Eighty Sermons, miscellaneous · Sermon 78
SERM. LXXVIII. Preached at S. PAULS, June 21. 1626.
1 COR. 15.29.
Elſe, what ſhall they doe which are baptized for the dead? if the dead riſe not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead?
WEE are now come at laſt,Diviſio. to that which was firſt in our intention, How theſe words have beene detorted, and miſapplied by our Adverſaries of the Roman Church, for the eſtabliſhing of thoſe hereſies, which we have formerly oppoſed, And then, the divers wayes, which ſounder and more Orthodoxall Divines have held in the Expoſition thereof; that ſo from the firſt Part, wee may learne what to avoid and ſhun, and from the ſecond, what to embrace and follow.
Of all the places of Scripture which Bellarmine brings for the maintenance of Purgatory (excepting onelyonly that one place of the Maccabees) (And of that place we muſt ſay, as it was ſaid of that jealous husband, which ſet a watch and ſpie upon his Wife, Quis cuſtodit cuſtodes? Who ſhall watch them that watch her? So when they prove matters of faith out of the Maccabees, we ſay Quis probat probantem, who ſhall prove that booke to be Scripture, by which they prove that doctrine to be true?) But of all other places, there is ſcarce one, to which Bellarmine himſelfe doth not, by way of objection againſt himſelfe, give ſome better ſenſe and interpretation then that, which himſelfe ſticks to; and ſuch a ſenſe, as when the matter of Purgatory is not in queſtion, his fellowes often times in their writings, and himſelfe ſometimes in his writings doth accept, and adhere to.
I offer it for a note of good uſe, and in the obſerving whereof, I have uſed a conſtant diligence in reading the Roman Writers, That thoſe Writers which write by way of Expoſition, and Commentaries upon the Scriptures, and are not engaged in the profeſſed handling of Controverſies, doe very often content themſelves with the true ſenſe of thoſe places which they handle, and hunt after no curious, nor forced, nor forraine, nor unnaturall ſenſes: But if the ſame Authors come to handle Controverſies, they depart from that ſingleneſſe of heart, and that holy ingenuity, and ſtray aſide, or ſoare up into other ſenſes of the ſame places. I looke no farther for a reaſon of this, then this, That almoſt all the Controverſies, between Rome, and the reſt of the Chriſtian world, are matters of profit to them, and rayſe money, and advance their Revenue: So that, as they are but Expoſitors, they may have leave to be good Divines, and then, and in that capacity, they may give the true ſenſe of that Scripture; But as they are Controverters, they muſt be good Subjects, good Stateſmen, good Exchequer men, and then, and in that capacity, they muſt give ſuch ſenſes as may eſtabliſh and advance their profit: As an Expoſitor, he may interpret this place of the Reſurrection, as it ſhould be; but as a Controverter, he muſt interpret it of Purgatory, for ſo it muſt be, when profit is their end: And as our Alchymiſts can finde their whole art and worke of Alchymy, not onelyonly in Virgil and Ovid, but in Moſes and Solomon; ſo theſe men can finde ſuch a tranſmutation into gold, ſuch a foundation of profit, in extorting a ſenſe for Purgatory, or other profitable Doctrines, out of any Scripture.
So Bellarmine does upon this place, and upon this place principally he relyes,De purg. l. 1. c. 6. in this he triumphs, when he ſayes, Hic locus apertè convincit quod volumus, Here needs no wreſting, no diſguiſing, here Purgatory is clearly and manifeſtly diſcovered. Now certainly, if we take the words as they are, and as the Holy Ghoſt hath left them to us, we finde no ſuch manifeſtation of this Doctrine, no ſuch cleare light, no ſuch bonfire, no ſuch beacon, no beame at all, no ſpark of any ſuch fire of Purgatory: That becauſe S. Paul ſayes, That no man would be baptized Pro mortuis, for Dead, or, for the Dead, except he did aſſure himſelfe of a Reſurrection, that this ſhould be Aperta convictio, an evident Conviction of Purgatory, is, if it be not a new Divinity, certainly a new Logique.
But it is not the word, but the ſenſe that they ground their aſſurance upon. Now, the ſenſe which ſhould ground an aſſurance in Doctrinall things, ſhould be the literall ſenſe: And yet here, in ſo important a matter of faith as Purgatory, it muſt not be a literall, a proper, a naturall and genuine ſenſe, but figurative, and metaphoricall; for, in this place, Baptiſme muſt not ſignifie literally the Sacrament of Baptiſme, but it muſt ſignifie, in a figurative ſenſe, a Baptiſme of teares. And then that figure muſt be a pregnant figure, a figure with childe of another figure, for as this Baptiſme muſt ſignifie teares, ſo theſe teares muſt ſignifie all that they uſe to expreſſe by the name of Penance, and diſcipline, and mortification; Weeping, and faſting, and almes, and whipping, all muſt be comprehended in theſe teares; And then, as there was a mother figure, and a daughter figure, ſo there is a grand-child too; for here is a Proſopopoeia, an imagining, a rayſing up of a perſon that is not; That all this muſt be done by ſome man alive, with relation, and in the behalfe of a dead perſon, that theſe afflictions which he takes upon himſelfe in this world, may accrew, in the benefit thereof, to a man in another world. Now if any of this Evidence be defective, if it be not evident, that this is a figurative ſpeech, but that the literall ſenſe is very proper to the place, if it be not evident, that this figure of Baptiſme is meant for teares, and other penances; If it be not evident, that this penance is more then that man needed to have undergone for his own ſalvation, but that God became indebted to him for that penance ſo ſuſtained, and if it be not evident, that this penance and ſupererogation may be applied and communicated to a dead man, it is a little too forwardly, and too couragiouſly pronounced, Hic locus apertè convincit quod volu mus, We deſire no more then this place, for the proofe of Purgatory.
Yet he purſues his triumph, Vera & genuina interpretatio, ſayes he; As though he might waive the benefit, of making it a figurative ſenſe, and have his ends, by maintaining it to be the literall ſenſe; This is, ſayes he, the true and naturall ſenſe of the place. But it will be hard for him, to perſwade us, either that this is the literall ſenſe of the place, or that this place needs any other, then a literall ſenſe. Since he will not allow us a figurative ſenſe, in that great myſtery, in the Sacrament, in the Hoc eſt Corpus meum, but binde us punctually in the letter, without any figure, not onelyonly in the thing, (for in the thing, in the matter, we require no figure, we beleeve the body of Chriſt to be in the Sacrament as literally, as really as they doe) but even in the words, and phraſe of ſpeech, He ſhould not looke that we ſhould allow him a figurative ſenſe in that place, which muſt be Apertiſsimus locus, his moſt evident place for the proofe of ſo great an article of faith, as Purgatory is with them. We have a Rule, by which that ſenſe will be ſuſpicious to us, which is, Not to admit figurative ſenſes in interpretation of Scriptures, where the literall ſenſe may well ſtand; And he himſelfe hath a Rule, (if he remember the Councell of Trent) by which that ſenſe cannot be admitted by himſelfe, which is, That they muſt interpret Scriptures according to the unanime conſent of the Fathers; and he knowes in his conſcience, that he hath not done ſo, as we ſhall remember him anone.
Not to founder by ſtanding long in this puddle, he makes no other argument, that Baptiſme muſt here be underſtood of afflictions voluntarily ſuſtained, but that that word Baptiſme is twice uſed, and accepted ſo in the Scriptures by Chriſt himſelfe; It is taken ſo there, therefore it muſt be taken ſo here. But not to ſpeake at all, of the weakneſſe of that Conſequence, (the word hath been taken figuratively, therefore it muſt never returne to a literall ſenſe) which will hold as well, that becauſe Chriſt is called Porta, A Gate, therefore when Samſon is ſaid to have carried a Gate, Samſon muſt be a Chriſtopher, and carry Chriſt; And becauſe Chriſt is a vine, and a way, and water, and bread, whereſoever any of theſe words are, they muſt be intended of Chriſt; not to ſtand upon the argument and inconſequence, I ſay, this word Baptiſme, hath not that ſignification, which he would have it have here, in any of thoſe other places of Scripture, which he cites to this purpoſe.
They are but two, and may quickly be conſidered; The firſt is, when Chriſt askes the ambitious Apoſtles,Mat. 20.20. Luk. 12.50. Are yee able to drinke of the Cup, that I ſhall drinke of, and to be baptized with the baptiſme, that I ſhall be baptized with? The ſecond is in S. Luke, I muſt be baptized with a Baptiſme, and how am I grieved, till it be ended? In both which places, Chriſt doth underſtand by this word Baptiſme, his Paſſion; That is true: And ſo ordinarily in the Chriſtian Church, as the dayes of the death of the Martyrs were called Natalitia Martyrum, The Birth-dayes of the Martyrs; ſo Martyrdome it ſelfe, was called a Baptiſme, Baptiſma ſanguinis, The Baptiſme of Blood; That is alſo true; but what then? was the Paſſion of Chriſt himſelfe, ſuch an affliction, as Bellarmine ſpeakes of here, and argues from in this place, that is, an affliction ſo inflicted upon himſelfe, and undertaken by himſelfe, as that then when he did beare it, he might have forborne it, and refuſed to beare it? Though nothing were more voluntary then Chriſts ſubmitting himſelfe to that Decree of dying for man, yet when that Decree was paſſed, to which he had a privity, nothing was more neceſſary, nor unavoydable to any man, then the Death of the Croſſe was to Chriſt, neither could he not onelyonly not have ſaved us, but not have been exalted in his humane nature himſelfe, if he had not dyed that death; for all that was wrapped up in the Decree, and from that grew out, the propterea exaltatus, and the oportuit pati, That all thoſe things Chriſt ought to ſuffer, And therefore, therefore becauſe he did ſuffer all that, he was exalted. And will Bellarmine ſay, that the Martyrdome of the Martyrs in the primitive Church was ſo voluntarily ſuſtained, as that they might have forſaken the cauſe of Chriſt, and refuſed Martyrdome, and yet have been ſaved, and ſatisfied the purpoſe, or the commandement of God upon them?
If from us Bellarmine will not heare it, let him heare a man of his own profeſſion; not onelyonly of his own Religion, but ſo narrowly of his own profeſſion, as to have been a publique Reader of Divinity in a great Univerſity as well as he;Eſtius. And he ſayes, Sunt aliqui recentiores, qui baptizari interpretantur affligi; There are ſome, ſayes he, not all, nor the moſt, and therefore it is not ſo manifeſt a place; Sunt aliqui recentiores, There are ſome of the later men, ſayes he, not of the Fathers, or Expoſitors in the primitive Church, and therefore it is not ſo reverend, and uncontrolable an opinion; But onelyonly ſome few later men there are, ſayes he, that thinke that Baptiſme in this place is to be underſtood of Affliction. But, ſayes the ſame Doctor, It is an Interpretation valde figurata, & rara, wholly relying upon a figure, and a figure very rarely uſed; ſo rarely, ſayes he, Vt non ab alio, quam à Chriſto uſurpetur, That never any but Chriſt, in the Scriptures, called Affliction, Baptiſme.
So that it lacks thus much of being a manifeſt proofe for Purgatory, as Bellarmine pretends, That it is neither the common ſenſe, but of a few; nor the ancient ſenſe, but of a few later men; nor a ſenſe obvious, and ordinary, and literall, but figurative, and that figure not communicated to others, but onelyonly applied by Chriſt, and appropriated to his Paſſion, which was not a paſſion ſo undergone, as that then when he ſuffered it, he might have refuſed it, which is neceſſary for that Doctrine, which Bellarmine would evict from it.
But becauſe Bellarmine, in whom, perchance, the Spirit of a Cardinall hath not overcome the Spirit of a Jeſuit, will admit no competition, nor diverſity of opinion, except it be from one of his own Order, we have Iuſtinian, a man refined in that Order,Iuſtinian. a Jeſuit as well as he, an Italian, and ſo hath his naturall and nationall refining as well as he, and one, whoſe books are dedicated to the Pope as well as his, and ſo hath had an Oraculous refining, by an allowance Oraculo vivae vocis, by the breath of life, the Oracle of truth, the Popes approbation, as well as he, and thus much better, That Iuſtinians never were, but Bellarmines books have been threatned by the Inquiſition, And Iuſtinian never was, but Bellarmine hath been put to his Retractations; And he ſayes onelyonly this of this place, Aliqui referunt ad corporis vexationes, pro Mortuis, Some men refer theſe words to bodily afflictions, ſuſtained by men alive, for the Dead; Et haec ſententia multis vehementer probatur, ſayes he, This interpretation hath much delighted, and ſatisfied many men: Sed poteſt dici, ſayes he, By their leaves, this may be ſaid, If S. Paul aske, Why doe men afflict themſelves, in the behalfe of them that are dead? it may be anſwered, ſayes he, That if they doe ſo, they are fools in doing ſo. S. Paul intends certainly, to prove the Reſurrection by theſe words; neither, ſayes he, could the Reſurrection of the body be proved by all S. Pauls argument, if that were admitted to be the right ſenſe of the place; for what were all this to the Reſurrection of the body, which is S. Pauls ſcope, and purpoſe in the place, If men were baptized, that is, (as Bellarmine would have it) if they did ſuffer voluntarily, and unneceſſarily affliction for the Dead, that is, to deliver their ſoules out of Purgatory; what would all this conduce to the proofe of the Reſurrection of the body?
But that we may have a witneſſe againſt him, in all his capacities, as wee have produced one, as he is a Jeſuit, and another equall to him, as he was publique Profeſſor, ſo to conſider him as a Cardinall, (for, as a Cardinall, Bellarmine hath changed his opinion in ſome things that he held, before he was hood-wincked with his Hat) to conſider him therefore ſo, we have a witneſſe againſt him, in the Conſiſtory, Cardinall Cajetan, Cajetan.who finds no baptiſme of teares, nor penance in theſe words, no application of any affliction ſuſtained voluntarily by the living, in the behalfe and contemplation of the dead, but adhering to that, which is truly the purpoſe of the Apoſtle, to prove the reſurrection of the body, hee ſayes, In hoc quòd merguntur ſub aqua, mortuos gerunt, When in Baptiſme, they are, as it were, buried under the water, (as the forme of Baptizing was then by Immerſion of the whole body, and not onelyonly by Aſperſion upon the face) they are, ſayes he, buried for dead, preſented by the Church, as dead in Chriſt; Et in hoc, quòd ad hoc merguntur, ut emergant, agunt mortuorum reſurrectionem; In this, that they are therefore buried under water, becauſe they may bee raiſed above water againe, in this they repreſent the reſurrection of the dead. So in the act of Baptiſme literally, and Sacramentally taken, that Cardinall hath found an evident argument, and proofe of the Reſurrection. And then, in the next words, he hath found, that that which is done in this action, is done for him, that doth it, and not with relation to any other; In hoc quòd ſe profitentur mortuos mundo, agunt mortuos, In this, that in the act of Baptiſme, they profeſſe themſelves to bee dead to the world, they are baptized for dead, And in this, ſayes hee, that they profeſſe themſelves to bee dead to the world in Baptiſme, therefore that by that Baptiſme they may riſe to a newneſſe of life, Profitentur reſurrectionem mortuorum, They profeſſe the Reſurrection of the dead: And this deſtroys utterly the purpoſe of Bellarmine in theſe words, becauſe the Baptiſme ſpoken of here, be it a Sacramentall Baptiſme literally, or a Diſciplinary Baptiſme, metaphyſically, yet is a Baptiſme determined, for the benefit thereof, upon him that is baptized, and not extended to the dead in Purgatory.
Since then it is the Expoſition of a few onelyonly, Alii dicunt, Aliqui dicunt, Others have ſaid ſo, Some few have ſaid ſo, and thoſe few are late men, new men, and of thoſe new men, Jeſuits, and Readers, and Cardinalls have differed from that opinion, this Jeſuit, and Reader, and Cardinall Bellarmine needed not to have made that victorious acclamation, Hic locus, we deſire no more then this place, for the evident proofe of Purgatory. Much leſſe did it become that leſſer man, that Minorite Frier, Feuardentius, who for names ſake, (it ſeemes, for his name is Burning fire) is ſo over-vehement for this place, in defence of Purgatory, to pronounce ſo peremptorily, for this interpretation of this Text, Qui huic ſententiae concordat, Catholicus, qui diſcordat, Haereticus eſt; He that interprets theſe words thus, is a Catholique, and he is an Heretike that interprets them otherwiſe. For thus, hee leaves out the Fathers themſelves out of the Arke, and makes them Heretiques; And howſoever they pretend peace amongſt themſelves, he proclaimes, at leaſt diſcovers a warre amongſt themſelves, for they are of themſelves, whom he calls Heretiques.Iob 9.4. Indeed, Quis reſtitit Domino, & pacem habuit? who ever reſiſted the truth of Gods word, and brought in Expoſitions to ſerve turns, and had peace amongſt themſelves? When they went about this building of Purgatory, they thought not of that counſell,Luk. 14.28. When you build, ſit downe before, and count the coſt, leſt men mock you; They never conſidered how they were provided of Materialls, what they had from the Prophets, what from the Euangeliſts, what from the Apoſtles, for the building of this Purgatory: They had the diſeaſe of our times; If they might build, they thought it a profitable courſe; If they could raiſe a Purgatory, they were ſure they ſhould gaine by it; but neither had they leave to build, that is, to erect new Articles of faith, neither had they wherewithall; And therefore being deſtitute of the foundation of all, the Scriptures of God, and having raked together ſome ſtrawes, and ſticks, ends of Poetry, and Philoſophy, and ſome rubbiſh of the Manichees, they have made ſuch a worke under ground, as their Predeceſſors made above ground, in the Towre of Babell, in which they underſtand not one another, but are in a confuſion amongſt themſelves, Quia reſtiterunt Domino, And who ever reſiſted the Lord, and had peace?
Thus farre we have proceeded in reſcuing theſe words,Patres. from their captivity, from the enemy, that enforced them to teſtifie for Purgatory. And, according to my underſtanding of S. Hieromes rule, who ſayes, That in interpreting of Scriptures, hee ever propoſed to himſelfe Neceſsitatem, & perſpicuitatem, The neceſſity being (as I take it) the redeeming of the words from the ill interpretation of Heretiques, which wee have now done; For the perſpicuity, and cleerneſſe, you ſhall ſee firſt, how the Ancients, before they ſuſpected any ill uſe of them for Purgatory, received them, and then how the later men, after they had been miſ-applied for Purgatory, interpret them: All which I ſhall propoſe with as much cleerneſſe as I can, as taking my ſelfe bound thereunto, by that other rule of the ſame Father, Qui per me intellecturus eſt Apoſtolum, nolo ut ad Interpretem cognoſcendum, alium quaerat Interpretem, I would not have them, who come hither to underſtand the Apoſtle from me, be put to ſeek help from others, to underſtand me; when I muſt tell them what S. Paul meant, I would not have them put to aske what I meant; and therefore as farre as the matter will beare it, I would ſpeake plainly to every capacity.
Firſt then,Tertul. for Tertullian, he ſeemes to underſtand this Baptiſme for the dead, De vicario baptiſmate, of Baptiſme by an Atturney, by a Proxy, which ſhould not be ſuch a God-father, as ſhould be a witneſſe or ſurety for mee, when I am baptized alive, but ſuch a God-father, as ſhould be baptized for me when I am dead. For, that perverſe and hereticall cuſtome was then come into practiſe, that out of a falſe opinion, (though grounded, or coloured with a zeale of reverence to the Sacrament) that Baptiſme was ſo abſolutely neceſſary, as that none could poſſibly be ſaved, that were not actually baptized; When any man died without Baptiſme, his friends uſed to baptize another in his name; The dead body was laid under the bed, and another man that was laid in the bed, to repreſent him, anſwered to all thoſe queſtions which the Prieſt ſhould aske, concerning Baptiſme, in the behalfe of him that lay under the bed, (as the Sureties doe now in the Church for a childe, that perchance underſtands no more then that dead man did) and then that perſon in the bed, was baptized for him who lay under the bed. Now Tertullian thinks, that the Apoſtle argues out of that cuſtome, and diſputes thus, If there were no Reſurrection, why doe you thus provide for them that are dead, by baptizing others for them? To what purpoſe doe ye this, if they for whom you doe it have no Reſurrection? But, beſides that it is not much probable, that S. Paul would take an Hereticall action, and practiſe, for the ground of his Argument, to prove ſo great a myſtery of our faith, as the Reſurrection is, and beſides that, it doth not appeare that this Hereticall practiſe (which is attributed to the Marcionits) was entred into the Church in S. Pauls time, and therefore he could not take knowledge of it; Beſides all this, all this, if it were granted, did nothing at all conduce to S. Pauls ends, who had undertaken the proofe of the Reſurrection of the body, and the anſwer was eaſie, and obvious, We doe not baptize living men in the name, and in the behalfe of the dead, for any other reſpect, then for the ſalvation of their ſoules, and what is that to the reſurrection of the body? So that this ſenſe of Tertullians, of Baptiſme by a Proxy, by an Atturney, ſeemes not to be the ſenſe of this place; and yet becauſe it ſavours of charity to the dead, though it were an heretical cuſtome, Bellarmine prefers this interpretation of Tertullian, before any other but his owne, which we handled before.
Theodoret interprets this Baptiſme for the dead to be a baptiſme of Repreſentation;Theodoret. That in baptiſme, by being put under the water, and raiſed up againe, we repreſent the death and reſurrection of Chriſt; for the dead, is for Chriſt, for the teſtimony of Chriſt: And therefore that baptizing by immerſion, by covering the party with water, was ſo exactly obſerved in thoſe times, as it came to be thought, that no man was well baptized, except he had received it ſo, by Immerſion, as by many Treatiſes, and many Conſultations amongſt the Fathers, by way of Letters, and the Acts of ſome Councels, we perceive. And of this repreſentation of the death of Chriſt, in our Baptiſme, adminiſtred in that manner, by Immerſion, S. Paul is thought by ſome to have ſpoken, when he ſayes, Know ye not that all we that have been baptized into Ieſus Chriſt, Rom. 6.3.have been baptized into his death? That is, ſay they, by that repreſentation of his death, in Immerſion. Neither is any thing more evident, then that Theodoret was ſo far in the right, that our baptiſme (and the rather in that forme of Immerſion) is a repreſentation of the death, and buriall, and reſurrection of Chriſt; but yet to call this Baptiſme therefore, becauſe it was a repreſentation of Chriſt, who was dead, a Baptiſme for the dead, is a phraſe ſomewhat more hard and unuſuall, then may be eaſily admitted, in ſuch a matter of faith as this is. And beſides, that Baptiſme, which is this Repreſentation, is a Baptiſme common to all; all that are baptized, are baptized ſo; But the Apoſtle in this place makes his argument from a particular kind of Baptiſme, which ſome did, and ſome did not uſe, Quid de illis, ſayes he, what ſhall become of them? and Quid illi, what doe they meane that are baptized in this peculiar manner? So that, as not Tertullians baptiſme by an Atturney, ſo neither Theodorets baptiſme by Repreſentation, ſeems to be the ſenſe of this place.
S. Chryſoſtome, much about the ſame time with Theodoret, and long after them both,Chryſoſt. Theophylact.(at leaſt ſix hundred yeares) Theophylact, meet in a third ſenſe; That becauſe at the taking of Baptiſme, they did uſually rehearſe the Creed, which Creed concluded with thoſe articles, The reſurrection of the body, and life everlaſting, therefore this baptiſme for the dead ſhould onelyonly ſignifie a baptiſme for the hope of the Reſurrection. But ſince they rehearſed all the articles of the Chriſtian beliefe, as well as that, at Baptiſme, it might as properly be ſaid, that they were baptized for Chriſt; baptized for the holy Ghoſt, baptized for the deſcent into hell, as for the dead: And beſides that, this was alſo a baptiſme common to all, all rehearſed the Articles of the Creed; it was not ſuch a peculiar baptiſme, as the Apoſtle hath reſpect to here, in his Quid de illis, and Quid illi, what ſhall become of them, and what doe they meane by this their Baptiſme? And therefore this ſeems not to be the ſenſe. That this Baptiſme for the dead ſhould onelyonly be a profeſſion of that article of the Reſurrection of the dead, though S. Chryſoſtome, and Theophylact concur in, or derive from, or upon one other that interpretation.
To come lower, and to a lower rank of witneſſes, from the Fathers to the Schoole,Aquinas. Aquinas hath another ſenſe; and certainly an uſefull, a devout, and an appliable interpretation; which is, That Mortui here are peccata, Thoſe that are called Dead here, are Dead works, ſins, and ſo to be baptized for the dead, is to be baptized for our ſins, for the waſhing away our ſins, in an acknowledgement, That although we did contract a leprous ſin, even in our conception, That we were ſubject to the wrath and indignation of God, before we were able to conceive that there was a God, That before our bones were hardned, the canker and ruſt of Adams ſin was in our bones, That before we were a minute old, we have a ſin in us that is ſix thouſand years old, That though we be as blind after we come out of our mothers bellies, as we were there, Though we paſſe over our time, without ever asking our owne conſciences, why we were ſent hither, Though our ſins have hardned us againſt God, and done a harder work then that, in hardning God againſt us, yet though we have turned God into a Rock, there is water in that rock,Num. 20. if we ſtrike it, if we ſolicite it, affect it with our repentance. As in the ſtone font in the Church, there is water of Baptiſme, ſo in the Corner ſtone of the Church, Chriſt Jeſus, whom we have hardned againſt us, there is a tenderneſſe, there is a Well of water ſpringing up into everlaſting life. As we have changed this water into ſtone, petrified Gods tenderneſſe towards us,Pſal. 114.8. ſo convertit petram in ſtagna aquarum, ſayes David, He hath turned that rock into a ſtanding water, (water, and water that ſtayes with us, in his Church) and the flint into a fountaine of waters; that is, ſayes S. Auguſtine, ſeipſum, & ſuam quandam duritiam liquefecit, ad irrigandos fideles, At the beames of his owne mercy, God hath thawed that ice, and diſſolved that ſtone, into which we had hardned him, and he hath let in a River of Jordan into his Church, the Sacrament of Baptiſme, in the preſent act, and ſubſequent efficacy whereof, we are waſhed from originall, and from actuall ſins. All theſe ſins are the fruits of death, as they are oppoſed againſt the Lord of life, and pro hiſce mortuis baptizamur, ſayes Aquinas; for the dead, that is, for theſe dead workes, we are baptized.
And certainly, for a ſecond ſenſe, to exalt our devotion by, I ſhould prefer this before any other; But the principall and literall ſenſe of this place, this cannot be, becauſe it is a figurative ſenſe; and though the figure be not in the word Baptiſme, where Bellarmine places it, (for Aquinas ſpeaks literally of a Sacramentall Baptiſme) yet it is in the other word In mortuis, (Aquinas doth not ſpeak literally, but metaphorically of the Dead) and that may as ill be admitted, in a matter of faith, of ſo great importance, as the other. And beſides, this ſeems to conclude nothing neceſſarily for the reſurrection of the body, that we are waſhed from our ſins; And laſtly, this is ſtill a Baptiſme common to all, all that are baptized, are baptized from their ſins; And therefore this of Aquinas, not reaching to S. Pauls Quid de illis, and Quid illi, to theſe men thus baptized, is not that ſenſe neither, which we ſeek.
But the time will not permit us to purſue the ſeverall interpretations of thoſe,Moderni. whom directly, or comparatively we call Ancients; Neither truly, though there be many other Interpreters then we have named, are there many other interpretations then we have touched upon, or then may be reduced to them. And therefore to end here this conſideration of the Fathers, and thoſe whom they eſteem Pillars of their Church, we are thus much at our liberty for all them, That firſt there is no unanime conſent in the interpretation of this place, and that which they binde themſelves to follow, is the unanime conſent of the Fathers; And then though the Fathers had unanimely conſented in one, and that one had been the expoſition which Bellarmine purſues, yet we might, by their example, have departed from it; for in the Roman Church, Fathers, and Fathers Fathers, Popes themſelves, (And howſoever the Fathers may be Fathers, in reſpect of us, yet in reſpect of the Pope, who is S. Peter himſelfe, and alwayes ſits in his perſon, the Fathers are but children, ſayes Bellarmine) were of opinion, That the Sacrament of the Lords Supper was abſolutely neceſſary for children, to their ſalvation, and this opinion laſted in force and in uſe for divers hundreds of yeares, neither was it ever repreſſed by Authority, till the other day, in the Councel of Trent, but wore out of it ſelfe long before, becauſe it had no foundation; So the opinion of the Millenarians, That Chriſt with his Saints ſhould have a thouſand years of a temporall raign here upon earth, after his ſecond comming, had poſſeſſed the Fathers, in a very great partie. The Fathers, in a great partie denied, that the ſoules of good men departed were to enjoy the ſight of God, till the Reſurrection. And the Fathers affirmed, That the cauſe of Gods election was the foreſight of the faith and obedience of the Elect. Theſe errors are ſo noted, even by the Authors of the Roman Church, (for I depart not herein from their own words, and obſervations) as that they ſtill preſent them ſo, Omnes, plurimi, All the Fathers, Moſt of the Fathers, were of this and this opinion; And yet for all theſe Fathers, no man in the Roman Church is ſo childiſh now, as to give his child that Sacrament, or to accompany thoſe Fathers in thoſe other miſtakings.
This hath been done in fact, they have departed from the Fathers; And then for a Rule, Cardinall Cajetan tels us, That if a new ſenſe of any place of Scripture, agreeable to other places, and to the analogy of faith, ariſe to us, it is not to be refuſed, Quia torrens patrum, becauſe the ſtreame of the Fathers is againſt it. For they themſelves have told us, why we may ſuſpect the Fathers, and by what means the Fathers have falne into many miſ-interpretations. Firſt they ſay, Quia glaciem ſciderunt, becauſe the Fathers broke the Ice, and undertook the interpretation of many places, in which they had no light, no aſſiſtance from others, and ſo might eaſily turne into a ſiniſter way: And then Rhetoricati ſunt, ſay they, The Fathers often applyed themſelves in figurative, and Hyberbolicall ſpeeches, to exalt the devotions, and ſtir up the affections of their auditory, and therefore muſt not be called to too ſevere, and literall an account, for all that they uttered in that manner: And againe, Plebi indulſerunt, as S. Auguſtine ſayes of himſelfe, ſometimes out of a loathneſſe to offend the ignorant, and ſometimes the holy and devout, and that he might hold his auditory together, and avert none from comming to him, he was unwilling to come to ſuch an exact truth, in the explication and application of ſome places, as that for the ſharpneſſe and bitterneſſe thereof, weaker ſtomachs might forbeare. So alſo, they confeſſe too, that ex vehementia declinarunt, In heat of diſputation, and argument, and to make things ſtraight, they bent them too much on the other hand, and to oppoſe one Hereſie, they endangered the inducing of another, as in S. Auguſtines diſputations againſt the Pelagians, who over-advanced the free will of man, and the Manicheans, who by admitting Duo principia, two Caufes, an extrinſique cauſe of our evill actions, as well as of our good, annihilated the free will of man, we ſhall find ſometimes occaſions to doubt whether S. Auguſtine were conſtant in his owne opinion, and not tranſported ſometimes with vehemency againſt his preſent adverſary, whether Pelagian, or Manichean.
Which is a diſeaſe that even ſome great Councels in the Church, and Church-affaires have felt, that for collaterall and occaſionall, and perſonall reſpects, which were riſen after they were met, the maine doctrinall points, and ſuch as have principally concerned the glory of God, and the ſalvation of ſoules, and were indeed the principall and onelyonly. cauſe of their then meeting there, have beene neglected. Men that came thither with a fervent zeale to the glory of God, have taken in a new fire of diſpleaſure againſt particular Heretiques, or Schiſmatiques, and diſcontinued their holy zeale towards God, till their occaſionall diſpleaſure towards thoſe perſons might be ſatisfied, and ſo thoſe Hereſies, and Heretiques againſt whom they met, have got advantage by that paſſion, which hath overtaken and overſwayed them, after they were met. And whatſoever hath fallen into Councels of that kinde, Eccleſiaſticall Councels, may poſſibly be imagined, or juſtly be feared, or at leaſt, without offence be pre-diſſwaded, and deprecated, in all Civill Conſultations, and Councels of State, That Occaſionall things may not divert the Principall: for as in the Naturall body, the ſpleene may ſuffocate the heart, and yet the ſpleen is but the ſewar of the body, and the heart is the ſtrength and the Palais thereof; ſo in politique bodies, and Councels of State, an immature and indigeſted, an intempeſtive and unſeaſonable preſſing of preſent remedies againſt all inconveniencies, may ſuffocate the heart of the buſineſſe, and fruſtrate and evacuate the bleſſed and glorious purpoſe of the whole Councell. The Baſiliske is very ſharpe-ſighted, but he ſees therefore, and to that end, that he may kill: So is, ſo does paſſion. Who would wiſh to be ſharper ſighted then the Eagle? And his ſtrength of ſight is in this, that he lookes to the Sun; To looke to things that are evident, The evident danger of the State and the Church, The evident malice and power of the enemy, The evident ſtorme upon our peace and Religion, To looke that God be not tempted by us, nor his Lieutenant and Vicegerent wearied, and hardened towards us, This is the object of the Eagles eye, and this is wiſdome high enough. Where men ſee a great foundation laid, they will thinke, that all that is not onelyonly to raiſe a Spittle to cure, or a Church-yard to bury a few diſeaſed perſons. Great Councels are great foundations; and the ſuper-edifications fit for them, are the ſafety of the State, and the good of the Church: And, as in comming to ſuch Councels, every man puts off his owne perſon, and leaves himſelfe at home, ſo neither when he is there, ſhould he ſo ſeeke out, or hunt after any particular perſon, as that that ſhould retard publique buſineſſe. God forbid that my praying that things may not be ſo, ſhould be interpreted for a ſuſpicion in me, that things are ſo; God forbid, that invocation upon God, ſhould imply a crimination upon men; The Spirit of God, in ſenſe of whom, and in whoſe preſence I ſpeake, knowes that my prayer is but a prayer, and not an Increpation, not an Inſimulation; And therefore may God bee pleaſed to heare, and good men be pleaſed to joyne in this prayer, That God will ſo be ſatisfied, with having laid his owne hand upon us, in the late peſtilence, as neither to make any forraine hand, nor one anothers hand, his inſtrument to deſtroy, or farther to puniſh us. And ſo, having beene invited by this Conſideration, that Fathers and Councels have deflected into error, to ſay ſo much of Civill Councels too, wee depart from this Point thus, that though the Fathers had conſented in Bellarmines Expoſition, that had laid no obligation upon us; how much leſſe, when we finde ſcarce any of them to agree with one another, nor any one of them to agree with him; and therefore we paſſe to the Conſideration of the later men.
And amongſt the later men, we will give the firſt place to a Jeſuit, becauſe they love Primos accubitus, as our Saviour ſayes of the Phariſees, To be placed higheſt, and they love to be called, if not Rabbi, Maſter, yet Abba, Father; (for that is a name which the youngeſt Jeſuit will challenge to himſellfe, to be called Father; and amongſt us, I am afraid, they come to that name, the name of Father, a little too literally, they are fathers indeed, where they ſhould not bee ſo) Next to the true Fathers, wee place then a imaginary Father,Maldonat. the Jeſuit Maldonate, who interprets this place thus, That to be baptized for the dead, when the Apoſtle ſpake, was to ſuffer Martyrdome, or affliction for the teſtimony of the reſurrection of the Dead: for we ſee, that the doctrine of the Reſurrection eſpecially was inquired upon, and given in charge, and made criminall and odious,Acts 23.6. by that which the Apoſtle ſayes in the Acts, Of the hope, and reſurrection of the dead, I am called in queſtion. Now, I will not ſay of Maldonat, as Maldonat does of us, who, when ſometimes he cites the interpretation of our Authors, will ſay, This is the likelieſt and the probableſt ſenſe, and I ſhould beleeve it to be the true ſenſe, but that an Heretique ſaid it; I will not ſay, I would admit Maldonats ſenſe, but that a Jeſuit ſayes it; for, for all that, I would receive it, ſo far as it may ſtand, but yet not for the primary and principall ſenſe; for ſo, we cannot receive it, becauſe it is grounded upon a figure, for he takes not Baptiſme, for the Sacrament of Baptiſme, but for the Metaphoricall Baptiſme, the Baptiſme of blood. And then Bellarmine will not accept his ſenſe, becauſe though they agree in the figure, that Baptiſme ſignifies affliction, yet they differ in theſe two important poynts, That firſt Bellarmin takes it for affliction voluntarily ſuſtained, (for that only conſtitutes Supererogation, which is neceſſary to Bellarmines ſenſe) and Maldonate takes it for affliction inflicted by a Perſecutor, for a teſtimony of his faith, in which caſe to decline the penalty, were to deny the faith, and therefore is no more then, being ſo called by God, he is bound to ſuffer: And then Bellarmine takes it for affliction ſuſtained in the behalfe, and for the benefit of another dead friend, and Maldonat determines it in him that does it, for an outward teſtimony of his conſtancy in the faith of the Reſurrection. So that this Jeſuit hath brought no ſtone to Bellarmines building from this place, he workes not in his harveſt, he conduces not to his end, he goes not his way.
But to contract our ſelves in this laſt Part, we finde amongſt our owne men (Expoſitors ſince the Reformation) two ſenſes of theſe words, of which either may be taken, for both come home to the purpoſe and intention of the Apoſtle, which is, to prove the Reſurrection, and to all the other circumſtances, in which we have obſerved the other Interpretations to be deficient. The firſt is, that this was a Baptiſme of thoſe men, Qui ad teſtandam certiſsiman ſpem de Reſurrectione, which for a more eſpeciall teſtimony of their faith in the Reſurrection, did (according to the uſe of many, in thoſe firſt times) adminiſter, or receive Baptiſme, upon the tombs and graves of other Chriſtians, formerly departed this life, and thereby declared both their charitable opinion, that thoſe who were there buried, ſhould receive a reſurrection, And that themſelves were baptized into the ſame faith, and ſo made up the Communion of Saints. And in this ſenſe is the Originall beſt preſerved, which ſeemes not to be ſo properly tranſlated, Pro mortuis, as Super mortuos, not for the Dead, but upon the Dead, upon the graves of the Dead: If there be no reſurrection of the Dead, why do ſome of you chuſe to be baptized upon the Dead, upon the graves of the Dead, rather then in other places?
And this is the Expoſition of him,Luther. Melancton. who is evermore powerfull in the Expoſition of thoſe Scriptures which he undertakes, Luther. And Melancton, a man of more learning and temperance then perchance have met in any one, in our perverſe and froward times, followes the ſame Interpretation, and adds, That hee that was to be Baptized, was brought to the bones of them that were buried there, and that there he was asked, whether he did beleeve that that body which lay ſo ſcattered there, ſhould be reſtored again, and made capable of a glorious Reſurrection, and upon confeſſion of that faith he received his Baptiſme: And this, ſayes Melancton (a man freeſt of any from contention) is Interpretatio ſimplex, nativa, & vera, The plaine, the naturall, and the true ſignification of the place. Neither is this Interpretation ſubject to that calumny, which our Adverſaries uſe to object, that in any Interpretation of Luthers, or Melanctons, the reſt who profeſſe them their Diſciples, follow as Sheepe, but others, though of the Reformation too, doe not ſo: for we have another, eſteemed in his Diviſion,Piſcator. a learned and narrow ſearcher into the literall ſenſe of Scripture, who though he be very far from communion (in opinion) with them, whom, for diſtinction, the world calls Lutherans, though he be none of thoſe ſheepe, which run after Luther, yet out of a holy ingenuity, and inclination to truth, he profeſſes this interpretation of the place, to be Omnium ſimpliciſsimam, the moſt ſincere and naturall interpretation, and that it doth not wound, nor violate the purpoſe and intention of the Apoſtle, as, ſayes he, all the other interpretations, which Beza produces, doe. And yet Beza himſelfe, as well as Piſcator, in their tranſlatitions, retaine the Super, which is in Luther, and make it ſo, a baptiſme upon the dead, and not for the dead.
To be baptized then for the dead, or upon the dead, is, in their underſtanding, an expectation of a Reſurrection for themſelves, together with them, in ſight of whoſe dead bodies they were baptized. Here is no figurative ſpeech, but the words taken in their proper, and preſent, and firſt ſignification. And this is not of a generall baptiſme, common to all, but of a cuſtome taken up by ſome in the Church of Corinth, out of ſpeciall devotion, and teſtification of the Reſurrection. And laſtly, this had reference, not onelyonly to the immortality of the ſoule, but to the reſurrection of the body alſo, which was then in their contemplation, in which Circumſtance, moſt of the former interpretations of the Ancients were defective, for ſtill it might have been anſwered to S. Pauls queſtion, Quid illi, Quid de illis? What meane they, and what becomes of them? We doe all this for the ſalvation of ſoules, though we doe not binde our ſelves to beleeve a reſurrection of bodies; So that all the particulars that S. Paul propoſed to himſelfe, meet fully, and ſtrongly, in this interpretation. Nothing can be oppoſed againſt it, if the hiſtory be true; if the matter of fact be cleare and evident, if it appeare fully, that this was a cuſtome in the Apoſtles time, that thoſe Chriſtians did uſe to receive baptiſme upon the graves of the dead. I doubt not but Luther had ground for it; I doubt not but Melancton had Authors; for he ſayes, Aliqui ſcribunt, ſome have written it. They may have ſeene Authors, whom I have not; for my part, I confeſſe, I never found this Cuſtome in the Eccleſiaſtique Story, to my remembrance. And when the Centuriators, who gathered the Story of the Church, with ſome diligence, and who were of the perſwaſion whom the world calls Lutherans, when they ſay, Conſtat, It is manifeſt, that in the Church of Corinth,Cent. 1. l. 2. c. 6. they did baptize in that manner, upon the graves of the dead, they never cite any teſtimony of Hiſtory for their Conſtat, nor for their evidence of this matter of fact, but onelyonly this very place of Scripture, this text; and the directer and the fuller way had been, to have proved the text from the ſtory, then the ſtory from the text. The Expoſition is very faire, and very likely, if the matter of fact be proved; and the fact may be proved by ſome, whom thoſe reverend perſons have read, and I have not.
There is one Interpretation more, which is open to no imputation, ſpotted with no aſperſion, ſubject to no objection, and therefore fitteſt to be embraced, which is alſo grounded upon a Cuſtome, which came very early into the Church of God, (ſo early as that we can aſſigne no beginning) and of which Cuſtome for the matter of fact, wee are ſure it was in practiſe: which was, that upon an opinion, that at the time of Baptiſme, there was an abſolute waſhing away, and a deliverance from all ſinnes, men did ordinarily, or very often, defer their baptiſme till their death-bed, that ſo they might have their tranſmigration, and paſſage out of this world, in that purity, that baptiſme reſtored them to, without contracting any more ſinnes after baptiſme. This we are too ſure was in uſe; for we ſee the Eccleſiaſticall Story full of Examples of it, in great perſons; great in power and authority, for Conſtantine the Emperour deferred his baptiſme, long after his reſolution to be a Chriſtian; And great in eſtimation, and merit, and knowledge; for S. Auguſtine remembers it with much compunction, That in an extreame ſickneſſe,Conf. l. 1. c. 11. Flagitavi baptiſmum à Matre, he begged at his Mothers hands, that he might be baptized, and obtained it not, becauſe he was a perſon, (in her obſervation) like enough to fall into more ſinnes, after he had been delivered of thoſe by baptiſme. He notes the generall diſpoſition of his time, Sonat undique, It is every mans voyce, every mans ſaying, Sine eum, faciat quid vult, nondum baptizatus eſt, Let him alone yet, let him doe what he will yet, for yet he is not baptized: But, ſayes that bleſſed Father there, would they ſay to a man that lay wounded and weltring in his blood, Sine eum, vulneretur ampliùs, nondum enim ſanatus eſt, Let him lie, or give him two or three wounds more, for the Surgeon is not come yet to cure him? And yet, ſayes he, his and my caſe is all one.
Before his time, which was after foure hundred yeares, we may ſee, that this cuſtome of late baptizing, was not onelyonly tolerated, but adviſed and counſelled in the Church, when Tertullian, two hundred yeares before S. Auguſtine, chides away young children, from comming to Baptiſme, ſo ſoone, before, ſayes he, they need it; Quid feſtinat innocens aetas ad remiſsionem peccatorum? Why are they brought to the waſhing away of ſinnes, which as yet have committed no ſinne? And he makes Baptiſme ſo occaſionall a thing, and ſubject to ſo many Circumſtances, that very many other occaſions might put off Baptiſme. Innuptis procraſtinandus baptiſmus, ſayes Tertullian, quia eis praeparata tentatio; He would not have them baptized, that meant to marry ſoone after, becauſe they were to wraſtle with a great tentation, as long as their fancy and imagination was full of their future marriage. So ſoone, and ſo deeply was this opinion rooted, (that it was to little purpoſe to baptize till towards our death) that S. Baſil was faine to oppoſe it expreſly in the Eaſterne Church, And both the Gregories, Nazianzen and Nyſſen, and then S. Ambroſe, and others, in the Weſterne, all arguing againſt it, as a cuſtome long before in uſe, and none aſſigning any beginning of it.
Upon this cuſtome then S. Paul argues; If men upon their death-bed, when they are eſteemed pro Mortuis, as good as dead, no better then dead, (for ſo the phraſe is ordinarily uſed, pro derelicto, pro perdito, when we eſteeme a man forſaken, or a thing loſt) If men deſire baptiſme, when they are held pro mortuis, no other then dead, given over for dead, and are to have no fellowſhip with themilitant Church here in this life, doe they not in this care of this act to be done upon their bodies, imply a confeſſion of the Reſurrection? Theſe were they, whom thoſe times called Clinicos, Bed-baptiſts, Bed-Chriſtians, which either deferred their baptiſme, upon the reaſons mentioned before, that they might be ſure to have a pure tranſmigration, preſently after Baptiſme; Or els they were Catechumeni, ſuch Convertits to the Chriſtian faith, as the Church had undertaken to inſtruct and catechize, but did not baptize till a certaine time, (Eaſter, and Whitſontyde) except they were ſurprized with ſudden ſickneſſe, and then they were baptized in their death-bed: And both wayes the ſenſe ſtands well, That they were baptized pro Mortuis, that is, pro Derelictis, where they were given over for dead, when there was no hope of life, Or els pro Mortuis, that is, pro ſtatu Mortuorum, onelyonly with reſpect to their ſtate after this life, becauſe they were going to the dead. And theſe be Divina Compendia, as S. Cyprian calls them, Gods Abridgements, who can give his grace in a minute; for,7. l. 4. 2d Magnum. as he ſayes in the end of that Epiſtle, Clinici, an peripatetici, whether they be walking, or bed-rid Chriſtians, Sacramenti majeſtas & ſanctitas non derogetur, The Sacrament hath the ſame power, whether they be baptized for the living, or for the dead, that is, to remaine with us in this world, or to depart to them of the next.
And this Expoſition is not ſo much the Expoſition of later men, as that it is deſtitute of the honour of Antiquity;Haereſ. 28. for Epiphanius, the eldeſt whom we have named yet, but Tertullian, oppoſes this ſenſe and interpretation of theſe words, to that ſenſe which Tertullian laid hold of, De baptiſmate vicario, of his Baptiſme, by Proxy, and Atturney. It is ſo reaſonable, that we need no better approbation of it, but that, (though it be eſpecially purſued by Calvin) that great profeſſor,Eſtius. and reader in Divinity, whom we ſpake of before, hath given of it, that it is Senſus apertus, & ſimpliciſsimus, omnibus aliis anteponendus, & ad probandum id quod Apoſtolus inſtituit aptiſsimus, It is the directeſt ſenſe, and the plaineſt, a ſenſe to be preferred before all the reſt, as being fitteſt to eſtabliſh all that the Apoſtle propoſed in this place; To be baptized, ſayes he, jamjam moriturus, when he is ready to die, is to be baptized pro mortuis, for the dead, with reſpect onelyonly to the ſtate of the dead; and therefore in this interpretation which even the adverſary hath approved, and juſtified for us, we may ſafely reſt our ſelves, and the rather, becauſe our tranſlations have relation to this ſenſe, either as it is in our firſt Edition, pro Mortuis, for Dead, that is, as good as dead, or as it is in the ſecond, pro Mortuis, for the Dead, for the ſtate of the dead, and the hope of the reſurrection.
Thus, beloved, S. Paul hath made an argument here, to prove the Reſurrection of the body; One of the hardeſt bones in the body, one of the darkeſt corners in the myſteries of our Religion, and yet all the Religions of the Heathens had ever ſome impreſſions of it: Seculum, reſurrectionem mortuorum, nec cum errat, ignorat, ſayes Tertullian, The world knew that there was ſome reſurrection, though they were not come to know, what it was; For he remembers, that at their funeralls, they prepared great feaſts upon the graves of the dead, and cried out to them, Reſurgite, comedite, bibite, Ariſe, and come to us, and eat and drink with us, They imagined ſome bodily being, and ſome poſſibility of converſation with the living, in the Dead. You have underſtood S. Pauls Argument, and yet perchance, you have not underſtood S. Paul. Quocumque reſpexer is fulmina ſunt, ſayes, S. Chryſoſtome. All S. Pauls words work as lightning, Et capit omne quod tetigerit, It affects, and it leaves ſome marke upon every thing that it touches; And if hee have touched thee now, his effect is not onelyonly to make thee beleeve a future reſurrection of thy body, but to feele a preſent reſurrection in thy ſoule, and to make mee beleeve that thou feeleſt it, by expreſſing it in thy life and converſation: Ad intelligendum Paulum vita pura opus eſt; To underſtand S. Paul, a man muſt be an honeſt man;Chryſoſt. hee muſt mend his life, that will be beleeved to have comprehended S. Paul; For if he be onelyonly the wiſer, and the learneder, and not the better, and the honeſter, he hath but halfe underſtood S. Paul. S. Paul condemnes Hymenaeus, 2 Tim. 2.17.and Philetus for ſaying The Reſurrection was paſt already; That is, as S. Auguſtine interprets it, that all the Reſurrection which wee are to have, is nothing but a reſurrection from ſin.
If S. Paul ſay ſo bitterly, that this doctrine doth fret as a canker, becauſe it is not enough, what will he ſay, if thou beeſt not come ſo farre, as to a Reſurrection from ſin? We fall away into manifold, and miſerable dejections, but Qui cadit, non reſurget? Jer. 8.4.Shall we fall, and not ariſe? ſhall we turne away, and not turne againe? Shall not God be able to multiply our reſurrections as well as the Devill our falls from God? Wee are dejected when we ſee the wicked proſper; when God ſeemes to behave himſelfe, as a Prince that were not well ſetled in his government, and durſt not offend nor diſpleaſe any party, nor take knowledge of their inſolent and rebellious proceedings. When men that tempt God, and never pray for any thing before hand, nor thank him for it, when they have it, and yet ſweat in their abundances, when the children of God ſtarve for their crummes, we are dejected. But David found a reſurrection in this cafe, and a ſtrange one, which was, that he could bie downe and ſteepe in peace; his reſurrection was,Pſal. 4.8. Dediſti laetitiam in corde, Thou haſt put gladneſſe into my heart, more then in the time that their corne, and their wine increaſed. If all Gods promifes be not preſently performed unto us, temporall ſupplies in all temporall wants, ſpirituall ſupplies in all ſpirituall diſtreſſes preſently adminiſtred, wee are dejected. But Abraham had a reſurrection in this caſe; when God had ſaid to him, In Iſaac vocabitur ſemen tuum, In Iſaac ſhall all Nations be bleſſed, and then had commanded him to ſtop up that fountaine, to dig up that foundation, to pull up that root of all this univerſall bleſſing, to ſacrifice that very Iſaac, yet Abraham erected himſelfe,Heb. 11.19. onelyonly with conſidering, That God was able to raiſe Iſaac from the dead. Hee left God to his owne will when hee would doe it, it was reſurrection enough to him, to eſtabliſh himſelfe in the aſſurance that God could doe it.
If thou be dejected and depreſſed with the waight of thy ſins, if the malediction, and curſes, and denunciations of Gods judgements againſt ſinners lie heavy upon thee, make haſt to thy reſurrection, raiſe thy ſelfe from it as faſt as thou canſt, for it is a grave that putrifies, and corrupts, and molders away a ſoule apace. Laetetur cor quaerentium Dominum, Pſal. 105.3.ſayes David; Thou art not in the right way of finding the Lord, if thou doe not finde a joy in the ſeeking of him; Though thou canſt not ſetle thy ſelfe in a ſenſe that thou haſt found him, yet thou haſt, if thou canſt find a holy melting, and joy in thy ſeeking of him. If the Angels bee come downe to deſtroy Sodome, If Ionas bee come to proclaime deſtruction to Nineveh, wilt thou make thy ſelfe beleeve that thou art a Citizen of Sodom, an inhabitant of Nineveh, and muſt neceſſarily be wrapped up in that deſtruction? If David ſay, Non ſic impii, non ſic, The wicked ſhall not ſtand in judgement, wilt thou needs be one of them? As a wiſe, and a diſcreet man will never beleeve that he that writes a Satyr, meanes him, though he touch upon his vices, ſo whatſoever the Prophets ſay, of an averſion, and obduration in God, againſt ſinners, yet they meane not thee, nor doe thou aſſume it, in an inevitableneſſe upon thy ſelfe. The Angel of God, the Spirit of God ſhall deale with thee, as he did with Lot in Sodom; He told Lot overnight,Gen. 19.12. that he would burne the City, and bad him prepare; God ſhall give thee ſome grudgings, before he exalt thy fever, and warne thee to conſider thy ſtate, and conſult with thy ſpirituall Phyſitian; The Angel called him up in the morning, and then haſtned him, and when he prolonged, ſayes the Text, The Angel caught him, and carried him forth, and ſet him without the City. Becauſe, though there was no cooperation in Lot, yet there was no reſiſting neither, God was pleaſed to doe all; So in this death of diffidence, and ſenſe of Gods fearefull judgements, God opens thy grave now, and now he calls to thee, Lazare veni for as, Come forth Lazarus, and hee offers his hand to pull thee out now,Ioſh. 1.6. OnelyOnly Comfortare & eſto robuſtus, as God ſaid to Ioſhuah, Bee ſtrong and have a good courage, and as God addes there, Comfortare & eſto robuſtus valde, Multiply thy courage, and God ſhall multiply thy ſtrength, in all dejections have a cheerefull apprehenſion of thy reſurrection, and thou ſhalt have it, nay thou haſt it.
But this death of deſperation, or diffidence in Gods mercy, by Gods mercy hath ſwallowed none of us, but the death of ſinne hath ſwallowed us all, and for our owne cuſtomary ſinnes we all need a reſurrection: And what is that? Reſurrectio à peccato, & ceſſatio à peccato, Durand.non eſt idem; Every ceſſation from ſin, is not a reſurrection from ſinne. A man may diſcontinue a ſinne, intermit the practiſe of a ſin, by infirmity of the body, or by ſatiety in the ſinne, or by the abſence of that perſon, with whom he hath uſed to communicate in that ſin.Damaſc. But Reſurrectio, eſt ſecunda ejus, quod interiit, ſtatio. A Reſurrection is ſuch an abſtinence from the practiſe of the ſin, as is grounded upon a repentance, and a deteſtation of the ſin, and then it is a ſetling, and an eſtabliſhing of the ſoule in that ſtate, and diſpoſition: It is not a ſudden and tranſitory remorſe, nor onelyonly a reparation of that which was ruined, and demoliſhed, but it is a building up of habits contrary to former habits, and cuſtomes, in actions contrary to that ſin, that we have been accuſtomed to. Elſe it is but an Intermiſſion, not a Reſurrection; but a ſtarting, not a waking; but an apparition, not a living body; but a ceſſation, not a peace of conſcience.
Now this Reſurrection is begun, and well advanced in Baptiſmate lachrymarum, In the baptiſme of true and repentant teares. But, Beloved, as S. Paul in this place, hath a relation Ad baptiſmum clinicorum, to death-bed-baptiſts, death-bed-Chriſtians, to them that defer their Baptiſme to their death, but he gives no allowance of it; So this Baptiſma clinicorum, this repentance upon the death-bed, is a dangerous delay. Even of them, I will ſay with S. Paul here, If there were no Reſurrection, no need to riſe from ſin by repentance, why are they then thus baptized, pro mortuis? why doe they repent, when they are as good as dead, and have no more to ſuffer in this world? But if there be ſuch a reſurrection, a neceſſity of ſuch a Baptiſme by repentance, why come they no ſooner to it? For is any man ſure to have it, or ſure to have a deſire to it then? It is never impertinent to repeat S. Auguſtines words in this caſe, Etiam hac animadverſione percutitur peccator, ut moriens obliviſcatur ſui, qui dum viveret, oblitus eſt Dei; God begins a dying mans condemnation at this, That as he forgot God in his life, ſo he ſhall forget himſelfe at his death. Compare thy temporall, and thy ſpirituall ſtate together, and conſider how they may both ſtand well at that day. If thou have ſet thy ſtate in order, and made a Will before, and have nothing to doe at laſt, but to adde a Codicil, this is ſoone diſpatched at laſt; But if thou leave all till then, it may prove a heavy buſineſſe. So if thou have repented before, and ſetled thy ſelfe in a religious courſe before, and have nothing to doe then, but to wraſtle with the power of the diſeaſe, and the agonies of death, God ſhall fight for thee in that weake eſtate; God ſhall imprint in thee a Cupio diſſolvi, S. Pauls, not onelyonly contentedneſſe, but deſire to be diſſolved; And God ſhall give thee a glorious Reſurrection, yea an Aſcenſion into Heaven before thy death, and thou ſhalt ſee thy ſelfe in poſſeſſion of his eternall Kingdome, before thy bodily eyes be ſhut. Be therefore S. Cyprians Peripatetique, and not his Clinique Chriſtian; A walking, and not a bed-rid Chriſtian; That when thou haſt walked with God, as Henoch did, thou maiſt be taken with God, as Henoch was, and ſo walke with the Lamb, as the Saints doe in Jeruſalem, and follow him whitherſoever hee goes; That even thy death-bed may bee as Elias Chariot, to carry thee to heaven; And as the bed of the Spouſe in the Canticles, which was Lectus floridus, a greene and flouriſhing bed, where thou maiſt find by a faithfull apprehenſion, that thy ſickneſſe hath crowned thee with a crowne of thornes, by participation of the ſufferings of thy Saviour, and that thy patience hath crowned thee with that crowne of glory, which the Lord the righteous Judge ſhall impart to thee that day.