first propertie The second propertie is that the Church of God is Catholike that is it is generally diffused and spread all the world over This word Catholike is not found in all the Bible yet as long as the sense is there we may retaine and keepe it seeing it is not against any point of our Christian profession As for the signification of it the word is the same both in Latine and Greeke and signifieth generall whence wee inferre the Church of God seemeth to take his name from our Lord Iesus himselfe where hee saith Act. 1. 8. And yee shall bee witnesses unto mee both in Ierusalem and in all Iudea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth Here the observation may bee this that if wee finde new words as long as the sense is not new nor the Doctrine wee may receive them but if both the words and the sense and Doctrine bee new that is if it bee not found in the Scripture then they are to bee rejected and refused therefore because transubstantiation is a new word and the Doctrine is new the sense not being to be found in the Scripture we are to reject it for before the Lateran Councell there was no such thing heard of which brought in both the word and Doctrine and made that a point of faith which before was never dreamt of Now the Church is said to bee Catholike in three regards 1. In regard of Place 2. In regard of Person 3. In regard of Time First the Church of God is Catholike in regard of place for it is not tied to one certaine place countrie or Kingdome but God himselfe hath inlarged and spread it over all the world farre and neere there was a time when it did belong to the Iewes and to those that did joine with them but now Christ hath broken downe the partition wall and hath laid all the world common now hee hath enlarged the Church and spread it all the world over This is that Peter speakes of Of a truth saith hee I perceive that God is no accepter of persons but in every nation hee that feareth him and worketh righteousnesse is accepted of him so Christ Matth. 8. saith That many shall come from the east and from the west and shall sit down with Abraham Isaak Iacob in the Kingdome of God so Eph. 2. 13 14. but now in Christ Iesus yee which were once a farre off are made members by the bloud of Christ for he is our peace which hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us and it is said Revel 7. 9. And after these things I beheld and lâ—e a great multitude of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the lambe cloathed with long Robes and palmes in their hands So then it is plaine by the Scriptures that the Church is Catholike in regard of place and is not abridged to no one countrey or Kingdome but is spread all the world over Augustine saith well We are not to thinke it was enough for Christ to shed out his most precious bloud for one countrey or Kingdome but it was to win the whole world to himselfe and againe hee saith By that which Christ gave for the redemption of man they may perceive the great price and payment which was his death and bloudshed a thing of so great value or price that it was not for any one country or Kingdome but for all and therefore it is called the Catholike Church The use is first seeing that the Church is Catholike or universall and consists of all countries and Kingdomes therefore we should bee thankfull to God that hath reserved us till this time for wee might have beene born when the light of the Gospell shined onely amongst the Iewes and then wee might have perished in unbeleefe therefore thankes bee unto God in that hee hath brought us forth in a time when the Gospell is preached And seeing it hath pleased God to doe so let us bee wise to lay hold on the good meanes that is layd before us come out of our sinnes and corruptions that so wee may bee saved from them if fish in a pond should bee nigh poisoned with stinking mud and water and one should come and cut a sluce through into fresh water what would they doe but goe out into the fresh water This is our case wee are like to fish in a pond that bee poisoned in the mud and stinking water of our sinnes and corruptions therefore seeing it hath pleased God to cut a sluce and trench through and to open the bosome of the true Church to us where the fresh water is the waters of life and salvation it must bee our wisedome to come out of our sinnes and to lay hold of the good meanes that are set before us Secondly seeing the Church of God is Catholike wherein there is the meanes of grace therefore it must be our consideration to apply our selves to lay hold on it in our life time while wee live heere It is S. Pauls exhortation 2 Cor. 6. 5. I beseech you brethren that you receive not the graces of God in vaine It is a great mercie that God doth offer in the true Church where the meanes of grace are used preaching prayer the use of the Sacraments therefore let us apply our selves to lay hold on it and to get good by it You your selves know that if earthly Paradise were to bee recovered and the Cherubins with the shaking sword removed so that wee might goe in without any danger would you lye down and sleepe would you idle out the time no I dare bee bold to say that you would flye to the trees gather of the fruit and eate of them especially of the tree of life that you might live for ever This is the grace that God doth offer to us for the militant Church is the Paradise of God where there are trees of all sorts therefore what should wee doe not lye down in the dust and idle out the time but apply our selves to eate of the fruit especially of the tree of life to feed on Christ by faith to draw out all his graces that so wee may live for ever Secondly the Church of God is Catholike in regard of the persons for it includeth all sorts of persons rich and poore high and low noble and ignoble wise and foolish bond and free and excludeth none To this purpose saith S. Paul Gal. 3. 28. There is neither Iew nor Grecian there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Iesus and S. Peter Act. 10. saith I saw a vision of all sorts of birds and beasts and there came a voice too that bad him kill eate by which vision he did understand that God had then sanctified all sorts of men in the bloud of Christ there was
friend and all the Angels and Saints dost thou want comfort God will bee thy comfort and therefore bee not afraid of trouble nor of death but bee like the five wise Virgins that had their lamps ready burning and their loyns girt ready to enter into their Masters joy Secondly seeing Christ is ascended into Heaven our salvation is the neerer to him wee see in nature as long as the head is above the water the body cannot be drowned in like manner so long as our Head is safe in Heaven he will save all his members To this effect Paul saith Ephes 2. 6. That hee hath set us together in heavenly places and how hath hee set us together in heavenly places not in our owne persons but in the Person of Christ he holds it and hee will one day faithfully deliver it into our hands Thirdly seeing Christ is ascended we may bee bold in the time of our neede trouble and affliction to go to God in Prayer and may have comfort that Christ will heare us and that we shall be regarded This is the use Saint Paul makes of it Heb. 4. 14. where he saith Seeing we have a great high Priest which is entred into Heaven even Iesus Christ the Son of God Let us goe boldly to the Throne of Grace that wee may finde mercie and receive grace to helpe in the time of neede So chapter 10. 19. saith hee Seeing therefore Brethren that by the blood of Christ wee may bee bold to enter into the holy places by the new and living way which hee hath prepared for us through the veile that is his flesh let us draw neere c. If a man had a great suit at Court and did know no body there a man may looke for small comfort when he comes thither but if he knew that the Kings sonne would be ready to speake for him to his father and to grace him before all the company this will give him comfort so if we go to God as to a Stranger then we can looke but for cold comfort I but if we know that Christ will speake for us to God grace us and bring us into favor with him this may comfort us and make us with boldnesse goe to the Throne of Grace There was great difference betwixt the time when Iosephs brethren knew him and when they knew him not for when Ioseph would not acknowledge them for his brethren hee handled them roughly and tooke them for Spies but when he did acknowledge them to be his brethren then he did kindly entertaine them and did fill their sackes with corne that they might bee preserved till they came into Aegypt so there is great difference when wee be strangers and when Christ doth acknowledge us for when hee knowes us he will speake to God for us and grace us will fill our sackes with the best of Heaven therefore the true Christian may have great comfort to go to God in Prayer in the time of his need and he shall be heard and regarded of God SERMON XXXIX MARKE 16. 19. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them Hee was received up into Heaven and sate on the right hand of God AS in the climbing of a Tree a man will catch hold of the upper boughes and so will goe higher and higher till hee come at the toppe so wee must doe in the rising of Christ wee must rise in our affections as hee rises and therefore having followed him in two degrees of his exaltation his resurrection from the Dead and ascension into Heaven wee will proceed now unto the third which is his Session at the right hand of God as if wee were got within the veile to see Iesus Christ sitting at the right hand of his Father in glory and majestie as Cantic 3. 11. The daughters of Sion are called out to behold king Salomon crowned with the crowne wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his Espousalls and in the day of the gladnesse of his heart So I may say come forth all yee people of the land out of your houses and out of your Townes and places where yee dwell and behold Iesus Christ the true Salomon fitting at the right hand of God crowned with honor and glory so that when others shall aske ye what ye went out to see as Christ asked the people yee may say and answere againe we went to see Christ crowned with honour and glory Heb. 2. 8. Thus Iohn 20. 25. the Disciples tell Thomas as a matter of great joy that they had seene the Lord and yet they had seene him but rising out of the grave and out of the denne of death therefore much more should we be glad and rejoyce that wee have seene the Lord not rising out of the Grave or out of the dens of death but sitting at the right hand of God for the good of the Church And therefore I say good Brethren stir up your selves to behold Christ within the veile sitting at the right hand of God for the good of the Church Now in speaking hereof we will observe five things 1. What is meant by the right hand of God 2. What it is to sit at the right hand of God 3. Why he is said to sit and not to stand 4. To what end he sits at Gods right hand 5. The fruites and benefits wee have by his sitting at Gods right hand First what is meant by the right hand of God To speake properly God hath neither right hand nor left hand for he is a spirit as it is Iohn 4. 24. Therefore seeing he is a Spirit he hath no bodily parts nor dimensions and therefore neither right hand nor left but it is a borrowed speech taken from the manner of Kings and Princes who are wont to advance their favourites next to their selves in any office or dignity Augustine saith well If it be a wicked thing to make an image or a picture of God to make him like an old man with hands and feete and to set it up in a Church or a Temple seeing God is a Spirit much more saith he is it a vilde thing to frame an Image of him in a mans heart seeing it is a Temple for God and his Spirit to dwell in Now the right hand of God is taken in three senses in Scripture First the right hand of God doth signifie his power because the chiefest power and strength of a man lies in his right hand for by this right hand he doth worke and bring things to passe so by the right hand of God is meant the power of God by the which he is able to doe whatsoever he will So Exod. 15. The right hand of God is glorious in power the right hand of the Lord hath bruised the enemies and Psal 118. 15. The right hand of God is taken for the Power of God but it cannot so bee understood in this place because
it is now therefore in the Revelation it is said He is the Lamb slaine from the beginning because it was effectual and vertuall in Gods account As when a man is arrested and carried to prison for a great summe of money and meets with his friend who askes him whither he is going he tels him he is going to prison who thus pleads with the man that this party was indebted to If ye let him goe I will pay the debt I have not so much money about mee as will pay thee now but at such a time I will pay all that money well he keepes the day and payes the money and all is well So wee be infinitely indebted to God and were going to prison Christ promiseth to God hee will satisfie him at the time appointed he brought him a bag of money that is of his merits then we were discharged God was pacified and pleased Thus yee have heard of those foure opinions that I cannot assent unto now we are to speake of that which in my poore judgement is neerer the truth and carries some probabilitie for it First That Christ descended into hell to subdue the Devill and conquer him in his owne house this is more probable than any of the other and there be learned men that do hold so but I dare not yeeld to it because I have reason to the contrary First because most of all Divines hold that Christs descension into hell is the lowest step and degree of his abasement yet let it be what it will be David rejoyceth at it as a thing of great deliverance that he had escaped the grave Therefore saith he my heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth my flesh also shall rest in hope for thou wilt not leave my soule in grave neither yet wilt thou let thine Holy One see corruption And Augustine saith that by this poverty of our Lord Iesus Christ wee are enriched But if Christ descended into hell to triumph over the Devill in his owne house then it is not the lowest step of his humiliation and abasement but it will appeare that he had the first beginning of his Kingdome and first step of his exaltation in hell therefore in my judgement this cannot be the true sense of it Secondly all the Scriptures shew that his soule went not into hell but into heaven as Luke 23. Christ saith to the theefe on the crosse This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise so the soule of Christ went to Paradise not into hell and in the same chapter when Christ gave up the ghost he commended his soule into the hands of God so Christs soule was not in hell but was laid downe in the hands of God and his body remained here till he was taken up and Augustine saith if we thinke that the soule of the Theefe went to heaven then it were our sin to thinke that Christs soule did not as well as his Some shifts this and say his soule went to heaven first and presently after he was buried he descended into hell and some againe say his soule went to hell first and after it went to heaven but this is against that Scripture Luke 16. it is the speech betweene Abraham and Dives that there is a great space beeweene us that they which are here cannot come there and they which are there cannot come here there is no entercourse betweene them And Bellarmine saith he was in heaven and in hell all at one time but he that is in heaven cannot be in hell and hee that is in hell cannot bee in heaven because it is proper onely to the Godhead to be in all places at one time Thirdly Origen saith hee triumphed on the crosse and in this world over all his spirituall enemies and if hee did it in this world and upon the crosse then hee need not descend into hell to triumph over the divell and to subdue him In the Colossians the Apostle shewes how Christ did triumph on the crosse over principallities and powers there hee vanquished and overcame them and there hee trod downe all his spirituall enemies But here may an Objection arise how could he overcome them seeing he was overcome himselfe of death I answer hee overcame them in his soule by his holy graces he carryed away a glorious triumph though they seized upon his body so it is said of meaner men than Christ Rom. 8. 36. All the day long we are killed and are accounted as sheepe for the slaughter and yet for all this they were more than conquerours by the holy graces they had by their faith patience and care so they carried away the glorious triumph Now if men did triumph on the crosse much more Christ which must teach us that seeing Christ did triumph on the crosse every Christian should doe so when he is under the crosse then he should triumph over his spirituall enemies by his faith and holy graces so to carry away a glorious victory So Matth. 5. 29. our Saviour saith If thine eye offend thee plucke it out and if thine hand offend thee cut it off for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should bee cast into hell It is an easie matter to the world when they be in health and in peace to tread downe all the spirituall enemies but a difficult taske when they bee in sicknesse and in paines yet a Christian we see if hee will follow the example of his Lord and master Iesus Christ must triumph on the crosse Fourthly Saint Luke saith Act. 1. 1. I have made the former treatise O Theophilus of all that Iesus began both to doe and teach untill the day that hee was taken up now if Saint Luke did write of all that Christ did till the time hee was taken up then he would have wrote of this it being an act of Christ to descend downe into hell but Saint Luke hath not recorded it he hath not written of this and therefore Christ did not descend into hell to subdue the divell there Augustine saith well whatsoever our Saviour Christ would have us to beleeve he hath commanded his Disciples to record it but they have recorded no such thing therefore it is not to be beleeved Fifthly there be many Divines say that all the devils be in this world till the last day and then they bee not in hell Now I dare not say that all of them be in this world but I thinke the greatest part bee here for Ephes. 6. the devill is said to be in high places that is in the aire and Iob 1. the Lord asketh the devill from whence he came whose reply is from compassing the earth so the devill is in the earth and Matth. 8. our Saviour Christ cast out a devill out of a man and hee asked him what his name was and hee said Legion because there was alegion of devils is that a great number
so that the greatest part of the devils bee in this world therefore hee needed not to descend into hell to subdue the devils the most of which might be subdued here Lastly all the articles of our Christian faith are confirmed by plaine places of Scripture but there is no plaine place of Scripture to confirme this that Christ went downe into hell to subdue him in his owne house and Augustine saith that all those points of faith that are fit for a Christian to beleeve are confirmed by plaine places of Scripture but this is not so confirmed therefore not to be beleeved Now against this there bee three Scriptures alleaged the first is taken out of Psal 16. Thou wilt not leave my soule in grave or in hell neither wilt thou let thy holy One see corruption where by soule is meant life and by hell is meant the grave for the sense is thou wilt not leave my life in the grave Now that this is the true sense it may appeare by these two reasons First out of Psal 88. where the like phrase of Scripture is My soule draweth neere to hell that is my life draweth neere to the grave as appeares plainely by the words following I am counted amongst them that goe downe into the pit free among the dead like the slaine lying in the grave Secondly it may appeare by the same words that Peter brings in to proove the resurrection of Christ Act. 2. the Apostle there makes an opposition betweene Christ and David that Christ is ascended up into Heaven but David was not his body remaining in the grave so Christ was where David was not therefore wee cannot proove by this that Christs soule was in hell The second Scripture is out of Rom. 10. 7. Who shall descend into the deepe that is to bring Christ againe from the dead Now by the deepe is not meant the deepe of hell but of the grave the depth of the grave where the dead lye The third is out of Ephes. 4. 9. Now in that he ascended what is it but that he also descended first into the lowest parts of the earth Chrysostome expounds the place and saith it is the very grave for in the Hebrew tongue there be two parts of the earth there is the face of the earth which is the place where we be and the lower part and that is the grave so that the lowest part of the earth that Christ did ascend to is the grave The second more probable opinion is that Christ descended into hell when hee left the paines of hell in the garden and on the crosse this is a true ground but it doth not agree with the order of the Creed for his descension into hell was a thing that was done after he was buryed and his sufferings in the garden and on the crosse was before now it was not repeated againe for in so short a confession men use not to repeat therefore it was something that was after his death and buriall Now that which I take to be the truth in my judgment is that Christ lay in the grave three daies together trampled and troden downe of death so that the descension of Christ into hell is nothing else but the captivating of Christ under death for a time For our instruction there bee two uses to bee made of this point first that as Christ descended lower and lower till he came to the lowest step of abasement before he ascended into glory so every one must labour to be contented to descend lower and lower till he come at the lowest step of humiliation before hee ascend into glory to this effect Paul saith of Christ he that descended is the same that ascended farre above all heavens so that a Christian must descend first before he can ascend Now there be two descents of a Christian the one is in his soule and the other is in his body the first is in soule to descend low into our selves and to sinke downe as low as Hell in the sense and feeling of our sinnes and vilenesse before God that God may advance and lift us up so the Prophet David did and other holy Saints recorded in the sacred Scripture and therefore Origen saith that those which God doth purpose to advance hee doth first make them descend low into themselves to become as no body that so they may be lifted up to glory secondly they must descend in their bodies they must be contented to descend into the grave and to lye in the dust many yeeres together kept under of death and then afterward they shall be raised to glory Secondly that as Christ descended lower and lower so wee should bee contented to come downe to the lowest degree that God shall assigne us there be many that be contented to come downe somewhat but to lose all and to part with all our goods there is not one of a thousand that will be contented when David daunced before the Arke Michal despised him for it unto whom he makes this answere that if it bee a vile thing to doe so he would be more vile so should we doe bee contented to become more vile in our owne eyes to come to any estate that it shall please God to bring upon us that so he may advance us as Iob 19. 25. when he was despised of his servants and all his goods lost yet hee was contented with it and cheareth up himselfe by faith saying I know my Redeemer liveth and in my flesh I shall see God so if wee be contented to be humbled here in the kingdome of grace we shall be advanced in the kingdome of glory SERMON XXX 1 CORINTHIANS 15. 4. And that hee was buried and that he rose againe the third day according to the Scriptures HAving spoken of the degrees of Christ Humiliaation now we are to speake of the degrees of his Exaltation but before wee speake of this the consideration of both of them together will not be unprofitable for us because from thence wee may learne this good instruction that as there was a time of humiliation and a time of exaltation unto Christ so all the people of God in severall ages have had these two times a time of humiliation and a time of exaltation so saith the Prophet Ierem. 30. Alas for that day is great so that none is like it it is even the time of Iaakobs trouble yet he shall be delivered out of it there is a time of trouble and a time of deliverance from trouble as Psal 105. 18 19. Ioseph had his feet in the stockes and was laid in Irons till his appointed time came and the Lords word had tryed him so there was a time of his trouble and a time of his deliverance out of his troubles This may be the comfort of all the people of God that as there is a time of humiliation so there is a time of exaltation which they may
now to proceede to the uses but before wee come to them give mee leave to shew you two reasons why we are so slow to beleeve the Scriptures 1. Nobilitas Objecti The noblenesse of the Object 2. Debilitas Subjecti The weakenesse of the Subject The first is Nobilitas Objecti the noblenesse of the Object for the Scriptures are the wisedome of God which wisedome goeth infinitely beyond our reach being of such infinite excellencie that we cannot attaine the height of them for as the Philosophers say that a thing exceeding sensible doth destroy the senses as too much light doth destroy the sight too much cold doth benumme the senses too much heate doth consume us too much noyse doth make one deafe so the wisdome of God being of so great excellency above us that it transcends the capacitie of our understandings cannot be apprehended by us and therefore we are slow to beleeve the Scriptures Secondly Debilitas subjecti The weakenesse of the subject the Scriptures excellency and the dulnesse of our apprehension makes us slow to beleeve for nature cannot worke above her power but the wisedome of God is above the power of nature for as the Apostle saith The naturall man perceiveth not the things that be of God because there must be a power above nature to make us to understand and beleeve them therefore as the woman of Samaria saith Iohn 4. The Well is deepe and I have nothing to draw with so we may say The Scriptures are deepe and we have not any thing to found them with therefore wee are slow to beleeve them Now the uses to be made of this first point are First seeing wee are so slow to beleeve the Scriptures no man neede to marvell though wee see so few converted or so few beleeve for every man hath a let in his owne nature therefore no marvell though so few beleeve Let a man fling a narrow-mouth bottle into the sea and if the mouth bee downeward it will receive no water so wee are like narrow-mouthed bottles for although we bee in an Ocean sea of good meanes yet we cannot receive it we have a let at home in our selves Secondly seeing wee are slow to beleeve the scriptures seeing wee have such a let in our selves at home therefore it must bee our care to take the more paines and to labour with our hearts that so we may beleeve the Scriptures If a man have nothing but greene wood hee must take the more paines to blow it and to lay it together that so it may burne so seeing our hearts are like unto greene wood wee must take the more paines with them to make them beleeve the Scriptures Secondly by informing of them and two things hee doth informe them of 1. Of the Necessitie of his suffering 2. The good Vse and utilitie of the same First that it is needfull that Christ should suffer and secondly that by suffering hee must enter into his glorie and thereby seeing this was the way for Christ to enter into his glory he takes away the scandall of the Crosse First It was of necessitie that Christ must suffer now the necessity was not in himselfe for he might have gone to glory the same houre he came into the World because it was hereditary to him but in regard of us for it was the good of us that made a necessitie and put this upon him Therefore Paul saith Ephes 5. 2. He gave himselfe for us and Heb. 2. Hee tasted of death for all men therefore he suffered not for himselfe but it was for us One askes the question What is the reason that Christ cals it his glory and answers he cals it so in regard of us for he could have gone some other way but we should have beene left heere therefore it was needfull in regard of us and that by reason of a double necessitie 1. The Necessitie of paying the price of Mans Redemption 2. The Necessitie of good Example The first was The Necessitie of paying the price of Mans Redemption because when we have sinned such is the Iustice of God that either we must suffer in our own persons or we must suffer in the person of Christ either Christ must suffer or wee therefore when the wrath of God was ready to seaze upon us it pleased Christ to suffer for us and to satisfie the Iustice of God We may remember by this occasion that which I have shewed heretofore that Oâ—esimus after he ran away from his master Paul converts and sends him home againe to his Master with a letter in his hand to this effect Receive him againe if hee have done thee any wrong set it on my score I will answere it so wee are run away from God and Christ hath sent us backe againe with a letter as it were in our hands to this effect Father admit them and receive them into thy favour make them partakers of thy glorie If they have done thee any wrong or ought thee any thing set it on my score I will answere it I Iesus have written it not with penne and Inke but with mine owne blood and therefore we see it was needfull that Christ should suffer to pay the price of mans Redemption Secondly it was needfull that Christ should suffer in regard of good exâ—â—ple for no man would goe to Heaven through so many troubles unlesse Christ had gone before them Saint Peter saith Christ hath suffered leaving us an example therefore did hee goe through all these troubles and shames that we might be contented to follow him If a Man goe through bushes briers rugged waies through dens and caves and rockes if hee finde the footesteps of his loving friend this giveth him comfort so seeing we finde the footesteps of Christ in these afflictions we may bee bold to goe on that way and therefore it was of necessitie that Christ must suffer as well in regard of good example as to pay the price of mans redemption what man then hath cause to be offended at the scandall of the crosse seeing it was so needfull that Christ should suffer these things I but some Man may say Was it of necessitie that Christ should suffer so many things that his head should be crowned with thornes that his backe should be whipped his face buffeted his sides pierced and hee himselfe at last to die such a shamefull death as on the crosse I answer it was needfull that Christ should suffer all these things which we have spoken of for if hee had suffered lesse then it would have done us no good Mans sinnes were so hatefull in the eyes of God that hee must suffer all these things howsoever the Friers say that one drop of the blood of Christ was enough to redeeme us yea all Men yet it cost Christ all his bloud to redeeme Man for when Man had sinned all the Angels or Archangels in Heaven
and Archangels Principalities and Powers Kings and Princes Now there bâ—e many eminencies and excellencies but at the day of judgement Christ shall put downe all rule and authoritie under his feete and then God shall be all in all Secondly God shall be all in all in the fulfilling of the hearts of his servants with grace and goodnesse God is not all in all now in the hearts of his servants he is but something as Chastitie in Ioseph Constancie in David fortitude in Sampson wisedome in Salomon But then God shall be all in all to them we are all like to a bottle that hath at narrow neck that is east into the Sea and cannot fill all at once but receive the water drop by drop but at the day of judgement God shall fill our hearts and soules with all grace and goodnesse Saint Ierome saith well Now God is by a few vertues in us but then he shall be all in all in filling our hearts with graces and vertues and Augustine saith out of this place what is that Paul saith that God shall be all in all whatâ—oever the heart of Man can wish or desire that God will be to a Christian therefore dost thou desire meate and drinke God will be meate and drinke to thee dost thou desire peace God will bee all in all to thee in whatsoever thy heart can wish for and this is the end why Christ shall render up the Kingdome unto his Father that God may be all in all SERMON LIII IOHN 14. 26. But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name hee shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you THe Creede as Tertullian termes it is the rule how to â—rder our Faith both concerning God and the Church of God And there are two rules to order our Faith by First that there are three Persons and but one God in substance and in essence and as there are three Persons and but one God So wee must labour to bee all one because we must seeke to resemble God as much as may be although we cannot be one in substance yet wee must be all one in affection and will So it is said Acts 4. 32. that the number of them that beleeved were all of one heart and of one minde and Christ prayes Iohn 17. 21. that as the Father and he is one so all his people may bee one And Rom. 15. 6. the Apostle prayes that they may with one minde and with one mouth praise God even the Father of our Lord Iesus as there is unitie in God so there must be unitie in us It was the Divell that first made division in the World hee divided Man from his God and Man from Man in the most deerest and neerest societie for the divided Adam from his wife and so it is the devill that makes division still in the world as Revel 6. 4. it is said of him There was power given him to take away peace c. So then all division proceedeth from the Divell God hee makes peace but it is the Divell that makes division and therefore it is our duty as God is one so we to labour to bee one though wee cannot in substance yet in affection and will The second Rule is that although they be one in Substance and Essence yet they be three distinct Persons the Father created Man by his power and he Sonne redeemed Man by his blood the Holy Ghost sanctified Man by his Spirit So all these three estates in Heâ—ven concurre and worke together for the good of Man And therefore it is a piteous thing that Man is found to be enemy to himselfe Hence then let every one consider how worthâ—ly doe Men perish and goe to Hell seeing all the Divine Persons worke for Mans good and hee alone is found enemy to himselfe Now we have spoken already of the first Person and also of the second at this present are come to speake of the third Person whereto foure things are to be considered 1. That the Holy Ghost is God 2. That he is a person having a Reall subsisting and that hee is distinct from the Father and the Sonne 3. That he is not onely holy in himselfe but hee is the Effecter and Causer of Holinesse in others 4. That as he makes others holy so he will make me holy and give mee such a measure of Sanctitie as shall bee fit for mee First That the holy Ghost is God it is a ground in Divinitie that hee that beleeves should beleeve in God and in no creature but wee are taught to beleeve in the holy Ghost therefore it is a surething that the holy Ghost is God But for the truth of this point because it is one of the grounds of our Christian faith I will prove it by Scripture and by reason First by Scripture Act. 5. 3. saith Peter to Anâ—nias Why hath Satan filled thy heart that thou shouldst lye unto the holy Ghost and in the very next verse Thou hast not lyed to man but unto God Againe 1 Ioh. 5. 7. There be three that beare record in heaven the Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three are one what one are they but one God The Papist telleth us that the Divinitie of the holy Ghost cannot be proved by the Scripture but by tradition but this is erroneous and false and there are Schoole-men teach to the contrary as Thomas Aquinas who saith A man must speake nothing of God or beleeve nothing but what is found in Scripture either in expresse words or sense and therefore if it cannot be proved by the Scriptures that the holy Ghost is God we are not to beleeve it because wee are to beleeve nothing but that which is grounded upon the Scripture Another of them saith that he can bring a whole swarme of testimonies to demonstrate unto us the Divinity of the holy Ghost So then we see it may strongly be confirmed by Scripture that the holy Ghost is God and Cyrill saith that it is the holy Ghost that is the inditer of the Scripture and therefore he testifieth of himselfe and revealeth himselfe as much as is fit and needfull for us to know of him that which he hath written of himselfe we may be bold to speake of And Augustine saith that all the ancient Fathers have laboured to confirme this by Scripture that there is three distinct Persons and one God besides in the Remish Testament 1 Iohn 5. 7. we finde observed upon the note of One that there be three divine persons in the Trinitie and therefore this doth affirme the God-head of the holy Ghost but here seeing it is so plaine by Scripture and by the testimonies of the Fathers and by their owne Schoole-men as many as bee well advised that the holy Ghost is God wee need not doubt of the truth of
these be two things whereon the faith of a Christian turnes concerning our faith in God wee beleeve that there is one God in substance and yet three distinct persons the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost The Father who created us by his Power the Son who redeemed us by his blood and the holy Ghost who is the inlightner and sanctifier of all the faithfull therefore after our faith in God Christian faith informs us to beleeve there is a Church of God because it is a rich store-house of all his grace and goodnesse and his true Temple as Saint Paul saith 1 Cor. 9. 10. Know ye not that your bodie is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you c Augustine saith well the right order of beleeving is first to beleeve in the blessed Trinitie and then in the true Church first to the Maker and then to the House first to the Builder and then to the Citie So our faith must be first in God and then by and by turne to the Church of God Now herein are two things to be observed 1. Vnder what forme we must beleeve 2. What it is we must beleeve First under what forme wee must beleeve The Papists say wee must beleeve in the Church and the Romish Testament is for it upon 1 Tim. 3. and Bellarmine is not farre behinde he saith after a sort and after a certaine kinde we are to beleeve in the Church sundry Divines are contrary to this and they say that a Christian is to beleeve in none but God not in Angell nor Archangell nor in any creature but in God as Iohn 14. Christ saith Yee beleeve in God beleeve also in me marke the ground why we must beleeve in Christ because he is God so 1 Pet. 1. 21. saith the Apostle Which by his meanes doe beleeve in God that raised him from the dead and gave him glory that your Faith and hope might be in him not in the Church in Angell or Archangell but in God onely And an ancient father saith we beleeve there is an holy Church but wee doe not beleeve in the Holy Church wee must beleeve in none but God and the reason is because the Church is not God but the house of God Eusebius saith wee must beleeve Paul and Peter but wee must not beleeve in Paul nor in Peter the reason is because it is a transferring of the honour that is due to God to the creature and Chrysostome saith it is one thing to beleeve a Party and it is another thing to beleeve in a partie but it is proper to the divinity to bee beleeved in Hence wee see the light is so cleere in this point as no man neede doubt of it and Thomas Aquinas one of their owne Doctors saith it is better for a man to beleeve there is a Church than for a man to beleeve in the Church wherein hee grounded himselfe on Pope Leo in whose power the Church was to rest themselves Since that time they have refused this and say that a man must beleeve in the Church affirming that there bee three ancient fathers Saint Ierome Epiphanius and Cyrill that takes it in the same sense as they doe As for one of these which is Saint Ierome there was a chiefe bishop of Rome that brings his argument for us and inferres that this particle in is to bee remooved because in his best workes we doe not so read it Now for the two other their credit is the lesse because Arrius was the first that brought it into his Creed and Cyrill followes him as for Epiphanius though at first he might be carried with the streame of the times yet afterwards hee was overswayed by a number of ancient fathers at Alexandria who expound and take it as we doe Therefore it is out of question and without controulment that wee are not to beleeve in the Church but the right forme of beleeving is to beleeve that God hath a Church a holy people a holy company that he will blesse and save eternally Secondly what it is we must beleeve there are three speciall things we must beleeve 1. We beleeve that God hath a Church 2. We beleeve it is a holy Church 3. Wee beleeve it is an universall or Catholicke that it was from the beginning it hath beene in all ages and it is all the World over First that God hath a Church People and Family here in this world his number of saved ones as I may say though we cannot see nor designe them out Paul tells us Heb. 11. 1. that Faith is the evidence of things that are not seene therefore though we doe not alwayes see the Church of God yet by Faith we must beleeve that God hath his people family and his number of saved ones for the same Saint Paul shewes us in the generall apostacie of the Iewes Rom. 11. That there is a seede and a little remnant left this he resolves us of from an Oracle of God that there were seven thousand left thou had not bowed their knees to Baal which were hid and secret therefore though wee cannot see or designe them out yee wee must beleeve that God hath his Church and company of holy people and his number of saved ones The Vs es are first to answere to a demand that the papists make Where was your Churches before Luthers time I answer I beleeve the Church of God hath beene in all ages and from the beginning and shall continue to the end of the World therefore although wee cannot see nor designe it out yet we beleeve there is a Church of God as Gen. 1. the Lord made two great lights the one to rule the day and the other to rule the night Now although wee cannot alwayes see these lights because there is some clouds that doe cover them or some thicke mist yet faith doth assure us that those lights be still so it is with the Church of God though it be not patent and visible at all times yet Faith doth assure us that there is a Church of God still Secondly seeing that God hath his Church in all ages and his number of saved people Therefore every man must labour to bee one of that number for though God hath his Church and number of saved ones if we doe not appertaine to this Church and be of this number what are wee the better We see when Noah made his Arke all that did not get into it did perish in the waters so though God hath his Church and number of saved ones yet if wee doe not labour to bee of his Church and people we must perish Now for the better clearing of this point wee will shew 1. What the Nature of the Church of God is 2. What be the divers parts of it 3. The diverse estates of the Church of God here in this world 4. What be the true markes and notes of the true Church 5.
he had seene that in time to come they would have beene therefore this practise of Christ the Prophets and Apostles in sending them to the Scriptures shewes that they were not corrupted nor depraved The fourth reason is drawne from the circumstance of time which both Saint Ierome and Bellarmine doe approve of that if the Scriptures were corrupted by the Iewes it was either before Christs time or soone after his time if it had beene corrupted before his time as hee did reproove other corruptions hee would have reprooved this also but he did not reproove this and therefore it was not corrupted before his time againe it was not after his time for as Augustine saith the Iewish Church indured but a while after his time and then it did diffuse it selfe into all the world then though the Iewes might have corrupted the bookes that were in their owne hands yet they could not corrupt all the bookes that were in so many sundry hands scattered all the world over and therefore it was impossible for the Iewes to corrupt any Philo and Iosephus report that the Iewes lived two thousand yeeres under the Law when there was not one word corrupted nay they say that the the Iewes would suffer a hundred deaths before they would have corrupted any one word So then this reason stands good that it was not corrupted before Christs time nor after his time and therefore it is not corrupted in the Originall The fifth reason is taken from the Iudgement of the learned saith Saint Ierome if wee make any doubt of any question in our Bibles we straight runne to bee resolved of it in the Originall tongue if it bee in the new Testament we goe to the Greeke if it be in the Old Testament we goe to the Hebrew likewise Saint Augustine saith if any man make any doubt or question of this or that in the Scripture by and by wee goe to the Hebrew Bible to cleere our controversie as to the Canon law Hence we conclude by these reasons that the Church hath preserved the letter of the Scripture without any corruption Whereof we should make that use that Paul teacheth 2 Cor 6. 1. Wee as workers together with him beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vaine so then it is a grace and a great grace that the Lord hath preserved the Scripture without any corruption in the Hebrew text therefore I beseech you that you would not receive this grace of God in vaine but labour to grow in knowledge and to nourish thy faith to increase the graces of his Spirit to the weakening of thy sinnes and corruptions Now here may a question be made indeed the Lord hath preserved the Scripture in the Originall tongue without any corruption but in the Latine and other tongues they have beene corrupted and therefore what is this to us we cannot understand Hebrew Againe there was a Popish priests who said that wee have no faith because wee have not the Word of God for faith is grounded on the Word of God but the Word of God saith he was written in Hebrew and in Greeke which translated into an other tongue is not the Word of God how then shall we in this case know it to be the Word of God To this I answer that the Lord doth by us as Ioseph did by his brethren Gen. 42. 12. first hee spake unto them by an interpreter and afterwards by his owne mouth so the Lord doth speake unto us by the mouth of his servants and afterwards by his owne as we know the king makes a proclamation of his will to his subjects in English which when it commeth into Wales where they cannot understand it by one of the kings subjects is taken and translated into Welch wherein it differeth not a haire from the other so it pleased God to proclaime his will to his servants in the Hebrew and the Greeke tongue at first after which they were translated into all tongues by his servants so that there is not a haire difference betweene them in substance I but how shall wee know they bee rightly translated Hereto I answer first out of Chrysostome that we need not doubt but whatsoever is needfull to salvation is set downe plainely and cleerely in the Scriptures and Augustine adds that all those places in the Scriptures which speake of Faith and good manners bee plaine and easie therefore in plaine and easie places the interpreters could not be deceived Secondly a man may know it is the Word of God in our tongue by the same meanes they may know it in Hebrew and that is by the purity sincerity majestie and the power thereof to worke on the soules and consciences of men Therefore when a Christian shall feele and see the power of it worke on mens consciences and soules with the same purity and majesty they may safely say It is God speakes and not man It is the voyce of my welbeloved that speaketh as it is in the Canticles if one put pretious water into a glasse and after put it into an earthen vessell by the taste and vertue of it he may know it to be the same water that it was in the glasse so we may know the Word of God which is in Hebrew and Greeke to be the same in our tongue by the vertue purity sincerity and power thereof therefore the Popish priests opinion is but a tricke of wit and scant that I but there are some differences in the translations I answer first they differ not in sense but in words and termes for the Scripture containes such high wisedome as no one man is able to expresse it therefore the divers translators goe as neere as they can to expresse it some in one thing and some in an other and all to make knowne the wisedome of God to us so that it cannot be denied but that the difference of translations is a great helpe to expound the Scriptures Secondly I answer that where there is any difference it is not in the substance or any materiall point but it is in genealogies and yeares and where any doe finde these differences they may bee satisfied in it by the helpe of their pastours and teachers to instance a few Matth. 1. 11. in the ordinary Bibles there is next unto Iosias Iakim which in the new translation is left out now if any man would know which of these are the better let him looke into the 17. vers where hee may see that all the Generations from Abraham to David are fourteene all betweene David and the captivitie fourteene and from the captivitie to Christs time are fourteene now looke into your ordinary Bibles where are fifteene generations betweene David and the captivitie therefore the new translation is the better so Exod. 3. 19. in the ordinary Bibles it is thus read And I know that the king of Egypt will not