like may be said of many others in the Scriptures The like also of many of our English names They be not by and by crafty that be called Foxes nor mild that be called Doues nor sauage that be called Wild nor foolish that be called Geese nor vnthrifts that be called Carelesse There was a Carelesse that was so carefull of the Kingdome of God that he chose rather to be burnt at a stake then to make shipwracke of his faith And so there was a Goose Ioh Hus by name that made so so cleere and sweet confession of the Truth that neuer Swanne in the world made a sweeter On the contrary side there haue beene Constants that haue beene vnconstant and Hardings that haue beene timorous and Loues that haue beene vnlouing c. All which together doth more then proue that though Conueniunt rebus nomina saepe suis though mens names doe expresse their natures many times yet it is not so alwayes they are giuen being good rather of wish then of Prophesie and being bad rather vpon occasion then for cause and rather mockingly then truly Thus I grant it is with men and their names that they giue they be not certaine demonstrations no nor probâ—ble arguments of the dispositions of any And why Because man hath no power of himselfe neither to foresee what shall betide his child neither for wealth or woe nor to instill vertue into him nor to reclaime him from vice But it is not so with God hee is of another insight in matters and of another ability The darknesse hideth not from him the darknesse is as cleere as the light Psalme 139. He declareth the last things from the beginning Esay 46. He saw Nathaniel vnder the Fig-tree Iohn 1. All things are naked and bare vnto him with whom wee haue to doe Hebr. 4. Thus neither place nor time nor couering excludeth Gods prouidence no more doth any thing exclude his power or hinder the executing of his purposes When Metellus a Tribune sought to crosse Cesar in a determination that he had Cesar looking sternely vpon him bade him be quiet if he loued his life and added these words that he could more easily put him to death then speake the word Now if this be the power of a fraile mortall Prince that he can most easily make good his word euen as easily doe as speake Then how can we without sacriledge without horrible sacriledge robbe God of this honour being true in his saying and true in his calling And so calling the Mediator Immanuel why should we doubt but that it is as good as if he had said The Sonne that the Virgin shall conceiue shall bee very Immanuel Verily though man giueth names but at aduenture as the blind man casteth his staffe yet Gods naming doth collate and bestow the gift or ability that is promised by the name as appeareth by the example of Abraham the father of the Faithfull who together with the name receiued the assurance of being the father of many Nations according to the signification of the said name As may appeare also and that especially by the name of our Sauiour in the Gospell who doth as truly saue the people from their sinnes as he hath the name of a Sauiour giuen vnto him Well hitherunto you haue learned two things The one why it is said She the mother shall giue the name namely because the blessed Babe was to haue none other parent vpon the earth and therefore by reason shee the fittest and onely fit to appoint the name The other point is this that it is nothing derogatory to the truth of Christs Deity that it is said in my Text Hee shall be called Immanuel and not said He shall be Immanuel since with God to call so or to cause to be so is all one and so is it to be such indeed or to be called such Let vs now come to the third and last place to the name it selfe Immanuel What it signifieth you haue heard me tell you more then once and you may read your selues Mat. 1. Therefore I stand not vpon that but this I will stand to and doe assure you that of all the names that are giuen to our Sauiour in the holy Scripture none doth so fully and plainely expresse both his natuâ—e and Office as doth this He is called I grant Shiloh the Branch and a Child and the Sonne of man but those shew onley his humanity So is he Iehovah the Word the Father of Eternity c. but these shew onely his Deity so is hee Iesus â—hrist and the Councellour and the Lambe of God and our Passeouer and Amen c. But these shew onely his Office or the end of his comming into the world But now Immanuel it doth shew and expresse neither Christs Deity onely nor his humanity onely nor yet his Office onely but together with his Deity his humanity and together with his humanity his Deity and together with both natures the identity of his person and together with the vnity of his Person and the diuersity of his Natures the whole summe and complement of his Offices In somuch that as Saint Paul saith The whole Lawe is comprehended in this one saying Loue thy neighbour as thy selfe So we may say The whole Gospell is comprehended in this one word Immanuel And to the end that you may be satisfied that I offer no violence to the Word nor seeke to draw from it that which is not in it doe but consider with me the very Etymon or deriuation of it Doth it not signifie as you haue heard euen Grammatically God with vs Now in that this is deliuered but by one name what doth this but imply that he is but one person for if more persons had beene here meant more names would haue beene here giuen And in that he is called God what doth this proue lesse then his Deity And in that he is said to be with vs that is in our nature what doth it proue else but the truth of his humanity And lastly in that the whole name is giuen as a pledge of Gods fauour and reconcilement towards vs what other thing but the end of all his Offices of Kingdome of Priesthood of Prophesie is expressed and comprehended Now therefore Beloued consider with your selues whether this Word be worth your consideration and whether if we stand longer vpon it we shall either mis-spend the time or abuse your patience It is profitable certes nay necessary to saluation that you be rightly perswaded concerning the Nature and Office of our Sauiour Christ. For God hath giuen vs euerlasting life and this life is in his Sonne as Saint Iohn saith And this is eternall Life to know Thee the onely God and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ as Christ himselfe saith And to know Christ and the vertue of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his afflictions c. The same Saint Paul preferreth before all aduantages whatsoeuer Phil. 3. And Hieronym
whereto the whole life of man and his glory and consequently his strength and vigor are compared An horse is but a race they say and so the strongest man vpon earth is but the push of a Pike and the clap of a Pistoll Were not Abimelech and Pyrrhus those most valiant Princes each of them killed by the hand of a woman Was not Totilas that noble Conquerour that had vanquished Rome which vanquished the whole world was not he I say ouercome and slaine by Narses an Eunuch a semiuir What should I stand any longer vpon this God hath chosen as the foolish things of the world to confound the wise So the weake things of the world many times to confound the strong And this may be a third reason against glorying in strength because God himselfe doth many times set himselfe against the mighty Xenophon himselfe saw so much and saith thus God as it would seeme taketh a pleasure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is To exalt the base and to pull downe the mighty And why so Truly not of enuy to their greatnesse as it is written of Tiberius or Caligula that he caused a goodly tall man called Colossus for his stature and strength of meere enuy to his personage to fight after he had done his Law till he was tyred and slaine and as it is likewise recorded of Soliman in our fathers memory that hauing a great German brought prisoner to him of very enuy and both to the German nation he caused his Dwarfe a very Pigmey to take this German in hand being a Gyant to looke to and to hacke him and hew him being bound to his hand to haue many courses at him as if a child were set to thwite a tree asunder and at length with much adoe to get him downe so to poach him in and kill him O no! God is of no such nature as he saith himselfe in Esay Anger is not in me So it may be said most truely of him Enuy is not in him No he enuieth no good quality that is in man which is His owne gift neither doth he hate any that he hath made and redeemed but loueth all and would haue vs to loue one another Neither are the great and mighty ones confounded and brought downe by reason of their folly or for want of iudgement whereby they giue aduantage oftentimes to their enemies albeit I am not ignorant that Synesius that ancient and learned Bishop saith that strength and prudence seldome whiles concurre but hee vnderstandeth I thinke enormous strength in a huge vast body otherwise his speech is not iustifiable for many strong haue beene exceeding crafty withall as Aristomenes of old of whom I spake ere while and George Castriot of late in comparison of whom it is written that they had the strength of a Lyon and the wilinesse of a Fox But here is the quarrell and this maketh God an enemy very oft to the strong and mighty becâ—use by their strength and power they thinke to beare out and maintaine whatsoeuer bad person and whatsoeuer bad cause and beare down and to crush and to tread vnder foot the most righteous of the Land that stand in their way This doth nettle God and prouoke him to displeasure Id in summâ fortunâ aequius quod validius Let me haue might and I haue right enough Sua retinere priuatae domus saith Tiridates in the same place of Tacitus De alienis certare regialaus You would haue me to be content with mine owne Why it is for base-spirited men for Peasants for Boores to seeke but their owne Gentlemen and mighty men they will law and fight for that which is another mans O demens ita seruus homâ— est saith one in Iuuenal You would haue me to vse my seruant well Ah foole is my man a man is my Tenant my neighbour is my neighbour my brother Doth Naboth refuse to sell his Vineyard to Achab to King Achab I will helpe thee to it for nothing saith Iezabel Doth the Senate deny my Master the Consulship Hic ensis dabit This sword shall helpe him to it said aesars Souldier These bee the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Poet calleth them which will haue the Law in their owne hands they leane vpon their swords and their right hand must right them whether it bee right or no. Nec Leges metuunt fed cedit viribus aequum Moestaque victrici iura sub ense iacent Thus they couet fields and take them by violence and houses and take them away so they oppresse a man and his house euen a man and his heritage Mich. 2. And thus as the Wilde-Asse is the Lyons prey in the wildernesse Sirach 13. And as Basil saith vpon Hexameron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Most fishes doe eate one another and the lesse is the foode of the greater so it is too true that in too many places the weaker and the simpler sort of men are a prey vnto the great and mighty ones and these eate vp Gods people as a man would eate breâ—d as it is in the Psalme But what saith Basil in the same place Take heed saith he thou oppressor of the poore thou cruell hard-hearted man lest the same end betide thee that doth bef all those great deuouring fishes namely to be caught thy selfe by the hooke or in the net c. Indeed as for the comfort of the needy and the deepe-sighing of the poore the Lord saith That he will vp himselfe and set at liberty him whom the wicked hath â—nared So for the confusion of the vnmercifull Cormorant he threatneth thus by Iob Hee hath deuoured substance and he shall vomit it for God shall draw it out of his belly And by the Prophet Esay Woe vnto thee that spoylest and wast not spoyled c. When thou ceasest to spoyle thou shalt be spoyled There is no Prince that can bee saued by the multitude of an Host neither any mighty man deliuered by much strength Bee you neuer so strong O yee mighty yet He that dwelleth in the Heauens is stronger then you bee you neuer so well lined or backed or guarded yet He that sitteth betweene the Cherubins is better appointed Therefore trust not in your owne strength much lesse in wrong and robbery make not your selues hornes by your owne power there is no power there is no force there is no puissance that can deliuer from wrath in the day of wrath the children of wrath that is to say them that hale downe Gods vengeance vpon them by their vnmercifulnesse This might bee easily vouched by sundry examples but the time being so far spent it is time to come to the third speciall thing that we are forbidden to glory in to wit Riches Nor the rich man glory in his riches As I gaue this for one reason why strength should not be gloried in because it is not to be compared to wisedome
Christian Thus Augustine And to the same purpose Chrysostome who liued but a little before him Where haue ye read this saith he Forasmuch as he hath not read it written but speaketh of himselfe it is euident that he hath not the holy Ghost And to be short Irenaeus who liued before them both shall be instead of all others To sticke vnto the Scriptures which containe Lat. are a certaine and an vndoubted truth that is to build ones house vpon a strong and firme Rocke Thus he whereby â—e â—heweth that they that build their faith vpon any other foundation as namely vpon Tradition they build it but vpon sand which will not abide the least blast oftentation nor the least push of strong reasoning but will soone fleet and fall to the ground To shew the vanity and vncertainty of Tradition let this one Story that I shall recite vnto you suffice and then I will proceed to that which remaineth In the Primitiue Church by the report of Eusebius there was a sharp contention and betweene such as would not be counted babes or obscure fellowes but Fathers and Pillars touching the celebrating of Easter The Easterne Church went one way and the Westerne another And what was the cause of their iarre The Easterne Church pretended a Tradition as from Saint Iohn the Euangelist that he forsooth should command it to be kept vpon such a day The Westerne Church a Tradition as from Saint Peter that he should ordaine it to be kept such a day vpon a Sunday by all meanes What shall we say to this were Saint Peter and Saint Iohn diuided that yea should be with them nay and nay yea No but their Disciples misse-heard them or misse-remembred them or misse-reported them and hereupon they brake forth into quarrell Now iâ— in the best times when many that had heard the Apostles or Apostolicke men were yet aliue when the extraordinary gifts of the holy Ghost as the miraculous curing of the sicke and the casting out of Deuils c. were yet to be seene in many by the testimonies of Iustine Martyr Irenaeus Tertullian c. if this were done say I when the Church was yet a Virgin as it were by the iudgement of Polycrates in Eusebius what can we looke for in the latter perillous times when she had abandoned her selfe to Spirituall fornication I meane not onely to superstition but also to Idolatry Is any mans word to be taken that Christ spake thus or thus by his Apostles when he hath not their writing to shew Thus much against Papists Traditions now in the words that follow I pray you obserue with me how Angelically or rather Diuinely the Apostle doth mount and causeâ—h his speech to grow Sermo crescit in describing the Sonne of God by his estate by his Acts by his Nature Person c. He hath taught vs saith the Apostle by his Sonne would ye know what Sonne Not an ordinary Sonne such as we are but the Heire and Owner of all things nay the Creator of heauen and of earth nay the very brightnesse of Gods glory and the ingraued forme or expresse Image of his person distinguished onely in person not separated or diuerse in nature nor inferiour to him Is this all No he preceedeth bearing vp all things by his mighty power therefore not onely the Creator but also the preseruer of the world Is that all No it had beene to small purpose at least to small benefit to vs if God should make vs and preserue vs onely and there stay but that which is a greater matter for vs he hath redeemed vs by purging vs from our sinnes yea and for the full consummation of his victory and our Redemption he sitteth at the right hand of the Maiestie in the highest places from thence to oppugne our spirituall enemies and from thence to reach-out his hand to helpe vs and supply vs. And what can be spoken more fully more richly more comfortably Christ called the two sonnes of Zebedee sonnes of Thunder Augustine speaking of a certaine Sentence of Ambrose exclaimeth ô sensum hominis Dei ex ipso haustum fonte gratiae Dei that is O sense of a man of God drawne out of the very fountaine of the grace of God! Hierome calleth Hilary a Rhodan that is a most swift riuer of Eloquence Theodoret calleth Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is an Ocean of Diuinity I cannot tell what I may call this third verse else but a very depth of mysteries a fountaine of Water of life that can hardly be sounded to the bottome I find that the Iewes haue a booke which they call Tseâ—ormor that is a bundle of myrrh that they haue another which they call Tsemach Dauid that is The branch of Dauid that they haue another also which they call Orach Chaiim that is the path-way of life False titles the bookes be not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they doe not deserue such glorious names But surely he that should say that this one verse deserueth all these Elogies and Titles should not speake a whit out of the way For it is no lesse than a bundle of most fragrant odoriferous flowrs refreshing the inward man and preseruing the whole soule from putrefaction it describeth also the true branch you know Christ is called so by the Prophet Zechary so expressely that fewe places of the Scripture may be compared with iâ— Lastly it sheweth the path of life namely wherein our true Life consisteth to wit in the Sacrifice and bloody Offering oâ— Iesus Christ which purgeth vs from all our sinnes But let vs come to the particulars that remaine yet to be handled The first is that God hath made hiâ— Sonne Heire of all things This place is abused by two sorts of Hereticks Anabaptists and Romanists I will but point at their errâ—rs The former vrge Christ is made heire of all things therefore faithfull Christians onely they meane specially such as be of their stampe haue interest in the things of this world all others are but vsurpers and therefore may lawfully be stript of them But they should know that the heauens euen the heauens are the Lords the earth hath he giuen to the children of men to the children of men promiscuously he doth not say precisely to the children of God indeed he that made Abraham and Isaack rich which were faithfull and the Fathers of the faithfull made also Laban and Nabal which were prophane he that causeth the Sunne to shine and the raine to fall vpon the iust did and doth the same for the vniust Briefely he that gaue Caesar a mercifull Prince gaue before him Marius a cruell Tyrant Caesar was not to be iustled with being chosen by the people and Marius was to be stooped vnto while he had Lawe on his side Now whereas they would make their claime by Christ Christ was heire of all things therefore they rightly beleeuing in Christ are the onely true heires