Eighty Sermons, Whitsunday · Sermon 28
SERMON XXVIII. Preached at S. Pauls, upon Whitſunday. 1627.
JOHN 14.26.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghoſt, whom the Father will ſend in my Name, Hee ſhall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatſoever I have ſaid unto you.
THis day is this Scripture fulfilled in your cares, ſaith our Saviour Chriſt, having read for his Text, that place of Eſay, Eſay 61.1.The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. And that day which we celebrate now, was another Scripture fulfilled in their eares, and in their eyes too; For all Chriſts promiſes are Scripture; They have all the Infallibility of Scripture; And Chriſt had promiſed, that that Spirit which was upon him, when he preached, ſhould alſo be ſhed upon all his Apoſtles. And upon this day he performed that promiſe, when,Acts 2.1. They being all with one accord, in one place, there came a ſound from heaven, as of a ruſhing mighty winde, and filled the houſe, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it ſate upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghoſt. And this very particular day, in which we now commemorate, and celebrate that performance of Chriſts promiſe, in that Miſſion of the Holy Ghoſt upon the Apoſtles, are all theſe Scriptures performed again, in our eares, and eyes, and in our hearts; For in all thoſe Congregations that meet this day, to this purpoſe, every Preacher hath ſo much of this Vnction (which Vnction is Chriſt) upon him, as that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him, and hath anointed him to that ſervice; And every Congregation, and every good perſon in the Congregation, hath ſo much of the Apoſtle upon him, as that he feeles This Spirit of the Lord, this Holy Ghoſt, as he is this cloven tongue, that ſets one ſtemme in his eare, and the other in his heart, one ſtemme in his faith, and the other in his manners, one ſtemme in his preſent obedience, and another in his perſeverance, one to rectifie him in the errours of life, another to eſtabliſh him in the agonies of death; For the Holy Ghoſt, as he is a Cloven tongue, opens as a Compaſſe, that reaches over all our Map, over all our World, from our Eaſt to our Weſt, from our birth to our death, from our cradle to our grave, and directs us for all things, to all perſons, in all places, and at all times; The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghoſt, whom the Father will ſend in my Name, he ſhall teach you all things, &c.
The bleſſed Spirit of God then, the Holy Ghoſt, the third perſon in the Trinity,Diviſio. (and yet, not Third ſo, as that either Second or Firſt, Son or Father, were one minute before him in that Co-eternity, that enwraps them all alike) this Holy Ghoſt is here deſigned by Chriſt, in his Perſon, and in his Operation; Who he is, and what he does; From whence he comes, and why he comes; And theſe two, Hee, and His office, will conſtitute our two parts in this text. In the firſt of which, (which will be the exerciſe of this day) we ſhall direct you upon theſe ſeverall Conſiderations: Firſt, that the Perſon deſigned for this Miſſion, and true Conſolation, is the Holy Ghoſt; You ſhall not be without comfort, ſaies Chriſt; But miſtake not falſe comforts for true, nor deceitfull comforters for faithfull; It is the Holy Ghoſt, or it is none; His Comfort, or no comfort, Him the Father will ſend, ſais Chriſt, in a ſecond branch; though the Holy Ghoſt be God, equall to the Father, and ſo have all Miſſions, and Commiſſions in his owne hand, yet he applies himſelfe, accommodates himſelfe to order, and he comes when he hath a Miſſion from the Father: and this Father, ſaies Chriſt, (which is a third branch in this part) ſends him in my name; Though he have as good intereſt in the name of Adonai, which is all our Powerfull name, and in the name of Ieh…vah, which is all our Eſſentiall name, as I, or my Father have, (the holy Ghoſt is as much Adonai, and as much Ichovah, as we are) yet he is ſent in my Name, that is, to proceed in my way, to perfect my worke, and to accompliſh that Redemption, by way of Application, which I had wrought, by way of Satisfaction.
And then laſtly, that which qualifies him for this Miſſion, for this Imployment, is his Title, and Addition in this Text, That he is the Comforter; Diſcomfortable doctrines (of a primary impoſſibility of Salvation, to any man, And that impoſſibility originally rooted in God, and in Gods hating of that man, and hating of that man, not onelyonly before he was a ſinfull man, but before he was any man at all, not onelyonly before an actuall making, but before any intention to make him in Gods minde; That God cannot ſave that man, becauſe he meant to damne him, before he meant to make him) are not the way, in which the Holy Ghoſt is ſent by the Father, in the Sons Name; For they that ſent him, and he that comes, intend all that is done, in that capacity, as he is a Comforter, as he is the Comforter. And this is the Perſon, and this will be the extent of our firſt part; It is the Holy Ghoſt; No deceiving Spirit. He, though as high as the Higheſt, reſpects order, attends a Miſſion, ſtaies till he be ſent. And thirdly, he comes in anothers name, in anothers way, to perfect anothers worke. And he does all, in the quality and denomination of a Comforter, not eſtabliſhing, not countenancing any diſcomfortable Doctrines.
Firſt then,1. Part. Spiritus ſanctus. the Perſon into whoſe hands this whole worke is here recommended, is the Holy Ghoſt, The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghoſt. The manifeſtation of the myſterle of the Trinity was reſerved for Chriſt. Some intimations in the Old, but the publication only in the New Teſtament; Some irradiations in the Law, but the illuſtration onelyonly in the Goſpell; Some emanation of beames, as of the Sun before it is got above the Horizon, in the Prophets, but the glorious proceeding thereof, and the attaining to a Meridianall height, only in the Euangeliſts. And then, the doctrine of the Trinity, thus reſerved for the time of the Goſpell, at that time was thus declared; So God loved the World, as that he ſent his Son; So the Son loved the World, as that he would come into it, and die for it; So the Holy Ghoſt loved the World, as that he would dwell in it, and inable men, in his Miniſtery, and by his gifts, to apply this mercy of the Father, and this merit of the Son, to particular ſouls, and to whole Congregations. The mercy of the Father, that he would ſtudy ſuch a way for the Redemption of our ſouls, as the death of his only Son, (a way which no man would ever have thought of, of himſelf, nor might have prayed for, if he could have imagined it) this Mercy of the Father is the object of our Thankfulneſs. The Merit of the Son, That into a man but of our nature, and equall to us in infirmities, there ſhould be ſuperinfuſed ſuch another nature, ſuch a divinity, as that any act of that Perſon, ſo compoſed of thoſe two natures, ſhould be even in the rigour of Juſtice, a ſufficient ranſome for all the ſins of all the Werld, is the object of our admiration. But the object of our conſolation (which is the ſubject of this Text) is this, That the Holy Ghoſt, by his preſence, and by inanimating the Ordinances of Chriſt, in the Miniſtery of the Goſpell, applies this mercy, and this merit to me, to thee, to every ſoul that anſwers his motions.
In that Contract that paſt between Solomon and Hiram, for commerce and trade between their Nations,1 K…g. 5. That Solomon ſhould ſend him Corne and Oyle, and Hiram ſhould ſend him Cedar, and other rich materials for Building, that people of God received an honor, and an aſſurance, in that preſent Contract, for future trade and commerce. So did the World, in that Contract, which paſt betweene the Father and the Son, That the Father ſhould ſend downe God, and the World ſhould deliver up Man, The nature of Man to be aſſumed by that Son, and ſo a Redemption ſhould be wrought after, in the fulneſſe of Time. And then, in the performance of this Contract, when Hiram ſent downe thoſe rich materials from Libanon to the Sea, and by Sea in Flotes, to the place aſſigned,Ver. 9. where Solomon received them, that people of God received a reall profit, in that actuall performance of that, which was but in contract before. So did the World too, when in the fulneſſe of Time, and in the place aſſigned by God in the Prophet Micah, which was Bethlem, the Son of God came in our fleſh, and after dyed for us; His Blood was the Subſtance, the Materials of our ranſome, and actually, and really delivered, and depoſited for us; which was the performance of the former Contract between his Father, and him. But then was the dignity of that people of God accompliſht, when thoſe rich Materials, ſo ſent, were really imploied in the building of the Temple; when the Altar, and the Oracle, were cloathed with that Gold; when the Cherubim, and the Olive-Trees, and the other Figures were made of that rich ſtuffe, which was provided; when certaine chiefe Officers, and three thouſand three hundred under-Officers,Ver. 15. Ver. 14. were appointed to over-ſee the Work, and ten thouſand that attended by monthly courſes, and ſeaven ſcore & ten thouſand, that were alwaies reſident upon the Work. And ſo is our comfort accompliſht to us, when the Holy Ghoſt diſtributes theſe materials, the Blood, and the Merits of Chriſt, upon ſeverall Congregations, and that by his higher Officers, Reverend and Vigilant Biſhops, and others that have part in the Government of the Church, and then, by thoſe, who like Solomons ten thouſand, performed the ſervice by monthly courſes, and thoſe, who like his ſeaven ſcore and ten thouſand, are alwayes reſident upon fixt places, that ſalvation of ſoules, ſo decreed at firſt by the Father, and ſo accompliſhed after by the Son, is, by the Holy Ghoſt, ſhed, and ſpred upon particular men.
When, as the world began in a community, that every thing was every bodies, but improved it ſelfe, to a propriety, and came to a Meum & Tuum, that every man knew his owne; ſo, that which is Salus Domini, The Salvation of the Lord, as it is in the firſt Decree, and that which is Salus Mundi, The Salvation of the World, as it is in the accompliſhment of the Decree by Chriſt, may be Mea, & Tua, My Salvation, and thy Salvation, as it is applyed by the Holy Ghoſt, in the Miniſtry of the Church. Salvation in the Decree, is as the Bezar ſtone in the maw of that creature; there it growes. Salvation in Chriſts death, is as that Bezar in the Merchants, or Apothecaries proviſion; But ſalvation in the Church, in the diſtribution, and application thereof, by the Holy Ghoſt, is as that Bezar working in my veines, expelling my peccant humours, and rectifying my former defects.
The laſt work, the Seale, and Conſummation of all, is of the Holy Ghoſt. And therefore, as the Manifeſtation of the whole Trinity ſeemes to have been reſerved for Chriſt, ſo Chriſt ſeemes to have reſerved the Manifeſtation of the Holy Ghoſt, for his laſt Doctrine. For this is the laſt Sermon that Chriſt preached; And this is a Sermon recorded only by that laſt Euangeliſt, who, as he conſidered the Divine Nature of Chriſt, more then the reſt did, and ſo took it higher, ſo did he alſo conſider the future ſtate, and ſucceſſion of the Church, more then the reſt did, and ſo carried it lower. For, S. Iohn was a Prophet, as well as an Euangeliſt. Therefore in this laſt, and laſting Euangeliſt, and in this laſt Sermon, Chriſt declares this laſt work, in this world, that is, the Conſummation of our Redemption, in the application of the Holy Ghoſt. For herein conſiſts our comfort, that it is He, the Holy Ghoſt, that miniſters this comfort.
Chriſt had told them before, that there ſhould be a Comforter ſent;Ver. 16. But he did not tell them then, that that Comforter was the Holy Ghoſt. Here he does; at laſt he does; and he ends all in that; that we might end and determine our comfort in that too, This God gives me, by the Holy Ghoſt. For we miſtake falſe comforts for true. We comfort our ſelves in things, that come not at all from God; in things which are but vanities, and conduce not all to any true comfort. And we comfort our ſelves in things, which, though they doe come from God, yet are not ſigned, nor ſealed by the Holy Ghoſt. For, Wealth, and Honour, and Power, and Favour, are of God; but we have but ſtolne them from God, or received them by the hand of the Devil, if we be come to them by ill meanes. And if we have them from the hand of God, by having acquired them by good meanes, yet if we make them occaſions of ſin, in the ill uſe of them after, we loſe the comfort of the Holy Ghoſt, which requires the teſtimony of a rectified conſcience, that all was well got, and is well uſed. Therefore as Chriſt puts the Origination of our Redemption upon the Father, (I came but to doe my Fathers will) and as he takes the execution of that Decree upon himſelfe, (I am the way, and the truth, and the life, and the Reſurrection; I am all) ſo he puts the comfort of all, upon the Holy Ghoſt: Diſcomfort, and Diſconſolation, Sadneſſe and Dejection, Damnation, and Damnation aggravated, and this aggravated Damnation multiplied upon that ſoule, that findes no comfort in the Holy Ghoſt.
If I have no Adventure in an Eaſt-Indian Returne, though I be not the richer, yet neither am I poorer then I was, for that. But if I have no comfort from the Holy Ghoſt, I am worſe, then if all mankinde had been left in the Putrifaction of Adams loynes, and in the condemnation of Adams ſin. For then, I ſhould have had but my equall part in the common miſery; But now having had that extraordinary favour, of an offer of the Holy Ghoſt, if I feele no comfort in that, I muſt have an extraordinary condemnation. The Father came neare me, when he breathed the breath of life into me, and gave me my fleſh. The Son came neare me, when he took my fleſh upon him, and laid downe his life for me. The Holy Ghoſt is alwaies neare me, alwaies with me; with me now, if now I ſhed any drops of his dew, his Manna upon you; With me anon, if anon I turne any thing that I ſay to you now, to good nouriſhment in my ſelfe then, and doe then, as I ſay now; With me when I eate, or drink, to ſay Grace at my meale, and to bleſſe Gods Bleſſings to me; With me in my ſleep, to keep out the Tempter from the fancy, and imagination, which is his proper Sceane, and Spheare, That he triumph not in that, in ſuch dreames as may be effects of ſin, or cauſes of ſin, or ſins themſelves. The Father is a Propitious Perſon; The Son is a Meritorious Perſon; The Holy Ghoſt is a Familiar Perſon; The Heavens muſt open, to ſhew me the Son of Man at the right hand of the Father, as they did to Steven; But if I doe but open my heart to my ſelfe, I may ſee the Holy Ghoſt there, and in him, all that the Father hath Thought and Decreed, all that the Son hath Said and Done, and Suffered for the whole World, made mine. Accuſtome your ſelves therefore to the Contemplation, to the Meditation of this Bleſſed Perſon of the glorious Trinity; Keep up that holy cheerefulneſſe, which Chriſt makes the Ballaſt of a Chriſtian, and his Fraight too, to give him a rich Returne in the Heavenly Jeruſalem. Be alwayes comforted; and alwayes determine your comfort in the Holy Ghoſt; For that is Chriſts promiſe here, in this firſt Branch, A Comforter, which is the Holy Ghoſt; And Him (ſayes our ſecond Branch) the Father ſhall ſend.
There was a Miſſion of the Son,Miſſio. God ſent his Son. There was a Miſſion of the Holy Ghoſt; This day God ſent the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghoſt. But betweene theſe two Miſſions, that of the Son, and this of the holy Ghoſt, we conſider this difference, that the firſt, the ſending of the Son, was without any merit preceding; There could be nothing but the meere mercy of God, to move God to ſend his Son. Man was ſo far from meriting that, that (as we ſaid before) he could not, nor might, if he could, have wiſht it. But for this ſecond Miſſion, the ſending of the holy Ghoſt, there was a preceding merit. Chriſt, by his dying had merited, that mankinde, who by the fall of Adam, had loſt, (as S. Auguſt. ſpeaks) Poſsibilitatem boni, All poſſibilitie of Redintegration, ſhould, not only be reſtored to a poſſibility of Salvation, but that actually, that that was done, ſhould be purſued farther, and that by this Miſſion, and Operation of the holy Ghoſt, actually, really, effectually, men ſhould be ſaved. So that, as the work of our Redemption fals under our conſideration, that is, not in the Decree, but in the execution of the Decree, in this Miſſion of the holy Ghoſt into the World, Man hath ſo far an intereſt, (not any particular man, but Man, as all Mankind was in Chriſt) as that we may truly ſay, The holy Ghoſt was due to us.Lu… 24. And as Chriſt ſaid of himſelfe, Nonne haec oportuit pati? Ought not Chriſt to ſuffer all this? Was not Chriſt bound to all this, by the Contract betweene him and his Father? to which Contract himſelfe had a Privity; it was his owne Act; He ſigned it; He ſealed it; ſo we may ſay, Nonne hunc oportuit mitti? Ought not the holy Ghoſt to be ſent? Had not Chriſt merited that the holy Ghoſt ſhould be ſent, to perfect the worke of the Redemption? So that, in ſuch a reſpect, and in ſuch a holy and devout ſenſe we may ſay, that the holy Ghoſt is more ours, then either of the other Perſons of the Trinity; Becauſe, though Chriſt be ſo ours, as that he is our ſelves, the ſame nature, and fleſh, and blood, The holy Ghoſt is ſo ours, as that we, we in Chriſt, Chriſt in our nature merited the holy Ghoſt, purchaſed the holy Ghoſt, bought the holy Ghoſt; Which is a ſanctified Simony, and hath a faire, and a pious truth in it, We, we in Chriſt, Chriſt in our nature, bought the holy Ghoſt, that is, merited the holy Ghoſt.
Chriſt then was ſo ſent,A Patre. as that, till we conſider the Contract, (which was his owne Act) there was no Oportuit pati, no obligation upon him, that he muſt have been ſent. The Holy Ghoſt was ſo ſent, as that the Merit of Chriſt, (of Chriſt, who was Man, as well as God) which was the Act of another, required, and deſerved that he ſhould bee ſent. Therefore he was ſent A Patre, By the Father. Now, not ſo by the Father, as not by the Son too; For, there is an Ego mittam, If I depart, I will ſend him unto you. But,Iohn 16.7. cleane thorough Chriſts Hiſtory, in all his proceedings, ſtill you may obſerve, that he aſcribes all that he does, as to his Superiour, to his Father; though in one Capacity, as he was God, he were equall to the Father, yet to declare the meekeneſſe and the humility of his Soule, ſtill he makes his recourſe to his inferiour ſtate, and to his lower nature, and ſtill aſcribes all to his Father: Thouh he might ſay, and doe ſay there, I will ſend him, yet every where, the Father enters; I will ſend him, ſaies he; Whom?Luke 24.49. I will ſend the Promiſe of my Father. Still the Father hath all the glory, and Chriſt ſinks downe to his inferiour ſtate, and lower nature.
In the World it is far otherwiſe; Here, men for the moſt part, doe all things according to their greateſt capacity; If they be Biſhops, if they be Counſellors, if they be Juſtices, nay if they be but Conſtables, they will doe every thing according to that capacity; As though that authority, confined to certaine places, limited in certaine perſons, and determined in certaine times, gave them alwaies the ſame power, in all actions; And, becauſe to ſome purpoſes hee may be my ſuperiour, he will be my equall no where in nothing. Chriſt ſtill withdrew himſelfe to his lower capacity; And, howſoever worldly men engroſſe the thanks of the world to themſelves, Chriſt caſt all the honour of all the benefits that he beſtowed upon others, upon his Father; And in his Veruntamen, (Yet not my will, but thine O Father be done) He humbled himſelfe, as low as David in his Non nobis Dominc, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name be all glory given. They would have made him King; He would not; and Judge, to divide the Inheritance; and he would not. He ſent the Holy Ghoſt; And yet, he ſaies, I will pray the Father to ſend him. So the Holy Ghoſt was ſent by them both; Father and Son; But not ſo, as that he was ſubject to a joynt command of both, or to a diverſe command of either, or that he came unwillingly, or had not a hand even in his owne ſending. But, howſoever he were perfect God, and had alwales an abſolute power in himſelfe, and had ever a deſire to aſſiſt the ſalvation of man, yet he ſubmitted himſelfe to the Order of the Decree; He diſordered nothing, prevented nothing, anticipated nothing, but ſtaid, till all that which lay upon Chriſt, from his Incarnation, to his Aſcenſion, was executed, and then in the due and appointed time, iſſued his Miſſion.
It is a bleſſed Termination, Miſsion; It determines and ends many words in our Language;Miſſio. as Permiſsion, Commiſsion, Remiſsion, and others, which may afford good inſtruction, that as the Holy Ghoſt, did for his, ſo we may be content to ſtay Gods leaſure, for all thoſe Miſsions. A conſideration, which, I preſume, S. Bernard, who evermore embraced all occaſions of exalting devotion from the melodious fall of words, would not have let paſſe; Nor S. Auguſtine, for all his holy and reverend gravity, would have thought Nimis juvenile, Too light a conſideration to have inſiſted upon. And therefore I may have leave, to ſtay your meditations a little, upon this Termination, theſe Miſſions.
You may have a Permiſsion; Many things are with ſome circumſtances Permitted, Permiſſio. Mat. 19.8.which yet in diſcretion are better forborne. Moſes permitted divorces, but that was for the hardneſſe of their hearts; and Chriſt withdrew that Permiſsion. S. Paul ſaies, he had a Permiſsion; Liberty to forbeare working with his owne hands,1 Cor. 9.6. and ſo to live upon the Church; but yet he did not. What Permiſsion ſoever thou have, by which thou maiſt lawfully eaſe thy ſelfe, yet forbeare, till thou ſee, that the glory of God, and the good of other men, may be more advanced by the uſe, then by the forbearance of that indulgence, and that Permiſsion, and afford not thy ſelfe all the liberty that is afforded thee, but in ſuch caſes. The Holy Ghoſt ſtaid ſo for his Miſsion; ſo ſtay thou for the exerciſe of thy Permiſsion.
Thou maiſt have a Commiſsion too; In that of the Peace,Commiſſio. in that for Eccleſiaſticall cauſes, thou maiſt have part. But be not haſty in the execution of theſe Commiſſions; Come to an Inquiſition upon another man; ſo as thou wouldſt wiſh God to enquire into thee. Satan had a Commiſsion upon Iob; but he procured it ſo indirectly, on his part, by falſe ſuggeſtions againſt him, and executed it ſo uncharitably, as that he was as guilty of wrong and oppreſſion, as if he had had no Commiſsion. Thou canſt not aſſiſt in the execution of thoſe Commiſsions, of which thou art, till thou have taken the oathes of Supremacie, and of Allegeance to thy Soveraigne. Do it not, till thou have ſworne all that, to thy Super-ſoveraigne, to thy God, That in all thy proceedings, his glory, and his will, and not thine owne paſſion, or their purpoſes, upon whom thou dependeſt, ſhall be thy rule. The holy Ghoſt ſtaid for his Miſsion; ſtay thou for thy Commiſsion, till it be ſealed over againe in thine owne boſome; ſealed on one ſide, with a cleereneſſe of underſtanding, and on the other, with a rectitude of conſcience; that thou know what thou ſhouldſt doe, and doe that.
There is alſo a Remiſsion; Remiſſio.a Remiſsion of ſins. It is an Article of Faith, therefore beleeve it. Beleeve it originally, and meritoriouſly in Chriſt; and beleeve it inſtrumentally, and miniſterially in the power, conſtituted by Chriſt, in the Church. But beleeve it not too haſtily, in the execution and in the application thereof to thine owne caſe. A tranſitory ſin, a ſin that ſpent a few minutes in the doing thereof, was by the penitentiall Canons, (which were the rule of the Primitive Church) puniſhed with many yeares penance. And doeſt thou thinke, to have Remiſſion of thy ſeventy yeares ſins, for one ſigh, one groane, then, when that ſigh, and that groane may be more in contemplation of the torment due to that ſin, then for the ſin it ſelfe; Nay more, that thou canſt ſinne that ſin no longer, then for that ſin? Haſt thou ſought thy Remiſsion at the Church, that is,Auguſt. in Gods Ordinances eſtabliſhed in the Church? In qua remittuntur, extra quam non remittuntur peccata, In which Ordinances, there is an Infallibility of Remiſsion, upon true repentance, and in a contempt or neglect of which Ordinances, all Repentance is illuſory, and all Remiſſion but imaginary.Hieron. For, Quodammodo ante diem Iudicii, judicant, God refers cauſes to the Church, to be prepared, and mature there, before the great Hearing; and ſo, hath given the Church a Power to judge, before the day of Judgement. And therefore,Auguſt. Nemo ſibi dicat, occultè ago, apud Deum ago, Let no man ſay, I repent in ſecret; God ſees that I repent; It was ſcarce in ſecret, that thou didſt ſin; and wilt thou repent but in ſecret? At leaſt let us know thy repentance by the amendment of thy life, and wee ſhall not much preſſe the knowing of it any other way. OnelyOnly remember that the holy Ghoſt ſtaid for his Miſsion; Preſume not thou of thy Remiſsion, till thou have done, not onelyonly ſomething towards it, that might induce it from God, that is, Repentance, but ſomething by it, that may teſtifie it to man, that is, amendment of life.
There is a Manumiſsion alſo,Manumiſſion. an emancipation, an enfranchiſement from the tyranny, from the thraldome of ſin. That which ſome Saints of God, particularly S. Paul, have importuned at Gods hand, ſo vehemently, ſo impatiently, as he did, to be delivered from the meſſenger of Satan, and from the provocations of the fleſh, expreſt with that paſſion, O wretched man that I am, Rom. 7.22.who ſhall deliver me from the body of this death? He comes immediately there to a thankſgiving, I thanke God, through Ieſus Chriſt our Lord; But his thankſgiving was not for a Manumiſſion; hee had not received a deliverance from the power, and oppreſſſion of tentation; But he had here, as he had every where, an intimation from the Spirit of God, of that Gratia mea ſufficit, That God would be as watchfull over him with his grace, as the Devill could be with his tentations. And if thou come to no farther Manumiſsion then this, in this life, that is, to be delivered, though not from tentations by his power, yet in tentations, by his grace, or by his mercy, after tentations have prevailed upon thee, attend Gods leaſure for thy farther Manumiſsion, for the holy Ghoſt ſtaid for his Miſsion.
There fals laſtly into this harmonious conſort,Diſmiſſio. occaſioned by this Miſsion of the Holy Ghoſt, a Diſmiſsion; A diſmiſſing out of this world; Not onelyonly in Simeons Nunc dimittis, To be content that we might, but in S. Pauls Cupio diſſolvi, To have a deſire that we might be diſſolved, and be with Chriſt. But, whether the incumbrances of this World,Pſal. 120.5. extort from thee Davids groane, Heu mihi! Woe is me, that I ſo journe ſo long here! Or a ſlipperineſſe contracted by former habits of ſin, make every thing a tentation to thee, ſo that thou canſt not performe Iobs covenant with thine eyes, of not looking upon a maid, nor ſtop at Chriſts period, which is, Looke, but doe not luſt, but that every thing is a tentation to thee, and to be out of this haile-ſhot, this batrery of tentations, thou wouldſt faine come to a diſmiſſion, to a diſſolution, to a tranſmigration, Or whether a vehement deſire of the fruition of the preſence and face of God in Heaven, conſtitute this longing in thee, yet all theſe reaſons ariſe in thy ſelfe, and determine in thy ſelfe, and are referred but to thine owne eaſe, and to thine owne happineſſe, and not primarily, to the glory of God, and therefore, ſince the Holy Ghoſt ſtaid for his Miſsion, ſtay thou for thy Diſmiſsion too.
Gather up theſe ſcattered eares, and binde up this looſe ſheafe; Recollect theſe pieces of this branch. The Holy Ghoſt was ſent by the Son, but the Son, in his exemplar humility, aſcribes all to the Father. The Holy Ghoſt had abſolute power to come at his pleaſure, but he ſtaid the order of the Decree, and Gods leaſure for his Miſsion. Doe thou ſo too, for thy Permiſsion, exerciſe not all thy liberty; And for thy Commiſsion, execute not all thy authority; And for thy Remiſsion, preſume not upon thy pardon too ſoon; And for thy Manumiſsion, hope not for an exemption from tentations, till death; And for thy Diſmiſsion, practice not, nay wiſh not thy death, only in reſpect of thine own eaſe, no, nor only in reſpect of thine own ſalvation. In this act of the Holy Ghoſt, That he ſtaid his Miſsion, we have one inſtruction, that we relie not upon our ſelves, but accommodate our ſelves to the diſpoſition of others; And then another in the next, That the Father ſhould ſend him in the Sons name, The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghoſt, whom the Father will ſend in my Name.
The Holy Ghoſt comes not ſo in anothers name, as that he hath not a full intereſt,In nomine meo. in all the names of Power, and of Wiſdome, and of Eſſence it ſelf, that are attributed to God. For (not to extend to the particular attributes) the Radicall name, the name of Eſſence, That name, The name, Iehovah, is given to the Holy Ghoſt. Iehovah ſayes to Eſay, Go, and tell this people, this and this. And then S. Paul making uſe of thoſe words in the Acts, ſayes, Well ſaid the Holy Ghoſt by the Prophet Eſay; So that Eſayes Iehovah, Eſay 6.9. Acts 28.5.is S. Pauls Holy Ghoſt. And yet, the Holy Ghoſt being in poſſeſſion of the higheſt names, and of the higheſt power implyed in thoſe names, comes in the name of another. How much more then may the powerfulleſt men upon earth, the greateſt Magiſtrates, the greateſt Monarchs, (who though they be by God himſelf called gods, are but repreſentative gods, but metaphoricall gods, and God knows, ſometimes but ungodly gods) confeſſe, that they are ſent in anothers name, inanimated with anothers power, and leaſt of all, their own, or made that that they are, for themſelves? How much more are we, we conſidered in nature, and not in office, men and not Magiſtrates, Wormes and not men, Serpents and not Wormes, (For we are (as S. Chryſoſtome ſpeaks) Spontanei daemones, Serpents in our own boſomes, devils in our own loynes) bound to confeſſe, that all the faculties of our ſoul, are in us, In nomine alieno, In the name of another?
That will, which we call Freewill, is ſo far from being ours, as that not only that Freedome, but that Will it ſelf is from another, from God. Not only the rectitude of the faculty, but the faculty it ſelf is his. Nay, though God have no part in the perverſneſſe and the obliquity of my will, but that that perverſneſſe, and that obliquity are intirely mine own, yet I could not have that perverſneſſe, and that obliquity, but from him, ſo far, as that that faculty, in which my perverſneſſe works, is his, and I could not have that perverſe will from my ſelf, if I had not that will it ſelf from God firſt. And that very perverſneſſe, and obliquity of the will, is ſo much his, as that, though it were not his, but mine, in the making, yet when it is made by me, he makes it his; that is, he makes it his inſtrument, and makes his uſe of it, ſo far, as to ſuffer it to flow out into a greater ſin, or to determine in a leſſer ſin, then at firſt I, in my perverſneſſe, intended. When I intended but an approach to a ſin, and meant to ſtop there, to puniſh that expoſing of my ſelf to tentation, God ſuffers me to proceed to the act of that ſin; And when I intend the act it ſelf, God interrupts me, and cuts me off, by ſome intervening occaſion, and determines me upon ſome approach to that ſin, that by going ſo far in the way of that ſin, I might ſee mine own infirmity, and ſee the power of his mercy, that I went no farther. The faculties of my ſoule are his, and the ſubſtance of my ſoul is his too; And yet, as I pervert the faculties, I ſubvert the ſubſtance; I damnifie the faculties, but I damne the ſubſtance it ſelf.
It would taſte of uncharitableneſſe, to caſt more coales of fire upon the devill himſelf, then are upon him in hell now; Or not to aſſiſt him with our prayers, if it were not declared to us, that he is incapable of mercy. If the devill were now but under the guiltineſſe of that ſin which he committed at firſt, and not under ſuch an execution of judgement for that ſin, as induced, or at leaſt declared an obſtination, an obduration, a deſperation, and impenitibleneſſe, if the devill were but as the worſt ſinner in this world can be, but In via, and not In exilio, In the way to deſtruction, and not under deſtruction it ſelf, we might pray for the devill himſelf. And theſe poore ſouls of ours, theſe glorious ſouls of ours, none of ours, but Gods own ſouls, which now at worſt, God loves better then ever he did the devill when he was at beſt, when he was an Angell uncorrupted, and better then he doth thoſe Angels which ſtand uncorrupted ſtil, (for he hath not taken the nature of Angels, but our nature upon him) we think thoſe ſouls our own, to do what we liſt with, and when we have uſurpt them, we damne them. As Pirates take other mens ſubjects, and then make them ſlaves, we uſurp the faculties of the ſoul, and call the will ours, we uſurp the ſoul it ſelf, and call it ours, and then deliver all to everlaſting bondage. Would the King ſuffer his picture to be uſed, as we uſe the Image of God in our ſoules? or his Hall to be uſed, as we uſe the Temple of the Holy Ghoſt, our Bodies? We have nothing but that which we have received; and when we come to think that our own, we have not that; For God will take all from that man, that ſacrifices to his own nets. When thou commeſt to Church, come in anothers name: When thou giveſt an Almes, give it in anothers name; that is, feele all thy devotion, and all thy charity to come from God; For, if it be not in his name, it will be in a worſe; Thy devotion will contract the name of hypocriſie, and thine Almes the name of Vain-glory.
The Holy Ghoſt came in anothers name, in Chriſts name; but not ſo, as Montanus, the Father of the Montaniſts, came in the Holy Ghoſts name. Montanus ſaid he was the Holy Ghoſt; The Holy Ghoſt did not pretend to be Chriſt. There is a man, the man of ſin, at Rome, that pretends to be Chriſt, to all uſes. And I would he would be content with that, and ſtop there, and not be a Hyper-Chriſtus, Above Chriſt, more then Chriſt. I would he would no more trouble the peace of Chriſtendome, no more occaſion the aſſaſſinating of Chriſtian Princes, no more binde the Chriſtian liberty, in forbidding Meats, and Marriage, no more ſlacken and diſſolve Chriſtian bands, by Diſpenſations, and Indulgences, then Chriſt did. But if he will needs be more, if he will needs have an addition to the name of Chriſt, let him take heed of that addition, which ſome are apt enough to give him, however he deſerve it, that he is Antichriſt.
Now in what ſenſe the Holy Ghoſt is ſaid to have come in the name of Chriſt, S. Baſil gives us one interpretation; that is, that one principall name of Chriſt belongs to the Holy Ghoſt. For Chriſt is Verbum, The Word, and ſo is the Holy Ghoſt, ſayes that Father, Quia interpres filii, ſicut filius patris, Becauſe as the Son manifeſted the Father, ſo the Holy Ghoſt manifeſts the Son; S. Auguſtine gives another ſenſe; Societas Patris & Filii, eſt Spiritus Sanctus, The Holy Ghoſt is the union of the Father and the Son. As the body is not the man, nor the ſoul is not the man, but the union of the ſoul and body, by thoſe ſpirits, through which, the ſoul exerciſes her faculties in the Organs of the body, makes up the man; ſo the union of the Father and Son to one another, and of both to us, by the Holy Ghoſt, makes up the body of the Chriſtian Religion. And ſo, this interpretation of S. Auguſtine, comes neare to the fulneſſe, in what ſenſe the Holy Ghoſt came in Chriſts name.John 17.12. For when Chriſt ſayes, I am come in my Fathers name, that was, to execute his Decree, to fulfill his Will, for the ſalvation of man, by dying; ſo when Chriſt ſayes here, the Holy Ghoſt ſhall come in my name, that is, to perfect my work, to collect and to govern that Church, in which my ſalvation, by way of ſatisfaction, may be appropriated to particular ſoules by way of application. And for this purpoſe, to do this in Chriſts name, his own name is Paracletus, The Comforter, which is our laſt circumſtance, The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghoſt.
The Comforter is an Euangelicall name.The Comforter. Athanaſius notes, that the Holy Ghoſt is never called Paracletus, The Comforter, in the old Teſtament. He is called Spiritus Dei, The Spirit of God, in the beginning of Geneſis; And he is called Spiritus ſanctus, The holy Spirit, and Spiritus principalis, The principall Spirit, in divers places of the Pſalmes, but never Paracletus, never the Comforter. A reaſon of that may well be, firſt, that the ſtate of the Law needed not comfort; and then alſo, that the Law it ſelf afforded not comfort, ſo there was no Comforter. Their Law was not oppoſed by any enemies, as enemies to their Law. If they had not (by that warrant which they had from God) invaded the poſſeſſion of their neighbours, or grown too great to continue good neighbours, their neighbours had not envyed them that Law. So that in the ſtate of the Law, in that reſpect, they were well enough, and needed no Comforter. Whereas the Goſpell, as it was ſowed in our Saviours blood, ſo it grew up in blood, for divers hundreds of yeares; and therefore needed the ſuſtentation, and the aſſurance of a Comforter. And then, for the ſubſtance of the Law, it was Lex interficiens, non perficiens, ſayes S. Auguſtine, A Law that told them what was ſin, and puniſht them if they did ſin, but could not conferre Remiſſion for ſin; which was a diſcomfortable caſe. Whereas the Goſpel, and the Diſpenſation of the Goſpel in the Church, by the Holy Ghoſt, is Grace, Mercy, Comfort, all the way, and in the end. Therefore Chriſt, v. 17. cals the Holy Ghoſt, Spiritum veritatis, The Spirit of truth; In which he oppoſes him, and preferres him, above all the remedies, and all the comforts of the Law. Not that the Holy Ghoſt in the Law, did not ſpeak truth, but that he did not ſpeak all the truth, in the Law. Origen expreſſes it well, The Types and Figures of the Law, were true Figures, and true Types of Chriſt, in the Goſpel; but Chriſt, and his Goſpel is the truth it ſelf, prefigured in thoſe Types. Therefore the Holy Ghoſt, is Paracletus, The Comforter, in the Goſpel, which he was not in the Law.
In the Records, and Stories, and ſo in the Coynes, and Medals of the Romane Emperours, we ſee, that even then, when they had gotten the poſſeſſion of the name of Emperours, yet they forbore not to adde to their ſtyle, the name of Conſul, and the name of Pontifex maximus; ſtill they would be called Conſuls, which was an acceptable name to the people, and High-Prieſts, which carried a reverence towards all the world. Where Chriſt himſelfe is called by a name appliable to none but Chriſt, by a name implying the whole nature, and merit of Chriſt, that is, The Propitiation of the ſins of the whole world, 1 John 2.2.yet there, in that place, he is called by the name of this Text too, Paracletus, the Comforter. He would not forbeare that ſweet, that acceptable, that appliable name, that name that concernes us moſt, and eſtabliſhes us beſt, Paracletus, the Comforter. And yet, he does not take that name, in that full, and whole ſenſe, in which himſelfe gives it to the Holy Ghoſt here. For there it is ſaid of Chriſt, If any man ſin, we have an Advocate with the Father; There, Paracletus, though placed upon Chriſt, is but an Advocate; But here, Chriſt ſends Paracletum, in a more intire, and a more internall, and more viſcerall ſenſe, A Comforter. Upon which Comforter, Chriſt imprints theſe two marks of dignity, Firſt, The Father ſhall ſend you another Comforter; Another, then my ſelfe. For,Ver. 16. howſoever Chriſt were the Fountain of comfort, yet there were many drammes, many ounces, many talents of diſcomfort mingled, in that their Comforter was firſt to depart from them by death, and being reſtored to them again by a Reſurrection, was to depart againe, by another Tranſmigration, by an Aſcenſion. And therefore the ſecond mark by which Chriſt dignifies this Comforter, is, That he ſhall abide with us for ever. And in the performance of that promiſe, he is here with you now.
And therefore, as we begun with thoſe words of Eſay, which our Saviour applyed to himſelfe, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, becauſe he hath anointed me, Eſay 61.1.to binde up the broken hearted, and to comfort all them that mourne; So the Spirit of the Lord is upon all us of his Miniſtery, in that Commandement of his, in the ſame Prophet, Conſolamini, Eſay 40.1.conſolamini, Comfort ye, comfort yee my people, and ſpeak comfortably unto Ieruſalem. Receive the Holy Ghoſt, all ye that are the Iſrael of the Lord, in that Doctrine of comfort, that God is ſo farre from having hated any of you, before he made you, as that he hates none of you now; not for the ſins of your Parents; not for the ſins of your perſons; not for the ſins of your youth; not for your yeſter-dayes, not for your yeſter-nights ſins; not for that higheſt provocation of all, your unworthy receiving his Son this day. OnelyOnly conſider, that Comfort preſumes Sadneſſe. Sin does not make you incapable of comfort; but inſenſibleneſſe of ſin does. In great buildings, the Turrets are high in the Aire; but the Foundations are deep in the Earth. The Comforts of the Holy Ghoſt work ſo, as that only that ſoule is exalted, which was dejected. As in this place, where you ſtand, there bodies lie in the earth, whoſe ſoules are in heaven; ſo from this place, you carry away ſo much of the true comfort of the Holy Ghoſt, as you have true ſorrow, and ſadneſſe for your ſins here. Almighty God erect this building upon this Foundation; Such a Comfort, as may not be Preſumption, upon ſuch a Sorrow, as may not be Diffidence in him. And to him alone, but in three Perſons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt, be aſcribed all Honour, &c.