The Passion Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Lecture 9
THE NINTH LECTVRE, OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST.
IHON, CHAP. XIX.
verse 7 The Iewes anſwered him, Wee hauehave a Lawe, and by our Lawe he ought to die, becauſe hee made himſelfe the Sonne of GOD. verse 8 When Pilate then heard that word, hee was the more afraid, verse 9 And went againe into the common Hall, and ſaid vntounto IESVS, Whence art thou? But IESVS gaue him none anſwere.
WEE heard in the beginning of this CHAPTER (Brethren) how Pilate the Iudge inſiſted earneſtlie to get IESVS (whom his conſcience dited to bee innocent) ſet free and looſed: and therfore, firſt he commandes Him to bee taken and ſcourged, to bee crowned with a Crowne of Thornes, and clad with a purple Garment, in deriſion of His kingdome; thinking thereby to hauehave ſatisfied the Iewes. Then, when he had done this, he commeth foorth himſelfe, and in preſence of all the people, proteſtes the fourth time, that He was innocent. Thirdly, when hee bringes Him foorth with a Crowne of Thornes, and with a purple rayment, hee vtters a pittifull voyce, ſaying, Beholde the man, to mooue the Iewes to be content: but their malice could not be ſatisfied, but the Iewes and Prieſtes cried out, Crucifie him crucifie him. Thus much we hauehave heard alreadie. Now in the beginning of this Text, wee hauehave the replie of Pilate to the Iewes, and the communication betwixt him and them: Take yee him (ſaies he) and crucifie him, as for mee, I finde no fault in him: He anſweres indeed with an anger for he is commoned with the obſtinacie of the Iewes, becauſe nothing woulde mooue them, but ſtill they cried out, Crucifie him: but he ſaies, If ye will take it on your cōſcience, crucifie ye Him, as for me, albeit I have right to crucifie Him, I had rather giuegive my right to you, than to de…ile mine hands with the blood of the innocent. Ye heard, when they vrged Pilate, to condemne Him without a verdict: hee anſwered, on this manner, Ye hauehave a law, judge Him according to your law: Before I judged a man without a crime, I had rather reſigne my right to you. Ye ſee there, Pilate had rather giuegive ouer his right, that he had of the Romane Emperour, in judging and executing, before he had condemned an innocent man: this had bene very commendable in this Ethnicke man, if it had not beene forced out of him by the guiltineſſe of his conſcience: his conſcience cried within him, Ieſus is innocent. So this is forced out of him: for Brethren, ye ſhall vnderſtand, that men doe things in conſcience two wayes: either againſt their will, when they are compelled violently to doe it: or els, with their will, when they doe any thing willingly, when the heart is as readie to doe it, as the conſcience charges. When a man doeth a thing vponupon conſtraint, hee getteth litle praiſe before God: when a man doeth willingly, then there is matter of true praiſe▪ if yee compare Pilate with the Iewes, who had loſt their conſcience, he hath his owne praiſe: for it is better to be commoned on conſcience, to doe any thing, than to doe againſt conſcience: But let him who would hauehave the true praiſe: not do any thing on cōſtraint of cōſcience only, but alſo with a willing heart, as the conſcience requireth, that he doe it: ſo let him be as glad to doe it. Naturall men will hauehave a conſcience, and doe vponupon conſcience, albeit they were neuer ſo prophane, but if the heart agree willingly to do God ſeruice, there is more than nature there: if thou wouldeſt hauehave praiſe of God, take not onelyonly heede to thy conſcience, but looke alſo that thou hauehave a joy in thine heart in well doing. Will ye marke through this whole diſcourſe, that the Lord lets not the conſcience of Pilate ſleepe (Iudges now who will be counted Chriſtians, hauehave not ſuch a conſcience) and as it is waking, ſo it lets him not reſt, but cauſes him ſpeake: if thy conſcience be wakned, thou ſhalt bee ſpeaking, and ſhalt be compelled to ſay, the good cauſe is the good cauſe. But looke to the High Prieſts: there is as great difference betweene them and Pilate, as it betweene the heauen & the earth: ye ſhall ſee nothing in them, but the conſcience ſleeping & locked vp in a ſound ſleep: & the more that Pilate teſtifies of the innocencie of Chriſt, they are the more hardened. This is a wonder, Pilate was but a naturall man, who had none illumination, but through the light of nature: & ye muſt know that it is knowledge that makes a conſcience. As for the High Prieſts, they had light by the word of God, yet come to the conſcience, Pilate had a better conſcience than they had all. Would ye ſearch the ground of it: the High Prieſts, albeit they had the word of God, and light and illumination there thorow: yet the malitiouſneſſe of their hearts put out that light, corruption blotted it out: and when once a man is illuminate, and then beginneth to extinguiſh that light, it cōmeth by the juſt Iudgement of God, that the light of nature is put out, and then all conſcience is ſcraped out, and then hee becommeth like a beaſt, and ſo falleth into a reprobate ſenſe: keepe the light that ye hauehave gotten by the word of God, and by that Spirit, as ye would ſee life: and if yee put it out, the Lord ſhall make you as ſenſleſſe as a beaſt. They cried both, but Pilate cries, Judge ye him, They crie, crucifie him: Pilate cries, I find no fault in him worthy of death. What euer be Pilates part, who was a judge: what euer was the part of the Iewes the accuſers, the Lord hath His part alſo in it, and hee appointes it by His eternall decree: the houre was come, and Hee will hauehave His onelyonly begotten Sonne to die for the ſinnes of the world, and He will be glorified in His death at this houre, and He will not hauehave Him to die as one worthie of death in Himſelfe, but like an innocent in the ſight of the world. Now looke to this wiſdome, that his innocencie ſhould appeare: He will hauehave the Iudge proteſting His innocencie oftentimes, before He ſhould die. On the other part, Hee will hauehave the conſcience of the High Prieſts ſcraped out, and He will hauehave them getting His blood: if the High Prieſts conſcience had beene wakned, Ieſus had not died at this time for the ſinnes of the worlde: and therefore to the ende that He ſhould die, He hardened the hearts of the accuſers. When any innocent man ſuffers, and chi…fly for Chriſt, the Lord hath diſpoſed the worlde ſo, that Hee hath made ſome to teſtifie of the innocencie of the Martyres, and ſome hath Hee hardened to ſeeke the blood of the Martyres, that He might be glorified. Looke to Daniel, Darius had a conſcience of his innocencie, but the Princes had hardened hearts, Daniel 6.1. Looke when Paul was accuſed, the Romane Gouernours, Lyſias, Felix, and Festus, had a conſcience of the innocencie of Paul: but the High Prieſtes perſecutes Him to the death. When a malefactor ſufferes, the Lord will not vſe this manner of doing: He will not hauehave the Iudge to teſtifie the mans innocencie where there is none, but he willl let him die and ſuffer, like a murtherer, an oppreſſour, or a blaſphemer, as he is in very deed, hee will hauehave Iudge, accuſers, and all men conſpire together to take awaye ſuch peſtes from the earth: Therefore, if there were no more but this, if wee muſt die, it ſhould moue vsus to die in a good cauſe, and the beſt cauſe is the cauſe of Ieſus Chriſt. Take heede, that thou ſuffer not like a nocent, and guiltie perſon, but like an innocent: ſo thy death ſhall be glorious: it is a paine to die, and a greater paine to die for an euill cauſe. Now the Prieſts anſwere: Wee hauehave a lawe, and according to our lawe Hee merites the death: they challenge not a lawe to crucifie Him, or any power to puniſh Him capitallie: for all power of this was taken away from them by the Romanes, yet for all this, they forget not the right of their lawe, That the blaſphemer ſhould die the death: according to this lawe they affirme Him worthie of death. So, Brethren, What euer Pilate can doe, or ſay, to mitigate and to aſſwage their malice: ſpeake what he can ſpeake, they continue in hardnes againſt Chriſt: looke what blindes them: The word of God that ſhould make them to ſee it, it blindes them, and they vſe it to their blinding. All the things in the world, yea, the beſt thinges: the very word of God ſerues to wicked men for nothing els, but for their farder induration: the more they ſeee, the blinder they are, they will read, but the more they reade, the blinder are they: for why? they abuſe the word, they will not make it a rule to direct their affections and actions: but they abuſe it to their fantaſie, & makes a ſlaue of it. Looke to the Papiſts this day, they abuſe the old and new Teſtaments, they make them to ſerue their appetites, they interpret, expone and applie the word as they pleaſe, they make the word of God the author of their lies. I affirme, that the word of God doth nothing to the Papiſts but blinde them: it had bene good for them, that they had neuer ſeene, heard, nor read the Scripture of God: Write on, ſay on, this ſhall bee verified one day: but let vsus conſider their reaſoning: The lawe ordaines, that the blaſphemer ſhall die the death, but ſo it is, that this man is a blaſphemer: for Hee hath made himſelfe the Sonne of God: therefore He ſhould die ye death, If ye looke the ground, & the general: No mā can find fault with it: for it is ſet downe in ye Law, Leuit: 24.14▪ but come to the applicatiō where they ſubſume, Ieſus is a blaſphemer, there they faile for Ieſus was, is, and ſhall be that only begottē Son of God: & therefore the concluſion is falſe, that Hee ought to die the death. So yee ſee the generall is true, but the aſſumption, and the concluſion, is a lye. In wicked men yee ſhall finde this, that no man will laye downe fairer generalles out of the worde of God than they, no man will doe that better: but come on to the application, there they goe aſtraye, they applie not right, but they applie either to this affection or that: As for example, The murtherer ſhould die the death: if there be an hatred in them againſt the man, they will applie it vntounto him, but by the contrarie, if hee bee a kinſman or a friende, they will ſay, this man is no murtherer, howbeit hee bee as great a murtherer as Barabbas was, and therfore, he ſhould not die. Take heed to thine heart, and thinke it not enough to knowe the generall to bee true, but take heede to thine heart, and to the affections thereof, that they maye bee ſanctified, and chiefely thou who art a Iudge: looke that thine heart bee free of hatred, and of peruerſe louelove: or elſe thy louelove, thine hatred, and thy peruerſe affections ſhall bee poyſon to thee, and ſhall blinde thee, and ſhall make thee pronounce falſe judgement. For, what auailes knowledge, what auailes it thee to hauehave a great light in thine head, either thorowe nature, or yet thorowe the worde of God, if thou wanteſt reformation and ſanctification to thine affections? all is for nothing. True Chriſtianitie ſtands in the reformation of the heart, and without this, all the knowledge in the Scripture ſhall poyſon thee to the death: for except thou be reformed, it had bene better for thee that thou hadſt bene ignorant, and neuer ſeene the Scripture. Nowe to goe forwarde: When they hauehave anſwered Pilate, hee continues: and it is ſaid, when he heard that that man was the Sonne of God, if hee had a conſcience before, now he hath a greater conſcience: Euen, as whatſoeuer Pilate can ſpeake to the hie prieſts, did no more but hardē them on: ſo all the wordes they vſe to put out his conſcience, ſtirres it vp, and wakens it the more: Indeede they ſought by all meanes to blotte out his conſcience. And all the doing of a conſcienceleſſe man is to blinde thee, and put out thy conſcience, like as his conſcience is put out, and ſuch a man is dangerous companie: But the Lord, who only hath power ouer the conſcience, diſappointes their purpoſe. The Lord hath ſuch power ouer the ſoule & conſcience of man, that whē He will hauehave it blinded, all ye doings in the world will not waken it: by the contrary, when God will hauehave it wakened, all the worlde ſhall not ſtill it: the more meanes thou vſeſt to ſtill it, it ſhall be the more aloft: None hath power of the conſcience, to waken it, or to ſtill it: No, not a King, nor an Emperour, no, not all the worlde hath power of the conſcience, but onelyonly God: Hee hath His throne in the conſcience. Yet let vsus examine this better, When Pilate heard this, he was the more afraid. Pilate had no knowledge of God, but ſo much as nature furniſhed him: he was a man who liued without God in the world, yet at the Name of GOD, and at the Name of the Sonne of God hee is terrified, and his conſcience abhorreth to doe any thing againſt Him. Albeit thou neuer heard of the Scripture, nor neuer ſaw one of Gods workes, there is one thing within thee, that will tell thee, that there is a God, whom thou ſhouldeſt feare and honour: that is, thy conſcience, & if thou honoureſt not that God, thy cōſcience ſhal ſtand vp & judge thee: I ſay more, this conſcience is verie powerfull: for if it ſerue not to thy ſaluatiō, it ſhall ſerue thee to thy damnation conſcience naturall abhorreth to violate that Majeſtie, it telleth thee this, honour this God, if thou diſhonoureſt Him, thou ſhalt die, albeit thou neuer ſaweſt the Scripture, & if there come a wicked thought in thine heart, the conſcience will ſtand vp to challenge it, & like an armed man to ſl…y thee, & if thou wereſt but a naturall man, ere euer thou get that Majeſtie violate, thy conſcience ſhall ſtand vp to plead for God, & to guarde Him frō thine injuries, & ere thou get Him diſhonoured, thou ſhalt tread vponupon the bellie of thy conſcience. It is true indeed, albeit this naturall ſpunke of light of conſcience in man be as a precious raine to bridle man from ſin, that the Lord hath left him after his fall (He hath left it of mercy) for if it had bin taken away, men had bene more miſerable than beaſts) yet it is very weake, there is nothing perfect in vsus, and there is nothing in vsus by nature, that will be able to holde vsus in the feare of God. This naturall conſcience for a time will brangle and ſtand vp againſt the malitiouſneſſe of the heart: and if thou hauehave no more, thou mayeſt ſtand for a while, but in the ende thou ſhalt giuegive it ouer and ſuccumbe. It is a pitie to ſee, how Pilate ſtriues, and then how in the ende the conſcience failes, and againſt conſcience, hee giues ſentence againſt the innocent, and gainſtanding the conſcience, hee ouerthrowes it. Truſt not to nature, but ſtriue to get grace: nothing is able to ouercome nature, but the Holy Spirit, for it ſtriues and gettes the victorie in the end: Therefore as wee would bee ſafe in that great day, let vsus ſtriue to get that Spirit to pingill out, and get the victorie againſt this canker in the heart. I ſee ſome thing more in Pilate: hee gets not only a ſight of God, and ſo is terrified: but hee commeth forward, and his conſcience gets aduertiſement of that ſame verie man, who was ſtanding before them all, that that ſame verie man was God, not only that He was an innocent man, but that Hee was the God of heauen, hee gets a ſupernaturall knowledge, that that ſillie man was God: the reaſon is: if hee had not gotten that aduertiſement, that that man ſtanding in ſuch contempt before him a glorious Iudge, was God: would his conſcience hauehave accuſed him, would he hauehave bene ſo terrified, and would he hauehave deſired to abſolue Him, if hee had not gotten aduertiſement, that Ieſus Chriſt was the God of glorie? It is a naturall thing to the conſcience to ſpeake of God, but not to ſpeake of Chriſt, that Hee is the Sonne of God: Pilate was more afraide for Chriſt, who ſtood before him, like a poore ſillie man, than Chriſt was for him, albeit he was a glorious Iudge in the eyes of the world, but this ſight was like the glance of a flaſh of fire that went ouer the conſcience of Pilate. The Lord will giuegive the wicked glances & taſtes of Heauen, but all is but in vaine. Ye ſee of Agripp… Acts.26.28. When Paul was ſpeaking to him, he ſayes, Thou perſwadeſt me almoſt to be a Christian: his heart was almoſt bowed, and was beginning to be perſwaded, he ſcarcely beginnes to hauehave this perſwaſion, when it euaniſhes: the Lord will furniſh to wicked men glimmerings of that life, but they euaniſh away: thou wilt dreame of happineſſe, but this is happineſſe, when the Lord giues thee a light, & bowes thine heart, & eſtabliſhes grace in thee & grace bides with thee, there is thy happines. This glimmering is not for nothing: it ſerueth for this, to make Pilate vnexcuſable, and if it were no more: When Pilate ſhall appeare before that Iudge, this ſame blencke ſhall bee a teſtimonie againſt him to his euerlaſting damnation. If thou getteſt a blencke of Heauen, purſue it, or els better it had beene for thee, if thou hadſt neuer ſeene it, or neuer to hauehave ſeene Chriſt, or to hauehave read the Scriptures. Againe this glimmering that Pilate got, ſhall ſtand vp againſt the High Prieſtes, and giuegive ſentence againſt them, who had not onelyonly nature, but the worde to guide them. Pilate lookes in thorow that baſeneſſe, and gets a ſight of that glorie, that was in our nature in Chriſt, they cannot looke in thorow that baſeneſſe: And if there were no more, Pilate ſhall ſtand vp like a Iudge to condemne all the Iewes, who by the word was informed, that CHRIST ſhould come in baſeneſſe and humilitie, Eſay 53.2. I come nearer: And if there were no more, but that light that Pilate gote, it ſhall condemne all them that doe ſtumble at the miniſtrie of the Goſpell. The LORD will not hauehave the Goſpell with an outward glorie, Hee will hauehave it to ſhine in baſeneſſe: and if that outward baſeneſſe ſtoppe thee to looke into it, thou ſhalt periſh, and if thou get not a fight of that glorie, therein Pilate ſhall condemne thee one day: yea, Pilate in that great day ſhall ſtand vp againſt all men, who are offended at the voyce of Chriſt: if thou contemneſt ye baſe miniſtrie, I promiſe thee, yt thou ſhalt neuer get life by that Goſpell: if the Goſpell be baſe, humble thy ſelfe vnderunder it, and ſtriue to get thine eyes opened, to looke to that glorie of the Goſpell, Looke not to men, who doe preach, and be not offended at the outward face of the Goſpell, as thou wouldeſt be ſaued: Bleſſed are they who are not offended at the baſeneſſe of Ieſus Chriſt. Nowe Pilate beeing terrified in conſcience, and getting litle blenckes, immediately he goes in againe to the common Hall, and takes in Ieſus Chriſt, and he ſayes to Ieſus, Whence art thou? Art thou the Sonne of God: hee had no certaintie of this: this is worthie of commendation, that hee getting a blencke, hee will follow it out: who vvill ſay? but this was worthie of commendation in an Ethnicke. If it ſhall pleaſe GOD, to giuegive vsus a blencke any time, let vsus ſtriue to follow it foorth, and let that glimmering mooue thee to follow it out further: for all the joy in the worlde, is in the ſight of GOD, thou neuer kneweſt what joy is, who haſt not taſted of the pleaſure of Heauen: fye on thee, who haſt not taſted of this joy.
So, if it ſhall pleaſe the Lord to giuegive vsus a glance of Ieſus Chriſt, Pilate learnes vsus to followe it: albeit it goe out of thine eyes for a time, reſt neuer till thou getteſt it againe, although men would giuegive thee all the pleaſures in the world.
Now, Brethren, we muſt not thinke that it was the louelove of the trueth, that mooued Pilate to aske this: No, it vvas rather the feare of danger, that mooued him to aske it: for hee feared ſome danger to come vntounto himſelfe, when hee heard that hee vvas the Sonne of God: therefore partly for this cauſe, and partly, becauſe Chriſt knew that Pilate diſdained Him, and all ſpirituall graces in Him: Hee gaue him none anſvvere. But let vsus follovv out the knowledge of CHRIST once begunne vponupon the louelove of the trueth, then vvee may bee aſſured, that according to His promiſe Hee vvill heare vsus: for Hee ſaies, Verily, verily, whatſoeuer ye ſhall aske the Father in my name, that ſhall hee giuegive you, IOH. XVI. 23. Thou vvho haſt that ſweet promiſe, Knocke, and it ſhall bee opened, ſhouldeſt thou not bee inſtant to make inquirie of IESVS, vvho offereth Himſelfe ſo vvillingly, and ſaies, I am the Light of the worlde: and, Come to Mee to get the water of Life: Alas, that thou ſhouldeſt periſhe for default of ſeeking of grace! Yee vvoulde maruell, that IESVS anſwered not a vvorde: I ſpake of this ſomewhat before I ſhall ſaye onelyonly this for the preſent: The Lord Hee knewe His houre vvas comming that Hee ſhoulde die, and Hee knewe it vvas His Fathers vvill: therefore Hee vvould not vtter ſo much as a vvorde to ſtaye and holde backe His death. If Hee had giuen Pilate euident and ſure information vvhat manner of perſon Hee vvas, then happily Hee vvoulde hauehave ſtayed, and vvoulde hauehave proceeded no further, and vvoulde not hauehave ſlaine Him: but hee knewe not vvith vvhome hee dealt, vvhen hee gaue out the ſentence of death againſt Him. But it maye bee asked (vvith reuerence vvee ſpeake it) Was not this an harde matter, that Chriſt vvould not doe ſo much as to tell Pilate that this vvas Gods vvorke, and that Hee Himſelfe vvas the Sonne of God? vvas it not an hard matter ſo to hinder this mans ſaluation? But I ſaye, What reckoning is to bee made of Pilate, and all the creatures in the vvorlde, Angels, and men, ſo that God bee glorified? We are all made to glorifie Him, and except He had a reſpect to His owne glorie in the creature, He would neuer hauehave made man nor Angell: If it pleaſe the Lord to be glorified in thy damnation, holde thee content: Hath not the Potter (ſaies Paul) power of the claye, to make of the ſame lumpe one veſſell to honour, and another to diſhonour. Roman. 9.21. I ſaye more, God in that his great ſa nilie, hath ſome veſſels of honour, and ſome of diſhonour. 2. Tim…th. 2.20. If that thou finde thy ſelfe to bee one of the veſſels of honour, thou haſt no cauſe to complaine, and to ſaye, Wherefore was this man made to ſhame? for thou haſt enough: if thou haſt gotten merciemercy, thanke GOD, that of His free will He hath put a difference betwixt thee and him. There are none who are ordained to be veſſels of honour, but they wil ſeeke the honour of God, euē ſuppoſe it were by their own deſtructiō, as ye may read of Moſes. This is the nature of all them who hauehave gotten ſome aſſurance of GODS fauour in IESVS: and if thou hauehave this aſſurance in thine heart, certainly thou art an inſtrument of glorie.
Now to ende: Yee ſee, Brethren, in this whole action the pittifull eſtate of Pilate: he is toſſed to and fro betwixt two parties, his own conſcience on the one part, vrges and forces him to ſtand and pleade for Chriſt; and on the other part, the deſire that he hath to pleaſure the vnportunate Iewes, and the feare that he hath to offend Ceſar, moues him to goe on in that proceſſe againſt Chriſt, till at laſt he pronounces ſentence againſt Him. Iudges by his example are to take good heed to their proceedinges in judgement, and to keepe their hands from euill; and that they ſit not in a wicked judgemēt. Be not Iudge againſt the innocent: Pilate ſate in judgement doing wickedly, pronoūcing ſentence againſt the Lord of Glorie. If thou ſit in judgement, pronounce not ſentence againſt ye innocent, either leaue that judgement, or then abſolue the innocent in deſpite of the worlde. It is no ſmall matter to pronounce ſentence of damnation. The Lord grant vsus this conſcience, that whenſoeuer wee ſhall be employed, we may be employed in doing of good deedes, and in glorifying God, that wee may hauehave that aſſurance of grace in Ieſus Chriſt: To whome with the Father, and Holy Spirit, bee all Honour and Praiſe, for euer: Amen.