Exposition of the Principal Scriptures Used in our English Liturgy, Part 18 – Part 19
Exaltation.
Note the Creeds order answerable to the Scripture. For ChristqLuke 24. 26. first suffered, and then entred into glorie. Teaching vsus hereby, that we must first beare with him the Crosse, before wee can weare with him the Crowne. Christianus, as rLoc. Com. tit. calamit.Luther said, is Crucianus. As a lilie among the thornes: so is my louelove among the daughters: Cant. 2. 2.
Christs exaltation hath foure parts: his
1. Triumph in hell.
2. Resurrection.
3. Ascension.
4. Session.
I make Christs descending into hell a part of his aduancement, rather then abasement, because this generall Creed, of the whole Church, and the particular confession of our sArt. 3.Church, make it a distinct article following Christs Suffering, Death, Buriall: and therfore cannot aptly be construed of his agonie in the garden before his death, nor of his tortures on the Crosse at his death, nor yet of his buriall after his death: Ergo, Credendum est Christum ad inferos in genere: credibile ad inferos damnatorum in specie, triumphandi gratia secundùm animans realiter, & localiter descendisse. That as hee did ouercome the world on earth, and death in the graue: so likewise he did triumph ouer Satan in the courts of hell his owne kingdome. For my owne part, I rest my self in the iudgement of the Church wherein I liue, and hold it enough to beleeue that Christ did so much, and suffered so much, as was sufficient for all: efficient for me: praying with the Greeke Fathers in their Liturgie; By thine vnknowne sorrowes and sufferings felt by thee: but not distinctly manifest to vsus: hauehave merciemercy on vsus, and saue vsus. OuBonauent. diaeta salutis, cap. 26. gracelesse peeuishnes, we scantly follow Christ to heauen: albeit wee beleeue that he went for vsus into hell.
Christs resurrection is thexChurch Hom. for Easter day. locke and key of all our Christian religion and faith: on which all other articles hang. See the Gospell on S. Thomas and Easter day.
In Christs ascension 3. points obseruable:
Place: Mount Oliuet.
Time: When hee had taught his Disciples, and while they beheld him.
Manner: A cloud tooke him vp out of their sight: Act 1. 9. See the Epistle for Ascension day.
Christs Session is set foorth by the
Place: Heauen: that is,yEphes. 4. 10. Acts 7. 56. Heauen of heauen.
Effect: Comming to Iudgement.
TozAugust. in Enchirid. cap. 55. iudge the quick & the dead
Spiritually: The good which liue with the spirituall life of grace. The bad, which are spiritually dead in sinne.
Corporally: Because at that day most shall be dead, and many shall be found aliue, who in the twinckling of an eye shall suddenly be changed, as S.a1. Cor. 15. 51. 52. Paul tels vsus. Origen thinketh that the Priest had bels in the lower part of his roabe, to put vsus in minde of the end of the world. Our good God hath prepared suchb1. Cor. 2. 9. things for vsus, as eye hath not seene, neither eare hath heard, neither came into mans heart.cAugust. de Symb. ad Cate…. lib. 3. cap. 11. Si in cor hominis non ascendit, cor hominis illuc ascendat. Seeing the Iudge shall come from heauen, let vsus before send thither our hearts to meete him: and in the meane while thence to looke for him, Philip. 3. 20. He hath said it, who is truth it selfe: Surely I come quickly, Amen, euen so come Lord Iesus.
I beleeue in the holy Ghost.] ThedRamus de Religion. Christ. lib. 1. cap. 19. Godhead of the Father is especially manifested in the Law, the Godhead of the Sonne especially manifested in the Gospell, the Godhead of the holy Ghost especially manifested in the Creed: intimating so much in foure words as the whole Bible containes of this argument; namely, first, that the holy Ghost iscActs 5. 3. 4. God, otherwise we might not beleeue in him. Secondly, that hee is afMatth. 28. 19. distinct person from the Father, and the Sonne: I beleeue in the Father: in the Sonne: in the holy Ghost. And thirdly, that he proceedeth from thegIohn 15. 26. Father, and the Sonne, infolded in the Title, holy Ghost. For albeit the Father is holie, the Sonne holie, the Father a Spirit, and the Sonne a Spirit, in respect of their nature: yet only the third person is the holy Spirit, in regard of his office. The holy, because beside the holinesse of nature, his speciall office is to make the Church holy. The Father sanctifieth by the Sonne and by the holy Ghost: the Sonne sanctifieth from the Father by the holie Ghost: the holie Ghost sanctifieth from the Father and the Sonne by himselfe immediatly. As wee beleeue that the Father is our Creator, the Sonne our Redeemer; so likewise that the holie Ghost is our Sanctifier.
Againe, the third person is termed the Spirit, not onelyonly in regard of his nature, which is spirituall, but because hee is spired, or breathed from the Father and the Sonne: in that he proceeds from them both. How, I cannot say, you need not search, only beleeue. For as thehEsay 53. 6. Prophet said of the Sonne, Who shall declare his generation? so the most iudicious Doctor iCont. Maxim. lib. 3. cap. 14. …om. 6. …ol. 507.Augustine, of the holie Ghost, Who shall declare his procession? Inter illam generationem, & hanc processionem distinguere nescio, non valeo, non sufficio. Quia & illa, & ista est ineffabilis. And therefore as thekConfess. lib. 12. cap. 5. same Father in the like case: Dum sibi haec dicit humana cogitatio, conetur eam vel nosse ignorando, vel ignorare noscendo. See the Gospell Dom. post Ascension.
The holy Catholike Church.] The second part of the Creed concernes the Church: for aslEnchirid. c. 56 Augustine obserueth, the right order of a Confession did require, that after the Trinitie, should be ioyned the Church, as the house for the owner, and citie for the founder.mIdem lib. 4. desymbol. ad Catech. cap. 10. Againe, the Creede doth end with the Church, as it did begin with God; to put vsus in minde that except we hauehave the Church for our mother, we neuer shall hauehave God for our father.
The Church is described heere by properties, and prerogatiues.
Her properties are three:
1. Holy.
2. Catholike.
3. Knit in a communion.
Her prerogatiues are likewise three:
1. In the soule, remission of sinnes.
2. In the body, resurrection of the flesh.
3. Both in bodie and soule, life euerlalasting.
The word, Credo, must be repeated in this article: but the prepositionnRuffi…. & Thomas 22…. quaest. 1. …. 9. (In) omitted, by which the Creator is distinguished from the creatures, and things pertaining to God from things pertaining to men. It is said, I bel…eue in God, in the Sonne, in the holie Ghost: but in all the rest, where the speech is not of the Godhead, (In) is not added. I beleeue there is an holy Church, as a companie gathered to God, not in the Church as God. So the best copies and theoCat…chis. Concil. Trident. Bellarm. ledisma. worst too, reade.
Church is vsed in a sense
Ciuill, for an ordinarie assemblie: Acts 19. 32. 39.
Ecclesiasticall, for
Holy places, 1. Cor. 14. 34. …
Holy persons,
Seuera…; for eueryevery faithful persō is the Church of God, 1. Cor. 3. 16 loyntly, gathered together.
In
One house: Rom. 16. 5.
One eitie or countrie: the Church of Sardi, Ephesus: Apocal. 3.
The whole world; as in this article. …
For all men and Angels elected to life euerlasting, and made one in Christ.
It hath the name both in Greeke and Latine ofpEcclesia Augustin. exposit. epist. ad Rom. …om. 4. fol. 833. calling out and seuering from other, as being indeed aq1. Pet. 2. 9. chosen and peculiar people: rBucanus loc. cem. tit. eccles. & Melchior. Can…s loc. …om. lib. 4. cap. 2.foreign, quas: foreign.
Not Churches, but Church. Because all the congregations of the faithfull in the whole world make butsCant. 6. 8. one onelyonly Church. For as a kingdome diuided into many shires, and more townes, is called one, because it hath one and the same King, one and the same law: so the Church is one,tEphes. 4. 5. because it liueth by one and the same spirit, and is ruled by one and the same Lord, and professeth one and the same faith: not one as tied vntounto one place, much lesse vntounto one person; as the Papists iniuriously confine it: for as all of them make the Catholike Church to be nothing else but the Roman Church; so some of them hauehave made the Roman Church nothing else but the Pope. Papa virtualiter est tota ecclesia. saithuB. Iewel. 6. part. defence of apolog. fol. 610. Haruaeus in lib. de potestate Papae, cap. 23. As the tumultuous Anabaptists had framed a Church likexLib. 7. cap. 2. Na…. hist. Plinies Acephali, all body and no head: so the Romish parasites hauehave built a Church like theyPlautus in Triuum act. 4. sc. 2. Toadestoole, all head and no body. See Epistle Dom. 17. post Trinit.
Holy.] There are many wicked in the Church, and the best men hauehave some faults; how then is it holy?zLoc. com. tit. ecclesia. Luther answereth in a word: If I looke vponupon my selfe, or my neighbour, I cannot perceiue that the Church is holy: but if I loooke vponupon Christ, who tooke away the sins of the world, then I see it all holy. It is said well, I beleeue: for we cannot see this holinesse ouershadowed with manifold infirmities outwardly, though the KingsaPsal. 45. 14. daughter is all glorious inwardly.
bEphes. 5. 26.Sanctified by the washing of water through the word, that is, made cleane from all sinne by the precious bloud of Christ, which is daily presented vntounto vsus both in the Word and in the Sacraments.
The Church then is holie three waies in respect:
1. Of her cRom. 1…. 5. Ephes. 1. 23.head: which is most holie; like as one that hath a faire face is said to be a faire man, albeit hee hauehave some crooked finger, or goutie toe.
2. Of her faith: which is holy, formaliter & effectiue: andPsal. 19. 7. vndefiled law conuerting the soule, in it selfe holy: which forbids nothing but that which is euill, and doth not inioine any thing but that which is good, and making other holy: being the eRom. 1. 16.power of God vntounto saluation.
3. In regard of her life: which is holy, fCaluin. Catechis.free from sing1. Epist. Iohn 3. 9. Re…elus non facit peccatum, quia patitur potius, vti Bernard. raigning and condemning: euen in this world made holy by sanctification partially: by imputation of righteousnesse perfectly.
This must be construed of the Church inuisible, the triumphant part whereof is most holy, the militant more holie, then Infidels, Iewes, Turkes, Heretikes, and other out of the Church, who cannot inioy the gift of sanctification: I say more holy, because in this life we receiue (saithhRom. 8 23. Paul) but the first fruits of the spirit, not the tenths of the spirit, saith iVbi supra.Luther: and thereforekIdem ibidem tit. de profectu in Christianismo. Christianus non est in facto, sed in fieri; notlChurch of Sect. in exposit. of the Creed. so perfect, but that hee neede to stoope vnderunder merciemercy.
Now for the Church visible: that is a field wherein are Tares as well as wheate, and both must grow together vntill the great haruest, Matth. 13. compared to the Moone, Reuel. 12. 1. sometime decreasing, sometime increasing: but when it is in the full, it hath some spots: and therefore Brownists and Anabaptists obtrude more perfection vponupon the Church then God requires.
Heauen hath none but good, Hell none but bad, Earth both good and bad. mCaluin. aduersus Anabaptist. art. 2.Cum subspecie s…udij perfectionis, imperfectionem nullam tolerare possamus, aut in corpore, aut in membris ecclesiae; tun… di ibolum nos tumefacere superbia, & …poerisi seducere moneamur.
Catholike.] This word is vsed some for Orthodoxall; in which sensenBaronius annal. tom. 1. fol. 310. Pacianus said, Christian is my name, Catholike my surname. So Rome was, England is, a Catholike Church. But it properly signifieth vniuersall, as here: becauseoChrysest. in 4. ad Ephes. extended to all places, and all times, and all persons, not only those who are now liuing, but also those who hauehave been from the beginning, and shall be to the end of the world. So that to say the Roman Catholike Church, is like the byword of Kent and Christendome: all one as to say, the particular, or the speciall generall Church.
From this naturall acception ariseth that other borowed, as in the Creed of Athanasius: Haec est fides Catholica: that is, pVincentius …winenis contra haeres. cap. 3.quod vbique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est. The Catholike faith is that which is taughtqMelchior Canus loc. com. lib. 4. cap. vlt. all men: Matth. 28. 19. Mark. 16. 15. in all places, Rom. 10. 18. at all times, 2. Cor. 1. 19. And Psal. 119. Thy word O Lord indureth for euer, and thy truth also from generation to generation.
rAugust. tract. 40. in Iohan.Fides est vides in vsus quae non vides, anfHeb. 11. 1. euidence of things not euident. So that the Church we must beleeue is Catholike; not sensible, subiect to view: but inuisible, an object of faith.
Communion of Saints.] The Churches third propertie whichtErasmus in Symb. expoundeth the two former: I beleeue the Catholike Church uChurch of Scot. expos. of the Creed., to wit, the communion of Saints. If a communion, then Catholike; if Saints, then holy.
This communion hath two parts: fellowship
Of the members with the head, because eueryevery Christian hath interest in all the benefits of Christ, who is not a garden flower priuate for a few, butxCant. 2. 1. the Rose of the field common to all: and therefore S. Iude calles his grace, the Common saluation.
Of the mēbers one with another: and it is either of the
Liuing with the liuing.
Dead, with the liuing.
As in the naturall body: so in the Church, Christs mysticall body, there is a pe…petuall sympathie betwen ethe parts, y1. Cor. 12.if one member suffer, all suffer with it; if one be had in honour, all reioice with it.
Martin Luther said well and witt…y,zLoc. com. tit. de Christiano. that a Christian is a freeman, and bound vntounto none. And againe, that he is a diligent seruant and vassall vntounto all. Vere vir omnium h…rarum, omnium operum, omnium personarura: becoming all things vntounto all men, that he may winne them vntounto Christ. As that Antichristian in stile, so the Christian is in deed: Ser…us seruorum Dei.
There is a knot of fellowship also betweene the dead Saints and the liuing. They pray to God for our good in aApocal. 6. 10.generall: and we praise God for their good in particular. I say we praise God in hisbLaudate deum in sanctis. Psal. 150. 1. vt Augustin. Hieron. &c. Saints particularly, for giuing Mary, Peter, Paul, such eminent graces on earth: and now such vnspeakable glory in heauen. In affection and heart wecPhil. 3. 20. The Churches first prerogatiue. conuerse with them, alway desiring to be dissolued, and to be with Christ.
Remission of sinnes] All of vsus are borne in sinne, orius damnati, quam nati, (saith Bernard) and after increasing we grow from euill to worse, vntill our sinnes are remitted by Gods grace, conueied vntounto vsus in the Church by his holy word and Sacraments: it is a remission, not a satisfaction; a worke not of our merit, but of Gods mercy, who beholding vsus in Christ, reputes our sinnes as no sinnes. I dEsay 44 22.hauehave put away thy transgressiōs as a cloud, & thy sins as a mist, so remitted as if they neuer were committed. Agaus D…i qui tollit peccata mundi,eLomb. sent. lib. 4. dist. 18. dimittendo quae facta sunt, & adiuuando ne fiant, & perducendo ad vitam vbi emnino fieri non possunt.
Sinnes in the plurall, be they neuer so many for quantitie: neuer so grieuous for qualitie. Say not with Cai…e fGen. 4. 15., My sinne is greater then can be pardoned; but withgRom. 8. 28. Paul, All things worke for the best vntounto them who louelove God. Remember (saithhLoc. com. tit. de ubieribus conscien. Luther) the speech of God to Rebecca: Maior seruiet minori: The greater shall serue the lesser. Our spirituall enemies are stronger, and our sinnes are greater then we; yet they shall serue for our good: the greater shall serue the lesser, I beleeue the r…mission of sinnes. A very great benefit, because this pardon is our soules life.
Where the iRom. 6. 23.wages of sin is death of
kRom. …. 12.Bodie, which is the temporall
lT…. 5. 6.Soule, which is the …rituall
mEze…h. 33. 11.Body & soule, which is eternall
death.
See the Epistle Dom. 7. post Trinit.
Resurrection of the bodie.] The whole Creed in grosse, and eueryevery parcell argueth a resu…rection: asnIn symbol. Erasmus aptly. This one article is the Basis of all the rest:oAth…nagoras lib. de re…ur. … The second prerogatiue. for if there be a God almightie, then hee is iust; and if iust, then another reckoning in another world, where good men shall be rewarded, and euill condignely punished. If a Iesus Christ who is our Sauiour, then hee mustp1. Ioh. epist. 3. 8. dissolue the workes of Satan, which are sinne and death: if an holy Ghost, then all his hallowed temples, who did glorifie him heere, shall bee glorified of him hereafter. If a Church which is holy, then a remission of sinnes, a resurrection of the bodie, a life euerlasting, that all such as hauehave been subiects in his kingdome of grace, may likewise bee Saints in his kingdome of glory: qIo. Combis compend. Theolog. lib. 4. cap. 1. The third prerogatiue.for as God is principium effectiuum in creatione, refectiuum in redemptione: so, perfectiuum in retributione.
Life euerlasting.] The chiefe good, and last end which we gaine by being in the Church. All men on earth hauehave life, but not euerlasting; the damned in hell endure that which is euerlasting, yet not a life, but an eternall death, as being perpetually tied vntounto torments, enforced euer to suffer that they would not, neither can they doe any thing that they would: only the Church elected by the Father, redeemed by the Sonne, sanctified by the holy Ghost, shall enioy life euerlasting; not by purchase or inheritance, but byrLuke 12. 32. donation and franke almaine. The spirituall hand which apprehends this deede of gift is faith: and therefore begin well with I beleeue in God, and continue well in being a member of his Holy Catholike Church, and thou shalt be sure to end well with euerlasting life.
Amen.] Our assent to the Creed, signifying hereby that all which we hauehave said isf2. Cor. 1. 20. true and certaine.
O Lord increase our faith.
Ruth 2. 4.
THe Nouelists hauehave censured this, and other like Suffrages, astT. C. lib. 1. pag. 138 & lib. 3. pag. 210. short cuts or shreddings, rather wishes, then prayers. A rude speech, which sauoureth of the shop, more then of the schoole: for our Church imitated herein the meeke uLuke 18. 13.Publicane, O God be mercifull to me a sinner: and the good womā ofxMatth. 15. 22 Cannan, HaueHave merciemercy on me O Lord: and deuout yMark. 10. 48.Barti…us; O sonne of Dauid take pitie on me. These short shreddings and lists are of more value then their Northren broad cloath: the which (as wee see) shrinkes in the wetting: whereas our ancient custome hath continued in the Church aboue 1200 yeeres: for Augustine writes,zCap. 10. ciusdem. epist. 121, that the Christiās of Egypt vsed in their Liturgy many prayers, eueryevery one of thē being very short, raptim quodammodo aHuiusmodi quid Bernardus etiam ser. 16. in Psalm. Qui habitat.e…aculatas, as if they were darts throwne out with a kind of sudden quicknes, lest y• vigilant and erect attention of minde, which in deuotion is very requisite, should be wasted and dulled through continuance, if their prayers were few, and long. Nam plerum que hoc negotium plus gemitibus quàm sermonibus agitur, plus fletu quàm afflatu, saith the same Father in the same place. Peruse that learned epistle, for it is a sufficient apologie both for the length of our whole seruice, as also for the shortnes of our seuerall prayers. If Augustine now liued, and were made vmpire betweene the Nouelists and vsus, he would rather approue many short praiers in England, then those two long praiers, one before, and the other after sermon, in Scotland and Geneua.
For this particular Dominus vobiscum, it is taken out of the second chapter of Ruth: an vsuall salutation among Gods people: Iudg. 6. 12. Luke 1. 28.
And therefore the like among vsus, as God saue you: God blesse you: God speed, &c. are not idle complements, or taking Gods holy name in vaine: but Christian and commendable duties. See Gospell Dom. 6. post Trinit. and Gospell on the Annunciation.
This and the like salutations or benedictions in the time of diuine seruice betweene the Priest and people, are of great antiquitie, and good vse. For in the Liturgies of S. Iames, Basil, Chrysostome, and that of thebBibliothec. pat. tom. 4. col. 111. Aethiopians, I finde that the Priest was wont to say, Pax vobis: and the people replied, Et cum spiritus tuo. In that old Liturgie of Spaine, called cIbid. col. 108.Mozarabe, because the Christians were mingled with Arabians, it is enioyned that the Priest should say, Dominus vobiscum, as in our booke; and the people, as ours, answered, Et cum spiritu tuo. Againe, Adiuuate me fratres in orationibus vestris, and the whole companie replied, Adiuuet te Pater, filius, spiritus sanctus. It is reported bydLib. 2. de Missa, cap. 16. Bellarmine andeLib. de scriptor. Ecclesiast. fol. 51. Tritenhemius, that one Petrus Damianus hath written an whole booke of this argument, intituled, Dominus vobiscum: in which (as it should seeme) sundrie needlesse questions are discussed; hee liued in the daies of William the Conquerour, therefore thought probable that it was vsed in the Latine Church euer since their Liturgie was composed by Damasus, about the yeere 376: deduced out of the Greeke Churches into the Romane, asfAnnot. in Tertull. de Corona militis. Beatus Rhenanus, and Master gActs and Monuments, fol. 1274. 1275.Fox coniecture.