of many by vsing a woâ—d of the singular number the Prophet would shew that Christ â—s 53. 12. was punished for all our sinnes And Iohn saith that his blood clenseth vs from All sinne not from a part And 1. Ioh. 1. 7. indeed how could God so make him to be sinne for vs that we might be 2. Cor. 5. 21. made the righteousnes of God in him except hee tooke away all our sinnes whereby we were 〈…〉 Therfore Haimo saith a right that Christ In cap. 5. ad Rom. Christus non solum peccatum originale sed etiam omnia actuâ—â—a ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath taken away not onely originall corruption but all actuall transgressions also in 〈◊〉 that are elected The speech which Paul vseth in Rom. â— â—â— is not exclusiue but by it â—eâ—lâ—e with that God hath not onely pardoned and that Christ hath not onely satisfied for thâ—se sinnes which wee admit of infirmitie after that we 〈…〉 called but euen for those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we did with full consent of will commit before then when we were the enemies of God and 〈◊〉 teacheth Titus that Christ hath giâ—en Tit. 2. 24. hâ—mselfe 〈◊〉 vs that he 〈…〉 vs from Allâ—â—â—â—â—â—tis 〈…〉 demanded 〈◊〉 Christ 〈…〉 all our sinnes 〈…〉 corporall and spiriâ—â—â—â—◠〈…〉 and eternall 〈…〉 that men die 〈…〉 afflictions in this 〈◊〉 Ans Their crosses are 〈…〉 and their afflictions if they be regenerated are not punishments inflicted of God as a dreadfull Iudge but his fatherly corrections and tryalls wherewith he visiteth his children to humble exercise instruct admonish refine and try them When we are iudged we are chastened of the Lord saith Paul because we should not be condeÌ„ned with the 1. Cor. 11 32 world And as Chryso saith when we are corrected or rebuked of the lord it is rather for our admonition then coÌ„demnation it is Hom. 28. in 1. Cor. rather to heale vs then torment vs and to mend vs rather then to punish vs. For as the Scripture speaketh He chasteneth quum corripimur a Domino magis est admonitionis quam damnationis medicinae quam supplicii correctionis quam poena Heb. 12. 10 11. Aug. de Poenae et confess vs for our profit that we might be partakers of his holinesse and his chastening bringeth with it the quiet fruit of righteousnes to them which are exercised thereby And of this opinion was Augustine as appeareth when he saith that Crosses and sorrowes before the pardon of sinne are Supplicia peccatorum the punishments of sinnes but after pardon Certamina exercitationesque iustorum the exercises of the righteous And as for death we doe not die to satisfie the iustice of God for any sin or for any penaltie deserued duely by sinne for Christ hath performed all this himselfe Who appeared to take away 1. Ioh. 3. 5. our sinnes hath carried all our sorrowes and by his death hath altered the condition Is 53. 4. of our death But we die for other causes As first that we may learne to detest our sinne which was the originarie cause of our dissolution Secondly that we may learne to be out of loue with the world and to looke after that citie which remaineth for eeuer Thirdly to teach vs true lowlines of minde and neither to insult ouer others nor to pranke and plume vp our selues like Peacocks He is a verie strange man that being a Tenant at his Land-lords pleasure will bestow more cost then needs vpon a rotten house which cannot stand long before it fall and out of which he may be turned this night before to morrow Fourthly that we shuld seriously consider of that great downefall which we tooke in Adam Fiftly that we might not feele or see those arrowes of vengance which the Lord draweth out of 2. King 22. 20. Is 57. 1. the quiuer of his iustice and shooteth them out of his bow of wrath and doth oftentimes sheath them in the sides of the wicked among whome we liue Sixtly that we might be deliuered wholly from the body of sinne For Death endeth the battell betweene the flesh the spirit and striketh off that Tyrants head And here we see the admirable prouidence of God and his vnrecompensable kindnesse to vs in ordaining the daughter to deuour and eate vp the mother For Sinne ingendred Death Death by diuine dispensation is now become the death of sin like a worme that eates the fruit wherof it was bred beeing the death of that which gaue life to it Seauenthly we must die that we may feele the power of Christ for the raysing vp of our dead bodies and for the revniting of our soules vnto them Eightly God doth sometimeâ— cal vs vnto death that we might in speciall manner glorifie his Name by dying and that by martyrdome we might remonstrate our loue to Christ who refused not to die that we might liue and not die Lastly we die that we might be translated out of a World of wickednes and out of the vale of miserie into the habitacle of perfect holines vnspeakable happinesse and that being dead in our bodie we might be transported as concerning our soules into the hauen of eternall peace and true tranquillitie ouer and out of the raging and rustling seas of all worldly troubles For as Cyprian saith death vnto the godly is Ianua vitae the doore of life and our Egressus departure forth of the world is our Ingressus entrance into the heauens We goe from men to God from earth to heauen out of the Wildernes into Canaan celestiall Canaan heauenly Ierusalem the land of righteousnesse the paradise of God and the temple of his holinesse The last doctrine now followeth CHAP. IX The blood of Christ is the ransome of all Beleeuers Remission of sinnes is excellent in nine respects IN that the Apostle saith Christ hath Doct. 8 washed Vs not some of vs wheÌ„ce I coÌ„clude that his blood hath clensed all the faithfull whatsoeuer noble and ignoble leaâ—ned and vnlearned rich poore of what sex or sort of what condition or countrey soeuer For Iohn thus speaketh of himselfe and of all the faithfull in those seauen Churches and wheresoeuer both Pastours and people male and female young and old high and low maryed and single The Lord saith Esay hath layed vpon him the iniquitie of vs All. He spared not his owne Sonne saith Paul but gaue him for vs All to death Therefore in his epistle to Is 53. 6. the Ephesians he is bold to call him the Rom. 8. 32. Sauiour of his bodie that is of the catholique Church and not of a part only And Saint Iohn saith that the blood of Christ doth appease his father for the sinnes of the Whole World of the 1. Ioh. 2. 2. Elect. And therefore the name of Iesus was giuen him because he was by God ordeined to saue his people euen Math. 1. 21 all his people from all their sinnes And this hath
are forgiuen Gal. 2. 16. by faith For pardon of sin is a part of iustification Therfore our sinnes are not washed away by the bloud of Christ Ans In that Iustification is ascribed Per non propter to fayth it is because fayth is an instrument receiuing it and not because it doth deserue it Therefore the Scripture sayth that we are iustifyed by faith and not for faith For the bloud of Christ and his obedience doth only iustifie and therfore Eph. 1 7. 1. coa 1. 30. Paul saith that we haue remissio of sins by his bloud and that he is made vnto vs of God righteousnes redemption The meaning therefore of the Apostle is that we are iustified by the righteousnes and bloud of Christ apprehended Fides noÌ„ vt virtus in praedicameÌ„to qualitatis sed in praedicamanto relationis coÌ„siderata iustificat propter Christum Si formaliter propriè loquamur nec fide nec charitate nostra iustificamur sed vnà Dei in Christo iustitia vna Christo nobis communicatà iustitia and applyed by faith For faith doth not iustifie as it is a vertue or qualitie but as it hath respect to Christ her obiect for whom our sinnes are pardoned and we are accounted righteous And therefore Pighius saith If we speake formally and properly we are iustified neither by our faith nor charitie but by the onely iustice of God in Christ by the onely righteousnesse of Christ communicated or imputed to vs. By all which it doth clearely appeare that the pardon of sinne is procured by the bloud of Christ alone And least any man should imagine as many doe that Christ hath merited that our workes should be meritorious and satifactory with the Lord let him know that his imagination hath no footing in the word of God but commeth froÌ„ the forge of his owne braine and is coyned vpon the Anuill of corrupted reason For first if Christ did merit that man might satisfie then he maketh euery beleeuer to bee his owne Sauiour in part and so makes him a Iesus and a Redeemer with him which no one syllable of holy writ will approue For Christs Priesthood is incommunicable and looked vp in his owne person and therfore Peter saith 1. Pet. 2. 24. that hee himselfe bare our sinnes in his 1. Pet. 2. 24. body vpon the crosse With whom agrees the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes when he saith that Christ hath purged our sinnes by himselfe Secondly if that conceit be true then Heb. 1. 3. Christ merited that polluted and imperfect workes should merit for such are ours as they come from vs. Pure wine cannot come forth of inustie vessels noâ— cleane water from a muddie fountaine Thirdly at Christ hath merited that our workes should make any kinde of satisfaction then God was not onely in Christ but in Vs also reconciling the world vnto himselfe and that he was not onely made sinne for vs but also in vs. But Paul knew none of this learning as himselfe doth shew 2. Cor. 5. 18. 19. 21. Lastly if Christ by the merit of his bloud giue man power to satisfie then as man doth in his owne person satisfie by Christ so Christ besides his owne satisfaction vpon the crosse doth daily satisfie in men to the ende of the world In membris suis patitur non placat But this cannot be For Christ vpon the crosse when death seazed vpon him said It is finished that is I haue fully satisfied for the sinnes of all my people For his resurrection serued not to satiâ—fie but to confirme and declare it and to shewe his conquest ouer death and all our deadly enemies Finally that I may conclude this doctrine â—t may be imagined as many haue that Christ hath by his bloud remoued the eâ—ernall punishment of our sinnes but yeâ— wâ— must satisfie for their temporall I answerâ— though this coâ—ceit may as easily be denied as â—is conceiued yet that all scruple may be taken away and that the weakenesse thereof may be discerned it will not be amâ—sse to discusse it briefely and by the word of God to detect and quellâ—t First Saint Paul saith that we are Rom. 3. 24. 28. justified freely by Grace Now free iustification is flat contrary to personall satisfaction and as Bernard saith Nou erat quò gratia iâ—tte vbi merituÌ„ occupa 〈…〉 Ser. 67. in cant Math. 6. 11. 12. there is no roome for graee where merit doth occupy the place Mans merit and Gods grace cannot harbour vnder one roofe Secondly Christ teacheth vs to pray for our bread and for the forgiuenes of our sinnes Now shall we that cannot merit a morsel of bread think that we can satisfie the infinite iustice of God for any sinne or for the smallest punishment of the smallest sinne Are we that are lesse then the least of all Gods mercies able to merit any mercy of him that is Iustice itselfe though it be but freedome from the meanest misery And what need we to begge pardon vpon the knees of our soules what need we to trouble the Lord with our suites if we can satisfie his iustice by our selues To aske forgiuenesse and to make satisfaction in our owne persons by our selues can not stand together Thirdly the satisfaction of Christ is perfect and absolute and to say the contrary is intollerable blasphemy But personall satisfaction doe derogate from the perfection of his satisfaction and the invaluable value of his sacrifice by which Gods iustice is fully satisfied and his wrath appeased Lastly if Christ haue satisfied for the greater for the greatest of all what reason haue we to think that he meant to leaue the smaller to bee satisfied for of vs whome hee knew to be vnfit vnfurnisht weake and vnworthy to attempt so great a work much more to effect it howsoeuer we might perhaps affect it And if without him we can doe nothing as hee himselfe doth tell vs Ioh. 15. 5. vndoubtedly without him wee can make no satisfaction for our sinnes to God And it hath beene already proued that hee doth not inable vs to satisfie or make vs merit Therefore wee must ascribe the remission of sinnes and of their temporall and eternall punnishments to the merit of Christs bloud and to the inestimable price of his death And so much for this sixt doctrine CHAP. VIII The bloud of Christ is the purgation of all sins Afflictions are crosses but not curses chastisements and not punishments of vengeance SEuenthly seeing the Apostle saith that Christ hath washed vs from our sinnes in his blood and not from Doct. 7 some of them onely I gather that Christ by the merit of his blood hath procured the pardon of them All of what nature name time or kind soeuer whether they be originall or actuall of omission or commission of ignorance or knowledge whether committed before conuersion or admitted afterwards wheresoeuer or howsoeuer He bare saith Esay the sinne
because of them Most of his Apostles â—f not all were poore and the deaâ—est children of God are subiect to greâ—uâ—us crosses and haue beene in all Act. 16. 31. ages Beleeue in the Lord Iesus and thou shalt be loued Returne from All thy sinnes and do that which is right and thou shalt surely liue and not die how Ez. 18. 21. poore base or vile so euer thou maiest be Yea further thogh thou beest wicked and by thy sinnes an enemie to God yet dispaire not but beleeue and repent For Christ doth not die for vs because we are holy he doth not wash vs because we are cleane out by washing vs he makes vs cleane Christ did not die for the righteous but for the Vngodly and for the Vniust and therefore Paul saith God setteth out his loue Rom. 5. 6. 1. Pet. 3. 18. towards vs seeing that while we were yet Sinners Christ dyed for vs. Beâ—â—eue therfore and repent leaue sinne liue vprightly assure thy selfe of the blood Rom. 5. 8. of Christ for the remission of thy sins His merit â—s greater then thy miserie Rom. 4. 5. Rom. 3. 22. and a saluâ— made of his blood is able to cure all the sores of thy soule Thirdly seeing the bloud of that one man Christ Iesus hath clensed vs all Vse 3 from all our sinnes we are admonished to loue one another Some of vs are not washed in the bloud of one and the rest in the bloud of another but we are all washed in the bloud of one and one hath washed vs al therfore we ought al as if we were but one to loue agree one with an other This kind of argument is vsed by the prophet Malachy Mal. 2. 10. when he saith Haue we not all one father Hath not one God made vs Why doe wee transgresse euery one against his brother And the Apostle exhorting the Ephesians Eph. 4. 3. 4. to keepe the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace vseth this as a reason to perswade them too it because there is one body one spirit one Lord one faith one baptisme one God and Father of all Euen so say I Forasmuch as one man one God Christ Iesus who is both God and man hath washed vs all from our sinnes by the merit of his most pretious bloud why should wee transgresse one against another as wee vse to doe And why doe wee not rather affect and embrace on an other Doe we not all come out of his loines Eph. 5. 30. Are wee not all flesh of his flesh and bones of his bones Hath not be washt vs all for himselfe Doe wee not all spring froÌ„ that water from that bloud which sprang 〈◊〉 him when he hanged on the crossâ— I noâ—â—e that bread of life which we all eate off that well that water of life which we all drinke off that meane or that wish to liue Doe wee all breath by him â—aue we all theâ— emission of all our sinneâ— by his bloud Hath hee communicated his bloud to vs all And shall we disgrace abuse contemne and oppresse one an other We should rather be kind courteous louing folowing 〈◊〉 â—hings which concerne peace and amitie and Rom. 14. 19. wherewith one may edifie an other Fourthly seeing our sinâ— cost Christ his bloud we may as in a glasse behold Vse 4 the rigour and seuetitie of Gods absolute iustice who would be pacified only by the bloud of his owne Sonne By which we see that he is not altogether mercy as many foolish and presumptuous Totus Deus est miserie ordia non to taliter persons dâ—e imagine It is true indeede that God is mercifull and so â—iche in mercie as that hee sent his Sonne to saue vs but yet with â—ll he is so iust that rather then sin should scape vnpunished hee hath made his Sonne to beâ—re the punishment of it And as for those thaâ— will not by fayth receiue hâ—s sonne and will not reforme their liues but goe on in sinne without repentance hee hath for the manifestation of his iustice reserued to eternall â—orments And theâ—efore Iob saith The Iob. 21. 30. wicked is kept vnto the day of destruction and they shal be brought foorth to the day of wrath And the Psalmist saith accordingly In the hand of the Lorde there is a cup and the wine is red it is sul Psal 75. 8. mixt and he powreth out of the same surely all the wicked of the earth shall wring out and drinke the dregs thereof We see therfore that his mercy doth not shoulder out his iustice Let no man therefore sinne in hope of pardon For our God is euen a consuming fire to consume vp all impenitent sinners and it Heb. 12. 29. Deut. 4. 24. Heb. 10. 31. is a fearefull thing to fall into his hands Fiftly we may see the heynousnes of sinne For we must not thinke that Vse 5 small which cost so great a price and made the bloud of God be shed for the pardon of it Let vs therfore detest our sins account theÌ„ greuous not smal They displease God they deserue his iudgemeÌ„ts they prouoke his anger they hinder his blesâ—ings they trouble our peace and procure our death Like the Ier. 5. 25. worme they eat the wood wherin it was bred they destroy the soule wherin they we eingendred Plinie wriâ—eth that the Vipers kill their damme at their coÌ„ming fâ—orâ—h Euen so the byâ—th of sin is in desert Hist nat lib. 〈◊〉 cap. 62. the death of the sinner Our sinnes crucified the Lord of life they were the nayles that pierced him the thornes that pricked him and the speare that was thrust through him He for our sinnes laid downe his life and spilt his bloud They made him grone and sigh they made him sweat water and bloud they tormented his soule and made it heauy vnto death yea they made him cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee The consideration of these things Math. 27. 46 should moue vs vnlesse like mountains we wll not be moued to relinquish and abhorre our sins When Peter had told the Iewes that they had crucified the Lord they were strucken as with a thuÌ„der-bolt from heauen and beeing pricked in heart they cryed 〈◊〉 Men and brethren what shall wee doe Thy sinnes Act. 2. 37. haue crucified the Lord of glory they nayled him fast vnto the crosse they would not die till he was dead hee was faine to make a Bath of his bloud of his best bloud his Heart-bloud to clense wash thee from them Repent therefore and relent condemne and accurse them forsake and hate them Wilt thou liue in theÌ„ that made Christ to die wilt thou delight in them that made Christ to mourne Canst not thou mourne for them that made him to bleed Indeed Pro. 14. 9. the Foole maketh but a mocke of sinne But wilt thou needs be that