will aske touching my former illustration why is power ascribed to the Father Wisedome to the Son Quest and goodnesse to the Holy Ghost whereas all and each of the three persons haue the same power wisedome and goodnesse Saint Augustine answereth that amongst the creatures Resp it is wont to be obserued that in a Father is found a defect of power by reason of his antiquitie in a Sonne is seene ignorance by reason of his youth and inexperience of things and in the name of a Spirit there seemeth to be a kinde of fearefull vehemency Esay 52. as Quicscite ab homine cuius spiritus in naribus eius Whose Spirit is in his nostrils and therefore least the like might be thought to be in these Diuine persons we find power ascribed to the Father wisedome vnto the sonne and goodnesse vnto the Holy Ghost whereas indeed each one of them is of the same power wisedome and goodnesse as the others bee And although the Essence of God can neither be diuided nor distinguished yet the three subsistences or the three diuers manner of being in the Diuine Essence which we call the three persons The three persons are distinguished one from another two waies Father Sonne and Holy Spirit may be distinguished two wayes 1. By their personall actions 2. By their nominall relations First the actions of the persons are either 1. Outward or 2. Inward The outward workes of God are common to each person of the Trinity First all outward actions are called communicable because although after a sort they are appropriated to each person as the Father to send the Son and to create the world the Son to be sent to be Incarnate to redeeme mankind and the Holy Ghost to appeare in the form of a Doue like clouen tongues of fire to worke in our hearts for our consolation and sanctification yet Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indiuisa these outward workes of the Trinitie are so indiuisible that we cannot so properly ascribe them to any one but we finde that they may be likewise ascribed to any other for as Nazianzen truly affirmeth of the three persons themselues Non possuÌ„tria discernere quin subito ad vnum referar nec possum vnum cogitare quin trium fulgore confundar So may we say of their outward operations that although they be affirmed of one yet may they presently be referred to all three and so we finde them in many passages of the holy Scriptures as redemption and sanctification to the Father Act. 20.28 1 Pet. 1.2 Creation and Sanctification to the Sonne Iohn 1.3 1 Cor. 1.2 And creation and redemption to the Holy Ghost Psal 33.6 Ephes 4.30 And besides these outward operations are transient voluntary for that God in these things is Liberrimus Agens A free Agent so that he might haue chosen whâ—ther to doe them or not doe them and therefore in all these workes Election Creation Gubernation Redemption Sanctification Glorification there can be ascribed none other cause but quia voluit because he would for whatsoeuer pleased the Lord that did he in Heauen and in Earth in the Sea and in all deepe places And therefore these outward actions and so likewise those names which are giuen vnto these persons in regard of these actions as Creator vnto the Father Redeemer vnto the Sonne Comforter and sanctifier vnto the holy Ghost are not altogether sufficient to expresse the differences of these persons Secondly the inward actions of these persons are 1. Permanent 2. Necessarie 3. Incommunicable First they are so permanent The inward actions of God are euer in doing that as the Sunne doth alwayes beget his beames and both Sunne and beames doe send forth the heate so the Father from all eternity euer did and now doth and euer will beget his Sonne and both Father and Sonne doe spire and breath forth the Holy Ghost and therefore Origen saith excellent well Origen hom 6. in Ierem. Saluator noster splendor est gloriae splendor autem non semel nascitur deinceps desinit nasci c. Our blessed Sauiour is the brightnesse of Gods glory Sed quotiescunque ortum fuerit lumen ex quo splendor oritur toties oritur splendor gloriae Luke 12. but the brightnesse of glory is not once begotten and then afterwards leaues to be begotten but as often as the light riseth from whence the brightnesse springeth so often doth the brightnes of glory arise And our Sauiour saith he is the wisedome of God but the wisedome of God is the brightnesse of that eternall light Et ideo saluator semper nascitur The Father doth euer beget the Sonne And therefore as the Scripture saith Ante colles generat me Before the Mountaines were laid he begetteth me and not as some doe erroniously read it Generauit me He hath begotten me So the truth is that the Sonne of God is euer begotten and the holy Spirit euer proceeding Secondly these inward actions are no voluntary operations The inward actions are necessary I meane such as that the Father might either beget the Sonne or not beget him and the Father and the Sonne might either spire forth the Holy Ghost or not spire him forth but they be so absolutely necessary that they cannot otherwise be Cyrillus l. 1. c 3. thesauri because it is the property of the nature of God the Father to beget God the Sonne as it is for him to be a God so that he can no more relinquish or leaue to beget the Sonne then hee can leaue to be a God as Saint Cyril sheweth And Thirdly these inward actions are so incommunicable The inward actions are incommunicable that whatsoeuer is proper to the one can no wayes be ascribed to the other Quia hoc est proprium patris quod solus est pater quod ab alio non est nisidse For this is the property of the Father that he alone is the Father Et hoc est proprium filij quod à patre genitus est solus à solo hoc est proprium spiritus sancti quod nec genitus nec ingenitus est sed à patre filio aequaliter procedeus and that he is not from any other but onely of himselfe and this is the property of the Son that he alone is begotten of the Father alone coequall vnto him and coessentiall and this is the propertie of the Holy Ghost to be not made not begotten but from the Father and the Sonne equally proceeding And therefore we say that these incommunicable and proper operations of the persons doe so make the true and reall distinction of the persons that the Father cannot be the Sonne nor the Holy Ghost that the Sonne cannot be the Father nor the holy Ghost and that the Holy Ghost cannot be the Father nor the Son so that in a word all three is the same Essence and yet neither of the three can
in Heauen Heb. 11.14 And secondly I say that these worldly riches are no true riches but onely vaine and imaginarie riches for they haue made many proude That the riches of this life are not the true riches none better if they had why did the wisest Philosopher so pronounced by the voice of the Oracle cast all his gold into the sea that he might be happie and the wisest among the sonnes of men so pronounced by the voyce of God pray aswell against riches as pouertie Prou. 30.8 and the best kings in this Iland and many other princes in many other countreyes besides the Apostles that forsooke all to follow Christ Matth. 19.27 change their princely thrones for poore cells and their kingly scepter for the diuine Scriptures and therefore he was a better husband then Philosopher that termed these riches goods but hee mended the matter well that called them goods of fortune false goods ascribed to a false patrone for as there is no goodnesse in them so there is no fortune to giue them the meaning therefore as I take it is this Doctor Hall that it is a chance if euer these riches proue good to any for many times they hurt the owners and disquiet others and as many time and ofnter too the worse men haue them and the best men want them and yet they are neuer the better for hauing them nor the other neuer the worse for wanting them for I heare Saint Peter and Saint Iohn the eldest and deerest Apostles say gold and siluer haue I none and I reade that Iudas the youngest and the worst Apostle bare the bagge and I reade that the Deuill sayd all these things will I giue thee and they are mine to giue and that Diues was rich and Lazarus poore and yet now the poore is made rich and caried vp to Heauen and the rich is poore and sent downe to Hell and therefore it is apparant that these false goods can be no true riches and so consequently that none is truely rich but onely God Now to proue that Christ is rich besides the foresaid testimonie of the Apostle our Sauiour himselfe sayth all that the Father hath Iohn 16. are mine of the holy Ghost he sayth he shall receiue of mine and declare vnto you and so the Euangelist sayth that of his fulnesse we haue all receiued Iohn 1.16 and grace for grace and therefore Christ being truely rich inriched with all the riches of the Dietie power strength wisedome goodnesse mercie and such like he must needs be the true and eternall God Fourthly from the proper workes of God Fourthly from the vniuersall effects and proper workes of God for he that created and preserueth and gouerneth all the things that are created is the true and euerlasting God but this word Created all things and doth still sustaine and gouerne all things and therefore he must needs be the true God The maior is cleere of it selfe Gene. 1.1 because as Moses sayth In the beginning God created the Heauen and the earth And The minor is confirmed That Christ created all things Psal 45.7 Psal 102.25 by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures which sayth Thy throne O God is for euer and euer the Scepter of thy kingdome is a right Scepter and in an other Psalm he sayth And thou Lord in the beginning hast layd the foundation of the Earth and the Heauens are the workes of thy hands so the Euangelist sayth that all things are made by this Word Iohn 1.2 and without this Word was made nothing that was made so Saint Paul sayth that all things were created by him aswell those things which are in Heauen as those things which are in Earth Colloss 1.16 And so all the orthodoxe fathers doe subscribe vnto the same trueth for Ignatius speaking of Christ vseth the verie words of the Euangelist that he was in the world and the world was made by him Jgnatius in ep ad Tarsenses Iust Mart orat 1. ad graecos and yet the world knew him not and Iustin Martyr sayth that by this Word both Heauen and Earth and all other creatures were created and Irenaeus l. 2. c. 2. against heresies Athenagoras in his apollogie for the Christians Clemens Alexandrinus l. 1. Pedagogi Tertullian in his Apollogetico Saint Cyprian in his second Booke against the Iewes and many more doe largely That Christ gouerneth all things and plainely proue by inanswerable arguments that all things were created by this Word And that Christ gouerneth all things the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes sayth Heb. 1.2.3 that he beareth vp all things with his mighty Word and our Sauiour sayth vnto the Iewes my father worketh yet and I worke Iohn 5.17 and Saint Paul sayth that hee is before all things 1 Colloss 17. and that by him all things doe consist Fiftly from the prayers which all Saints haue made Fiftly from the prayers of the Saints and that Diuine worship which they exhibited and which indeed is due to him for we are to pray to none but to God because wee beleeue in none but in God and because none but God can at all times heare vs and at any time helpe vs Iohn 5.23 but prayers shall bee euer made vnto Christ and dayly shall be praysed 1 Ioh. 2.22.23 sayth the Psalmist and so the Saints doe and euer haue prayed vnto him Rom. 14.11 as vnto the onely God Philip. 2.10 which can deliuer them out of their distresse and therefore this Word that was made flesh did make all flesh and is indeede the true and eternall God as wee may see in Prouerbes 8.12 Iohn 1.1 Apoc. 1.8 and as I haue by these inanswerable arguments sufficiently proued vnto you The obiections of the Arians against the eternall Godhead of Christ But against this eternall generation and euerlasting Godhead of this Sonne of God both the old Arians and the new vpstarte Ministers of Transiluania that like euill weeds did spring vp out of Arius his ashes doe obiect and indeuour with the witt of hell to proue that this God of Heauen was no God before his incarnation and was made man for Ob. 1 First They doe obiect that Saint Luke sayth hee shall be called the Sonne of God therefore he was not called before his incarnation Esay 9. and so Esayas saith that vnto vs a child is borne and vnto vs a sonne is giuen and he shall be called wonderfull the mighty God and the prince of Peace and therefore as Magistrates are not called Magistrates before they are made Magistrates so was not hee called the mighty God before hee was borne and giuen vnto vs This was the opinion of Arrius and Seruetus that the Sonne of God was nothing before his incarnation but onely a decree in the mynde of God to make this man Iesus Christ and to replenish him with abundant gifts of the Dietie
children of the wicked not punished for their fathers sinnes 247 A childe how conceiued in the wombe 337 God chooseth no man in respect of any thing that is in man 211 Christ the word the summe of all things 258 Signified by all the most memorable things of the old Testament 258 Christ would not reueale himselfe to the world all at once â—59 To know him is the onely thing that makes vs happy ibid. Christ despised all vanities 260 Suffered all miseries ibid. Christ the most perfect patterne of all vertue 260 Christ knowne suppresseth all vices 261 He alone is all sufficient to supply all our neede 262 Without Christ the whole world will auaile vs nothing 263 Christ onely should be preached by all Preachers 266 The Name of Christ should be alwayes in our mouthes to be honored not to be blasphemed 267 Christ in the Father not as we are in the Father 270 Christ a true God proued 278. 279. c. Christ is truely rich 281 Christ created all things and gouerneth all things 283 Christ prayed vnto 283 Christ began to be a God existing in the manhood when he was made flesh 248 Christ no accidental but an essential word 285 Christ how he may be said to be created and begotten 289 Christ made the beginning of our wayes 288 Christ demaunds the earth as man and giueth heauen as God 290 Christ how the first begotten and how the onely begotten Sonne of God 291 Christ how God of himselfe 293 How said to be with God and in God 298 Christ equall to the Father 299 Christ after what manner conceiued 335. Not of the Essence but by the vertue of the Holy Ghost ibid. Christ conceiued a perfect man in the first moment of his conception 337 How wonderfully he was made man ibid. Christ why conceiued of a Virgin 338 How he commeth from Adam ibid. Christ made a perfect man 340 That he had a true body 341 c. Christ made subiect to all humane frailties 351 Christ how hee hath performed all things for vs. 360 Christ an infallible patterne for all men to imitate 360 Christ brought vs more good then we lost in Adam 361 Christ how made inuisible vnto the Iewes 387 Christ how he came in the dores being shut ibid. How he walked vpon the seas 388 How he appeared to S. Paul 388. 389. c. Christ came from Nathan and not from Salomon 3â—8 Christ why born in the raigne of Augustus 404 Why in the sixt age of the world 403 Why in December 405 Christ what manner of person he was 429 That he was a man ibid. A iust man ibid. A good man 430 A King a Priest a Prophet 431 A true and eternall God 432 Christ his sufferings expressed 436. c. His whole life a continuall suffering 437 Christs sufferings chiefly in three places 437 Christ suffered in soule ibid. Christs first degree of suffering in being made passible 438 Christs sufferings most admirable 439 Christ why he went out to be taken 439 Why out of the citie 440 Why into the garden 441 Christ whether wholly destitute of all diuine assistance 447 How lightly he esteemed of death 446 Christ how by his death he ouercame death 84 Christ deliuered from what he feared 448 Christ to vndergoe the punishment of all others ibid. Christ how he sought to reclaime Iudas 461. c. Christ how handled presently after he was taken 464 Christ why he chose Iudas to be his Apostle 459 Christ how crowned with thornes 475 Christ why he came not down from the Crosse 481 Christ dead is still persecuted raged at 482 Christ how said to be euery where 540 Christ no where to be found but in the Church 545 Church the fittest place for publique prayers 711 Church how to rule her children 520 Church how subiect to afflictions 520 CL. Clytoriaâ— Well what it effecteth 528 Cloathing Christ in white what it signified 473 CO. Comforts that we haue from Christ his being subiect to infirmities 361. 362 Whatsoeuer God commandeth is no sinne 166 God compelleth not his seruants to doe good 530 To compell others to sinne the practise of most wicked sinners 25 Manner of Christ his comming to iudgement 622 623 Gods commandements few short light and profitable 99 The least comfort denied in hell 87 What communicates most goodnesse vnto others is euer best 197 That we should confesse our sinnes 113 Conuersion to God not to be deferred 24 That we should confesse our sinnes the diuell cannot abide 28 An excellent consideration of Saint Augustine 51 Consciences of the wicked opened before they die 80 We can conceiue but the least part of Gods excellencie 118 What are contrariâ— to the nature of God 152 How contradictories destroy each other 153 God cannot doe contradictories proued 154 That we should not contest about trifles 265 Consultation in heauen about the restitution of man 319 God worketh one contrarie out of another 351 Contentednesse requisite in any state 410 Conception of Christ ineffable 336 Consideration of Christs sufferings most admirable 439 Condemnation of all the infidels that would not beleeue in Christ grieued Christ 454 That we should condole the sufferings of Christ 506 Conuersion of a sinner first wrought by God 529 Conuersion of any man not to be despaired of 533 Contempt of vanities most requisite for Preachers 642 Constancie most requisite for Preachers 642 643 Conquest of Christ ouer Satan not onely by suffering but also trampling him vnder feete 583 Couetousnesse what a horrible sinne 460 To be auoided 704 Couenant with hell should be broken 26 Colours vsed by the ancients to expresse diuers things 474 The great courage of the Apostles presently after the resurrection of Christ 576 Corporall presence of Christ no where now but in heauen 545 Christ not corporally present in any secrets 546 547 Correction how burthensome to children 69 No cost to be spared to get truth 217 CR. All creatures heape miseries on man 74 All creatures haue their being from God 125 The creatures haue many impressions of Gods goodnesse infixed in them 256 All creatures how inriched with good 201 Foure crying sinnes 41 No creature can be capable of infinitenesse or of infinite perfections 156 Crueltie of Satan against the Preachers 644 CV Custome of ancient times to expresse our mindes by visible signes 680 Cup that Christ was to drinke of what it was 444 Cup which dranke vp killed Christ but ouerceme not Christ 449 Curiositie to be shunned in searching out the manner of diuine mysteries 277 Curiositie to be auoided in searching what God is 122 124 Custome of sinning makes the sinner bold to sinne 20 It makes the greatest sinnes seeme no sins 21 It bindeth vs in sinne 22 It indammageth the soule 23 And makes the sinners almost incurable 65 DA. DAmage receiued by Adam two-fold 3 What a danger it is to neglect publique prayers 717 Dauids words This day haue I begotten thee how to be vnderstood 290 Dangerous to
but it stingeth vs to death And so indeed it is like the Deuill Cyprian l. 1. ep 8. a lyer and the father of lies Quia peccatum mentitur vt fallat vitam pollicetur vt perimat Because euery sinne lies that it may deceiue vs and proposeth pleasure that it may bring vs into paine Venerab Beda l. exhort 4 5. Venerable Bede compareth sinne vnto a Witch which transformeth euery man vnto a Monster as Lust maketh a man like a Syren or an Horse to yeane after his neighbours wife Sloth makes him like an Asse or Ostridge Crueltie like a Wolfe or Hyenna Couetousnesse like the rauening Harpies and so euery other sinne makes the poore Sinner to become Monstrum horrendum ingens cui lumen ademptum The most vgly Monster vpon the face of the earth Why then should we not hate this sinne which speaketh friendly vnto vs and promiseth great felicity but in the end brings vs to the extreamest misery Bern. insentent Quia via peccati ingredientes contaminat progredientes obstinat egredientes exterminat Because as Saint Bernard saith sinne in the first entrance defileth in the progresse hardneth and in its going out destroyeth euery Sinner and as Salomon saith of the Harlot her wayes leade vnto death and her footsteps take hold of Hell so the same is most true of sinne and therefore if any man should be asked what hee doth in sinne hee might iustly answer as an old Courtier did when he wâ—s demanded Euery sinne payeth the same wages though it promiseth seuerall pleasures what he did in Court I doe nothing but vndoe my selfe For the reward of sinne is death And here likewise you may obserue that although euery sinne doth not promise the same thing for some sinnes promise pleasure some profit some honour and some one thing and some another yet euery sinne brings vs to the same end and in the end payeth vs with the same reward for the reward of sinne of any sinne is death But because Thriuerus Apoth 19. as many doe make none account of most deadly diseases by reason that they are ignorant of the dangerous effects of the same Ita multi euidenter peccant quia turpitudinem consequentiam peccati perspectam non habent So many men feare not to sinne but doe as smoothly drinke vp the same as pleasant Wine because they doe not vnderstand the filthinesse and wretched effects of sinne and because as if a man might with his outward eyes behold the beauty of vertue and goodnesse mirabilem amorem excitaret sui It would wonderfully inflame their hearts with the loue thereof So if we did behold the loathsomnesse of sinne and consider well the fearefull euents thereof it would make vs with Iob Iob 42 6. to abhorre our selues in Dust and Ashes Therefore I will search a little further into this Labyrinth of sinne and take a little more paines to vnfold the miserable effects of the same for the reward of Sinne is Death When sinne is first committed it wil presently gall and wound our consciences and it will continually shew vnto vs how good a Law is violated how great a Maiestie is offended and how grieuous a punishment we haue deserued and a the Poet saith Occultum quatiante animo tortore flagellum Juven Satyr 13. When the great Tormentor will shake his hidden whip in the soule of the offender then is he troubled night and day walking in the hands of his executioner and sleeping like the Nightingall which hath alwayes a pricke before her breast Neither is this all for the reward of sinne is death Now by Death By Death are vnderstood all the miseries contayned vnder the curse of God we must vnderstand not onely the separation of the body and soule of man but all other things that are comprehended vnder the curse of God for the curse of God and the Death of Man are Voces aequipollentes equiualent termes and doe signifie the same thing and therefore as Saint Paul saith here The wages of sinne is Death So he saith else-where out of Moses Gal. 3.10 Cursed is euery one that continueth not in all things that are written in the Booke of the Law for to doe them And we find that the curse of God for the sinne of man extendeth it selfe 1. To all those creatures that were created and made for the vse of man 2. To all the properties and faculties of each part of man Rom 8 20. and 22. First The creature was made subiect vnto vanity and groaneth and trauelleth in paine vntill now not of it owne accord but by reason of the transgression of man the earth was accursed for his sake and the very Heauens were subiected vnto vanity and as then hee dealt with Adam so euer since he dealeth in like manner with all the sonnes of Adam Psal 107.34 for he maketh a fruitfull land barren for the iniquity of them that dwell therein that is either such as bringeth forth no fruits at all or else such as where Infaelix lolium steriles dominantur auenae How the earth is accursed and her fruits by reason of our sinnes The good seed is ouergrowen with darnell smothered with thornes or spoyled with cockle for though the earth was made to yeeld vs fruits of increase yet instantly vpon our sinning the grounds denied to pay her tribute vnlesse as the Poet sayth iuncto boue aratra trahuntur we doe rippe vp her bowells to fetch it out of her bellie And yet this is not all for though we manure the ground and plant the seede neuer so fayre yet except the Lord giues the increase all our labour is but in vaine And the Lord tells vs plainely that if we cease to sinne and serue our God Psal 107.35 he will make the Wildernesse a standing water and water springs of a drie ground but if we continue in sinne and sow iniquitie Hosea 8.7 hee tells vs plainely wee shall reape but vanitie and if we sow the wind wee shall reape but whirlewind for our haruest And therefore if God stoppeth the windowes of Heauen and withholdeth the raine from vs 1 Reg. 17.1 as he did in the dayes of Elias and so causeth the Heauens to be as brasse and the earth to be as iron vnder our feete the one yeelding no dew the other bearing no fruit or if God openeth the Cataracts and floodgates of Heauen Gen. 7.11 as hee did in the dayes of Noah and so cause the Heauens to weepe and the floods to cary away our fruits before we can carry them into our barnes then must we know Saluian Massaliâ— de guber dei that all this and whatsoeuer of this kinde happeneth to vs is inflicted vpon vs for our sinnes quia ira diuinitatis est paena peccantis because all the grieuous effects of Gods wrath Gen. 3 17. are the iust deserts of mans sinne for cursed is the Earth for
and more fauour to deliuer me from my miserie then onely to remaine with me in my prosperity c. And therefore if we be free from troubles it is Quia bonus Deus Israeli from the goodnesse of God that preserueth vs if we be punished and afflicted repose thy trust in God Forti animo mala fer nec bis miser esto dolore and bee not deiected to adde griefe vnto griefe but thinke it is because it is good for vs to be afflicted and if we be deliuered from our afflictions and preserued from that poyson of despaire and other euils that they bring on others it is from this goodnesse of God Rom. 8.28 which worketh all things together for the best for them that loue him What the grace of Iustification is Secondly the grace of Iustification is that infused Faith which hee worketh in the hearts of his Elect whereby they doe lay hold and apply vnto themselues all the merits of Iesus Christ and doe by that imputatiue righteousnesse of him stand iustified in the sight of God What the grace of Sanctification is Thirdly the grace of Sanctification is that whereby we are heartily sorry for all our fore-passed sinnes and doe euery day indeuour more and more to liue in all holinesse and righteousnesse to the prayse and glory of God What the grace of Glorification is Fourthly the grace of Glorification is that whereby we liue holily in this life and shall liue happily in the life to come because as Aquinas saith God glorifieth his Saints Per profectum virtutis gratiae per exaltationem gloriae By making them holy here on Earth and bringing them to the happinesse of Heauen All these graces and what grace soeuer else is dependant vpon any of these are â—rought in the Saints by this speciall goodnesse of God Rom. 8.30 for whom God did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also iustified and whom he iustified them he also glorified This is the golden way and the royall degrees of Gods goodnesse whereby the Saints of God are saued And therefore if any of vs doe finde these graces in our selues let vs not ascribe them to our selues but to the grace and goodnesse of God for this is the worke of God that ye beleeue in him whom he hath sent Philip. 1.29 saith our Sauiour Christ And it is giuen to beleeue That if there be any goodnesse in vs we should ascribe it all to God saith the Apostle And herein let vs admire with reuerence and acknowledge with all thankefulnesse his speciall and his singular goodnesse towards vs more then towards others which perhaps naturally are aswell if not better deseruing then our selues for had he bestowed faith and repentance vpon them they would haue beleeued on him and serued him euen as we doe and had hee not bestowed these graces on vs wee should haue beene poore and naked of all goodnesse euen as they are But then here it may be obiected that if we doe no good but what God giueth vs to doe and that the very reprobates would beleeue in God and serue him if God would bestow those effectuall and powerfull graces vpon them which he bestoweth vpon his Saints then it must needes follow that the wicked are not altogether so culpable for the omission of those required duties because God giues them not the grace and ability to performe them Quia nullus actus potest excedere potentiam agentis Because no act can exceede the power of the Agent And therefore whosoeuer limiteth the power is the cause of the intermission of the consequent act and of the euent that floweth thereby And therefore God circumscribing our ability must needes be the cause of our deficiency To this I answere Sol. that we ascribe all the goodnesse of the Saints vnto the grace and goodnesse of God to magnifie Gods goodnesse and to vilifie our owne basenesse to shew that wee haue nothing in the World whereof to boast And we thinke our Sauiours words sufficient to confirme this truth where he saith A man can receiue nothing except it be giuen him from aboue Iohn 15.5 That of our selues we can doe nothing that is good And againe Without me ye can doe nothing And we say that the wicked would doe these things if God would giue them I say not sufficient but effectuall grace to doe them because it is vnpossible but the same measure of effectuall grace should produce the same measure of effects for if God would worke in them that sanctifie which he doth in his Saints how could they resist his will Or is it possible that this will of man should withstand the will of God no wayes And I see no reason why any man should except against this truth but that hereby they feare that imputation of iniustice which as they thinke must needes light on God if hee should condemne them for not seruing him and yet not giue them the grace or ability to serue him or at least wise of partiality if he without any manner of desert of the one more then the other should notwithstanding choose the one sort and inrich them and leaue the other sort and condemne them But to this I answere that if God should require such duties as are not due to him or command them to doe that which they neuer receiued power from him to fulfill we might perhaps thinke him vniust in his demands For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lawes must be made according to the rule of mens ability to performe them or if God did take away this power againe from the Agent then might he likewise be said to be the cause of the deficiency of the subsequent act but if God requires nothing at our hands God taketh not the power of seruing him from any man but that which is our duety to doe what he made vs able to performe and we through our owne default and wilfulnesse Male vtentes potestate Abusing this ability which God hath giuen vs like those that spend their wealth on whores which they should imploy to mainetaine their Wiues and Children haue lost this power that wee had receiued and brought vpon our selues an ineuitable impotency the very Law of humane reason will here take part with God against vs Non habere excusationem c. that he hath no excuse for himselfe which is the cause of his owne impediment as a Father saith And therefore seeing man lost the power of seruing God by his owne fault in offending God and that God is not bound to restore it againe God in not giuing it is no efficient cause of their not seruing him but as the Sunne is the cause of darkenesse Non per se sed per accidens Not because properly it effecteth darkenesse but accidentally by reason of its departure from vs So is God onely the cause why the wicked serue him not not because he worketh any
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Created me in stead of possessed me but I thinke this could not be because Iust Martyr that liued before the Arians were hatched and Athanasius himselfe doth reade it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Created me and therefore Secondly Epiphanius Saint Basil Saint Hierome and others Epiphan heres 69 Basil l. 2. contr Eunom Hieron in ep ad Cypr. doe thinke that the vulgar Edition is not well translated for that the Hebrew word which Salomon vseth should not be translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a iota but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the middest of the word The first is He created me and the other is he possessed me and therefore Aquila translates it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Tremellius Whether the Hebrew word bee rightly translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 created Iehoua possidebat me principio viae suae or ab initio operum suorum as others will haue it And so is the vulgar Latine and our owne last English Translation The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way And if this be true then those ancient Fathers Saint Athanasius Saint Basil Saint Cyril and others that were much troubled about this place might haue easily answered vnto this obiection of the Arians if they had corrected the Greeke Translation out of the Hebrew Text. But the Iewes contend that the word in the Originall doth aswell signifie to create as to possesse as Rabbi Shelomo Iarchi vpon Genesis 14.19 doth declare for there Moses vseth the same word which Salomon vseth here and although our last English Translation reades it Possessor of Heauen and Earth yet the vulgar Latine and the Septuagint reades it Creator of Heauen and Earth and therefore Thirdly Fulgentius answereth Fulgent in resp ad hanc ob Arrian that although Salomon should say The Lord created me yet could that make nothing against the eternall being of the Sonne of God for that we may easily see Salomon speaketh here of a two-fold generation of the Sonne of GOD. That Salomon speaketh of a two-fold generation of Christ First Of his Incarnation in these words The Lord created me the beginning of his wayes and then Secondly Least we should with Arians imagine that he was not before he was incarnate He sheweth that Ante colles genitus erat Before the mountaines he was begotten and brought forth i. e. In respect of his Diuinity First of his incarnation to be made man That in the first place he speaketh of his incarnation and this making of him to be flesh there followeth none absurdity for though hee speaketh in the present tense or preterperfect tense after the Latines yet is it set downe for the future tense after the manner of the Hebrewes who doe oftentimes especially in things pertaining to God set downe the future tense for the present because they are as certaine to bee done as if they were already done as Tertullian obserueth And the words immediately following To be the beginning of his wayes doth make this exposition the more apparantly true for what is it to be the beginning of his wayes Nisi quod ipse via nobis est factus but that hee was made to be the way for vs to walke in for hee was not made that hee should create new Creatures but that hee might renue those that were lost And therefore Saint Iames vseth the like speech of the godly James 1.18 saying Of his owne will begate he vs with the Word of Truth that wee might be as the first fruites of his Creatures And the Prophet Dauid vseth the like speech of himselfe Psal 51.10 when he saith Create a new heart in me O God And therefore to be the beginning of the wayes of God is to be the first fruites of those that are renued and not of those that are created for if you looke into the workes of Creation you shall heare him say Before the mountaines were setled and before the hills was I begotten Secondly of his eternall generation as he is God That in the second place hee speaketh of his eternall generation it is most manifest for hee changeth his phrase and saith Ante colles genita eram Before the mountaines was I begotten as the Chalde paraphrase hath it or Filiata eram I was sonned his sonne as some translate it for wee must note that created and begotten in the person of the Sonne of God are to bee distinguished or otherwise if we make created and begotten to be the same wee may say that the World was begotten which is most absurd And therefore seeing hee saith that this wisedome of GOD was both created and begotten and that these two words doe signifie two distinct and speciall things wee should consider in what respect hee is said to be created and in what respect he is said to be begotten and then we should plainely see that he is said to be created as he is the Sonne of man and that he is said to be begotten as hee is the eternall Sonne of God for here Salomon sheweth that he is said to be created in respect of that nature wherin he calleth his Father Lord for the Lord saith hee created me But hee calleth his Father Lord in respect of his humane nature and neuer calleth him Lord in respect of his diuine nature for he that is borne a seruant of his Fathers handmaide according to the saying of the Psalmist Psal 116.14 O Lord I am thy seruant and the sonne of thine hand-maide is also begotten of his Fathers Essence according to the saying of Christ Iohn 8. I and my Father are one And therefore though he calleth his Father Lord in respect of his humanity yet doth he neuer call him so but alwayes Father in respect of his Diuinity as I came from the Father and wee saw his glory John 1. as the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of the Father And so you see that these words of Salomon Naz. or 4. de theolog Athan. ser 3. cont Arr. Cyril l. 5. c. 4. 5. 6. 7. Thesauri Aug. l. 1. c. 12. de trinit The Lord created me are to be vnderstood of his incarnation and therefore can proue nothing against his eternall generation And this exposition of Fulgentius is confirmed by Nazianzen Athanasius Saint Cyril Saint Augustine and others And yet Fourthly Saint Hillary in l. de Synodis Aquinas l. 4. c. 8. contra gentes and Bellarmine l. 1. c. 18. de Christo doe answere that the eternall generation of the Sonne of God is sometimes called generation and sometimes creation because it is so ineffable that it cannot be fully expressed by any one word for generation signifieth a production in the same substance but with a certaine mutation of the begetter How the Word may be said to be both begotten created but creation signifieth a production of another substance but without any mutation of the
Euthymius vpon those words of the Apostle doe affirme Others translate it sermo which I translate speech as Prudentius Ades pater supreme patrisque sermo Christe So Beza In principio erat sermo and so Tertullian Saint Cyprian Saint Hillarie Saint Ambrose Saint Augustine Saint Hierome and diuers others and some call him the voyce of God according to that of the Psalmist The voyce of God is a glorious voyce as Claudian Christe potens redcuntis conditor aevi Vox summi sensusque Dei quem fudit ab alta Mente pater O mighty Christ maker of the world thou voyce and sence of the highest God which the Father begets in his most inward minde But most commonly the Fathers and almost all the Schoole of Diuinity following the vulgar Latine doe expound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie verbum the Word because Sermo speech doth seeme to consist of many words whereas a word doth altogether denotate and declare vnity But then it may bee obiected Ob. that none can expresse his whole minde by one simple word and therefore that speech is more likely to be the meaning of the Euangelist I answere That man indeed with one conceiued word Sol. can hardly expresse his whole minde and wisedome That as God is one act so he can expresse himselfe with one word but it is not so with God for as he is but Vnus simplicissimus actus One most simple act so hee doth apprehend and vnderstand all things Vno ictu vno conceptu at one instant and can expresse himselfe with one word And multiplicity of words doth shew the infirmity of man that with few words cannot expresse himselfe but the vnity and simplicity of Gods Word denoteth the superexcellencie of God that so briefly and so easily can doe all things Secondly We are to note why Christ is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Why Christ is tearmed the Word the Word Touching which point we must vnderstand that whatsoeuer speaketh vttereth forth words And wee finde that God Angels and Men doe speake though after a different and a diuers manner for though God being a Spirit wanteth mouth lippes and tongue and that the Apostle speaketh hyperbolically of the tongues of Angels Zanch. l. 3. c. 19. de operibus sex dierum as Zanchius noteth yet this is certaine that God and Angels doe often speake as we reade Genesis 1. Zach. 2. Esay 6.2.3 Although the speeches and the communications of the Angels be farre vnlike to ours Hieron to 7. p. 187. in c. 24. Jobi as Saint Hierome saith and that we can neither know nor vnderstand after what manner they either doe or haue heretofore spoken at any time either outwardly vnto the eare or inwardly in the minde of any man as Saint Augustine saith And therefore we say that there is a Diuine Angelicall and a humane word And to each of these i. e. God Angels and Men wee doe ascribe a two-fold word 1. One inward of the minde and vnderstanding That there is a two-fold Word 2. Another outward of the voyce and tongue After the first manner we are saide to speake when wee doe conceiue certaine thoughts and cogitations within our minde As Psal 53.1 Sap 2.1 Matth. 9. the foole hath saide in his heart there is no God and they saide within themselues but not aright And After the second manner wee are saide to speake when by any outward word Fulgent in resp ad ob Arr. or voyce we doe expresse and declare our inward cogitations And this is said to be onely the outward signe and voyce of the inward word for that the inward conception of any word is most properly said to bee the Word as Saint Augustine affirmeth Hilarius l. de Synod How in some things the Word God resembleth our outward word Now Christ is not any outward vocall word nor any transient voyce of God as diuers Heretikes said hee was but he is the inward essentiall and permanent word of God as Epiphanius Saint Basil and Saint Augustine doe declare And yet as Saint Basil saith hee hath some certaine similitudes and resemblances with our outward word for as the same springeth from our inward minde because the tongue vttereth what our minde conceiueth Matth. 12.14 for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh So is the Word God begotten from the minde of the Father and as the vocall Word is the liuely Character of the inward thought and doth represent the image of the same so is the Word God the liuing Image of the begetter and the very effigies or the ingrauen forme of his person Heb. 1.3 as the Apostle speaketh But he hath a farre more propinquity and likenesse with our inward and mentall Word as Saint Augustine teacheth For The likenesse of the Word with our inward word Aug de Trinitate l. 15. c. 10. c. 11. First As a man conceiueth and brings forth this Word in his minde so doth the Father beget his Sonne by his vnderstanding Secondly As the Word of the minde is from our knowledge our knowledge from reason and reason from the minde immaterially produced 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without any passion or corruption so is the Word God begotten of the Father as Saint Basil and Nazianzene doe declare Nazian orat 4. de Theolog. Thirdly As the minde doth so beget the Word within in selfe as that still the same remaineth in the minde Fulgentius ad Monimum as Fulgentius noteth So the Word God is so begotten of his Father as that he remaineth alwayes with the Father as The Sonne which is in the bosome of his Father he declared vnto vs and No man hath ascended vp to Heauen Iohn 3.13 but hee that came downe from Heauen euen the Sonne of man which is in Heauen Nam cum ad terrena descendit coelestia non dereliquit For when hee descended to the Earth and was made flesh he left not Heauen but as the word of the minde doth alwayes remaine in the minde so doth this Word God alwayes remaine in the bosome of God Fourthly as the conceiued word of the minde is the beginning of all working so is this word God the beginning of all creatures for by it all things were made John 1. and without it was nothing made that was made Fiftly as the mentall word is shewed by the voyce so is the word God manifested by the assuming of our flesh And yet because it is vnpossible to accommodate little vile How the Word God differeth from our word Basilius contra Eun. Aug. Ser. 190. de tempore and terrene things fully to expresse or in all things to agree with diuine and eternall things as Saint Augustine doth most excellently declare saying Cum Deus comparatur non potest comparari aequali scilicet comparatione When God is compared he cannot be compared with any equall comparison for to whom will you compare
vnto her sonne and what is it to be the fruit of the wombe but to be of the same substance as his mother was of for how can that be called the fruit of a tree that neuer had the nature of a tree for I would suppose it to bee madnesse to call a Pomegranate the fruit of the Orange tree and therefore it was as great a madnesse to call Christ the fruit of Maries wombe if he had brought his body with him either from Heauen or from any other place and the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes saith Heb. 2.14 That for as much as the children were partakers of flesh and bloud he himselfe also tooke part of the same And againe Heb. 10.5 he bringeth in Christ himselfe saying Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me And therefore when the Apostles thought that they had seene a phantasme Luke 24.39 or a Spirit he said vnto them Handle me and see because a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me haue and aboue all Gal. 4.4 the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vsed by Saint Paul and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here vsed by the Euangelist which signifie to take our nature vpon him and to be made flesh if they be diligently marked and well vnderstood doe make it most apparantly plaine that the Sonne of God tooke vnto himselfe personally the true nature of man and the very substance of his mother for the Apostle doth not say Factus de muliere sed factus ex muliere Made in a woman but made of a woman as Nicolaus de Gorram well obserueth euen as the bread is made of the wheate and Wine of Grapes and therefore though Christ had his Principium formale His formall beginning from the Holy Ghost yet it is most certaine that hee had Principium materiale his whole matter and substance from the body of his Mother Thirdly the same truth is confirmed by the vniforme consent of all Orthodoxe antiquity as the great Councell of Chalcedon that had in it 630. Bishops Fulgentius l. 2. de persona Christi the Councell of Lateran the Councell of Toledo Tertullian in his booke De Carne Christi Fulgentius Saint Basil Saint Augustine Venerable Bede and diuers others whose pithy sayings Basilius in l. de hum Christi generat and vnanswerable arguments to confirme this point I might here alledge but that Theodoret Leo Vigilius and Gelasius haue so fully collected what the Fathers before them had written hereof Aug de trinit l. 13. c. 18. that more proofe neede not be required and more excellent arguments cannot be composed for the manifestation of any truth Beda in 11. Luc. l. 4. c. 48. and therefore not willing to write Iliads after Homer I referre my Reader vnto them if hee desires any further comprobation of this point And yet for all this Macedonius and Valentinus affirmed L. 2. de trinitate L. de diuina maiest humanitatis Christi that Christ brought with him a celestiall body from Heauen and that Dogge Seruetus and his fellow Memnon taught that the Body of Christ was begotten of the substance and essence of his Father and so Apelles Marcion and Apollinaris auouched that he had an aeriall body and a syderiall flesh So Gasper Swenkfeldius saith that Christ in respect of his humanity is a true God as if his very flesh had beene begotten of God as Seruetus said Bucanus lo. 2. p. 21. Loc. com so Manichaeus saith that he had but an imaginary body a phantasme only in shew and no true body in substance and so the Anabaptists of our time do now auouch it that he tooke not vpon him the very nature of man nor the very flesh of the Virgin but that he had onely the shew and phantasme of a man which passed the wombe of his Mother Cochlaeus in l. de erroribus Monaster Anabap. as water passeth through a Conduit and this is one of their most principall points as Iohannes Chochlaeus witnesseth And therfore to maintaine their damnable errors to obscure this cleere light of veritie and to shew themselues Grand Captaines of that Arch-Hereticke and aduersary of Christ and all Christians the Diuell they doe obiect Ob. 1 First that Christ himselfe saith No man ascendeth into Heauen but he that descended from Heauen Iohn 3.13 the Sonne of Man which is in Heauen And againe speaking of the Iewes he saith You are from below Iohn 8.23 1 Cor 15.47 I am from aboue you are of this world I am not of this world And that Saint Paul saith The first man is of the Earth Earthy but the second Man i. e. Christ was from heauen heauenly and therefore say they he had the substance of his flesh from Heauen and not from the substance of his Mother Sol. I answere that all these and the like places are spoken of the whole person of Christ to whom the properties of each nature in respect of the communication of properties which hereafter I shall more fully declare vnto you may be fitly ascribed and they teach vs that the Sonne of God descended from heauen not by any change of place but by his voluntary humbling of himselfe That we must not referre that to the body of Christ which is spoken of the whole person of Christ to receiue the forme of a seruant and that hee was conceiued after a Heauenly manner by the operation of the Holy Ghost and not after any Earthly generation and therefore they doe impiously and most falsly referre that to the substance of his flesh which is indeed spoken of the whole person of Christ and of the heauenly manner of his conception for though it be true that I should say I am a reasonable creature which doth both heare and vnderstand yet doth this no way proue that my Body alone without the soule is such or can doe either of these euen so though Christ saith that he descended from Heauen because he was a God that euer was in Heauen yet that doth no way proue that his flesh which he assumed on earth descended from heauen because hee had that from his Mother and brought it not downe from aboue And that he is not of this world but from aboue or from Heauen heauenly is nothing else but that he is not worldly minded or swayed with the lusts of the flesh or any wayes earthly affected and this though in a farre inferiour degree to him hee saith of the Apostles You are not of this world Iohn 15.19 because as Saint Paul saith of all Christians they minde not the things of this world but haue their conuersation in Heauen Phil. 3.30.20 Secondly they say that in what body he appeared to the Fathers Ob. 2 of the Old Testament he appeared in the like body to the Apostles and Disciples in the New Testament but he appeared vnto the Patriarchs in no true
especially of two sorts 1. Some in respect of Christ 2. Others in respect of Christians First Those in respect of Christ are likewise three-fold 1. The benefit of the vnion of the two natures in respect of Christ is three-fold Esay 53.12 1 Pet. 2.22 1. An exemption of all sinne and corruption from Christ 2. The collation of ineffable graces into the humanity of Christ 3. The communication of the properties of each Nature to the person of Christ First We finde that although Christ appeared like a sinfull man and was numbred among the wicked yet in very deede he did no sinne neither was any guile found in his mouth for though In carnis assumptione condescendit mihi in culpae tamen vitatione consului◠sibi 1. To free the manhood from all sinne He assumed the true nature of man yet by reason of his pure conception and of this hypostaticall vnion hee was conceiued and liued without sinne and so as Leo saith Qui non alienus ab hominum genere alienus fuit à crimine He tooke vpon him the seede of man but not the sinne of man he vnited himselfe to our nature but he shunned all the iniquity of our nature Secondly The graces callated vnto the humanity of Christ by reason of this vnion of the two natures are very many especially these sixe 2. To inrich the manhood with these and the like speciall graces First His subsistence and that in the second person of the Trinity whereof it selfe as of it selfe is destitute Secondly An extraordinary dignity in that it is a peculiar Temple for the Deity of Christ to dwell in and the place where the Godhead shewes it selfe more manifestly and more gloriously then in any other Creature whatsoeuer for though God sheweth himselfe by his prouidence to be in all his Creatures and by his grace to be after a more speciall manner in his Saints yet is he onely most gloriously eternally inhabiting according to the fulnesse of his Deity by an hypostaticall vnion in the humanity of Christ for In him dwelleth the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily Collos 2.9 And as now in this life No man commeth vnto God but by Christ so hereafter in the next life No man can see God but in the face of Iesus Christ Thirdly A more neere familiarity with the Godhead then any other Creature whether Men or Angels either had or haue or can haue for that to all other Creatures he is adioyned onely by the presence of his grace or glory but to the humanity of Christ he hath personally vnited himselfe for euer So that as he said My Father and I are one that is one essence he may as truly say the Manhood and I are one that is one onely person for euer Fourthly An extraordinary measure without measure of habituall graces wisedome vnderstanding holinesse and the like such as dwels not in that measure in any other Creature whatsoeuer no not in the very chiefest Angels of God for to all them were giuen grace by measure but to the humanity of Christ Ephes 4 7. was giuen grace without measure Iohn 3.34 saith the Baptist euen so much as a Creature is any wayes capable of Fiftly A partner agent with the Godhead according to its measure in the workes of redemption mediation and such like Sixtly To be adored and worshipped with diuine honour not as it is considered in it selfe without respect vnto the Deity but as it is vnited with the Godhead Neque tamen creaturam adoramus Athanas Orat. 5. contra Arrianos Wee worship not the flesh alone considered but wee adore the person of Christ which consisteth of the Word and our Flesh absit sed dominum rerum creatarum incarnatum verbum deum adoramus And yet we adore no Creature God forbid but we worship and adore the Lord of all Creatures the incarnate Word God Iesus Christ saith Athanasius Nam veluti si quis nostrum c. For as if any one of vs should finde a purple roabe or a Kingly Diademe lying vpon the ground would he worship the same trow you but when the King is clothed and decked with the same he is guilty of death that despiseth and refuseth to worship and honour them together with the King that weareth them euen so in our Sauiour Christ wee doe not adore the sole and bare humanity Aug. de verbis Domini sec Joh. Ser. 58. but being vnited vnto the Deity whosoeuer shall despise to adore with diuine worship that onely Sonne of God true God and true man hee shall vndoubtedly suffer the paines of eternall death saith Saint Augustine 3. To haue the properties of each nature to bee indifferently predicated of the whole person of Christ Thirdly For the communicating of the properties we are to consider it First In respect of those properties which are common to both natures ioyntly considered Secondly In respect of those properties which are peculiar to either nature seuerally considered First The Office of a Mediator is ascribed to Christ in respect of both natures Quia totus Christus secundum diuinitatem humanitatem est Mediator Intercessor because whole Christ according to his Deity and humanity is our Mediator and Intercessor saith Saint Augustine Secondly The peculiar properties of either nature are said to be communicated when they are predicated or spoken of the whole person of Christ in the concrete and largest extent and this communicating of properties is nothing else but a forme of speech whereby those things are spoken of the whole person of Christ which indeede are proper to either one nature and not to the other for oftentimes it comes to passe that by reason of the personall vnion of these two natures each one of them doth interchangeably take the concrete names each of other in predication Acts 20.28 as when it is said That God purchased the Church with his owne bloud not that the Godhead shed bloud but because that person which was a God did shed bloud to procure redemption not which it had as God but which it had in respect of the Manhood vnited vnto it So the Sonne of man talking with Nicodemus Iohn 3.13 is said To be in Heauen not that hee was in Heauen as he was man while he was on earth but because that person which was the Sonne of man was by something that was in his person that is his Deity in Heauen So Saint Paul in the first Chapter to the Romans Rom. 1.4 Verse 3.4 doth giue vs a perfect patterne how to interpret all such alternate predications for there hee saith That the Sonne of God was made of the seede of Dauid but how not according to his diuine Sonneship or Deity which hee had from all eternity but in respect of his humane nature which was personally vnited vnto the Sonne of God And therefore though it be most vsuall in the Scripture to heare things properly appertaining to the
all heauens we must learne the way of him if wee would ascend to heauen for hee came downe from heauen and he is gone vp into heauen and now he sitteth in heauen vpon the right hand of God CHAP. II. That Iesus Christ the Sonne of God is hee that is meant by the Prophet Dauid and Saint Paul to haue ascended vpon high Quest BVt who is he of whom it is written that hee ascended vp on high for many ascend as you heare but which is he that is here meant I confesse the 68. Psalme Resp Psalme 68. wherein these words are first written is literally to be vnderstood not of any triumph for the slaughter of the hoste of Senacherib which was done in the time of King Hezekias as the Iewes doe most fabulously dreame when the very Title of this Psalme that ascribeth it vnto Dauid doth sufficiently confute this vanity nor yet for any of the victories of Dauid which he obtained against his bordering enemies the Ammonites Literally these words were spoken of the Arke of the Couenant the Moabites the Idumeans and the Philistines as some would haue it but of that great and glorious pompe which was then done and shewed when King Dauid with great ioy and triumph did bring the Arke of the Couenant into the hill of Sion and therefore these words thou art gone vpon high Mollerus in Psalme 68. doe signifie that the Arke which formerly had layne in an obscure place was transported from one place to another was now ascended and seated in a most illustrious and conspicuous place euen in the Kingly pallace and these words thou hast led captiuitie captiue to signifie those enemies which formerly had spoiled and wasted diuers Countreyes but now being vanquished by King Dauid were led captiue in this triumph for so it was the manner of those times as Plutarch doth excellently declare in the life of Paulus Aemilius and the other words thou hast receiued gifts for men Plutarch in vita Pauli Aemilij doe signifie those spoyles that were freely offered for conditions of peace and were triumphantly carried about in this pompous showe for the greater solemnitie of the same and then as the manner was among the chiefftaines when they triumphed Bellica laudatis dona dedisse viris to bestow warlike gifts vpon worthie men were bestowed on seuerall men in seuerall manner as Sigonius sheweth Sigon l. 2. de antiquo iure pro. Yet I say that mystically this Psalme is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a tryumphall song penned by King Dauid vpon the foresight of Iesus Christ arising from the dead and with great ioy and triumph ascending vp into Heauen Mystically these words were first spoken of Christ ascending vp into Heauen and thence sending his holy spirit vnto his Apostles and Disciples and hauing ouercome all his enimies collecting by the ministerie of his Preachers his Church and chosen seruants together and so guiding and defending them heere in this life vntill he doth receaue them into eternall glorie for so the authoritie of Saint Paul interpreting them and all other Diuines with one consent doth compell vs to vnderstand them and to know that that pompous shew and tryumph of King Dauid was but the praeludium and type of this triumph of our Sauiour Christ whereof the Apostle speaketh in this place and it was an vsuall thing for the Prophet Dauid in all his chiefest and most glorious acts so to behold the Proto-type that is the Messias whose type he knew he was and so to accommodate all his actions vnto what the Messias should doe that all men might perceiue these things to be done not through any humane inuention All the chiefest acts of Dauid were types of Christ but as he was moued and guided by the inward inspiration of Gods spirit and that for the instruction and edification of the whole Church when by these outward perspicuous acts of Dauid as by certaine visible lectures all men might see and reade those things that should be done by Iesus Christ And therfore I say that the person prophesied of by King Dauid and here spoken of by Saint Paul to haue ascended vp on high is our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ who hauing vanquished and ouercome sinne death Hell and all our enemies did most gloriously ascend vp to Heauen in the presence of all his Apostles and Disciples and thence sent the holy Ghost to replenish and fill their hearts with all spirituall gifts and graces and this will more fully appeare vnto vs out of the second point which is the action or the motion of this person set downe in the word ascendit when hee ascended vp on high CHAP. II. A fuller declaration of the person ascending and of the time place and manner of his ascention Saint Paul collecteth two things out of the word he ascended YOV haue heard of the person ascending who he is Iesus Christ we are now to consider of his ascention out of this word ascendit when hee ascended vp on high but first we must obserue that our Apostle out of this Word he ascended doth collect both the humiliation and the exaltation of Christ First the humiliation of Christ First his humiliation in the 9. v for that he saith he ascended what is it but that hee descended first into the lower parts of the earth wherein the Apostle would haue Dauid when hee forespake of the glorification and the ascention of Christ into Heauen to haue foreseene his humiliation and descention from Heauen to bee incarnate and made man Secondly the exaltation of Christ Secondly his exaltation in the tenth verse hee that descended is the same also that ascended farre aboue all heauens for these two verses are read by a parenthesis and are added by the Apostle for the fuller explication of those hidden mysteries that are included in the word he ascended First touching the descention the Apostle setteth downe two things 1. The descent it selfe that he descended 2. The extent of his descent into the lower parts of the earth The first sheweth vs that hee was first in Heauen Christ first descended i. e. was incarnate before he could ascend i. e. according to his God-head or else he could neuer haue descended out of Heauen and that he descended to be incarnate and mâ—de man before the man Christ could ascend vp into Heauen and therefore the Prophet Dauid fore-seeing the ascention of the man Christ must needs foresee the humiliation of the Sonne of God to be made man The second is a point more controuerted for first some doe expound the lower parts of the earth to signifie his mothers wombe because the descent of the Sonne of God is nothing else but his incarnation and that was done in his mothers wombe and because the Prophet Dauid vseth the like saying of himself I was formed beneath in the earth i. e. in my mothers wombe In inferioribus terra secondly
Heauen which Oecumenius calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The receptacle of him that is sent Aug. l de fide symbolo c. 6. Cyril in Leuit. l. 9. Vigilius contra Eutych l. 4. and this the Fathers Saint Augustine Cyrillus Alexandrinus Vigilius Theodoret and others haue most fully shewed and proued vnto vs and that for these three speciall ends First That we might be assured our Sauiour Christ remaineth still a true and a perfect man in glory Secondly That we might know where to seeke and where to finde our Sauiour Christ Nam pontifex noster non vtique in terrà quaerendus Orig. in leuit sed in coelo For our high Priest Iesus Christ is not to be sought for in Earth but in Heauen saith Origen therefore as S. Augustine said of Mary Magdalen Aug. de tempore Ser. 133. Quid quaeris in tumulo quem adorare debes in coelo Why seekest thou him in the graue below whom thou shouldest adore in the Heauens aboue so much better might I now say vnto many men Alas why seeke you Christ here on Earth in Bread and Wine and I know not where when as he is no where to be found in respect of his Manhood but in Heauen there is the place where he sitteth on the right hand of the Maiesty of God Thirdly That we might know where we shall be for so our Sauiour saith Iohn 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast giuen mee be with me where I am Ob. But against this it may be obiected that Christ himselfe saith No man ascendeth vnto Heauen but hee that descended from Heauen Iohn 3.13 the Sonne of man which is in Heauen And therefore how shall we haue any hope to ascend vp vnto Heauen Sol. Saint Augustine answereth that we are not therefore to despaire because he ascendeth alone i. e. by his proper strength and power for we shall be eleuated and taken vp by the power of Christ who came therefore downe from Heauen that he might carry vs vp into Heauen that were falling downe into Hell or as the same Saint Augustine saith We ought therefore to be vnited vnto him That we must be vnited to Christ if we will ascend where Christ is that so it might be but one Christ which descended and ascended he descended as the head of his Church and he ascendeth with his whole body which is his Church hee descended naked and he ascendeth clothed with our flesh and he descended as a husband without a wife but he ascendeth married vnto his Church and so he and vs is but one one body one flesh Vnitas nos compaginat vni Aug. in Psal 122. p. 591. Our vnity with him makes vs one with him and therefore they onely shall not ascend which are not nor will not be made one with him but our conuersation is in Heauen and our life is hid with Christ in God and therefore he might well say No man ascendeth but he that descendeth if you vnderstand it of Christ mystically that is of him wholly of him and all his members because none but his members shall ascend into Heauen And so you see the place where Christ ascended into heauen Rupertus de offic diuin c. 8. Quomodo autem sit in coelo corpus domini curiosissimum est quaerere But to inquire how the body of Christ is in Heauen whether sitting or standing whether naked or clothed Aug. l. de fide sym which Clemens Alexandrinus denyeth because the Saints in Heauen shall haue no need of clothing or how he ascended into Heauen whether in a purple robe as Fredernus Nausea supposeth out of Esay Esay 63.2 whose meaning is far otherwise then Nausea thinketh and many other curious questions they are farre fitter to be buried in silence then to be once determined by any modest Christian because as Saint Augustine saith Curious questions ought not to be discussed Non est nostrae fragilitatis secreta coelorum discutere sed est fidei nostra de dominici corporis dignitate sublimia honesta sapere It is not possible for our weakenesse to vnderstand the secrets of Heauen it is inough that by faith we beleeue and conceiue worthy things Idem quo sup de fide symb and that holily and modestly concerning Christ And so much for the explication of the first part which is of the Ascention of our Sauiour Christ. Branch 2. BRANCH II. CHAP. V. Of the application of this Doctrine of the Ascention of Christ vnto our selues both in respect of consolation and imitation The Doctrine of Christs Ascention may serue for a double end SEcondly For the application of this Doctrine vnto our selues you must note that it may serue for a double end 1. Of Consolation 2. Of Imitation First Our Consolation is likewise twofold 1. That he is gone to Heauen For 2. That he is not vnmindfull of vs on earth For Aug. in Act. First Dum naturam humanam syderibus Christus importauit credentibus coelum patere posse monstrauit Whereas Christ hath caried our humane nature vnto heauen he hath thereby shewed that now Heauen is open for all beleeuers saith Saint Augustine O then how much should we reioyce hereat because now onely we see indeed which before we onely saw in hope the Chyrography and hand-writing of our damnation blotted out and the sentence of our corruption quite changed for now we see that nature Gen. 3.19 to whom it was said Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt returne to haue gone to Heauen and there to raigne without end Neither are wee onely made possessors of Heauen but we doe receiue more ample and more excellent things by this most ineffable glory of Christ then we haue lost by that inueterate enuy of the Deuill Nam quos diabolus de Paradiso eiecit Leo in Ser. de Ascent hos dei filius in coelo collocauit For whom Satan hath cast out of Paradise Christ hath brought them vnto euerlasting happinesse Secondly As it is our comfort that he hath giuen vs possession of heauen so it is as great a comfort vnto vs That Christ in Heauen forgetteth not his seruants here on earth that he being in Heauen is not vnmindfull of vs that are here on earth Indeed Pharaoh's butler forgat Ioseph when he ascended vnto his masters fauour and so it is an vsuall thing in the world for all great men that haue beene raised vp of nothing to be most vnmindefull of their poore friends and acquaintance they hold it a point of pollicie to know them not or at least to looke strangley and sternely vpon them whereupon it is most truely sayd Asperius nihil est humili cum surgit in altum None so disdainfull none so proud as they that haue ascended vp on high from meane estate but it is not so with Christ for though he be gone vp on high from
Triumph of Christ Part. 3 PART III. CHAP. I. Of the speciall ends why Christ ascended into heauen and of the gifts which he giueth to edifie the Church THirdly touching the bounty of Christ set downe in these words and he gaue gifts vnto men we must first reconcile the difference betwixt the Prophet and the Apostle about the same for Dauid saith thou hast receiued gifts for men and Saint Paul saith he giueth gifts to men and I answer that if we vnderstand it literally Dauid receiued gifts which for feare of his power were freely offered vnto him and if we vnderstand it mystically of Christ we finde the saying of both to be true for the Apostle speaketh of the things which Christ doth as God sending forth the holy Ghost and bestowing gifts on men and the Psalmist speaketh of him according to that which the same Christ doth in his body August in Psal 67. p. 289. a. i. which is his Church Thus no doubt saith Saint Augustine but as he is persecuted in his Church so accepit in membris qua dona membra eius accipiunt he receiued and receiueth gifts in men for whatsoeuer is done to them that beleeue in him the same is done to him or else we may say that the Son of God as he was man receiued those gifts from his Father which hee was afterwards to distribute and to giue vnto his Church for so we reade that he being exalted and hauing receiued of the Father the promise of the holy Ghost Act. 2.33 hee hath shed foorth this which we now see and heare and so the originall word which the Psalmist vseth signifieth to receiue that which wee must presently distribute saith Mollerus Mollerus in Psal 68. and therefore the difference is soone ended and the matter in both is true he receiued gifts and he gaue those gifts to men for wee finde as Bonauenture tels vs that our Sauiour ascended for foure speciall ends Christ ascended for foure speciall ends First to receiue his kingdome as himselfe intimateth vnto vs in the nineteenth of Luke and the twelfth verse Secondly to make vs the more earnestly to long for him Quia abijt occultat se Deus vt ardentius quaeratur à nobis because God doth therefore hide himselfe from vs that he may be the more earnestly sought of vs saith Saint Bernard Bernard in cant Thirdly to prepare a place for vs for though in respect of Gods purpose it was prepared for vs before the beginning of the world yet in respect of the effecting and bringing to passe the said purpose it was specially prepared for vs by Christ because he remoued all hinderances and made way for vs to enter into glory 1. by appeasing his fathers wrath 2. by cleansing our consciences from dead workes 3. by opening vnto vs the gates of heauen and 4. by making continuall intercession for vs As Bonauenture speaketh Fourthly to send downe his holy Spirit vnto vs Ioh. 16.17 for so our Sauiour saith It is expedient for you that I goe away Quia nisi dederitis quod amatis non habebitis quod desideratis for vnlesse I goe away the comforter will not come vnto you but if I depart I will send him vnto you Tertul. l. de carne Christi for now saith Tertullian Graetum quoddam commercium inter coelum terram existit celebratum a most gratefull exchange and a friendly louing bargaine was made betwixt heauen and earth that to the inhabitants of heauen should be giuen the flesh of Christ and to vs on earth should be bestowed the comforts of Gods holy Spirit and so the Spirit of God should remaine with vs on earth and our flesh should dwell with them for euer in heauen and then all things to be common betwixt vs eternally and therefore he did not send his Spirit vnto vs before he had ascended into heauen Why Christ would not bestow his gifts on men before his ascention non propter impotentiam sed quia habuerunt corporalem prasentiam not in respect of any impotency that he could not doe it but because we had his corporall presence and because as the raine doth not descend vntill the mist and dew doe first ascend so the gratious raine of Gods Spirit did not fall vpon Gods inheritance to refresh it when it was weary vntill this fruit of the wombe which was as the dew of the morning had first ascended into heauen but as when that little cloud like a mans hand 1 Kings 11. did rise out of the sea there was a sound of much raine so when that humble flesh of Christ was ascended out of this world into heauen then he gaue gifts vnto men Aug. de verbis domini p. 63. b. 1. to 10. But what are these gifts which he giueth Saint Augustine saith it is his holy Spirit Tale donum qualis ipse est such a gift as himselfe is for he gaue himselfe and he giues a gift equall to himselfe because the gift of Christ is the Spirit of Christ but heare the Apostle saith hee gaue gifts and not a gift and therefore though I doe confesse that this holy and blessed Spirit is the author and fountaine of all gifts by whom wee haue remission of sinnes subiection of our enemies and all other gifts of grace and glory sealed vnto vs yet I say that the Apostle herein meaneth not so much the spirit himselfe as the gifts and graces of his Spirit And therefore that wee may the better vnderstand the fulnesse of this point of the bounty of Christ we must consider these foure speciall things Foure points to be considered 1. What manner of gifts they are 2. What gifts are here meant 3. How he doth bestow them 4. On whom he doth bestow them First that the gifts of God are free gifts For the first wee must know that they were gratuita free gifts so the words dedit dona he gaue them and he gaue them as gifts doe sufficiently declare or otherwise si praememeruisti tum emisti non gratis accepisti if thou hadst done any thing to deserue these gifts then hadst thou bought them and not freely receiued them and God had sold them and not giuen them and so they had beene praemia non dona rewards for thy good deedes and not gifts of his meere grace but this point is so cleere that I neede not stand on it Matth. 10.8 Freely you haue receiued saith our Sauiour freely giue for euery one may take of these waters of life freely and may haue these gifts Esay 51.1 like Esayas milke without money or moneyes worth For the second wee must note that the gifts of God are either 1. Temporall Secondly the the gifts of God are of two sorts 2. Spirituall First The temporall gifts he gaue vnto all sorts of men aswell before as after his ascention for wee must note that euery thing which we haue is
those daily heapes of our actuall transgressions And therefore you must giue me leaue to insist a little vpon this point and to take a further view of this our immortall enemie this actuall sinne that bringeth death I confesse it is an Hydrian beast that hath many heads it is like a continued quantitie that admits of infinite sections I cannot touch them all yet for methods sake and the furtherance of our memory I desire you to consider these three points Three things considered in the handling of actuall sin 1. The nature of it how it is defined 2. The degrees whereby it is increased 3. The manner how it is committed CHAP. II. Of actuall sinne what it is and by what degrees it inwardly increaseth Aug. contra faustum lib. 22. cap. 27. What actuall sinne is SAint Augustine defineth sinne to be factum aut dictum aut concupitum contra legem Dei any fact or word or thought that is contrary to the Law of God and Saint Ambrose briefer sayth that sinne is the breach of Gods Law but Zanchius fuller Zanch. de peccato actuali lib. 1. thes 1. pag. 161. and to my content playner sayth that an actuall sinne is an anomie * A want of rule whereby those humane acts that doe proceede from the corruption of our flesh are contrary to the Will of God ingraffed in the mindes of men and especially reuealed in the word of trueth for heerein is expressed both the matter and the forme of sinne The matter of sinne must be a humane act First Materiale peccati the matter of sinne is sayd to be a humane act whether thought word or deede for otherwise it cannot be sayd to be an actuall sinne where there is no act and therefore not onely in sinnes of commission as adultery murther theft and such like but also in those sinnes which are called sinnes of omission as not to pray not to doe that seruice vnto God which we owe vnto him there is not onely a meere priuation but there must be also aliquid positiuum some act that makes the sinne as when thou omittest thy duety either because thou wilt not doe it and there is an act of thy will or because thou canst not remember and hast forgotten to doe it and there is an act of thy memorie or else thy vnwillingnesse thy vnablenesse and thy forgetfulnesse doe proceede from some act and occasion either present or precedent Furor iraque mentem precipitant which makes thee to omitte the things commaunded and so to sinne as when thy feare blindes thy iudgement that thou canst not discerne the trueth or thy drunkennesse causeth thee to sleepe when thou shouldest be hearing the word of God But you must not thinke euery humane act to bee a sinne but onely those that doe proceede from the corruption of our flesh and are contrarie to the Will of God For Secondly Formale peccati The very being of sinne is an erring from the will of God Psal 40.10 as the Schoolemen call it the very being of sinne is a deuiation from the Will of God For the Will of God is to be alwayes set before our eyes as the onely rule whereby we are to square all our actions and therefore euery man should say with the Psalmist In the volume of thy booke it is written of me that I should fulfill thy will O my God I am content to doe it and euery man should doe as he saith Thy will be done in earth as it is Heauen for whosoeuer erreth from his Will sinneth against his owne Soule but whosoeuer doth the will of my Father the same is my brother and my sister and my mother Mar. 3.35 sayth our Sauiour Christ But because the will of God is not alwayes knowne to vs neither can we search into that which hee concealeth from vs therefore you must vnderstand that the reuealed will of God is lydius-lapis that touch-stone which trieth euery action and makes it either iust or sinnefull The will of God is reuealed in our consciences and in the Scriptures Now this will of God is reuealed in the booke of euery mans conscience and in the booke of holy Scriptures For of the first the Apostle saith that the Gentiles though they had not the written Law of Moses yet had they the Law of God written in their hearts because there consciences bare them witnesse what was to be performed and what was to be eschewed and did accuse them when they did ill and excuse them when they did well and therefore whatsoeuer they did against their owne conscience they did the same against the will of God reuealed and ingrauen in their hearts and therefore the Apostle saith that as many as haue sinned without the law Rom. 2.14 verse 14. i. e. without the written law of Moses shall also perish without the Law because they hauing not the law were a law vnto themselues And The word of God is diuided into two parts id est 1. The law 2. The Gospel For the 2. wee must not onely vnderstand the Law of decalogue or 10. commandements although that bee the chiefest rule to expresse all sinne but we must also consider the Gospel as a part of that booke wherin the reuealed will of God is expressed for there are many things forbidden and many things commaunded in the Gospell which are not plainely expressed or mentioned in the Law as to beleeue Iesus the sonne of Mary to be the Messias whereby all sinnes are taken away and without whom all sinnes doe remaine for so Christ himselfe testifieth Iohn 6.9 that the holy Ghost should reprooue the world of sinne because they did not beleeue in him and therfore whatsoeuer act is done against the will of God reuealed either in the Law or the Gospell the same is sinne Secondly For the degrees whereby sin is increased we must note Bernardus de grad humilitatis that nemo repentinè fit pessimus sed paulatim descendit no man is suddenly desperately euil but he descendeth to hel by little and little for the deuill is like a serpent creeping and sliding by little and little when wee cannot perceiue his pathes and therefore we should be very wary to marke his footesteps Now as euery sinne is committed either inwardly or outwardly Jsidorus de summo bono Sinne is inwardly increased by three degrees so euery sinne is increased either inwardly in our mindes or outwardly in our actions 1. Inwardly it increaseth and groweth by 3. degrees 1. By the suggestion of Satan 2. By the delight of the Flesh 3. By the consent of the Spirit The first we cannot well auoyde because Satan is euer busie to suggest sinne into vs Satan suggesteth sinne diuers wayes sometimes horribly to prodigious villanies sometimes secretly hee insinuates himselfe vnder the shape of an Angel of Light and suggesteth sinne vnder the shew of Vertue and thus in euery member of our Bodies
as hee which beleeueth in Christ as sayth the Apostle and prouideth not for his familie hath denied the faith and is worse then an Infidell and as he which professeth Christian Religion and with his knowledge and Faith and Baptisme hath no good maners no holinesse of life and conuersation which may expresse the liuelihood of this doctrine but hath onely a certaine shew of Religion hauing denied the power thereof is farte worse then an Infidell so is he which sinneth wittingly through knowledge by so much worse then he is which sinneth through ignorance as an inexcusable sinne is worse then that which hath a iust excuse And so Saint Isidore sayth Jsidorus de summo bono l 2. that tanto maius peccatum esse cognoscitur quanto maior qui peccat habetur according to the quality of the offender so is the qualitie of the offence Criminostor culpa est vbi honestior status the greater the man is which sinneth the greater is the sinne which he committeth for as Plato sayth that ignorantia potentum robustorumque hominum hostilis atque teterrima res est the ignorance of great and mighty men is a most vile and hatefull thing Why the sins of great men of eminent place are the greatest sins because it may bee very hurtfull vnto many so may we say that the sinnes of great men and of those that are in place and authoritie are exceedingly sinnefull and doe deserue the greater condemnation not onely because their sinnes are exemplarie sinnes as the old verse sayth Regis ad exemplum totus componitur orbis and as the prouerbe is like Priest like People Matth. 6.23 but also because in them is required the more eminent vertue wee should bee the light of the world and the great men should be the defenders of the distressed and the helpers of the needy and therefore Si lumen quod in te est tenebrae sunt ipsae tenebrae quatae erunt If thou which shouldest be at patterne of all vertue committest sinne how great is thy sin and if they which should be Patrons of the poore Preachers become robbers of the Church and they which should be Releeuers of the needy become oppressors of their neighbours how intollerable is that cruelty Surely though these things should be but small sinnes in others yet in vs they are horrible transgressions Chrysost hom 24 in c. 7. Matth. Quia impossibile omnino nobis est ad ignorantiae praesidium aliquando confugere Because it is vnpossible for vs to finde any excuse for our selues And therefore though Gentlemen and Courtiers Citizens and worldlings doe leade their liues in lewdnesse and turne the graces of God into wantonnesse and thinke it no great sinnes but either the infirmities of their youth or but the custome of their times yet in vs that are the Preachers of Gods Word or in those that are the Gouernours of the people the least sinne or mis-cariage of our selues which perhaps alijs ignoscitur nobis imputatur is but a veniall sinne in others and shall be pardoned will be found a haynous sinne in vs for which we shall be surely punished Bern. l. 2. de consid ad Eugen. for so Saint Bernard saith Inter seculares nugae nugae sunt in ore sacerdotis sunt blasphemiae Triffles are but triffles among secular men but in the mouth of the Priests triffles proue to be blasphemies and therfore the wise man saith that the meane and the simple man shall obtaine mercy Wis 6.6 when the wise and the mighty shall be mightily punished CHAP. VI. How euery sinne and the least sinne of euery one bringeth death YOu haue heard the diuersity of sinners and the inequality of sinnes and therfore I might now proceed vnto the second part which is the reward of sinne but that I may not forget to obserue that the Apostle saith indefinitely the reward of sinne is death to teach vs these three speciall lessons 1. That euery One sinne brings death 2. That the sinne of euery one brings death 3. That the least sin of any one brings death for First He sayth the reward of sinne is death not of sinnes That any one sinne is sufficient to bring death vnto the Sinner 1 Sam. 17. 2 Sam. 20 9. Sueton. in vit Caesar One is inough if there were no more For as one leake in a shippe is sufficient to sinke it and one vaynes bleeding is inough to let out all the vitall spirits and one wound may kill Golias and Amasa as well as 23 did Caesar So one proud disdainefull thought may cast Lucifer out of Heauen one Apple may cast Adam out of Paradise and one sinne may bring death vpon any one of the sonnes of Adam And therefore seeing the puritie of God can abide no sinne and his iustice will so seuerely punish euery sinne Gen. 3.24 we should not giue way to any sinne for though we keepe the royall Law James 2.10 yet if we fail but in any one point we are guilty of all not that he which committeth any one sin committeh all sinnes but that he is as guilty of death by that one sinne as if hee had committed all sinnes and God can as easily spie out one sinne in man though he had no more as well as he could spie out one man amongst his guests which had not on his wedding garment Matth. 22.12 Secondly as One sinne so the sinne of any one brings death That the sin of any one man be he great or small brings death Gal. 3.10 Jerem 22 24. for cursed is euery one whosoeuer he be that continueth not in all things that are written in the Booke of the Law for to doe them saith the Lord and the soule which sinneth that soule shall die saith the Prophet and Coniah if he offend though he were as the Signet on Gods right hand yet will God cut him off saith the Lord. But what haue not Kings and Princes Lords and Ladies great men Knights and rich men haue not they any priuiledge to haue their pleasures nor any prerogatiue to commit any sinne must they haue no more liberty then the poorest peasant Yes that they haue for when the meane men cannot offend but presently they shall be reprooued and it may be punished whereby many times they are brought to repentance and are themselues cleansed and haue their sinnes pardoned the great men The dangerous estate of Great men because many of vs dare not reproue them for feare to offend them and so to be offended by them may goe on in their sinnes without controulement they may doe it without feare though with the more danger for though it be true of a poore fearefull Preacher dat veniam coruis vexat censura columbas that he dares not reprooue these mighty men yet with God there is no respect of persons but Veniam laeso numine nullus habet If Moses the Prince of Gods people
4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 senum of old age till death as Varro distributeth the same Yeares of their age First In our childehood we are all alike the heyre differing nothing from a seruant though hee bee Lord of all all Lords or what you will but they must be vnder Tutors and Gouernors sayth the Apostle and because exultat leuitaete puer children are childish and apish rather delighting in toyes then imbracing instructions therefore they are kept vnder correction and brought vnto vertue by good discipline while they may be taught for as it is prouerbially sayd Flexilis est iuncus salices flectuntur amarae Robora dura minus the tender branch may bee easily bowed but the well-growne Oke Prouer. 29.18 and c. 4.3.4 will bee sooner broken then straitened so wee may teach a childe a trade in his youth but we shall hardly teach an old Horse to amble and therefore the wisest among the sonnes of men aduiseth all men to correct their children though they be neuer so deere in their sight because this is as necessarie vnto the children as their foode and as comfortable vnto the parents as the childe himselfe in as much as to haue a good childe is better then to haue a childe And yet this instruction and especially the correction is such an intollerable burthen so heauie for them to beare What a burthen correction is vnto children as that they thinke no creatures more miserable then themselues when they see all others free and themselues onely as they thinke bound vnder the rod and therefore would they giue all they haue to be once rid out of this seruile bondage Secondly In our youth we are like vntamed colts wilde and wanton vnable to rule our selues and vnwilling to be ruled by others and therefore wee doe loosen our bridles to all licentiousnesse and euery young man is for the most part as the Poet describeth him briefly Inuidus iracundus iners vinosus amator We burne with lust while we be youths How dissolute we are in our youth Ouidius l. 13. Metam Dum mihi laeâ—â— genas conuestit flore inuentus militiae ingredior castra cupido tuâ— and are still inflamed with that vntameable fire of wanton loue neque enim robustior aetas Vlla nec vberior nec quae magis ardeat vlla est Pleasure and youth doe smile on vs to woe vs To taste vaine lusts tasted they vndoe vs. Therefore S. Iere. sayth That it is almost impossible to find a young man that is not sometimes tempted with fleshly lusts and Saint Ambrose sayth Inter omnia certamina christianorum durissima sunt praelia caftitatis Prodigus curae vacuus temerarius audax Omne genus vitae liberioris amo Among all the combats of Christians it is the hardest thing for vs to ouercome and subdue our owne lusts and to keepe our owne flesh a chast and a modest virgin And as we are inflamed with lust so we are drowned in drunkennesse we swell with pride and we fill our selues with all filthynesse and thereby we doe many times as wee daily see in many desperate youthes by drinking whooring swearing quarrelling and such like effects of deboysnesse suddenly cut off our selues in our owne wickednesse and what greater miseries can there be then these and yet behold I will shew thee greater abhominations For The miseries incident to vs in our Manhood Nunc me ludus habet nunc me formosa puella nunc fera pro pacta praelia nocte gâ—ro Sedvelut herba perit sic flos cadit ipse inuentae faelix qui potuit dicere talis eram Thirdly In our manhood we are come to the midst of miseries so that quocunque afpiciam quocunque lumina vertam Wheresoeuer we looke and turne our eyes we shall see nothing but our selues swimming in a Sea of sorrowes and there tumbled and tossed with many waues of woes micat ignibus aether Cloudes of darkenesse are in stead of comforts and about our heads we shall finde haile-stones and coales of fire for now we finde the affaires of the world the feares of enemies the cares for families the discontents at home many times of thy Wife that lyeth in thy bosome many times of thy Children the fruits of thine owne bowels the wrongs of Neighbours abroad the suites of Law and a thousand such bitter fruits of sinne doe so vexe and affright the heart of man that they make him often sleepe like the Nightingale that is said to haue alwayes a pricke before her breast and then to rise vp early and late to goe to bed Psal 127.3 and to eate the bread of carefulnesse and all to no purpose for after we haue wearied and worne out our selues in the pursuite of this world all our workes and labours are but as the Spiders webbe it will make no garment for vs and when wee haue brought our yeares to an end as it were a tale that is tolde then notwithstanding all our former pompe and power wee shall be as poore as when we were borne euen as poore as Iob for The miseries incident to vs in old age Iob. 1.21 as we came naked into the world so naked wee shall returne againe and so this is not onely the misery but also the folly and madnesse of men And yet behold a little more For Fourthly In old age Vsque adeo grauis vxori gnatisque sibique vt captatori moueat fastidia Cosso Wee are troublesome to our selues and others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nunc mihi cum medicis res est iudice summo misere vitam semisepultus ago rixosae inuestant vetula execrabile vulgus inuidus in terra parta recondo sâ—num Eccles 12.1 An old man is troublesome vnto youths saith Menander yea our owne Wiues though they cannot leaue vs yet doe they loathe vs and indeed our selues doe now begin to hate our selues Laudat praeteritos presentes despicit annos For these be the dayes wherein there is no pleasure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because olde age is like an heauy burthen vnto men that makes them stoope downe to the earth Nec coelum spectare licet sed prona senectus Terram à qua genita est reditura videt and neuer suffers them to rise or scarce to looke vp towards Heauen vntill they returne to the earth Gen. 3.19 from whence they were taken Alas then what a misery is this to consider the miseries of olde age our bodies are weakned our beauty vanished our senses blunted the eyes cannot see the eares cannot heare the hands cannot worke and the feete cannot walke and then besides Circumsilit agmine facto morborum omne genus We are seized vpon by all kinde of diseases our heads ake our hearts faint and all our bodies tremble Coughes Rheumes and Feauers doe now seeme to be our vitall spirits and so the Heathens saw and so they said that no age was free from miseries yet
is omnipotent therefore Christ as man can be present where he will in the Church in the Sacrament in the midst of his enemies or in any other place where hee pleaseth whereas Sadeel on the other side sayth that if God should intend and indeuour to extend all the nerues and synewes of his omnipotencie The error of the Vbiquitaries yet can he not make one numericall and naturall Body to be in many places at one and the selfe same time which in very deede is most true as hereafter I shall shew vnto you Fourthly For the Pontificialls The error of the Church of Rome about Gods power to prooue transubstantiation Bellarmine doth most stoutly withstand vs and to establish his opinion of Transubstantiation he sayth but most falsely that God can make the true and naturall body of Christ though finite numerically one to be substantially present in all those places whersoeuer their Masse is celebrated and to be orally receiued and eaten of all those Men that doe communicate whosoeuer those Men should be and so the rest of them taught herein by that Arch-heriticke the deuil doe striue with all their might to confirme the probabilitie for the veritie they shall neuer doe of that opinion from the omnipotent power of God Augustin in Iohan. And truely this is nothing else but most cunningly to hide their true faults and false errors vnder the pretext and vayle of the power of God Miserable men herein I assure my selfe qui dum volunt esse mali nolunt esse veritatem qua condemnantur mali who while they desire to bee in error doe wholly oppose the light of Trueth whereby their errors are reproued and doe bring their subtilties and fallacies into the Church of God intruding falsehoods into the roome of Trueth and bare names accidents without any subiects euen as Ixion imbraced a Cloud for Iuno to bee receiued of vs for true and reall things and because we will not yeeld to be thus seduced and to bee made fooles they call vs Fooles and Heretickes full of Heresies and I know not as I care not what But it is easier for them to call vs then to proue vs so and they are but parties and not iudges of this controuersie and parties must not be Iudges in the same case wherein they are parties And therefore wee will not iudge of them least wee should bee iudged neither will wee giue them any other names then the members of the Church of Rome the patrons and defenders of her doctrines and such as beseemeth Modestie and Christianitie for we know the spirit of Christ is a spirit of Loue not of hatred a spirit of Meekenesse not of harshnesse and a spirit of Peace not of strife and contention but according to true reason and the iudgement of all antiquitie and especially the diuine veritie of the most holy Scripture whose propertie is iudicium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 infallibile to giue an absolute and infallible iudgement of trueth wee will by Gods helpe discusse this poynt of the power of God because the knowledge of this poynt is so exceedingly necessary for the Church of God CHAP. II. How many wayes the power of God is to bee considered and how farre the absolute power of God extendeth FOr the second point that is how farre the power of God extendeth we must first note the difference betwixt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Power and Authoritie for Authoritie is that which is established by right and of this our Sauiour speaketh when hee sayth Mihi data est omnis potestas Matth. 28.18 All power is giuen vnto me in Heauen and in Earth i. e. all authority ouer all creatures both in Heauen and Earth and of this I am not to speake in this place it was formerly expressed in the word Lord But Power is that facultie of doing any thing which consisteth in strength and might Wolfg. Muscul de omnipot dei as Musculus sayth and this is that which I am to speake of And it is either 1. Passiue 2. Actiue First A passiue Power is nothing else Power is either Actiue or Passiue but ens in potentia a being in power or else a power to bee such and such a thing and it is opposed to the act And this wee vtterly deny to be in God because God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vniforme hauing himselfe by himselfe alwayes alike and the selfe same manner and neuer receiuing any wayes any change or alteration being without any shadow of turning James 1.17 as the Apostle sayth Secondly An actiue power is that What Actiue power is whereby such and such acts are fully done and accomplished and this also if wee speake properly is farre from the nature of God because God is a meere and a pure act and nothing aduentitious can bee sayd to be in God But to retaine the vsuall manner of speaking for our better vnderstandings sake we say that an actiue power is in God But then we must further note that an Actiue Power is either 1. Accepta receiued Or 2. Innata inbred The first is of the Creature the second is of the Creator That subsisteth by anothers strength so long as it doth indure as our Sauiour sheweth Without me you can doe nothing because he giueth the power of working This neuer subsisteth by any other strength but by it owne proper might for euer That is particular and limited particular because no creature is so powerfull that it can vniuersally worke all things God giuing not such a perfect power vnto any man saue onely vnto his onely begotten sonne Iesus Christ and limited because to doe infinite things is impossible for any creature and because those things which are possible for them to doe are not so possible vnto them as that they can performe any iot of them John 15.5 That the power of the most powerfull creatures is limited beyond the measure of the limitation giuen of God and therefore the power of Kings Monarchs Potentates yea of the very Angels and Deuils as it is giuen them from aboue so it is limited how farre it shall goe They may slay the bodyes but they cannot touch the Soules and they can for a while and in some measure execute their rage and tyrannie against the Saints of God but if they could doe as much as they would doe not a Righteous man should be left vpon the face of the Earth and therefore often times either by death or by some singular iudgement of God their power is terminated and sometimes turned to their shame and confusion The Second that is the Inbred power of the Creator is to bee considered either 1. In respect of the inward acts Operations Of God 2. In respect of the outward acts Operations Of God First The power of God considered in respect of his inward operations is that whereby God doth inwardly vnderstand loue and
like and yet this is not all for here must be Flesh to though neither seene felt heard nor vnderstood If it be so let all men iudge For I blush to say more in a point so cleere Secondly we confesse that as God can produce any substance of nothing so he can multiply any one thing into a thousand things Matth. 14.17 as he did the fiue loaues to feede fiue thousand men besides women and children but that he should make that which is numerically one Mar. 6 36. to be fiue thousand things and yet to be but one thing John 6.5 at the very same time that it is fiue thousand things and that that one thing should be but in one place and yet at the same time should be in fiue thousand places we say there cannot be a greater contradiction How Christ multiplied the loaues of Bread for as when the loaues were multiplied if he multiplied them in number he did not multiply them to bee more then fiue and yet to remaine but fiue or if he multiplyed them in quantity which I rather thinke he did not make them to be of a greater quantity and yet to remaine of the same lesser quantity that they were before for this is meerely contradictory to be more in number then fiue and yet to be but fiue or to be augmented in quantity and yet to be but the same in quantity but when any part thereof was diminished he still multiplyed the remaining quantity into the same quantity as it was before or greater as he diâ— the meale in the barrell and the oyle in the cruse of the Widdow of Sarepta in the dayes of Elias 1 King 17.16 That it cannot be that one body should be but in one place and yet to be in a hundred places at the same time And herein is no contradiction euen so if God should multiply that one body of his Sonne to be fiue thousand bodies it cannot be that it should be one and fiue thousand both at once or if hee should cause that body which is in one place to be in fiue thousand places all at once it cannot be that it should be in fiue thousand places and yet but in one place as euery child almost may easily perceiue And therefore seeing it is apparant that Christ hath but one true naturall and Phisicall body else we shall make Christ to be no Christ and that it cannot be that that one should still remaine one and yet be fiue thousand millions of bodies and that that one must still remaine in one place Act. 3.21 as Saint Peter sheweth and yet should be at the same time in many millions of places I hope it is as plaine that these things are meerely contradictory and so simplie impossible to be done as that the Sunne doth shine at noone-day But they instance D. Hall relates it How they relate lies to boulster vp their errors that one Xauier as Tursellian reports it was at the same time seene both in a Ship and in a Boat and I read it alleadged out of Bellarmine that hee relates the like of Saint Antony of Padua that he was seene Preaching in a towne of Italy and at the same time was seene in another place and therefore a body may be commeasured to its place and yet be in other places at the same time To these Instances I say not onely with Plautus Plaut Amphyt Tun'id dicere audes quod nemo vnquam homo vidit nec potest fieri tempore vno homo idem duobus vt locis simul sit How dares any man say that which neuer any man did see nor can be that at the same time one man should be in two seuerall places but I say also with Aquinas of the locality of Angels Thom. in Mag. l 1. d. 32. q. 1. art 1. that by the same reason that he might be in two places he may be in a thousand places at once and therefore if Xauier or Antony was in one place it must needs be the Diuell that was in the other place to teach such lies to delude the credulous But yet still they will reply that we must not conceiue of Diuine things and especially of Gods Power by the rule of humane reason For subtill Philosophy doth many times obscure pure Diuinity and Aristotles Bookes of Nature haue caused many a Doctor to corrupt the Scripture for he made Aetius to follow Arrius saith Socrates Socrat. l. 2. c. 28. Eccles. hist and therefore we must attaine vnto the knowledge of these things not by the reason of man but by the rule of Faith That Faith seeth what Reason cannot conceiue which Philo calleth Fidem oculatum so well-eyed and so sharpe-sighted that as the Eagles eye being aloft in the cloudes can notwithstanding espie Sub frutice leporem sub fluctibus piscem Vnder the waues a Fish and vnder the shrubs a Hare so Faith here in earth can notwithstanding search into the deepe things of God in Heauen and can most perfectly see those things which humane sence can no way perceiue Aug. ep 3. ad Volusian To this I answere with Saint Augustine that wee confesse God is able to doe as he hath done many things which we are not able to vnderstand in all which we beleeue them without searching the reason of them because in such things as Saint Augustine saith Ratio facti est potentia facientis The whole reason of the deede is the Power of the doer but as for the ioyes of Heauen though it passeth all vnderstanding to know positiuely what excellent things are there yet negatiuely wee doe certainely know what is not there for there is no sorrow no sickenesse no euill and as we know not perfectly what God is yet wee doe certainely know what hee is not for hee is not the Sunne Danaeus Isagog de Deo the Moone nor any other creature whatsoeuer Euen so though we know not the height or greatnesse of Gods Power what infinite things he can doe aboue what we can speake or thinke yet we know many things that he cannot doe which I haue shewed vnto you before And therefore that bread should be transubstantiated into flesh and yet remaine bread that accidents should subsist without their subiects that Christ should sit in Heauen and lie in the Bread which we doe eate that hee should be visibly there and inuisibly here and that hee should be one and many continued and discontinued intire in one one place and at the same time intire in a thousand places and such like assertions which doe ouerthrow We beleeue not the assertions of the Iesuites not because we know not how they may be done but because we know they cannot bee done not onely the humanity of our Sauiour Christ but also the order of things and the very principles of Nature and doe exceede the bounds of all sence and reason and repugne indeede the very
power Prou. 25.11 but both ioyned together it is like apples of gold in pictures of siluer And therefore as before he had shewed his power that hee was able to helpe vs so now hee sheweth his goodnesse that he is most willing to releeue vs And to shew how plenteous his goodnesse is he expresseth the same by seauen speciall and seuerall particles I will handle them by Gods helpe as they lye in order The first particle of Gods goodnesse here expressed is that hee is Mercifull Touching which we must vnderstand that Mercy in God is no passion nor any griefe of minde conceiued through the miserie of another Cicero in 4. Tusc Senec. de clem Aug de ciuit Dei l. 9. c. 5. Jer. 31.20 as mercy is commonly defined to be vnlesse you vnderstand it per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 improperly spoken onely for our better apprehension as when he saith My bowels are troubled for Ephraim Or as it is ascribed to the Sonne of God Christ Iesus who doth indeed condole our miseries and sympathize in our afflictions because he is man as we are and subiect to all like passions as we be sinne onely excepted Heb. 2.17 But mercy in God signifieth a propensitie and a readinesse of minde to helpe not onely the miserie but also the wants and all the defects of man Mouet enim pium iudicem fragilitas considerata peccantium Cassiod in Psal What mercy in God signifieth For he remembreth that we are but dust and therefore he pittieth our frailties and he helpeth our infirmities yea hee cryeth and calleth and seeketh after vs when wee by our sinnes doe runne away and flie apace from him For When Adam by the wisedome that he got by the Serpent had found him a way to runne away from God and so to fall into the depth of despaire and as a man without helpe without hope voide of grace and full of sinne to become free amongst the dead excluded from God and exiled from the Land of the liuing a slaue of Satan which makes me abhorre to thinke of it and a fire-brand of eternall destruction which makes me tremble for feare of it yet then behold the neuer-dying mercy of the God of all mercy did presently finde the meanes to bring him backe againe by repentance and to make him an example of his mercie to many babes that were as then vnborne for he thâ—t doth neither slumber nor sleepe would not suffer him to lye and sleepe in sinne but presently runnes after him that was running from him and cries Adam where art thou Gene. 3.9 and what is become of thee and he did this not because he knew not where Adam was which knoweth euery thing but because he would haue Adam to know where himselfe was in a state destitute of all grace and replenished with all miseries that so finding himselfe in the depth of such miseries hee might the more earnestly seeke vnto God for mercies So he did to Dauid Examples of Gods infinite mercies in the speedy seeking after his Saints when they hâ—d sinned against him 2 Sam. 24.10 Jonas 1.4 when Dauid had offended him in numbring Israel hee stirred vp his heart that it presently smote him that he might not be smitten of God so to Ionas when hee began his iourney to flie from God he sent the windes to flie after him and as a purseuant to arest him and to bring him backe againe to him who otherwise would haue posted to hell so to Peter when he denied his Master and swore that hee knew him not to whom a little before hee had sworne thâ—t hee would die with him he looked backe vpon him to bring him backe againe to repentance and hee caused the Cocke to crowe Matth. 26.74 the dumbe Beast to crie vnto him to send him out to crie vnto God for mercie and to weepe so bitterly for his sinnes vt lachrymae lauarent delictum that God seeing his sorrow and teares might bee inclined to heare his prayers and so he doth vnto vs all when we doe fall and sinne and sleepe and sinne he sends his Preachers still to call vs and his owne spirit into our hearts to moue vs to repentance not to bee repented of and to promise to shew compassion on vs and to receiue vs into his grace if wee would shew our contrition and promise to leaue and to forsake our sinnes O then that this mercifull seeking of vs That the goodnesse of God seeking after vs should moue vs to seeke vnto God would make vs to seeke vnto him while he may bee found and that this calling after vs to recall vs from our miseries would make vs call vnto him for mercie for if wee doe seeke and pray for Grace wee may assure our selues that our Saluation is neerer then wee thinke but if we still continue in sinne we may be sure our damnation is neerer then we feare for the day of grace passeth away and the night of death commeth when no man can worke and therefore while it is to day let vs heare his voyce John 9.4 so louingly calling vs so carefully seeking vs so mercifully offering to receiue vs to kisse vs with the kisses of his mouth to deliuer vs froÌ„ the shadow of death and to bring vs vnto the land of euerlasting life such is the neuer-dying streames of the mercie of God it is like a boundlesse Ocean there is no end of his goodnesse and therefore Saint Bernard in admiration thereof crieth out vnto God saying Quam diues es in misericordia magnificus in iustitia munificus in gratia Domine Deus noster O how rich art thou in Mercy how magnificent in Iustice and how bountifull in Grace O Lord our God Nam tu munerator copiosissimus remunerator aequissimus liberator pijssimus For thou art a most liberall bestower of Heauenly gifts thou art a most righteous rewarder of humane workes â—nd thou art a most gracious deliuerer of all that trust in thee Yea and besides all this Tu gratis respicis humiles tu iustè iudicas innocentes tu misericorditer saluas peccatores thou doest freely exalt the lowly thou doest iustly deliuer the innocent and thou doest most mercifully saue those sinners that doe put their trust in thy sufferings and therefore Quis similis tibi O Lord our God who is like vnto thee that when there was not a righteous man vpon the face of the earth August in p. 48 not one that did good no not one thou sentest one from Heauen that by him wee might bee all brought vnto Heauen So great is the Mercy of God towards vs poore wretched Men. And it is obserued by Diuines that the Mercy of God consisteth chiefely in these three things viz. In Wherein the mercie of God doth chiefely consist 1. Giuing of Graces 2. Forgiuing of sinnes 3. Qualifying punishments The first extendeth it selfe vnto all creatures the second
of God for if thou beest a man full of sinnes here is a God full of mercy and in verie deede this is our chiefest comfort for be we Kings Nobles rich or poore yet after all our pompe and power when wee see our selues and consider our owne sinnes when death approacheth and sickenesse seizeth vpon vs wee must all say with king Dauid Miserere mei deus haue mercy on me O God according to the multitude of thy mercies or with poore Bartimaeus Marc. 10.48 haue mercy on me O Iesu thou sonne of Dauid Et hoc tutissimum est and this is the safest course for all sinners as Bellarmine wisely acknowledgeth totam spem totamque fiduciaem in sola misericordia dei reponere to place all our trust and confidence in the sole mercie of our most mercifull God for otherwise who dares present his best workes to bee iudged without mercie because as Saint Augustine sayth Vae laudabili vitae hominum si remota misericordia discutiat eam Deus Woe to the purest life of the holiest Saint if God should discusse the same without mercy And therefore after wee haue gone with the prodigall childe Luc. 15.13 into a farre countrey of wickednesse after we haue wasted all our goods all our graces and haue committed all our sinnes yet let vs not despaire Gen. 4.13 and say with Caine My sinnes are greater then can be pardoned but let vs rather returne vnto our Father and say with the prodigall childe Luk. 15 21. Father I haue sinned against Heauen and against thee and I am no more worthy to be called thy Sonne Yet I pray thee make me as one of thy hyred seruants or else let vs cry with Saint Augustine Aug. l. Meditat. saying O bone Domine noli attendere malum meum ne obliuiscaris bonum tuum O good Lord doe not remember my wickednesse lest thou shouldst forget thine owne goodnesse but consider O my God that although Ego admisi vnde me damnare potes tu non amisisti vnde me seruare soles I haue committed that for which thou canst damne me yet thou hast not forgotten that whereby thou art wont to saue me and though my sinnes be many yet thy mercies are more and the more thou forgiuest vnto me the more it will expresse thy goodnesse and the more bound I shall be to be thankefull vnto thee For hee loueth much Luk 7.47 to whom much is forgiuen saith our Sauiour Christ How God qualifieth punishments James 2.13 Niceph l. 17. c. 3. For the third that is the qualifying of punishments we finde that in his greatest anger against sinne mercy reioyceth against iudgement and that as Nicephorus saith Vindicta gladium misericordiae oleo semper acuit He steepeth his sword of vengeance in the oyle of mercy and he doth alwayes punish lesse then our iniquities deserue Ezra 9.13 as Ezra saith And this he doth not onely vnto the elected Saints but also to the reprobates and to the diuels themselues For First Touching the Saints it is apparant that their punishments doe proceed from mercy for when they are afflicted in this life Heb. 11. they are chastned of the Lord that they should not be condemned of the world Secondly touching the reprobates both men Angels both here and hereafter the mercy of God abateth much of that punishment which they haue most iustly deserued For Ruffin eccl hist First Here God being not like vnto Theodosius that put all the Thessalonians to the sword for the offence of few nor like that angry Goddesse Pallas Quae exurere classem Virgil. Aeneid l. 1. Argiuum atque ipsos voluit submergere ponto Vnius ob noxam That would destroy the whole Nauie of the Argiues for the onely offence of one onely Aiax but if it be lawfull to vse the comparison as the Persian Generall spared Delos for Apollo's sake So God in this life spareth whole multitudes of wicked men for a few good mens sake Act. 27.24 as he spared the liues of all the people that were in the ship with Saint Paul for the loue that he bare vnto this blessed Apostle and as he would haue spared fiue wicked Cities Gen. 18.32 if but ten good men had beene found therein and sometimes hee spareth the sinnes of the wicked for the very loue he beareth to the persons of the vngodly and though they still sinne against him yet doth he still spare them to see if his patience Rom. 2 4. and long sufferance will at any time lead them to repentance Secondly hereafter Quia non datur summum malum August in Enchirid cap. 12.13 That God in the strictnesse of his Iustice might inflict more punishment vpon the damned soules then he doth quoniam malum non inhaeret nisi in subiecto bono Because the being both of reprobates and diuels is euer good therfore the mercy of God pittieth that good and cannot be seuered from it but still loueth the same euen in its greatest torments and in that respect doth euer mitigate some part of that torment which the sinner iustly deserued and which God in the rigor of his Iustice might rightly haue inflicted on him But you will say the Scripture teacheth that they shall be punished in measure and that they shall haue iudgement without mercie And therefore how can they be said then to haue the least iot of the mercy of God Luke 16.24.25 Diues being denyed one drop of water to coole his tongue I answere that they shall neuer be eased of the least iot of that punishment that is once inflicted vpon them but I say that God neuer imposeth so much torments on the damned as in the strictnesse of his Iustice he might iustly doe and yet are they said to haue iudgement without mercie because the greatnesse of their insufferable paines doth swallow vp all sense and perseuerance of mercy and makes them thinke that God could not possibly inflict greater torments on them then they endure Zaâ—â—h de nat Des l. 4 c. 4. q. 4 p. 378. Whereas indeed if they perceiued it it is most certaine that they are not punished according to the height of that measure of punishment which their sinnes deserued and which God iustly could inflict vpon them but that in them also the Apostles words must take place that mercy reioyceth against iudgement Psal 25.10 And therefore well might the Prophet Dauid say that all Gods pathes are mercy Psal 145 9. and that his mercy is ouer all his workes because there is no place which can be imagined wherein there is not some impression of Gods mercy nor any Creature that can be named which can say that he doth no way taste of the mercy of God for God pittieth his owne workes euen then when he punisheth our workes that is our sinnes And yet here we must obserue that the mercy of God is twofold 1. Generall 2. Speciall For
other by creation then is the second a creature and therefore but one God vncreated and if one bee from the other by generation then the first gaue the second either a part or his whole substance if a part then is God partible may be diuided which cannot be said of such spirituall indiuidible substance and if the first gaue the rest his whole Essence then haue all the same Dietie and so all must be the same Godhead And so Anâ—isthenes saith it was the opinion of the best Philosophers Plures esse Deos populares vnum naturalem That although the people worshipped many Gods yet indeed there was but one onely God by Nature And therefore against the Valentinians thirty couple of gods Jrenaeus contra Valentin and all others that professe many gods it must needes follow euen from reason it selfe that there can be no more gods but one not specificall but numericall i. e. so absolutely one Tertul. l. contra Hermog e. 17. that he is one alone besides whom there can be none other and is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely one for we deny all number in the Deitie vnlesse you meane in the personall proprieties and therefore Gregory Nissen saith well Quod in multitudinem extendere numerum Deitatum eorum duntaxat est Nyssen ad Eustach l. de trin qui laborant multitudinis deorum errore That to extend the number of the Deities into a multitude belongs onely vnto them which doe erroniously maintaine a multitude of gods for the Catholicke faith is this that wee should worship the Trinity in Vnity and the Vnity in Trinity that is Basilius Ep. 141. ad Caesarium the trinity of Persons and the vnity of Essence because all number is to be reiected from the Essence of God saith Saint Basil For the Diuine Essence is so simple and so numerically one that no diuersitie can be giuen whereby the very persons doe differ in regard of the Essence and therefore in respect of this identitie and vnitie of Essence in the three persons of the Godhead our Sauiour saith I am in the Father and the Father in me Iohn 14.10 Wherupon Saint Cyril addeth further for the explanation of the same that we may not say that the Father is from the Sonne nor contained in the Sonne nor the Sonne to be in the Father as we are said to be and to liue in God for that we are onely by the effects of his grace he in the vnitie of his essence i. e. wee are one with God by grace but the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost are one by Nature so that whatsoeuer the Father essentially is the Sonne is the same and the holy Spirit is the same That the Essence of God is distinguished into three persons Gen. 1. And yet we must know that this one onely one indiuisible Essence is distinguished into three persons which we call the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost for so the Scriptures plainely teach vs as Let vs make man in our image and behold the man is become like one of vs saith the Lord himselfe to shew that in this vnity of Essence there is a plurality of persons and againe the Lord rained vpon Sodom and vpon Gomorrha from the Lord out of Heauen Gen. 19. that is the Sonne rained from the Father as Iustin Martyr Tertullian Epiphanius Cyprian Irenaeus Eusebius Cyrill Sozomen the Councell of Smyrna held in the yeare of Christ 336. Socrates Eccl. hist l. 2. c. 30. wherein Marcus Arethusius against the heresie of Photinus and many others doe so expound that place And so the three men that appeared vnto Abraham and that Heauenly harmony of Cherubims saying Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabboth Esay 6. doe sufficiently declare the Trinitie of persons in the Vnity of Gods Essence Ob. But then it may bee some will say these and the like places are too obscure to confirme the truth of so great a point Sol. Why God did not fully and plainely reueile the mysteries of the Trinitie at the first I answere that God at first would not shew this great mystery vnto all lest that being so prone as they were in the infancie of the Church to fal into Idolatry they should shake off the seruice of the true God therby be drawn to worship many Gods but the more his Church did increase in abilitie to vnderstand the more did God reueile vnto it both this mystery of the Trinitie and also many other mysteries of the Incarnation Passion Resurrection and Ascention of Iesus Christ And therefore what hee obscurely shadowed in the time of the Patriarchs hee did more cleerely shew vnto his Prophets and most plainely in the time of the Apostles proclaime the same vnto all people For Christ bad them goe and baptize all men Matth. 28. in the name of the Father and of the Sonne 1. Iohn 5. and of the Holy Ghost And so Saint Iohn saith there be three that beare witnesse in Heauen the Father the Word and the Spirit And yet these three be but one saith the Apostle For as in one Sunne there are the body of the Sunne the Sunne beames and the heate Aug. de Trinit the beames are begotten of the Sunne and the heate doth proceed both from the Sunne and the Sunne beames but the Sunne it selfe proceeds from none Euen so in the one Essence of God there are the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost the sonne is begotten of the Father the Holy Ghost proceeds from both but the Father is of himselfe alone and as the fountaine begets the brooke Jdem de verbis Domim and both the fountaine and brooke doe make the Poole and yet all three is the same water so the father is the Fountaine which begets the Sonne and from the Father and Sonne proceeds the Holy Ghost That there are certaine similitudes of the Trinity to be seene in the creatures and yet is the Deity of all three the same in like manner the fire hath motion light and heate and yet but one fire and in the soule of man there are three faculties the vegetatiue the sensitiue and the rationall and yet but one soule and in all other creatures wee may behold certaine glimpes and similitudes that doe after a sort adumbrate and shadow out this ineffable and inexpressable mysterie for by their greatnesse we may consider the power of the Father by their beauty we may see the wisedome of the Sonne and by their vtilitie we may note the goodnesse of the Holy Ghost God left not himselfe without witnesse no not wholly of the manner of his subsistence if not to proue this blessed mysterie yet at least to illustrate it Thom. p. 1. q 32. art 1. and to proue as Aquinas saith Non esse impossibile quod fides praedicat That those things are not impossible which faith preacheth But it may be some
Creator and the Sonne of God is so produced as that hee receiued the substance of the begetter And therefore in that respect he is said to be begotten but he receiueth it without any mutation or alteration of the begetter and therefore in that respect he may be saide to be created And so he is sometimes said to be begotten and sometimes said to bee created not that any man should thereby denie his eternity and thinke him to be a creature but that from both these words wee might receiue what is fitting and reiect what seemeth to be vnfit for the declaration of this ineffable and inexplicable mystery Ob. 4 Fourthly They doe obiect the words of Dauid Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee And therefore before that day wherein hee was begotten his sonne hee was not his sonne Sol. The words of Dauid are spoken of Christ in respect of his manhood I answere That the words Inquire of me and I will giue thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the vttermost parts of the Earth for thy possessions doe sufficiently proue that these words are spoken of his incarnation and not of his eternall generation for how should he according to his Diuinity demand the ends of the Earth for his possessions when as hee giueth the Kingdome of Heauen which is a thousand times more then the Earth to them that loue him And therefore he which according to his God-head possesseth all things with his Father according to the forme of a seruant which hee assumed for our saluation he requireth of his Father that hee might haue The Gentiles for his inheritance and the vttermost parts of the Earth for his possessions Act. 13. And thus the Apostle doth expound this place in the 13. Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles Ob. 5 Fiftly They doe obiect the words of the Apostle that he is The first-borne of euery Creature Coloss â— 15 and therefore created in the number of the Creatures Sol. That the words of the Apostle are to be vnderstood of the humanity of Christ Rom. 8.29 I answere That this is also meant of his humanity for that the Apostle speaketh here of the Creatures restored and not created because he is said to be Primogenitus ex mortuis The first fruites of the dead for if he were called The first fruites of euery Creature according to his Deity by what testimonies can it be shewed that he is The first-borne of the dead before all Creatures when as they could not be said to be dead which were not yet created And therefore the Apostle saith That whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Sonne Iohn 1. that he might be the first-borne among many brethren To shew that he which according to his Deity is the onely begotten Sonne of God without brethren is according to his humanitie c. 3. the first-borne among many brethren for we must vnderstand this difference betwixt the first-begotten Sonne of God and the onely begotten Sonne of God that the first sheweth his humanity whereby he became man the first and chiefest among many brethren and the second his Diuinitie Iohn 1. whereby hee is the eternall Sonne of God without any brethren or otherwise it were in vaine to call him the onely begotten Sonne of God for that hee gaue power vnto others euen as many as beleeue in him to bee made the Sonnes of God and therefore if hee be not his Sonne by nature then without doubt he lost the name and the truth of being the onely begotten Sonne of God after he began to haue many brethren But because none of his sonnes by adoption Fulgen. in resp ad ob Arrian can be said to be the onely begotten sonne of God nor to be the Son of God â—ather then the rest be because the same name of sonnes is acommodated vnto them all although diuers rewards of retribution is promised vnto them according to the diuersitie of â—heir labours therefore is Christ still said to be the onely begotten Sonne of God because though there be many sonnes of God by grace yet there is none but he alone his Sonne by Nature And this difference doth our Sauiour Christ himselfe shew vnto vs when he saith I goe to my Father and to your Father Iohn 20.17 to my God and to your God because he is otherwise my Father and my God then he is your Father and your God for he is my Father eternally by nature and he is yours in time by grace and therefore hee that is first begotten in respect of his man-hood among many brethren is likewise still the onely begotten Sonne of God in respect of his God-head without any brethren And so you see that maugre all the spite of Hell it is most apparantly true that this Word is the true God for time coeternall vnto his Father CHAP. IIII. Of the coessentiality of the word with the Father and the obiections that are made against the same sufficiently answered SEcondly you haue heard of the eternall Godhead of this Word it followeth that I should shew vnto you how for nature he is coessentiall vnto his Father touching which point Athanasius saith Non res quaepiam extrinsecus adinuenta est filij substantia neque ex nihilo inducta est sed ex patris essentia nata est The substance of the Sonne is no outward thing either found or created but begotten of the very Essence of his Father euen as you see the brightnesse springing from the light or the vapour from the water Neque enim splendor neque vapor est ipsa aqua aut ipse sol neque res aliena For neither the light is the Sunne it selfe nor the vapour the water it selfe and yet they are none other things of another kind then be the substances from whence they spring euen so the Sonne issueth from the substance of his Father Et tamen patris sustantia non perpessa est partitionem And yet the substance of the father aâ—mits no partition for as the Sunne remaineth still the same Athanas in ep cont Eusebium and is no way lessened or diminished in respect of those beames that flow from him so the Father suffereth no mutation by hauing begetting Suam ipsius imaginem filium This his Son and eternall image but remaining still the same he begetteth his Son of the same Essence and we find not only all the Orthodox fathers but also the Scriptures plain enough to confirm the same truth for our Sauiour saith I and my Father are one And so S. Iohn hauing spoken of the Father Iohn 10 3â— the Word and the Spirit 1 Iohn 5.7 saith That these three are one And reason it selfe must needs confirme the same for seeing the Diuine Essence is most simple impartible and indiuisible and that the Father is God as none denyeth and that the Sonne is God as I haue already
a God for so hee is alwayes with the Father but he goeth to the Father as he is a man and therefore he is inferior to the Father as hee is a man and thus Saint Cyrill Saint Chrysost Saint Aug. and Gaudentius doe expound it Thirdly they doe obiect that our Sauiour sayth I came Ob. 3 downe from Heauen not to doe mine owne will John 6.38 but to doe the will of him that sent mee therefore hee that sent him is greater then hee that is sent I answere first that Christ hath two wills the one as man Sol. That Christ hath two wils the other as God and hee came downe not to doe his owne will which he had as hee was man but to doe the will of his Father that sent him which was also his owne will as he was God for hauing the same essence hee must needs haue the same will with his Father and therefore as hee was inferior to his Father in respect of his humane will so he was equall to his Father in respect of his diuine will And secondly I say that he was not sent Per modum imperij That the Father sent not the Sonne by way of command or superioritie In respect of any superiority that the Father had to command him but by way of consent the Father being willing to let his Sonne goe as the Sonne was to be gone so that misit is no more then emisit they were both willing that the Word should be made Flesh But they vrge that he descended to doe the will of his Father Ob. but he descended not as Man but as God therefore he was inferiour to the Father not onely as Man but also as God I answere that the descending of Christ Sol. That the descending of of Christ is the assuming of â—ur flesh is nothing else but his exinination his incarnation and assuming the forme of a seruant for otherwise the Godhead can neither be said to ascend nor descend and so his son thus humbled thus incarnate did obay his Father and performe the Will of his Father but not in respect of the forme which he had in Heauen with his Father but in respect of the forme of a seruant which hee humbling himselfe assumed in earth And Fourthly they doe obiect that S. Paul sayth that when Christ Ob. 4 hath subdued all things yet then 1 Cor. 15.27.28 the sonne shall be subiect vnto his Father which hath subdued all things vnder him and therefore the sonne is inferior to the Father To this some doe answere Sol. that then the humane nature of Christ shall bee swallowed vp and wholly conuerted into the Dietie but this cannot bee for that Saint Paul in this very place sheweth the contrarie because the subiection argueth a distinction whereas if it were quite swallowed vp there could bee no distinction and therefore seeing there must be still a subiection there must be still that nature remaining which shall bee subiect to the other Nyssenus Chrysost Cyril and others Others will haue this saying of the Apostle to be spoken of the whole Church of Christ or of Christ as hee is in his members so that the sence should bee this then the whole body of Christ shall be so subiect vnto God that not any one member of the same shall in any thing bee contumacious or rebellious against the will of God But although this may passe without absurditie as being true in respect of the matter yet I doe not finde that it agreeth with the Apostles meaning in this place for hee speaketh of him to whom all things are subdued but all things are subdued vnto the person of Christ considered in himselfe anâ— not vnto the whole body of Christ or vnto Christ considered in his members as both the Prophecie of Dauid and this place of the Apostle make it playne and therefore Saint Ambrose Oecumenius and Theophilact doe expound it of the Sonne of God absolutely considered and that it signifieth not a seruile subiection any wayes betokening an inferioritie but an vnanimous agreement of the sonne with the Father which sheweth their vnitie and equalitie That Christ in glory for euer and euer as man shall be still inferiour and subiect vnto the God-head But I like best of Saint Augustines and Primasius expositions which doe interpret it of the humane nature of Christ which then shall bee truely subiect vnto God not because it was not subiect before then but with a more emphasis the Apostle would giue them to vnderstand that as euer before it was subiect vnto God so then also in that excellent glorie when all things are subdued vnto it it shall be subiect vnto God and the reason hereof is as some of the Greeke Fathers haue obserued because he writ vnto the Corinthians which were but verie lately conuerted vnto the Christian Faith from the vaine fables of the Gentiles which taught that the Gods did contest and striue amonst themselues And therefore least they should thinke that Christ subduing all things and putting all things vnder his feete would doe vnto his father as they sayd Iupiter did to his father Saturne adibus sedibus effugari to driue him out of house and home hee sayth all things shall be subiected vnto Christ excepting him which hath subdued all things vnto him and not onely this that all things shall be subiect vnto Christ but the Father but also that as now it is so it shall be then in that glory and triumph after all things shall bee subdued vnto the Man Christ Iesus yet then shall his humane nature that is Christ himselfe as he is man be still subiect vnto God his father so that hee which is and euer was equall to his father as touching his Godhead is and euer shall be inferior and subiect to his father as touching his Manhood Many other obiections they haue against the Dietie coessentialitie and coequalitie of the Sonne of God with his father but they are all so triuiall that they deserue no answere and are all deduced from those places that are spoken of Christ as hee is a man and misapplyed by them to denie his excellencie as hee is a God and therefore I neede not proceede any further in this point but onely to desire you from hence to obserue these few branches of instructions that doe most naturally spring from this roote as 1. The greatnesse of Gods loue This doctrine that the word Incarnate was a true God teacheth vs foure speciall things 2. The craftinesse of Satans dealing 3. The peruersenesse of Heretickes 4. The vnthankefulnesse of men First wee see this Word this Sonne of God was not made flesh to dignifie or to better himselfe for hee was before as I shewed you before a God in the best and highest degree from euerlasting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a God of himselfe How greatly God loued vs that God would be made man for our good A loue like
of the grace and fauour of God and causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the impulsiue cause in respect of God was his great loue and tender compassion towards mankinde so lying in misery vnder the tyranny and bondage of the Diuell and the performing of his promise Gen. 3 15. which he made vnto Adam Abraham Isaac and Iacob that the seede of the Woman should breake the Serpents head And therefore because he would not alter the thing that was gone out of his mouth Luke 1.72 nor suffer his truth to faile hee remembred his holy Couenant and the Oath that hee sware vnto our Fathers and at the fulnesse of time he sent this Word to be made flesh Secondly The finall cause in respect of vs was the restoring of mankind vnto the fauor of God againe And therfore we professe in our Creede Concil Nic. that for vs men and for our saluation he came downe from Heauen Matth. 20.28 and was made man And so our Sauiour saith Iohn 12.46 that he came not to be serued but to serue and to giue his life a ransome for many Aug. in Joh. gloss in 1 Tim. 1. And Saint Augustine saith Non eum de coelo ad terram merita nostra sed peccata nostra traxerunt It was not our goodnesse but our wickednesse our sinnes our grieuous sinnes that brought downe Iesus Christ out of Heauen And so Hugo saith Hugo in l. de sacrament Nulla causa veniendi fuit nisi peccatores saluos facere tolle morbos tolle vulnera nulla est causa medicinae There was no cause that he should come to vs but to saue vs for where there is no wounds where there is no diseases there is no neede of medicines there is no vse of playsters because the whole neede not the Physician To shew the errour of Osiander who saide that if man had not sinned this Word had beene incarnate because there was nothing that could bring him out of Heauen or to moue him to be made man but onely to bring vs into Heauen and to make vs the Sonnes of God through him And the finall cause in respect of God was his owne glory for hee made all things for his owne sake and he gaue his Sonne for vs that wee might ascribe all praise and thankes vnto him And therefore the Angels said vnto the Shepheards Luke 2.14 Glory be to God on high peace vpon Earth and good will towards men And reason good that seeing wee haue peace with God God should haue glory and praise from vs. Why God decreed the Incarnation of the Word for the saluation of man Gen. 1.26 But here first it will be demanded as Saint Augustine saith Quare non potuit Dei sapientia aliter homines liberare c. Why could not the wisedome of God deuise and the power of God effect some other way to deliuer and saue sinnefull men then by sending his Sonne to be made man to be borne of a woman and to suffer such shamefull things of shamelesse sinners To this Saint Bernard frameth this witty answere that as in the creation of man God did as it were consult with his wisdom how to make him when he said Let vs make man in our image So after the transgression of man there was as it were a consultation in Heauen what should become of man for truth and Iustice stood vp against him and said that man had sinned and therefore man must die Cap. 2.17 or else that they must needs be violated for thou saidst say they to God In what day thou eatest of the tree of knowledge of good and euill thou shalt die the death But Mercie and Peace rose vp for man and said Quo quisque est maior magis est placabilis ira regia crede mihi res est succurrere lapsis It is a royal thing to releeue the distressed and the greater any one is the more placable and gentle hee should be and that God himselfe had said he was the God of Peace and the Father of Mercies and therefore they concluded that although man had sinned yet man must be pardoned or else they must needes be abandoned therefore the wisedome of God became an vmpire and deuised this way to reconcile them that as one man had sinned and thereby destroyed all men So Vnus homo nobis patiendo restituet rem Bosquier de pass domini ser 13. p. 793. One righteous man should suffer for all men and so Iustice should be satisfied and then all that beleeued in that man should be pardoned and so Mercie should be shewed Then all thus contented God looked downe from Heauen vpon the children of men to see if there were any that would vnderstand and seeke after God Psal 14.4 but they were all corrupted and become abhominable and there was none that did good no not one and therefore the wisedome of God that had found out this way was contented to performe this worke himselfe and to be made man that mercy might bee extended and to suffer death for man that Iustice might be satisfied and so in him Mercie and Truth met together Righteousnesse and Peace kissed each other But Saint Augustine Aug. de trinit l. â—3 c 10. Gregor moral l. 20. c. 26. and Saint Gregory doe more solydly answere saying Omnia Deus poterat si voluisset That in regard of his wisedome God could haue deuised another way and in regard of his power he could haue performed the saluation of man without the incarnation of his Sonne But if he had done it otherwise it would no doubt haue likewise displeased our foolishnesse for God appeared visibly saith Saint Augustine that he might prepare vs to inuisible things and therein hee displeased the couetous man How hard it is for the wisedome of God to please foolish man because he brought not a body of gold he displeased the lasciuious because hee was borne of a woman he displeased the Iewes because he came so poore and the wise men of this world because he erecteth his Kingdome by the foolishnesse of preaching and so he should haue displeased man what other way soeuer he had inuented to saue man for the wisdom of God is not sufficient to satisfie the foolishnes of men Aug. de annunt Domini ser 3. And therefore he that knowes all things best Sic voluit ruinam vasis fragilis reformare vt nec peccatum hominis dimitteret impunitum quia iustus erat nec insanabile quia misericors So God would repaire the ruine of fraile and fickle man that neither the sinne of man should escape vnpunished because God is iust nor yet miserable man remaine vncured because he is mercifull and although he could otherwise haue saued man Quantum ad potentiam medici in respect of the power and skill of the Phisitian yet he saw there was no fitter way to doe it Quantum ad medicinam
dayes he hath spoken vnto vs by his Sonne for this is all one as if he had said that the word heretofore was vttered by other mens mouthes but now after he was made flesh he spake and reueiled his Father vnto vs by his owne voyce and with his owne proper mouth for so Tertullian saith that he which spake vnto the Fathers was this word GOD and so Saint Paul sheweth when hee brings in God saying The Word is neere vnto thee euen in thy mouth Rom. 10.8 and in thy heart and then he expoundeth this word of Christ saying This is the Word of Faith which we preach for they preached Iesus Christ so Saint Iohn himselfe seemeth to shew this reason why he had called Christ the Word when he saith John 1.18 The onely begotten Sonne which is in the bosome of the Father he hath declared for this is all one as if he had said This onely begotten Sonne is therefore the Word because he declareth the minde of God vnto vs so when he saith what we haue heard of the Word of life i. e. he is therefore the Word because we haue heard him and so when he saith There be three that heare witnesse in Heauen 1 John 5.7 the Father the Word and the Spirit for why should he say the Word when as the name of Father required that he should rather say the Father the Sonne and the Spirit but because the Sonne as the word of the Father doth beare witnesse vnto vs of his Fathers will and therefore seeing it was the office of the Word to declare the minde of God it belonged vnto the Word to be made Flesh that he might be heard and seene of vs. But then it may be obiected that the Holy Ghost should be incarnate as well as the Sonne for Saint Basil saith Ob. Whether the Holy Ghost is termed the Word that the Holy Ghost is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word as well as the Sonne and that hee is therefore called the Word because hee is the interpreter of the Sonne euen as the Sonne is the interpreter of the Father for he shall teach you all things saith Christ and to proue this he citeth those words of the Apostle that we should take the sword of the Spirit which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word of God and those words in the first Chapter to the Hebrewes that Christ beareth vp all things with the word of his power Basilius l 5. c. 11. contra Eunom Sol. or his mighty Word that is his Holy Spirit saith Saint Basil To this Aquinas answereth that Saint Basil herein speakes improperly for that the Sonne of God alone is properly called the Word and that Saint Paul by the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God doth not vnderstand the Holy Ghost but the word which came vnto the Prophets and was left vnto vs in the holy Scriptures and that the words of the Author to the Hebrewes are to be vnderstood of the command of Christ as if the Apostle had said that Christ beareth vp all things and gouerneth all things by his mighty command or according aâ— himselfe defineth Victorinus in l. aduers Arrium and would haue all things to be as Victorinus saith or else that Christ sustaineth all things by his mighty word that is after an Hebrew phrase by himselfe which is the mighty Word of his Father Maldonat in Iohn 1. as Maldonate saith Secondly the Word was made flesh Propter ordinem seruandum Secondly because God would obserue good order in all things because God which is the God of order would keepe good order in all things As First that the world might be repayred by the same instrument by which it was created but the Father made all things by his Word therefore he would redeeme mankinde by his Word Secondly that he which was the essentiall and vncreated image of God might restore that created image of God which was corrupted in vs. Thirdly that the naturall Sonne of God might make vs the adopted sonnes of God Fourthly that the Sonne by his example might teach vs the obedience of sonnes Thirdly because God would shunne all inconueâ—iences that might arise if he had not beene incarnate Thirdly the Word was made flesh Propter vitandum inconueniens because God would auoide all absurdities that otherwise might seeme to ensue for if the Father had beene incarnate then there had beene two Fathers and two Sonnes the Father in the Deitie had beene the Sonne in the Humanitie and the Sonne in the Dietie had beene the Father of the Humanity and neither of them had beene of himselfe without beginning but he that was the beginning of the Sonne in the Deitie had had his beginning from the Sonne in the humanitie but now he that is from the Father in the Deitie is likewise from the Father in the humanitie and he that is the Sonne in the Deitie is likewise the Sonne in the humanitie and if the Holy Ghost had beene incarnate then there had beene two sonnes one in the Deitie and another in the humanitie Et nomen filij ad alterum transiret qui non esset aeterna natiuitate filius And the name of Sonne had passed to another which was not a Sonne by an eternall natiuitie and therefore in all respects it was fittest and agreeable to all reason that the Word should be incarnate and made flesh as Saint Augustine saith But against this it will be obiected Ob. that seeing Opera trinitatis ad extra sunt indiuisa The outward workes of the Trinitie are indiuisible and common to each person so that whatsoeuer any one of them doth it is done by each one and that this is an outward worke of the Trinitie common to each person each person being an agent in this action the Fathers power the Sonnes wisedome and the Holy Ghost his goodnesse all concurring in this incarnation For First how can the Creator and the Creature That all three persons were the makers of the flesh of Christ especially a creature relapsed from God be ioyned together without great power the power of ioyning the disagreeing elements was very great the power of ioyning them to a created spirit was greater but hypostatically to ioyne a creature disioyned from his Creator vnto an vncreated spirit must needes be the greatest power that can be And therefore this incarnation of the Word could neuer haue beene done without the infinite power of God Secondly how can the first and the last be vnited together without great wisedome for this Word was the beginning yea before the beginning of all things and Adam was the last of all Gods creatures And therefore the Word God and the flesh of man could neuer be vnited without infinite wisedome Thirdly how can the Creator communicate himselfe so neerely vnto his Creatures without the greatest goodnesse that can be for it was a great benignity and kindnesse of
Iesus Christ First because the Apostle saith Verse 7. that he was greater then Abraham which is said to be the Father of the faithfull Secondly Heb. c. 5. v. 11. because the Apostle going to speake of this Melchisedecke saith that he had many things to say concerning him which were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hard to be explained which certainly he would neuer haue said had he not vnderstood this Melchisedeck to haue beene some excellent and ineffable person Thirdly because the Apostle saith not Verse 8. whose death is not mentioned by Moses for so he might be dead though his death is not spoken of but he saith that Dauid testifieth of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he liueth to shew the difference betwixt this Priest and those Leuiticall Priests which dyed Heb. 7 3. Fourthly because the Apostle saith that this Melchisedeck was like vnto the Sonne of God euen as Nebuchadnezzer saith that the fourth man which walked with the three children in the fiery furnace was like vnto the Sonne of God So here the Apostle saying that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dan. 3.25 like the Sonne of God meaneth no doubt that he assumed a body of the same likenesse and habite and countenance as afterward he meant to vnite personally vnto himselfe for that it is an vsuall thing in Scripture to say that he which is is like vnto himselfe as where the Apostle saith Phil. 2.7.8 that he was found in shape as a man and tooke vpon him the forme of a seruant and was made in the likenesse of men that is he was made indeed a true and a naturall man Fiftly because Abraham did giue vnto him Tythe of all as perceiuing vnder that visible forme and shape of man an inuisible Diety to subsist to whom Tythe is only due and euerlastingly due because he is an euerlasting Priest And therefore I say that this Melchisedeck was no mortall man but the immortall Sonne of God which assuming this visible shape did appeare vnto Abraham and offered as a type of our blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper Bread and Wine vnto him after his victory ouer his enemies And it may be that our Sauiour had respect hereunto Iohn 8.56 when he said that Abraham saw his dayes and reioyced i. e. not onely with the eyes of faith as all the rest of the Patriarchs and Prophets did but also in a visible shape which he assumed like vnto that whereunto he was afterward to be vnited So that man which wrestled with Iacob was none other but the man Christ Iesus for himselfe said that Iacob should be called Israel Gen. 32.28.30 a wrestler and preuailer with God and Iacob called the name of the place Peniel because he had seene God face to face And so that man which appeared vnto Iosua and came as a Captaine of the heast of the Lord Josua 5.14 was none other then Iesus Christ as Peter Martyr doth most excellently by many arguments confirme Whereby you see Christ did heretofore assume vnto himselfe humane formes wherein he appeared vnto the Fathers to be as a praeludium of his Incarnation but in none of these apparitions and assumptions of such formes was he euer said to be made the thing that he assumed or to vnite himselfe hypostatically vnto any of the said formes for those bodies he formed of the ayre or of nothing and when he had finished the worke for which he had assumed them Tum redit in nihilum quod fuit ante nihil Then it returned into that out of which it was framed But now the Euangelist saith The conception of the Word that this word did not onely appeare or assume vnto himselfe our flesh for a time to discharge some speciall offices and then to depose and to lay aside the same againe but that he was made flesh that is really made man like one of vs sinne onely excepted and eternally to remaine man for euer and euer And therefore that we may truely vnderstand this point how this word was made flesh we must well consider these two especiall things 1. The manner of his conception Two things to be considered for the vnderstanding of Christs conception 2. The matter or substance from which he was formed First the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made here vsed doth plainly shew vnto vs as both Saint Chrysostome and Tolet doe obserue Mirabilem eius conceptionem non virili virtute sed diuina potentia eum esse conceptum His wonderfull conception that he was made not by any vertue of mans seede but by the power of Gods Spirit who without any seede of man did frame and make the man Christ in the wombe of his Mother and therefore we are to obserue Of this wonderfull and diuine conception 1. The reason 2. The manner 3. The end First Neuer any one was made as Christ was made we reade that mankinde before Christ his comming was made three manner of wayes First without any man to be his father or any woman to be his mother as Adam Secondly of a man without a woman as Euah Thirdly of man and woman as all the off-spring of Adam but Christ after a fourth a more wonderfull manner was made of a woman without the helpe of a man and so we neuer reade of any other before him nor of any other after him for as the Flowers saith Protagoras Solummodo habent in coelo patrem in terra solummodo matrem Haue onely a Father in Heauen that is the Sunne by whose heate and vertue they grow and a mother onely in earth i. e. the ground from whence they spring so Christ the flower of the roote of Iesse hath onely a Father in Heauen without a mother and a mother onely in earth without a father and yet he is not another from his father and another from his mother Sed aliter est a patre aliter est ex matre But he is otherwise from his father and otherwise from his mother that is a true God of God his father and a true man of the Virgin his mother of two natures subsisting in one and the selfe-same person And the reason why he was borne of a woman Ambros in Luc. 24. Why Christ was borne of a Woman as Saint Ambrose saith was Ne perpetui reatus apud viros opprobrium sustinerent mulieres Lest women should still suffer the reproach of perpetuall guiltinesse and blame in the sight of men for their first transgression for her yeelding vnto the Serpent and the seducing of her Husband made her and all her Sexe to bee deseruedly subiect vnto much reproach and therefore though because the mankinde is more noble Christ would be made a Man yet because women should not be contemned he was contented to be borne of a woman Et sic formam viri assumendo Aug. cont faust de foemina nascendo vtrumque sexum hoc modo honorandum
therefore hee must needes haue two natures in him according to one whereof he was before Abraham and according to the other he was after Abraham And further Vigilius l. 2. cont Eutych Philip. 2. we finde the same confirmed and confessed by all antiquity for Vigilius writing vpon those words of the Apostle who being in the forme of God tooke vpon him the forme of a seruant saith Mirum est c. It is a wonder to thinke why some are afraide to say that Christ had two natures when as the Apostle saith that he had two formes and the great oecumenicall Councell of Calcedon wherein were 630 Bishops Concil Calced Act. 5. in Symb. fidei left this confession vnto all posterity Confitemur in nouissimis diebus filium Dei vnigenitum in duabus naturis inconfuse immutabiliter indiuise inseparabiliter agnoscendum nunquam sublata differentia propter vnionem We confesse that the onely begotten Sonne of God which came in the last dayes to be incarnate is now to be acknowledged to be and to subsist of two natures i. e. Diuine and humane inconfused immutably inseperably and vndiuidedly vnited together and that the differences or distinction of these natures is neuer to be abolished and taken away by reason of the vnion of the same All the actions of Christ doe manifestly shew the two natures of Christ And so in very deed we finde all the actions of our Sauiour Christ while he liued here on earth to make inanswerable proofe of the same truth for as Saint Augustine saith Iacebat Christus quantum ad carnem mortuus in sepulchro mortuos suscitans in inferno vitam tribuens vniuersis in caelo Christ according to the flesh lay dead in his graue yet did he then in Hell i. e. in respect of his soule according to his Godhead raise the dead here on earth Aug. sup Mat. 5. contra Foelicem and giue life to all them that were in heauen Quia vt nec mundum dimittens ad coelum ascendit ita nec coelum deserens venit ad nos sed vno atque eodem tempore totum totus impleuit Because that as now he hath not left the world though he be ascended into Heauen so then he did not leaue the Heauens when hee came to be made flesh on earth but was wholly at one and the selfe-same time in all places replenishing and filling all things And Gregorie Nazianzen doth most excellently shew how the properties of both his natures concurred together and might be easily discerned in him from the very beginning of his dayes Luc. 2.7 to the last end of his being here on earth for he is borne of his mother and wrapped in swadling clouts as being a man but a starre doth manifest him Matth. 2.11 and the wise men adore him as being a God Matth. 3.16 he is baptized in Iordan as being a man but the Holy Ghost descends vpon him from Heauen as being a God he is tempted of the Deuill Mar. 1.12 as he is a man but he ouercomes and expels the Diuels Iohn 4.6 as he is a God he trauels and is thirstie he is hungry and is weary as he is a man but he refresheth the wearie hee feedeth the hungry Iohn 7. and he giueth drinke vnto the thirstie as hee is a God Matth. 24.26 he sleepes in the ship and his Disciples awake him as he is a man but he rebukes the windes and stilleth the rage of the Seas Matth. 8.20 as he is a God he is poore and needy and hath not an house to put his head in as he is a man but he is rich and mighty and cannot be contained in the heauens as he is a God he his sorrowfull and sad he weepes and he prayes as he is a man but he heareth our prayers and comforteth the sorrowfull Matth. 26. as hee is a God he is subiect to infirmities as he is a man Iohn 14. but he healeth all our infirmitie as he is a God he is whipped and crucified as hee is a man but he renteth the vaile of the Temple Esay 53. and causeth the Sunne to hide his face for shame to see him crucified as hee is a God he saith Eloi Eloi Lamasabachthani My God my God Matth. 27.46 why hast thou forsaken me as he is a man but hee saith vnto the theefe This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise as he is a God Luke 23.43 he dyeth and is buryed and lyeth in his graue as he is a man but he ouercommeth Death and destroyeth the Diuels Matt. 27.50.60 and raiseth himselfe vnto life againe as he is a God and being risen he appeares vnto his Disciples and eates and talkes with them Luke 24. v 15. 31. as he is a man but he vanisheth out of their sight and ascendeth vp vnto Heauen as he is a God and so now the Heauens doe containe him and he sitteth there on the right hand of God Psal 68.4 as he is a man but he sustaineth the Heauens and rideth vpon the same as vpon an horse as he is a God and so Fulgentius saith Fulgent ser de Epiphan Iste puer in praesepi quidem paruulus collocatur sed magnus in coelo mirabiliter operatur permittit se manibus in terra portari sed praecipit sibi coelestia famulari That little child is laid in a cratch i. e. as he is a man but he doth wonderfully worke in heauen i. e. as he is a God and he suffereth himselfe to be carryed in their armes as he is a man but he supporteth all things and commandeth all the hoast of Heauen to doe him seruice as he is a God And therefore it is most apparant that the person of Christ so subsisteth Vt cum in homine Christo videtur veritas hominis Idem de persona Christi l. 2. ad Tamrisi in eodem Deo Christo cognoscatur paternae veritas deitatis as when we see the veritie of the Manhood in the Man Christ Iesus we must know and acknowledge the eternall Deitie in the same God Christ Iesus because he is still a perfect God and a perfect man and of these two natures subsisting in one person inconfused But against this Eutyches and his followers What the Eutychian heretickes say against this truth haue and doe most impiously affirme that in Christ after his Incarnation there is but one onely nature made of the Word and of the flesh by the conuersion of the Deitie into the humanitie because the Euangelist saith that the Word was made flesh euen as when the Water was made Wine it was no more Water but was presently conuerted into Wine Nazian in Ep. ad Clidonium or else by the conuersion of the flesh into the Deitie because Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory Nyssen say that Caro Christi est deificata the flesh of Christ is now deified and to confirme
if we beleeue Master Harding came into the Chappell to helpe Saint Basil to say Masse though the doores were shut and therefore the opening of the doores by the power of Christs Deitie doth no way prooue the inpalpabilitie of his Body Ob. 3 Thirdly They doe obiect that he walked vpon the Sea like a Spirit Mar. 6.49 and therefore his Body was inuested with the leuity and agility of the Deity Sol. To this I answere that he walked vpon the Seas not by the alleuiating or making light his body or specially by the leesing of the properties of a true naturall body but by the consolidating and confirming or strengthening of the waters through the power of his Deitie to make them able to beare him vp and so they were strengthened to beare vp the body of Saint Peter vntill Saint Peters faith began to faile Ob. 4 Fourthly They doe obiect that the heauens must containe the Body of Christ vntill the restitution of all things Act 9.3 as Saint Peter saith and yet that Christ in respect of his humanity did appeare vnto Saint Paul Act. 22.6 as he went towards Damascus and therefore either the saying of Saint Peter cannot be true or Saint Paul did not see him or else his humanity by reason of the vnion with the Deity hath obtained those Diuine properties to be omniscient and omnipresent with the Deity Sol. To this some doe answere that Christ might for that time and to that end frame a body of the ayre to speake vnto Saint Paul as he did many times vnto the Fathers of the Old Testament and so the Heauens did containe the true and naturall body and he appeared vnto Saint Paul in a body that he assumed for that purpose Others thinke that Christ might for a short space of time leaue the Heauens and descend into the Ayre to speake with Saint Paul and yet the saying of Saint Peter to be still true thus vnderstood that the heauens vsually and alwayes without some rare and speciall dispensation doe containe him vntill the restitution of all things But it is vnlikely that he would assume any created forme vpon him after he had once really vnited himselfe to our nature and we haue no argument to proue that euer he did it and it is not probable that he would leaue his throne voide in heauen for the least moment of time after hee was once seated in that excellent Maiestie and therefore I thinke with Zanchius that Christ remaining in Heauen might appeare vnto Saint Paul as he did vnto Saint Stephen the heauens were opened and his eyes were indued with a most excellent sharpenesse of sight that he saw Christ standing on the right hand of God Act. 7.55 for Saint Paul doth not say that Christ appeared vnto him on earth That Saul saw no body on earth as he went to Damascus but that suddenly there shined round about him a light from Heauen and that he heard the voyce of the Lord saying vnto him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me and all this might be without any presence of Christs Body for Christ might speake in Heauen and cause that same voice to be head here on earth Matth. 3.17 or he might frame a voyce in the Ayre as the Father did at the baptisme of Christ where the voyce was framed and heard but no body seene nor assumed Fiftly They doe obiect that the Body of Christ doth viuifie Ob. 5 vs and raise vs vp and doe such other effects which are onely proper vnto the Godhead and therefore it is inuested with the properties of the Godhead To this Damascen answereth by this similitude Sol. Vrit ignitum ferrum non naturali ratione vstivam possidens actionem How the flesh of Christ is said to doe diuine operations sed ex vnione ignis ad ferrum illud obtinet That as a hot fiery iron will burne any thing not that it hath naturally the facultie or propriety of burning but by reason of the vnion of the fire vnto it So the humanity is said to doe many things not that it hath any property in it selfe to do theÌ„ but being vnited vnto the Deitie Damasc de fide orthodoxa l. 3. c. 17. it is said to doe the same though indeed as it is not the iron that burneth but the fire that is vnited vnto the iron So it is not properly the flesh that doth any of these but the Word vnto which the flesh is hypostatically vnited And therefore it is apparant mauger all that can be said against it that Christ by this communicating of properties hath neither lost the properties of a true naturall body nor that his humanity is really inuested with the properties of the Deity Secondly the benefits of the vnion of the two natures of Christ in respect of vs. Esay 1. Ephes 4.18 Secondly The other effects and benefits of the vnion of these two natures which are in regard of vs are our spirituall vnion with God and thereby the inriching of vs with all those graces that doe prepare vs and bring vs vnto euerlasting happinesse for our sinnes had seperated vs from God and made vs aliens and strangers from the life of God they were and are like a partition wall betwixt God and vs they keepe vs farre from God and make vs indeed to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men without God in the world but now as God made the personall vnion of soule and body for the constitution and continuation of the whole and common nature of mankind So he vnited the Word with our flesh that our nature might be restored in the person of Christ and that they which before were at variance God and Man might now be reconciled through this vnion of God and man in the person of Iesus Christ for seeing Christ hath personally vnited our nature vnto himselfe he hath thereby naturally vnited vs vnto God Quia natura nobis est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because by nature hee is of the same nature with vs and we are of the same with him though we be not carnally in him but as we are ingraffed Et consortes Christi per fidem Basilius â—p 41. ad Caesariens and pertakers of Christ by faith as Saint Basil saith And so now by reason of this vniting of our nature vnto the Sonne of God and thereby our communion and fellowship with God we receiue as all the members doe receiue life and motion by reason of their vnion with the head all those gracious motions and gifts that are necessary for sustaining of our spiritull life and shall hereafter fully attaine vnto the blessed fruition of God for euer And so you see the particulars of this great mistery of the words incarnation How the word was made flesh CHAP. VI. Of certaine reasons why these deepe doctrinall points were so largely handled NOw if any man doth maruell as no doubt but many doe and blame me too perhaps
things which for the present seeme harsh and bitter vnto vs will in the end proue to our great aduantage Thirdly For the manner of Christ his birth it is recorded Of the manner of Christs birth how meane it was in many respects that it was very poore and meane meaner then ordinary or extraordinary base for he was borne of poore Parents they trauelled on foote they had not an Asse to ride on in a poore Towne little Bethlehem which is by interpretation An House of Bread but such a poore House of Bread that there was scarce any bread in the House And then being come from darkenesse into light Non poterat verbum fari verbum This word could not speake a word but hee was wrapped in poore swadling cloutes it may be his Mothers ragges and then laid in a poore lodging euen in the Manger and so he was indeed made lower then the Angels for he was consorted and laid among the Beasts that perish Quia non erat locus in diuersorio Because there was no roome in the Inne for these poore innocent people among the drunken swaggering companions for these will be sure to haue roome Et pauper vbique iacet And the poore shall bee thrust out of doores And yet Christ was well contented he desired no better Why Christ would be born so meanely Psal 22.6 but chose indeede to come after this meanest manner First To fulfill the Scriptures for the Prophet Dauid said in the person of Christ I am a worme and no man a very scorne of men and the outcast of the people And the Prophet Esay saith He should grow vp as a roote out of a dry ground i. e. wrinckled and almost withered for want of radicall moysture He hath neither forme nor comelinesse and when wee shall see him there is no beauty Esay 53.2.3 that we should desire him he is despised and reiected of men Secondly To teach vs true humility Descendit quo inferius non decuit vt ascenderet quo superius non poterat For he made himselfe of no reputation that he might be exalted Phil. 2.9 and haue a name giuen him about all other names to shew vnto vs Luke 18.14 that Whosoeuer humbleth himselfe shall be exalted Thirdly To condemne the courses and desires of worldly men for they desire nothing so much as wealth honours and promotions and yet all the Monarchs of this World with all their pompe and power with all their riches and greatnesse cannot reconcile one soule to God They must let that alone for euer But Christ poore stript and naked hath so pleased God that through him God cannot be displeased with vs for it is goodnesse and not greatnesse to be void of sinne and not to be full of riches that our God respecteth Fourthly To procure true riches vnto vs for so the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 8.9 that Christ though he was rich yet for our sake he became poore that we through his pouerty might be made rich Fiftly To shew the difference betwixt his first and his second comming for now he came in pouerty but then hee shall come in maiesty Math. 16.27 He shall come on the glory of his Father with his Angels The Earth shall burne the Heauens shall melt and all the powers of the same shall be shaken And therefore seeing as Emyssenus saith Talis tantus sit horror venientis quis poterit terrorem sustinere iudicantis That comming of his shall be so terrible as that all the wicked crue of damned sort shall exceedingly howle and cry and pray the mountaines to fall vpon them and to hide them from that fearefull day let vs make the right vse of this his first comming that wee may escape the terror of his second comming And so you see the manner of his birth weakely poorely and meanely That we should be well contented with any state And this should teach vs to be euer contented with our poore and meane estate for if the Sonne of God who made all things and whose all things are All the Cattle vpon a thousand hilles was well contented and made choyce of this low estate why should we be discontented with the same for wee are vnworthy of the very Bread wee eate and of the very Light of Heauen wherewith we are illuminated we are very base and miserable beggars begging of God the very crummes that wee eate Math. 6.11 saying Giue vs this day our daily bread and yet such is our pride and haughtinesse that wee are ready to snatch it out of his hands and not to stay while he giues it vs Such is our disdaine and discontentednesse that the daintiest fare will scarce please vs and such is our desire and ambition that euery man still cryeth with the Daughters of the Horse-leech More more Our eyes are neuer satisfied with seeing nor our eares with hearing nor our hearts with enioying the vanities of this World But alas Beloued Beware of murmuring Wisedome 1. 11. which is nothing worth and let the same minde be in you herein as was in Christ Iesus If you would be happy remember how he came Phil. 2.5 Math. 8.20 poore and meane remember how he liued meane and miserable for He had not an House wherein to put his head We haue more then that and remember how hee was entertained cold and comfortlesse Math. 10.24.25 for He came amongst his owne and his owne receiued him not And therefore seeing he found such cold entertainement in the world why should wee looke for any better or be any wayes discontented at the like for The Seruant is not aboue his Master but it is enough for the seruant to be as his Master is CHAP. III. Of the testimonies which proue that Christ the Messias is borne THirdly Of the witnesses that testifie the birth and comming of the Messias For the testimony and witnesse whereby he was approued and confirmed vnto the world to be incarnate and made Flesh for to be the Sauiour and Redeemer of the World I finde the same especially to be two-fold 1. The Creatures 2. The Creator First The testimony of the Creature is three-fold 1. The Angels of Heauen 2. The Starres in the Skies 3. Men on Earth First An Angell said vnto the Shepheards Luke 2.11 Vnto you is borne this day in the City of Dauid a Sauiour which is Christ the Lord And immediately there were not sixe Cherubims as Esayas saw nor foure and twenty Elders Esay 6.2 as Saint Iohn saw but a multitude of heauenly Angels that by their heauenly Halelu-iah did confirme the same And therefore the truth hereof is infallible because the Angels though they bee mutable by nature yet they be now cōfirmed by grace Isidorus l. 1. c. 12. de summo bono Ne à veritate voluntatem auerterent That they cannot lye nor fall away from truth as Isidorus saith Secondly The gentile Prophet Baalam prophesied that there
Quem dixerunt regem Iudaeorum erat Creator Angelorum quem viderunt paruum in praesepio erat immensus in coelo Whom they had called King of the Iewes was the Lord and Maker of the Angels and whom they saw little and poore in the cratch was rich and immeasurable in Heauen Quod non capis quod non vides Fulgentius ser de Epiphania Thom in hymn Animosa firmat fides Praeter rerum ordinem Their faith did shew them that he was their God And so that starre which sent forth these three fore-named beames of light into the hearts of these Wise men did send from thence by reflection three other beames of light for our instruction for here we see this starre wrought in them First Illumination and Faith in their hearts What effects the Starre wrought in the Wise men for when they saw him they beleeued in him Secondly Confession and Inquisition in their Mouthes for when they lost him they made diligent search and inquisition after him saying Where is he that is borne King of the Iewes Deut. 6.16 Thirdly Diligence and Obedience in their Actions for they made hast to goe vnto him and when they came they came not empty-handed but they brought vnto him Gold Frankinsence and Myrrhe Aurea nascenti fuderunt munera regi Thura dedâ—â—e deo myrrham tribuere sepulchro And so herein these Wise men were wise indeed not because they had all the wisedome of the Gentiles but because they did thus seeke and find him In whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge Oh that it were so with vs that wee did know him beleeue in him goe vnto him search and seeke him and offer him our selues and ours to doe him seruice Pro myrrha lachrymas auro cor porrige purum Pro thure ex humili pectore funde preces And we shall not neede to fetch gold from Ophire What we shold offer vnto Christ but the gold of a pure Faith which will abide the fiery tryall neither shal we need to goe to the Apothecaries to buy their Frankinsence or Myrrhe but the sweet perfume of deuout prayers and the bitter teares of godly sorrow for out vngodly sinnes these are the most acceptable sacrifices vnto Christ And as the fore-named witnesses which were primitiae Martyrum the first fruits of his witnesses both of the Iewes and Gentiles doe testifie this truth vnto the world so to these are added the testimony of Iohn the Baptist for he was sent to beare witnes of that light Iohn 1.8 and he testified and bare witnesse of him that he was that Lambe of God John 1.29 which taketh away the sinnes of the world And because we should the better beleeue him and his testimonie herein he sheweth how he came to know him to be the true Messias euen by the testimony of the Spirit of truth for I knew him not saith he but he that sent me to baptize with water i. e. the holy Ghost said vnto me vpon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him the same is he which baptizeth with the holy Ghost and I saw saith he and bare record that this is the Sonne of God Iohn 1.33 And then the testimony of all the Euangelists the Apostles the Fathers the Martyres and all the holy Men of God which haue testified and sealed this truth vnto vs some with their words some with their workes and some with their deerest blood That God himselfe testified Christ to be his sonne Matth. 3.17 Secondly if these testimonies of the creatures be not sufficient to proue Iesus the Sonne of Mary to be the Eternall Sonne of God we find God himselfe the Creator of Heauen and Earth testifying the same for though the testimony of Iohn was sufficient Iohn 5.35 to satisfie any man because he was aburning a shining light in whom the Iewes themselues were willing to reioyce for a season as our Sauiour witnesseth yet Christ needed not to receiue testimony from man John 5.36 because he had a greater witnesse then that of Iohn euen the Father himselfe which sent him he bare witnesse of him and with an audible voyce he proclaymed the same twice from heauen saying first at the Riuer Iordan and then on Mount Thabor Matth. 7.5 that he was his Beloued Sonne in whom hee was well pleased John 5.36 And these are sufficient witnesses Quia dicta Iehouae dicta pura Because the words of the Lord are pure words as the Psalmist saith Or if any Athiest will not beleeue these Diuine Oracles let him beleeue his owne eyes If he will beleeue neither Angels Men nor GOD let him beleeue himselfe Matth. 7.16 for the very workes that I doe testifie of me for the workes of euery man doe testifie of him what he is because that is a sure rule of our Sauiour By their fruits you shall know them But then you must not vnderstand their workes as they are reported to bee for so wee are and may be many times deceiued for Iohn came Matth. 11.18 neither eating nor drinking and they said he had a Diuell and our Sauiour came eating and drinking and they said behold a Glutton and a Wine-bibber And the Prophet Dauid saith They laid to his charge things that hee neuer knew So the Christians of the Primitiue Church that were as carefull as men might possible be for their liues to leade a strict and an vpright life yet is it incredible almost to thinke what wicked reports were raised of them and therefore not the workes of man as they are by enuy or malice bruited to be for what will not enuy say but as they are in deed and verity doe manifestly shew what any man is and therefore Christ saith vnto the Iewes If you were the sonnes of Abraham Iohn 8.39 you would doe the workes of Abraham and Saint Iames saith Iames 2.18 Shew me thy Faith by thy Workes for the workes of a man truely considered is an infallible argument to shew what he is so the workes that our Sauiour did while he did liue on earth doe sufficiently proue him to be both God and Man and so his very enemies testified saying He hath done all things well Mark 7.37 he maketh both the deafe to heare and the dumbe to speake and those that doubted of him whether he was the true Messias or not said Iohn 7.31 When Christ commeth will he doe more miracles then these which he hath done and the works that he doth now raigning in heauen doe sufficiently proue him to be the Maker Preseruer Heb. 10.12.13 and Redeemer of men for he sitteth on the right hand of God Rom. 8.34 1 Cor 15.35 Matth. 11 6. making intersession for his Saints and ruling till he hath put all his enemies vnder his feete And therefore I conclude as I began that the Word was made flesh and blessed is he that
miser homo non compatitur pro quo solo deus patitur Hiron in Mat. and therefore how can we behold his head resting vpon a pillow of thornes his hands pierced with iron nayles and his heart bleeding for our sinnes and not to bee moued to a godly sorrow for those our horrible sinnes that caused all his sorrowes It is reported in the Gospell that when our Sauiour suffered the Sun withdrew his light as being ashamed to see so wofull a spectacle the earth quaked and trembled as it were for feare to see her Creator put to death and the stones did cleaue in sunder yea wicked Iudas that betrayed and sold our Sauiour when he saw the indignities that were offered vnto him did repent and grieue that he had betrayed that innocent bloud and therefore what strange hearts haue wee worse then Iudas and harder then stones if we can behold the torments of his Passion and not be touched with compassion The naturalist telleth vs that the Adamant stone is of an impenetrable hardnesse Plinius l. 37. c. 4. and yet he saith that if it be steeped in the warme bloud of a Goate it will be mollified and therefore if the bloud of Christ which is farre more excellent then the bloud of Buls or of Goates cannot intenerate our hard hearts wee are worse then the Adamants and no better then the Diuels That Christ should bleed for vs and we not weepe for our owne sinnes Secondly To make vs thankefull For the second Our Sauiour hauing suffered all this for sin to saue sinfull men and to eternize mortall men He hath broken the head of the Serpent he hath wounded the great Leuiathan and by the merit of his Passion he hath subdued Hell conquered the graue rebated the sting of death taken away the force and guilt of sinne and remoued those Cherubims and that flaming sword which was placed to afright vs and to keepe the way of the tree of life Gen. 2.2 and he hath blotted out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against vs and laid open vnto vs the gates of eternall life and therefore now we should all say with the Psalmist What shall we render vnto the Lord for all his benefits that hee hath done vnto vs Psal 116 11. for we must not thinke it inough to weepe in commiseration of Christ his paine but we must be also thankefull for Christ his suffering The whole world knoweth what great loue hee hath shewed to vs and what bitter Passion he hath suffered for vs and therefore vae tacentibus de te domine Woe be vnto them whose ingratitude hath silenced them from praising thee Sed faelix lingua quae non nouit nisi de te Sermonem texere but most happy is that tongue which can praise thee O Lord though it should be able to speake of nothing else because not onely nothing can be carried better in our mindes nothing can be sweeter in our mouthes nothing more melodious to our eares as Saint Augustine saith then deo gratias to ascribe all praise and to render thankes vnto the Lord our God but especially because as Saint Bernard saith no sacrifice can be more acceptable vnto God for who so offereth me thankes and praise hee honoureth mee and nothing can be more offensiue vnto Satan then to praise the Lord for though thou watchest he careth not because himselfe neuer sleepeth though thou fastest hee regards it not because himselfe neuer eateth any thing but if thou beest thankefull vnto God for his great loue to thee then is Satan grieued because thou being a silly worme on earth dost performe that here in the vally of misery which he being a glorious Angell in Heauen could not performe in that seat of Maiestie and therefore as the Prophet Dauid saith Psal 107.15 that he would rise at midnight to praise the Lord for his righteous iudgements so with the Prophet Dauid I wish to God that men would praise the Lord for his goodnesse especially for this great goodnesse and declare the wonders that he hath done and especially this suffering this great suffering that he vnderwent for the children of men and that they would praise him from the ground of the heart And because virtus nisi cum re vilior alga That we should shew our thankfulnesse to Christ by our workes Luke 2. Matth. 2. thankefulnesse consisteth more in workes then in words therefore let vs not onely with the Angels sing Glory be to God on high but let vs with the wise men present our gifts vnto him gold to clothe the naked and to feede the hungry soule Frankinsence to maintaine the preaching of Gods Word and Myrrhe to be prepared for our death Macrob. Saturnal l. 2. c. 4. that we may liue for euer with him Macrobius tels vs that a certaine souldiour of Augustus Band that had often aduentured his life in Caesars cause being to appeare before those Iudges whom he feared he desired Augustus for to assist him and the Emperour presently wished him to choose whom he would and he would appoint him for his aduocate but the Souldier replyed O Caesar I appointed no Deputy when your life was in danger to be lost but I hazarded mine owne life and receiued all these scarres which he then shewed in his body to preserue you from all hurt and doe you now appoint another to pleade for me what haue I done so much for you and will you refuse to do so small a kindnes for me euen so beloued brethren Christ did not onely hazard his life but gaue himselfe to death and suffered scarres and wounds and the shedding of all his bloud of his dearest bloud for vs and shall wee doe nothing for him Matth. 25 40. O yes beloued let vs euer doe what lyeth in vs for the poore members of Iesus Christ for whatsoeuer you doe to any one of them you doe it vnto me saith our Sauiour Thirdly to teach vs how dearely and how truely we ought to loue our Sauiour Christ For the third as Christ hath so dearely loued vs as to suffer all these things for vs so we should truely loue Christ againe and we should the rather loue him not onely because hee hath done all these things for vs but also because he requireth nothing for all these things but loue he exacts no tribute hee requires no homage he expects no requitall but loue O then let vs not say with the vncleane spirits in the Gospell What haue wee to doe with thee Marke 1.24 O Iesus thou Sonne of God but let vs rather say with the Church Cantic 2.5 in the Canticles Stay me with flagons and comfort mee with apples Bern. in Ser. de pass dom for I am sicke of loue and as thy loue to me Erat talis tantus vt nesciret habere modum was such and so great that it could not containe it selfe within the compasse of any bounds so my
saith of that valiant Scaeua Lucan l. 6. Quâ—m non mille modi mortis c. So these fearelesse Women feared not a thousand sorts of death So should euery Christian soule be vnwearied to seeke and vndaunted to professe our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ For whosoeuer will be ashamed of him here on Earth Marke 8.38 he will be ashamed of him before his Father which is in Heauen 2. Faecundity How these Women labour to increase the number of true beleeuers Secondly For the faecundity of the Church shee is like Sara that bringeth forth more fruite in her age then shee could doe in her youth her seede is as the sand of the Sea which cannot be numbred So these Women they runne and tell his Friends and Disciples that Christ is risen from the dead and so by this meanes they doe what lyeth in them to increase the number of Gods Children and so should euery man doe when he is confirmed to strengthen his brethren for it is our dutie to incite all others to beleeue in Christ and to declare Christ vnto them That they also may haue fellowship with vs 1 Iohn 1.3 in the fellowship which we haue with tâ—e Father and with his Sonne Iesus Christ 3. Peace How peâ—ceably the women came to seeke for Christ Thirdly For the peaceablenesse of the Church the Scripture saith thâ—t it is a vision of peace the Daughter of peace and the Mother of peace So these Women they came peaceably not armed like the Souldiers but harmelesly like Noahs Doue with nothing in their hands but sweete flowers nothing in their mouthes but sweete words Iohn 20 15. good Sir If thou hast taken him away then tell vs where thou hast laide him and as the Church saith Vbi pascit vbi cubat in meridie That wee may know where he is where he lyeth So should euery Christian man lay aside all bitternesse all maliciousnesse and put on the garment of meekenesse and gentlenesse for seeing God is a God of peace and the Church a vision of peace a City at vnitie within it selfe that man can neuer be the Sonne of God which is not the Childe of peace Euery Son of God must be the Childe of peace And so you see that as these Women so euery man or woman that seeketh Christ must be valiant fruitfull and peaceable And yet Secondly As these Women though they had each one of them all these graces in a good measure yet each one of them had not these or the like graces in the like measure for as Mary Magdalen was lesse fearefull so Mary Iacobi was more fruitfull then the rest How God bestoweth his gifts diuersly vnto men So God distributeth his gifts and graces euen as pleaseth him to one he giueth the gift of prophecying to another the gift of healing to Iohn the gift to speake of his Diuinity against Ebion to Marke the gift of handling his humanity against Marcion to Saint Peter the gift to worke mightily in the conuersion of the Iewes to Saint Paul in the conuersion of the Gentiles to some he giues the gift to be famous Orators excellent in perswasions like Apollo to others to be iudicious expositors of more positiue instructiâ—ns as beneficiall vnto the Church though perhaps more preiudiciall vnto themselues to some he giues the gift like Mary Iacobi to be fruitfull in number to preach often and to bring forth many Sermons to others like Mary Salome to be more peacefull yet no lesse faithfull then the rest to doe it seldome yet to doe as well as their fellowes And so in all the rest of Gods graces hee giues not the same gifts to all persons for Lactantius was good to confute the Gentiles but hee was not so good to confirme the Christians Origen was famous in the mysticall interpretation but not so iudicious in the literall exposition of the Scriptures Saint Augustine most excellent to discusse controuersies to confound Heretickes and most iudicious to interpret all positiue points but he was not so millifluous in his exhortations so among the practitioners of Religion some are faithfull to suffer some are painefull to worke some zealous to pray some are desirous to heare some like Mary Salome blessed peacemakers others like Mary Iacobi painefull inlargers of Gods Church and others like Mary Magdalen faithfull sufferers for Gods truth all good but not all the same gifts for as among Dauids Worthies all reached not to the first three so among the Worthies of Christ all haue not the same measure of grace That euery man should be contâ—nted with the gifts that God doth giue him And this should teach vs euery man to be contented with those gifts and with that measure of grace as God hath giuen him and euery man to labour according to the grace he hath receiued in his owne element whereto he is most inclined and not in other mens straine whereto perhaps he is more affected for the fruites of affectation can neuer be so sweete vnto the palate of an other as are the fruites of our speciall inclination And this should teach vs all so to affect one grace as not to reiect the other so to magnifie one man indued with such gifts as not to vilifie another inabled with some other gifts for this were to receiue the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ Iames 2.1 with respect of persons and it is not in man to haue what gift he pleaseth but it is God that distributeth and disposeth of his graces euen as it pleaseth him CHAP. II. Of the action of these Women which was a right seeking of our Sauiour Christ Three properties required to make euery action good THirdly The action of these Women is here expressed according to those three essentiall properties of euery good and godly action 1. The matter iust 2. The manner lawfull 3. The end pious All men are euer seeking for some thing First The matter and substance of their worke is said by the Angell to be an inquisition a seeking ye seeke saith he and so we doe all seeke for since Adam like a griping Vsurer who extorting more then his due leeseth principall and all desiring to be as God lost both God and himselfe the whole World is at a quare and in a continuall seeking but most of vs doe seeke amisse For Some seeke for wealth Some seeke for wealth Quaerenda pecunia primum And they preferre that before the health of their soules And therefore surely they may well feare because they carrie two heauy burthens vpon their backes the one is deliciarum putredo the rust of their couetous desires and the other is Curarum magnitudo The greatnesse of worldly cares Quorum vnumquodque ad subigendum nauigium sufficit Whereof each one is able to sinke a Ship the rust of our riches to be a witnesse against vs and the cares of this World to choake vs and drowne vs in
of feare is euill for we loue and desire the good and we feare onely that which is euill And therefore how can it be that we should feare him which is the chiefest good I answere That it is true that the obiect of feare is euill and that euill to come for what is past we call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heauinesse which is the relique and the effect of that euill which we haue suffered but that which is to come we call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Feare And yet I say that wee may feare that which is good in two respects First We may feare that which is good In what sense we may be said to feare God which is the chiefest good Ne bonum à nobis per malum auferatur Lest that good be taken away from vs by reason of our euill So the body feareth death lest by that death it should be depriued of the fruition of the soule So we feare God thâ—t is good lest that for our euill he will leaue vs and depriue vs of the fruition of his most blessed Societie Secondly We may feare that which is good Ne per bonum propter malum malum nobis inferatur Lest that which is good should inflict some euill vpon vs for our euill So the Malefactor feareth the Iudge lest the vprightnesse of the Iudge should cause punishment to be inflicted vpon him for his euill deedes So we feare the good God lest he should punish vs for our euill And so in very deede the thing that we feare is not his goodnesse but the iust desert of our owne wickednesse For to speake properly God as he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a louer of man and the chiefest good cannot be feared but he is onely to be feared as he is a iust Iudge 2 Thess 1.8 which rendereth vengeance to them that know not God And therefore though the obiect of feare be euill yet in tâ—ese respects we ought while we liue on earth for in Heauen there is no feare 1 Iohn 4.18 because perfect charity expelleth feare to feare God the chiefest good And blessed is he that alwayes feareth for he that feareth the Lord will doe no euill But as the bankes of a Riuer doe bound in the waters from ouer-flowing so doth the feare of God hedge in our affections that it suffereth not our soules to sinne whereas the bankes being broken and troden downe the waters then Velut agmine facto Will rush in heapes and soone couer the whole face of the plaines So the feare of God being once reiected Bloud toucheth bloud Hosea 4.2 as the Prophet saith and all sinnes and wickednesse will be committed euen with greedinesse Secondly The Angell doth herein denotate who ought and who ought not to feare for he saith vnto the Women Feare you not because you seeke Iesus of Nazareth that was crucified which is all one as if he said They that seeke Christ or goe about to doe the will of Christ to honour him to imbalme him with their odoriferous prayers and the sweete swelling flowers of pious and religious workes as you doe they neede not feare no euill can happen vnto them because God is vnto such a most louing Father that will doe them good and not euill all the dayes of their life but they that seeke to presse him downe and to trample him vnder feete like the Tyrants or to suppresse his truth like the Heretickes or seeke him not crucified but to crucifie him againe and to make a mocke of him by their wicked sinnes as the Apostle saith Heb. 6. â— They may well with these cursed Keepers feare and tremble because God will be vnto such a most iust Iudge Rom. 2.6 that will render vnto euery one according to his deedes And so you see who neede not feare those good and godly Saints that seeke for Christ that liue like Christians for the more godly we are the lesse we neede to feare If we had no sinne we had neede of no feare for in Heauen among the Saints there is no feare because there is no sinne Sinne brought feare into the World but there is perfect loue and perfect loue expelleth feare because feare is the defect of loue and the effect of sinne for if Adam had neuer sinned Adam needed neuer to haue feared but when he had once transgressed then assoone as euer he heard the voyce of God Gen. 3.10 he feared For so he saith I heard thy voyce in the Garden and I was afraide But they that goe on in sinne and drinke iniquity like water they may well feare and tremble and the more they sinne the more they should feare Psal 5.5 Heb. 10.31 The more sinfull we are the more we ought to feare because the Lord hateth all them that worke wickednesse and it is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God And therefore Saint Iames saith That the Diuels feare and tremble and no doubt but their feare is exceeding great because their sinnes are great And therefore Feare not O Iacob my seruant saith the Lord but reioyce O ye Righteous and be glad all ye that are true of heart For the more you feare the lesse you neede to feare the more you feare your selues to fall to sinne the lesse you neede to feare my wrath to punish you for your sinnes this blessed feare to sinne expelleth feare of vengeance But goe-to-now you carelesse wicked wretches weepe and howle Iames 5.1 for your miseries that shall come vpon you For seeing you haue no feare to sinne you should feare and tremble at the consideration of that punishment which you must suffer for your sinnes for so our Sauiour saith Luke 12.5 You should feare to haue both body and soule cast into Hell fire As if he said Though you feare not to sinne yet you may and should feare this punishment for sinne Thirdly The Angell perhaps herein How or after what manner we ought to feare God would intimate how we ought to feare for there is too little feare and this proceedeth Ex carentia fidei through want of faith and there is too much feare and this springeth Ex superabundantia spei through too much confidence and excesse of hope and both these sorts of men Tum sperando tum desperando miserè pereunt By hoping vainely or fearing desperately doe miserably perish And therefore the Angell might well disswade these Women from both these kindes of feare and say Feare you not Too little you doe not for I see you affrighted and too much you may not you neede not because you seeke Iesus that was crucified but in a meane and a middle sort you may and you should feare for Blessed is the man that alwayes feareth Because there bee three states of a Christian man 1. Of grace 2. Of laps 3. Of recouerie and Feare must be wanting in none of these For That God ought to be feared in
Surely this would euert all the Articles of our Faith that we doe professe touching the humanity of our Sauiour Christ and make Christ indeede to be no Christ at all Secondly The Angell confirmeth his assertion of Christs not being in his graue by a sufficient reason For he is risen for if he had said Luc. 24.6 But he is risen as Saint Luke saith it it had beene a further affirmation of his Resurrection but saying For he is risen it is likewise a confirmation of his former assertion He is not here And the reason is naturall and in nature it is vnanswerable He is risen and gone to another place therefore hee cannot be here in this place he is aliue on Earth and therefore not dead here in the graue And therefore Why seeke ye the liuing among the dead why seeke you Christ where he is not A doctrine surely to be well obserued Not to looke for Christ where he is not either in respect of 1. His spirituall 2. His corporall presence First For his spirituall presence we know where he is Gregor moral l. 18. c. 15. In sinu matris Ecclesiae In the bosome of our Mother the Church For where two or three are gathered together in my name Matth. 18.20 there am I in the middest of them And therefore If thus we would finde Christ Luke 2.44 let vs not with Ioseph and Mary seeke him among our Kinsmen and Acquaintance and worldly Friends Nam quomodo That Christ is no where to be found but in the Church O bone Iesu inter cognatos meos te inueniam qui inter tuos minimè es inuentus For how is it possible O sweete Iesu saith Saint Bernard that I should finde thee among my Kindred when thy Mother could not finde thee among thine owne Kinsmen and I would to God all the Bernards of our time would thinke on this but let vs with the Church in the Canticles Lyra ad loc cant 1.8 follow the foote-steppes of the Flockes vnto the Tents of the Shepheards that is Vestigia fidelium ad sedes doctorum The foote-steps of the faithfull to the seats of the Doctors and Teachers of Iesus Christ There he was found by his Mother and there he is still to be found of his Children And Secondly For his corporall presence we know where he is That Christ is no where corporally but in heauen Act. 3.21 sitting at the right hand of God in Heauen not in Earth for the Heauens must containe him vntill the restitution of all things Indeede Mary Magdalen and the rest of these Women here thought him to be in his graue but as yet he had not ascended into Heauen and they knew not what was become of him And therefore their ignorance may be excused for seeking Christ where he was not but we know where he is and therefore our negligence and preposterousnesse must needes be condemned and our selues shall be found void of all excuse Si quaeramus in tumulo Aug de tempore Serm. 133. quem adorare debemus in coelo If we seeke him not where he is and not still looke for him where he is not Our Sauiour tells vs and I cannot here omit it That there should arise false Prophets and they should say vnto you Loe here is Christ or loe there is Christ but he aduiseth vs to beleeue it not And surely wee haue many such false and deceitfull Prophets euen all the patrones of transubstantiation that teach vs to seeke for Christ where he is not Looke Doctor Sheldon in a Sermon preached before the King intituled Christ sitting on his throne and not in popish secrets where this is largely handled Aug. l. de vnit eccl cap. 3. Aquinas in cat sup Matth c. 24. for I doe assure my selfe as Master Doctor Sheldon hath most learnedly and largely proued that the prediction of Christ concerning the practise of those pseudochristians whereof he speaketh Matth. 24.26 saying that they should say vnto vs behold he is in the secrets is principally to be vnderstood of these men For Although diuers of the ancient interpreters as Origen Saint Augustine Aquinas and others doe expound those words of Christ mystically of the priuate conuenticles of hereticks that doe challenge vnto themselues only the spirituall presence of Christ and I confesse this to be true yet I say that this is not all the truth nor yet the chiefest intention of our Sauiour Christ and it is no maruell that the Fathers attained not vnto the full meaning of our Sauiours words because euery prophesie is as a riddle or a booke sealed vp hard to be interpreted as Ireneus saith contra heres lib. 4. cap. 43. but I say that Christ forewarneth vs to take heed of such as would pretend to teach him the true Christ to be personally present in most hidden and secret places wherein I beseech you to obserue these three particulars That Christ warneth vs to beware of thē that would seeme to teach the true Christ First that I say Christ forewarneth vs to take heed of such as pretend to teach the true Christ for he saith that these false prophets shall preuaile so farre in their perswasions as that the very elect shall be in danger to be seduced by their subtilties and therefore this doth plainly proue to me that they shall not denie the true Christ nor pretend to preach any other Christ for if they did so the elect might be said to be more in danger of persecution then seduction but that they should with lying arguments out of Christs owne words and in Christ his owne name as they will professe in the latter day teach and seeke to proue him the true Christ to be in secrets that is in those places That Christ warneth vs to beware of thē that teach his bodily presence any where but in heauen where he is not Secondly that I say Christ forewarneth vs to beware of such as teach him the true Christ to be personally and corporally present in those secret places wherein they auouch him to be for Christ bidding vs not to beleeue that hee is in such secrets setteth downe these two reasons to shew why we should not beleeue it First That Christ vseth two speciall reasons to proue that hee wil neuer come bodily to any secrets till the day of iudgement because that as the lightening commeth from the East and shineth vnto the West so shall the comming of the sonne of man be which is all one as if he had said when they shall tell you that I am personally present in any place beleeue it not because I shall neuer come personally spiritually I doe euery day vntill I come as a lightening i. e. suddenly gloriously manifestly which shall be his comming to iudgement Secondly because that wheresoeuer the body is thither will the Eagles be gathered together for though Origen senseth the body Origen tract 30 in Matth. to be
the Church the Eagles to be the Doctors and their gathering together to be their harmonious and ioynt-consent in truth and though Saint Ierome Theophylact and others Hieron in Matth. 4. and Theophylact. in Matth. 24. do by the body conceiue Christ crucified by the Eagles all the Saints and by their gathering together the applying of the merits of his passion vnto our soules yet Saint Chryostome Stella Ferus and Maldonate and many more euen of our Iesuites doe interpret these words of Christ his comming to iudgement and say that the body signifieth the personall presence of Christ the Eagles the Saints and their gathering together the meeting of him in iudgement and therefore by this reason Christ doth plainly intimate that they should not looke nor beleeue any personall presence of him in any secret places because hee is that body or that carkeise as both Theophilact and Beza vse the word vnto whom all the Saints shall be visibly gathered together and he at no time come bodily vnto them vntill they likewise come and be gathered vnto him And in both these reasons as you see he speaketh of a personall presence of himselfe publikely shewed and in this last nameth his body or carkeise and therefore in his predictions he forewarneth vs to beleeue not them which teach any personall or bodily presence of him in any secrets for otherwise it had beene to no purpose to bring these reasons of his not comming bodily vntill he should visibly come to iudgement to disswade vs from beleeuing any his spirituall comming for his not comming personally till the day of iudgement doth no way proue but hee may as he doth come spiritually euery day to bee present with his Saints in many secrets but his not comming personally till then is a sufficient reason to disswade vs from beleeuing any personall comming of him in secrets And That Christ willeth vs to beware of them that teach him to be bodily present in many places at once Thirdly that I say Christ forewarneth vs to take heed of such as teach him the true Christ to be thus personally present in many secret vnknowne places all at once for the very word which our Sauiour vseth to expresse the subtilties of these false prophets doth proue as much for First hee sheweth vs that they shall say he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in secrets which is a word that signifieth a most secret vnknowne place a little cupboord where they vse to set their bread and so the word vsed to expresse the same in the vulgar Latine in penetralibus doth signifie the most inward and most hidden place of any place Secondly he sheweth vs that those false prophets should tell vs that the true Christ is not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in some one secret place but in penetralibus in secrets i. e. in many places and in diuers secrets all at once That the defenders of Transubstantiation teach all these points which Christ bad vs herein to beware of And I say that I could neuer see how this prediction can be more properly applied to any heretickes old or new then to the teachers and defenders of Transubstantiation for First they perswade vs to beleeue no other Christ but onely the true Christ to bee there vnder the formes of bread and wine Secondly they perswade vs that he is personally and bodily there flesh bloud bones and all Thirdly they teach that he is there in so secret hidden and inuisible manner as that it can no wayes by any humane sense be conceiued but onely by a diuine faith to be beleeued And I am sure no false prophets in the world could or euer can teach a more mysticall and secret presence of Christ personally and bodily then this manner is and Fourthly they teach that he is thus wholly and hiddenly in many thousand places all at once euen wheresoeuer any bread in the Masse is consecrated there is Christ personally in all such secrets according to their ancient distich Constat in altari carnem de pane creari Hic panis Deus est qui negat hoc reus est The bread on th' altar as wee say is turned by the Priest his breath To be Christs flesh who euer saith nay is guilty of his death And therefore seeing the prediction of Christ concerning the practise of the false apostles is so plainely seene to be fully accomplished in these deceiued and deceitfull teachers I aduise all men to follow our Sauiours councell beleeue them not beleeue them not for though we doe acknowledge a true reall sacramentall presence of Christ effectually and really working How the body of Christ may be said to bee truly and really in the Sacrament by a true and liuely faith in all the worthy receiuers of that blessed bread because as the Angells are said truely and really to be not only where they diffinitiuely are but also where they doe effectually worke and as the Sunne is said truly and really to be not onely where he is locally fixed in heauen but also where it doth virtually shine and worke here on earth so the bodie of Christ may bee said to bee truly and really not onely in the heauens where it is locally present but also here in the sacred mysteries where he effectually worketh in all the worthy receiuers of the same yet for any other reall bodily presence of Christ in the bread and wine we vtterly deny he is not here for the same reason that the Angell vseth to proue hee was not in his graue because he was risen and gone to another place so we say he is not here because we know he is in heauen where he sitteth on the right hand of God and from thence he will not come personally into any hidden and secret place vntill hee comes apparantly like the lightening that commeth from the East and suddenly shineth vnto the West as himselfe doth testifie And so much for the confirmation of this Angells assertion that Christ was not there in the graue because hee was risen and gone to another place and so likewise of my application and inference thereupon that we are not to beleeue Christ to bee in the secret places of bread and wine because hee is ascended to another place where he sitteth on the right hand of God He that hath eares to heare let him heare for here I doe professe What the Author thinketh of transubstantiation before almighty God and before his sonne Iesus Christ that in all my poore reading which I desired might bee so much as my time and ability would giue mee leaue I did neuer finde a point more contrary to the truth more derogatory to the honour of God more destroying the nature of Christ and more dangerous vnto men in all the writings of our aduersaries then is this incredible and impossible point of Transubstantiation loe I haue told you what I beleeue And here likewise we must further note that as I
iot of misery and therefore Saint Augustine saith very well that Sicut contra rationem nemo sobrius contra ecclesiam nemo Catholicus ita contra Scripturas nemo Christianus as no man that is sober will speake against reason no man that is a Catholike will kicke against the Church so no man that is a Christian will contradict any thing that is said in Scriptures For the second that is the Prophesie of Dauid we may obserue these three things 1. The Glory 2. The Victory 3. The Bounty of the Messias and the Sauiour of the world Iesus Christ Or else 1. The Ascention of Christ 2. The Subiection of our Enemies The whole Treatise diuided into three parts 3. The Donation of the Holy Ghost First The Glory of Christ or his Ascention is set downe in these words When he ascended vp on high Secondly The Victory of Christ or the subduing of our enemies is set downe in these words He led captiuity captiue Thirdly The Bounty of Christ or the sending downe of the Holy Ghost is set downe in these words He gaue gifts vnto men The first part hath two Branches Branch 1. BRANCH I. CHAP. I. Of foure sorts of ascenders and how each one of them ascendeth TOuching the first that is the Ascention of Christ I will by Gods helpe handle it two wayes First by way of explication of the words Secondly by way of application of the same vnto our selues And in the first respect we must consider these three points Three points to be considered touching the ascention of Christ 1. The person Ascending who he is 2. The Action or Motion of the person going vp 3. The Place where he is gone on high Thou art gone vp on high First the person ascending First For the person ascending the Psalmist saith in the second person ascendisti in altum caepisti captiuitatem accepisti dona Be-Adam Thou art gone vp on high thou hast taken captiuity and thou hast receiued gifts for the sonnes of Adam And the Apostle here in the 3. person saith When he ascended vp on high he led captiuity captiue et dedit dona and he gaue gifts vnto men Who is that thou or this he who is this King of glory that hath ascended vp on high and what a strange thing is this to find such difference in the Scriptures Iohn 3. he receiued gifts saith the Prophet he gaue gifts saith the Apostle Haud bene conueniunt We may say with Nicodemus How can these things be for the difference betwixt the Prophets saying he receiued gifts and the Apostles saying he gaue gifts I shall reconcile it hereafter when I shall come to speake of the 3. point i. e. the bounty of the Messias and therefore it resteth now that we should discusse onely of the person who he is that is here meant to haue ascended for Bonauenture saith that there be foure sorts of ascenders 1. Angels That there be foure sorts of ascenders 2. Diuels 3. Men both good and bad 4. The God and Man Christ Iesus First Gen. 28.12 To what end the good Angels doe ascend Iacob saw the Angels ascending and descending vpon a ladder whose foot was on earth and the toppe thereof reached vnto heauen carrying vp our prayers and supplications and presenting them vnto God as Raphael did the prayers of Tobias and bringing vnto vs the gifts and graces of God as Gabriel did the Message of saluation vnto the blessed Virgin not in respect of any office of Mediatorship that they should execute betwixt God and Man but in respect of that seruice which they are to doe vnto man at the command of God and therefore they are said to ascend and descend along the ladder that is through Iesus Christ for he is that ladder by whom we ascend and clime vp to God and through whom we receiue all blessings from God He is the Way the Truth and the Life Iohn 14.6 the two sides of this ladder are his two natures the staues are the proprieties of each nature and the knitting of them together is that indissoluble vnion of these two natures in the vnity of his Person Now when Iacob saw this vision of Angels ascending and descending vpon this ladder dormiuit supra lapidem Who they be that shall see the Angels descending for their comfort it is not said that he laid his hard head vpon a soft pillow but that hee laid his tender head for he was but a young man and as yet neuer vsed to any hardnesse vpon a hard stone to signifie vnto vs that not those which lay their hard hearts and stiffe neckes vpon beds of downe and lie wallowing in all the pleasures of this world but those rather which sleepe in sorrow and griefe for their sinnes and lie vpon the hard and rough stone of true repentance spending their time with Iohn Baptist in austere conuersation shall see the Angels of God descending downe to comfort them and ascending vp to carry their soules like Lazarus into Abrahams bosome Secondly Satan said in his heart Esay 14.13 I will exalt my selfe aboue the skies and I will be like vnto the most highest and of this fastidious and proud ascender Rupertus Tuicensis writeth excellently and largely in his bookes De victoria verbi Dei Bern in Psal qui habitat Ser. 12. and Saint Bernard saith that this wicked spirit doth emulate and imitate those heauenly Angels but most lewdly quia ascendit studio vanitatis How wickedly Satan doth ascend descendit liuore malignitatis because he ascendeth in a vaine desire of dignity to bee equall with God and hee descendeth with an odious heart full of wrath and malignity to destroy silly men sic mendax ascentio crudelis descentio est and so his ascending is but a lying vanity and his descending a cruell indignity Gregor in lib. 1. reg c. 17. pag. 279. c. or else as Saint Gregory saith they are said to ascend and descend quia ad expugnanda alâ—a per caeleste desiderium corda subuenire de innocentis vitae sublimitate nos deponere appetunt because they seeke to ouertop the Saints of God and to deiect their desires from the sublimity of heauenly things and to bring downe their hearts and affections to bee fixed on the things of this base and wretched world and therefore pro inani suo ascensu tam immane praecipitium sortitus est for such vaine ascending he hath obtained a most fearefull tumbling of himselfe into the bottomlesse pit of hell Such is the reward of pride But seeing their ascending and descending is to subuert vs and to cast vs downe to hell wee ought to bee very thankâ—full vnto him i. e. Iesus Christ at whose command the good Angels doe ascend and descend and continually attend vpon vs Bernar. de ascen ser 4. p. 199. to defend vs from them as Saint Bernard saith and to preserue vs in all
our wayes that we hurt not our foot against a stone Thirdly men are said to ascend and that both the good and the bad How wicked men doe ascend First ascendere malos est de malo ad peius proficere the wicked are said to ascend when they grow worse and worse and goe on from one wickednesse to another vntill they come to the height of all impiety Greg in l. 1. reg c. 15. p. 444. f. to 1. so the children of the first age after the flood swelling vp with pride did lift vp their hearts on high and would build them a tower whose top might reach to heauen Gen. 11 4. Esay 14.13 Ezech. 28. so the King of Babell said I will ascend into heauen and exalt my throne aboue the starres of God so the King of Tirus said I am a God and sit in the seat of God in the midst of the sea so will that man of sinne that child of perdition whensoeuer he commeth sit in the Temple of God as God and shew himselfe that he is God if not directly by verball profession yet apparantly by reall vsurpation when hee shall vndertake to forgiue all sinnes to binde all consciences to dispence with all lawes to dispose of all kingdomes to command all Angels and solely to open and shut heauen and hell at his pleasure and so doe all the children of pride ascend vp on high to the very height of all sinne and this sinne makes them like vnto Lucifer the King of pride and as the Poet saith Matrona incedit census induta nepotum How pride spoyleth many one It makes many a father and mother to weare their childrens portions vpon their backes it makes many a woman not with Eue to hide their shame but with Iesabell to hide their faces which should be their glory vnder shamefull complexions of their owne composure so that God himselfe if hee did not know their hearts might hardly know those vailed faces Nec tamen admiror si vobis cura placendi Cum videant comptos secula nostra viros And it makes not onely women to deny themselues and their age to please men but it maketh men also to deny their sexe almost to please women and to spend more time in powdering their haires and perfuming themselues then they doe in the seruice of God or of the Common-wealth and German-like to goe in all attires vnlike to men yea this sinne as it made the inhabitants of heauen to become the citizens of hell so it maketh many a Saint to become a Deuill and of the sons of God to become sonnes of Beliall for as the Poet saith of beautifull persons Fastus inest pulchris sequiturque superbia formam You shall hardly finde a faire man or woman that is not proud so I may as truly say Fastus inest iustis sequiturque superbia sanctos There be not many Saints but we may feare they are a little proud of their sanctitie for in our best goodnesse if we be not carefully watchfull ouer our owne soules Satan will seeke to make vs doat in admiration of our owne worth and then presently he will stirre vs vp to proceed to the extenuation of others and to say with the Pharisee To be proud of goodnesse is the worst pride in the world I thanke God I am not as other men or as this Publicane And of all ascenders and lifters vp of themselues there is none so bad as these for as no deuill to the holy deuill when he transformeth himselfe into an Angell of light so no pride like this to be proud of grace and the deuill reioyceth as much to make a Saint proud as to make a prophane man wicked Matth. 24 15. And therefore as our Sauiour saith vnto the Iewes When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place then flie to the mountaines euen so when you perceiue in your selues the least conceit of your owne worth and goodnesse then doe you presently feare this lifting vp and flie to the mountaine of heauen for grace to escape the desolation of such high conceits for as Orpheus had his wife Euridice granted him out of hell vpon condition that he should not looke vpon her vntill he had passed out of the confines of hell But Flexit amans oculos protinus illae relapsa est He was so farre in loue with her that he could nâ—t containe from looking backe and so she was presently taken backe againe euen so if we Narcissus-like stand gazing vpon our owne worthinesse wee shall finde our best deedes but like the apples of Sodom externally splendide and faire to the eyes but being handled by God or throughly tried by the touchstone of Gods Law we should finde them hollowly defectiue and euery way impure in his sight Indeed it is Satans vsuall course either to hinder vs to doe well and to cause vs not to fast not to pray not to giue almes not to doe good or else if wee doe them to doe them that we may be seene of men and to be proud of them hee will be sure to thrust at euery side and to thrust sore at vs that we may fall but we must carefully watch him in all his assayes and especially in this Optatus in parab pharis public because as Optatus saith Meliora inuenta sunt peccata cum humilitate quam innocentia cum superbia it is better for a man to sinne and be humbled then to be voyd of sinne i. e. of all the vsuall sinnes of the world and to be proud of his innocency And thus you see how the wicked doe ascend in pride and as Claudian saith Satan lifteth vp wicked men to throw them downe tolluntur in altum vt lapsu grauiore ruant They are lifted vp on high to haue the greater fall and therefore perniciosa haec ascentio imo magis descentio est à Ierusalem in Iericho this is a most dangerous ascention nay rather descention from Ierusalem to Iericho to fall among theeues and to be robbed and spoyled of all that we haue for these haue not the siluer wings of a Doue but the waxen wings of Icarus to helpe them to ascend and they are not exalted vp by God because they are not humble and meeke but they are lifted vp by the deuill because they grow great without goodnesse and therefore as Icarus Icariaâ— nomine fecit aquas fell downe and was drowned so will the deuill bring downe the high lookes of the proud for as the Iacke-daw takes vp a nut in her bill and flying on high lets it fall on a rocke for to breake it or as the Eagle deales with the Oister and Tortoise in like mannâ—r by which meanes Aescilus died Valerius Maximus l. 9. c. 12. as Valerius Maximus saith because the Eagle seeing his bald head while in an open place he made his oration vnto his auditors thought it was a stone and therfore
the same sence as the word ascendit for hee descended as God and God filleth all places and therefore it is not phisically to be vnderstood of any locall descent but for his exinination and the assumption of our flesh but hee ascended as God and Man and therefore must phisically be vnderstood of a locall ascent and whole Christ is said to ascend by reason of the communication of the properties and the vnion of both natures into one person Secondly the action or ascending of Christ Secondly Saint Paul hauing thus fully described and shewed the person ascending i. e. he that descended expresseth the verie acte or motion in this word ascendit hee ascended vp on high touching which wee must consider these three especiall points 1. The time of his ascention 2. The place of his ascention 3. The manner of his ascention All which are fully shewed by Saint Luke in the first of the Acts. Acts 1.3 First he saith that hee shewed himselfe aliue after his Passion by many infallible proofes for the space of forty dayes touching which number The time when Christ ascended why he remained on earth iust forty dayes many men haue collected many mysteries Moses was in the Mount with God forty dayes the children of Israel wandered in the wildernesse forty yeeres Elias fasted forty dayes Niniue had time of repentance forty dayes our Sauiour fasted forty dayes and many other like examples might bee found of this iust period of forty dayes Bosquierus de monomachia Christi and I will not here search into the reason of these things he that will let him looke into Bosquierus but I will onely note those two reasons why he continued so long on earth after his resurrection which Saint Luke setteth downe vnto vs First to prooue the certanity of his resurrection therefore he saith thâ—t hee appeared vnto them Secondly to instruct his Apostles in faith hope charitie and all other points concerning the Kingdome of God as Eusebius noteth and the Euangelist plainely expresseth saying Eusebius l. 4. de praeparat Euang. that he was seene of his Apostles forty dayes speaking of the things pertayning to the Kingdome of God But here we must obserue that for this space of forty dayes he was not with his Apostles and Disciples after the same manner as he was with them before his Passion for that now hee was not continually conuersant with them but did onely at some times appeare vnto them If then you demaund where he was for that space while hee was not with his Disciples whetherin the Wildernesse as some doe thinke or in the terrestriall Paradise which Bellarmine affirmeth to remaine still though Pererius saith it was quite abolished by the deluge or in what place he secluded himselfe I will no wayes venter to determine for I will alwayes hold that excellent rule of Prosper Quae deus occulta esse voluit Prosper de vocat gentium non sunt scrutanda quae autem manifesta fecit non sunt negligenda ne in illis illicite curiosi in his damnabiliter inueniamur ingrati What God hath concealed they are not to be searched and what hee hath declared they are not to be neglected lest that in the former we shall be found to be vnlawfully curious and in the latter most damnably carelesse Secondly For the place from whence he ascended it is said The place from whence he ascended that he went from Galilee to Bethanie from Bethanie to Mount Oliuet and from Mount Oliuet vnto Heauen Galilee signifieth transmigration and Bethanie is interpreted the House of obdience to shew that as he descended by reason of our disobedience to suffer for our sins and to giue vs an example of obedience thereby parare nos mansioni to prepare vs for Heauen so by reason of his most perfect obedience in fulfilling all righteousnesse He ascended into Heauen Parare mansionem nobis Act. 14.12 to prepare a place for vs or else Bethanie may signifie the House of affliction to shew that by many afflictions and tribulations we must enter into the Kingdome of God And he ascended from Mount Oliuet because he would vse no miracle while the strength of nature serued and whosoeuer doth otherwise The manner of Christ his ascending Luke 24.51 tempteth God rather then trust in God Thirdly For the Manner Bonauenture obserueth that hee ascended First Blessing his Apostles as the Euangelist saith While he blessed them he was parted from them which is an exceeding comfort vnto vs the poore distressed Ministers of Iesus Christ for though the world hate vs and curse vs and say all manner of euill against vs yet behold Christ parting left his blessing with vs to defend vs against all their malice And he blessed them with his hands lifted vp to teach vs that in our prayers we doe with Moses fight with God we hold his hands and suffer him not to strike vs with the sword of vengeance and this is the Victory which ouercomes our God euen our prayers and to teach vs that when our mouth prayeth to God we should likewise moue our hands to doe the workes of God and further to teach vs that by this manner of praying with our hands spread and lifted vp Prudentius hymno 6. we should professe Christ crucified as Prudentius saith Secondly He was not suddenly snatcht from them as Elias nor secretly taken away as Enoch was Sed videntibus illis but in the presence of them all his Apostles and Disciples he ascended vp to Heauen Act. 1.9 Thirdly That as he ascended the cloudes receiued him out of their sight to shew that he was the Lord of alâ— his creatures he had already trampled vpon the earth walked vpon the Sea vanquished Hell Bern. Ser. 2. de ascent p. 192. and subdued all infernall things vnder his feet and therefore now the cloudes receiued him and the Heauens are opened to make way for this King of glory to enter in Fourthly He ascended in voce tubae in the sound of a Trumpet not on earth sounding Hosanna but in Heauen crying Haleluiah for God is gone vp with a merry noise and the Lord with the sound of a trumpet Psal 46.5 saith the Psalmist So You haue heard how he went and you shall see him comming after the same manner saith the Angell First With the sound of a trumpet that shall raise the dead and this great trumpet of God is the voyce of the Angels a voyce fearefully crying Surgite mortui venite ad iudicium Arise ye dead and come vnto iudgement a voyce that alwayes made Saint Hierome to quake and tremble whatsoeuer â—ee was a doing Secondly He shall come in the cloudes and we shall be taken vp into the cloudes 1 Thes 4.14 that as we see the cloudes protect vs from the heate of the Sunne so we may be ouershadowed from the heate of the wrath of God by that true cloude Iesus
Christ Thirdly He shall come though vnlookt-for by the wicked as a theefe in the night yet so apparantly that he shall be seene of all the world and with a great company of Angels 2 Pet. 3.10 Et cum milibus sanctorum and with thousands of his Saints as the Apostle saith for the chariots of God are twenty thousands Psal 68.17 euen thousands of Angels and the Lord shall be among them as in the holy place of Sinâ—y Fourthly he shall come with a blessing to reioyce the hearts of his Elect when he shall say vnto them Matth. 25. Come ye blessed of my Father receiue the Kingdome that was prepared for you before the beginning of the world And so much for the motion or his ascending vp CHAP. IIII. The place into which Christ ascended THirdly We are to consider terminus ad quem the place whether he ascended Quò inquit Augustinus nisi quô scimus Aug. in Psal 46. p. 174. b. 2. quô eum Iudaej non sunt secutâ— Where is hee gone but where wee know and where the Iewes shall not be able to follow after Quia in cruce exaltatum irriserunt ideo in coelum ascendentem non viderunt Because they mocked him being nailed on the Crosse therefore they saw him not when hee ascended vp to Heauen and where is he gone saith the Prophet Dauid but on high for thou art gone vp on high that is aboue all Heauens saith the Apostle And therefore by this one little sentence we find three damnable Heresies brought to death First Of them which said his body vanished in the aire Three heresies confuted before he ascended into Heauen for he ascended aboue all heauens Secondly Of them that said he ascended into the Orbe and Circle of the Sunne because it is said in solem posuit tabernaculum suum Psal 19.5 He hath set his Tabernacle in the Sunne which was the opinion of the Hermians and the Passionists as both Nazianzen and Saint Augustine doe affirme for here wee see hee is gone aboue all Heauens and therefore aboue the Orbe of the Sunne and they mistake that place of the Psalmist which is in them hath he set a Tabernacle for the Sunne and not he hath set his Tabernacle in the Sunne Thirdly Of them which teach an vbiquitary Heauen because he is ascended aboue such Heauens Ob. But then it may be obiected that if he be ascended aboue all Heauens then is he in no certaine place because as Aristotle saith Beyond Heauen Arist l. 1. de coelo there is no place Sol. I answere that the Scripture maketh mention of three Heauens That there be three Heauens First Of the Ayre as the Foules of Heauen Secondly Of the Coelestiall Orbes as the Starres of Heauen Thirdly Of the Receptacle of the blessed soules which is called the Kingdome of Heauen And this we must vnderstand to be either 1. Materiall 2. Spirituall 3. Supersubstantiall Christ ascended aboue the materiall Heauens First For the Materiall Heauen he is said to ascend aboue the same First In respect of Glory because the Body of Christ is more glorious then any Materiall Heauen Secondly In respect of the Continency because in nature it is infallible that contentuÌ„ superius est continente the thing contained must be higher then the place contayning Thirdly In respect of his blessed soule because the soule of Christ is more blessed then all things else whatsoeuer Christ ascended aboue the spirituall Heauens Secondly For the spirituall heauens i. e. all Angelicall or Heauenly perfections he is said to ascend aboue them all First In respect of perfection because the body of Christ is more noble and more excellent then any creature not in regard of his corporall substance but in regard of the hypostaticall vnion because it is vnited vnto the Godhead Secondly In respect of his humiliation because he hath vilified himselfe below all things therefore he is worthily exalted aboue all things Thirdly For the supersubstantiall Heauen i. e. God himselfe the place of God he is said in respect of his person to ascend into the same not that the humane nature is ascended to the equality of the Godhead for he is still inferiour to the Father and shall be still subiect to the Father as touching his Manhood but that the person of Christ God and Man sitteth on the right hand of God that is doth rest and raigne exalted aboue all things Vsque ad aequalitatem Maiestatis dei To be in all things equall vnto the Maiesty of God as Saint Augustine expoundeth it Descendit enim quo inferius non decuit ideo ascendit quo altius non potuit For he descended so low as it was not fit for him to goe lower and therefore he ascended so high as it was not possible for him to goe higher saith Saint Bernard And therefore Christ is ascended higher then all created things whatsoeuer Christ higher then all created things First In respect of the place because aboue all Heauens Secondly In respect of power Psal â— 6 because God the Father hath subiected all things vnder his feete i. e. as well things in Heauen as things in Earth Thirdly In respect of Dignity Heb. 1. because he is made more excellent then the Angels Fourthly In respect of this equality euen with God himselfe And so we see how Christ in respect of his person That Christ in respect of his manhood is in the highest part of the emperiall heauens is aboue all Heauens because he is an immeasurable and infinite person which the Heauen of Heauens cannot containe and therefore must needs be euery where but in respect of his humane nature assumed hee is in the highest part or place of the Emperiall Heauen which is the seate of the blessed soules for if he were in no place then much lesse should he be in the Earth in the Sunne or in euery place but Saint Augustine doth most excellently shew Aug. in ep ad Dardan that Vbi corpus ibi locum esse necesse est that wheresoeuer a body is there must needs be place because if we take away dimensions and places from bodies they shall be no where Et sinusquam erunt non erunt and if they be no where they shall not be at all and Saint Peter doth as plainely shew this truth when he saith that the Heauens shall and must containe him Act. 3.21 i. e. In respect of his Manhood for in respect of his Godhead it cannot vntill the restitution of all things and so we professe in our Creede that he sitteth on the right hand of God from whence he shall come i. e. in respect of his humanity for his Deity being euery where cannot be said to goe or to come any where to iudge both the quicke and the dead And therefore it is most certaine that the Body of Christ is in a place that is in the highest part of
should carry vs vp vnto God because God is loue and loue brought downe God vnto men Huc me syderio descendere fecit olympo Hic me crudeli vulnere fixit amor And therefore no maruell that loue should carry vs vp into Heauen Aug. in Psal 83. p. 376. d. 1. wherefore Saint Augustine sayth that by loue we doe either ascend to Heauen or descend to Hell quia amando Deum ascendis in Coelum amando seculum descendis vsque ad abyssum because by louing God wee ascend to Heauen and by louing the world we descend downe to Hell Saint Gregory saith these wings are 1. The contempt of worldly things 2. The desire of heauenly things And this may well stand with Saint Augustines saying because as the same Saint Gregorie saith tanto ab inferioribus disiungimur quanto superioribus delectamur by how much the more earnestly we loue heauenly things by so much we are ascended and sequestred from earthly things And therefore if you would ascend 1. Iohn 2.15 Colos 3.2 then loue not the world nor the things of this world but set your affections on those things that are aboue and because our life is iust like a clocke that vnlesse his waight be alwayes wynded vp will soone stand therefore wee must be euer winding vp our affections and weaning them from these worldly things and with Noahs doue neuer suffer the soales of our feete to rest vntill our hearts and soules returne to him that gaue them vs. Thirdly for the signes whereby wee may know whether we haue ascended or doe ascend towards Heauen or not I might shew you many How we may know whether our hearts ascendeth to Heauen or not but now take this for all if things aboue our heads shew greater vnto vs then they did before and things beneath vs lesser that is an apparant argument that we ascend and grow higher and higher for so Saint Gregorie saith if a man were aloft in the cloudes it would appeare vnto him quam abiecta sunt quae iam alta videntur how base are the things of this earth which to a man on earth doe seeme so great for then hee should see mountaines no bigger then Mole-hills and the Sunne which before while hee was on earth did seeme but instar pilae pedalis like a footeball hee should now finde it to be a great and immens glorious body all bodies aboue him would seeme greater and all below him would seeme lesser euen so if our hearts and affections be ascended vp to Heauen then surely the things of this world doe seeme vnto vs but as they are indeede damnum stercora Dung and drosse Phil. 3.8 or as nothing and worth nothing as Nazianzen saith and the things of Heauen are the onely desires of our hearts and the delights of our soules but if folia venti lilia agri the vanities and the pleasures of this world the Titles of Honour and the confluence of wealth be the desires and delights of our hearts then certainely wee are fast bound in misery and iron wee are fastened and fettered here on earth and it may bee with Golden chaynes but fast inough from ascending vp to Heauen I will not iudge of any by this rule you may all iudge your selues if you doe highly esteeme of the preaching and Preachers of Gods Word If you make much of them that feare the Lord and loue good men and a good conscience and make none account of this world nor of the things of this world then is your heart ascended vp to Heauen but if not Nudus humi iaces Thou lyest poore and miserable fettered here in earth a flaue and captiue of the Deuill and hast neede to cry and call for Christ to lead captiuitie captiue which is the second part of my Text. And so much for the Ascention of our Sauiour Christ Part. 2 PART II. CHAP. Of the victory and triumph of Christ ouer our enemies of our deliuerance from them and of our restoring into the seruice of God againe SEcondly Touching the victory and triumph of Christ set downe in these words Thou hast led captiuity captiue we must vnderstand that this is taken two wayes 1. Passiuely 2. Actiuely And I say first Passiuely because our enemies must be vanquished before we can be deliuered and therefore How Christ ouercame death Hell sinne and Satan First This phrase may be taken Passiuely for the World Death and Hell and all other enemies of Mankinde which Christ hath conquered and led captiue that they should not raigne and rule ouer his seruants any more And thus Saint Augustine doth expound it saying Quid est captiuauit captiuitatem vicit mortem mortem procurauit diabolus ipse diabolus de morte Christi est captiuatus What is he led captiuity captiue but he ouercame death for the Diuell had procured death for sinne and now the Diuell himselfe is captiuated by the death of Christ For as Victors were wont to doe to leade in triumph those Tyrants that opprest their subiects or those enemies that they had vanquished being fast bound with chaines with their heads and feet bare for their greater shame and reproach so the Psalmist alludeth vnto the same when he saith Coloss 2.15 Thou hast led captiuity captiue and the Apostle doth more cleerely expresse it when hee saith that Christ hauing spoyled Principalities and Powers hath made a shew of them openly tryumphing ouer them in it Quest But here it may be demaunded how are they captiuated when as the Diuell compasseth the earth like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may deuoure And so doth the world still oppresse vs 1 Pet. 5.8 our flesh lusteth against the spirit and Death still raigneth ouer vs all I answere that Christ hath destroyed their Power Resp hee hath taken away their strength and hee hath quite subuerted the Kingdome of sinne and Satan and taken away the sting of death and yet they compasse about not as hauing any power ouer vs but as a Lyon tyed will teare vs in pieces if he can catch vs within his clawes so will sinne and Satan if wee yeeld vnto them for though Christ ouercame all our enemies yet hee hath not quite taken them out of our wayes but left them as it were aliue though bound that we might still beware to come within their reach if we would escape their teeth and therefore wee say that sinne is so taken away that it doth not raigne ouer the Saints though perhaps through their negligence it doth often wound them so Satan is bound though like a bridled horse he often fumes against vs and sometimes bites vs too 1 Cor. 15.54 if we beware not of him and so death is swallowed vp into victory and the sting thereof is taken away so that it can neuer hurt the Saints of God though it layes them stil into a sleepe because they shall all awake at the last day But if sinne and
all Christians being brethren they must needes owe this mutuall duty of loue and charity Idem ep 93. ad Caelestin Quae sola etiam reddita semper detinet debitores which though it be neuer so much paid yet it is euer owing vnto our brethren saith Saint Augustine And so you see the loue of the Apostle to his brethren which should teach these brethren to loue our Apostle againe Quia amor amoris magnes durus est qui amorem non rependit because loue is a loadstone to draw loue againe and he is vnworthy of loue that requiteth not his louer with the same measure of loue as he receiueth for he should loue much to whom much is forgiuen saith our Sauiour and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee that desires much loue saith Isidor Isidor Pelus l. 2. ep 148. Pelus must shew much loue and therefore as the people doe require loue from the ministers so the ministers should receiue loue from the people for wee giue them panem sanctuarij the spirituall bread of life and therefore we should haue from them panem promptuarij bread enough to sustaine our life But alas such is our case they are ready enough to demand what is due to them but they are backward enough to pay what they owe to vs Loue is shewed foure wayes for whereas true loue is shewed foure manner of wayes First In words when wee speake friendly vnto our neighbours and beseech them to be reconciled vnto God 2 Cor. 5.20 Secondly In workes Quia probatio dilectionis exhibitio est operis when by our outward workes Gregor hom 30. in Euang. Mat. 20.28 we testifie our inward affection vnto our brethren Thirdly by our seruice one to another when wee desire not so much to be ministred vnto as to minister as our Sauiour saith Fourthly In being ready to lay downe our liues for the brethren which is the greatest signe of loue and the highest degree of affection for greater loue then this hath no man that a man should lay downe his life for his friend Iohn 15.13 and therefore our Sauiour Christ tooke vpon him non solum formam serui vt subesset Bernard ter quart hebd poenos sed quasi mali serui vt vapularet not onely the forme of a seruant that he might minister but also was contented to be accounted as an euill seruant that he might suffer for vs and all this to shew his loue vnto vs euery manner of way Whereas I say loue is thus shewed let vs say and doe and die for our people as we daily doe weare and consume our selues like Iohn Baptist that was a burning and a shining light like the candle that consumeth it selfe in giuing light to others yet are we sure to haue loue little enough from them good words is almost all we haue and alwayes we haue not that from all for our soules are filled with the scornefull reproofe of the wealthy and with the despightfulnesse of the proud but this much shall serue touching the Apostles affection and that vnity which should be amongst vs all because we are brethren Part. 2 PART II. CHAP. II. Of the Apostles wisdome and godly pollicy in seeking for to winne the Thessalonians to performe this duty and of three sorts of Preachers whereof two sorts are defectiue in this point That a gentle louing intreatie is the best way to perswade men to doe any thing SEcondly Saint Paul herein sheweth his discretion by this manner of speech that he vseth vnto them hee tels the Corinthians that he caught them with a guile not to beguile them but to saue them and so here and in all places he vseth all his wit all his pollicy and all the wisedome that hee hath to winne men vnto Christ 2 Cor. 12.16 and being wonne to make them to serue Christ for being desirous of their Prayers hee comes vnto them in spiritu mansuetudinis in the spirit of meekenesse he creepes into their hearts with termes of loue and seekes to lead them tanquam oues leni spiritu non dura manu rather as sheepe by an inward sweet influence then as goats to be driuen by an outward extreame violence so God himselfe dealt with our forefathers and all their posterity he heaped vpon them beneficia nimis copiosa multa magna priuata positiua wonderous great benefits and blessings to see if he could so draw them vnto himselfe in the chaines of loue and to allure them by all faire meanes and all the allectiues vnder heauen vnto his blessed seruice Hos 11.4 hee spake them faire hee vsed them kindly he promised them much he gaue them more and all to perswade them to their owne happinesse so Christ the Sonne of God alleadgeth this for a reason why all men should bee willing to come vnto him Matth. 11.29 because hee is meeke and lowly of heart and Moses the man of God was mitissimus super terram Numb 12.3 the meekest and the mildest man that was vpon the face of the earth and so the fittest man to guide the people of God and Titus Vespasian for his curtesie and affability was called deliciae generis humani the delight of mankinde hee was so curteous vnto all that he was wont to say Non opertet quenquam à Caesaris colloquio tristem discedere it was not fit for any man to depart sad from Caesar for hee knew this was the way to winne them Mollis responsio frangit iram a soft answere appeaseth wrath a gentle intreaty will soone perswade men Syluestres homines sacer interpresque Deorum Horarius de arte poetica Caedibus faedo victu deterruit Orpheus Dictus ab hoc lenire Tygres rapidosque Leones The faire spoken Orpheus and Amphion by their sweet perswasions are said to haue mollified the most sauage natures Dictus Amphion Thebanae conditor vrbis saxa mouere sono testudinis prece blando ducere quo vellet and to haue brought vnto ciuility the rudest and the wildest men and therefore Saint Paul here doth so louingly intreat them and so friendly beseech them with this sweetest name of Brethren to pray for them Brethren pray for vs. To teach vs that as we be Pascendo Pastores the Teachers of our people so we should be diligendo Patres 1 Cor. 2.4 aswel fathers for affection as teachers for instruction and that wee should intreat and beseech our people in the bowels of Christ Iesus when we might command them in the Name of the great Iehoua for it is most certaine that when bitter reprehensions doth harden men in iniquity a gentle intreaty will often win them vnto piety for it was but the alluring speech of Apollo that made many to affect him rather then Saint Paul and it is dayly seene that a golden mouthed Chrysostome with his sweet perswasions will winne more men to Christ then any one can doe with
may be said two waies 167 In what sence God willeth sinne 167 Will of Christ two fold 296 301 To doe the will of God will sooner bring vs to know God then to heare his word 571 Wings wherewith we flie to heauen what they be 631 Wine how deceitfull it is 45 Why wisedome is ascribed to the Sonne 273 By the wisedome whereof Salomon speaketh Prou. 8 22. what is meant 285 How hard for the wisedome of God to please foolish man 3â—0 Christ how said to be with God 297 Not as we are said to be with God ibid. To be with God and in God how the same 298 Witnesses of the birth of the Messias 411 WO. Woe trebled to the inhabitants of the earth 46 Christ why borne of a Woman 334 Women why three went together vnto the Sepulchre 519 Why they were all three called by the same name ibid. They were a type of the Church and of euery christian soule 520 How sorrowfull they were ibid. How distinguished and knowne one from the other 521 How they signifie three properties of the Church â— 521 How fearelesse they were in seeking Christ 521 How they laboured to increase the numbers of beleeuers 522 How peaceably they came to the graue 522 Many women were made instruments of great goodnesse 532 Word of God diuided into two parts 12 That the word was before he was made flesh 278 The word GOD no accidentall but an essentiall word 285 The word how he may be said to be created and begotten 289 Words of Dauid this day haue J begotten thee how vnderstood 290 Words of the Apostle he is the first borne of euery creature how vnderstood 290 Words of Saint Luke be shall be called the Sonne of God how vnderstood 248 Words of Salomon the Lord created me how vnderstood 286 Words of Christ my Father is greater then I how vnderstood 300 Words of Christ I came not to doe mine owne will how vnderstood 301 Words of Saint Paul then the Sonne shall be subiect to the Father how vnderstood 301 Words of Christ I came from aboue how vnderstood 344 345 Words of the Apostle God sent his sonne in the similitude of sinfull flesh how vnderstood 346 Words of our Creede he descended into hell how vnderstood 580 581 c. The seauen gratious words that Christ spake vpon the Crosse 486 Christ called the Word because he declareth his father vnto vs. 322 How God can expresse himselfe with one word 307 Why Christ is tearmed the word ibid. How the word GOD resembleth our outward word 308 How it resembleth our inward word ibid. How it differeth from our word 309 Whether it be a name of Christ his person or hâ—â— office 310 Why Saint Iohn vseth the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word 310 The word why made flesh 317 318 Why the Word rather then the Father or the Holy Ghost 322 The word onely assumed our flesh 326 How said to be made flesh 368 c. All the world without Christ will auaile vs nothing 263 Philosophers striue to proue the world to be eternall 136 World made by God proued 137 World diuided into his seuerall ages 402 To flie the world the next way to finde Christ 571 Workes of our vocation to be followed 13 Outward workes of God common to each person of the God-head 145 274 They are transient and voluntarie ibid. Inward works of God are euerin doing 275 They are necessary and incommunicable i. e. proper to each person 275 Worke of the incarnation how common to the three persons and how proper to Christ the Word 326 God worketh one contrary out of another 351 Workes of Christ testifie him to bee the true Messias 417 Workes of any man testifie what he is ibid. Workes requisite to expresse thankfulnes 507 God worketh all the good that is in the Saints and how God worketh our willingnesse to doe good 530 Good workes what they be 670 God worketh foure wayes with meanes without meanes with weake meanes contrary to meanes 147 Workes of God proue the power of God 159 Our best workes haue need of mercy 185 Workes of mercy of two sorts 232 Outward workes of mercy chiefly sixe 232 God worketh diuers wayes 237 Wormewood wherefore good 527 Worth of the sufferings of Christ how to bee considered 502 Wounds of Christ why reserued by him 572 WR Wrath of God feared by Christ 545 Wrath of God quite turned away by our repentance 195 YO YOuth described and the miseries thereof shewed 69 ZE. ZEno what he said of the Word 312 IEHOVAE LIBERATORI FJNJS
obuiously meete Secondly by vnanswerable reasons drawne from Scripture First from the incommunicable properties of God and would be here tedious to relate Secondly We may shew the same by infallible and vnanswerable reasons drawne from Scriptures as First From those incommunicable properties of the Deity which are properly ascribed vnto him as First To be Omnipotent Iohn 3.31 Heb. 1.3 Philip. 3.21 Apoc. 1.18 Secondly To remit sinnes not onely instrumentally as the Ministers doe as we see in Mathew 16.19 Iohn 20.23 But absolutely by his owne proper power and authority as wee see in Mathew 9.6 Mar. 2.5.7.9 Luc. 5.20 Thirdly To be in many places at the same instant as Mathew 18.20.28.20 Fourthly To haue the same equall power with the Father Iohn 5.17 c. 16.15 Fiftly To raise himselfe from the graue Rom. 1.4 Ioh. 10.18 Sixthly To send forth and to giue the Holy Ghost Zach. 12.10 Iohn 16.7 Secondly From those relations that he hath with God Secondly from the relations that he hath with God as to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The onely begotten Sonne of God Iohn 1.18 To be the Image of the Father Iohn 14.7.8 9. 2 Cor. 4.4 Coloss 1.15 And to be the very forme of God for the Apostle saith That He being in the forme of God thought it no robbery to be equall with God Therefore he must needes be true God First Because the forme of God is most simple and essentiall and not compounded or accidentall for that in God there is no composition no accidents Et nihil est in Deo quod non sit ipse Deus Nor any other thing which is not God Gabriel Biel. super 1. sentent dist 1. q. 5. Because the Diuine Essence Identificat sibi omnia quae sunt in Diuinis Doth identifie or deifie all things that are in the De ty To bee the forme of God is to be a very God Secondly because the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one existing and being in the forme of God doth plainely signifie the verie nature of God for as his being in the forme of man proueth that hee was a verie man so his being in the forme of God and his iust and lawfull thinking that it was no wrong or robberie to bee equalâ— with God doth most substantially proue that hee was a very God by nature before hee was incarnate and made man for who can bee in the forme of God but verie God or who can rightly be aequall with God Esay 40.18 but God For to whom will yee liken God or what likenesse will yee compare vnto him sayth the Prophet and therefore Saint Basil sayth that to bee in the forme of God is as much Basilius l. 1. cont Eunomium as to exist in the essence of God for that as to take vpon him the forme of a seruant signifieth that our Lord was made partaker of the humane nature so by saying that hee was in the forme of God hee ascribeth vnto him the proprietie of the nature of God Colloss 1.15 and so discussing the words of the Apostle which is the image of the inuisible God he sayth that this image was not made with hands Ambros l. 7. Ep. 47. Aug. l. de fide ad Petrum l. 1. c. 1. de trinit Hiâ—ar l. 12 de trinit Lombard l. 3. dist 5. neither was it the worke of any arte or cogitation but a liuing image yea life it selfe retayning the identitie of the Godhead not in the similitude of any figure but in the substance of the same and so Saint Ambrose Saint Augustine Saint Hillarie Pet. Lombard and diuers others doe most truely interpret this being of him in the forme of God to proue him to be a true and eternall God Thirdly From those Epithets which are ascribed vnto him and are onely agreeable to the Diuine nature Thirdly from the Epithets ascribed vnto him as First To be the author of our Election Iohn 13.18 Secondly To know the secrets of our hearts Matth. 9.4.5 Mar. 2.8 Luke 5.22 Thirdly To Illuminate vs. Iohn 1.9 Fourthly To heare the prayers of them that call vpon him Iohn 14.14 Fiftly To Iudge the quicke and the dead Iohn 5.22 Sixtly To giue vnto his seruants euerlasting life Iohn 5.24 Seauenthly To bee truely rich and so able to doe and to bestow these great rewards vpon his seruants for he that is truely rich must needs be the true and eternall God but Christ sayth the Apostle is rich for hee being rich for our sakes became poore 2 Cor. 8.9 therefore hee must needs bee the true God That Go dis truely rich it appearth hence that he onely is El shadai a God of all sufficiencie and therefore hee sayth Psal 50.12 If I bee hungry I will not tell thee for all the world is myne and all that therein is and he onely may most truely say Mille meae siculis errant in montibus agnae All the beasts of the forrest are mine and so are the cattell vpon a thousand hills Neither is he onely rich in temporall riches Rom. 2.11 but in spirituall gifts and graces also for Saint Paul speaketh of the riches of the Benignitie and Lenitie and long sufferance of God and in Ephes 1.18 He speaketh of the riches of his grace where hee calleth God rich in Mercie or rich in glorie and Rom. 11.33 He crieth out O the deepenesse of the riches both of the Wisedome and Knowledge of God and therefore it is most playne that God is truely rich And that none else is rich but God it may bee as easily confirmed for that euery man if hee doth but consider his owne estate may say with the Prophet Dauid I am poore and in miserie and our wants are a great deale more then our wealth and what we haue wee haue not of our selues but wee haue receiued them from God for what hast thou that thou hast not receiued sayth the Apostle 1 Cor. 4.7 and what thou hast receiued is properly none of thine and therefore as thou camest naked and broughtest nothing into the world so thou shalt returne naked Job 1.21 and carrie nothing out of the world againe But against this you will obiect that the Scripture sayth Ob Abraham Lot Iob and diuers others were very rich and yet no Gods and therefore that euery one which is rich is not a God I answere first that these men were not truely rich Sol. No man in this world is truely rich but were so thought to bee in the opinion of men and therefore so called after the manner of men for he onely is a rich man qui nihil quaerat nihil appetat nihil optet amplius which neither doth nor can seeke nor wish nor desire any more then he hath as Cicero sayth but none of these were such for Abraham and the rest of them did professe that they were pilgrimes and strangers here on earth and therefore sought their countrey aboue