Exposition of Galatians, Exposition · Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
1 PAVL an Apoſtle not of men, neither by man, but by Ieſus Chriſt, & God the Father which hath raiſed him frō the dead)
2 And all the brethren which are with mee vntounto the Churches of Galatia,
3 Grace be with you & peace, from God the Father and from our Lord Ieſus Chriſt,
4 Which gaue himſelfe for our ſinnes that hee might deliuer vsus from this preſent euill world according to the will of God euen our Father.
5 To whom bee glorie for euer and euer Amen.
Calling, either by name, or vntounto office.PAVL an Apoſtle.) Hee deſcribeth himſelfe by his calling. And as the worde (calling) doth ſignifie either the name that a man is known & called by, or the ſtate he is preferred & called vntounto: ſo S. Paul expreſſeth both, 1. his name (Paul) &, 2. the ſtate of his office withal (to be an Apoſtle.)
Calling by name.1 Touching his name, it is too light a labor much to ſticke at names: when wee hauehave caught ſuch ſmal fiſh, we but caſt thē into the ſea againe. And it hath euer beene thought a vaine curioſity, ſo *Iudg. 13.18.carefully to make enquiry for the meſſengers name and titles, when the meſſage is moſt certaine. Wherefore for this matter that rule is beſt & may ſuffice; that where the writers of holy writ and Scriptures are knowen, that there God vſeth ſuch ſo ſpecified by name, as certaine inſtrumentes to declare his will, voutſafeing to ſhewe the children of men with what quill and penne himſelfe would write.
Againe, when the writer of Scripture is leſſe knowne, know wee; that, wee are to eſteeme no leſſe of thoſe diuine Scriptures, than of the reſt, euen ſo farre foorth as if they came immediately from himſelfe without our knoweledge of any certaine humane meanes in the penning.
2 After his name, followeth the calling of his office. Calling vntounto office, or ſtate.(Paul an Apoſtle) Calling to any funetion is either in earthly thinges or in heauenly matters. And in heauenly things calling is either generall to be *Rom. 1.7. 1 Cor. 1 2.Saintes, ſanctified and waſhed in the blood of the Lambe, or els *Rom. 11. 1 Cor. 1.1.ſpeciall to be a teacher and a miniſter in the Church of God & houſe of Saintes. And this calling is either ordinary and appointed orderly by impoſition of handes according to the right touch of conſcience in the called, and the good choiſe of the caller: or els calling is extraordinarie whenſoeuer, and of whomſoeuer it pleaſeth God immediatly by himſelfe to call vntounto, and enable for the worke of his ſpirituall harueſt. Such a calling was Pauls by a voice from heauen at noone, whereof himſelfe ſpeaketh: *Acts. 26.9.I was not diſobedient to the heauenly viſion, (and voice.)
Thus was he ordained to his office, and (as he here addeth) neither by men (called) neither by men (inſtituted) but extraordinarily in heauenly thinges a *Numb. 10.2.conſecrated trumpet put *Rom. 1.1.a-part to preach the Goſpel euen from heauen, and by God himſelfe. Called not of men, nor by man, but by Ieſus Chriſt and God the Father which raiſed him from the dead.
Both natures in our Sauiour.By the way you will obiect, that if Paul were called by Chriſt, and therefore not by man, then belike Chriſt was not man. I anſwere: theſe wordes deny not our ſauiours humanity, though they rather proue his Deity and Godhead. For if ye marke, in the ſame tenor of ſpeech they couple him equally with God, and expreſſely they term God his Father; and, ſuch as is the Father, ſuch in ſubſtance is the Son. And becauſe the Father is God, therefore by conſequent neceſſarily enſuing, the Son alſo is very God. And yet, marke withall, his Father here is ſaid to raiſe him from the dead. Which muſt needs be ſpoken of Chriſts humanity. For the Deity neither dieth, nor reuiueth; neither falleth, nor riſeth, nor is rayſed againe. Wherefore Paul was called by him, that is not denied to be man, but by the *1 Tim. 2.5.man Chriſt who was both very God and perfect man, and ſo a fit mediator betweene God and man.
And nowe being thus called, in the ſecond, third, fourth, and fifth verſes, he ſendeth greeting: wherein would be conſidered, 1. The ſender, 2. The perſons to whom he writeth, 3. His entry with an holy ſalutation.
1 He that ſendeth chiefly is Paul (of whom in part hath beene, and in part hereafter ſhalbe declared) then they with Paul, who ſent their greeting, are annexed: Al the brethren who were with Paul. My note is, that whereas fleſh and blood is of a corrupt nature, ful of wrath, pride and ſwelling, whereas eueryevery man deemeth his lead to be ſiluer, & his glaſſe diamond, whereas ſome can brooke no ſuperiour, ſome no equal, Paul was altogether of a contrary minde, of an humble, meeke and lowly ſpirit. And albeit his giftes were moe than were al the giftes of many, his labours incomparable, and his calling Apoſtolical, yet hee calleth eueryevery of them that were with him brethren, and conioyneth them with himſelfe in his owne Epiſtle. A charitable conſent in Chriſtians moſt forceable to perſuade in caſes of Chriſtianitie.And this was then, and wilbe euer, as it were, a twiſted cord of greateſt ſtrēgth the better able to draw men to chriſt, when Chriſtians drawe all one way, and driue againſt ſinne, and lift all with one ſhoulder to further the trueth, and altogether liue in charitable manner like brethren one with an other.
Paul and all the brethren. He excepteth none that includeth all, and he accepteth of all that excludeth none.
The perſons to whom the Epiſtle is directed.2 To the Churches of Galatia. The *The name of the Church taken diuerſly.name of the church is diuerſly takē, either for the whole Church catholicke in times, perſons and places, or for the parces of the whole profeſſing in earth the Catholicke faith. And therein as eueryevery part of the ſea is called the ſea: as the Engliſh, the Spaniſh, and the French Sea, is termed the Sea: euen ſo euerie part of the whole Church profesſing the trueth may and doth well receaue the name of the Church, as the Church of England is the Church, and the Church of Scotland the Church, &c. And, becauſe in Galatia their congregations were copious, they are plurallie termed the Churches.
Whole churches may be ſeduced.And herein it were not amiſſe to be noted, that not only ſome ſmal church truly ſo called, though in ſome pointes vnperfect, but many Churches may tread awry, whole populous Churches may be ſeduced. Pſal. 116.11.For truely, men whether ſole & ſingle, or aſſembled and making a Church or churches, are but men, and therefore prone to ſinne, and ſoone deceaued: and as the moone doth often ecclypſe, ſo Churches may ſometimes erre.
Men cannot his ſtil the white, ſhal they not therefore aime at the marke?And yet an other good obſeruation it is, that if any man therefore will needes be wilfull, & vnwilling to contend to perfection becauſe all men neceſſarily hauehave imperfections, verily that man is vnwiſe, and wanteth grace, and can be no child of the Church of God, which is an houſe of ſuch men as inuocate and call vponupon the holy name of God. 2 Tim. 2.19.And whoſoeuer ſo doth, of duty muſt euermore more and more depart as far as he posſiblely may from all iniquitie. And to this end both eueryevery where Paul preacheth, and here writeth and wiſheth as followeth.
The greeting.3 Grace and Peace.) Grace is Gods fauour: peace ſignifieth gods bleſſing in *Gen. 43.23.a proſperous eſtate. Grace goeth before, and Peace followeth after, and both proceede by the meanes of Chriſt our Sauiour.
Rhemiſh, Teſt. Pag. 384.Wherein I cannot omit a Rhemiſh and a peeuiſh note, that miſliketh the vſage of this ſalutation, appropriating it to the Apoſtles without all reaſon, and fooliſhly inferring that becauſe Heretickes, and namely Manicheus, hauehave vſed it, therefore we maie not vſe it.
*The ſalutations were vſed of the Apoſtles may be vſed by others.I pray you, why did Paul requeſt that mutuall prayers bee made for him, if others might not praie for him, as hee did for them? And why may not al pray, eſpecially for Grace and Peace? Or may I not wiſh them to my ſelfe? Or if to my ſelfe, why not to my *Rom. 13.9.neighbour? Or wherein lieth the lette? May I not wiſh a man Gods grace? Or may I not pray for the peace of men? Or may I pray at all, and can I praie almoſt for anie thing, and not for theſe thinges, and with theſe wordes?
For the other point that Manicheus did vſe it, *Epiphanius haereſ. 66.I finde hee did. And what of that? The beſt things either in hypocriſie may be pretended (for hypocrites pretend not the worſt) or elſe the beſt thinges to purpoſes may bee abuſed. And what then? The Phariſie abuſeth his long praiers: the tempter abuſed the holie Scriptures: the Corinthians abuſed the Sacraments, Baptiſme, and the Supper; and Manicheus abuſed this good ſalutation, which yet is not the thing is ſo found fault with in him. But hee tooke vponupon him to be an Apoſtle as the woorde is moſt preeiſelie and properly taken: which his fault was reproued, as appeareth in Auſtine. Tom. 6. contra Epiſt. Funda. c. 5. & 6.And which title becauſe the Pope being alſo a Biſhop doth claim, he moſt reſembleth Manicheus.
The abuſe of things aboliſheth not their good vſage.But to the matter, whether he vſed or abuſed this ſalutation, it skilleth litle: for our partes, we are not diſpoſed to miſlike the innocent ſheepes fel, becauſe the rauening woolfe hath ſometime put it on: wee are not ſo fonde as to refuſe the Arke of God, 1. Sam. 8becauſe the Philiſtines had once got it into their hands: we cannot, neither will wee (God willing) refuſe the vſage of our godly greetings, becauſe your coyiſhneſſe would bar vsus thereof, and appropriate good words at your fantaſtical pleaſure. As wel you may, for ought I knowe, interdict men of well dooing, as of wiſhing wel vntounto their neighbours and brethren.
And farther if you imagine (as it may ſeeme you doe) that there is ſome operatiue and working benediction in thoſe wordes: beſide that the euent hath prooued the contrarie (for what is now become of that graceles & vnhappy Church of Galatia:) the verie words following confute that your folly moſt ſufficiētly. For Paul wiſheth Grace and Peace not as encloſed in his wordes, and interlaced in his lines, or fixed to his letters, but to bee giuen by God and by Chriſt which gaue himſelfe &c.
In which fourth and fifth verſes are to bee learned theſe three conuenient obſeruations, as they lie. 1. The end why Chriſt gaue himſelfe, to deliuer vsus out of this preſent world. 2. The enducement thereunto, according to his good wil. 3. Our duty therefore in giuing him glorie and deſerued prayſe for euer.
The end of our deliuerie by Chriſt.1 Deliuerie preſuppoſeth captiuity, and the greater the enemie, the dearer the ranſom, and the ioifuller the deliuerance. The enemie here named is the world, the ranſome Chriſt, we are the deliuered. The enimie mightie, the ranſom pretious: and therefore our deliuery moſt ioyful. But hee that is in hel thinketh many times there is no other heauen. So faire a gloſe can the world ſet vponupon the matter, and ſo forcibly can it woork. Gen. 29.In the booke of Geneſis Laban made promiſe to Iacob that he ſhould hauehave to wife for his faithfull ſeruice fair Rachel, & Iacob in hope thereof indureth al toile and pains. But when the time of his couenant was expired, Laban in the night ſubſtituteth Lea in ſteed of Rachel: Euen ſo O guilful worlde, how ſweet, how pleaſant are thy promiſes, but the things thou yeeldeſt in the end how bitter, how ful of gall are they? Thou promiſeſt bewtiful Rachel, but thou performeſt ſquinteyd Lea. He which ſeeth thy vanitie, and diſcerneth thy wilineſſe, would hee be deceaued, or ought he not of all thinges moſt to deſire his deliueraunce from thy thral:
The world a tranſitorie and a wicked world.Our Apoſtle deſcribeth this world worthilie in two woords, terming it the preſent wicked world. The wickedneſſe of the world may ſeeme delight-ſome, yet ſuch delightes endure not long. They are but a basket ful of ſommer fruit, a Ionas his gourd, they ſpring in the night, and fade the next day. That which is paſt, is as if it neuer were: that which is to come, is vtterly vncertain: and that which is preſent, is but a glimſe for a moment, a morning dew and gone againe.
Notwithſtanding were the world only a fickle and a tranſitorie vncertainty, the benefite of our deliuery were the leſſe. Glaſſe is a brickle metal, and yet a cleane. The world is not only vnſtable and fading, euen the verie faſhion thereof, but it is (as Saint Iohn ſpeaketh) altogither ſet on wickedneſſe, Our deliuerance from the world▪ doth not driue men to ſhorten their time in the world.and therefore Chriſt gaue himſelfe for our ſinnes, that he might deliuer vsus out of this preſent euill worlde. I ſay not: neither ſaieth Chriſt, from not being at al in this world, but from liuing after the faſhion of the world: For it is written: Thou ſhalt not kil, that is, thou vponupon a feare or fancy thou ſhalt not diſpatch, as not an other, ſo not *Aug. de ciui. Dei li. 2. cap. 20thy ſelfe out of the woorld: Thou ſhalt not dig thine owne graue and enter into it before thy time, no, Thou ſhalt not hang thine owne winding ſheete before thine eies, thou ſhalt not be cauſe or occaſion of thine owne death.
Iob.When holy Iob curſed the daie of his birth it was but a pang of imperfection. Act. 16.28.In the Actes, when the priſoner woulde hauehave killed himſelfe, Paul crieth out that he ſhould do himſelf no harm, as if to kil were to hurt himſelfe. Then if to kill were to doe harme, verily to liue cannot be harm. And were it abſolutely vnlawful to liue, or laweful to liue or not to liue when mans luſt were, and with *2 Machab. 14.Raſis to leaue the ſtation wherein God hath placed vsus, there could hauehave beene no doubt, Philip. 1.23.or no great doubt in Pauls choiſe to the Philippians where he caſteth with himſelfe whether it were better to chooſe life or rather death for the deſire he had to be diſſolued, and to be with chriſt. Yet in fine he reſolueth for conſiderations that it were better the courſe of his race to be continued. And then why choſe he life, if to liue were vtterly il, and ſimply naught, as ſome in their impatiencie imagine?
Ioh. 17.15.In Saint Iohn our Sauiour prayeth for his, not that they be taken out of the world, but that they may bee preſerued from euil. For the creatures in the woorld, and the woorlde, and our life therein though euil and tedious, are not in fault. The faultes of the woorld muſt bee ſhunned, and from them wee are deliuered: namely from the guilt of ſinne, thorough Chriſt: 1 Ioh. 1.and by his ſpirite from the degrees of ſinning wilfully, luſtfully, or finally to death. But, which is my ſecond note, who is hee, or what is it hath deliuered vsus? the grace of God through Ieſus Chriſt. And why?
The inducement why God vouchſaued our deliuerance.The cauſes of gods doings muſt not be ſought for elſe-where then in God himſelfe. His grace, his fauour, his mercy, his fatherly goodneſſe, his pleaſure, purpoſe, wil and good wil, are the onelyonly things ſpecified in Scripture, as agent cauſes of ſending ſo great ſaluation to the ſonnes of men.
Our Apoſtle Paul euerie where intentiuelie looking into the ſtate of our redemption, when he feeth the father ſatisfied, the Son ſacrificed, man ſaued from ſin, and deliuered from the world, he hath alwaies recourſe onelyonly to the goodneſſe of God, who is moſt free in willing, inflexible in doing, repentant in neither, and in both without all compartner. For who hath or can be his aſſociate or Counſeller, Rom. 11.34.to induce him this way that is vnchāgeable in al his waies, eſpecially in the myſterie of godlines, in the incarnation of our Sauior, & in the giuing of his Son? So that neither beyond, nor on this ſide his wil Paul neither ſaieth nor ſeeth any thing, neither finde I ought that may be compared.
Our duety in regard of our deliuerie.3 Teach a foole this doctrine of his deliuerance, and he cannot tel what it meaneth: waſh a raw bricke and it turneth to mire: that is, tell a wilful ſinner that he hath ſo gracious a god, ſuch a through ſauiour, ſtraitway ſaith he, Grace ſhal ſaue, and Chriſt ſhal deliuer: I wil liue at pleaſure and ſurfet eueryevery howre, the rather becauſe my Phyſicion is skilful, and able, and willing to help. God bleſſe euerie good ſoul from preſumpteous ſinnes. Pauls example is cleare to the contrarie, and in the meditation of the goodwil of God and great work of Chriſt as ſomewhere he gathereth vnſpeakable comfort Rom. 8.(If God be with vsus, who can be againſt vsus?) ſo here hee rendred dew thankes for ſo peerleſſe and endleſſe fauour.
And great reaſon: you reade when Iſaake was borne, and *Gen. 21.8.weaned, great feaſts were kept. But (brethren) when a man is regenerated and borne anew in Chriſt, and made the Son of God, when he is weaned from the world, greater reaſon incomparably greater that we keep an *1 Cor. 1.8.holy feaſt, a feaſt vntounto the Lord, to whom Paul ſaieth bee praiſe for euer and euer Amen. Wherein would be *Continuance in thankefulnes is thankes worthy.noted not onelyonly Pauls praiſing God, but his vehemency & continuance: for euer and for euer.
Feaſt-makers bring in the woorſt wine *Iohan. 21.10.laſt, & the beſt firſt: ſo many continue not in the courſe of like thankfulnes as at the beginning, litle conſidering that God is to bee praiſed for euermore, without intermiſſion of cōuenient time. 2. Relaxation of euerlaſting duty. 3. Exception of ſeaſons as excluding his praiſes which are moſt due at anie time and for euer and for euer, Amen.
6 I maruaile that ye are ſo ſoone remoued away vntounto another Goſpel from him that hath called you in the grace of Chriſt.
7 Which is not an other Goſpel, ſaue that there be ſome which trouble you, and intend to peruert the Goſpell of Chriſt.
8 But though that wee or an Angel from heauen preach vntounto you otherwiſe thā that we hauehave preached vntounto you, let him be accurſed.
9 As wee ſaid before, ſo ſay I now againe, If any man preach vntounto you otherwiſe than that ye hauehave receiued, let him be accurſed.
Two kinde of perſons are noted in theſe verſes, viz. the ſeduced, and the ſeducers. 1. Hee maruaileth at the one ſort, 2. & defieth the other.
1 I maruel.) Wherein he firſt ſetteth down the lightnes of the men, The reprehenſiō of the perſons ſeduced.that ſo ſuddenly were beguiled; & then the weight of their tranſgresſion, that were caried quite into an other Goſpel from the grace of Chriſt whereunto a litle before they were called, by Gods mercy, & Pauls miniſtery.
Inconſtancie & lightneſſe.A wiſe man is no waue, no ſhouting ſtarre, no ſtarting bow. A diſcreet chriſtian goeth diſcreetly to worke, he trieth the ſpirits, proueth all, and after dew triall approueth the beſt.
True; in chaunging from the better to the worſe; whether to day, or to morowe, ſooner or later, all is a matter in effect: but to flit in a moment, to change with the weather, as the weather-cocke, is ſmall wiſdome and great ſhame.
Whether a man bee caſt away at his entring the ſea, or make wrecke in the maine Ocean, I grant it skilleth litle, yet the one much more argueth the vnskilfulneſſe or the wilfulneſſe of the Pylot than the other.
*Conſtancie & perſeuerance.An old Diſciple as Mnaſon in the *Acts. 21.16.Acts, an auncient profeſſor, a conſtant chriſtian, are good titles. A fugitiue head, a fooliſh virgin, a deceaued doue, a ſeduced Galathian are ſpoken in great reproch. S. Paul wondreth at ſuch their inconſtancie. And yet obſerue withal the Apoſtles lenitie, and great diſcretion. He ſhaketh not ſea and ſand togither. He knew ful well where the ſpring of their folly began. The Galathians were deeply plunged in the ſea, the fault was moſt in the mariners. The young childe was bitte with the dogge: with whome is the mother angry moſt? With the child, or with the ſnarling curre? Likewiſe the ſeduced Philippians Paul calleth brethren, the ſeducers he termeth dogs. Phil. 3.Beware of conciſion, beware of dogs.
And yet in our text here, becauſe no man muſt bee foded vp in his folly, as if it were no fault, fooliſhly to follow him that goeth wilfully before and leadeth after into error, he both marueleth at their ſudden recoiling, and likewiſe alſo expreſſeth the greeuouſneſſe of their error, in falling, euen cleane from the Goſpell to the Law, from Chriſt to Moſes admixt with Chriſt.
And this was more than ſtrange, and ſet the Apoſtle all in a maze to ſee and conſider their ſo haynous a treſpaſſe. For, thinke you, was it posſible, a ground to receaue ſeede ſo willingly, as did the Galathians, to grow vp greene ſo fairly, and ſo ſuddenly without cauſe to bee blaſted, and come to nothing?
A man may let a thing out of his hande in deſiring to comprehend more, when his hande had as much as it could holde before, though hee thinke not ſo.But did the Galatians quite renounce chriſt? Did they caſt away his grace? Were they tranſported into an other Goſpell? Verily Paul chargeth them with no leſſe. Yet happily, they might imagine (wherein their error, being ſo well enſtructed of Paul before, was the groſſer) that the addition & putting of the Law vntounto the Goſpel, & that the coupling of Moſes with Chriſt had not bin the abiecting and the caſting-away of Chriſt. For the coupling of two things togither, doth not ſeeme to be a throwing away of the one, but a conioyning of them both, and a caſting away of neither. And ſo in this fancy were they remooued into an other Goſpell, which yet in it ſelfe was and is ſyncere, intyre, inuiolable, and is no other and could not be bleuded with legal rites, or admit the leaſt admixture at all. For Chriſt wilbe Chriſt alone *1 Cor. 1.13.vndiuided, and only preached in the Goſpell, or no Chriſt at all, and theſe forſooth were perſwaded hee might bee inueſted with Moſes, with ceremonies, with circumciſion.
Faire pretenſes verily, but (brethren) there is no diuel to the white diuell: there is no leproſie ſo daungerous as the faireſt, as is the whiteſt. Leuitie and inconſtancy.But yet thus to reele too and fro, to be allured ſo haſtily like a childe, wonne with an Apple, and that from the ſyncerity of the Goſpell vnderunder what pretenſes ſoeuer, from the grace of God, from the merites of Chriſt Ieſu, was a moſt heinous fault, and almoſt inexpiable, and therefore Paul wiſely and worthily reprehended it in theſe vnwiſe Galathians, that would gadde and runne after eueryevery falſe Apoſtle, that would but holde vp his finger.
The reproofe of the ſeducers.2 Theſe are reproued, as they well deſerued, for corrupt minded men, purpoſely ſet, egerly bent, and fully *foreignintending to tourmoile the Church and peruert the Goſpell of Chriſt. To ſower his dowe and to ſoder his goulde, to trouble his trueth and the cleare water of their Chriſtian profesſion they were entred into by Pauls teaching, and their Baptiſme.
Therefore Paul is earneſt, & becauſe the myſterie of the falſe Apoſtles endeuours had not altogether peruerted them, yet hee forewarneth what in part they had doone, and what in fine their ſleights would effect, euen in preciſe terms a full diuorſt betwixt Chriſt and them. And therefore he foretelleth the imminent daunger to the ſeduced, and bouldly denounceth a Ʋae and woe to the ſeducers.
And whereas not only the name of Moſes, but of Peter, Iames and Iohn alſo were pretended, and therein for that it might bee thought a priuate matter of enuy to name any of theſe, wiſely and figuratiuely, 1. Cor. 4.6.as vnderunder the perſons of Apollo and of himſelfe vponupon like cauſe he dealeth with the Corinthians: ſo here hee putteth a caſe, and maketh a ſuppoſall, and thereupon auerreth, that if, not man who euer, but if a very celeſtiall ſpirit, and an Angel from heauen ſhould play the pranckes theſe men had doone in melling together things of intempered natures, namely the Goſpell with the Lawe, they ſhould defie him, and in defiance ſay, Chriſts curſe come to him.
The Goſpel.The preaching of the Goſpel was ſo carefully regarded of Paul, ſo certainely receiued of the Galathians, ſo glorious in it ſelfe, ſo reſpected of God, that neither the Lawe of Moſes, nor the names of men, nor the Doctrine of Angels were to be compared, much leſſe preferred. Yet leſt in caring neither for high, nor lowe the Apoſtle might be deemed to hauehave ouer-ſhotte himſelfe in choler of minde, and heate of wordes, diſtinctly and aduiſedly he repeateth them once again, and farther manifeſtly to ſhew that hee doth what hee doth, and ſpeaketh what hee ſpeaketh vponupon due conſiderations and firme grounds, he laieth open his hart and meaning more at large.
10 Doe I nowe perſwade men or God? Either doe I ſeeke to pleaſe men? For if I yet pleaſed men, I ſhould not bee the ſeruant of Chriſt.
The ſenſe is not obſcure. What doe I (ſaith Paul,) perſwade I man, or God? Doe I curry fauour with the world? Or pretend I mens names in Gods matters? Seeke I to pleaſe mens fanſies? Or feare I their faces? Serue I two ſo contrary maſters? I cannot. I doe not. You may gheſſe who iugled in this caſe with both. For the Apoſtle ſeemeth to point at, or rather to paint out ſome. In this ſpeech, I marke two thinges. The hard lot of the preacher, but yet his neceſſarie duetie manie times to diſpleaſe.1. The great frowardeneſſe of man. 2. The ſtrict or hard condicion of the man of god, to ſerue him alone, and in ſeruing him to diſpleaſe man.
Mans wiſedome muſt not be controled, or his will thwarted, corruption will not be ſalted, but we are the ſalt of the earth, and the ſeruantes of God. Saint Paul could not glauer, we muſt not flatter. If we doe as he did, we doe as we ſhould. If otherwiſe, wee ſerue not God, but men, and men, and not God muſt pay vsus our wages.
But were wee the ſuger of the earth, and ſeruantes of men to feede their fancies and to ſpeak to their humors, how would men admire vsus and our doctrine, flocke to our ſermons and frequent our lectures? But becauſe we are *Mat. 5.13.ſalt, and ſalt is ſharp, becauſe our endeuour is to profit you, and to pleaſe God whom wee ſerue, and not your itching eares, our perſons are the leſſe eſteemed, and our teachings refuſed.
But to the text. Now, when Saint Paul had ſhewed his encent, and vttered his meaning, and declared how he ſtood vponupon his neceſſarie duetie, due to Chriſt and in Chriſt alone, hee putteth it downe plainly whence he receiued this doctrine, and how and wherevpon grew this his ſo weighty a charge.
11 Now I certifie you, brethren, that the Goſpel which was preached of me, was not after man:
12 For neither receaued I it of man, neither was I taught it but by the reuelation of Ieſus Chriſt.
Saint Paul goeth not to woork at auentures, hee ſtandet… …ot vponupon vncertainties, hee neither bought not ſtole the letters of his orders, hee was not as *Iere. 28.15.Hannany that ran before hee was ſent, neither was his doctrine as *Num. 3.4.ſtrange fier. For he taught them that which himſelfe was taught euen by Chriſt. In ſomuch that if others were immediatly called to the Apoſtle ſhip, ſo was Paul, and that by no means of men as wel as any. But hereof before.
13 For ye hauehave hard of my conuerſation in time paſt, in the Iewiſh Religion, how that I perſecuted the Church of God extremelie and waſted it,
14 And profited in the Iewiſh Religion aboue many of my companions of mine owne nation, and was much more zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
Paul enlargeth the former matter of the vnlikelihood of his learning any thing by man, moſt euidentlie by the tenour and race of his former life.
His whole conuerſation, & continual practiſe, his earneſt zeale was quite a contrarie way, and might he hauehave had his own foorth, when he caried other manner of letters to Damaſcus, Acts. 9.3.than are theſe he now writeth to Galatia, hee would hauehave made a quick diſpatch of Chriſtian profeſſion.
Yet no doubt many an olde heade might & did get before Paul in deuiſing harme, but Paul hied him after, & not *foreign.an equal of his in yeares, but was his inferior, yea far behind him in his zeale. So faſt he profited in the Iewiſh religion, that it was impoſſible for a mā to hold him back, or hinder his courſe. But whē he was thus in al haſt poſting to Damaſcus, God turneth him another waie, & ſendeth him into Arabia, & then brought him back another man.
15 But when it pleaſed God (which had ſeparated mee from my Mothers wombe, and called me by his grace)
16 To reueile his Sonne in me, that I ſhould preach him among the Gentiles, immediatlie I communicated not with fleſh and blood:
17 Neither came I againe to Ieruſalem to them which were Apoſtles before me, but I went into Arabia, and turned againe into Damaſcus.
When you looke vponupon Paul in part deſcribing himſelfe, or when you read his fury laid foorth in the Acts by Luke, Acts. 9. & 22.no maruel if you maruel how he ſhould be thus chaunged. But looke alſo and ſee the meanes of his chaunge: for hee ſheweth in theſe verſes: wherein becauſe the Text is plaine, ſome fewe obſeruations wil be beſt, as. 1. Of the cauſe of Pauls conuerſion what it was. 2. The end why. 3. And his obedience thereto.
The cauſe of mans conuerſion is not found at al in man.1 In the ſearch of the cauſe of mans conuerſion, a proud Papiſt would ſeeke after ſome puritie in nature, ſome preparation in man, and for ſome fauorable willingnes thereunto in himſelfe: but looke wee vponupon Paul being left to himſelfe, and ſee this one man, and know al men what we are. Nature worketh alike in al whereuer it worketh.For if there be any oddes, the difference is not in men naturally wherein we agree, but aboue and beſide our nature where lieth the ods. Paul rideth a maine, his commiſſion is in his bozom, and care at his hart for the ouerthrow of Chriſtians, and Chriſtian profeſſion, when it pleaſed God, here is the cauſe, when it pleaſed God, euen then to alter him wholely and cal him effectually: here is the cauſe, and in nothing elſe. Nay from the wombe was Paul ſegregated by the prouidence and wil of God: and here is the ſole and onelyonly cauſe, both in the wombe where there neither was nor could bee cauſe at al, and afterward in the world, when there was great cauſe to the contrarie, but that ſo great was Gods goodnes, ſo good his pleaſure.
The fruite of this example, and of the leſſon therein is double, both for an aſſured confirmation of our faith, and alſo to imprint a neceſſary remembrance of our duetie to ſo prouident and louing a God, that not onelyonly careth for *Gen. 39.20.Ioſeph in the pit and priſon, or *Exod. 2.6.Moſes in the flags &c. but hath a ſpecial purpoſe, in his choſen before he framed, and when he faſhioned them in the womb.
2 The ende why God called Paul is apparent to reueale his ſonne in Paul, which was his ſpecial and priuate, and endleſſe comfort. But the vſe God would put him to, was the commoditie and inſtruction of the Gentiles. Neither could the Apoſtle hauehave reuealed that vntounto others, if it had beene hid from himſelfe. And therefore as it were to tinde the candle that ſhould light a houſe, was Chriſt reuealed to Paul that Paul might in preaching reueale Chriſt to them that ſhould beleeue.
God vſeth ordinarilie external and ordinarie meanes.And thus it pleaſeth God, as without meanes to cal Paul at the firſt, ſo afterward, by meanes of Paul, to win others. Pharao himſelfe could hauehave deliuered out of his Kingly prouiſion corne to his ſubiects, but he ſent them to Ioſeph, and ſaid to his people: *Gen. 41.55.Go to Ioſeph. Our Sauiour when by miracle he multiplied the fiue Loaues, and the two Fiſhes, Hee gaue to his Diſciples, and his Diſciples (I ſay) his *Iohn. 6.11.Diſciples (gaue) to them that were ſet down. Likewiſe, in ſpiritual foode and releefe externally, and in publique order by the miniſterie of men, and by the meane of preaching both then it pleaſed God to recal the Iews, and cal the Gentiles, and now *Eph. 4.13.ſtil hee vouchſaueth vsus that his accuſtomed goodnes by men to deale with men, and to anner this outward mean of preaching, to the inward woorking of his holie ſpirit.
Ready and reſolute obedience, where God warranteth, without al reſpects.3 For my third note, Paul being thus freely called, and fully illuminated not to ſhine onelyonly to himſelfe, or to ſome fewe, but purpoſely for the inſtruction of many, and namely of the Gentiles (for ſo general was his commiſſion) obedientlie, immediatly, and ſtrait way as it were an arrowe out of a bowe, or a boole downe a hil, or a lightening out of the Heauens he haſteth about his buſines, and incontinently without farther debate or delaie iournieth, but whither? To Ieruſalem? To the holie Citie? To his anceſters? To them that were Apoſtles before him? Nothing leſſe. He neither regarded the place, nor reſpected their perſons: but the mightie and merciful God that called him, and ſent him ſufficiently warranted, and he went accordingly about his calling.
1 Sam. 3.8.Young and yet ignorant Samuel when God called him could not tel what the calling went, and went to Ely when he ſhould hauehave harkened vntounto God. But Paul knoweth what hee doth, he conſulteth not with any at al, neither with the Apoſtles, that might ſeeme to aduiſe him better, or authorize him farther, neither with fleſh and bloode, kif or kin, one man or other, that could affection him beſt, or affect him moſt: but as it is ſtoried of the *1 Sam. 6.12.newe milch-kine that caried home the Ark, whē their calues were ſhut vp, that they went ſtraight, & turned neither to the right hand nor to the left: ſo Paul ſhutting & reſigning vp al his thoughts, directly and foorth right reſpecting no one conſideration at all what euer vnderunder heauen, reſolueth himſelfe moſt readily vponupon the obſequent and due performance of his Apoſtolicke office. And great reaſon: for he had warrant alſufficient, and ability moſt conuenient. The expreſſe warrant of God needeth not the allowance of men, few or many.And why ſhould men then depend vponupon farther councels and conſultations of men, either prouincial or els general, when they are expreſſely commaunded & enabled from God himſelfe, either immediatly ſpeaking, or in his Scriptures directing?
18 Then after three yeares I came againe to Ieruſalem to ſee Peter, and abode with him fifteene daies.
19 And none other of the Apoſtles ſawe I, ſaue Iames the Lords brother.
20 Nowe the thinges which I write vntounto you, behold, before God I lie not.
21 After that, I went into the coaſts of Syria and Cilicia: for I was vnknowen by face vntounto the Churches of Iudea which were in Chriſt.
22 But they had heard only: he which perſecuted vsus in time paſt, now preacheth the faith which before he deſtroyed.
23 And they glorified God for me.
Paul went to Ieruſalem when you ſee, three yeares paſſing betweene his calling and his going thither, and why, to ſee Peter, and al the midle while he wanted neither abilitie nor authority in the trade of his function.
In the remnant of this Chapter would be obſerued two matters. 1. Firſt a doubt which muſt be reſolued. 2. And then a duetie that ought to be learned.
1 The doubt is, why Paul ſhoulde goe to ſee Peter. *Stapleton. de do. prin. l. 6. c. 13.For our aduerſaries reaſon herehence in effect thus: Paul went to ſee Peter, ergo Peter was better than Paul: and if Peter were better than Paul, then Peters ſucceſſors are alſo better than Pauls: and the *The Popes ſupremacie deriued from Peter.Pope ſucceedeth Peter, therfore the Pope is better than any els, & head of al.
I will not diſpute the queſtion whether the Pope if but locally and in place onelyonly, and why more at Rome he, than others at Antioch ſucceedeth Peter: whether ſo or no I diſpute not nowe. Suppoſe he there ſucceedeth, what then?
Perſonal priuileges are nothing to him, who hath nothing but a local ſucceſſion.Priuileges ſpecially granted for perſonal reſpectes and properties, die with the perſon, yea manie times before the perſon, if he leaue off to be ſo qualified in perſon, as he was before, & wherefore at firſt the priuileges were granted forth.
Wherefore ſuppoſe Peter had the preheminence, and put caſe the Pope ſucceeded Peter in place: Yet if he hauehave loſt the qualities which were in Peter, and which were the cauſes of Peters preheminence, what is this to ſuch a ſorry ſucceſſor? If the *Mat. 5.13.ſalt hauehave loſt his ſaltnes in what place ſoeuer, wherefore is it good? If water were commendable in the ſpring, what is that to proue the goodnes thereof in the riuer, if there it be corrupted? But I meane not to medle with the matter and claime of ſucceſſion now. Yet as hee ſucceedeth Peter, ſo he ſucceedeth Paul too, and ſo belike, he is better and worſe than himſelfe. Better, as ſucceeding Peter, and inferiour as ſucceeding Paul.
But what if Peter had not this ſupremacie which this man callengeth? Then queſtionles is his title nothing woorth. Herein ſtandeth the caſe, and hereupon we ioine iſhue for the preſent: whether Peter were ſupreme heade, abſolute gouernour, & chiefe ruler of the Apoſtles in ſuch ſort as the Pope now claimeth, The aequality of the Apoſtles commiſſion. Ite, praedicate: Go ye, preach ye. Mat. 28.18.or no. We ſay no, they ſay yea. We ſhew the equality of their commiſſion, 2 Cor. 11.5.and namely that Paul was not inferiour to anie, and therefore not to Peter, and therefore alſo not Peter ſuperior to al apparently. A great part of their euidence is this peece of Scripture of Pauls going to ſee Peter.
We grant, and it is plaine hee went to ſee Peter, but that therefore Peter was heade to rule Paul, it wil not follow. To go to ſee, is not to go to ſerue Peter.For he went to ſee, not to ſerue nor to ſubiect himſelfe. But foreign to ſee, here may ſignifie more than to looke vponupon a thing ſleightly after a vulgar manner, or elſe vponupon a curioſitie to goe to ſee. Paul no doubt went of a great good purpoſe mutually to acquaint himſelfe, and to ſee Peter a moſt reuerend perſon, and as one of a moſt excellent ſpirite, and of rare vertues, and his ancient in calling, and in ſuch like reſpectes, and yet no way by way of ſubiection. For (as *Chryſ. in Epi. ad Galat. cap. 1.Chryſoſtom voucheth) Paul needed not Peter, nor Peters warrant, he was HIS EQVAL, AND *foreign.PEIRE IN HONOR, that I may ſaie no more, ſaith he: as who would ſay, he ſpake with the leaſt of Paul, when he made him but Peters equal. Then, as equals may go to ſee their equal, ſo did Paul go to ſee Peter, his equal in office, but auncient in the calling to the office of the Apoſtleſhip. The Prince may go to ſee a ſubiect, is therefore the Prince by and by become a ſubiect, and that ſubiect the Prince, whom the Prince voutſaueth ſo to viſite? But Paul taried with *Rhemi. Teſtae. pag. 497.Peter fifteene daies: a great proofe. What if hee had taried fiftie? As his comming vntounto, ſo that his continuing with Peter argueth neither ſupremacy in Peter, nor ſubiection in Paul.
This argument hath beene lately handled, and right learnedly anſwered in a printed *Betweene M. RAINOLDS & IO. HART cap. 4. diuiſ. 3.Conference, and that by a moſt liuely & fitte example, thus in fewe: The virgin Mary. the Mother of our Sauiour the bleſſedſt among weomen, after the holy Ghoſt had ouerſhadowed her, in haſt (not after 3. yeares) vp to an hilly country (no eaſie iourney) went not onelyonly to ſee, but to ſalute her couſen Elizabeth, and taried with her no ſmall times, as 15. dayes, but 6. monethes. And what of al this? May it bee inferred hence, that therefore Elizabeth was Maries better? Euen as well as that therefore Peter was better than Paul, becauſe of Pauls iourneying to, & aboad with Peter. The reaſon is one in both. But ambition blindeth their eyes more, in the one than in the other.
Yet, 1. the very cauſe why he went is plaine, for mutuall comfort, and brotherly *Conference is betwixt aequal. In hanc epiſt. Hieron. cap. 2.conference, 2. What hee did there is notorious, he diſputed with the Greekes, 3. And expreſſely he learned nothing of or by men, he was a Maſter, not a diſciple, & he had Diſciples: & had he bin inſtructed, authoriſed or leſſoned by Peter, & not otherwiſe enabled moſt perfectly aboue others himſelfe, he ſhould not hauehave beene put to reaſon with the *Act. 9.29.Grecians. And if now he had beene firſt entred to bee Peters ſcholer, why went hee before into Arabia, and what had 15. dayes beene to euolue the Lawe, to examine the Prophets, to ſift the Scriptures, to learne the whole body of Chriſtian beliefe? And this, I ſay, this was it that the falſe Apoſtles obiected againſt Paul, that hee was inferiour to the Apoſtles, that hee learned of them, and that Peter was all in all aboue Paul, which Paul flatly denieth & diuerſly ſheweth to the contrary. Yea, & to put this doubt the more out of doubt, he ſweareth it was not ſo. Now the thinges which I write vntounto you, behold before God, that I lye not. To lye by word of mouth is much, aduiſedly to write an vntrueth were much more, but to ſweare, and in the ſight of God to depoſe a falſehoode, were too too bad. *1 Cor. 44.Al which faults were far frō the bleſſed Apoſtle, & therefore we may credit his word & beleeue his writing, & aſſure our ſelues vnderunder his ſacred oth that it is a certain trueth that Peter was not ſuperiour to Paul either for warrant of his office or order of his teaching, notwithſtanding his going to ſee Peter: & then let the Pope claime from Peter at his pleaſure, & in truth, what can he gaine?
Afterward with conuenient ſpeed Paul haſteth into the coaſtes of Syria &c. For the Apoſtolicke buſines was to be followed, Exod. 12.8.and as it were roſted with a quick fier like the Paſchal Lambe.
Now the Churches when they heard of this ſtrange alteration, they were not in admiration of Peter, as if he had conuerted or cōfirmed Paul, nor yet of Paul himſelfe that was conuerted. But when they heard that Paul was among the Apoſtles, as Saul among the Prophets, they muſed much, and were right glad, but they glorified God for Paul. And this was a moſt Chriſtian dutie to reioice at the conuerſion of a ſinner, and in ioy to render al praiſe to god that conuerted him.
Pſal. 114.In the Pſalme when the Sea fled, when the riuer turned his courſe, when the mountaines leapt, and the hils skipped, and the earth trembled, the Prophet enquiring the cauſe of theſe miraculous euents, anſwereth himſelfe, & ſaith, this was done by no humane power, but by the powerfull preſence of the God of Iacob, which turneth the rock into a water-poole, and the flint into a fountain of water. Semblably it was more than a woonder to ſee Paul thus altered, thus relenting, thus altogither changing his former life.
Men rather praiſe the means than the author of goodneſſe.But in ſuch caſes cōmonly there is no mean in humane iudgements. For 1. either we enuy thereat through malice. 2. Or we magnifie too much through folly, rather men the receiuers, than God the giuer. we gaze on *Act. 3.12.Peter, we ſacrifice to *Act. 14.15.Paul, we glorifie not God, neither for Peter, nor Paul.
When Paul that ſought to roote out the faith and Chriſtian profeſſion, now planteth the faith, I eſteeme him as a planter: but hee *1 Cor. 3.7.that watereth is nothing, and he that planteth is nothing, and nothing deſerueth not any thing, and therefore not ame praiſe, in compariſon of God that giueth the encreaſe, and made Paul a planter, and *Epheſ. 10.11.who woorketh all in al, according to the counſel of his owne wil.
In the receit of water, I praiſe the ſpring for the iſhue of the water, and not the condit, as if it ſprang from the condit pipe. In the ſight of light, the glaſſe is but a meane to lighten the houſe, the cauſe of light is in the ſunne. But at this time I ſpeak not of means, or of miniſterial inſtruments whereof there is a due *1. Cor. 4.1.regarde, but of the ſoueraigne cauſe of our ſtonie hearts now being mollified, of our foorth in ſinne ſometime as it were a maine water courſe that way, now quite chaunged another way. I ſpeake of Paul once a perſecuter, now made a preacher of the Goſpell, and when I ſpeake hereof, I ſpeake of God, and of his only work, and therefore in only glorifieng God therein, theſe churches did their duetie. Tu vade & fac ſimiliter. Go thy way whoſoeuer thou bee, learne this leſſon this daie, and in like caſes doe the like. If *Ioh. 8.50.Chriſt the naturall Sonne of God ſought not his owne glorie, but his fathers, what muſt wee the adopted doe? What is our duetie herein thinke ye? And I pray you brethren moſt earneſtly among many duties think wel on this. Make not more of the lanthorne, than of the light that ſhineth through the lanthorne.