TWO SERMONS PREACHED BEfore the Kings most excellent Maiesty in the Church of BEAVLY in Hampshire The first the last of August The second the 9. of August BY CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON Doctor of Diuinitie LONDON Printed for Edward VVhite dwelling at the little North doore of Pauls at the signe of the gunne 1609. To the right honourable Henrie Earle of SOVTHAMPTON Baron of TICHEFIELD Knight of the most honourable Order of the Garter and Gouernour of the Isle of WIGHT BEhold right honourable the Sermons now published which were pronounced by your Lordships appointment in a very sacred presence The gratious allowance which then they receiued from a royall diuine giueth me hope that they will not be vnwelcome to the Church entertaining all meditations with facilitie that aduance Christ her Bridegroome Patron and delight What was intended in them to this purpose he knoweth best that knoweth all things If any thing be attained that shall alwaies be ascribed thankfully to his goodnesse and submitted willingly to her censure With this obedience I haue determined to liue and desire to die In the meane time they come abroad vnder the passe also of your Lordships authoritie as of my honourable Magistrate Were they iust volumes and of any great request your Lordship were more than worthy of them for that heroiacall zeale wherewith you haue adorned our little Sarepta Now making scarse a pamphlet they are the lesse worthy of a noble patron But I haue had true experience that your Lordship accepteth the poore indeuours of our ministerie aboue their worth Therefore recommending them to your Lordships good fauour and your Lordship to the riches of Gods blessing I take my leaue with reuerence and will rest Your Lordships most affectionately deuoted CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON A SERMON PREAched before the King at BEAVLIE in Hampshire ROM 10.4 Christ is the end of the Law for righteousnesse to euery one that beleeueth IT is not vnknowen vnto you that the Doctrine of free iustification is the principall subiect and matter of this Epistle The Iewes whom the Apostle spake of in the beginning of the Chapter were afraid to come to this righteousnesse of Christ lest they should be iniurious to the Law and offend God that had commanded it so seriously to the Fathers The Apostle answereth that this their feare proceeded from ignorance of Gods righteousnesse and their owne Law and addeth a reason in these words of my Text For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousnesse to euery one that beleeueth Quicquid est veteris Testamenti Christum sonat All the Old Testament as Augustine saies sounds of Christ The Ceremonies are nothing but figures of him he is the kernell of the promise they are all in him Yea and Amen and without him no promise hath accomplishment He is the life and soule and perfection and end of all the Commandements And therefore hee that hath Christ and holdeth him by faith hath all that the Law requireth in precepts offreth in promises and shadoweth out in types and figures The points in this text are considerable 1 The prerogatiue that Christ hath aboue the Law he is the end of the Law 2 The benefit thereof for righteousnesse 3 To whom this benefit perteines to euerie one that beleeueth Excellent things are spoken of the Law If thou wilt enter into euerlasting life saith Christ vnto a Lawyer keepe the Commandements So saith Moses Behold this shall be our righteousnesse before the Lord our God If we take heed to all these Commandements to doe them Whereby wee may perceiue that faire and large promises are annexed to the Law What is fairer than righteousnesse What larger than euerlasting life But they are conditionall and not absolute Si potes dicere Feci quod iussisti potes itidem dicere Redde quod promisisti If thou canst say I haue done that which thou commandest thou maist well say Giue me that thou promisest On the other side if the Law be not obserued and that exquisitely too the threats thereof are all as terrible Cursed is euery one that abideth not in all that is written in the Law to doe them Hard conditions of doing and doing all And if you please that wee shall enter into the question whether wee can performe the Law or not Paul answereth that it is a matter not of difficulties for that might be compassed with endeuour but of impossibilitie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which was impossible for the Law to doe And hee giueth a reason thereof in the former chapter The Law is spirituall and I am carnall Now these two be contraries For the flesh euermore lusteth against the spirit witnesse the same Apostle not in words onely but in true experience also For hee felt a Law in his members rebelling against the Law of God and leading him captiue When this elect Vessell and great Apostle after he was regenerate for the vnregenerate feele no such strife found this long distance betweene the Law and his owne affections and such defects that for horrour thereof he cried our O miserable man that I am may wee attend any good performance or complement of the Law in others Steuen challengeth the whole Nation of the Iewes You haue receiued the Law and haue not kept it His words carry the strength and sinewes of an argument That which is not kept cannot iustifie But you haue not kept the Law therefore what boast soeuer you doe make thereof that you receiued it from GOD that it was published by Angels and giuen to the Fathers yet doth it not iustifie it giues you no prerogatiue They could not answer this with reason and therefore fell into passion and outrage the text saith When they heard these things their hearts burst asunder and they gnashed vpon him with their teeth Manifest euidence of conuiction Peter calleth the keeping of the Law an importable yoke and contesteth against those which vrged the performance thereof for iustification that they laid a taske vpon the necks of their brethren which neither they nor their fathers were able to beare If the Law could be performed why doth Peter call it an importable yoke If it cannot bee performed why is righteousnesse sought or placed in it For it is not the hearing or hauing but the doing of the Law that iustifieth Sinne as Iohn defineth it is a transgression of the Law And doe not all men sinne It were a sinne for any man to say he hath no sinne and if we confesse our sinnes what do we confesse but that we are transgressors and not performers of the Law Shall we put the matter to a triall and let all the saints in heauen and earth passe vpon the Iurie O Lord let them bee demanded heere in thy presence if it were by their workes or fulfilling of the Law that they were iustified Haue they not all with one voice returned their verdict Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue the praise
but sit with thee eating and drinking at thy table in thy kingdome Hitherto ye haue heard Christs prerogatiue and the benefit therof The last point remaineth to whom this benefit belongs to euery one that beleeueth Why then say the Iesuites the promises of Christ are conditionall as well as the promises of the Law The law sayes Doe this and liue Christ sayes Beleeue only and all things are possible to him that beleeueth Heere is a condition in the one as well as in the other If time would giue me leaue I could shew that the promises of Christ are absolute and without condition but let vs now admit that they are conditionall as well as the promises of the law yet haue we many aduantages in this condition of Christ that are not in the law 1 Is it not much easilier to beleeue the promises of the one than to doe the workes of the other 2 Againe the law is stoicall and curious not content with our endeuours vnlesse wee haue done all and done it most exactly Christ is milde and gentle he striueth not lifteth not vp his voice quencheth not smoaking flax bruseth not a shaken reede but enterteineth euery true faith though it be as little as a graine of mustard seed though it be neuer so vnperfect 3 The law is solitarie teacheth vs what to doe but giueth vs no meanes to doe it whereupon the Apostle cals it a dead letter Christ is neuer solitarie but accompanied with the grace and influence of his holy spirit which hee sends into our hearts to illuminate to regenerate to giue vs faith to comprehend him And therefore when he giueth vs the condition which he requireth of vs his condition is most gracious and the condition of the Law is grieuous Christ is the end of the law for righteousnesse to euery one that beleeueth If Christ bee the end of the law to euery one that beleeueth then did he not fulfill the law for himselfe but for those that doe beleeue As he was God he was not subiect to the law and as he was man also he was Lord of the law Duplici iure sayes Bernard filius Dei regnum possidet coelorum Semel quia filius 2. quia passus atque hoc secundo modo nihil illi fuit opus mihi autem dedit omnibus credentibus The sonne of God hath two titles and rights to the kingdome of heauen The first is by inheritance because he is sonne the second is by acquisition because he suffered of this second title he had no vse or need himselfe but hath giuen it to me and all that beleeue This will easily be yeelded that hee suffred for vs but the other point is controuerted that hee fulfilled the law for himselfe and for his owne righteousnesse As God he needed not and as man also hee was Lord of the Sabboth The sonne of man is Lord of the Sabboth and so consequently of the whole law Eadem est ratio partium totius If Lord of the law as man then needed hee not to be subiect but hee made himselfe So the Apostle writeth to the Galathians but he addeth the reason of Christ his subiection that hee might redeeme vs that were vnder the law When the humane nature in the very moment of conception thereof was vnited inseparably to the Godhead what felicitie did it want in that vnion which might be supplied by his actuall righteousnes fulfilling of the law What was not the law to be performed of euery man or was not Christ a man The law verily was enioined to euery humane person but Deus verbum as Augustine sayes non suscepit personam sed naturam hominis and this nature hauing no subsistance at any time of it selfe but assoone as it began to bee it was personated as they say in the schooles of the diuinitie could not bee brought into necessarie subiection of the law without manifest iniurie to that person that susteineth it Others write that Christ must fulfill the law to make himselfe a meet high Priest and they doe not consider his natiue innocencie that hee brought with him into the world which being neuer teâ—erated was sufficient to qualifie him to the office of Priesthood Was he not by that natiue integritie holy harmlesse vndefiled separated from sinners And these be all the qualities that the Apostle to the Hebrewes requireth in his highâ—Priesthood Seeing then hee had all these by the sacred conception which wee professe I may conclude that all which he did beside in fulfilling of the law was as the text noteth for righteousnesse to euery one that belleeueth and as it is in 8. Rom. that the exquisite righteousnesse of the law might be fulfilled in vs. So he sayes himselfe Eâ—o procis sanctifica meipsum It is for them and not for mine owne behoofe that I sanctifie my selfe As it is in a glasse that hath not his brightnesse and reflexions for himselfe but that others may haue the vse and benefit of it so is Christ the end of the law for righteousnesse not to himselfe or for his owne benefit but for the vse and commodity of euery one that beleeueth Thus I haue deliuered you Christ the end of the law for righteousnesse to euery one that beleeueth Hee is a high Priest according to the order of Melchâ—sedeth And wee read nothing of the exercise of that Priesthood but only that he blessed Abraham to giue vs to vnderstand that the whole Priesthood of Iesus Christ doth consist in blessing Hold him therefore and let him not goe vntill hee haue giuen you a blessing which hee hath already graciously begun heere in this world and will multiplie it aboue all that you can desire in the Kingdome of Heauen Whereunto wee doe all with heart and voice say Amen Euen so be it Lord Iesus who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liuest and raignest one God blessed for euer FINIS A SERMON PREAched before the Kings most excellent Maiestie in the Church of BEAVLY in Hampshire Iohn 1. chap. last verse Verily verily I say vnto you heereafter shall ye see heauen open and the Angels of God ascending and descending vpon the sonne of man WOrds of great asseueration and therefore of great importance What can more import vs that were exiled out of Paradise and beequeathed to the earth than to haue heauen open that were sequestred and retired from the societie of Angels than to haue their sweet haunts againe and their ministry too than to haue ingresse and egresse and familiar intercourse with God Placet cunctis sâ—curitas sed ei magis qui timuit lucunda omnibus lux est sed euadenit de potestate tenebrarum incundior Transisse demorte ad vitam vitae gratiam duplicat Safety is pleasing to all but more to him that was afraid Light is comfortable to euery man but more to him that is escaped out of the power of darknesse To haue pâ—sâ—ed from death to life makes
the way that carrieth vs to that high Country The Lion of the Tribe of Iuda is our Conuoy stronger than the armed man our guide hath the key of Dauid openeth and no man shutteth I haue enough sayes Iacob Ioseph my sonne is yet aliue I will goe see him ore I die We also haue enough and more than Iacob had therefore goe masters goe that we may see him too The spouse in the Canticles compareth him to a Roe or a yoong Hart Behold he commeth leaping by the mountains and skipping by the hils he is the sonne of God and thereby higher than the highest heauens that is beyond our reach For God dwelleth in light that none can come neere to Therefore because he would be low enough for vs he became man also and stood vpon the ground Hee tooke nor the Angels he came leaping by those mountaines and skipping by those hils but hee tooke the seed of Abraham and desired to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a louer of men rather than a louer of Angels He professeth it in the 8. of the Proverbs My delight was to bee amongst the sonnes of men I had thought O Lord that thy delight had beene amongst the Host of Angels but seeing that of thy pittifull clemencie and admirable be â—ignitie thou makest it thy delight to be amongst the sonnes of men I will not interrupt thy pleasure but pray for thy prosperitie Good lucke haue thou with thy delight O thou most mighty Now if you aske me why he tooke our nature and not the Angels that were fallen as well as wee Multum est à me abyssus est profundum Crucis est The Well is deepe and I haue not any thing to draw withall If it were lest Angels might so bee thought to restore themselues because of their excellencie wee must commend the wisdome of his prouidence If it were because man did not sinne of malice and without intisement as the Angels did but in a kinde of weaknesse and by their instigation we magnifie his iudgements that are examplerie vpon the principall and fauourable to vs poore seduced accessories Criminosius est decipere quà m decipi peccatum excogitare quam facere Iâ— it were because all mankinde was lost through Adams preuarication but not all the Angels in Lucifers Apostasie we praise his goodnesse that would not quench our sparke Let curious men discusse the causes it is fittest for vs to admire the worke Let them dispute and let vs cry O altitudo O 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the height and depth of Gods iudgements O the loue of God towards mankinde Lord what is man that thou art so mindfull of him or the sonne of man that thou visitest him Iacâ—bs ladder reached vp to heauen but it stood also vpon the ground Such must the mediators condition be The mediator betweene God and man must haue something like vnto God and something like vnto man lest if hee were altogether like vnto men he should be a stranger vnto God or if hee were like to God euery way he should then be farre from men and so no mediator The sonne of God appeared to Adam after his fall and the man ran away and hid himselfe in the trees of the garden Heere was nothing but the terrour of a Iudge no flesh taken no placabilitie of a mediator Hee appeared many times to the fathers in humane shape to giue them a taste of his future incarnation heere was great contentment if it might haue had continuance but hee layd downe that shape againe When the fulnesse of time came hee combined the godhead and our nature so firmly together with the glue of his person that man could neuer flie from God againe and God would neuer be seuered from man Opus sine exemplo gratia sine merito charitas sine modo A worke that cannot be exemplified grace that was neuer merited and loue vnstinted An admirable coniunction wherein God was made man sinners righteous and our Iudge becomes our aduocate So now I will deliuer him vnto you as the ladder that Iacob did see high enough because he was God low enough because he was man strong enough to carrie vs to God because of a Iudge hee is become an aduocate and of perpetuitie because the personall vnion cannot be dissolued Some doubt may bee of his bredth I am not sent he saith but vnto the lost sheepe of the house of Israel That is too narrow for vs that be Gentiles But vnderstand it of order and not of election that hee was sent to the Iewes first that they might haue the precedence and first fruits of his ministerie and then you shall finde this narrownesse temporarie For after he had performed all things and was risen againe when the maturitie of time was come hee dilated his bosome to receiue vs Gentiles and made himselfe a passage broad enough for all the world It is a small thing that thou shouldest bee my seruant to raise vp the Tribes of Iacob and to restore the desolations of Israel I will also giue thee a light to lighten the Gentiles that thou maist bee my saluation to the ends of the world Behold the bredth and height and length and depth loe all the dimensions of a perfect and accomplished ladder Search now and run thorow heauen and earth in your thoughts and you shall not finde any other nâ—me wherein all these properties doe concurie and meet together saue only in the person of Iesus Christ The other two persons that are in heauen the Father and the Holy Ghost could not be incarnate made low enough also for the office of a mediator without manifest solecismes and incongruitie How farre vnbeseeming had it beene the greatnesse of the Father if the Sonne or Holy Ghost had sent him Therefore as the first person in order and fountaine of all diuinitie he did abide in his maiestie and sent the Sonne And Father and Sonne both sent the Holy Ghost not to bee incarnate for so there must haue beene two Sonnes one Sonne of God in Heauen and another Sonne of mâ—n in earth and not one Sonne in both And then wee should confesse and worship not a trinitie but a quaternitie of persons which God keepe farre from the saith of Christians Why then doth Christ call the Holy Ghost an aduocate Alâ—um Paâ— mâ—daâ— vobis I will giue you another Aduocate And Paul doth second that translation when he saith The Spirit doth make intercession for vs with sighs and groan as that cannot be expressed Yet there be two differences that make the mediation of the Sonne of God eminent aboue all the groanes of the Holy Ghost the one for the time the other for the manner 1. The Sonne of God maketh intercession for vs before the wrath of God bee appeased the groanes of the Holy Ghost come after 2. The Sonne of God interposeth himselfe as a
then that Satans power was not to continue longer as Paulinus writeth Epist 4. than till he had slaine an innocent person therewith Was not this liâ—ertie enough Did hee not once vrge such a point against poore Adam for eating the fruit that was reserued because â—ee had libertie enough to eat of all the rest And is not his owne cause now like to this Ah thou vngratious and wicked seruant I will iudge thee out of thâ—ne owâ—e mouth Did it not suffice thee to bee the minister of Gods iustice to inuade all that offended If this only were permitted oughtedst not thou to haue forborne this one innocent person that neuer sinned Thou hast shed innocent blood and art now not an executioner of the Law of God but a trespasser against it Art thou able to reinfuse the guiltlesse blood into those sacred veines againe out of which thou hast presumptuously spilt it Is thy power nothing to edification but al to destruction Know then O thou enemie that temeritie is not alwaies fortunate for destruction is now come to a perpetuall end Neque enim lex iustior vlla est quà m necis artifices arte perire sua Thus you see the power of Satan dissolued by the death of Christ not with force but in law and iustice And what doe you thinke of the Godhead of Christ that hitherto was a beholder and no actor a Iudge and no party in this businesse Should not the Iudge of all the world doe right Or can there be any better iustice any greater right than to restore the innocent and to punish the wrong-doer Euen so he did The Godhead of Christ which was glued to his bodie with an inseparable vnion which was with it in the graue that it did not see corruption that same Godhead did breath the breath of life into it againe and then he was inter mortuos liber a free man amongst those that were dead When he had thus reuiued and restored the innocent then he spoiled principalities and powers so much more magnifically because he pursued them into their owne holds and triumphed ouer them in their owne Castles of the graue and hell It fared with them all as it did with the great sea-beast when he had swallowed vp Ionas They had taken such a morsell as they could not hold but were faine to be rid of it againe Then hee tooke the beast euen the great Leuiathan that crooked serpent and cast him aliue into a lake of fire burning with brimstone Non iam Diabolum vt Leonem timemus sed vt pellem conculâ—â—mus We doe not now feare the Diuell as a Lion but wee tread him vnder our feet as a case There is no cause now that you should stand in doubt of any angrie Porters that you should bee afraid of any firie sword Christ see Satan falling downe from heauen as if it had beene lightning Ego alium noui neminem qui hoc potuerit nisi dâ—minum meum Iesum I know not any that could so haue taken him away and remoued his power but only my Lord Iesus When Christ was risen againe hee made not the earth a place of his residence but ascended to heauen as a conquerour It is well seene how thou my King and God goest to thy sanctuarie not climing by ladders not hoised vp by cords or pullies but marching valiantly in the multitude of thine owne strength thou makest the Clouds thy Chariots and walkest vpon the wings of the winde And when hee came neere to the wals of that heauenly Citie hee did not begge or intreat an entrance by fauour but commanded it as one that had authoritie Lift vp your heads O ye gates and be ye lift vp ye euerlasting doores and the King of glory shall come in Securae estote caro sanguis coelum in capite posâ—detis aut si vos in coelo negent negent in coelo Christum Feare not flesh and blood ye are now in your head possessed of heauen or if any denie you to bee in heauen they may as well deny Christ to be there He â—scended whole for there was not one bone of him broken then must his bodie bee there too which we are Hominem portauit ad coelum Deum misit ad terras He hath both taken and giuen a pledge He hath taken flesh of vs and carried it into Heauen that Heauen now knowes what it is to beare man and he hath giuen vs his spirit from thence in testimonie that we shall all bee gathered thither Ego alium noui neminem qui hoc potuerit nisi Dominum meum Iesum He shall be my mediator he shall be my ladder If he did redeeme me with the infirmitie of his death can he not make intercession for me in the maiestie and glorie of his life He liues at the right hand of God not in contemplation of his owne greatnes but for the comfort and sustentation of our wants He liues for euer to make interpellation for vs and if he were heard in the dayes of his flesh because of his reuerence shall he be refused now at the right hand of God because of his glorie Hauing once opened heauen he makes it a thorow fare for our praiers to ascend and for his benefits to descend Amongst other things that he giueth vs from thence one is here specially mentioned in the text The Angels of God ascend and descend vpon the sonne of man that is by his appointment and authoritie to attend to guard to comfort vs poore men Are they not all ministring spirits sent foorth for their sakes that shall bee heires of saluation The Angell of the Lord pitcheth round about the Tents of the godly and deliuereth them They shall beare our soules into Abrahams bosome Let vs vse their ministry that is glorious leaue their mediation that is superfluous There is another sort of Angels that ascend and descend vpon the sonne of man When he led captiuitie captiue he gaue gifts vnto men some Apostles some Prophets some Pastors and Doctors for the gathering together of the Saints These are called in the Reuelation the Angels of the Churches and heere they are said to goe vp and downe They had not need to sit still lest the children should call for bread and there no none to breake it vnto them We haue the keies of the kingdome of heauen committed vnto vs. Tibi â—abo claues regni coelorum Wee are key-bearers to open the kingdome of heauen to you by preaching of the Gospell This power Peter and Paul did exercise faithfully They preached the Gospell and in that remission of sinnes and so opened the kingdome to the beleeuers They neuer practised nor thought of such exorbitant and infinite power as the Church of Rome doth now vsurpe vnder the colour and title of those keies directly or indirectly to sway and to dispose of all the world Paul neuer planted any such power Apollos neuer watered it and God of his