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
But these mē will not beleeue that there is any such life in Christ I would to God I were able to perswade thē but to make som litle trial O! if they would be cōtented but to rest vpō him for life how quickly should they find his promise true certain Be perswaded be intreated I beseech you by the loue of life which you so desire what shall you lose by it If that we preach be false yet shal the rest of your yeers be spent in more hope cōfort If you know any better waie to prouide for your selues in kindnes humanity impart that at knowledge to vs. If you do not in quilitie good manners cōdemne vs not till vpon triall you can disproue vs. Life you earnestly desire euen bodily life refuse it not when it is oftred you without any danger of losse if you should be deceiued I am come now at the last to the chiefe point of all which is life euerlasting begun as I said ere-while in this world by the forgiuing of sin perfited in the next by the giuing of glory Of which notwithstāding I intēd not to say much because being the maine matter of the Gospell euery chapter almost will afford me necessary occasion to intreat therof Shortly for the proofe of the point that eternall death and condemnation are compriz'd in that threating a Gen. 2. 17. Thou shalt die the death I appeale to the whole course of the scripture and the ioint consent of all that euer profest true religion Iewes Christians But it is manifest enough by the deliuerance wee haue through Christ that I may make one labour of two b Iob. 3. 17. God sent not his Sonne into the world that he should condemne the world but that the world through him might be saved He Ver. 18. that beleeueth in him shall not be condemned but he that beleeueth not is condemned already Yea such is the redemption which we haue by Iesus Christ c Iob. 5. 24. that he which beleeueth hath passed from death to life What is this passing from death to life but obteining forgiuenes of sinnes being reconciled to God whose wrath otherwise abideth in vs to condemnation God hath set forth Iesus Christ d Rom. 3. 25. saith the Apostle to bee apropitiation through faith in his bloud to declare his righteousnesse by the forgiuenes of sinnes that are past e Rom. 5. 10. If when wee were enemies wee were reconciled to God by the death of his sonne much more beeing reeonciled we shall be saued by his life But I forget my selfe in staying too long in this discourse wherein the new Testament is so plentifull and easie to bee vnderstood Neither is the point of euerlasting life either harder or rarer This one Gospell of S. Iohn hath not so few as twenty seuerall places to that purpose f 10. 3. 16. God so loued the world that hee gaue his onely begotten sonne that who soeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue life euerlasting This is the will of him that sent me that euery man which seeth the son beleeueth in him should haue euerlasting life g Ioh. 6. 40. I will raise him vp at the last day Look not that I should go forward in this course or spēd time in amplifying the vnspeakable glory of that life For the one I refer al men to the reading of this gospel especially the chapters I named before and concerning the other all I can possibly say of it is lesse then nothing in comparison of the thing it selfe Therefore also I hold it in a manner needlesse to enter into any course of exhortation For who can hear of these kindes of life in our Sauiour and not be carried to him for the enioying of them with all speed and means he can possibly make Let it be a small thing for a man to bee dead in sinne because perhaps he feeles it not Let the life of righteousnesse be little accounted of ov reason of the pleasure we take in sinning Let vs despie bodily death as a common matter Let vs not reguard the resurrection of the flesh as long as the soul is immortall Shall not feare of damnation for euer in hel fire affright vs Shall not hope of eternall ioy in heauen delight vs Is it nothing to indure most horrible torments without ease or ende Is it nothing to be partaker of such pleasure as cannot be conceiu'd without danger or feare of change What is the immortality of the soule of which thou bragst but an immortall miserie The more thou art perswaded of the euerlasting continuance thereof the greater knowledge thou hast of thine owne endlesse calamitie Whereas if once thou come to bee ioined to Christ the farderthou seest into the continuance of thy life the more thou art inflamed with a delight to liue But now I haue brought thee where this life is to bee had I will shew thee how it is to bee attained In him was life Where though it may seeme that the Euangelist sayes no more but he is life or life is by him yet indeed the speech is more significant First in respect of life the manner of speaking makes difference in the thing For when the scripture saith that Christ is life the word is to be taken for the cause of life h Iohn 11. 25. I am the resurrection and the life saith our Sauiour and again I i Ioh. 14. 6. am the way the truth the life So speakes k Col. 3. 4. the Apostle of him When Christ your life shal appear Who see not that by life in these places the author of life or life as it is in the cause thereof is vnderstood But in the other phrase the same thing is noted as it is imparted by him to vs. l 1 Ioh. 5 11. God hath giuen vs euerlasting life and that life is in his sonne Wee haue example of both these in one place yee are dead saith m Col. 3. 3. 4. the Apostle and your life is hidwith God in Christ What life That same life which Christ hath communicated to you and by which you liue What followes When Christ your life shall appeare How is Christ their life By giuing them life And as in this kind of speech wee may easily discerne some reason of the difference that the scripture obserueth so may wee also in the other Sometimes n Cor. 1. 30. the holy Ghost saith that Christ is made vnto vs wisedome righteousnesse c. What is this els but that wee receiue these things from Christ as the autor and cause therof Somtimes life is said to be in him so we are said to bee in Christ Iesus o 1 Ioh 5. 11. yee are of him in Christ as in the place I named before p Rom. 8 1. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Now in these speeches and the like not onely
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
the effect but also the manner of our comming by it is signified Will you haue a plaine example of it q 1 Cor. 15. x1 Since by man came death by man also came the resurrection of the dead We haue here the effect of Adams transgression and of Christs resurrection The next verse shewes the maner of both more Ver. 22. euidently For as in Adam saith the Apostle all men die euen so in Christ shall all bee made aliue How die all men in Adam but r Rom 5. 12. as beeing one with Adam in whose loines they were when he sinned Å¿ Heb. 7 9. 10. as Leui was in his father Abrahams when he paide tithes to Melchisedech So are all raised againe in Christ Not simply all but all his t 1 Cor. 15. 23. The first fruits is Christs then they that are Christs at his comming Wouldest thou then bee made partaker of this life of which thou hast heard so many admirable and glorious things This life is in Christ How wilt thou do to fetch it out of him Deceiue not thy selfe it is not so to he had Hee that will enioy the life which is in Christ must not thinke to come to him and take a snatch and carry it away with him He keepes it close shut vp within himselfe Not refusing to impart it to other but desiring to ioine other to him that they may bee sure to holde fast for euer that hee giues them If hee should commit it to thy custodie and let thee depart from him with it what wouldest thou doe or what meanes couldest thou vse to keepe it safe Satan is craftie and mighty It is a great venture but either hee would cosin thee of it by deceipt or robbe thee of it by force What say I a venture It is out of question thou wouldest neuer be able to keepe it from him If thou haue any experience of his vndermining and assaulting thee thou knowest how hardly and with what adoe it is now held when yet thou art knit by faith to him in whom the very fountaine of it is Doost thou not feele how strongly he pulls to rent thee from him that sometimes thou canst scarce tell whether hee haue seuered thee from him or no If thy experience bee small in thy selfe didst thou neuer see a poore soule stand quaking and trembling looking ruefully about on euery side shrieking and crying out for feare least hee should bee separated from Iesus Christ At the least perswade thy selfe it is not for nothing that our Sauiour himselfe when hee labours to assure his sheepe that they shall neuer bee wrung out of his hands puts them in mind of his fathers Almigh â—ie power u Ioh. 10. 27. ver 28 My sheepe heare my voice and I know them ind they follow mee And I giue them eternall life and they shall neuer perish neither shall any plucke them out of my hand Is not here assurance enough They know his voice that they may not bee deceiued by harkning to a stranger They follow him hauing him stil in sight least they should mistake some other for him Hee giues them eternall life How shall they die that haue life euerlasting He secures them in saying they shall neuer perish They haue life and shall hold it fast to the end Is there yet more None shall take them out of his hand This confirmes all the rest What though the deuill be haling and drawing of them continually Hee shall not preuaile How shall wee bee assured of that For then wee are safe indeede Heare what followes My father which gaue them mee is greater then all and none is able to take ver 29. them out of my fathers hand What needed all this if it bee so easie a matter to keepe life when once thou hast it Thou makest account to take life of our Sauiour and when thou hast it to be gone with all speed Alas poore man thou wilt keepe it but a little while lwis if thou haue no better help then thine owne But if thou cleaue fast to Iesus Christ and stirre not an inch or an hayres bredth from his side thou maist perhaps heare the diuell roaring at thy backe or see him running vp and downe prying and seeking some aduantage to seize vpon thee it may bee hee will offer to snatch at thee and lay holde vpon thee cling to rhy Sauiour as the childe dooth to the mother when hee is in feare and then doubt not but he that is greater then all will keepe thee out of Satans iawes maugre all his power and malice Beare with mee I pray you if I seeme to be ouer-large in this point I feele such an increase of comfort and assurance in the meditation of this matter that I can not leaue it till I haue lookt a little neerer into the particulars thereof especially those that concerne the temporall death of the body and the eternall both of it and the soule Now the life whereby wee are deliuered from the one and the other death as it hath oft bin said is in Christ For the better and fuller conceiuing whereof wee must remember that faith whereby we are ioined vnto Christ that wee may partake of that life which is in him maketh vs al one with him There are a similirudes by which the Scripture expresseth this spirituall coniunction the one is that bond which is betwixt man and wife by which they that were two become one flesh This is most excellently set out by x Eph. 5. 23. the Apostle S. Paul where he shewes that Christ is the head of the Church as the husband thereof that the Lord nourisheth cherisheth it as his owne flesh And no maruaile though he do so For as it followes we are members of his body of his flesh of his bones Yea so members of them that wee are one flesh with him by reason of this bond of marriage that so chaynes links vs together No man can be so fond as to vnderstand this of our humane nature as if therefore wee were said to bee one flesh because hee wee are of the same nature For neither are all men one flesh though they be all of the same nature if the Apostle had intended to speake of that point he would not haue said that wee are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh but rather that he was bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh For it is well knowne to al men that in regard of the nature of man they that are the Church I meane a great part of them eueÌ„ al that died before our Sauiour and were partakers of the life we speake of had it before he was made man but for their sake some others hee had not taken that nature vpon him But the mysticall coniunction whereof x Eph. 5. 23. 29 the Apostle professeth to speak in that place hath the beginning and ground in Christ not in
of whose punishment we are so affraid And yet what was this extremity in comparison of the intolerable wrath of God in the fire of hel where there is neither ease of pain nor end of misery f Psal 2. 12. O kiss the Son least he be angry and ye perish in the way g 1. Cor. 10. 22 Doe we prouoke the Lord to anger Are we stronger then he h Reuel 6. 15 Doe not the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chiefe Captaines and the mightie men hide themselues in dens and among the rockes of the mountaines Doe they not Verse 16 crie out most lamentably to the mountaines and rockes Fall on vs and hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth vpon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb Oh miserable comfortless wretches Flee you from the Lamb It is hee i Ioh. 1. 29 that taketh away the sins of the world If there be ny drop of mercy it is by the bloud of the Lamb if there be any hope of comfort it is in the gentlenesse of the Lamb. They are absolutely without al possibility of the least relief that can find no fauor at the hands of the Lamb. If the Lamb frown who wil look cheerfully vpon vs And dare any wretched miscreant nourish in his heart doubtfull thoughts of our blessed Sauiours eternall God-head For it is almost incredible that any man should be so desperate as blasphemously to denie it If we could heare but as it were a far off the hideous shreeks and most wofull lamentations of that wretch I spake of ere while our haire would stand vpright on our heads with horror and our hearts sink in our bodies for feare k Ioh. 5. 22 Hath not the Father committed all iudgement vnto him Must we not all stand before his throne to receiue sentence from him either of life or death Oh I where wilt thou bestow thy self poor naked miserable distressed soule It is vnpossible for thee to hide thy selfe To behold the wrathfull countenance of the Iudge it is intolerable Oh! how wilt thou tremble when thou shalt heare that dreadful voice l Luk. 19. 27. Those mine enimies that would not that I should raigneouer them bring them hither slaie them before my face Slay them I but so that they shal alwaies be dying and neuer dye For so is that â—eatefull â—entence which will loose the ioints make the knees knock together when it shall be heard m Mat. 25. 41 Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuell and his angells Is it not better for vs then to acknowledge Iesus Christ to be God while we liue here may learn it then to be driueÌ„ to confess it when it shal auaile vs to nothing but to increase our iust damnation I am sory a sham'd that in this cleere sun-shine of the Gospell any man making profession of Christian religion should make doubt of so main a ground therof Neither would I haue wearied you my selfe with so large an exhortatioÌ„ but that I know too wel there is too iust occasion of it Yet I may not forget my selfe too much That which hath bin said is sufficient with the blessing of God without it nothing that can be say de Let vs now come neerer home and betake our selueâ— to that which is more proper to our calling For as the Angells that are ministring spirits though they be faine oftentimes to oppose themselues against the malice and fury of satan his instruments yet haue not this office properly assign'd vnto them but as it furthereth their principle charge to helpe them forward which shall be heires of saluation so the ministers of the Gospel must account it their especial duty to instruct comfort them that are the true members of the body of Iesus Christ To you therfore beloued in the same our Sauiour will I now addresse my speech euen to all you that beleeue in Christ to iustification Haue you learned that the Messiah your Sauiour is God almighty Do you firmly and stedfastly beleeue this without wilfull gain-saying or doubting Assure your selues the holy Ghost hath set you in the waie to euerlasting life But me thinkes I heare some poore soule sighing in himself striuing if it were possible to conceale his own thoughts from his own heart What is it thou dost so labour to suppresse what art thou so affray de to be knowen of Be not dismaied nor discouraged If thou tremble like n Marke 5. 33. her that heard our Sauiour aske who hath touched him remember with what ioy to her selfe she was discouered Promise thy selfe no lesse from him who will certainly o Mat. 11. 28 refresh all them that being heauy laden come vnto him What Those that haue now and then some doubt in them of his eternall God-head I euen those in despight of Satan and all his treacherie Let mee reason with thee a little Dost thou not beleeue that the scripture is the vndoubted word of God yes thou doost Art thou not perswaded that the same Scripture teacheth thee that thy Sauiour Christ is very God Thou art But thou hast many times some doubting of the point within thy heart What Dost thou doubt willingly as one that either thinkes it not to be so or at the least that was neuer resolutely perswaded that it is so Let me say more to thee Wouldst thou haue him bee God or no If thy affection desire to honour him all that may be if thy weake faith labour to ouercome this doubting Satan would haue thee doubt makes thee afraid thou doubtest but indeed thou dost beleeue It is not a property of the most sanctified men to bee without tentations but not to yeelde to them with ioy and liking True faith may be weake though perfect faith cannot Weaknes of faith wil admit occasion of doubting but not giue place to doubting Doost thou not finde it in thy selfe thy doubting neither brings forth denying nor receiues any kinde entertainement at thy hands then art thou wholly free from wilfull gainesaying or doubting Satan can not make thee beleeue that thy Sauiour is not God Only he makes thee afraid least he should not be God And how comes hee to this aduantage Surely by no other meanes but by driuing thee to examine the point by reason There can be but one God which is he that sent Iesus Christ into the world and not Iesus himselfe If thou tell him of the three persons hee demaunds further how thou canst conceiue that there should be three such persons and all they but one God As if p 2. Cor. 5. 7. wee walkt heere by sight and not by faith I know it is possible to beate the Deuill at his owne weapons and by the force of reason to maintaine against him that there is a Trinity of persons though that mystery by discourse
much and indeed too much for this sottish heresie It is also gathered from hence by some that the word is coeternall or equal to the Father in eternity A doctrin very true needfull to be knowne but such as was signified before when it was said that The VVord was in the beginning that it was with God Neither doth the beginning in this or the former clause note eternity but the time when all things began to be created Wherfore to shut vp the interpretation of this verse with shewing what I conceiâ—e to be intended in it by the holy ghost I am perswaded that the purpose of the Evangelist was to repeate that which in the former verse he had deliuered For if he had meaÌ„t to add a fourth point of the like kind to the other 3 in all liklyhood he would haue continued the same manner of writing by coupling this to that which went before and haue said And this was in the beginning with God If any man obiect that he doth not so in that which followeth he is already answered that in the next words the Evangelist comes to a new kinde of argument wherby he proues that which before hee had avoucht namely that the word was in the beginning was God At the least he describes the Word by outward effects towards the creatures not by his owne nature or properties Neither is this a bare repetition but a plainer instruction for the simplest that they may â—ssure theÌ„selues that the Word was in the beginning with God I graunt so much was implied before but not exprest to euery mans capacity Here the Evangelist speaketh so that all may vnderstaÌ„d him giues directioÌ„ for the interpreting of that clause The VVord was with God When was the Word with God In the beginning When as yet there was neither time nor place euen then had the Word his being with God I would gladly adde to all this that which is obseru'd by l Toletus in Ioâ—n cap. 1. Annot. 11. some as I perswade my selfe not without great likelihood that the Euangelist by his repetition would farther giue vs to vnderstand that The VVord not only was in the beginning but was then with God a worker in the creation of all things The ground of this interpretation is taken from that place in m Pro. 8. 22. the Prouerbs where this same Word is described by the name of wisdom There first his eternal Being is described Verse 30 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his waie I was before his works of old I was set-vp from euerlasting c. This description is continued to the end of ver 26. In the 27. the holy Ghost proceeds to shew vs that the same wisdome was with God as a nourisher when hee prepared the heauens when he set the compasse vpon the deep c. Yea it may be somewhat more particularly applyed Salomon sayth when he prepared the heauens I was there To that answereth this of our Euangelist This was in the beginning with God His nourishing as some expound it his creating or ordering of all things the holy Ghost heere expresseth at large in the words following By him were al things made The conference of these two places seemes to warrant this exposition as we haue seene I wil not striue much about it so wee apply this repetition to the strengthening of our fayth Concerning our Sauiour Christs eternall God-head doubtlesse we attaine to the principall thing intended by the holy Ghost And of that point what Christian can doubt though he would neuer so faine Dost thou not perceiue that the holie Euangelist deliuers it with aduise and deliberation It is not a matter that hee hits vpon but a point chosen by him to begin his Gospell withal It slips not from him at vnawares but is repeated vpon good aduisement Certainly this doubling of the point makes it manifest that the holy ghost would haue vs view and consider it throughly on al sides It is neither of small importance that it need not to be learned nor easie to be beleeued that it need not to be taught but once Wherefore is it propounded and repeated but that it might be vnderstood and remembred Vnderstood that no hereticks deceiue vs remembred that our hearts faynt not Hee that is God Almighty hath redeemed vs who shall bee able to hold vs Captiues Let vs not be afraid to defye sin hel death and the deuil himselfe n Rom. 8. 31. God is on our side who can be against vs Hauing thus expounded these two verses and finding in them some poynts which concerne the admirarable Doctrin of the most glorious and holy Trinity so many things also beeing spoken euery where in this gospel of the Father the Son and the holy Spirit I haue thought it necessarie both sor your instruction and the discharge of my dutie to bestow the rest of this hower in opening that blessed mystery Wherein according to the example of our Euangelist the whole course of the scripture I will content my selfe with the Euidence of the word without the curiosity of schoole diuinity It shall be sufficient for vs vnderstand that the scripture affirmeth that there is one God and three persons though we can see no reason how it can be so And farder in shewing that the three persons are indeed distinct one from another and not diuers respects of one and the same I will not stand vpon their nature in themselues so much as vpon those effects which beeing ascrib'd to them in the Scripture cannot as in shall appeare bee performed by anie one person Our Euangelist deliuers the point of our Sauiours diuine nature in a few words here in the beginning of the Gospell Hee proues it at large by many wonderfull works of his through the whole course of his writing This shal be my example and warrant Yet I would not haue any man think that I either condemne their paines and care who haue laboured to explaine these mysteries by the light of reason or affirme that the points themselues cannot stand with reason They are indeed aboue reason but yet not against reason As the light of nature cannot discerne them so it cannot disproue theÌ„ And the chiefe end of them that endeuoured to discusse these maters in some sort by reason was rather to stop their mouths that would not beleeue theÌ„ to inforce theÌ„ to beleeue Now this course in this place and auditorie I trust is needlesse I am sure with the greatest part it would be bootlesse For how many or rather how few are there heere present that are able to examine or conceiue the subtill arguments that haue been deuised and vsed in these questions Neither are wee to settle our faith by the waight of humane reason but to ground it vpon diuine authority Now to the matter Wherein that I may proceede the more orderly and be the more easily vnderstood First I will speake of the vnity of
He that beleeueth in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life And in the same Chapter afterward hee Ver. 40. reproues the Iewes because they would not come vnto him that they might haue life Whereas the ende of his comming was Å¿ Ioh. 10. 10. That they might haue life and haue it in abundance Therefore doth t Act. 3 15. the Apostle Peter call him the Lord of life But whome shoulde wee rather heare in this case then u 〈◊〉 the Euangelist himselfe expounding his owne meaning The life appeared and wee haue seene it and beare witnesse and shew vnto you that eternall life which was with the father and appeared vnto vs. Can any man doubt but the Euangelist speaketh of the same life in the beginning of his Epistle whereof he intreateth in his Gospell Compare them together and see if you can perswade your selues otherwise Will you heare him speake yet more plaine x 5. 11. This is the recorde that God hath giuen vnto vs eternall life and this life is in his Sonne This later is called Eternall life in the wordes before Then surely the Euangelist speaketh in the Gospell also of eternall life which the Sonne of God bringeth as mediatator not of this transitorie life which hee giueth as Creator Now because this supernaturall life is double either of grace in this world or of glorie in the world to come I should farther inquire whether of these two is here meant or whether both be not meant But of that as also of the reason why our regeneration saluation is tearmed life I wil speake when I come to giue the meaning of the place In the meane while let vs goe forward in examining the words and first let vs see why he vseth this kinde of speech In him Why doth he not rather say as before by him doubtlesse hee might well haue sayde so For it is by him indeede that wee haue life y Rom. 5. 1. 2. By him wee haue peace toward God By him wee haue accesse through Ver. 11. faith vnto this grace wherein wee stand By him wee haue receiued the attonement But this manner of speech though it bee as true as the other yet it is not so fitte in this place nor so significant Not so fitte because the Euangelist would put a difference betwixt the Creator and the Mediator All things were made by him not in him though * Origen hon 2. â—n â—â—uers some would haue without to imply as much whome I aunswered the last day But our spirituall life is as by him so in him The things that are made by him howsoeuer they alwayes depend on him for the continuance of their being yet they are not one with him Is it so with them that receiue the life of grace from him No no They are ioyned close vnto him and the life that they haue is from that spirit by which hee liues Therefore is a Eph. 5. 3â— the Church flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone yea all the faithfull are members of his bodie himselfe being the head This neere coniunâ—ction with him could not bee exprest so significantly if the Euangelist should say By him was life as it is when hee sayth In him was life yet doth not say Hee was life which also is true because heâ— speakes of it not as it rests in him but as it is communicated by him to vs. But why sayes hee was and not rather Is in him Is there no life nowe to bee had Or is there any to bee had nowe but in hiâ— No surely There is no saluation in any other b â—â— 4. 12 For amonge men there is giuen no other name vnder heauen whereby â—ee must bee saued How then sayes the Euangelist that lâ—â—e was in him c Tolet. in â—â—â— innot 13. Wee may not imagine that â—ee meanes to shewe vs anye other way of attayning to life as if was excluded is No more then wee may conceiue that the Word is not GOD nowe because hee sayeth of him The Worde was God What may then bee the reason of this manner of speech It is thought to bee double either in reâ—uard of Gods eternall purpose or in respect of the â—mes before the comming of the Messiah The former wee must thus vnderstand that the Lorde God fore-seeing the fall of his creature man decreed in himselfe to recouer him by sending his Sonne to make satisâ—action for sin by sacrificing of himselfe vpon the altar of the crosse Of this saith d 2. Tim. 1. 9. the Apostle He hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen vs through Iesus Christ before the world was Therefore also sayth our Euangelist e 1. Ioh. 1. 2. other where that this life was with the Father and appeared vnto vs. When the fulnesse of time was come sayth Saint Paul God sent his Sonne What fulnesse of time was this but the very hower appointed by God So that Saint Iohn may well say In him was life Because euen before the foundations of the world were layd life was setled and shut vp in the person of the Sonne who was in due time to become the mediator of mankinde by taking the nature of man vpon him If there bee any man whome this aunswere doth not content it may bee the other coniecture will satisfie him Let vs not wearie our selues with looking so far as to the eternall decree of GOD but keepe our sight within the compasse of the worlde within that time also wee shall finde some reason of this speech When was life in him euer since there was any to whome that life might appertaine it was ready for him in the Sonne of GOD the promised Messiah f Gen. 3. 15. Where had our first parents Adam and Eue their spirituall life after the Curse but in him In whom was the couenant established with g Gen. 12. 3. Gal. 3. 8. Abraham but in his seede Iesus Christ What name I some speciall men Did not this life offer it selfe generally vnto all that came of Abraham Brethren I would not that you should bee ignorant sayeth h 1. Cor. 10. 1. 2. 3. 4. the Apostle that all our fathers were vnder the Cloude and all passed through the Sea And were all baptized vnto Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea And did all eate the same spirituall meate And did all drinke the same spirituall drinke For they dranke of the same spirituall Rocke that followed them and the Rocke was Christ What though many thousandes dyed before the Sonne of God became men were they therefore without meanes of life and saluation Nothing lesse i Heb. 13. 8. Iesus Christ yester-day and to day and the same for euer They beleeued in Christ to come wee beleeue in him being come
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
there was no possibility of life but by the death of the Sonne of God and that the Sonne of God could not dye vnlesse he became man yet might the Evangelist haue wel said In him is life For since it is confest that hee tooke the nature of man and continues still in heauen in that nature surely life was no more in him while hee was heere then it is in him now he is gone from hence Why then saith S. Iohn In him was life I answere in one word though life be still in him yet it is in respect of that which he performed when he was here on the earth Here he tooke and sanctified our nature here hee bare the chastisement of our peace here he offred vp that invaluable sacrifice for the purging of our sinnes Here hee triumphed on the Crosse ouer all principalities and powers Heere hee rose out of the graue from death to life Only one thing which here possibly could not be don he hath done being gon from hence that is he hath taken possessioÌ„ of our inheritance in heauen waites there to receiue vs into his owne glory The Euangelist therefore writing the history of his life death while he was here in the world speaks of him as of one that was is not But of this enough before I should now proceed to the later part of this fourth verse And that life was the light of men But I find my self so much ouertaken by the time that it is in vain to meddle with it I will I therefore content my selfe with some word of exhortation whereby wee maie bee stirred vp to the embracing of that life which was in Christ To which purpose what shal I need to say much The mat ter dooth so highly commende it selfe that it refuseth to be entreated for Looke not therefore that I shoulde desire you to bee willing to liue Nay bee vnwilling if you can Doe but propound the matter to your own hearts and you will not choose but like of it And yet mee thinkes I see no man make any great haste Shall I wonder or complayne It is strange that life life euerlasting should bee so little set by It is lamentable that death eternall death should so little bee feared If it were any long Iorney or daungerous way if hard to come by or soone lost againe there might bee perhaps some colour of excuse for this backewardnesse But when the thing it selfe is neere at hand the way to it safe the meanes of attaining to it easie and the possession of it sure who can excuse himselfe to himselfe I say not to God if hee fayle of so glorious a treasure Do wee not beleeue the Euangelist that there is life in him Doe wee flatter our selues with a conceite that there is life in vs Why come wee to heare that which when wee haue heard wee will not credite why make wee a shew as if wee stood in need of life from Christ when wee thinke our selues sped of it already Perhaps it seemes the lesse worth because it is offered Who euer thought that the kindnesse of the giuer should abate the valew of the gift Condemne thy selfe for not seeking to him not him for seeking to thee That hee reueales to thee hee conceales from many That which thou vnthankefully refusest many thousandes would most thankefully receiue O the frowardnesse of the hearts of men O the blindnesse of their minds If this life were in God they would tremble to come neere him for it because of his dreadfull maiestie Now it is in a man least happely they should be too much afrayd they disdaine to take it of him by reason of his meanenesse Å¿ Mat. 11. 19. But wisedome is iustified of her children He is both God and man that thou maist neither feare nor despise him If thou wilt not liue to shew his mercie thou shalt die to set foorth his Iustice For to him belongeth all glorie both of mercy and Iustice for euer and euer Amen THE FIFT SERmon vpon the first Chapter of IOHN Verse 4. And that life was the light of men And the light shineth in darknesse and the darknesse comprehended it not THey that take vpon them to write the liues of famous men such as the world admires either for their goodnesse or greatnesse ordinarily deliuer some generall description of them in the beginning of their histories These descriptions vsually containe either a rehersal of their pedegree and descent together with the place time and other matters concerning their birth and such like or a commendation of them for some especiall vertues Wee haue examples of both these kindes in the Scripture t 1. â—â—â— 1. 1. 2 He that was the holy Ghosts Secretarie in penning the historie of Samuell begins his booke with a recitall of his genealogy a description of his parents and diuers other points touching his conception birth and education u Iob. 1. 1. 2. Another whome it pleased the same spirit of God to imploy in writing the life of Iob makes the entrance into his historie by commending him for an vpright and iust man one that feared God and eschewed euill Our Euangelist intending to set forth the life and death of our Sauiour Iesus Christ as the partie he writes of was extraordinarie so doth he extraordinarily ioyne both together And because two other Euangelists x Mâ—â— 1. 1. 2. 3. c. Saint Mathew y Luk. 3. 50. 31 c. Saint Luke had already set out his humane pedegree both for succession in the kingdom fornaturall descent Saint Iohn leauing them vntoucht betakes himself to the declaring of his diuine estate First what he was in himself eternall with God the Father himselfe very God Secondly what he was to vs a Creator in making all things for vs a Sauiour in giuing life euen spirituall life life of grace pardoÌ„ life of immortality glory So that whether we respect his greatnes or his goodnes neuer was any maÌ„ so worthy the writing of neuer any maÌ„ so worthy the knowing following His greatnesse was magnified in the power of creation his goodnesse shewes it selfe especially in the work of regeneration Wherein first the Euangelist declares what he is and doth then how he is intertaind In him was life and that life was the light of men What doth hee According to the nature of light Hee shines in darkenes But the darkenesse will not bee inlightned Of the first of these points concerning life in him I spake in my last Sermon now let vs proceede to that which followes touching light And therein keeping our former course of handling the Clauses seuerally as they lye wee must first labour to vnderstand the words then seeke out the Euangelists meaning The wordes direct vs to inquire what life it is that is heere spoken of to consider what is saide of it that it is light and the light of men For the first worde a little
13. reserued the blacknes of darkenes for euer When the word is vsed for sinne it signifieth either the ignorance of the minde and vnderstanding or the Rom. 2. 19. wickednes of the heart and conuersation Thou perswadest thy selfe sayth the Apostle to the Iewes that thou art a guide of the blind a light of them which are in darknes namely in ignorance To this purpose the same Apostle sayth of the Ephesians before they had been taught by Eph. 4. 18. the Gospell that Their cogitation was darkened This is Mat. 4. 16. that Darkenes in which the people sate til by our Sauiours preaching as Saint Mathew tels vs They came to see light That the wickednes of our heart and the leudnes of our actions are signified by the same word it may Rom. 13. 12. appear by these places Let us cast away the works of darknes and let us put on the armor of light What these workes of darknes are the Apostle sheweth in the next verse Ver. 13. Gluttony drunkennes chambering wantonness strife and enuying and generally in the verse following To fulfill the Ver. 14. Ephe. 5. 8. lusts of the flesh In this respect he tels the Ephesians that they were once darkenes And a little after hee forbids them Ver. 11. to haue any fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darknes But no man speakes more plainely or more fully to this purpose then S. Iohn himselfe God is light and in him is no 1. Ioh. 1. 5. darknes that is no kind of euill If we say that we haue fellowship with him and walke in darkenesse wee lye and do ver 6. 2. 11. not truely He that hateth his brother is in darkenes walketh in darknes is in the corruptioÌ„ of nature behaues himselfe according therunto And of the word this may suffice coÌ„cerning the ordinary vse of it in the Scripture For this place wee must needes take it generally as wee did light and so apply it to the particular in hand The light naturally shines in darkenes and bodily light in bodily darkenesse the spirituall in spirituall So did the Messiah shine in the ignorance and wickednesse of men So did the doctrine of saluation shew it selfe in the blindnesse and naughtinesse of the world The former point of the natural bodily light shining in darkenes is not any matter of diuinity besides so well knowne to children that it were lost labour to say any thing of it Let vs keepe our selues to the Euangelists meaning and after wee haue a little proued the doctrine consider the matter for our farther instruction and edification And that the truth may the rather bee acknowledged let vs call to minde that the Prophet Isay many hundred yeâ—res before gaue notice of this light and the shining thereof and not of the shining onely but also of a farther effect the inlightning of them that were in darkenesse Let vs heare himselfe speake The people that walked in darkenesse haue seene a Isay 9. 2. great light they that dwelt in the Land of the shadowe of death vpon them hath the light shined My warrant to expound this prophecy of the light in the ministery of our Sauiour Christ is from the authoritie of the holy Ghost in Saint Mathewes Gospell Iesus leauing Nazareth Mat. 4. 13. 14. 15 went and dwelt in Capernaum which is neere the Sea in the borders of Zabulon the Land of Nepthalyn by the way of the Sea Galilee of the Gentiles The people which sate in darkenesse c. I spake of this before in expounding the words the naming of it this second time is sufficient Let me second it with an other prophecy out of the new Testament Olde Zacharie the Father of Saint Luk. 1. 67. Iohn Baptist being filled with the holy Ghost foretold this shining Through the teÌ„der mercie of our God the day-spring Ver 78. Ver. 79. sayth hee from an high hath visited vs to giue light to them that sit in darkenesse and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace This day spring Simeon in few words tearmeth alight to bee reuealed to the 2. 32. Gentiles He mentioneth not the darkenes True but we haue learned that the Gentiles were in darknes as wel by that of Esay as by the testimony of Saint Paul Walke not sayth he to the Ephesians turned from Gentilisme as other Gentiles walked hauing their cogitation darkened Eph. 4. 17. 18. and being strangers from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the hardnesse of their hart But the brightnes of this light and the glorious shining thereof is no where more cleerely to be discernd then in the course of this Gospell wherein so many secrets of God of the Messiah of the holy spirit and comforter of freedome from sinne of deliuerance from damuation and of euerlasting life are set foorth commended to vs. The doctrine then is easie and certaine that our Saâ—iour being the supernaturall light shined to the world and shineth still and euer in the knowledge of eternall saluation Let not the manner of speech trouble any maÌ„ because the Euangelist sayeth that The light shineth in darkenesse You will aske me how this can be If the light shine there is no darkenes It there bee darknesse the light shines not How then can the light shine in darkenesse Is it all one as if hee should haue sayde The Ma'd â—nat ad hunc lo cum light inlightneth the darkenesse scattering and dispersing it But shining and inlightning as I shewd before are diuerse the former respeâ—ting the nature of the light the other a second arie effect of the light in things inlightned Neither may wee forget that the darkenes was not inlightned The darkenesse sayth Saint Iohn omprehended it not How then doth the light shine in â—â—rkenesse Surely as the Sunne in the firmament shines â—â—ongst a company of blind men The Sunne indeede â—â—â—nes but the darkenesse to blinde men is neuer a whit â—he losse So our Lord his doctrin shined most brightly in the midst of the blind Scribes and Pharises yet were they still in darkenesse The naturall light doth his office shewes his nature by spreading his beams all about that all men may see so doth the supernatuâ—al light deliuering the knowledge of God Christ to saluatioÌ„ yet to the blind the darknes coÌ„tinues thoghâ— the darknesse continue yet the light shines so the light shines in darknesse The ligh in darknesse what light What darknesse Is not the light you speake of a dim glimmering or rather is it not as a candle wasted and spent to nothing Is not Christ the light you brag of Is not this light put out You preach Christ crucified What light is there in death What shining when the Sun is set Where is the darknesse you vpbrayd the world withall Is not this Chr. crucified which in your
of falshood as if hee had made them worse then they are that he might magnify our Sauiour Christ the more What if wee proue their knowledge in the things they most brag of to be vnperfect Cicer. in Acad. Socrat. apud Plato We shal say no more then many of themselues doe who yet are learned nor bring any proofe of the light that shines in darknes For the doctrine of the Gospel doth not perfit the learning whereof the Grecians boast but teach an other kinde of knowledge then euer they dreamt of But that wee may if not giue them full satisfaction yet at the least stop their mouthes let vs honor them with the reputation of learning and if they wil needes haue it so with the commendation thereof to yet with this prouiso that euen in that knowledge wherein they hold themselues so skilfull they may easily be proued to haue err'd often grossely But let vs take no aduantage of those errors lette them al bee wise States-men expert warriers greate Clarkes deepe naturalists temperate moralists cunning artificers good common-wealths-men for the publike benefit good husbands for their priuat estates for all this they are in darknesse and ignorance For what are they but ignorant that knowe not the true God nor how he is to bee worshipt What light is there in them that see not the way to their owne happiness nor vnderstand where it is to be had I should neuer done if I should let me not say refute but recite their manifold errors touching God himselfe the foundation of all religion Giue mee leaue therefore I pray you to omit them all saue a very few of the most principall First whereas there is but one God as the very light of Nature sheweth they set vp in their blind fancies infinit multitudes of Gods Goddesses to the number of I wot not how many I am sure a greate many thousands that as the Prophet saith of the Iewes according to the number of their Cytties yea Ier. 2. 28. and far aboue it too so were their Gods Yet had this bin the more tolerable though indeed it were most intolerable if they had not added a second errour worse if worse may be then the first Bee it that they could not content themselues with one God but must needs haue heapes of them for fayling was it possible they could be so absurde and senslesse as not to deuise them all of one kinde and nature Say there was some colour for to imagin there should bee a difference of sexe and so hee Gods and shee Gods yet was there not any the least shewe of reason to conceiue they might bee of diuerse natures There is wonderfull variety of nations people in the world yet all are of one kind of the same proportion of body of the same nature of the soul But the Gods of the heathen many of them can they heare it without blushing are vtterly of a diuerse kind one froÌ„ another Some of them were Gods both by the Father amd Mother some only by the Fathers side some by the mothers side only some by neither What say you to the Sunne the Moone diuerse starrs Could these be of the same kind with the former Certainely beasts foules fishes creeping things onions garlicke I am asham'd to say all I could were Gods of an other nature then those before mentioned Do you think these meÌ„ that made themselues such Gods had any spark of light in them Is it not pitty but these companions shoulde be held to be wise learned What dreames of a sick mans distempered braine what old wiues fable what idle fancy of a child that builds Castles in the aire is either so absurde or so impious And such as their opinions were of their Gods such was their worship By murders adulteries incests filthy speeches abhominable gestures sorceries coniurations The least sinne of this kinde was their doating Idolatry that hee which only made an idoll of God and did him no farder dishonour might well be counted a holy man amongst a route of such prophane miscreants Could these men let them boast of their knowledge as much as they list could these men I say know wherin their owne happinesse consisted or how they might attaine vnto it How should he that is ignorant of God from whom all things receiue as their being so their well being euer vnderstand what felicity is or how it may be come by There needes no other nor can bee any better proofe of their ignorance in this point then the multitude of diuerse and many contrary opinions One of the heathen a learned Roman hath left vs record Varro apud Aug. de cruitder of almost 300. seueral conceits touching the soueraingne good or felicity of man It were a hard matter for a man to chuse among so many especially where hee hath no certaine marks whereby to direct him in his choise But what a misery is it for one to vex and tire himselfe in seeking when the thing he seekes for is not neere the place of his search To examine the opinions seuerally were more labour then profite I wil only point at â—ome maine errors as in the other part of their ignorance concerning God First then what true knoweledge can be lookt for at their hands touching persite happinesse whose bse thoughts haue imprisoned theÌ„ selues within the narrow compass of this short and vncertaine life wherein there is so little quietnesse to bee found and so much misery to be indur'd that their own Cicer. Tuscul quaest lib. 1. Gods as they say haue counted it a mans greatest felicity either neuer to haue bin borne or to dye quickly yea haue bestowed death on their fauorits as the richest reward they could giue them And if any of them tooke a conceit of the immortality of the soule yet they spoiled man of one part of his happiness by leauing the body void of al possibility to liue again Yea what was the felicity they allowed the soule but such a kinde of vaine pleasure as the mind of a natural wise maÌ„ would rather despise then delight in But these also were very few the greatest part not of the commoÌ„ sort only but of the Philosophers too either denying or doubting of the immortality of the soule How should such blinde men knowthe way to true felicity Or if they might haue lighted on it by chance how could they haue perceiu'd it Well let vs take pitty of their ignorance shew theÌ„ that true happinesse is only in the inioying of God What are they the neerer Al their learning wil not teach theÌ„ how to find him The best they can imagin is to procure his fauor by sacrifices or to deserue his loue by their shadow of vertue Alas poore wretches How highly soeuer they value this their painted vaine glory he that searcheth the hearts condemnes it of hypocrisy To whoÌ„ dost thou offer thy sacrifices Which of thy Gods is it thou
to their opinion who vnderstand this place of Gaudentius in Euang. tract 12 our Lords being in the world all the time he liued here â—pon earth in the nature and shape of man The reasons whereby some men would prooue the contrarie are of no great force They say Saint Iohn would cleere our Sauiour from being thought to haue beene in fault that men did not beleeue and from being supposed to bee a creature But both these doubts were satisfied before more sufficiently and the later ariseth onely from that which is heere affirmed Hee was in the world as if the Euangelist had made himselfe more worke then needed It was sayde before that the light shineth in darkenesseâ— that it lighteth or inlightneth euerie man Yea the fault of not beleeuing was layde where it is The darkenesse comprehended it not How then could the light bee suspected Or how should hee bee taken to bee a creature but in regard of his manhood which is no error nor inconuenience Hee was auoucht before to be God and to haue made all things none excepted Now then seeing wee haue found that This being in the world is to bee vnderstood of our Sauiours conuersing with men here in the flesh it is no hard matter to know what is meant by the world from thence to gather the meaning of the Euangelist What is the world what else but the earth Therefore when the Euangelist saith He was in the world his meaning is that the Messiah of whom he hath spoken so much was conuersant here vpon earth amongst men This he deliuereth here in this general descriptioÌ„ before he come to the history it self which setteth out the course of his life and carriage at large It is needlesse to say any thing in proofe of this matter I shall haue necessarie occasion to handle it at the foureteenth verse the whole Gospel is of nothing else Yet I may not forget to note in a word how gratiously it pleased the Son of God to deale with the world He liued amongst men he kept company with men he came as himselfe speaketh eating and drinking He was Luk. 7. 34. familiar with men hee applyed himselfe to their customes and fashions in all thinges lawfull and as a worthy Scholler of so excellent a Maister sayth of himselfe Hee became all things to all men that hee might by 1. Cor. 9 19 all meanes saue some Iohn Baptist as it was fitte for him led an austere life withdrawing himselfe from the company of men abstayning from the lawfull vse of that varietie both in diet and apparayle which the Lord of his rich bountie hath afforded to men They that would in any thing vse his ministerie either for instruction or baptisme were fayne to come to him and attend vpon him Our Sauiour was ready ordinarily at euery mans call Who euer came with petition to him and went away vnsatisfied Sometimes hee deferred Ioh. 4. 49. the matter and would make as if hee hearde not yea sometimes hee seemed to aunswere somewhat roughly as to the woman of Canaan but it was Mat. 15. 21. not to deny their requests but to encrease their faith He meant not by such delayes to continue their paine or trouble but to double his mercy both vppon their bodies and vpon their soules Where hee sawe neede of helpe and want of meanes to begge it by reason of ignoraunce or some other infirmitie hee most kindly offred himselfe and his seruice Wilt thou be made whole sayth he to the man that had lyen 38 yeares Ioh. 5. 6. bed-red To conclude such was the conuersation of our Sauiour vpon earth that nothing wanted to shewe who hee was nothing hindred men commonly from comming to him but that which in all reason should haue allured them so great maiestie with so great meekenesse such power to helpe with such readinesse to bee imployed O the blindnesse of men sayth one O the pride and frowardnesse sayth another They worthily perished that made themselues vnworthie of such vndeserued kindnesse What would they haue had more then was offered them yea they could neuer haue desired so much as was afforded them And could they bee so vnkinde shall I say or vnwise and wilfull as to make light account of stay your sentence a little we are not come to that point Take heede least by reprouing of other you condemne yourselues What want you except the bodily presence of Christ that they had No one man sauing those Disciples that continually followed him heard so many of his Sermons sawe so many of his miracles knew so much of his kindnesse as wee all doe or may doe That which they might heare in a long time by peecemeale wee may read in a few howers altogether before occasions of manifold busines distract the mind and confound the memory Wee see not the blind restored to sight the lame made to goe the dead raysed to life What could wee haue seene There was seldome aâ—y outwarde meanes vsed to these purposes by which â—he eyes of men might bee fed If they heard him speak to signifie that he would haue such or such a thing done and sawe the effect ensue accordingly it was all the aduantage they had of vs that now liue and euery day may heare and read the historie of these thinges recorded If hee were then amongst men in his person hee is now amongst them in his word I wil say nothing of the difference betwixt these two meanes of bringing men to beleefe Let the euent speake It is manifest by the historie of the acts that more were conuerted to the faith in one yeare after our Sauiours death by the ministery of the word in the mouthes of the Apostles then in all the three yeares and vpwarde of his preaching and working miracles The vse of this later was but to credit the persons that their doctrine might bee receiued Wee professe that wee are resolued of the trueth of all things deliuered in the Scriptures Then certainely our Lord is amongst vs in these dayes though not in the same maÌ„ner yet in as great measure for means of knowledge and beleeuing What intertainement had hee then by them hath he now by vs The former wee must learne of the Euangelist of the later wee shall heare more anone Concer-cerning the people that liued in our Sauiour Christs time and heard and sawe what he spake and did what would any reasonable man looke for but that they should acknowledge him and honour him as the Messiah by trusting in him So they should haue done And did they so Read the record The world knewe him not Is it possible there should bee such blindnesse where there was so good light Could the light bee vnseene that shone so brightly It is woorth the doing to consider this point a little better And first let vs examine the wordes what is meant by the world what by not knowing The world in the first part of this verse
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
bee ignorant that hath had any desire to learne vnlesse like a man that lyeth in a ditch and streâ—cheth out his hands calling for helpe to all them that passe by hee refuse to set one finger to the ground for the raysing of himselfe Doo wee then despise so great an happinesse Though wee could bee so vnthankefull to God and yet that were monstrous yet howe canne wee bee so iniurious to our selues What shall I say Or vpon what shall I lay the blame It would bee verie strange and haâ—sh to most men if I should accuse them of not beleeuing Who would not be foreman of the Iurie to finde him guilty who would make daintie to giue sentence against his life that doth not beleeue whatsoeuer is deliuered in the Gospell Not beleeue sayeth one Hee is worse then a Turke or a Iewe that beleeues not I confesse it seemes scarcely credible to my selfe that any man professing religion should not beleeue But I holde it altogether vnpossible that a man should indeede bee perâ—waded in his heart that by beleeuing in Christ hee shall become the sonne of God and yet should bee altogether carelesse of beleeuing It is not vnlikely that wee haue a generall opinion of the â—uth of the Scripture but either wee neuer markt or neuer considered this and such like points that we might be throughly rooted and grounded in the bleefe therof O that I might intreat so much of you all and euery one as that you wold be pleased to bestow a little time â—n the meditation of this prerogatiue I make no question but if once you did stedfastly beleeue it you would neuer giue ouer till you had made your selues sure of so happy and blessed an estate The Prophet Esay considering a little the backewardness of the Iewes in receiuing saluation by the promised Messaih and a great forwardness to other matters reproues them for it in this sort Wherefore doe yee lay out siluer saith hee and not for Isay 55. 2. bread And your labour and are not satisfied May not we insâ—ly take vp the like complaint against the peruersenesse and vnto wardnesse of this age Doe not men beate their braines spend their spirits breake their sleepe wast their time shorten their liues by carking caring for the momentary trash of this world We rise erly we go late to bed we fare hardly we cloth our selues simply we toile moile like horses al for nothing What is all the wealth in the world to the riches in heauen What are all the possessions of the earth to the inheritance of that kingdome What is all the honor that the world can heape vpon a man in comparison of being the Sonne of God If it continue with thee as long as thou continuest aliue yet leaues thee when thou diest whereas that heauenly preferment abides with thee attends vpon thee after death or rather lifts thee vp and carries thee aliue to heauen For what though this sinfull earthly carcasse be destroyed yet the soule mounts immediatly vp to heauen taking possession of that inheritance and inioying it with al freedome comfort in assured expectation of proportionable glory wherewith the body in due time shall be clothed and beautifyed And doe wee still lie groueling vpon earth Wee shewe thereby whose children wee are vpon thy belly shalt thou goe said the Lorde to the olde serpent the Diuell and dust shalt thou eate all the daies of thy life See Gen. 13. 14. if wee doe not as much as may bee resemble him in this curse Wee roote and digge into the earth like Moles and feed vpon the white and yellow clay which with infinite labour and no small daunger we rent out of the very bowells thereof yea a shame to bee spoken though wee are not ashamed to doe it our immortall soule that hath nothing in it of any affinity with earth imploies her vnderstanding bestowes her affections perswades incourages strengthens thrusts forward her seruant body to so wearisome and so fruitlesse a labour Think you that a miserable wretch wheÌ„ he sits in his counting house looking ouer his bonds when his vsury mony will come in let them be as many thousand pouÌ„ds as they are hundred pence can take half that comfort in his trash that a poore Christian doth in his meditation when hee finds himselfe to be the Sonne of God Set thy selfe vp to the chin in the heapes of thy gold tumble and wallow in the midst of all thy pe lfe shouell it vp by bushells into quarter sacks stuff thy chists as full as thou canst till the sides and bottome are ready to fly out reccon vsury vpoÌ„ vsury to the vtmost farthing but heark doost thou not heare a fearfull voice that cries out vnto thee O foole this night they shall fetch away thy soul from thee then whose shal these Luk. 12. 20. treasures be that thou hast prouided What a man of thy state and aboundance in a moment come to nothing quaking and trembling at the very thought of it in the midst of al thy wealth Wouldst thou do so couldst thou do so if thou knew'st thou wert going to a most glorious kingdome in heauen Is it possible any man of indifferent discretion should be loth to change a Chamber in an other manâ— house for a royal palace in his own Realme and gouernment But why should I so much distrust your capacities or suspect your aflections I see you are able to compass great matters and haue strong desires to those things you like if I may but entreate so much of you as to vouchsase a little time to the meditation of this prerogatiue I make no doubt but you will both conceiue and affect it I doe not goe about to depriue you of any naturall faculty but as it were to lead you to the right vse of it I seeke not to roote out your affections but to grift vpon them such seions as may bring forth pleasant and lasting sruit Is thy vnderstanding great Here are greate mysteries in the search whereof thou maist imploy it For what wit what iudgement what conceit is able to sound the depth or valew the worth or comprehend the extent of this honour To bee the Sonne of God Is thy capacity but weake What is plainer what is easier then to vnderstand that by beleeuing in Christ thou shalt bee made the Sonne of God and ioynt heire of heauen with Christ Yea this doctrine wil teachthee how to satisfy thy most insatiable desires Doth ambition prick thee forward with loue of honour Why wilt thou not set thy minde on that which is true honour indeed The foolish vanity of men hath bewrayed itselfe that the conquest of the whole world would not suffice them All the autority and glory that the Emperours of Rome attain'd to could not quench their thirst of honour but that some of them would needes be worshipâ— as Gods If they could once haue attained the dignity of being the
that leadeth vnto life It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed then hauing two hands or two feete to be cast into euerlasting fire This is that life of glorie which is verie often called euerlasting life and whereof our Euangelist speaketh continually almost in euerie Chapter of this Gospell diuers times especially in the thirde the fift and the sixt The life of grace is more often in the Epistles k Rom. 6. 4. 8. 2. That wee might walke in newnesse of life The spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus l 2. Cor. 4. 10. That the life of Iesus might also bee made manifest in our bodies m Eph. 4 18. Strangers from the life of God I haue beene somewhat the larger in this matter because it helpeth much to the vnderstanding of many texts of Scripture to knowe the different sense of the word in question For the place in hand it is commonly thought to be meant of that natural life which all liuing creatures receiue from their creator as if the Euangelist should haue sayd that not onely all things were made by him as the author of their being but also that they had their life too from him But this sauing their better iudgemeÌ„t that so expound the text seemes to me somewhat vnlikely For why should the Euangelist repeate that in this verse which hee had deliuered so fully immediately before All things were made by him Was there any feare that some exception would bee taken to these wordes could any man imagine that this making of all things implyed no more but the outwarde fashioning and framing of them and not also the inwarde forme and wholenature If wee will giue the wordes leaue to reach as farre as by their nature they doe All things must needes import the same thinges in their best estate with all their naturall qualities properties and whatsoeuer else belongs to their being that which they are For example let vs speake a word or two of some particulars By him were all trees made What would a reasonable man vnderstand by this speech That the body of the trees onely or the roots boughes and branches and leaues and not the life of the Trees was made by him Surely to speake according to truth all these without the life and forme doe no more make a Tree then a body without a soule doth a Man I might say the like of men By him were all men made If the Lord God had onely framed Adam of the dust of the ground and not breathed into his face the breath of life might hee haue beene sayd to haue created a man No surely vnlesse a carcase bee a man after the soule is departed out of it But let vs thinke the Euangelist might haue such a meaning would he trow yee haue spoken as hee doth if he had meant as you say In him was life that is say you Hee also gaue life to all things that hee had made Who can so much deceiue himselfe as to conceiue that Saint Iohn would deliuer his minde so darkely and doubtfully Beside was not this you speake of a creature If so it was before compris'd vnder those generall tearmes All things and needed no repetition Neither will this interpretation of the word agree fitly with that which followeth Is it not euident that the life and the light are of the same kinde both naturall or both supernaturall But the light as it shall appeare anone is that of grace to faith not of nature to knowledge For the light of nature did comprehend the Creator so far as to acknowledge it selfe to proceede from him and to depend vpon him Therefore n Rom. 1. 20. the Apostle Saint Paul doth not accuse the heathen of ignorance for not knowing God to be their maker but for not honouring him according to the knowledge they had of him The inuisible things of God saith hee that is his eternall power and Godhead are seenâ— by the creation of the world being considered in his workes that they might bee without excuse Because when they knew Ver. 21. God they glorified him not as God So then the Heathen for all the darkenesse of nature did comprehend the life that was the naturall light of their soules If you answere that they did not perfitly vnderstand all things that concerne him as the Creator you say true but not much to purpose For who is there that euer did oâ— can especially while hee liues in this world compassed about with this house of clay so fully conceiue those points as they are to bee and shall be after this life vnderstood But some man will say perhaps that although the giuing of life to all things was signified in the making of them yet the preseruing and maintaining of it was not Nor of their being which can no more bee continued without the power of God support them in it then their life can Therefore the Apostle describing our Sauiour Christs Godhead sets it out by this verie worke thereof when he sayth of him that o Heb. 1. 3. He beares vp all things by his mightie word and p Act. 17. 28. in another place where hee tels the heathen that they liu'd and mou'd in God hee addeâ— also that in him they had their being If then there were no necessitie to expresse the sustaining of all things in their being no more was there to note particularly the continuing of them in life Yea perhaps it might be dangerous to mention the later and conceale the former least some men should gather that all thinges stand in neede of God to preserue their life but not to continue their being Giue mee leaue to apply one of my former exceptions to the cleering of this matter also How strangely doth the Euangelist speake if his meaning be as you make it In him was life That is Hee preserues all thinges in life Could this point bee more obscurely deliuered What reason can you giue mee why the holy Ghost should say was when he intended to signifie the continuall preseruing of life why did hee not rather say In him is life Or in him the life of all thinges is continually preserv'd But if by life you will haue the preseruing of things in their being signified I desire to see some warrant of Scripture or ground of reason for the vsing of that word in that sense Surely there can bee no such found in any place of all the Scripture either or the word life or for the phrase In him was life What remaines then but q Clem. Alex andr pae lagog lib. 1. cap. 6. A thanaâ— lib. 3. â—â— homâ— Ambâ—o lib. 3 de fide cap 3. to expound the word of that supernaturall life by which wee liue through faith in Christ This is the life of which our Euangelist so often speakes in this Gospell comming to vs by and in Christ Let vs heare our Sauiour himselfe speake t Ioh. 5. 24.