do you vexe weary your selues with seeking that which is vnder your noses f Rom 10. 6. The righteousnesse of Verse 7 this faith speaketh on this wise Say not in thy heart who shall ascend into heauen That is to bring Christ from aboue Or Verse 8. who shaldescend into deepe That is to bring Christ againe from the dead But what saith it The word is neere thee euen in thy mouth and in thy heart g Gen. 21. 15. 16. When Agar being turned out of Abrahams house with her Sonne Ismaell had spent the bottle of water that she brought from home heleft her Sonne vnder a tree and went a bowe shoote off that she might not see him dy And yet as it appeared afterward she might hard by a well of water though shee knewe it not God opened her eies saith the text and she Verse 19. saw a well of water This is the case of those men to whoÌ„ I now speake Are yee turned out of doores from God your heauenly Father Doe you finde your selues out of all hope to recouer his fauour Are you dead and would you liue but that you can see no meanes of life Be of good comfort and cheere vp your selues The water of life is neerer then you are aware of You are in it and knowe it not It comes vp to your very lips Doe but open your mouths and it will run in Agar sate her downe and did not so much as looke about her to see if Verse 16. she could light vpoÌ„ any spring or pit of water to maintaine life in her Sonne and the Lord himselfe cald vnto her and fhew'd her where she might fill many bottels And will he suffer thee thinkst thou to wander from place to place to seeke life Behold it is in his Son Thou shalt not need to climbe vp to heauen h lib. 3. 13 Iesus Christ of his owne accord without thy desire or thought of any such matter came downe from thence brought life with him Sound not the depths to fetch it out from below i Luk. 24. 6. Euen from thence also the same Iesus Christ came vp with life Art thou dead There is life in him If thou wert not dead neither couldst thou receiue nor he bestow life vpon thee k Mat 9. 12. Can a whole man be cured or l Ioh. 8. 33. 34. a free man set at liberty Was m Ioh. 11. 6. 39. not Lazarus dead before he could be raised againe to life Therfore did our Sauiour stay in the place where he was 2. dayes after he had word of his sicknes that he might be dead and buried ere he should come to restore him to life againe Tell me not how long thou hast bin dead The strength of death growes not by continuance as sicknesse doth He that hath bin dead but one hower is as void of life as he that died a yeere ago When our Sauiour came to raise Lazarus he had bin dead 4 daies Lord said Martha he stinks by this time There wanted life and when that came neither continuance of time nor noysmnes of â—aâ—or nor the bands at his hands and feete were able to make any resistance for the detayning of the prisoner If the force of life be so greate that no contrary power is of strength to make head against it may it not well seem exceeding strange that so few recouer life or once looke after it n Ioh. 5. 39. 40. Our Sauiour complaines of the Iewes that although they search the Scripturs with an opinioÌ„ that euerlasting life was to be had out of them those Scriptures testified of him that he was the autor of that â—ife yet they would not come to him that they might haue life There is no reason that we should expect better intertainement then he found Hee that will not beleeue that the light shines when it is plaine to be seene wil hardly giue credit to him that tels him afterward it did shine Yet me thinks I cannot chuse but wonder that this life which is in our Sauiour should so generally be neglected I am loth to say despised or refused bâ—â— I must of necessity coÌ„â—ess it is not embraced as it shâ—uâ—d be Would you know what the reason of it is what â—â—e we vnwilling to haue life That is not possible seing our chiefest care is to maintaine life Doe wee despaire of means to come by it The least shew of
But that feare lasted not long q Luke 24. 2. 3 When they looked they saw that the stone was rolled away And they went in but found not the body of the Lord IESVS What should they now thinke Or how should they come to learne what was become of him Sure they were that there hee was laid and being dead had no power to conuay himselfe away from thence The likeliest was that some body had taken him vp and caried him away to some other place Sir r Ioh. 20. 15. saith Mary Magdalen to one who shee thought had bin the Gardiner If thou hast borne him hence tell mee where thou hast laide him and I will take him away Thou shalt not neede to bee in feare of hauing thy garden annoyed or troubled with him any further ſ Ioh. 20. 2. His Apostles were informed of this doubtfull matter To Ver. 6. assure themselues the better they runne to the sepulchre they find the linnen clothes in which hee was wrapped the Ver. 7. kerchiefe that was vpon his head not lying with the linnen clothes but wrapped together in aplace by it selfe Hauing Ver. 17. seen this they return back whēce they came Mary staies to her Iesus discouers himselfe What should I make many words The proofe of this point belōgs to an other place Death had done his worst in despite of him the Lord Iesus is risen again leauing him ashamed cōquequered To e Luk 24. 5. 6. this the Angels beare witnes Why seeke yee him that liueth among the dead He is not here n but is risen I speake of knowne things it is enough to name them Wee see for all this goodly discourse that death still seizeth vpon all men let them be neuer so well setled in Iesus Christ he plucks them vp carries them away with him into the graue What is become of the holy Apostles where is his blessed mother the virgin Is there life in the head when the members of the body die so fast euery day And not one or two a ioint or a finger or a limme but the very principall parts yea all one other Doost thou doubt whether there bee life in him or no who hath wrastled with death and ouerthrowne him Can death preuaile against him now he liueth whom he could not keepe in subiection when he had him dead buried u Rom. 5. 9. 10. Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more death hath no more dominion ouer him For in that hee died he died once to sinne but in that be liueth hee liueth to God Sinne had his due a sacrifice of infinit worth to pay the price of mans redemption now must God also haue his due that hee that liueth to him may liue for euer But I would not haue any man so much deceiue himselfe as to imagin that the dying of them which are in Christ is an argument of the continuance of the authoritie or power of death No no beloued there is an other reason of this dissolution Alas alas death doth not aduance his owne estate and kingdome by this meanes but serues the Lords turne to bring his purpose to effect It fares with him in this case as it did in the death of our Sauiour That which hee thought to establish his power by by that he destroied it So is it in the death of those that are Christs The body as now it is is neither capable of immortalitie and fit for the seruice of sinne How shall it be prepared to receiue the one how purged and clensed from the other but by death Flesh bloud x 1. Cor. 15. 50. saith the Apostle can not inherit the kingdome of God neither doth corruption inherit incorruption Wouldest thou haue part in our Sauiour Christs immortalitie that thou mightest bee free from death Die then that thou maiest be ridde of mortalitie Art thou affraid Of what Least death should be too strong for thee if he once ger thee into his clouches Hast thou not an example in Christ I am aliue y Reuel 1. 18. saith he but I was dead and beholde I am aliue for euermore But thou fearest because thy body shall be turned into dust O foole * 1 Cor. 15. 36 saith the Apostle that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die Keepe thy corne aboue ground because if thou put it into the earth it will consume that thou shalt neuer finde it againe Where then shall the fresh greene blade appeare When shall the stalke grow vp When shall it eare When shall it flower Shall not all this glorie bee lost if the graine bee not sowed in the furrowes of the earth And art thou so I will not say fearefull but foolish and childish that thou darest not die once that thou maist liue for euer Plucke vp thy spirits and bee no longer a childe but a man were it not better for thee to die a thousand deaths then to bee continually disquieted with the motions of thy corruption Thou hast now some life of Christ in thee by the power of his spirit which inables thee to fight against sinne and to preuaile But there is no finall subduing of it till the body be destroied which doth so incline draw thee to the seruice thereof Neither hath the spirit of God quiet or full possession of thy soule as long as that corruption abides therein And that as it was bred with thee must die with thee there is no other course appointed by God to rid thee of it I doubt not but thou art now resolu'd to desire death whē it shall please God seeing there is no way to life but by it with this resolution I leaue thee that I may speak a word or two to thē that are yet out of Christ And how shall I addresse my speech vnto them It is needlesse to inflame them with a desire of life For they are wholly possest with that already It is in vaine to perswade them they shall neuer die if they be in Christ For all experience teacheth the contrary Shall I exhort them not to feare that which they cannot auoide They may learne that in the schoole of reason what remaines then At the least giue mee leaue to aduise you how you may make the best of that which can by no meanes bee escaped You are resolued there is no way with you but one Die you must and it is vncertaine how soone Yet if you may die so that you may be sure to liue againe that for euer what hurt can there be in death what feare should there be of it A crab stock that hauing his head boughts armes cut off is graffed with a pippin or some other dainty fruit can not reasonably complaine of hurt but rather hath great cause to reioice and glory Hath hee any wrong done him that hauing his cottage of clay pulled downe hath a goodly palace of stone built for his dwelling
him and the sonne of man that thou visitest him That his gratious reguard of man whom the Lord sets in the next place to himselfe may the better appeare as the first worke of Creation was for his seruice so the second of Regeneration was for his saluation This wee learne of our Euangelist q Ioh. 20. 31. who tels vs that the ende of writing the Gospell was That wee might beleeue that Iesus is the Christ the Sonne of God and that by beleeuing wee might haue life through his name See I pray you how Saint Iohn hath loyned these two endes together the former is the glorifying of Iesus Christ as the Sonne of God the later the procuring life to men by faith in him According to these two endes the Euangelist hath framed this beginning of his Gospell First r Ioh. 1. 1. 2. he describes Iesus Christ vnto vs as hee is in himselfe God euerlasting Then hee shewes what hee is to vs. A creator of vs when wee were nothing a Sauiour to vs when Ver. 3. wee were worse then nothing Of the former points we haue heard out of the three former verses now of the Ver 4. 5. later out of these two that follow Whereof wee may sitly make these two parts a description of the Messiah as the aâ—tor of Life in the fourth verse and the former part of the fift His intertainment by men in the later part of the same verse In the description oâ—r Euangelist declareth first what hee was in the nature of his mediation verse 4. then what in regard of the effect verse 5. Concerning the nature of that his office two points are to bee considered First that In him was life 2. that That life was the light of men The effect is that The light shineth in darkenesse But how was this light intertaind Or rather this light found no entertainement The darkenesse comprehended it not Now for the better vnderstanding of these points First according to my custome I wil examine the words then expound the meaning of the Text. For the wordes in the first clause for I will take euery one seuerally by it selfe we must consider both what life the Euangelist speaks of and why hee speakes in that manner saying In him was life Why hee sayth In him was life rather then He was life why was rather then Is seeing it is as true and plaine that Hee is life as that life was in him But what is this life hee speakes of Looke not that I should trouble you or my selfe with refuting or so much as reciting the diuers strange interpretatioÌ„s of Heretickes foolishly grounded vpon that manner of reading which couples the former part of this verse with the later ende of the third That which was made was life in him I shewed in my last exercise that if this had beene intended by the Euangelist hee would rather haue said All things that were made were life in him Surely the manifold and different expositions that so many heretickes haue made of these wordes so read and the absurd errors and blasphemies they haue gathered from them may well seeme a sufficient reason to discredite such a kinde of reading as hath no better warrant then the coniectures of men Howsoeuer the vulgar Latine retaine it with the mislike of many learned Papists Å¿ August in Ioa. tract 1. Ambrosde fide lib. 3. cap. 3. and in Psal 36. Theophyl ad Ioa. 1. The Manichees deuis'd two senerall and almost contrarie interpretations of them The Arians a third The Macedonians a fourth Heracleon a fist and euerie one of these an erroneous doctrine sutable to his exposition Yea t Origen lib. 3 in Ioan. the best sense that is giuen of the words so read is so curious and sub till that it rather shewes the witte and learning of the Interpreters then the meaning of the Writer And perhaps it were but lost labor for the greatest part of this auditorie to take paines and spend time in striuing to make them vnderstand it Wherefore leauing those nice points to another kinde of exercise and auditorie let vs take the wordes plainely and simply as they offer themselues to bee conceiv'd of all men Who if they haue any knowledge at all of the Scripture or of religion by reading or hearing by this word life vnderstand one of these two things Either the naturall life whereby all liuing creatures are sayd to liue or the spirituall life by which they that are regenerate by the spirite of God liue spiritually in this world by grace and in the world to come by glorie Let vs see some examples of the word in these senses out of the Scripture For the naturall life wee haue the very beginning of it in Moses u Gen. 1. 20. God saide Let the waters bring foorth in abundance euerie creeping thing that hath life And afterward Let the earth bring foorth euerie liuing thing according Ver. 24. to his kinde Of man it is particularly written that x Gen. 2. 7. The Lord God breathed in his face breath of life and the man was a liuing soule So sayth y 1. Cor. 15. 45. the Apostle alluding to that place The first man Adam was made a liuing soule This is that life which the Lord threatned hee would take away by the floud Behold * Gen. 6. 17. sayth hee I will bring a floud of waters vpon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life vnder the heauen In this sense the word is not so common in the newe Testament I thinke not once in this whole Gospell in other places some times a Luk. 8. 15. Though a man haue abundance his life standeth not in his riches b Act. 17. 25. God giueth to all life and breath in all things c 1. Cor. 15. 19. If in this life onely wee haue hope in Christ And as this signification of life is rare in the new Testament so is the other for spirituall life in the old yet now and then vnder the title of this present life the life to come is also implyed Behold d Deu. 30. 15. 19. 20. sayeth Moses I haue set before thee this day life and good death and euill Afterward life and death blessing and cursing And in the next verse The Lord thy God is thy life and the length of thy dayes In the Psalme oftner and playner e Psal 16. 11. Thou wilt shewe mee the path of life f Psal 36. 9. With thee is the well of life So in g Pro. 2. 19. the Prouerbes All they that goe vnto her returne not againe neither take they hold of the wayes of life h Pro. 6. 23. Corrections for instruction are the way of life That one booke affordes vs more examples of this kinde then all the olde Testament beside But the new is full of them euery where i Mat. 7. 14. 18. 8. The way is narrow
can doubt but life was always in him who only liues of himself giues life both tēporal spiritual to al euē to euery one that hath it But because this maner of giuing life is an effect of Godhead so common to him with the Father and the holy Ghost and not a matter belonging properly to his person nor any worke of his mediatorship I will leaue it as not intended in this place and come to a second consideration of life being in him from all eternity as in the mediator betwixt God and man In what respect then may it be truly and fitly said that life was in him from all eternity In respect of the eternall decree of God whereby he determined to restore to life those whome hee chose therevnto by the mediation of his Sonne the word of whom we speake Of this f Rom. 8. 29. 30 the Apostle speaks Those whom he knewe before he did also predestinate to bee made like to the image of his Sonne that he might bee the first borne among many children Vpon this predestination as the Apostle adds followeth calling iustifying and at the last glorifying which is the highest degree of the life that is in Christ But in g Eph. 1. 3. 4. an other place hee speakes more plainely Blessed be God euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which hath blessed vs with all spirituall blessings in heauenly things in Christ As he hath chosen vs in him be-before the foundation of the world Therefore doth the Apostle Peter ascribe the appointing of the meanes and the execution of it according to the appointment to the foreknowledge of God h Act. 2. 23. Him haue ye taken by the hands of the wicked being deliuered by the determinate counsaile and fore knowledge of God The same is acknowledged by the ioynt confession of the Apostles where they say that Herod Pontius Pilat the Gentiles and the people of Israell gathered them selues together against the holy Sonne of 4. 27. 28. God Iesus whom God had annointed to doe what soeuer the hande and counsaile of the Lorde had determined afore to bee donne VVorthily then doth Saint Iohn avouch that life was in him yea before any time was life was in him i Gal. 4. 4. VVhen the fulnesse of time was come God sent his Sonne Life did not then begin to be in him but to shew it selfe to be in him k Rom 3 25. God set him forth by his incarnation to be apropitiation Life was in him before in regard of Gods eternall counsaile but not discouered nor manifested to the world no nor those works of his which were to bring life performed Yet euen thē was life in him If it seeme to any man somewhat ouermuch to go so far for the Euangelists meaning let him shorten his iorney containe him selfe within the compasse of the world created Shal we not find sufficient reason of this speech In him was life though wee goe not out of the world yes out of doubt very sufficient For seeing many worthy Patriarchs and holy Prophets many true Israelits Sonns of Abraham by faith as well as by nature departed out of this worlde before our Sauiour came into it to performe the foreappointed worke of redemption either these must haue died without life so alwaies continue dead or there was life in him before he was incarnat l Luk. 10. 24. Many Prophets and Kings desired to see and heare him at the Apostles while hee liued heere saw and heard Surely then they were not ignorant of him and that life was in him But did they not see him By one iudge of the rest Your Father Abraham m Ioh. 8. 56. saith Christ reioyced to see my day and hee saw it and was glad And yet what name I one seeing wee haue a cloud of witnesses that compasseth vs round about n Heb. 11. 1. 2. 3. c. sounding out the same assurance of fayth that we now haue and looking for the same promises to bee fulfilled which wee beleeue and knowe to haue beene performed to the vttermost Was not our God o Mat 22. 32. the God of Abraham Isaac and Iacob Was not our Sauiour their Sauiour p Rom. 4. 11. Gal. 3. 16. Dooth not our interest wee haue in Christ depend vpon our being the children of Abraham q Heb. 13. 8. VVas not Iesus Christ yester-day is hee not to day shall hee not bee the same for euer Then may wee safely and truely conclude that there was life in him before he was in the nature of man But howsoeuer it be true certaine that life was in him both from all eternity in regard of the counsaile of God which is as ancient as himselfe in effect in respect of them that from time to time were partakers of it euen from Adam to Iohn Baptist yet it was then most properly in him when hauing taken our nature vpon him he ouercame death and him that had power ouer it the Deuill This was that which those Kings Prophets desired and longed to see This was that which good olde Simeon so reioyced at that he was ready to depart out of this life with full satisfaction and contentednesse when he had seene the promised Messiah in the nature of man Lord r Luk. 2. 29. 39 saith he now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace according to thy word For mine eies haue seen thy saluation The holy man had a long time beleeu'd by faith that saluation was to come and in hope with patience waited for the comming of it but he neuer saw it til that time Indeed how should he For it was neuer to be seene till then How could it be For it neuer was fully perfitly till then It was not enough for the Son of God that he had infinite power as God to giue life to whom he would to repair the ruins of his image in man by clensing him frō sin cloathing him with righteousnes by raising him frō death as he first breath ed the soule of life into him by vouchsafing him a place in heauen which was at his command that had made it Al this I say would not serue the turne that the Euangelist might say as he doth In him was life For the Lorde God Father Son Holy ghost had appointed another course of giuing life another meanes of saluatiō not to be perform'd by the Son of God sitting in heauē but to be wrought here vpō earth in the same nature that had sind was dead He that made mā holy righteous at his creatiō could by the same powr haue restord to him his original righteousnes in a momēt But it pleas'd him to doe it after an other maner wherof more hereafter in due place To say al at once seing by man cam death God would haue life to come by mā no otherwise Let it be graunted may some man say that
that is in Christ hath quickened thee Thou art questionless inlightened Shall I make bold to aske thee a â—ew questions concerning the mysterie of thy redemption the roote whereon the life thou talkest of groweth Wilt thou not abide to be questioned with of these points Heare me a little I doe it not to appose thee but to instruct thee At the least if thou wilt not answere mee yet giue mee the hearing while I open this great secret vnto thee Not that neither Shall thy pleasure lull thee a sleepe that thou canst not heare Shall thy profit carry thee away that thou wilt not see I were as good hold my peace as speake and not bee heard All men are willing and ready to conser of that whereof they haue skill and experience Thou canst not doe a souldiour a greater pleasure then to put him into some discourse of warre How gladly doth a Mariner take occasion to intreat of nauigation So all professions and trades easily fall into speech of that wherein they haue best knowledge Onely in the profession of christianitie the case is otherwise You shall finde many a one I would I might not truely say very many I am sure I may say ouer many that can not indure to speake themselues or heare other men enter into any discourse of life in CHRIST Tell me I pray you what is the reason why other sorts of professions are so forward in talking of their artes and trades Is it not because they make account they haue some good skill in them Could Christians be so backward to reason of matters touching their saluation but that they are priuie to their owne ignorance in such cases Shall a smith or a shoomaker delight to speake of his craft because he is skilfull in it and shal we hold off and shunne speech of our glorious redemption because but I will say no more for very shame of the world It were not possible we should auoide such communication if we knewe how to carry our selues in it without bewraying our ignorance How then stands the case with vs Are wee not inlightened Then are we not quickened If wee bee in darkenesse we are in death too This this it is be feared is the case of many of vs. There is no life in vs because there is no light in vs With this light wee may search our hearts and discerne whether we be indeede aliue or dead What know I concerning mine owne naturall estate What haue I learned of my first transgression in Adam What feeling am I come to of the horrible corruption where with my soule and body are defiled What vnderstand I of Iesus Christs natures and offices Haue I considered the infiniteness of the loue of God in sending his owne and onely sonne to be my sauiour Am I well instructed in the doctrine of his sufferings Is the value of his inualuable sacrifice magnified by me though not comprehended Let me yet come a little neerer How many are there that do not so much as know what Iesus Christ was what it is to bee iustified what it is to beleeue We are buried in the darknesse of death hauing nothing in vs but the bare conceipt of life I appeale to thine owne soule whosoeuer thou art that wouldest be saued I desire thee not to let mee see the light that is in thee but to looke into thine owne heart whether therebe any there or no. The triall is betwixt God and thee It is in vaine to say thou art inlightened For he knows what is in thee better then thou doost thy selfe And there is no greater argument of thy blindnesse then that thou doost not see it He that begins to see perceiues hee wants a great deale of seeing perfectly But he that was borne blind and continues so knows not that there is any such thing as sight to bee had but onely as hee heares other men talke of it Such is the estate of many professed Christians They haue heard I know not what rumours of Adam and his fall of CHRIST and his death and such other matters But they know no one point or other soundly and throughly either to their humiliation or consolation And yet for I must repeate it againe and often without light there is no life to be had in Iesus Christ How long then will you wander in darknesse When will you approche to life Let it suffice vs that we haue hitherto continued in ignorance yet the light shines vnto vs. Who can tell how soone the Lord will bee weary of waiting on vs and holding out the light of saluation to them that will not see Deceiue not your owne selues with a vaine hope of life as if it could be seized on by groping in the darke Be not wanting to your selues and assuredly yee shall be saued Christ Iesus hath prouided life sor you The same Christ Iesus is ready to shew you the way to it nay hath shewed it to you already if you would haue vouchsaf't to looke toward it And because you are not blind onely but dead also he hath sent vs his seruants and ministers to call vpon you to cry out vnto you to intreat you that you would open your eies and see the light It lies shining vpon your eie-liddes do but lift them vp and it will enter What shall you lose by receiuing sight What will it hurt you to be saued Is any man so hardly intreated to his owne good You shall not trauaile alone in the way to life Behold heere is company on euery side I and my brethren the Ministers will carry the light before you do but follow it and the light will bring you to life If any man for all this will roust in darknesse though hee refuse to see the light yet shall that discouer him both to God and men Art thou not ashamed to know that so many see thy blindnesse Art thou not affraid that the Lord himselfe will cast thee into eternall darknesse since thou takest no pleasure in light Rowse vp thy selfe and shake off this drowsinesse that CHRIST IESVS may giue thee light If thou wilt not neuer presse into this and the like places God is not deceiued Thou makest a shew of loue to the light when thou comest hither where it shines Is thy sight dim The light will cleere it Hast thou no sight at all The light will giue thee eies to see withall The light of the sunne appeares not but where there are eies alreadie and those open too But the light of life which is in CHRIST makes eies where it is desired and causeth life in all that are willing to haue it Whereof if any man doubt let our Euangelist resolue him who proceeding to shew vs the effect of the light tells vs that it shines in darknesse as it were offring it selfe to disperse and scatter whatsoeuer hindereth or staieth our full inlightning For though it follow in the later part of the verse that the darknesse comprehends it
from the East by whome Herod and all Ierusalem might bee informed that hee was come shewing himselfe by the space of three yeeres and an halfe to al his country-men in those partes with such a grace and autority in his teaching that the Pharises Mat. 7. were nothing to him with such power and commaunde in working miracles that the windes and Seas obayed him sicknesse at his worde gaue place to health blindnesse to sight yea death was forced to resigne vp his possession to life VVee haue seene his comming Lette vs take a view of his intertainement His owne receiued him not Perhaps not with such signes of ioy shewes of triumph and significations of obedience and subiection as in such a case it was fit necessary they should haue done There might haue bin some excuse for them if they had fayld in the manner of his intertainement only They were vnder the Romans gouernment and durst not be knowne of any other King they lookt for till they might see him in the field with banners displayed professing himselfe to bee in armes for their deliuerance But they would not at all receiue him This behauiour cuts off al excuse and laies them open to a iust imputation of rebellion But heere wee must first call to minde that by His owne not the place as in the former part of the verse but the persons to whome he came are signified Secondly let vs in a word or two consider their refusall of him What is meant by not receiuing him why the holy Ghost vseth this word of the Iewes whereas he had said no more of the world in generall but that they knewe him not The Iewes receiued him not Did they not receiue him They flockt after him in multitudes they came to him far neere to be cured by him of al kind of diseases they acknowledg'd the power of God in his miracles yea so highly did they esteem of him and so greatly affect him Ioh 6. 15. that they would needs haue made him a king How theÌ„ is it said that they would not receiue him To receiue a messenger that comes from a Soueraigne Prince to his subiects is not only to suffer him to come a-shore to let him haue entraunce into the Citty to entertaine him with good cheere to Iodge him well to giue him some present to honour his person but especially to accept of his message and to performe that which he requires of them in his Lord and masters name If they be wanting in these later duties let the former be done in neuer so good sort they may iustly bee charg'd with not receiuing him that comes Shal I make it plaine by an example of the like nature Iohn Baptist as our Euangelist hath taught vs was sent to beare witnesse of the light that all by him might beleeue Was he receiued by the Iewes or no If you looke to his outward entertainement you shall find that hee had all the kindnesse shewed him that hee woulde admitt of and might haue had much more but that he continually refused it Neither was this from the teeth outward in shewe without substance but from the very affection of their heartes which were sette on him so that hee might haue ledde them like children whithersoeuer hee woulde But what say you to the ground of his message the ende of his embassage from God to them Did they receiue him or no Did they beleeue by meanes of him If they did not howsoeuer they accounted of his person they receiued him not For the receiuing of him was the entertaining of his message that hee brought by beleeuing that Christ was the light and resting vpon him to bee inlightned It is not hard now to vnderstand what is meant in this place by not receiuing And if it were the Euangelist makes it plaine and easie in the next verse where Ver. 12. hee expoundes receiuing to bee beleeuing in his name So that not to receiue Christ with which fault the Iewes heere are charged is not to beleeue in him VVhat that is I haue already shewed in parte and must handle it againe when I come to the expounding of those wordes In the meane while lette vs holde this for a certaine truth that to receiue Christ is to beleeue in his name and that the Iewes are challenged for not beleeuing therein The world was accused of ignorance by our Euangelist The worldknewe him not The Iewes his owne people haue a farder matter layed to their charge that They beleeued not in his name whence ariseth this difference VVas it enough for the worlde to haue knowne him VVere the Iewes free from ignorance of him Neither of both For they only haue the prerogatiue to bee the sonnes of GOD that beleeue in his name The Deuills knewe him to bee the holy one Luk 4. 34. Mark 3. 11. of GOD yea the Sonne of GOD and made open profession of that their knowledge as Saint Iames also Iam. 2. 19. testifies of them They beleeue and tremble to their farder condemnation And for the Iewes the Apostle Peter giues this testimony of them That Hee knewe Act. 3. 13. 14. 15. their betraying and denying of Iesus in the presence of Pilat their preferring a murderer before him and their killing of the LORD of life proceeded from ignorance both in the common sorte and in their gouernours Then it coulde not haue auayled the Gentiles to haue knowne him without they had also beleeued in him and the Iewes not beleeuing was of ignorance Yet of the former the Euangelist saith They knewe him not of the later They beleeued not in his name In both hee speakes most wisely and fitly The very first steppe to belieuing in Christ is the acknowledging of him to be sent from God Of this his many and glorious miracles gaue so manifest and certaine proofe that the mouths of children were filled with his prayses Hosanna to the Mat. 25. 15. 16 Sonne of Dauid Therefore if the world would not take knowledge of our Sauiour what excuse remaines there for them How can they bee charged with any lesse How could they be ignorant of so much Now the Iews were faulty in an higher degree They knewe of olde that there was a deliuerer to come that the time appointed for his commong was expired they heard euery day the Sermons of â— Baptist who assured them that the kingdome of God was at hand that hee whom they and their Fathers had so many yeeres lookt for and longed for was in the midst of them and that nothing might be wanting to their full instruction hee pointed out the person with his finger This is he Behold Ioh. 1. 26. 29. the lambe of God But what belongd to the matter that they might haue benefit by this deliuerer I see the man I heare great commendation of him I find my selfe wel â—ffected to him but what is all this if I know not how to make vse of him of
of the sonnes of the Diuell his owne children and giuing vs a sound and certaine title thereby to the inheritance of his glory in heauen And shall I neede to vse many words in amplifying so rare a kindnes in setting out so inestimable a benefitte Small fauours require inlarging infinite blessings will not admitte it They by amplification may bee made greater then they are these the more you speake of them the lesse you make them For what is it but a diminishing of that which is infinite to atteÌ„pt in any kind of manner I say not to inlarge but euen to expresse it He that striues to speake much and almost makes no ende of commending that which is excellent seemes to haue perswaded himselfe and to desire that other men should beleeue that hee hath spoken all that can be said in the matter As for me I professe the contrary assuring my selfe and you that when I haue said all that possibly I can deuise I shall be as farre from the infinitnesse of the benefit as when I first began to speake of it Yet may it somewhat helpe our conceyt of the matter though it cannot come neere the excellency of the thing And with this perswasion let vs a little consider the prerogatiue of this Son-ship There is a great opinion and not without good cause of the estate of our first paâ—â—nts Adam and Eue while they were in Paradise before their fall They had the image of God wherein they were created shineing Gen. 1. 26. in them so gloriously that all the fishes in the sea the foules in the aire the beasts in the earth and euery thing that moueth and creepeth on the earth were subiect and obedient to them What adoe haue wee in our estate as now it standeth to make not Beares or Lions but those of whome we haue necessary and continuall vse horses and other cattle to performe any kind of seruice to vs The whip the goad the wand the spur the yoke the bit all the meanes of terror and extreamity that wee can possibly deuise cannot preuaile so much against these tame creatures as autority and maiestie did in them with those beasts that are now most fierce and cruell The Prophet Dauid though he were a King of great command ouer Gods owne free people yet when he considered those little poore seruices which the creatures in our present estate such as it is ordinarily doe vs and the gouernement wee haue ouer them breaks out into an exclamation of wonder What is man saith he to the Lord that thou art mindfull of him and Ps 8. 4. the Sonne of man that thou visitest him How would hee haue esteemed Adams rule ouer the creatures that values our gouernement of them so highly What should I speake of their familiarity with God who vouchsaf't himselfe to talke with them to informe and direct them It is recorded as a singular fauour and honour done to Moses that the Lord spake vnto him face to face as a Exod 33. 11. man speaketh to his friend How were our first Parents fauoured honoured that were to haue ordinary conference with him from time to time But to come to the point for which al this is alledg'd what was their estate for all these honors fauors but the condition of seruants They were threatned with death death both of body and soule if they transgrest the bounds that were set them Of the tree of knowledge of good and euill thou shalt not eate of it for in the day thou Gen. 2. 17. eatest thereof thou shall dy the death Put case they had coÌ„tinued in obedience to God their Creator according to their allegeance duty What could they haue lookt for but either a confirmation of that estate which they then inioyed or at the most the reward of their seruice the wages for their worke They could neuer haue attained to this dignity To be the Sons of God And is it not a prerogatiue trowe you to be brought by Christ into a more excellent estate then that which Adam in his innocency and glory had iust cause to wonder at Blessed may we say was the day and houre Oh the goodnesse power of God that brings light out of darknes that euer Adam harkened to the voice of his wife perswading him to eate of the forbiddeÌ„ fruit Not that either the sin was small to transgress the commandement of God or that it was the purpose of Adam in sinning to be occasion of so great a blessing But for that the Lord of his meere affection loue according to his owne former counsaile predestination turned misery to happines death to life We were seruants to a bountiful and gratious Lord we are made Sons to a most kind louing Father Our seruice if it had beene neuer so good could haue procured no more but wages Our Son-ship conveies vnto vs assurance of a goodly inheritance There is no seruant though hee bee put in neuer so great trust haue neuer so much autority bee neuer so highly in the Princes fauour like Daniell in the prouince Dan. 2. 48. of Babell or Ioseph in the Kingdome of Aegypt but is many degrees inferiour to the Kings Sonne Gen. 41. 40. Moses was a most faithfull seruant in the house of the Lorde and disposed of all things after the direction and to the especiall liking of his master Such as his seruice was such was his honor He had the gouernmeÌ„t of the people of God committed to him no man might refuse Heb. 3. 5. to yeeld obedience or demaunde a reason of that which hee commaunded VVas hee therefore comparable to Christ who ruled as the Sonne ouer his owne Verse 6. house VVhat was Abrahams eldest seruant to his youngest Sonne VVhat was Ioab to Salomon Dauid was a man of no meane imployment vnder Saul of no small desert toward him and his whole estate yet when he was earnestly perswaded by his fellow seruants to enter into the Kings alliance by marriage what answere made hee Seemeth it to you a light thing saith Dauid to bee a Kings Sonne in lawe Did it seeme so 1. Sam. 18. 23. great a matter to so worthie a seruant to become Son in law to a King and can wee thinke it a little honour to bee made the Sonnes of God Saul though hee were a King was but a man Dauid though hee were a seruant in condition was a King in true vertue Wee are men nay wretches wormes nothing Hee that will adopt vs is God most mightie most glorious euen Iehouah himselfe Dauid though hee should become Sonne in lawe to the King could haue no title to the Kingdome by that aduancement Our Son-ship makes heauen Gauel kind giues euery one of vs a ful intrest to the inheritaÌ„ce If yee bee Sonnes yee are heyres Moses could not looke for any Rom. 8. 17. such preferment though Pharaohs daughter tooke him for her Son And yet it is
Naaman the Syrian desiring to be cured 2. King 5. 10. of his Leprosie when he was willd by the Prophet Elisha to goe wash seuen times in Iordan went away in an anger as if some hard matter had bin inioyned him But his seruants wiser in that point then their maister came and spake vnto him and said Father if the Prophet had Verse 11. commanded thee a great thing wouldest thou not haue done it How much rather then when hee saith to thee Verse 13. wash and bee cleane The Noble man considering that his seruants spake reason followed the Prophets direction and was healed Healed of what Of a Leprosie By what meanes By washing seuen times in Iordan What is it that wee desire To bee made the Sonnes of God A farre greater matter then to bee cured of a Leprosie How may wee attaine to this honour Beleeue and thou shalt become the Sonne of God Shall I need to compare these things together Beleeue Wash Which is sooner done Wash seuen times If thou beleeue once it sufficeth Not as if wee might bee the Sonnes of God though wee cease to beleeue but because he that once truely rests on CHRIST can neuer wholly depart from him I see not how wee could deuise to haue so great honour with so little paines vnless perhaps we would attaine to it by dreaming of it Can wee imagine a readier course of preferment or an easier labour in getting it then to be made the sonnes of God by trusting in Christ Doe but cast thy care vpon him thou shalt be sure of that he promiseth thou desirest But it will not be amisse perhaps considering the importance of the matter to examine these things more particularly especially in these two points That beleeving is necessarily required to adoption so that without the one the other is not to be had that the meanes of enioying heauen which all men naturally propound to themselues are of greater paines and lesse yea no certainty what if I say of meere impossibility Suspend your iudgement till you haue heard and vnderstood the case then giue sentence freely and spare not Now for the better conceiuing of the matter I will make bold to shewe the mystery of our redemption so much as is needfull for the knowledge of that wee haue in hande but as shortly as I can with plainness It is not vnknown to any man vnles he be vtterly ignorant of christian Religion that all mankind and euery particular man woman child lost the fauour of God and with it all hope and possibility of happinesse by the transgression of our first parents in whome wee all sinned If any man bee desirous to informe himselfe better of this point the Scripture is open for him I will content my selfe with that one testimony of the Apostle By one man sinne Rom. 5. 12. came into the world and death by sinne and so death went ouer all men by him in whome all men haue sinned For the recouery of this losse it pleased God to appoint a meanes of reconciliation that his anger iustly conceiued against vs might bee appeased and wee receiu'd againe into his former fauour This meanes was his owne Sonne in our nature offered vp by himselfe in sacrifice to God his Father God was in Christ saith the 2. Cor 5 19. Rom 5. 10. Apostle reconciling the world to himselfe And in an other place when wee were enimies wee were reconciled to God by the death of his Sonne But the manner of our reconciliation on Christs part doth not so much concerne the matter we are now to handle Let vs see what is required of vs. There are two things necessary to a sound and full reconciliation that the offence which caused the breach bee pardoned that the party offending bee admitted againe into as greate fauour as hee was in before he committed that fault If either of these be wanting the Reconciliation is vnperfect Our Sauiour Christ hath fully performed whatsoeuer was needfull on his part to procure absolute Reconciliation The Lord God is willing and ready to bee reconciled vnto vs. Only the stay is in vs. For the pardon of sinne iustification is offered not imputing of sinne And wheras 2. Cor. 5. 19. wee were before the breach no otherwise in the fauour of God then seruants are that please their master now the Lorde is determined to receiue vs not as seruants but as Sonnes by his free Adoption God sent his Sonne c that we might receiue the Adoption of Gal 4. 4. 5. Sonnes Heere is full and perfite reconciliation prouided Iustification and Adoption But how shall wee bee made partakers of it I will leaue the former point till I haue some fitter opportunity Of the later our Euangelist speakes in this place teaching vs that if wee beleeue in Christ wee haue the prerogatiue to be Sonnes This the Apostle Paul confirmes yee are al Chap. 3 26. the Sons of God by faith in Christ Iesus There is no exception against 2 such witnesses No saith one if they agreed in their depositions No saith one if they agreed in their depositions But there is no small difference betwixt them The one saith wee haue that honor by beleeuing the other affirms that fayth makes vs the Sons of God The Euangelist requires the act the Apostle contents himself with the vertue grace or qualitie S. Paul seemes to looke for no more but that wee haue faith S. Iohn calls precisely for the vse of it Receiuing Beleeuing Is this all the difference that can bee found in their testimonies Then all is nothing First it is apparant to begin withour Euangelist whom we presently expoūd that S. Iohn by enioyning vs To beleeue necessarily requires faith by which we must beleeue so his deposition includes implyes that which S. Paul affirmeth Secondly the Apostle vnder the name of faith cōprehends the act of beleeuing which is neuer any more seuered from it then burning is from fire A greater fire burnes more then a little one doth but the least that can be doth burne as wel as the greatest So the strongest faith trusteth more firmely in Christ but the weakest more or lesse relies truely vpon him But that wee may see the ful agreement of these two witnesses let vs consider how the Apostle declares his owne meaning oftentimes in the like matter The righteousnesse of God vnto Rom. 3. 22. Chap. 4. 3. all and vpon all that beleeue Abraham beleeued God and it was counted to him for righteousnesse That Chapter is full of the like speeches So are his other Epistles where he hath any occasion to speake of Iustification And if that which is former in nature cannot bee had but by beleeuing surely this later is not to be attain'd to by the only hauing of faith Therefore as often as we find in Scripture that Iustification Adoption Sanctification Saluation or any other such fauour blessing is ascribed to
They saw him not but were perswaded hee should bee seene at the time appointed Neither haue wee seene him but are out of doubt that hee was seene while he liued here vpon the earth They trusted in him as the onely and all-sufficient meanes of life Is not our faith the same Therefore least any man should imagine that the Fathers which died before our Sauiour Christ was born were destitute of spirituall life our Euangelist assures vs that there was euen then life in him These reasons may giue some good satisfaction to them who desire rather to informe themselues to edification then to aime themselues for contention Giue me leaue also I pray you to propound to your consideration meditation at your better leasure what it hath pleased God I should conceiue of this matter would any man knowe of me why the Euangelist saith In him was rather then In him is life I think he may be fully satisfied if he do aduisedly consider that hee continueth the course which he begun in the first verse followed in the second and third In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God The same was By him were without him was Do not meruaile thē that the Euangelist sayth here In him was life Tell mee how hee could haue spoken more fitly Hee proceedes in the description of the Messiah touching his mediatorship whose Godhead he had before declared Could he doe better thē to hold on the same manner of speech But will you see yet a farther reason that nothing may be wanting which may helpe vou forward in the vnderstanding of this scripture Who knowes not that the Euangelist according to the ordinary course which they take that write the hystories of famous men settes downe in the beginning a briefe description of him of whom afterward hee is to intreat at large by shewing that in particular which was at the first deliuered in a generall sort This being so let vs remember that the historie is of him that is not now liuing amongst vs but departed out of this life from vs. Therefore it was necessarie for our Euangelist to speak of him as of one that had beene and now was not Not as if hee were not now at all but because hee is not now aliue in the world as hee was when those things were done the historie whereof is written in this Gospell So then we must conceiue that Saint Iohn in saying was hath respect to the time of our Sauiours being herein our nature and therefore not only might but ought also to say In him was rather then In him is life because he is totel vs what he did here in the world and not what hee doth now he is out of the world This the holy Ghost teacheth vs when he saith k Ioh. 20. 30. toward and l Ioh 21. 25. in the end of this Gospell Many other signes also did Iesus and there are also many other things which Iesus did Yet the ende of all is m Ioh. 20. 31. that wee might beleeue that Iesus is the Christ and so that life is in him now for vs as well as it was for them that liued in his time The excellent comfort of this doctrine drawes mee to it with both the hands but that my promise holdes mee backe very strongly Let me first discharge this then I will bestowe my selfe wholly vpon the handling of that more at large I vndertooke to shewe these two thinges what spirituall life is here signified of grace or of glorie or of both why the tearme life is applyed to note that holinesse and happinesse I doubt not but euerie man perceiues already that by life I vnderstand as well our liuing righteously in this world as our liuing gloriously in the world to come How else could it note such holinesse and happinesse The reason perhaps is not so apparant I will doo my best endeuour to giue you satisfaction touching that also It is verie fitte if not necessarie to giue as large an extent to all texts of Scripture as the circumstances of the present place and the ordinarie vse of the wordes will beare least wee seeme to restraine the meaning of the holy Ghost more then wee are warranted by him to doe And therefore I could haue beene contented to haue stretched the worde euen to note the preseruing of naturall life but that I can finde no such vse of it in the Scripture neither will that sense well agree with that exposition which the light in the second clause seemes necessarily to require as I hope to make it appeare anone if God will But neither any circumstance of the place tieth life to the one or to the other and the word is diuers times taken in both senses Of eternall life what shall I need to bring many examples This Gospell is full of them I will giue you a taste by one or two Yee search the Scriptures n Ioh. 5. 39. 40. sayth our Sauiour to the Iewes for in them yee thinke to haue eternall life and they are they which testifie of mee Yet yee will not come to mee that yee might haue life That which in the former verse hee nameth eternall life in the later hee calleth simply life The Ver. 24. like wee haue in the same Chapter not very many verses before Hee that beleeueth in him that sent mee hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life To what life Euen to euerlasting life which he was sayd before to haue The other life grace in this world both is implyed oftentimes in the life of glorie whereof also it is a part the Image of God in vs being renewed by it and is manie times spoken of by it selfe as I shewed at large before out of o Eph. 4. 24. diuerse places of Scripture It is needlesse to repeate them or to adde more to them What should hinder vs then frō expounding this life so largely as wee haue done Nave might wee not be thought iniurious to the holy Ghost if wee should leaue out either of them By life then wee vnderstand that spirituall estate of righteousnesse and glory of which all that beleeue in Christ are made partakers by beeing ingraffed into his mysticall bodie Would any man knowe why this estate into which wee are restored by our Sauiour should be tearmed life I aunswere him in a word because the miserable estate into which wee fell by sinne was called by the name of death It will not bee vnworthy our labour to consider this point a little When the Lord God had made our first parents and placed them in that palace of pleasure the garden of Paradise p Gen. 2. 8. Hee charged them to forbeare to eate of the Tree of the knowledge of good and euill threatning them that if they brake his commaundement that day that they ate thereof Ver. 17. they should dye the
death Do you perceiue that the Lord himlelfe hath giuen that condition of ours the name of death The olde Testament furnish â—th vs with many examples to precue the first sinne comâ—itted by vs in Adam cast vs all into the state of death â—ut this death so often there spoken of is partly the mortalitie of the body and partly the eternall punishment of the soule in hell fire the other death of sinnei â—eldome or I thinke neuer mentioned in any of those books The new Testament supplyes vs with very great plentie of example of both kindes Of the one I will say nothing at all because euery man continually obserueâ— them Of the other I must needes speak because perhaps they are not so ordinarily markt of all men q Mat. 8. 22. Let the dead bury their dead saith our Sauiour The dead to be buried are they whose carcases are left without life by the departure of the soules froÌ„ theÌ„ as the historie that place manifestly sheweth But who bee the dead that must bee the buriers of those corpses Who else buâ— they that are dead in sinne dead to righteousnessâ— and so looke after nothing that concernes euerlasting life any more then men naturally dead doe after the things of this present life So saith r Luk. 15. 32. the kind Father of the prodigal Sonne This thy brother was dead Dead The parable had said no such thing of him What theÌ„ was that death the Father speaks of Questionles the death of sin whereby he had liued lewdly wasted his goods with verse 13. riotousnesse and as his brother angerly obiected had deuoured them with harlots This the Apostle expresseth Verse 30. when speaking of vs all in our naturall estate before grace he f Epb. 2. 5. 7. saith that we were dead in sinnes and trespasses This may yet farder be manifested by the title that is giuen to that condition into which wee enter by regeneration First t Ioh. 3. 5. our Sauiour saith we must be borne againe what needs that if we were neuer dead And u Rom. 6. 2. the Apostle S. Paul affirmeth that they which are so borne againe are dead to sinne Then till they were so borne againe they liu'd in sinne The life of the one is alwaies the dea'h of the other If thou liue to sinne thou art dead to righteousnes If thou liue to righteousnes thou art dead to sinne Therefore x 1. Pet. 2. 24. S. Peter ioynes them both together That we being dead to sinne might liue to righteousnesse S. Paul hath the like speech in vnlike tearmes When y Rom. 6. 20. saith he yee were the seruants of sinne yee were freed from righteousnesse But now being freed from sinne Verse 22. made seruants vnto God Marke I pray you how one of these as it were destroies the other A naturall man without grace is free from righteousnesse yea as free as a dead man is from all matters of this worlde A spirituall man indued with grace is free from sinne yea as free as Lazarus was from all the cares of this worlde while he lay in his graue without life or breath But I may not forget my selfe too much The summe of all is this that our Sauiour Christ himselfe and by his example our Euangelist describeth the estate into which we are brought by becomming members of his body by the tearm of life because ourformer estate out of which he deliuered vs was in name nature an estate oâ— death Now hauing examined the words let vs come to the doctrine it selfe In him was life which is all one as if the holy Euangelist should haue said This word or promised Messiah of whom I haue begun to intreat and intend to write this story not only was eternall hauing his being before any thing created ever began to be that with God euen then when there was nothing beside God but was also himselfe very God From him al things that are or euer were had their whole being in him the spirituall life both of grace and glory was so plaÌ„ted that who soeuer desires to be partaker of it must haue it only as in him being come into the world This is that which we are to learne out of this place In the handling whereof I will first deliuer the doctrine that our spirituall life is by Christ then I will speake of the manner how it is by him Concerning the former point first I wil propouÌ„d it in general then I wil shew it in those particulars of holynes happynes The manner also hath 2. things to bee considered That this life was in Christ that it was in him eueÌ„ while he liued here vpoÌ„ the earth Touching the first point that our estate is to be recouered by our Sauiour Christ let me put you in mind of those places which I once before alleag'd which are indeed the very foundation of the Gospell By sinne the diuell got dominion ouer vs God in iustice leauing vs when we had forsaken him Satan iniustly seizing on vs as it were intruding himselfe into a house void of any owner to keepe possession But the Lord God though he would not presently thrust out by the head shoulders or pluck out by the eares that presumptuous intruder yet tels him that he should not imagin he had gotten or should hold quiet possession for euer I will put enmity * Gen. 3. 15. saith the Lord betwixt thee the woman between thy seed her seed What shall be the euent of this long doubtfull contention He shal breake thy head thou shalt bruise his beele Though Satan be strong armed by that meanes may seeme to keepe his palace without disturbance yet there comes a Luk. 11. 11. 22 a stronger then he that ouercomes him takes from him al his armoâ— wherin he trusted diuides his spoils This shews manifestly that the deuill shall lose his possession but perhaps he may reenter or if he do not yet are wee by this meanes rather freed from misery then restored to felicity Let vs go forward therfore and heare the promise that God makes to Abraham the Father of the faithfull b Gen. 12. 3. In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed c Gal 3. 16. S. Paul thus expounds To Abraham and his seedwere the promises made He saith not to the seeds as of many but to thy seed as of one which is Christ And this promise thus made the same Apostle cals the preaching of the Verse 8. Gospell The Scripture saith he foreseeing that God would iustifie the Gentiles by faith preached before the Gospell vnto Abraham saying In thee shall al the Gentils be blessed This belssing our Euangelist describes where setting downe the end of the Gospel he tels vs that d Ioh. 20. 31. by beleeuing we shal haue life through his name What shall I need to