fast hold of our former preposition In and to say with the holy Apostles in this place Credo in Deum c. I might be much more plentifull in uses on this subject but that I promised and intended brevitie and therefore this shall suffice Luther said well that there was much Divinitie in Pronounes And here you see that there is some also and that not a little even in prepositions And in Jesus Christ his only Sonne our Lord c. WHere we may first observe as S. Augustine speaketh Quomodo in Patrem sic in Filium credendum est That as we are to beleeve and put our trust in God the Father as I shewed unto you the last day so likewise are we to doe the like in the Son too And in Iesus Christ his onely Sonne c. which shewes him to be God as well as man because we are to put our trust and beliefe in none but only God And therefore Si Deus non sit Filius sed creatura non ergo colendus nec adorandus as the Father goes on If the Son were only man and not God hee were not to be worshipped and adored neither were we to invocate and call upon his Name no nor yet to beleeve and put our trust in him but being God of the substance of his Father as the Nicene Creed professeth The God-head of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost being all one the glory equall the Majestie coeternall as Athanasius Creed hath it therefore we must worship this one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance and as we said I beleeve in God the Father so likewise must we say I beleeve in God the Son yea and in God the Holy Ghost too as I may have occasion to shew more at large if I ever come to the handling of that Article I beleeve in the Holy Ghost Now this doctrine of beleeving in the Son and of his God-head and the like teaches us with the more confidence and boldnesse to rely and depend upon him in the matter of our redemption and to have recourse unto him in any our necessities and troubles whether of body or soule because he is God and therefore able to accomplish and bring to passe whatsoever he hath undertaken and findes to bee necessary and needfull for us And indeed to whom else should we goe as Saint Peter saith seeing he only hath the words of eternall life Ioh. 6.68 And therefore Come unto me saith he himselfe all yee that are heavie laden and I will refresh you and ease you Matth. 11.28 But this doctrine and use comes to be handled almost in every Sermon and therefore I proceed And in Iesus Christ his only Sonne our Lord. Where you see the next circumstance is the two names of this sacred Person that we â—rofesse to put our trust and beleefe in first Jesus then Christ And in Iesus Christ His first Name Jesus was the name appointed him by the Angell Gabriel which was Gods messenger sent unto his Mother the Virgin Mary before hee was conceived in her wombe Luke 1.31 32. where it is said by him unto her Feare not Mary for thou hast found favour with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy wombe and bring forth a Son and shalt call his name Jesus The reason also of the Name being set downe in Saint Matthewes Gospell viz. because hee shall save his people from their sins Matth. 1.21 For the word indeed signifieth a Saviour and Deliverer and therefore is a name fitly given to our Lord Christ because the worke of our salvation both from sin and punishment is wholly and onely wrought by him Wholly because as the Apostle saith He is made unto us of God Wisdome and Righteousnesse and Sanctification yea and Redemption too 1 Cor. 1.30 And therefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Hebr. 7.25 Yea and only too For there is no salvation in any other neither any other name under heaven whereby men can be saved Acts 4.12 And therefore he saith of himselfe I am the way the truth and the life and no man commeth to the Father but by me Ioh. 14.6 So that he that beleeveth in the Son hath everlasting life and hee that beleeveth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Ioh. 3.36 Because as there is but one God so but one Mediatour betweene God and men the man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 So that he may justly say as in the Prophet Torcular calcavi solus I have troden the wine-presse alone and of all the people there was none with mee Esay 63.3 For howsoever there have beene many Iesusses in ancient times as Iesus or Ioshua the son of Nun Moses successour Acts 7.45 Iesus the son of Iosedecke Ecclus. 49.12 Iesus the son of Syrach Ecclus. 50.27 also Iesus one of Saint Pauls work-fellowes called Iustus Coloss 4.11 And these or some of these have had their names also given them by reason of saving and delivering yet their deliverances have not beene like this from which this IESUS the Sonne of God which we professe here to beleeve in doth deliver those that put their trust in him But their deliverance have beene onely corporall this spirituall their 's temporall this eternall theirs from bondage slavery or some pressures of the body this from the most dangerous and fearfull sin and sicknesse of the soule He shall deliver his people from their sins ut supra And therefore as I can never be weary of writing or speaking of this saving Name Jesus but when I thinke I have written and spoken enough could enter into a new discourse of it and begin againe so be you never weary of hearing reading and beleeving in it seeing that through this Name all that beleeve in him shall receive remission of their sins as all the Prophets witnesse as it is said Acts 10.43 yea and rejoyce in it too saying with Saint Augustine O Jesu nomen dulce nomen delectabile nomen comfortans O how sweet how delightfull how comfortable is thy saving name Jesus unto mee For here is fuell indeed to kindle the fire and feed the flame of joy to keepe it ever burning on the altar of our hearts that we can say I beleeve in Jesus i. e. the only Son of God and Saviour of the world This is that joy which when we have once truly entertained no man can take from us as our Saviour himselfe saith Ioh. 16.22 wherewith compare what pleasure soever and it is but griefe all sweet is sowre unto this and there is nothing that may delight but it seemes troublesome and offensive in respect of this as devout S. Bernard hath well observed But this is odor sanitatis saith the Apostle a sweet smelling savour unto God Ephes 5.2 Dulcedo animae sanitas
and we that have beene ruled but with an iron rod in the time of the Law able to breake all the kingdomes of the earth to powder have now the golden scepter of grace stretched out over us to guide us thorow the paths of righteousnesse in this world unto the land of everlasting happinesse in the world to come And therefore let us praise the Lord all wee Heathens and sing unto him all we nations because Jesus Christ that is the Anoynted Saviour as well to us Gentiles as to the Jewes is conceived by the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Marie and this sufficeth for his two names Iesus Christ It followeth His onely Sonne our Lord. Where you see that everie good Christian professes to beleeve how that Jesus Christ is first the Sonne of God secondly his onely Son and thirdly our Lord of these in order And first of the first his Sonne First he is the Sonne of God which when you heare Beloved you must take heed that you doe not understand it onely as he was man conceived by the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Marie as followes afterward to be handled in the description of his manhood when we shall come to those articles for so he is usually stiled the Sonne of man as well as of God but here he is to be beleeved the Sonne of God from the beginning before ever he became man or ever man was or indeed before the world was A Sonne Qui non in temporibus esse coepit sed ante saecula sempiternus incomprehensibiliter à patre genitus as Cyril speakes Which had not his beginning in transitorie and fleeting time but was begotten by his Father before all worlds as it is in the Nicene Creed God of God light of light verie God of verie God begotten not made being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made as there followes so that as the Father is eternall so is the Sonne eternall too as saith Athanasius in his Creed Now if any should be inquisitive to know Quomodo aeternus aeternum as S. Augustine speakes how one eternall should beget another seeing according to our naturall reason that which begets is before that which is begotten I might answer as in my former Catechisme about the name of Father Generationem ejus quis enarrabit Who shall declare his generation Esay 53.8 seeing the Angels thereof are ignorant and it is unknowne to the Prophets and therefore Non à nobis discutiendum sed credendum as S. Augustine It is rather to be beleeved than disputed or inquired into too farre but yet because the Lord hath given us many earthly comparisons both in his word and works by which wee may make some resemblances and attaine unto some glimpse of knowledge in those things that are heavenly therefore with the same Father wee will expresse it as plainly as we can to your apprehension and conceit entreating you with him that if there be any thing that you cannot thorowly and plainly understand that yet you would beleeve considering as the Prophet saith That untill you beleeve you cannot understand as S. Augustine reads it Esay 7.9 Intellectus enim est merces fidei as he further saith Understanding is the reward of faith and therefore seeke not to understand that thou mayest beleeve but beleeve first that thou mayest understand afterward Nay thou shalt understand if thou firmly beleevest if not in this life yet in that which is to come when thou shalt see face to face and know as thou art knowne Well then Quomodo aeternus aeternum sayest thou How doth one eternall beget another S. Augustine shall answer for mee Quomodo flamma temporalis generat lucem temporalem Even as a temporall flame or fire doth beget a temporall light where the begotten light is coequall in time to the begetting flame neither being before nor after other so that where there is a flame you may be bold to say there is light and where you see such a light there you may be sure is also a flame or fire so that Ex quó incipit flamma ex illo incipit lux Looke where the flame begins then also the light even at that verie instant of time And therefore as S. Augustine goes on Da mihi flammam sine luce do tibi Deum Patrem sine Filio Shew mee a flame without light and I will beleeve that God the Father may have a time to be without a Sonne but not else but as the light from its verie first beginning begets shining so God the Father from all eternitie hath begot this Son which in some places of the holy Scripture is called the Word of God In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God c. Joh. 1.1 In other places Sapientia Patris The wisdome of the Father as Luk. 11.49 Sometimes Virtus potentia Dei The vertue and power of the Lord other times Brachium fortitudo Domini The arme and strength of the Lord and the like All which shew him to have his verie essence and being with and from God from the verie beginning of eternitie even before all times in this onely to be distinguished from the Father that the Father is of none whereas the Sonne is of the Father and the Holy Ghost is from them both being but one God howsoever three persons so that as learned Mr. Hooker saith The substance of God with this propertie to be of none doth make the person of the Father the verie selfe-same substance in number with this propertie to be of the Father maketh the person of the Sonne the same substance having added unto it the propertie of proceeding from the other two maketh the person of the Holy Ghost so that howsoever in the God-head there be three persons yet wee acknowledge but one God for the Father is God the Sonne God and the Holy Ghost God and yet not three Gods but one God as Athanasius in his Creed and therefore this one God howsoever but one in substance and essence when hee was to make man seemes to distinguish himselfe into persons by saying within himselfe Let us make man in our image according to our likenesse Gen. 1.26 in which words and those immediately going before Et divinitatis unitas personarum pluralitas aperte ostenditur The unitie of the God-head and pluralitie of persons is plainly and evidently shewne For whereas the next words before are And God saw that it was good he presently added saying Let us make man c. which adding of a verb of the plurall number to a noune of the singular number shewes plainly as well a pluralitie of persons as singularitie of essence in the God-head And so likewise doe the two nounes of the singular number Image and Similitude shew evidently Non in Deo esse plura exemplaria That there are not in God more patternes and samples to be resembled than one according to the image and
similitude whereof man was made but adding a pronoune of the plurall number to these nounes of the singular as our image and our similitude it clearely demonstrates a pluralitie of persons as well as the other did but one God for if there were but one person as the heretique Sabellius would inferre he had not said our image but mine nor our likenesse but only my likenesse The same likewise viz. the pluralitie of persons in the God-head is further proved in another place of the same booke of Genesis and that is chap. 19. vers 24. where it is said Then the Lord rained upon Sodome and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven now if there were but one person in the God-head what Lord should this be that should thus raine fire and brimstone from the Lord but Lord being twice named it doth plainly shew the Sonne to be hee that rained Quoniam à Patre genitus Because he is begotten of his Father And the Father to be him from whom hee rained because hee is not à Domino sed ingenitus not from the Lord being unbegotten but the Lord raining from the Lord must needs be the Sonne from the Father who à quo habet esse ab illo habet operari looke from whom hee hath his essence from him also hee hath his operation and therefore it is said that by him were all things made Ioh. 1.3 And yet further Ego Paterunum sumus I and my Father are one saith Christ himselfe Ioh. 10.30 And againe this is life eternall to know thee to be the onely true God and whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ Ioh. 17.3 both which places shew plainly a pluralitie of persons though but one God But you will say that howsoever these places and the like may be sufficient to prove a Dualitie or that there are two persons in the God-head as Father and Sonne yet they doe not prove a Trinitie or that there are three persons in the same as we are farther taught to beleeve and therefore you desire proofe of this also for the better strengthening of your faith in that point which I am content to yeeld unto though it were more proper when wee shall come to that article of beleeving in the third person of this blessed Trinitie that is the Holy Ghost But if this be sufficiently proved now that labour may be spared then hearken therefore for you farther satisfaction in this point to that which followes when Abraham sate in his tent doore in the plaine of Mamre in the heat of the day it is said that the Lord appeared unto him and he lift up his eyes and looked and loe three men stood by him and when hee saw them hee ran to meet them from the rent doore and bowed himselfe to the ground and he said Lord if I have now found favour in thy sight goe not I pray thee from thy servant Gen. 18.1 2 3. Here you see three appeared yet Abraham speakes but as to one saying Lord and thy and thee all in the singular number Yea the Text it selfe expresseth these three to be but one Lord saying That the Lord appeared vers 1. and yet three appeared vers 2. Secondly the Prophet David saith God even our owne God shall blesse us God shall blesse us and all the ends of the earth shall feare him Psal 67. ult where hee names God thrice to shew a Trinitie of persons and then concludeth with All shall feare him expressing these three persons to be notwithstanding but one God Thirdly the Prophet Esay speaking of the Seraphims praising the Lord sayes they did it after this manner saying Holy holy holy is the Lord God of hosts the whole world is full of his glorie Esa 6.3 where by crying thrice holy they demonstrate a Trinitie of persons and by saying Lord God and his glorie in the singular number they declare also the Unitie of the same And these proofes shall serve out of the Old Testament in the new likewise we finde sundrie to the same purpose and we will begin with S. Paul first who saith That of him and through him and for him are all things to him therefore be glorie for ever Amen Rom. 11. ult where having named him thrice hee shewes the three persons and adding to him and not to them be glorie hee likewise manifestly teaches but one God And againe hee shewes the Trinitie in another place verie plainly though not the Unitie viz. when he sayes The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the Communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all 2 Cor. 13. ult where the three persons are expressely named which is as much as we looke for at this time having plentifully proved the Unitie before S. Iohn likewise saith There are three that beare record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one 1 Ioh. 5 7. where both Trinitie and Unitie are apparently expressed as also in the Revelation Holy holy holy Lord God Almightie which was and which is and which is to come Revel 4.8 And lastly our Saviour himselfe likewise to manifest the same unto his Church in after ages commands his Apostles at his last farewel from them on earth to goe unto all Nations and to baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost Matth. 28.19 which should never have beene done if these three Persons had not beene one and the same God Now then to finish this point if you understand these things give praise and thankes unto God that hath made you capable of such high and hidden mysteries by enabling you so to doe if you doe not understand yet faithfully beleeve and it may be a meanes to save your soules And in particular for the present Article in hand beleeve the confession of Saint Peter which hee made unto Christ himselfe demanding of his Disciples who he was Simon Peter answered for all the rest Thou art Christ the Son of the living God Matth. 16.16 So say you every one for himselfe I beleeve in Jesus Christ the Son of God The next circumstance is that he is unicus his onely Son And in Jesus Christ his only Son So that he is to be beleeved not onely to be his Son but his onely Son too for thus the holy Scriptures declare him and therefore it is our parts so to beleeve him As first where it is said The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us and we saw the glory thereof as the glory of the only begotten Son of the Father full of grace and truth Ioh. 1.14 And againe No man hath seene God at any time the only begotten Son which is in the bosome of the Father he hath declared him verse the tenth of the same Chapter But if Christ be Gods only Son how then are we also called his sons will you say unto me yea and the Angels likewise are termed his
former times well observed that there be parts some revealed some secret Dr. Covell of that which yet is no more divers or many than it is possible for the essence of the Godhead to be more than one not that he is contrarie in his will but that his will as yet is not wholly revealed So farre hee 1 Sam. 6.19 Numb 4.20 Exod. 19.13 Now the first part of this will that is the secret and reserved part is shut up within the closet of Gods owne sacred bosome as the Ark that must not be pried into the mountaine that neither man nor beast may prefume to touch the brightsome Sunne that with the rayes of his glorious luster dazles the eyes of curious beholders the way of an Eagle in the aire Prov. 30.19 and the path of a ship in the waters whose track may not be espied nor enquired after but only admired and adored afarre off For of this hath God pronounced O homo in quis es Rom. 9.20 O man who art thou that doest that darest ransack the bowels of my privie Councels seeing my judgements are like a great deepe as Psal 36.6 that is so deepe so bottomlesse as that they are not to be sounded or fathomed by thy shallownesse The other part of Gods will is open and revealed divulged and proclaimed in a full Court and assembly of men and Angels to all the world and that is his will revealed in his Word And this challenges and exacts both a distinct knowledge and an entire obedience yea therefore our knowledge that it may be obeyed for as affected knowledge in the former is dangerous so affected ignorance in this latter is damnable Now then if we must doe this revealed will of God then likewise know it yea and know God too in and by it as well as by his attributes or any other his works whatsoever otherwise without this latter Epist 4. it is impossible to attaine unto the former For Qui Deum nescitis vias ejus quomodo novistis saith S. Ambrose If you doe not know God how can you either know the will or walk in the wayes of God And therefore God himselfe upon his reconciliation and promise of a new covenant with his people Israel tels them first that hee will put his Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and then as a confirmation of the said covenant hee addes That they should not need to bid one another to know the Lord For they shall all know me saith hee from the least of them to the greatest of them Ierem. 31.33 34. which is as much as if hee should have said That untill men know God they cannot have his Law written in their hearts and so neither submit their understanding to the beleefe and knowledge of it for matter of doctrine nor subject their wils and affections to the obedience and practice of it in their lives conversations And therefore for these reasons before expressed let us be perswaded to use our best diligence and endevour to attaine unto the knowledge of the three former circumstances concerning God For this is life eternall that men know thee the onely true God and whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ saith our Saviour himselfe Ioh. 17.3 From whence learned Zanchy our Protestant Schooleman inferres that if it be life to know God it must needs be no lesse than death not to know him or to be ignorant of him To conclude then as a curious searching into those secrets of God which are not revealed serveth but to breed a contempt of those things which are revealed unto us in regard whereof it is greater pietie to beleeve them than to strive to know them so on the other side to be absolutely either ignorant or carelesse of those things that concerne us and which God hath revealed unto us is a plaine evidence of our sloth and negligence of our owne salvation In the former whereof it is not so much to be lamented that wee search and cannot comprehend as that in the latter wee might comprehend if wee would but take the paines to search For Qui quaerunt invenient They that seeke shall finde Matth. 7.7 even the knowledge of the true God and of his wayes Now then God hath revealed and made himselfe knowne to his Church and children after a three-fold manner viz. Operando Loquendo Spirando that is by his works words and Spirit by his works in the creation and conservation of the world by his Word in his holy Scriptures by his holy Spirit in testifying to our spirit by his secret working and inspiration in our hearts and soules not onely that hee is God but that he is our God also in particular so that wee may and must relye and depend upon him and none but him upon all occasions whatsoever Now these heads are too large and long to be handled to the full by way of Catechisme and therefore for this time you must be satisfied with that which the words of our Creed testifie and declare concerning him that is That he is the Father Almightie Maker of Heaven Earth Vide Act. 17.24 And here you see that the first attribute or title that is given unto God is that he is called Father I beleeve in God the Father c. And that may be in this place in a two-fold respect First in respect of creation and so he is the Father of the world and all that is therein and therefore here is subjoyned Maker of Heaven and Earth Secondly in respect of naturall generation and so hee is the father of Jesus Christ alone And therefore followes that And in Iesus Christ his onely Sonne Concerning the first it is said by the Prophet Have we not all one Father hath not one God created uâ— Mal. 2.10 And againe Is not hee thy Father that hath made thee Deut. 32.6 And not onely of man but of all other things he is said to be the Father by creation as in the booke of Iob Who is the father of the raine or who hath begotten the drops of dew out of whose wombe came the ice or who hath ingrendred the frâ—st of Heaven Iâ—b 38.28 29. thereby insinuating that God only is the father of these things and therefore well may wee say I beleeve in God the Father But most especially in regard of his naturall fatherhood to his Sonne and our Saviour Jesus Christ whom he did beget in the womb of eternitie before all worlds according to that of the Psalmist Ex utero ante luciferum genui te as the Vulgar Latine reads it Psal 110.3 that is I have begotten thee in my womb before the morning light or in the words of Esay Before the day was I am To which purpose S. Augustine doth here take occasion wittily to observe against the Arrians Quod cum Dei Patris nomen in confessione conjungitur That when the name of Father is in this Creed and Confession of faith joyned
unto the name of God Ostendit quod non antea Deus esse coepit postea Pater sed sine ullo initio Deus semper est Pater est It shewes saith he that God was not first and Father after but that without any beginning even from all eternitie hee was both God and Father and therefore it is said I beleeve in God the Father so that when thou hearest God stiled Father acknowledge confesse and beleeve that he hath a Sonne truly begotten in regard of whom hee is as truly and justly called Father as hee that possesseth any thing is called an Owner or hee that rules over any thing is called a Lord. So that the word Father in this place is a word of a deep and secret mysterie The word onely and truly being the Sonne where God in this sense is the Father And therefore saith S. John In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God Ioh. 1.1 God of God light of light verie God of verie God begotten of his Father before all worlds as the Nicene Creed professeth Neither let any be so saucie as to enquire how this Father could or did beget this Sonne as Saint Augustine goes on seeing the verie Angels thereof are ignorant and it is a secret not revealed to the Prophets Whence Esay cries out Generationem â—jus quis enarrabit Who shall dâ—clare his generation Esay 53.8 And therefore let it not enter into our cogitations how this or that can be effected or come to passe but onely beleeve seeing the next word tels us that God is Almightie and therefore if he be Almightie nothing can be unpossible unto him I beleeve in God the Father Almightie And that hee is Almightie that is able to doe whatsoever he will yea and more than hee will too it is manifest as well by his words as by his works By his word first as where he declares as much of himselfe by his faithfull servant Abraham saying I am God all-sufficient or Almightie Genes 17.1 And againe I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come even the Almightie Revel 1.8 And as his Word thus declares him in the first and the last books of the same and indeed all over it if proofe were wanting so his works speake the like of him even from the verie beginning to the ending of the same booke And in particular where they expresse him to be the Maker of Heaven and Earth that is of all things the universall world doth containe as well above as below as well heavenly as earthly as well spirituall as corporall Which is especially in the first of Genesis but seconded and confirmed in many passages and places of Scripture besides as in the Psalmes When I behold saith David thine heavens even the works of thy fingers the Moone the Stars which thou hast ordained and how thou hast made man little lower than thy selfe and crowned him with glorie and honour Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands c. Psal 8. all over the Psalme To which purpose see also Acts 17. about vers 24. and so forward which made Saint Augustine to crie out unto him Omnipotens manus tua semper una eadem creavit in coelo Angelos in terra vermiculos non superior in illis non inferior in istis that is The strength or power of thy hands is omnipotent yea and alwayes one and the same which as it created the glorious Angels in heaven so likewise the little wormes in the earth neither is it any whit greater in those or lesser in these but Deus ita artifex magnus in magnis ut non sit minor in minimis But his power and might appeares as much in the least as in the greatest of his creatures And this may serve first to strengthen us in our faith and trust to God and to make us with the more confidence to have recourse unto him by prayer and supplication because wee know and beleeve that he is Almightie and therefore as the Leaper said Master if thou wilt thou canst make mee cleane Matth. 8.2 So we may be sure that what promises of mercie or goodnesse soever the Lord hath made unto us in his word he will make good in his due time because wee beleeve hee which hath promised is able to doe it as S. Paul speakes Rom. 4.21 Secondly this teaches us also that as God is able to succour us and provide for us because Almightie so likewise to defend us that no enemie ghostly or bodily is able to prevaile against us to our destruction or confusion And therefore that in all our troubles we put our whole trust and confidence in him and his mercie as well for the salvation of our soules as the preservation of our bodies this being the victorie that overcommeth the world even our faith saith S. Iohn 1 Ioh. 5.4 And indeed this is the true and proper sense of this Article I beleeve in God the Father Almightie that is I doe depend and put my trust in him for as S. Augustine whom I undertooke at the first to follow especially in this discourse hath rightly observed the article doth not say Credo Deo or Credo Deum but onely Credo in Deum that is it doth not say I beleeve God or I beleeve that there is a God but onely I beleeve in God For to beleeve God is to beleeve that what God sayes is true which many wicked men and verie reprobates may doe againe to beleeve that there is a God and that hee that made heaven and earth is that God Hoc daemones possunt why even the verie Devils doe the same Credere vero in Dâ—um soli noverunt qui dilligunt illum but to beleeve in God they only know how that love him and are become the children of God by the grace of adoption and by their faith and beleefe in God and therefore because they doe truly and sincerely love God they are emboldened to say I beleeve in God the Father Almightie Maker of Heaven and Earth c. And here I might take occasion to shew you how that in this little Preposition In this small word consisting of two of the smallest letter i n doth consist the whole summe and substance of our Christian Religion Lib. 1. de Relig. cap. 13. pag. 256. Tota pietas totusque Dei cultus atque religio as Zanchius speaketh For who ever did truly and uprightly worship and serve God but out of trust in God who ever did awfully and filially feare God but because he did trust in God who ever did unfainedly and sincerely love God but it proceeded from his trust in God who ever did make conscience of his wayes by avoyding and declining evill but through hope and trust in God who ever was carefull to obey God and walk in the waies of
will of man but of God Ioh. 1.12 13. And therefore much more hee to the intent hee might beget virgin members to be of the same body whereof hee was the head that is a pure and glorious Church or Congregation not having spot or wrinkle was himselfe to be borne of a Virgin-mother and therefore wee may safely say and beleeve that Christ howsoever hee were the onely Sonne of God begotten before all time yet that also in time hee was borne man of the Virgin Marie in so much as S. Augustine speakes De creatura sua Creator omnium procreatur de rivulo suo â—â—ns magnus exoritur radix omnium de virgulto suo nascitur vitis vera palmitis sui fructus efficitur that is The true Vine is become the fruit of its owne branch and the root of all things is sprung from its owne sprig or sien the great fountaine is risen from its owne rivulet and the Creator of all things is borne of his owne creature and Maria is become Theotocos Deipara or Dei genetrix that is the Mother of God as Vincentius Lirinensis stiles her according also to certaine old English verses which I have read to that purpose A virgin and a mother beares a Sonne The creature her Creator on her knee From all beginnings yet but now begun Servant to time Lord of eternitie Earths weaknesse and heav'ns pow'r in him doe dwell Which is both God and man Emanuel And againe Qui regit sydera sugit ubera Who sits in heav'n upon his Throne of State Sucks here on earth the milke of infancie Who rules the stars and guides the sterne of fate Sustaines the yoake of humane miserie Eats drinks wakes sleepes and weepes as mortall man In whom immortall happinesse began For as in the first creation of mankinde man was created after the image and similitude of God so in the restitution and repairing of the same mankinde againe after his fall it was requisite that God should be made after the image and similitude of man that so he might be a fit Mediatour unto God for man not as God for so hee is able by his owne authoritie to take away and forgive sins according to that Who can forgive sins but God onely but as man that so hee might satisfie for mans offences in the same nature in which the breach and offence began as the Apostle speaketh God sent forth his Sonne made of a woman and made under the Law that so he might redeeme those that were under the Law Gal. 4.4 5. which hee could not have done if hee had not taken the verie nature of man upon him and therefore was he in no wise to take the Angels nature upon him but onely the seed of Abraham as I told you before out of Heb. 2.16 Quia Angelus nullum habuit consortium cum homine qui peccaverat Because the Angels had no societie or fellowship with that nature of man which had transgressed neither was the whole Angelicall nature lapsed and fallen as mans was but onely in part for though some fell yet others abode stedfast and are so established for ever Thirdly because the Angels fell of themselves by their owne proper pride and malice without any inticement or externall provocation of another but man fell through infirmitie and by the subtill suggestion and allurement of the serpent the instrument of Satan therefore was it meet that the Sonne of God should be made the Sonne of man that so hee might be a perfect Mediarour betwixt God and man God that hee might satisfie man that he might suffer Nam si bomo non vicisset inimicum hominis non juste victus esset inimicus saith Irenaeus For unlesse man had overcome the enemie of man he had not beene justly vanquished Nam posterius debet reduci ad perfectionem per id quod prius est in eodem genere as say the Logicians That which is latter cannot be reduced to perfection but onely by that which was before in the same kinde And therefore that God may redeeme man God must become man that so we may be made the adopted sonnes of God Per eum qui naturalis est by him that is his sonne by nature and as by a man came our death so by a man also might come our resurrection from the dead as S. Paul saith 1 Cor. 15. And thus have you at large heard related and dilated unto you how in the incarnation and birth of Christ God is become man by being conceived of the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Marie who although he be God and man yet he is not two but one Christ one not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh but by taking of the manhood into God one altogether not by confusion of substance but by unitie of person as Athanasius Which is likewise well expressed by Vincentius Lirinensis when he sayes that in Trinitate there is alius atque alius non aliud atque aliud but in Christ there is aliud aliud non alius alius that is as there is in the blessed Trinitie a diversitie of persons as God the Father God the Sonne God the Holy Ghost but not a diversitie of things natures substances because they are all but one God so in Christ on the other side there is a diversitie of things natures substances as Deitie and humanitie but not of persons because these two natures are become but one person in him Sicut in homine aliud caro aliud anima sed unus idemque homo anima caro as hee goes on Which our Liturgie shall translate As the reasonable soule and flesh is one man so God and man is one Christ which example of two distinct natures substances spirituall and corporeall soule and body concurring to the composition of one whole and entire person Man doth so fully expresse to my understanding the manner of the union of the two natures God-head and manhood in one Christ that the weakest and shallowest capacitie being able to consider of the one may conceive the other And therefore I will proceed no further in proofe and declaration of it but onely desire God for conclusion of this Article that we may so firmly and stedfastly beleeve in this blessed seed and Sonne of the blessed Virgin that as hee of her hath taken our nature upon him and is become the sonne of man so we by him may be so renewed in soule and spirit as that wee may become the sonnes of God and as members of that body whereof he is the head may ascend with him our elder brother into the land of the living whither hee is ascended with our flesh and humane nature before us to provide places and eternall mansions for us Which the Lord of his infinite goodnesse vouchsafe to grant us even for the same Jesus his sake Amen FINIS
God by a Christian conversation but that he did beleeve trust in God what makes the difference between Saints and sinners between the reprobate and the righteous between Iudas Peter but only trust want of trust in God wherfore was the world all that therein is at the the first created but only to make men trust in God How came it by the fall of men and Angels to be corrupted but onely because they forsooke their trust in God and wherefore was it againe redeemed at the last but onely to renew mens trust in God wherefore are all those many and manifold blessings soli poli as well of earth as heaven conferred and bestowed upon the children of God but onely because they trust in God and wherefore are all Gods curses and heavie judgements both of this world and that which is to come inflicted upon the wicked and enemies of God but onely because they have refused to trust in God would wee then avoyd and decline the heavie wrath and vengeance of God prepared for the Devill and his angels let us trust in God or would wee be invested with the glorious liberty of the sons of God and made partakers of the plentious redemption that is in Christ Jesus why then let us trust in God Credere Deum to beleeve that there is a God cannot doe it for this the devils doe beleeve and yet they tremble Credere Deo to beleeve that God is just and true comes likewise short of it for this the wicked may doe nay they shall doe not onely beleeve but finde and feele too the truâ—h of Gods judgements and threatnings against them for their sins to their greater terror and confusion But Credere in Deum This little Monosyllable In added to it only shall and can effect it Loe here then is the little cloud that arose out of the sea no bigger than a mans hand out of which notwithstanding did fall a great raine 1 Reg. 18.44 45 verses Loe here is the little well that grew into a great river and flowed over with great waters Esther 10.6 in the Apocripha Loe here not only the Iliades but the Odisses too of Homer nay the workes and writings of the whole world as well sacred as prophane within the shell of a nut For what good use is to be made of them all but only to cause men to trust in God which service if they doe not in some sort or other promote and advance forward They shall burne in the end like stubble and vanish like chaffe before the face of the winde as being lighter than smoak or vanitie it selfe If then the Gospell of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may fitly be counted and called the Compendium of the whole Bible and this the Apostles Creed the abridgement of the Gospell then likewise our little In here may not unfitly be stiled the epitome of the Creed For whereas there may be said to be two parts of the Creed viz. A dutie required and rewards proposed for the faithfull dispatch and performance of the said dutie This In doth fully performe the dutie in beleeving in the Father in the Son and in the Holy Ghost and so consequently not only intitle us to but invest us with the rewards and they are rich rewards too by making us members of the holy Catholike Church and partakers of the Communion of Saints forgivenesse of sins resurrection of the body and life everlasting And therefore if wee were wont to wonder when wee were children and schoole-boyes at the dexteritie of him that could write the Pater noster within the compasse of a penny pardon the lownesse of the comparison then much more may we now admire the infinite wisdome of God that could contrive the whole substance of his owne will our worship into so small a volume as two small letters and yet this as you have seene is fully and at large pâ—rformed And this may serve to checke and condemne our dulnesse and backwardnesse in Gods service that having so small a lesson to learne and to take forth we are so long in learning it and so hardly brought to put it in practice and execution For who it there that truly beleeveth and putteth his trust in God as it behoveth a Christian man to doe But some put their trust in chariots and some in horses as the Scripture speaketh Some in the strength of their owne armes and others in the invention of their own braines some in the fatnesse of their owne fields and fertilitie of their owne soyles and others in their owne policies in their owne paines in so much as they offer sacrifice to their nets and burne incense to their yarne as the Prophet complaineth of them Habacuk 1.16 So that we may justly take up Davids complaint and say Loe these are the men that take not God for their strength but trust to the multitude of their riches c. Psal 52. But these are but vaine things for vaine men to put their trust in which made Job to protest against such vain confidence saying If I have made gold my hope or said to the wedge of gold Thou art my confidence Job 31.24 As knowing that Sperando pereunt qui sic sperant such hypocrites hope shall perish as himselfe may be said to translate it Iob 8.13 Yea their confidence shall be cut off and their trust shall be but as the house of a Spider They may well leane upon their house but it shall not stand yea though they hold fast by it yet shall it not indure as there followes verses 14 15. For cursed is that man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arme and with-draweth his heart from the Lord Ierem. 17.5 And therefore Salomon adviseth us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not leane so much as to our owne wisdome Prov. 3.5 For blessed are all they said David that trust in him Psal 2.12 Which if it be so saith S. Austen that they are blessed that trust in the Lord Tunc miseri sunt qui confidunt in se They must needs be wretched and miserable that trust only to themselves as the justiciaries and all that boast of their owne righteousnesse doe But S. Paul saith Qui gloriatur in Domino glorietur He that boasteth let him boast in the Lord 1 Cor. 1. vltimò For as S. Augustine goes on Nihil in te placet Deo nisi quod habes ex Deo c. There is nothing in man that can be or is acceptable unto God but that which he hath received from God and therefore seeing there is no good thing in man but what he hath received from God Why doth he glory as though he had not received it 1 Cor. 4.7 Seeing then there is nothing in man whether our selves or others worthy of our trust or dependance on him let us be perswaded as well for the salvation of our soules as the preservation of our bodies to take
children Iob 1.6 To which I answer that Christ is called Gods only Son because he alone is his Son by nature and eternall generation and none but he whereas the Angels are his sons but by creation as indeed are all the creatures of the world besides and his elect and chosen children by a more speciall grace of redemption and adoption as it is said As many as received him to them he gave power to be the sons of God even to them that beleeve in his Name Ioh. 1.12 And againe When the fulnesse of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman and made under the Law that he might redeeme them which are under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons Gal. 4.4 5 verses And therefore as S. Iohn saith Behold what love the Father hath shewed on us that we should be called the sonnes of God 1 Ioh. 3.1 So that as I say we are sons indeed by grace and adoption but Christ is his only Son by nature and eternall generation as I said before and none but he And therefore unicus dicitur quia nec comparationem recipit cum creaturis nec similitudinem as S. Augustine speaketh He is called Gods only Son because there is neither comparison nor resemblance betwixt his Son-ship and that of the creatures He being a Son of Gods owne substance for ex ore altissimi prodiâ—i I came out of the mouth of the most high primogenitus being the first borne of all creatures as Ecclus. 24.5 and unigenitus the only begotten Sonne of God as before out of Ioh. 1.18 A Son then begotten not created not of grace but nature before not in time as all the creatures are and therefore an onely Son Hereupon himselfe taking his farewell of his Disciples Ioh. 20. as Mr. Hum. Sidenham hath well observed hee shewes them this intervallum and distance betweene his generation and their adoption in saying I goe to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God not to our Father but to mine and yours This separation implies a diversitie and shewes that God is his Father indeed but our Creator and therefore he addes my God and your God mine by a privilege of nature yours of grace mine out of the wombe as it were of everlastingnesse yours out of the jawes of time And therefore seeing Christ only is properly and truly Gods Son and none but he it may serve thus farre to be a comfort and consolation unto us yea and to strengthen our trust in God in that the love of God hath beene so wonderfull and his mercie so unspeakable towards us as that he hath not spared his owne and his onely Son for us as it is said God so loved the world that hee hath given his onely begotten Son that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Ioh. 3.16 sufficit pro unico The third and last circumstance is that he is called our Lord And in Jesus Christ his only Sonne our Lord So saith S. Paul to us There is but one God which is the Father of whom are all things and wee in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and wee by him 1 Cor. 8.6 And therefore he saith of himselfe to his Disciples Yee call me Master and Lord and yee say well for so I am Ioh. 13.13 For God hath made him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom yee have crucified saith S. Peter Act. 2.36 Now this is as S. Augustine saith because Spoliavit antiquo hostem singulari dominio suo asciscit nos He having vanquished and overcome our old enemie the Devill and spoiled him of all principality and power he now rules and reignes over us himselfe by the power of his Word and holy Spirit guiding and directing us in all our wayes and protecting and defending us in all our dangers so that our spirituall enemies shall no more be able to prevaile against us As also in regard of our redemption because he hath purchased us to himselfe being before captives and slaves of the Devill and therefore may justly challenge a lordship and dominion over us And this may serve first to comfort us That hee being our Lord and we abiding under his protection we need not feare what any enemie whether spirituall or temporall whether Devill or wicked men can doe unto us For if God be on our side who can be against us saith Saint Paul Rom. 8.31 And therefore let us not feare them which can kill onely the body but rather feare him which is able to destroy both body and soule in hell as it is said Matth. 10.28 And indeed in the second place his Lordship over us ought to beget a feare in us towards his holy name according to that of the Prophet If I be a Lord where is my feare Malac. 1.6 For howsoever as he is a Saviour hee most truly deserves our love yet as hee is Lord both of heaven and earth and Judge both of quicke and dead he as justly requires our feare Now both these titles as yee see are here ascribed unto him and given him even in this one Article of our Creed for as hee is in this last clause of it stiled and called our Lord so before hee was called Jesus a Saviour here Dominus which is nomen Majestatis a name of feare and Majestie there Jesus which is nomen benignitatis amoris a name of benignitie and love This shewes him to be an eternall being and a giver of being to all his creatures That that hee is the Authour of our well being that had made our selves in a miserable being so that it had beene better for us never to be than to be in such a miserable estate as either we were all by nature or they all shall be that are and shall be without this Jesus this Saviour uterque hic profitetur Dominus Salvator he is here professed to be both both Lord and Saviour ut pro potestate qua omni suae creaturae dominatur jure metuendum ostenderetur pro bonitate vero qua misericorditèr quosdam salvat dignum dilectione demonstraretur as S. Augustine speakes i. e. that in regard of his power whereby he rules over all his creatures it might be shewne that hee ought worthily to be feared and in regard of his goodnesse whereby hee saves some he might be demonstrated to be worthy likewise of all love but as one saith Many are willing and readie to embrace Christ as Jesus to save them who yet like not to have him urged upon them as their Lord to governe and command them sufficit pro hoc atrticulo Which was conceived by the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Mary THese two circumstances of the conception and birth of Christ expresse to the full the manner how he tooke our humane nature upon him and became man for as all mankind is so generated and brought forth into the
birth of Christ of this blessed Virgin Rubus Mosaicus virga Aaronica vellus Gedeonis clausa Ezechielis porta Virginem parituram sine detrimento virginitati suae designant saith one Moses bush that burned and was not consumed Exod. 3.2 Aarons rod that budded and blossomed and bare ripe Almonds when it was withered and drie Numb 17.8 Gedeons fleece that was full of dew that one might wring it when all the earth was drie besides Iudg. 6.38 And Ezekiels gate which was shut so that none should enter by it because the Lord God of Israel had entred by it Ezech. 44.2 doe all in some sort or other expresse the conception and birth of the Sonne of God without any detriment to the virginitie of his Mother and indeed the last of these Ezekiels shut gate is nearly applied by S. Augustine himselfe in his eighteenth Sermon De tempore to this purpose where hee saith Quid est porta in domo Domini clausa nisi quod Maria semper erit intacta c. What is meant by the gate in the house of the Lord which is alwayes shut but only this that the Virgin Mary shall ever remaine untouch't and undefiled Et quid est quod homo non transit per eam nisi quia Ioseph non cognovit eam And what is meant by that that no man shall enter by it but this that her husband Ioseph shall not carnally know her Et quid est quod Dominus solus intrat egredietur per eam nisi quia Spiritus Sanctus impregnavit eam And what by that that the Lord God of Israel only shall goe in and out thereat but this that shee hath conceived by the Holy Ghost Et quid est clausa erit in aeternum nisi quia erit Maria virgo ante partum in partu post partum And what by this that it shall be shut for ever but this that Mary shall be a Virgin before in and after her delivery of her said Son Christ Jesus as I said before in so much as she may say of her selfe as he goes on Porta facta sum coeli janua facta sum filio Dei I am made the gate of heaven and am become a doore to the Sonne of God because hee vouchsafes to goe in and out by mee and that without either opening or shutting of my sanctified womb whereby my virginitie should be impaired in the least degree as after his resurrection hee entred in among the midst of his Disciples when the doores were fast shut Joh. 20.19 And therefore we need not feare to beleeve him borne of the Virgin Marie And thus you see Beloved how Christ the Sonne of God tooke our humane nature and shape perfectly and entirely upon him and so became also the Sonne of man first by being conceived and then borne of the Virgin Marie which howsoever it may seeme strange and almost miraculous unto us yet to God that did worke it it was both facile and easie for that God that hath written wondrous things in his Law is able also to worke wondrous things for us in his Gospell Quid autem sunt mirabilia nisi quae hominibus sunt impossibilia Augustine And what I pray you is wonderfull but that which seemes to us impossible As for example the verie writing of the Law in Tables of stone without fitting instruments is it selfe a verie wonder of the Law Againe the earths yeelding bread in the wildernesse without either plowing or sowing as Exod. 16.15 is another wonder of the same And thirdly Aarons rod spoken of before which having beene withered many yeares as S. Augustine sayes beginning to revive without water to flourish in the Tabernacle and to bring forth nuts or almonds when it was inclosed under the drie roofe of an house is a third wonder also of the Law of God Now then as S. Augustine applyes it if wee have read these things in Gods Law why doe wee not understand them and beleeve them when we see them or the verie like to them acted and performed even to our comfort and consolation in these dayes and times of the Gospell for hee that writ the stony Tables without an iron pen by the same power and skill could cause the Virgin Marie to conceive with childe by the Holy Ghost without the help of man And he that brought forth bread in the wildernesse without breaking and plowing up the earth was able also to bring a Sonne from the wombe of the Virgin without violating or wronging her virginitie And hee that caused the drie rod to bud and blossome and the like without moysture Ipse fecit filiam David sine semine generare He made this daughter of the house of David to bring forth this blessed fruit of her wombe even without seed And therefore doubt not but stedfastly beleeve that Christ was an entire and perfect man howsoever he was not conceived nor borne after the usuall and ordinarie manner of bringing mankinde into the world but conceived of the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Marie for this birth of his after this manner shewes him to be what indeed hee was and what hee ought to be seeing hee came to be a Mediatour betwixt God and us viz. it shewes him to be both God and man for in that he was borne and took flesh of a woman it shewes him to be true man but in that he was borne of a Virgin Se Deum docet qui partus Deum decet as S. Ambrose speakes It shewes him to be likewise God for such a birth becomes none but the Sonne of God And indeed there are many reasons why Christ should be borne of a pure Virgin as first for the greater honour and dignitie of God the Father that sent him that so hee onely might be his Father on earth that was his Father in heaven and therefore saith S. Augustine Non quaesivit quidem nisi matrem in terra quod jam patrem habebat in coelo He sought but onely for a mother on earth because he had a Father before in heaven Secondly for the honour also of the Son himselfe that was sent who as he was the Word of God from the beginning so he might be the Sonne of God to the end Now as the Word is conceived without any corruption of the heart from whence it doth proceed so ought he to be without any corruption of his mother Thirdly for the greater credit of his humane nature in which there ought not to be the least staine of sinne seeing hee came to satisfie Gods wrath for mans sinne which could not have beene effected by any other birth than onely of a pure Virgin Fourthly and lastly for the end of his incarnation which was to regenerate and beget men anew unto the Lord that so as many as would receive him might have power given them to become also the sonnes of God but how not by being borne of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the