commandement when hee appointed the foundations of the earth Then was I with him a nourisher and I was Ver. 30. dayly his delight reioycing alway before him But least any man should be so obstinate that this testimonie cannot resolue and satisfie him I will adde hereunto the witnes of q Psal 102. 25. another Prophet who calling vpon the Sonne of God speaketh thus of him Thou hast afore time layd the foundation of the earth and the heauens are the worke of thy hands If you doubt whether this bee spoken of the Sonne or no the holy Ghost shall assure you that it is by the pen of Saint r Hâ—b 1. 10. Paul who alleageth this place and applyeth it to our Sauiour Christ Of whome also hee had affirm'd a little before that God made the world by him It may be some man would knowe the reason why our Euangelist being to describe our Sauiour as the Creator of the world doth not vse the same kinde of speech which Moses doth and which also is common in the Scripture to that purpose Why doth hee not more particularly recite the things that were created by him and set out his glory therein at large as Moses doth I will tell you in as few words as I can And first I say of both questions together that therefore Saint Iohn did not speake either so or so largely as Moses had done before because Moses had so done and his purpose was not the same that Moses had in his writing More particularly and more plainely I say farther of the former doubt first that it is true and manifest that whereas Å¿ Gen. 1. 1. Moses named expresly the heauen and the earth our Euangelist sayeth in generall All things It is also cleere and certaine that ordinarily in the Scripture where God is spoken of as a Creator there the same things are mentioned Wee heard erewhile seuerall places to that purpose you may finde more at your leasure Wee preach vnto you sayth t Act 14. 25. the Apostle Paul to the men of Listra That yee should turne from these vaine things to the liuing God which made heauen and earth So u Isay 37. 16. sayth Hezekiah Thou art God alone ouer all the kingdomes of the earth thou hast made the heauen and the earth So x Ier. 32. 17. Ieremiah Thou hast made the heauen and the earth by thy great power yet saith our Euangelist By him were all things made Why so As well because by these words all that Moses sayd might and would easily be conceiv'd as also for that he would haue euen those things to be vnderstood whereof Moses had made no expresse mention Therefore also doth y Col. 1. 16. the Apostle Paul speake otherwise of the creation then Moses where hee sayth of our Sauiour Christ By him were all things created which are in heauen and which are in earth things visible and inuisible whether they bee Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers then follow the very wordes of our Euangelist All things were created by him Thus hath Saint Paul taught vs how to expound Saint Iohn All things visible and inuisible Of the later Moses sayth nothing expresly but rather by his particular description of the visible parts of the world seemes to tell vs that hee spake of them onely So might our Euangelist also haue been vnderstood if hee had so spoken whereas now wee are to expound him of both according as the Apostle directs vs. But why doth not Saint Iohn as the least follow Moses course and describe the particulars at large Because Moses was the first that euer writ that historie of creation and writ it of purpose to giue knowledge of it to all posteritie But our Euangelist neither needed doe that which which was perform'd so excellently so long before by another and intended not to set out the historie but rather to apply it to the present occasion Hee had also a more worthy matter to handle whereunto hee hasted the redemption of the children of God by the promised Messiah our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ Giue mee leaue I pray you a little to consider the glorie of our heauenly redeemer and to insult ouer all such miscreants Iewes and Turkes as despise his gratious offer of saluation and refuse him as not worth the trusting in Whom dost thou contemne whose helpe doest thou thinke scorne of Canst thou not beleeue in him when thou considerest him in the Virgins wombe yet beleeue in him when thou beholdest him in the bosome of God what could he be but mortall that was made of mortall flesh Nay rather what could hee bee but immortall that made both flesh and spirit Thou sayest Hee is accursed that maketh flesh his arme and can hee be blessed thinkest thou that refuseth to make God his strength Shall the clay say to the potter Thou art of no power Shall not so presumpâ—uous a Clod of bak't earth bee broken all to peeces and beaten to dust That thou liuest mov'st breath'st that thou art that thou canst bee thus vnthankefull it is his and only his goodnes What doost thou plotting and deuising to ouerthrow his religion Beholde hee will take a way thy breath from thee and then all thy thoughts shall perish Doest thou not quake and tremble at the fearefull sound of the thunder that hee made Doest thou not flee away hide thy face from the flashes of lighting that come from him * Osc 2. 8. Doost thou not knowe that it is hee that giues thee Corne and Wine and Oyle and multiplies thy siluer and thy golde which thou wastest in making warre against him How long wilt thou proceed to harden thy wicked heart to thine owne destruction The weakest and meanest of his creatures a Exod. 8. 19. 25. Flies and Lice are stronger then all thy bandes of Ianizaries If the meditation of our Sauiour Christs Almightie power in creating all things will preuayle nothing at all with them but to 〈◊〉 urage them the more let vs leaue them to his iust indignation and apply the knowledge of this doctrine to the encrease of our owne faith and comfort And first let vs hearten our selues against the reproches and scornes of the weake and ignorant world They beleeue not in Iesus Christ Noe maruaile For they see him not but in the wombe in the manger on the Crosse in the graue They see but a peece a it were or rather the bark only of the tree of life But we to whom the same Lord that created the eyes of our bodies the naturall light of our vnderstanding hath giuen also the supernaturall light of faith beholde him a farre off euen beyond the beginning of the world and looking through the rinde of his humane nature see the pith and substance of his euerlasting Godhead not what it is but that it is Why shuld it be thought strange for men to relie wholly vpon him that made them Let me
diuine nature that created them or no. First the Euangelists authority is enough to put the matter out of question For hee that being directed by the spirit of God could not erre would neuer haue brought this for a proofe thereof if it coulde iustly be excepted against Yet because as I haue shewed there might bee other reasons of this speech and some doubt therefore whether it were the Euangelists purpose to proue that or no let vs take some other course for our full satisfaction To which end let vs alwaies remember that Moses x Gen. 1. 1. in the beginning of the Scripture laies this as a maine foundation of religion that God created heauen and earth Who can doubt then â—ut it is a sound reason to proue our Sauiour to be God that All things were made by him For if it be truâ— that God was the maker of all things whomsoeuer wee finde to haue made all things him we knowe thereby to be God Therefore the Apostle Paul preaching to the heathen and perswading them to forsake their Idolles and to turne to the liuing God shewes who he is by this effect of creation VVe preach vnto you saith the y Act. 14. 15. Apostle that vee should turne from these vaine Idols vnto the liuing God which made heauen and earth and the sea and all things that in them are Worship him * Reuel 14. 7. saith an Angel from heauen that made heauen and earth and the sea and the fountaines of waters By this doth a 1. Chro. 16. 26 Dauid distinguish the true God froÌ„ Idols All the Gods of the people are Idols but the Lord made the heauens Is not this the proofe of the power of God whereby he magnifieth himselfe and amazeth b Io. 38. 4. 5. c. Iob with the brightnesse of the glory thereof By this doth Ezechiah coÌ„clude that he is the true God Thou art very God alone ouer all the kingdomes of the earth thou hast made the heauens and the earth Will you heare the c Isay 3. 16. 48. 12. 13. Lord himselfe I am I am the first and I am the last Surely my hand hath laâ—d the foundation of the earth my right hand hath spanned the heauens when I call them they stand vp together Let d Heb. 1. 10. the Apostle Paul end this controuersy who to proue our Sauiours Godhead brings the place of the e Pâ—a 102. 25. Psalme Thou Lord in the beginning hast established the earth and the heauens are the workes of thy handes From hence then we may certainly and necessarily conclude that the Word the promised Messiah our Lord Sauiour Iesus Christ is true God For by him were all things made and nothing can be made but by God onely This f August in Ioâ— tract 1. the Arians denied because they sawe themselues driuen to confesse that all things were made by Christ whom they will not ackâ—owledge to bee God equall to the Father Therefore they deuis'd this shift that our Sauiour did indeed creat all things yet not as a principall worker but as an instrument And to this they say the Euangelist directed vs when hee sayd that All things were made g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by him For that by which a thing is done is an instrument in the doing of that thing and not the doer of it If these men had not blinded their owne eyes with a preiâ—dicat conceite against Godhead of our Sauiour they might easily haue seene the fondnesse and falsenesse of this blasphemous exception The folly of it I shew'd before when I made it manifest that it is all one to say All things were made by him and Hee made all things The falsenesse of it may appeare thus The scripture sayeth the same of God which is here affirm'd of Christ that this or that was by him and yet I hope they will not dare therefore to conclude that God in those matters was not a principall efficient cause but an instrumentall For example h Rom. 11. 36. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Apostle sayth That all things are by God What As an instrument who is then the principall essicient that imployes God as his instrument i 1. Cor. 1. 1. 2. Cor. 1. 1. Eph. 1. 1. Col. 1. 1. The same Apostle affirmeth of himselfe that hee was called to bee an Apostle of Iesus Christ by the will of God If the will of God bee but an instrument wee are content to require no more honour for our Sauiour so you allowe him to bee one with God in nature as the Will of God is which indeede is God himselfe What say you k Gal. 1. 1. to that place where the Apostle pleades for the authoritie of his Apostleshippe because it is by Iesus Christ and God the Father I doubt mee wee shall hardly finde any principall efficient at all where both the Father and the Sonne are instruments How absurdly then not onely impiously doe the Arians conclude from this word by that our Sauiour Christ is not God But you brethren haue beene better instructed then to giue eare to such blasphemies that I holde it altogether needlesse to bring any father proofe of the matter then I deliuered in my last exercise or to vse any word of exhortation to beleefe in him whom wee cleerly discerne to be God al-sufficient To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost the same God the most mightie and gracious Creator of all thinges let vs alwayes remember to ascribe all glorie power and dominion and to performe all obedience for euer Amen THE FOVRTH SERmon vpon the first Chapter of IOHN Verse 4. In him was life and that life was the light of men 5 And the light shineth in darkenesse and the darkenesse comprehended it not IT is a cleere truth in natural reason and a rul'd case in diuinitie that as all thinges proceede from God as the first cause of their being so they are all referr'd to God as the last ende why they are In him l Acts. 17. 28. sayeth the Apostle wee liue and moue and haue our being And to conuince the Heathen by the light of nature hee addes As also certaine of your owne Poets haue sayd m Aratus in Phaenomen For wee are all his generation To whom then doe wee owe our selues and whatsoeuer wee are or haue but to him onely Witnesse for nature the wisest of all the Philosophers the Stoikes for diuinitie he n 1 King 4. 29. â—0 that was wiser then the wisest of the Heathen o Pro. 1. 12 16. 4. Salomon the preacher King ouer Isreal in Ierusalem The Lord hath made all things for his owne sake yet so for his owne sake that p Psaâ— 8. 34. the Prophet is forced to cry out When I behold the heauens the workes of thy fingers the Moone and the Starres which thou hast crealed what is man say I that thou art mindefull of
him and the sonne of man that thou visitest him That his gratious reguard of man whom the Lord sets in the next place to himselfe may the better appeare as the first worke of Creation was for his seruice so the second of Regeneration was for his saluation This wee learne of our Euangelist q Ioh. 20. 31. who tels vs that the ende of writing the Gospell was That wee might beleeue that Iesus is the Christ the Sonne of God and that by beleeuing wee might haue life through his name See I pray you how Saint Iohn hath loyned these two endes together the former is the glorifying of Iesus Christ as the Sonne of God the later the procuring life to men by faith in him According to these two endes the Euangelist hath framed this beginning of his Gospell First r Ioh. 1. 1. 2. he describes Iesus Christ vnto vs as hee is in himselfe God euerlasting Then hee shewes what hee is to vs. A creator of vs when wee were nothing a Sauiour to vs when Ver. 3. wee were worse then nothing Of the former points we haue heard out of the three former verses now of the Ver 4. 5. later out of these two that follow Whereof wee may sitly make these two parts a description of the Messiah as the aâ—tor of Life in the fourth verse and the former part of the fift His intertainment by men in the later part of the same verse In the description oâ—r Euangelist declareth first what hee was in the nature of his mediation verse 4. then what in regard of the effect verse 5. Concerning the nature of that his office two points are to bee considered First that In him was life 2. that That life was the light of men The effect is that The light shineth in darkenesse But how was this light intertaind Or rather this light found no entertainement The darkenesse comprehended it not Now for the better vnderstanding of these points First according to my custome I wil examine the words then expound the meaning of the Text. For the wordes in the first clause for I will take euery one seuerally by it selfe we must consider both what life the Euangelist speaks of and why hee speakes in that manner saying In him was life Why hee sayth In him was life rather then He was life why was rather then Is seeing it is as true and plaine that Hee is life as that life was in him But what is this life hee speakes of Looke not that I should trouble you or my selfe with refuting or so much as reciting the diuers strange interpretatioÌ„s of Heretickes foolishly grounded vpon that manner of reading which couples the former part of this verse with the later ende of the third That which was made was life in him I shewed in my last exercise that if this had beene intended by the Euangelist hee would rather haue said All things that were made were life in him Surely the manifold and different expositions that so many heretickes haue made of these wordes so read and the absurd errors and blasphemies they haue gathered from them may well seeme a sufficient reason to discredite such a kinde of reading as hath no better warrant then the coniectures of men Howsoeuer the vulgar Latine retaine it with the mislike of many learned Papists Å¿ August in Ioa. tract 1. Ambrosde fide lib. 3. cap. 3. and in Psal 36. Theophyl ad Ioa. 1. The Manichees deuis'd two senerall and almost contrarie interpretations of them The Arians a third The Macedonians a fourth Heracleon a fist and euerie one of these an erroneous doctrine sutable to his exposition Yea t Origen lib. 3 in Ioan. the best sense that is giuen of the words so read is so curious and sub till that it rather shewes the witte and learning of the Interpreters then the meaning of the Writer And perhaps it were but lost labor for the greatest part of this auditorie to take paines and spend time in striuing to make them vnderstand it Wherefore leauing those nice points to another kinde of exercise and auditorie let vs take the wordes plainely and simply as they offer themselues to bee conceiv'd of all men Who if they haue any knowledge at all of the Scripture or of religion by reading or hearing by this word life vnderstand one of these two things Either the naturall life whereby all liuing creatures are sayd to liue or the spirituall life by which they that are regenerate by the spirite of God liue spiritually in this world by grace and in the world to come by glorie Let vs see some examples of the word in these senses out of the Scripture For the naturall life wee haue the very beginning of it in Moses u Gen. 1. 20. God saide Let the waters bring foorth in abundance euerie creeping thing that hath life And afterward Let the earth bring foorth euerie liuing thing according Ver. 24. to his kinde Of man it is particularly written that x Gen. 2. 7. The Lord God breathed in his face breath of life and the man was a liuing soule So sayth y 1. Cor. 15. 45. the Apostle alluding to that place The first man Adam was made a liuing soule This is that life which the Lord threatned hee would take away by the floud Behold * Gen. 6. 17. sayth hee I will bring a floud of waters vpon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life vnder the heauen In this sense the word is not so common in the newe Testament I thinke not once in this whole Gospell in other places some times a Luk. 8. 15. Though a man haue abundance his life standeth not in his riches b Act. 17. 25. God giueth to all life and breath in all things c 1. Cor. 15. 19. If in this life onely wee haue hope in Christ And as this signification of life is rare in the new Testament so is the other for spirituall life in the old yet now and then vnder the title of this present life the life to come is also implyed Behold d Deu. 30. 15. 19. 20. sayeth Moses I haue set before thee this day life and good death and euill Afterward life and death blessing and cursing And in the next verse The Lord thy God is thy life and the length of thy dayes In the Psalme oftner and playner e Psal 16. 11. Thou wilt shewe mee the path of life f Psal 36. 9. With thee is the well of life So in g Pro. 2. 19. the Prouerbes All they that goe vnto her returne not againe neither take they hold of the wayes of life h Pro. 6. 23. Corrections for instruction are the way of life That one booke affordes vs more examples of this kinde then all the olde Testament beside But the new is full of them euery where i Mat. 7. 14. 18. 8. The way is narrow
I was before hee was or before him And I am before him but I am before hee was passeth my vnderstanding Yet by this our Sauiour would teach vs that in respect of his nature he is alwayes one and the same not like vs first Infants then Children afterwardes youthes in the strength of our age and life men in the decay of it old men and at last no men Thy yeeres ô my God f Psal 102. 24 saith the Prophet are from generation to generation Thou hast afore time laide the foundation of the Earth and the Heauens are the workes of thy hands They shall perish but thou shalt indure euen they all shall waxe olde as dooth a garment as a Vesture shalt thou change them and they shall bee changed But thou art the same and thy yeeres shall not fayle That this is spoken of our Sauiour Christ g Heb. 1. 10 the Apostle sheweth by proouing his God-head from that place To speake truely and properly we can not say of God either that Hee was or that hee is to come but onely that He is Therfore when Moses would needes knowe his name God answered h Exod. 3. 14 So rather then by the future I AM that I AM. Also hee sayd Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israell I AM hath sent mee to you It is hee onely that is as well because hee is of himselfe without dependance vpon anie other as also for that hee is absolutely without any change in himselfe whatsoeuer As for vs wee so are that in a manner wee are not because we neuer continue any time in the same estate without some alteration If we could as plainly see and as certainely iudge of the inward parts of a man as wee can of his outward countenance we should soone perceiue that hee is continually waxing or waning so that hardly can we thinke of any man that He is but while wee are thinking hee is not in the ende of our thought as short a moment as it is altogether the same that he was in the beginning thereof But our most glorious Sauiour IESVS CHRIST being eternall without beginning without middle without end is alwaies most perfectâ—y the same was is and is to come are in him without all kind of difference though to our weake capacitie it hath pleased him to vouchsafe so to speake of himselfe for our better instruction Come now thou that desirest to be for euer ioyne thy selfe to him of whose daies there shall neuer be end They that by faith become one with the Lord Iesus shall be sure to bee one with him in continuance look not back what thou hast not been heretofore but look forward what thou shalt be hereafter Father i Ioh. 17. 24 saith the sameour Sauiour I will that they which thou hast giuen me be with me euen where I am But where was he when he spake this In his humane nature vpon earth And there the Disciples at that time were as well as he But by his God-head he was euen then also in heauen where hee will haue all to be with him who beleeue in him k Ioh. 3. 16 that they may not perish but haue life euerlasting This testimony of the Euangelist concerning our Sauiours eternity was sufficient to stop the mouthes of those first Heretickes and to settle the faithfull in the true beliefe therof But Satan not discouraged by this fayle l Anno. 290 som 200. years after stirred vp the turbulent pestilent spirit of Arius a man of Alexandria in Egypt to call the Godhead of our Sauiour again in question It is Father The Word that became flesh shewed himselfe by his glory to be the Sonne of God Is it not the VVord of whom it followeth The onely begotten Sonne Verse 18. which is in the bosome of the Father hath manifested God Verse 3. vnto vs By the VVord all things were made By the Sonne u Heb. 1. 1. 3 sayth the Apostle He made the world And againe x Col. 1. 16 By him were al things created which are in heauen which are in earth What neede more words Our Euangelist sheweth through the whole Gospel that he speaketh of no other word then the Sonne of God These things are written y Ioh. 20. 31 sayth hee that ye might beleeue that IESVS is the CHRIST the Sonne of God Leaue we therfore these shifting blasphemies let vs labour to settle our harts in the assured belief of our Sauiour Christs diuine eternity To which purpose it shal be sufficient for vs to remeÌ„ber that which we heard ere while out of the * Psal 102. 27 Psalme Thou art the same and thy yeares shall not faile that testimony of Christ himself a Reuelat. 1. 8 I am A Ω the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come euen the Almighty What can the sottish heatheÌ„ the stubborn Iews or the brutish Turks now say Come ye that deride and persecute the true religion of the Lord Iesus you great wisards that despise all men as barbarous in comparison of your selues Are not you they that worship stocks and stones instead of the true God Are not the Parents of your greatest and auntientest gods easily to be knowen named I am ashamed to speak it but your folly wil not suffer it self to be hidden b Tertullian in Apolog. cap. 25 Were not the sepulchers graues of your soueraign god Iupiter the rest to be seene for many years by all men when you sottishly honoured them for gods in heauen whose carcases lay rotting amongst you in the earth But our God is eternall without beginning without middle without ending He became man in time he was God before all time he died was buried But he ouercame death rose again ascended in his body visibly vp to heauen Look not my brethren that I should discourse at large of these matters I haue bin too long already and I shall haue fitter opportunitie hereafter if God wil. Let the Iewes with all their malice the Romans with all their power deuise what vntruths practise whatsoeuer cruelty they are able our God sitteth in heauen and laugheth them to scorne causing his religion to continue in despight of both and thereby assuring vs of his owne eternall being for euer and euer As for the Mahometan though hee be incredibly shamelesse in lyes blasphemies yet hee is driuen to confesse that often in his sensless Alcoran that Iesus our God was holy vertuous wonderful in miracles a great Prophet of the Lord. Would the wretch Mahomet haue yielded so much to our Sauiour if euidence of truth coÌ„tinued so powerfully had not wruÌ„g it out of him But how could he be holy or not most prophane if hee made himselfe the Sonne of God and were not we should be as voide of sense as his absurde Alcoran if wee should
of How often is our Sauiour called God Thomas acknowledgeth him to be so when he saith vnto him d Ioh. 20. 28. My Lord and my God allnding questionless to the ordinary title which is giuen to God in the old Testament The Lord thy God e Exod. 20. 2. I am the Lord thy God f Leuit. 19. 10. I am the Lord your God g Deut. 4. 2. The commandements of the Lord your God And in a word the same Chapter affords vs the like examples 15. or 16. times So doth h Act. 20. 28. the Apostle Paul call him Take heed to all the flocke whereof the holy Ghost hath made you ouerseers to feede the Church of God which he hath purchased with his owne blood Who purchased the Church with his blood but Iesus Christ Him therefore doth the Apostle call God And â—n another place he doubteth not bodly to affirme that Christ is God ouer all to be blessed for euer Of him it is that i Rom. 9. 5. Heb. 1. 8. the same Apostle saith Thy throne O God endureth for â—uer not only calling him God but professing him to â—e that God which in the beginning created heauen Verse 10 â—arth Thou Lord in the beginning laydst the foundation of of the earth I wil end with that in the l Reuel 4. 8. Reuelation The foure beasts ceased not day nor night sying Holy holy holy Lord God almighty But how should we be assured that by this Lord God Almightie Iesus Christ is signified That which followeth will put the matter out of doubt m Chap. 14. 8. which was and which is and which is to come For this â—â—â—he Title which is giuen to our Sauiour twice in the first Chapter of the same booke This also the 24. Elders presently after confirme when worshipping the same partie whom the foure beasts had honoured they speake thus Thou art worthy O Lord to receiue glory â—ap 4. 11. honour and power for thou hast created all things Aske the holy Apostle S. Paul who is the Creatour of all things Heâ—â— hath answered already that the Lord which laid the foundation of the earth is IESVS CHRIST the Sonne of God The same testimonie of him giueth our Euangelist in the next verse same one Heb. 1. 10. By him were all things made Iohn 1. 3. What should let then but we may conclude that Iesus beeing so often called God in Scripture is in deed very God The like I say of the title Lord by which the 70. translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that name Iehouah which is neuer attributed to any in the Scripture but onely to the true God neither indeede may it in any sort For it signifieth him This is spoken not the Greeke â—ut of the Hebrew word that hath his being of himselfe that giues to all things whatsoeuer being they haue yea it implieth such a being as is alwayes one the same euen eternall without beginning without ending without chaunge without successioÌ„ Now if this name be ascribed to our Sauior by holy Ghost how can it be doubted but that hee is very God And doth not o Iere. 33. 16 Ieremie ascribe it to him when he saith This is the name whereby they shall call him The Lord our righteousnesse or as it may better be read He that shall call her is the Lord our righteousnesse It is out of question that the Messiah is there spoken of whom the Prophet called Iehouah The Lord Or if any man will needes apply it to the Church he shall call her The Lord our righteousnesse which yet hath no warrant nor any great reason let him remember that the Church cannot haue this title but onely in respect of Christ her husband and head as she is also called Christ p 1. Cor. 12. 12. As the body is one and hath many members and all the members of the body which is one though they be many yet are but one body euen so is Christ that is the Church of Christ which being considered with her Head Christ is vouchsafed his name because she is his body Let vs come to the new Testament and leauing those places where the Disciples and such as intreate fauour for their curing of our Sauiour call him Lord because neither their word is any warrant for doctrine and it may be sayd they spake to him by that name as wee ordinarily doe when wee say Sir which indeede was common among the Grecians Let vs take such textes onely as can admit neither of these exceptions Of which kinde are the salutations vsed by the Apostles in the beginning of their Epistles q Rom. 1. 7. Grace be with you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Iesus Christ Where not onely our Sauiour is tearmed Lord but acknowledged to be the Author and giuer of Grace and peace with God his Father But it were a vaine thing to heape vp many testimonies to this purpose No man can look into the writings of the Apostles but he shall see them in euery page Being the Lord then he must needs be God What should I stand vpon euery particular at large Who is the God of glory but Iehouah the great God of heauen and earth For so is he called that appeared to Abraham r Gene. 12. 1. 2 in Genesis The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham s Act. 7. 2. saith the holy Martyr Saint Steuen Aske the enemies of Christ the Iewes and they will tell you with one voice that this was the great God of Israel And yet the Apostle Paul giues this title to our Sauiour Christ where he saith that if the princes of this world had knowen the wisedome of God in the mysterie of our redemption t 1. Cor. 2. 8. They would not haue crucifiâ—d the Lord of glory Hereto belongs that Title u 1. Tim. 6. 15 the King of kings and Lord of lords And whereas some vaine men gouernours of some small part of this little spot of earth doting vpon their owne imagined greatnesse haue either giuen themselues this vnlimited title or accepted it being giuen by the palpable flattery of their base vassals yet alwayes the wiser sort tooke iust occasion thereby rather to scorne their presumptuous folly then to bee drawen into any admiration of their glorious power But the Lord Iesus our blessed Sauiour hath this name by good right as hee of whom â—ll the Kings of the earth hold their Crownes and Prou. 8 15. 16 Scepters By mee x saith hee that is the wisedome oâ— God Kings reigne and Princes decree iustice By mee Princes rule and the Nobles and all the Iudges of the earth y Psal 2. 8. Verse 9. For to him hath God giuen the heathen for his inheritance and the vtmost parts of the earth for his possession He shall crush them with a Scepter of Iron and breake them in peeces like a potters
vessell Therefore are they aduised and charged to kisse the Son least he be angry to their destructiō Verse 12. There is good cause then why he should be stiled the Lord of lords and King of kings What though he be the Lambe meeke and tender yea bound and slaine yet * Reuel 17. 14. shall he ouercome the 10. kings that fight against him For he is the Lord of lords and King of kings yea a Reuel 19. 16. he hath that name written vpon his garment vpon his thigh The king of kings and Lord of lords His glory his strength shew him to be no lesse And can we doubt whether hee bee God or no If I should recite the Attributes or Epithets which being proper to God are belonging to our Sauiour Christ If I should but name those admirable effects of his which are aboue the strength of any and all creatures the time would sooner faile me then varietie of matter which doth offer it selfe to me so plentifully that it is harder to find where to make an end thē what to say Do you wonder at the eternity of God as a thing not to bee reacht vnto by the conceit of man Behold him that is b Reuel 1. 8. A Ω the beginning the ending which was which is and which is to come What say I was is is to come Thus indeed hath it pleased our gratious Sauiour to speake of his eternall being to our capacity But let vs heare him speake more like himselfe that is more like God c Iohn 8. 58. Before Abraham was I am This is a speech better beseeming his maiesty For nothing can be properly said of him concerning his being but onely that he is That which was either is not at all or at the least is not in all respects the same that it was That which is to come as yet either hath no being at all or surely no such being as is signified it shall haue in time to come But what stand I repeating that which before I deliuered Let vs passe from this infinitenesse in time which wee call eternitie and come to another like attribute which wants a name but belongs to quantity and might be tearmed Immensitie if our eares and vnderstanding were acquainted with it As eternity signifies the infinitenesse of God in time so doth Immensitie in greatnesse d Isai 61. 8. Thus saith the Lord The heauen is my throne and the earth is my footstoole There is no number of yeeres that can expresse the Lords Eternitie no compasse of place that is able to containe his Immensitie e Psal 139. 7 Verse 8. Whither shall I flee from thy presence saith the king of Israel that had choice enough of roome wherein to hide himselfe If I ascend into heauen thou art there If I he downe in hell thou art there Let me take the wings of Verse 9. Verse 10. the morning and dwell in the vttermost parts of the Sea yet thither shall thy hand leade me and thy right hand shall hold me But what need many particulars Hee that is present in heauen and in earth can be shut out of no place whatsoeuer our Sauiour is ascended into heauen yet is he still present with his children here in earth f Matth. 28. 2◠Behold I am with you till the end of the world By his power you wil say not by his presence Doubtlesse an infinite power such as protecteth the Church of Christ cannot be in a finite nature Let vs heare him speake more plaine g Matth. 18. 20 Whersoeuer two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Or if this also may applied to power yet that place is without exception h Iohn 3. 13. No man ascendeth vp to heauen but he that came downe frō heauen the Son of man which is in heauen He came downe frō heauen because being God he became man he was for all that still in heauen because being man he ceased not to be God Therefore also while he was aliue on earth before his passion he doubted not to auouch that hee was euen then in heauen i Iohn 17. 24 Father I will that they which thou hast giuen me be with me euen where I am that they may behold that my glory Where is that to be seene but in heauen For so hath our Sauiour said himselfe before in that prayer And now glorifie me thou father with thine Verse 5. owne selfe with the glory which I had with thee before the world was Not as if heauen or neuer so many heauens were able to conteine that his infinite glory which can be no way bounded by any meanes but because there i◠shews it self most apparātly Shal I need to add hereunto his power or rather Almightinesse k Reuel 1. 8 I am A Ω the beginning the ending saith the lord which is which was which is to come euen the Almighty And twice afterward in the same booke he is called l Reu. 4. 8. 11. 17. The Lord God Almighty But if the Scripture had not said any such thing of him yet his admirable works sound out his power glory The heauens m Psal 19. 1 sayth the Prophet declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth the worke of his hands Yea the signs which he did in the sight of his friends enemies were so high aboue the power of man that they may assure vs n Ioh. 20. 31 that our Sauiour Iesus Christ was the Sonne of God But of these in the Gospell oftentimes hereafter if it please God euen God the Sonne IESVS CHRIST of whom we speake But ere I proceed any farder I must againe encounter the Arians who bend all their forces to ouerthrowe the God-head of our Sauiour Christ Do you not perceiue say they that although hee be called God yet he is not so indeed by nature but by fauour Haue you not obserued that in the second clause where the true God is spoken of there the article is added in the text o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Word was with the God as you would say The true God but here in the third part the same article is omitted as if the holy Ghost would haue vs know thereby that he hath his God-head such as it is onely by grace and that diuers from him that is the true God O that foolish men should take such paines to kick against the prickes and to procure their owne destruction Can there be more force in the omitting of one poore letter to make you denie our Sauiours diuine nature then in so many reasons to wring out of you a confession therof p Origen in Ioa. lib. 2 Too much curiosity in an opinion of this learned obseruation hath deceiued you Is not Iesus Christ the true God because the article is not added Or is the article neuer omitted where
may not at any hand bee conceiued in this place to bee put for the Diuine Nature or Godhead If it seeme to any man that the VVord may bee sayd to be with God though it be God as a mans soule is said to be with him whose soule it is p August de Trinit lib. 6. cap 2. I must desire him to consider that the reason is not alike For the soule is part of the man with whome it is sayd to be but the word is not part of the diuine nature which is most simple and free from all kinde of composition It is easie then for any man to conclude that God in this part of the Verse is the first person in the Trinitie God the Father And that it may the rather appeare vnto vs that wee rightly vnderstand and expound the Euangelist we haue his owne warrant where speaking of the same our blessed Sauiour hee sayth of him that q 1. Ioh. 1. 2 Hee was with the Father I forbeare to enlarge the matter Euery man may easily perceiue that our Euange list handles the same point in both places that hee need not doubt but that God r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with whom the Word was is God the Father What shall we say then of that collection that some make vpon the Article which is vsed by the Euangelist in the Greeke He saith not simply God say these men but The God giuing vs thereby to vnderstand that our Sauiour was with the true God not with him who was God but onely by fauour and not also by nature That they say concerning God is true and certaine But we haue learned that the person is there signified and not the nature And therefore it coulde not bee the Euangelists meaning to note vnto vs the truth of the diuine nature by that article Neither I thinke was there euer any heretick found who denied that God with whome the word is said to haue bin was God by nature what thē meaneth the article Doubtless either it is added only according to the custome of the greeke tongue wherof there are infinite examples in all authors and namely in the new Testament or els if any thing were intended by it the Euangelist meant to shew that in this clause of the sentence he put the word God in another sense then hee doth in the clause following where the article is omitted but I rather perswade my selfe that there is nothing intended therin by the holy Ghost but the manner of speech obserued according to the nature of the language Some man perhaps will yet farder demand why the Euangelist did not speak plainly as he meant and call him the Father rather then God To whom I answer that the Euangelist hauing in the former part named The VVord and not The Sonne doth here more fitlie mention God then the Father For so the nature of the things seemes to require The Sonne of the Father the Word of God Besides it helpes that elegancie which the holy Ghost vseth in this place making the last word of the former clause the first of the later In the beginning was the VVord and the VVord was with God and God vvas the VVord For so lie the words in the Greeke whereof anone Now if in the second clause hee had sayde The VVord vvas vvith the Father the grace of the speech had beene lost because he could not haue repeated the word in the beginning of the clause that followes For it cannot be truely said that the Father is the VVord or the VVord the Father but to say God vvas the the VVord is a true and an elegant speech What if we adde hereunto that in the olde Testament where the Messiah is spoken of there ordinarily not the Father but God is named when the first inkling of the promise was giuen who gaue it but God Then f Gen. 3. 14. 15 the Lord God said to the Serpent Come to the expresse making of the promise to which the holy Ghost calls vs t Rom. 4. 13. 16 Ga◠3. 14. 16 when he speaks of the promise by name and which u Gal. 3. 8 the Apostle Paul tearmes the preaching of the Gospell Was it not God that said to Abraham x Gen. 12. 1. 3 In thee shal all the families of the earth be blessed To be short look from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Malachy and see how often you finde any distinct mention of the first person vnder the name of the Father Therefore he that made choise of such a name for our Sauiour CHRIST as hee was well knowen by among the Iewes could not doe better then by the like wisdom so to speak of God the Father as his speech might bee best approued and vnderstood God then in this second part of the verse signifies The Father But what is the Euangelists meaning when hee sayth The VVord was with God What is it to bee with the Father Manie and diuers haue beene the coniectures of the learned concerning this matter That the vnity of nature in the Father and the Sonne was hereby signified But that is sufficiently manifest by the last clause where the Word is affirmed to bee God For seeing there can bee but one God and that the Sonne is auouched to bee God as well as the Father who sees not that they are both one and the same God and so all one in their diuine nature But this and most of the other opinions which I will not trouble you withall in this kinde of exercise are rather consequents that follow vpon that which our Euangelist intended then the verie point it selfe which hee did intende First therefore let vs search out the principall drift of these words and afterwarde as neede shall bee pursue those points that are necessary What may then bee the sense of this word with what shoulde wee seeke farre y Basil homil in haec verba take it as it commonly signifies and it will agree with Saint Iohns occasion and purpose Hee had sayde in the former wordes that The VVord had alreadie his beeing when all things that euer were created began first to bee What would a man reasonably doubt of heereupon Was the Word before the world before the creation before there was anie time or place wherein hee might bee where was he then To this our Euangelist answeres plainly and readily The VVord was with God As if hee should haue saide Doe you doubt whether the VVord were in the beginning or no because you cannot imagine vvhere hee should bee when as yet there was no world to be in Can you conceiue that God was who is the Father of the VVord Looke then vvhere hee vvas and there vvas the VVord For the VVord vvas vvith God Euen as the inwarde conception or word which the vnderstanding of man frameth within him is with the man where hee is so the Word of God is with God This I take to bee the plaine
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
But that feare lasted not long q Luke 24. 2. 3 When they looked they saw that the stone was rolled away And they went in but found not the body of the Lord IESVS What should they now thinke Or how should they come to learne what was become of him Sure they were that there hee was laid and being dead had no power to conuay himselfe away from thence The likeliest was that some body had taken him vp and caried him away to some other place Sir r Ioh. 20. 15. saith Mary Magdalen to one who shee thought had bin the Gardiner If thou hast borne him hence tell mee where thou hast laide him and I will take him away Thou shalt not neede to bee in feare of hauing thy garden annoyed or troubled with him any further ſ Ioh. 20. 2. His Apostles were informed of this doubtfull matter To Ver. 6. assure themselues the better they runne to the sepulchre they find the linnen clothes in which hee was wrapped the Ver. 7. kerchiefe that was vpon his head not lying with the linnen clothes but wrapped together in aplace by it selfe Hauing Ver. 17. seen this they return back whēce they came Mary staies to her Iesus discouers himselfe What should I make many words The proofe of this point belōgs to an other place Death had done his worst in despite of him the Lord Iesus is risen again leauing him ashamed cōquequered To e Luk 24. 5. 6. this the Angels beare witnes Why seeke yee him that liueth among the dead He is not here n but is risen I speake of knowne things it is enough to name them Wee see for all this goodly discourse that death still seizeth vpon all men let them be neuer so well setled in Iesus Christ he plucks them vp carries them away with him into the graue What is become of the holy Apostles where is his blessed mother the virgin Is there life in the head when the members of the body die so fast euery day And not one or two a ioint or a finger or a limme but the very principall parts yea all one other Doost thou doubt whether there bee life in him or no who hath wrastled with death and ouerthrowne him Can death preuaile against him now he liueth whom he could not keepe in subiection when he had him dead buried u Rom. 5. 9. 10. Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more death hath no more dominion ouer him For in that hee died he died once to sinne but in that be liueth hee liueth to God Sinne had his due a sacrifice of infinit worth to pay the price of mans redemption now must God also haue his due that hee that liueth to him may liue for euer But I would not haue any man so much deceiue himselfe as to imagin that the dying of them which are in Christ is an argument of the continuance of the authoritie or power of death No no beloued there is an other reason of this dissolution Alas alas death doth not aduance his owne estate and kingdome by this meanes but serues the Lords turne to bring his purpose to effect It fares with him in this case as it did in the death of our Sauiour That which hee thought to establish his power by by that he destroied it So is it in the death of those that are Christs The body as now it is is neither capable of immortalitie and fit for the seruice of sinne How shall it be prepared to receiue the one how purged and clensed from the other but by death Flesh bloud x 1. Cor. 15. 50. saith the Apostle can not inherit the kingdome of God neither doth corruption inherit incorruption Wouldest thou haue part in our Sauiour Christs immortalitie that thou mightest bee free from death Die then that thou maiest be ridde of mortalitie Art thou affraid Of what Least death should be too strong for thee if he once ger thee into his clouches Hast thou not an example in Christ I am aliue y Reuel 1. 18. saith he but I was dead and beholde I am aliue for euermore But thou fearest because thy body shall be turned into dust O foole * 1 Cor. 15. 36 saith the Apostle that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die Keepe thy corne aboue ground because if thou put it into the earth it will consume that thou shalt neuer finde it againe Where then shall the fresh greene blade appeare When shall the stalke grow vp When shall it eare When shall it flower Shall not all this glorie bee lost if the graine bee not sowed in the furrowes of the earth And art thou so I will not say fearefull but foolish and childish that thou darest not die once that thou maist liue for euer Plucke vp thy spirits and bee no longer a childe but a man were it not better for thee to die a thousand deaths then to bee continually disquieted with the motions of thy corruption Thou hast now some life of Christ in thee by the power of his spirit which inables thee to fight against sinne and to preuaile But there is no finall subduing of it till the body be destroied which doth so incline draw thee to the seruice thereof Neither hath the spirit of God quiet or full possession of thy soule as long as that corruption abides therein And that as it was bred with thee must die with thee there is no other course appointed by God to rid thee of it I doubt not but thou art now resolu'd to desire death whē it shall please God seeing there is no way to life but by it with this resolution I leaue thee that I may speak a word or two to thē that are yet out of Christ And how shall I addresse my speech vnto them It is needlesse to inflame them with a desire of life For they are wholly possest with that already It is in vaine to perswade them they shall neuer die if they be in Christ For all experience teacheth the contrary Shall I exhort them not to feare that which they cannot auoide They may learne that in the schoole of reason what remaines then At the least giue mee leaue to aduise you how you may make the best of that which can by no meanes bee escaped You are resolued there is no way with you but one Die you must and it is vncertaine how soone Yet if you may die so that you may be sure to liue againe that for euer what hurt can there be in death what feare should there be of it A crab stock that hauing his head boughts armes cut off is graffed with a pippin or some other dainty fruit can not reasonably complaine of hurt but rather hath great cause to reioice and glory Hath hee any wrong done him that hauing his cottage of clay pulled downe hath a goodly palace of stone built for his dwelling
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
strange in it and which but by reuelation from God could not possibly bee knowne or thought on Behold sayth hee a Virgin shal Isay 7. 14. beare a Sonne Neither doth hee onely prophecie of his miraculous conception but also hee signifies the great mystery of his person consisting of two natures diuine and humane She shall call his name Emanuell Which is Mat 1. 23. by interpretation sayeth Saint Mathewe God with vs. His life and death is shortly but verie liuely described by the same Prophet Hee shall growe up before him as Iâ—ay 53. 2. a braunch and as a roote out of a dry ground c. Hee was cut out of the Land of the liuing Yea hee addes Ver. 8. to this the maine point of Redemption forgiuenesse of sinnes by his sufferings and death Hee was wounded for our transgressions he was broken for our iniquities the chastâ—sement of our peace was vpon him and with his stripes wee are healed Daniell describes the verie time Dan. 9. 25. and settes downe an exact computation by the direction of the Angell Gabriell till the death of the Messiah and withall preacheth forgiuenesse of sinnes by him Were not these witnesses were they not sent from GOD to beare witnesse of the Messiah What though they were also imployed in other matters of renroofe and instruction So was Iohn too as it is manifest by all the other 3. Euangelists Mat. 14 3. 4. Mat. 6. 17. 18. Luk. 3. 19. who shew that the occasion of his death was the rebuking of Heroa for taking his brother Philips wife But the Prophets only spake of such an one that was to come they did not witnesse that hee was come they did not shew which was he they did nor say Beholde the lamb of God This is hee as Iohn did Therefore is his ministery in this respect preferr'd far before theirs by our Sauiour Christs owne iudgement Iohn was more then a Mat. 11. 9. 11. Prophet Among them that are begotten of women arose there not a greater then Iohn Baptist Well let him haue the name of a witnesse aboue all the Prophets that went before him yet the Apostles haue that title giuen them by Christ himselfe aswell as hee yee shall be witnesses to me saith our Sauiour in Ierusalem Act. 1. 8. and in all Iudea and in Samaria and wherein their commission went beyond Iohns vnto the vttermost part of the earth And Iohn himselfe though he were magnified aboue the former Prophets in regard of his ministery Yet is he euen therin made inferior to the Apostles Mat. 11. 11. He that is least in the kingdome of heauen is greater then he It is not to be denied but that the Apostles were witnesses in a very extraordinary sort being chosen before to giue notice of such things as should befall our Sauiour to all the world Therefore to them did hee appeare after his resurrection Him saith Peter God caused to bee Act. 10. 40. 41. showne openly Not to all the people but to witnesses chosen before of God to vs which did eate and drinke with him after he was risen from the dead Notwithstanding the witnesse of Iohn was of an other kinde then either the Prophets or Apostles For the one foretold that hee should come into the world the other affirmed that he had bin in the world Only Iohn was hee that shew'd him while hee was in the world who was long before prophecied of for an immediate forerunner of him at his comming Luk. 1. 17. and to make ready a people for him We see of what kinde his testimony was Iohn came and preached in the Wildernesse of Iudaea let vs now inquire what it was that hee witnessed Whereof I shall neede to say verie little because I spake of it in handling the former point In one worde the summe of his testimonie was this first that the kingdome of Mat. 3. 2 heauen was at hand that is as Saint Luke expresseth the matter He preachedthe baptisme of repentance for the remission Luk. 3. 3 of sinnes Hee testified to all the Iewes and to al that heard him that there was no means nor hope of saluation but by repentance of their sinnes and resting vpon the Messiah who was now amongst them though they knewe him not for pardon therof by his death and sacrifice The second and most proper part of his testimony was the pointing out and shewing of him that was the Messiah that all men might knowe and embrace him Behold the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinne of the world This was the testimony of Iohn But that which principally concerneth the reason why our Euangelist mentions his bearing witnesse is to bee fetcht out of the third Chapter of this Gospell where a Sermon of his is recorded in which he commends our Sauiour to all meÌ„ as him who being sent froÌ„ God to be the Messiah speaketh Ioh. 3. 34. the words of God so that by him all other are inlightned who are of the earth and speake of the earth wheâ—eas Ver. 31. 32. he testifieth nothing but that which hee had seene and heard Truely therfore he is called the light who being in the bosome of his father reueales to men the secrets of his rather touching their redemption which no man euer knew or can knowe but from and by him What vse then was there of any witnesse If neither Iohn had any knowledge but from him and hee onely was able to inlighten whom hee would why did God end the Baptiâ— to beare witnesse of the light Needes â—â—e Sunne the day starre to shewe him to the world This was a meanes likelier to make Iohn bee for Ioh. 1. 19. 20. the Messiah then to credite the Messiah by his reportâ— as wee see also it came to passe whereof hereafter But that no man may either conceiue amisse or bee euer-much troubled with this doubt let vs take a shorte viewe of the purpose of GOD herein The ende of all teaching and preaching concerning Christ is to bring men to beleefe in him This was first to bee done amongst the Iewes For the better performing whereof it pleased God to deale gratiously and bountifully with them in affording many and diuers meanes by which they might bee moued and perswaded to beleeue Among the rest this was one whereof the Lord thought good to make choyse euen to send them a man after so extraordinary a manner who being in especiall credite and fauour with them by his authoritie and gratiousnesse might draw them to beleefe Coulde there anye more likely meanes bee deuised to perswade them He was lookâ— after as one that would prooue some rare man from his very Cradle His course of lise was such as might yet procure more admiration When hee came to the execution of his ministerie how powerfully did hee worke vpon the hearts of them that heard him what a fame went there of him farre and neere what
that should be written VVhat worlde may bee said to containe or not to containe but the space of heauen and earth Sometimes it is taken more particularly for the earth where men liue and this Mat. 4. 8. is very common The Deuill shewed our Sauiour all the kingdomes of the world As long as I am in the worlde saith our Sauiour I am the light of the worlde Ioh. 9. 5. In what worlde was our Lorde when hee said so Heere on earth amonge men whose light hee vvas Into this worlde hee sent his disciples Goe into all Mat. 28. 15. the worlde that is into all partes and coastes of the earth To this signification of the worde belonges that in the verse next before and such other places Euery man that commeth into the world that is Verse 9. Ioh. 16. 21. borne In an other text it is more plaine A woman when shee is deliuered of child remembreth her anguish no more for ioy that a man is borne into the world These significations are common and well knowne as comming neere to the ordinary and first vse of the worde Besides these it is very often taken more especially or Men who are the principall parts of the world and for whome the whole was made VVhen the worlde 1. Cor. 1 21. in the wisedome of God knewe not God by wisedome Knowledge is proper to men and belongeth not to any other of these visible creatures God was in Christ 2. Cor. 5. 19. reconciling the world to himselfe not imputing their sinnes To whome are sinnes forgiuen but to men Who are reconciled vnto God by Christ but men IIee tooke Heb. 2. 16. not the Angells who shall euer remaine vnreconciled But hee tooke the seede of Abraham Thus the world signifieth in generall all kinde of men whatsoeuer But because that naturally men are naught and wickked the worde is sometimes put in particular for the wicked and almost for wickednesse You are of the world saith our Sauiour to the Iewes that woulde Ioh 8. 23. 77. not beleeue I am not of this worlde The worlde cannot hate you saith hee in an other place but mee it hateth They are of the worlde saith Saint Iohn of tâ—e false teachers that denyed Iesus to bee come 1. Ioh. 4. 5 in the flesh Therefore speake they of the vvorlde and the world heareth them In this respect is the Deuill called the Prince of the worlde Yea the world is as it Ioh 12. 31. 1. Ioh. 2. 16. were the fountaine of naughtinesse All that is in the worlde saith Iohn as the lust of the flesh the lust of the eies and the pride of life is not of the Father but of the worlde I may adde in the last place that the riches honours pleasures and such like that the worlde affordes are tearmed sometimes by the name of the worlde though they bee not so much partes as appurtenances thereof VVhat should it profit a man though he should winne the whole worlde if hee lose his owne Mar. 8. 36. soule VVhat is this whole worlde but the honours pleasures and riches of the world But I haue stood too long vpon this matter Let vs now apply it to our present purpose for the vnderstanding of the holy Ghosts meaning But we cannot certainely determine in what sense the world is here spoken of till we knowe of what being in the world the Euangelist is to be vnderstood Now our Lord may be said to haue beene in the worlde in two respects either as he was God or as he was the Messiah In the former sense he was alwaies and is still and euer shall bee after the same sort in the world In the later he was not in the world till he tooke flesh of the Virgin his mother nor since his ascension into heauen As God by his prouidence power and wisdome he maintaines and gouernes al things As the Messiah he taught and informed the world of his Fathers will touching the saluation of mankind His being in the world as God was and is for the preseruation of naturall life His presence as Messiah was to bring supernaturall life by the light of grace Whether of the two is it moâ—e likely the holy Ghost meaneth in this place If we vnderstand it of the former seeing hee speakes not of the nature of the Godhead which is the same in all three persons but of the person of the Sonne how can the world be iustly condemned for not knowing him wheÌ„ he was present For it is a rul'd case in diuinity that the mystery of the Trinity cannot bee discerned by the light of nature or gathered from any contemplation of the creatures It is true indeed that since it pleased God to reueale this incomprehensible secret many men haue labored to set forth the point by similitudes and to apply somethings in the creatures to the manifesting of the trinity in vnity But all the light they bringe to this point is such as rather shewes that themselues were perswaded of that truth then is of force to conuince their Iudgement that will not beleeue In one worde they giue vs to vnderstand that such a thing in likelyhood maye bee they doe not demonstrate that of necessity it must bee As for those shadowes of this mystery which seeme toly hid heere and there in the writinges of some Philosophers neither are they sufficient to argue that the penners of those books acquainted with the doctrine of the Trinitie and they are so sparingly and fearfully deliuered that a man may easily see they were altogether vncertaine of the truth and almost of the meaning of that they writ And in what authors doe wee meete with any shewe of these matters but onely in theÌ„ who profess they receiued their instruction from the Egyptians and Chaldeans who learned those points by Tradition from Noah and so from Adam to whom God reuealed the knowledge thereof or else are knowne to haue beene the Schollers of the Hebrewes from time to time Neither doth it suite well with the course of our Euangelists writing to expound this being in the world of such naturall maintaining thereof For the whole discourse from the beginning of the fourth verse as I haue shewed is a description of the Messiah Such was the life that wee haue in him such the light wee receiue from him wholly supernaturall Of that Iohn beares witnesse not of his creating or preseruing all thinges That was it which he laboured to haue all men beleeue That is the thing which our Euangelist denies of the Baptist Hee was not the light In regard of that is our Sauiour called the true light Who shall perswade mee then to apply this verse to his diuine power of preseruation and not to the gratious worke of his medâ—ation especially considering the next verse is generally for the most part so interpreted and as it is apparant by the verse following ought to be Wherfore I willingly subscribe
signifies the earth the place where men ordinarily liue abide so that by Christs being in the world as I sayd his conuersing and liuing vpon the earth among men was noted In the second part The worlde was made by him that I may dispatch this point at once the worde is taken in the most generall sense for all thinges created heauen and earth and whatsoeuer is contained in them This last clause affordes vs a third signification of the worde more particularly then either of the other The world knewe him not It was not required nor could bee lookt for that the frame of the heauens or the Globe of the earth that the Sunne Moone or Starres that the beasts of the fielde the foules of the ayre or the fishes of the Sea shuld take knowledge of the Messiah None but such creatures as were indued with reason could bee capable thereof The Angells it concerned not neither are they at any time called the world It remaines then that by the world men onely are signified And of them it is sayd that They knew not Christ In what respecft did they not knowe him As hee is God Almightie the Creator and preseruer of all things he was generally acknowledged through the world For there neuer was any people so rude or barbarous but they had a perswasion that there was a God and that hee was to bee worshipt But herein as the Apostle sayth They are without excuse because knowing God they Rom. 1. 21. do not glorifie him as God neither are thankefull yea as it followeth afterwards they turne the truth of God into Ver. 25. a lye and worshippe and serue the creature rather then the Creator By which it is manifest that the Euangelist doth not speake heere of our Lords being in the world by his continuall prouidence and gouernment as I noted before Neither may wee vnderstand it of the Person which by no light of nature either bred in the soule or receiued from the creatures could possibly be descryed Therefore wee must needes interpret this knowledge of acknowledging our Sauiour for the Messiah and resting vpō him accordingly for spiritual deliuerance frō sinne death and damnation It is further to bee obserued in this part of the verse that the Euangelist chaungeth his speech and whereas before hee had spoken the light to which It should aunswere now in steede of that hee sayth him The worlde knewe him not Whome did not the worlde knowe In the next verse before hee mentioned the light Therefore he should now haue sayde The worlde knewe it not The Greeke expresseth neither It nor him in the two former clauses but because in this last the Euangelist expoundes himselfe saying him and not it therefore wee supply that worde in both the other As for the reason why Saint Iohn vseth the vseth the worde him wee must remember that hee speakes of the person of the Messiah howsoeuer hee describe him by calling him the life and the light Now to the person Hee and Him agree verie fitly In the Originall The Word is of the same gender that hee is of yet might wee not so speake of it in English but that wee haue respect in our speech rather to the person then to any titles by which he is described to vs. Thus then wee are to conceiue the Euangelists meaning that to amplifie the kindnesse of our Sauiour in offering saluation to the worlde hee sets foorth the great and incredible vnkindenesse of men who would not or at the least did not acknowledge him that they might bee saued But you will say This complaint is too generall against the world seeing it is well knowne euen by record in the Gospell it self that from time to time many beleeued in him This some men discerning restraine the worlde to the wicked of the Chrysost hom 7. in Ioan. world who refused to beleeue But the accusation in the Euangelist is all one though wee so expound it The worlde sayeth hee knewe him not And I thinke wee shall hardly finde the worlde anye where in Scripture taken for the wicked but where there is some opposition exprest or signified betwixt them and the godly I pray not for the world but for them that thou hast giuen mee out of the world Ioh 17 9 Who sees not that in this sentence the world or wicked are opposed to the godly whome the Lord hath chosen out of the world And yet euen in this and the like examples we may very well by the world vnderstand men in generall The worlde cannot hate Chap 7 7. you but mee it doth hate What is that else but as if our Lord should haue sayde men cannot hate you but they hate me It is true indeede that the reason of this hatred is the wickednesse of men but this wickednesse is so generall that it may truly be affirmed of the world in such generall tearmes The fore although some few whose hearts it pleased God extraordinarily to inlighten and incline did confesse him to bee the Messiah yet generally the world did not know him as Saint Iohn not without cause complaynes For to whome may it not worthily seeme strange that a personage of such worth excellency should make himselfe knowne to men in such a wonderfull sort and yet not bee acknowledged to bee such an one as apparantly he was The fame of his doctrine spred it selfe abroade in all places in so much that it was knowne in Rome The light of his glorious miracles shone farre and neere to all the Countries that bordered vpon Iewrie or had any ordinarie traffick with the Iewes in those parts Paul and Barnabas hauing wrought a miracle vpon a poore Cripple at Listra the people lifted vp their voyces saying in the Lycaonian tongue Gods are Act. 14. 11. come downe to vs in the likenesse of men Yea this opinion rested not among the common sort but stretched to the wise and learned in so much that Iupiters Priest Ver. 13. brought Bulles with Garlands and would haue sacrificed with the people Behold I pray you what effect one miracle was able to worke in the hearts of so great a multitude The workers of it were taken for Gods and those none of the meanest They called Barnabas Iupiter Ver. 12. and Paul Mercurie Iupiter was the chiefe of the Heathen Gods and Mercurie his sonne of especiall imployment in all matters of importance Neither stayed they here but prepared their sacrifices in the best manner Bulles with Garlands and brought them to bee offered vp Compare our Lords manie and admirable miracles with this one worke of the Apostles supposing it had beene done by their owne power and vertue Looke not that I should stand to reckon vppe the particulars take a viewe of them in grosse as they are reheaised to Iohns Disciples The blind receiued sight the halt were made able to goe the lepers Mat. 11 5. were cleansed the deafe had their hearing the