Eighty Sermons, Trinity Sunday · Sermon 38
SERM. XXXVIII. Preached upon Trinity-Sunday.
2 COR. 1.3.
Bleſſed be God, even the Father of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.
THere was never Army compoſed of ſo many ſeverall Nations, the Towre of Babel it ſelf, in the confuſion of tongues, gave not ſo many ſeverall ſounds as are uttered and muſtered againſt God, and his Religion. The Atheiſt denies God; for, though David call it a fooliſh thing to do ſo, (The foole hath ſaid it in his heart) And though David ſpeake it in the ſingular number, The foole, as though there were not many ſo very fooles, as to ſay, and to ſay in their heart, There is no God, yet ſome ſuch fooles there are, that ſay it in their very heart, and have made ſhift to think ſo indeed; But for ſuch fools as ſay it in their actions, that is, that live as though there were no God, Stultorum plena ſunt omnia; We have ſeen fooles in the Court, and fooles in the Cloiſter, fooles that take no calling, and fooles in all callings that can be taken, fooles that heare, and fooles that preach, fooles at generall Councells, and fooles at Councell-tables, Stultorum plena ſunt omnia, ſuch fooles as deny God, ſo far, as to leave him out, are not in Davids ſingular number, but ſuper-abound in every profeſſion: So that Davids manner of expreſſing it, is not ſo much ſingular, as though there were but one, or few ſuch fooles, but emphaticall, becauſe that foole, that any way denies God, is the foole, the veryeſt foole of all kinds of fooliſhneſſe.
Now, as God himſelfe, ſo his religion amongſt us hath many enemies; Enemies that deny God, as Atheiſts; And enemies that multiply gods, that make many gods, as Idolaters; And enemies that deny thoſe divers perſons in the Godhead, which they ſhould confeſſe, The Trinity, as Jews and Turks: So in his Religion, and outward worſhip, we have enemies that deny God his Houſe, that deny us any Church, any Sacrament, any Prieſthood, any Salvation, as Papiſts; And enemies that deny Gods houſe any furniture, any ſtuffe, any beauty, any ornament, any order, as non-Conformitans; And enemies that are glad to ſee Gods houſe richly furniſhed for a while, that they may come to the ſpoile thereof, as ſacrilegious uſurpers of Gods part. But for Atheiſticall enemies, I call not upon them here, to anſwer me; Let them anſwer their own terrors, and horrors alone at mid-night, and tell themſelves whence that proceeds, if there be no God. For Papiſticall enemies, I call not upon them to anſwer me; Let them anſwer our Laws as well as our Preaching, becauſe theirs is a religion mixt as well of Treaſon, as of Idolatry. For our refractary, and ſchiſmaticall enemies, I call not upon them to anſwer me neither; Let them anſwer the Church of God, in what nation, in what age was there ever ſeen a Church, of that form, that they have dreamt, and beleeve their own dream? And for our ſacrilegious enemies, let them anſwer out of the body of Story, and give one example of proſperity upon ſacriledge.
But leaving all theſe to that which hath heretofore, or may hereafter be ſaid of them, I have bent my meditations, for thoſe dayes, which this Terme will afford, upon that, which is the character and mark of all Chriſtians in generall, The Trinity, the three Perſons in one God; not by way of ſubtile diſputation, as to perſons that doubted, but by way of godly declaration, as to perſons diſpoſed to make uſe of it; not as though I feared your faith needed it, nor as though I hoped I could make your reaſon comprehend it, but becauſe I preſume, that the conſideration of God the Father, and his Power, and the ſins directed againſt God, in that notion, as the Father; and the conſideration of God the Son, and his Wiſedome, and the ſins againſt God, in that apprehenſion, the Son; and the conſideration of God the Holy Ghoſt, and his Goodneſſe, and the ſins againſt God, in that acceptation, may conduce, as much, at leaſt, to our edification, as any Doctrine, more controverted. And of the firſt glorious perſon of this bleſſed Trinity, the Almighty Father, is this Text, Bleſſed be God, &c.
In theſe words,Diviſio. the Apoſtle having taſted, having been fed with the ſenſe of the power, and of the mercies of God, in his gracious deliverance, delivers a ſhort Catechiſme of all our duties: So ſhort, as that there is but one action, Benedicamus, Let us bleſſe; Nor but one object to direct that bleſſing upon, Benedicamus Deum, Let us bleſſe God. It is but one God, to exclude an Idolatrous multiplicity of Gods, But it is one God notified and manifeſted to us, in a triplicity of perſons; of which, the firſt is literally expreſſed here, That he is a Father. And him we conſider In Paternitate aeterna, As he is the eternall Father, Even the Father of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt, ſayes our Text; And then In Paternitate interna, as we have the Spirit of Adoption, by which we cry, Abba, Father; As he is Pater miſerationum, The Father of mercies; And as he expreſſes theſe mercies, by the ſeale and demonſtration of comfort, as he is the God of comfort, and Totius conſolationis, Of all comfort. Receive the ſumme of this, and all that ariſes from it, in this ſhort Paraphraſe; The duty required of a Chriſtian, is Bleſsing, Praiſe, Thankſgiving; To whom? To God, to God onelyonly, to the onelyonly God. There is but one; But this one God is ſuch… tree, as hath divers boughs to ſhadow and refreſh thee, divers branches to ſhed fruit upon thee, divers armes to ſpread out, and reach, and imbrace thee. And here hee viſits thee as a Father: From all eternity a Father of Chriſt Ieſus, and now thy Father in him in that which thou needeſt moſt, A Father of mercy, when thou waſt in miſery; And a God of comfort, when thou foundeſt no comfort in this world, And a God of all comfort, even of ſpirituall comfort, in the anguiſhes, and diſtreſſes of thy conſcience. Bleſſed bee God, even the Father, &c.
Firſt then,1 Part. Benedictus. the duty which God, by this Apoſtle, requires of man, is a duty ariſing out of that, which God hath wrought upon him: It is not a conſideration, a contemplation of God ſitting in heaven, but of God working upon the earth; not in the making of his eternall Decree there, but in the execution of thoſe Decrees here; not in ſaying, God knowes who are his, and therefore they cannot faile, but in ſaying in a rectified conſcience, God, by his ordinary marks, hath let me know that I am his, and therefore I look to my wayes, that I doe not fall. S. Paul out of a religious ſenſe what God had done for him, comes to this duty, to bleſſe him.
There is not a better Grammar to learne, then to learne how to bleſſe God, and therefore it may be no levity, to uſe ſome Grammar termes herein. God bleſſes man Dativè, He gives good to him; man bleſſes God Optativè, He wiſhes well to him; and he bleſſes him Vocativè, He ſpeaks well of him. For, though towards God, as well as towards man,1 Sam. 25.27. 2 King 5.15. reall actions are called bleſſings, (ſo Abigail called the preſent which ſhe brought to David, A bleſsing, and ſo Naaman called that which he offered to Eliſha, A bleſsing) though reall ſacrifices to God, and his cauſe, ſacrifices of Almes, ſacrifices of Armes, ſacrifices of Money, ſacrifices of Sermons, advancing a good publique cauſe, may come under the name of bleſſing, yet the word here, foreign, is properly a bleſſing in ſpeech, in diſcourſe, in conference, in words, in praiſe, in thanks. The dead doe not praiſe thee, ſayes David; The dead (men civilly dead, allegorically dead, dead and buryed in an uſeleſſe ſilence, in a Cloyſter, or Colledge, may praiſe God, but not in words of edification, as it is required here, and they are but dead, and doe not praiſe God ſo; and God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, of thoſe that delight to praiſe and bleſſe God, and to declare his goodneſſe.
We repreſent the Angels to our ſelves, and to the world with wings, they are able to flie; and yet when Iacob ſaw them aſeending and deſcending,Gen. 28.12. even thoſe winged Angels had a Ladder, they went by degrees: There is an immediate bleſſing of God, by the heart, but God requires the tongue too, becauſe that ſpreads and diffuſes his glory upon others too. Calici benedictionis benedicimus, ſayes the Apoſtle, The cup which we bleſſe, 1 Cor. 10.16.is a cup of bleſsing; When we have bleſſed it, according to Chriſts holy inſtitution, then it derives holy bleſſings upon us; and when we bleſſe God according to his Commandement, he bleſſes us according to his promiſe, and our deſire.Exod. 6.12. Ier. 1.6. When God imployed Moſes, and when he imployed Ieremy, Moſes and Ieremy had no excuſe, but the unreadineſſe of their tongues; he that hath a tongue diſpoſed to Gods ſervice, that will ſpeak all he can, and dares ſpeake all he ſhould to the glory of God, is fit for all.Iames 3.5. As S. Iames ſayes, The tongue is but a little member, but beaſteth great things; ſo truly, as little as it is, it does great things towards our ſalvation. The Son of God, is foreign, verbum, The word; God made us with his word, and with our words we make God ſo farre, as that we make up the myſticall body of Chriſt Jeſus with our prayers, with our whole liturgie, and we make the naturall body of Chriſt Jeſus appliable to our ſoules, by the words of Conſecration in the Sacrament, and our ſoules apprehenſive, and capable of that body, by the word Preached. Bleſſe him therefore in ſpeaking to him, in your prayers: Bleſſe him in ſpeaking with him, in aſſenting, in anſwering that which he ſayes to you in his word: And bleſſe him in ſpeaking of him, in telling one another the good things that he hath done abundantly for you. I will bleſſe the Lord at all times, ſayes David. Pſal. 34.2.Is it at all times, ſayes S. Auguſtine, Cum circumfluunt omnia, at all times, when God bleſſes mee with temporall proſperity? Cum minus naſcuntur, cum nata dilabuntur, ſayes that Father, when thy gaine ceaſes for the preſent, when that that thou hadſt formerly got, waſts and periſhes, and threatens penury for the future, ſtill bleſſe thou the Lord, Quia ille dat, ille tollit, ſed ſeipſum à benedicente ſe non tollit; The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, but the Lord never takes away himſelfe from him that delights in bleſſing his name. Bleſſe, praiſe, ſpeake; there is the duty, and we have done with that which was our firſt Part: And bleſſe thou God, which is our ſecond Part, and a Part derived into many Branches. Bleſſed be God, even, &c.
Here firſt we ſee the object of our praiſes, whom we muſt bleſſe, Benedict us ſit Deus, 2 Part. Deum ſolum.God. Firſt, Solus Deus, God onelyonly, that is, God and not man, and then Deus ſolus, the onelyonly God, that is God, and not many Gods. God onelyonly, and not man; not that we may not bleſſe, and wiſh well to one another, for there is a bleſſing from God, belongs to that, Benedicam benedicentibus tibi, ſayes God to Abraham, Gen. 12.3.I will bleſſe them that bleſſe thee: Neither is it that we may not bleſſe, that is, give due praiſe to one another; for as the vices and ſins of great perſons are not ſmothered in the Scriptures, ſo their vertues, and good deeds are publiſhed with praiſe. Noahs drunkenneſſe, and Lots inceſt is not diſguiſed, Iobs righteouſneſſe and holy patience is not concealed neither;Rom 13.3. Doe that which is good, ſayes the Apoſtle, and thou ſhalt have praiſe for the ſame. Neither is it that we may not bleſſe, that is, pray for one another, of what ſort ſoever; for we are commanded to doe that, for our ſuperiours; inferiours may bleſſe ſuperiours too; Nor that wee ſhould not bleſſe, that is, pray to one another, in petitioning and ſupplicating our ſuperiours for thoſe things which are committed to their diſpenſation;Luke 18.5. for the importunate ſutor, the widow, is not blamed in the Goſpel for her importunity to the Judge; It is true, the Judge is blamed, for with-holding Juſtice, till importunity extorted it. But to bleſſe, by praiſe, or prayer, the man without relation to God, that is, the man, and not God in the man, to determine the glory in the perſon, without contributing thereby to the glory of God, this is a manner of bleſſing accurſed here, becauſe bleſſing is radically, fundamentally, originally, here reſerved to God, to God onelyonly, Benedictus ſit Deus, God be bleſſed.
For, properly, truly none is to be thus bleſſed by us, but he upon whom we may depend and rely: and can we depend and rely upon man? upon what man? upon Princes? As far as we can looke for examples, round about us, in our next neighbours, and in France, and in Spaine, and farther, we have ſeene in our age Kings diſcarded, and wee have ſeene in ſome of them, the diſcarded cards taken in againe, and win the game. Upon what man wilt thou rely? upon great perſons in favour with Princes? Have we not ſeen often, that the bed-chambers of Kings have back-doores into priſons, and that the end of that greatneſſe hath beene, but to have a greater Jury to condemne them? wilt thou rely upon the Prophet, he can teach thee; or upon thy Brother, he does love thee; or upon thy Son, he ſhould love thee; or the Wife of thy boſome, ſhe will ſay ſhe loves thee; or upon thy Friend,Deut. 13. he is as thine owne ſoule? yet Moſes puts a caſe when thou muſt depart from all theſe, not conſent, no not conceale, not pardon, no not reprieve, Thou ſhalt ſurely kill him, ſayes Moſes, even this Prophet, this Brother, this Son, this Wife may encline thee to the ſervice of other Gods; Thou canſt not rely, and therefore doe not bleſſe, not with praiſe, not with prayer and dependance upon him, That Prophet, by what name or title ſoever he be called; that Brother, how willingly ſoever he divide the inheritance with thee; that Son, how dutifull ſoever in civill things; that Wife, how carefull ſoever of her owne honour, and thy children; that Friend, how free ſoever of his favours, and of his ſecrets, that enclines thee to other Gods, or to other ſervice of the true God, then is true. Greatneſſe is not the object of this bleſſing, for Greatneſſe is often eclipſed by the way, and at laſt certainely extinguiſhed in death, and ſwallowed in the grave. Goodneſſe, as it is morall, is not the object of this bleſſing; but bleſſe God onelyonly; God in the roote, in himſelfe, or God exemplified, and manifeſted in godly men; bleſſe God in them, in whom he appeares, and in them who appeare for him, and ſo thou doeſt bleſſe ſolum Deum, God onelyonly.
This thou muſt doe,Deus ſolus. Bleſſe God onelyonly, not man, and then the onelyonly God, not other gods. For, this was the wretched and penurious narrowneſſe to which the Gentiles were reduced, that being unable to confider God intirely, they broke God in pieces, and crumbled, and ſcattered God into as many ſeverall gods, as there are Powers in God, nay almoſt into as many ſeverall gods, as there are Creatures from God; and more then that, as many gods as they could fancie or imagine in making Chimera's of their owne, for not onelyonly that which was not God, but that which was not at all, was made a God. And then, as in narrow channels that cannot containe the water, the water over-flowes, and yet that water that does ſo over flow, flies out and ſpreads to ſuch a ſhallowneſſe, as will not beare a Boat to any uſe; ſo when by this narrowneſſe in the Gentiles, God had over-flowne this bank, this limitation of God in an unity, all the reſt was too ſhallow to beare any ſuch notion, any ſuch conſideration of God, as appertained to him: They could not think him an Omnipotent God, when if one God would not, another would, nor an Infinite God, when they had appeales from one God to another; and without Omnipotence, and without Infiniteneſſe they could not truly conceive a God. They had cantoned a glorious Monarchy into petty States, that could not ſubſiſt of themſelves, nor aſſiſt another, and ſo imagined a God for every ſtate and every action, that a man muſt have applied himſelfe to one God when he ſhipped, and when he landed to another, and if he travailed farther, change his God by the way, as often as he changed coynes, or poſt-horſes.Deut. 6.4. But, Heare O Iſrael, the Lord thy God is one God. As though this were all that were to be heard, all that were to be learned, they are called to heare, and then there is no more ſaid but that, The Lord thy God is one God.
There are men that will ſay and ſweare, they do not meane to make God the Author of ſin; but yet when they ſay, That God made man therefore, that he might have ſomething to damne, and that he made him ſin therefore, that he might have ſomething to damne him for, truly they come too neare making God the Author of ſin, for all their modeſt proteſtation of abſtaining. So there are men that will ſay and ſweare, they do not meane to make Saints Gods; but yet when they will aske the ſame things at Saints hands, which they do at Gods, and in the ſame phraſe and manner of expreſſion, when they will pray the Virgin Mary to aſſiſt her Son, nay to command her Son, and make her a Chancellor to mitigate his common Law, truly they come too neare making more Gods then one. And ſo do we too, when we give particular ſins dominion over us; Quot vitia, tot Deos recentes, ſayes Hierom: As the Apoſtle ſayes Covetouſneſſe is Idolatry, ſo, ſayes that Father, is voluptuouſneſſe, and licentiouſneſſe, and every habituall ſin. Non alienum ſayes God, Thou ſhalt have no other God but me, But, Quis ſimilis, ſayes God too, Who is like me? Hee will have nothing made like him, not made ſo like a God as they make their Saints, nor made ſo like a God, as we make our ſins. Wee thinke one King Soveraigne enough, and one friend counſellor enough, and one Wife helper enough, and he is ſtrangely inſatiable, that thinks not one God, God enough: eſpecially, ſince when thou haſt called this God what thou canſt,H…r. he is more then thou haſt ſaid of him. Cum definitur, ipſe ſua definitione creſcit; When thou haſt defined him to be the God of juſtice, and trembleſt, he is more then that, he is the God of mercy too, and gives thee comfort. When thou haſt defined him to be all eye, He ſees all thy ſins, he is more then that, he is all patience, and covers all thy ſins. And though he be in his nature incomprehenſible, and inacceſſible in his light, yet this is his infinite largeneſſe, that being thus infinitely One, he hath manifeſted himſelfe to us in three Perſons, to be the more eaſily diſcerned by us, and the more cloſely and effectually applied to us.
Now theſe notions that we have of God, as a Father, as a Son, as a Holy Ghoſt,Trinitas. as a Spirit working in us, are ſo many handles by which we may take hold of God, and ſo many breaſts, by which we may ſuck ſuch a knowledge of God, as that by it wee may grow up into him. And as wee cannot take hold of a torch by the light, but by the ſtaffe we may; ſo though we cannot take hold of God, as God, who is incomprehenſible, and inapprehenſible, yet as a Father, as a Son, as a Spirit, dwelling in us, we can. There is nothing in Nature that can fully repreſent and bring home the notion of the Trinity to us. There is an elder booke in the World then the Scriptures; It is not well ſaid, in the World, for it is the World it ſelfe, the whole booke of Creatures; And indeed the Scriptures are but a paraphraſe, but a comment, but an illuſtration of that booke of Creatures. And therefore, though the Scriptures onelyonly deliver us the doctrine of the Trinity, clearely, yet there are ſome impreſſions, ſome obumbrations of it, in Nature too. Take but one in our ſelves, in the ſoule. The underſtanding of man (that is as the Father) begets diſcourſe, ratiocination, and that is as the Son; and out of theſe two proceed concluſions, and that is as the Holy Ghoſt. Such as theſe there are many, many ſprinkled in the Schoole, many ſcattered in the Fathers, but, God knowes, poore and faint expreſſions of the Trinity. But yet, Praemiſit Deus naturam magiſtram, Tertul.ſubmiſſurus & prophetiam, Though God meant to give us degrees in the Univerſity, that is, increaſe of knowledge in his Scriptures after, yet he gave us a pedagogy, he ſent us to Schoole in Nature before; Vt faciliùs credas prophetiae diſcipulus naturae, That comming out of that Schoole, thou mighteſt profit the better in that Univerſity, having well conſidered Nature, thou mighteſt be eſtabliſhed in the Scriptures.
He is therefore inexcuſable, that conſiders not God in the Creature, that comming into a faire Garden, ſayes onelyonly, Here is a good Gardiner, and not, Here is a good God; and when he ſees any great change, ſayes onelyonly, This is a ſtrange accident, and not, a ſtrange Judgement. Hence is it, that in the books of the Platonique Philoſophers, and in others, much ancienter then they, (if the books of Hermes Triſmegiſtus and others, be as ancient as is pretended in their behalfe) we finde as cleare expreſſing of the Trinity, as in the Old Teſtament, at leaſt; And hence is it, that in the Talmud of the Jews, and in the Alcoran of the Turks, though they both oppoſe the Trinity, yet when they handle not that point, there fall often from them, as cleare confeſſions of the three Perſons, as from any of the elder of thoſe Philoſophers, who were altogether diſ-intereſted in that Controverſie.
But becauſe God is ſeene Per creaturas, ut per ſpeculum, per verbum ut per lucem, Aleuſ.In the creature, and in nature, but by reflection, In the Word, and in the Scriptures, directly, we reſt in the knowledge which we have of the plurality of the perſons, in the Scriptures; And becauſe we are not now in a Congregation that doubts it, nor in a place to multiply teſtimonies, we content our ſelves (being already poſſeſt with the beliefe thereof) with this illuſtration from the old Teſtament, That the name of our one God, is expreſſed in the plurall number, in that place, which we mentioned before, where it is ſaid,Deut. 6.4. The Lord thy God is one God, that is, Elohim, unus Dii, one Gods. And though as much as that ſeem to be ſaid by God to Moſes, Eris Aaroni in Elohim, Thou ſhalt be as Gods to Aaron; Exod. 4.16.Yet that was becauſe Moſes was to repreſent God, all God, all the Perſons in God, and therefore it might as well be ſpoken plurally of Moſes, ſo, as of God. But becauſe it is ſaid, Gods appeared unto Iacob; And againe, Dii Sancti ipſe eſt, Hee is the Holy Gods; Gen. 35.7. Ioſ. 24.19. Iob 35.10. Gen. 1.26. Gen. 3 22.And ſo alſo, Vbi Deus factores mei? Where is God my Makers? And God ſayes of himſelfe, Faciamus hominem, and Factus eſt ſicut unus ex nobis, God ſayes, Let us make man, and he ſayes, Man is become as one of us, We imbrace humbly, and thankfully, and profitably, this, ſhall we call it Effigiationem anſarum, This making out of handles? Or Protuberationem mammarum, This ſwelling out of breaſts? Or Germinationem gemmarum, This putting forth of buds, and bloſſomes, and fruits, by which we may apprehend, and ſee, and taſte God himſelf, ſo as his wiſedome hath choſen to communicate himſelf to us, in the notion and manifeſtation of divers perſons? Of which in this Text, we lay hold on him, by the firſt handle, by the name of Father. Bleſſed be God, even the Father, &c.
Now we conſider in God,Pater Eſſentialiter. a two-fold Paternity, a two-fold Father-hood: One, as he is Father to others, another as to us. And the firſt is two-fold too: One eſſentially, by which he is a Father by Creation, and ſo the name of Father belongs to all the three Perſons in the Trinity,Eph. 4.6. for, There is one God, and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all, Which is ſpoken of God gathered into his Eſſence, and not diffuſed into perſons.Eſay 9.6. In which ſenſe, the Son of God, Chriſt Jeſus, is called Father, VntoUnto us a Son is given, and his name ſhall be The Everlaſting Father: And to this Father, even to the Son of God,Mat. 9.2. in this ſenſe, are the faithfull made ſons, Son, be of good cheare, thy ſins are forgiven thee, Mark 5.34.ſayes Chriſt to the Paralytique, And Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole, ſayes he to the woman with the bloody iſſue; Thus Chriſt is a Father; And thus Per filiationem veſtigii, By that impreſſion of God, which is in the very beeing of every creature,Iob 38.28. God, that is, the whole Trinity, is the Father of every creature, as in Iob, Quis pluviae Pater? Hath the raine a Father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew? And ſo in the Prophet,Mal. 2.10. Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us? But the ſecond Paternity is more myſterious in it ſelfe, and more precious to us, as he is a Father, not by Creation, but by Generation, Even the Father of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt.
Now,Perſonaliter. Generationem iſtam quis enarrabit? who ſhall declare this generation? who ſhall tell us how it was? who was there to fee it? Since the firſt-borne of all creatures, the Angels,Eſay 53.8. who are almoſt ſixe thouſand yeares old, (and much elder in the opinion of many of the Fathers, who think the Angels to have been created long before the generall Creation) ſince, I ſay, theſe Angels are but in their ſwathing clouts, but in their cradle, in reſpect of this eternall generation, who was preſent? Quis enarrabit? who ſhall tell us how it was? who ſhall tell us when it was, when it was ſo long before any time was, as that, when time ſhall be no more, and that, after an end of time, wee ſhall have lived infinite millions of millions of generations in heaven, yet this generation of the Son of God, was as long before that immortall life, as that Immortality, and Everlaſtingneſſe ſhall be after this life? It cannot be expreſſed, nor conceived how long our life ſhall be after, nor how long this generation was before.
This is that Father,Nazian. that hath a Son, and yet is no elder then that Son, for he is à Patre, but not Poſt Patrem, but ſo from the Father, as he is not after the Father: He hath from him Principium Originale, Biel.but not Initiale, A root from whence he ſprung, but no ſpringtime, when he ſprung out of that root. Bleſſed be God even the Father of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt. Wherefore bleſſed? Quia potuit? Becauſe he could have a Son? Non generavit potentia, ſed natura; God did not beget this Son becauſe he had alwayes a power to doe ſo; for then, if this Son had ever been but in Potentia, onelyonly in ſuch a condition, as that he might have been, then this had not been an eternall generation, for if there were a time, when only he might have been, at that time he was not. He is not bleſſed then becauſe cauſe he could, is he bleſſed (that is, to be bleſſed by us) becauſe he would beget this Son? Non generavit voluntate, ſed natura: God did not beget this Son, then when he would, that is, had a will to doe ſo, for, if his will determined it, now I will doe it, then till that, there had been no Son, and ſo this generation had not been eternall neither. But when it was, or how it was, Turatiocinare, ego mirer, ſayes S. Auguſtine, Let others diſcourſe it, let me admire it; Tu diſputa, ego credam, Let others diſpute it, let me beleeve it. And when all is done, you have done diſputing, and I have done wondring, that that brings it nearer then either, is this, That there is a Paternity, notby Creation, by which Chriſt and the Holy Ghoſt are Fathers too, nor by generation, by which God is, though inexpreſſibly, the Father even of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, but by Adoption, as in Chriſt Jeſus, he is Father of us all, notified in the next appellation, Pater miſerationum, The Father of mercies.
In this alone,Pater. we diſcerne the whole Trinity; here is the Father, and here is Mercy, which mercy is in the Son; And the effect of this mercy, is the Spirit of Adoption, by which alſo we cry, Rem. 8.15.Abba, Father too. When Chriſt would pierce into his Father, and melt thoſe bowels of compaſſion, he enters with that word, Abba, Father, All things are poſsible to thee; Mark 14.36.take away this Cup from me. When Chriſt apprehended an abſence, a dereliction on Gods part, he cals not upon him by this name, not My Father, but My God, my God, why haſt thou forſaken me? Mat. 27.37.But when he would incline him to mercy, mercy to others, mercy to enemies, he comes in that name, wherein he could be denied nothing, Father; Father forgive them, they know not what they doe. He is the Lord of Hoſts; Luke 23.24.There hee ſcatters us in thunder, tranſports us in tempeſts, enwraps us in confuſion, aſtoniſhes us with ſtupefaction, and conſternation; The Lord of Hoſts, but yet the Father of mercies, There he receives us into his own bowels, fills our emptineſſe, with the blood of his own Son, and incorporates us in him; The Lord of Hoſts, but the Father of mercy. Sometimes our naturall Fathers die, before they can gather any ſtate to leave us, but he is the immortall Father, and all things that are, as ſoone as they were, were his. Sometimes our naturall Fathers live to waſte, and diſſipate that ſtate which was left them, to be left us: but this is the Father, out of whoſe hands, and poſſeſſion nothing can be removed, and who gives ineſtimably, and yet remaines inexhauſtible. Sometimes our naturall Fathers live to need us, and to live upon us: but this is that Father whom we need every minute, and requires nothing of us, but that poore rent of Benedictus ſit, Bleſſed, praiſed, glorified be this Father.
This Father of mercies, of mercies in the plurall; David calls God,Miſerationum. Pſal. 59.17. Numb. 14.19. Pſal. 51.1. Miſericordiam ſuam, His mercy; all at once: God is the God of my mercy: God is all ours, and all mercy. Pardon this people, ſayes Moſes, Secundùm magnitudinem miſericordiae, According to the greatneſſe of thy mercy. Pardon me, ſayes David, Have mercy upon me, Secùndum multitudinem miſericordiarum, According to the multitude of thy mercies: His mercy, in largeneſſe, in number, extends over all; It was his mercy that we were made, and it is his mercy that we are not conſumed. David calls his mercy, Multiplicatam, and Mirificatam, Pſal. 17.7. Pſal. 31.22.It is manifold, and it is marvellous, miraculous: Shew thy marvellous loving kindneſſe; and therefore David in ſeverall places, carries it Super judicium, above his judgements, Super Coelos, above the heavens, Super omnia opera, above all his works. And for the multitude of his mercies, (for we are now upon the conſideration of the plurality thereof, Pater miſerationum, Father of mercies) put together that which David ſayes,Pſal. 89.50. Vbi miſericordiae tuae antiquae? Where are thy ancient mercies? His mercy is as Ancient, as the Ancient of dayes, who is God himſelfe, And that which another Prophet ſayes, Omni mane, His mercies are new every morning, And put betweene theſe two, betweene Gods former, and his future mercies, his preſent mercy, in bringing thee this minute to the conſideration of them, and thou haſt found Multiplicatam, and Mirificatam, manifold, and wondrous mercy.
But carry thy thoughts upon theſe three Branches of his mercy, and it will be enough. Firſt, that upon Adams fall, and all ours in him, he himſelfe would think of ſuch a way of mercy, as from Adam, to that man whom Chriſt ſhall finde alive at the laſt day, no man would ever have thought of, that is, that to ſhew mercy to his enemies, he would deliver his owne, his onelyonly, his beloved Son, to ſhame, to torments, to death: That hee would plant Germen Iehovae in ſemine mulieris, The bloſſome, the branch of God, in the ſeed of the woman: This mercy, in that firſt promiſe of that Meſſias, was ſuch a mercy, as not onelyonly none could have undertaken, but none could have imagined but God himſelfe: And in this promiſe, we were conceived In viſceribus Patris, In the bowels of this Father of mercies. In theſe bowels, in the womb of this promiſe we lay foure thouſand yeares; The blood with which we were fed then, was the blood of the Sacrifices, and the quickning which we had there, was an inanimation, by the often refreſhing of this promiſe of that Meſſias in the Prophets. But in the fulneſſe of time, that infallible promiſe came to an actuall performance, Chriſt came in the fleſh, and ſo, Venimus ad partum, In his birth we were borne; and that was the ſecond mercy; in the promiſe, in the performance, he is Pater miſerationum, Father of mercies. And then there is a third mercy, as great, That he having ſent his Son, and having re-aſſumed him into heaven againe, he hath ſent his Holy Spirit to governe his Church, and ſo becomes a Father to us, in that Adoption, in the application of Chriſt to us, by the Holy Ghoſt; and this as that which is intended in the laſt word, Deus totius Conſolationis, The God of all Comfort.
I may know that there is a Meſſias promiſed, and yet be without comfort,Conſolatio. in a fruitleſſe expectation; The Jews are ſo in their diſperſion. When the Jews will ſtill poſt-date the commings of Chriſt, when ſome of them ſay, There was no certaine time of his comming deſigned by the Prophets; And others, There was a time, but God for their ſins prorogued it; And others againe, God kept his word, the Meſſiah did come when it was promiſed he ſhould come, but for their ſins, he conceales himſelfe from Manifeſtation; when the Jews will poſtdate his firſt comming, and the Papiſts will antidate his ſecond comming, in a comming that cannot become him, That he comes, even to his Saints in torment, before he comes in glory, That when he comes to them at their diſſolution, at their death, he comes not to take them to Heaven, but to caſt them into one part of hell, That the beſt comfort which a good man can have at his death, is but Purgatory, Miſerable comforters are they all. How faire a beame of the joyes of Heaven is true comfort in this life? If I know the mercies of God exhibited to others, and feele them not in my ſelf, I am not of Davids Church,Pſal. 59.1. not of his Quire, I cannot ſing of the mercies of God: I may ſee them, and I may ſigh to ſee the mercies of God determined in others, and not extended to me; but I cannot ſing of the mercies of God, if I find no mercy. But when I come to that,Pſal. 94.19. Conſolationes tuae laetificaverunt, In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my ſoule, then the true Comforter is deſcended upon me, and the Holy Ghoſt hath over-ſhadowed me,Mat. 5.4. and all that ſhall be borne of me, and proceed from me, ſhall be holy. Bleſſed are they that mourne, ſayes Chriſt: But the bleſſedneſſe is not in the mourning, but becauſe they ſhall be comforted. Bleſſed am I in the ſenſe of my ſins, and in the ſorrow for them, but bleſſed therefore, becauſe this ſorrow leads me to my reconciliation to God, and the conſolation of his Spirit. Whereas, if I ſinke in this ſorrow, in this dejection of ſpirit, though it were Wine in the beginning, it is lees, and tartar in the end; Inordinate ſorrow growes into ſinfull melancholy, and that melancholy, into an irrecoverable deſperation. The Wiſe-men of the Eaſt, by a leſſe light, found a greater, by a Star, they found the Son of glory, Chriſt Jeſus: But by darkneſſe, nothing: By the beames of comfort in this life, we come to the body of the Sun, by the Rivers, to the Ocean, by the cheerefulneſſe of heart here, to the brightneſſe, to the fulneſſe of joy hereafter. For, beloved, Salvation it ſelfe being ſo often preſented to us in the names of Glory, and of Joy, we cannot thinke that the way to that glory is a ſordid life affected here, an obſcure, a beggarly, a negligent abandoning of all wayes of preferment, or riches, or eſtimation in this World, for the glory of Heaven ſhines downe in theſe beames hither; Neither can men thinke, that the way to the joyes of Heaven, is a joyleſſe ſevereneſſe, a rigid auſterity; for as God loves a cheerefull giver, ſo he loves a cheerefull taker, that takes hold of his mercies and his comforts with a cheerefull heart, not onelyonly without grudging, that they are no more, but without jealouſie and ſuſpition that they are not ſo much, or not enough.
But they muſt be his comforts that we take in,Deus. Gods comforts. For, to this purpoſe, the Apoſtle varies the phraſe; It was The Father of mercies; To repreſent to us gentleneſſe, kindneſſe, favour, it was enough to bring it in the name of Father; But this Comfort, a power to erect and ſettle a tottering, a dejected ſoule, an overthrowne, a bruiſed, a broken, a troden, a ground, a battered, an evaporated, an annihilated ſpirit, this is an act of ſuch might, as requires the aſſurance, the preſence of God. God knows, all men receive not comforts, when other men think they do, nor are all things comforts to them, which we preſent, and meane ſhould be ſo. Your Father may leave you his inheritance, and little knowes he the little comfort you have in this, becauſe it is not left to you, but to thoſe Creditors to whom you have engaged it. Your Wife is officious to you in your ſickneſſe, and little knowes ſhe, that even that officiouſneſſe of hers then, and that kindneſſe, aggravates that diſcomfort, which lyes upon thy ſoul, for thoſe injuries which thou hadſt formerly multiplied againſt her, in the boſome of ſtrange women. Except the God of comfort give it, in that ſeale, in peace of conſcience, Nec intus, nec ſubtus, nec circa te occurrit conſolatio, ſayes S. Bernard; Non ſubtus, not from below thee, from the reverence and acclamation of thy inferiours; Non circa, not from about thee, when all places, all preferments are within thy reach, ſo that thou maiſt lay thy hand, and ſet thy foote where thou wilt; Non intus, not from within thee, though thou have an inward teſtimony of a morall conſtancy, in all afflictions that can fall, yet not from below thee, not from about thee, not from within thee, but from above muſt come thy comfort, or it is miſtaken. S. Chryſoſtome notes, and Areopagita had noted it before him, Ex beneficiis acceptis nomina Deo affingimus, We give God names according to the nature of the benefits which he hath given us: So when God had given David victory in the wars, by the exerciſe of his power, then Fortitudo mea, Pſal. 18.2. Pſal. 27.1.and firmamentum, The Lord is my Rock, and my Caſtle: When God diſcovered the plots and practiſes of his enemies to him, then Dominus illuminatio, The Lord is my light, and my ſalvation. So whenſoever thou takeſt in any comfort, be ſure that thou have it from him that can give it; for this God is Deus totius conſolationis, The God of all comfort.
Precioſa divina conſolatio, nec omnino tribuitur admittentibus alienam: Totius. Bernard…The comforts of God are of a precious nature, and they loſe their value, by being mingled with baſer comforts, as gold does with allay. Sometimes we make up a ſumme of gold, with ſilver, but does any man binde up farthing tokens, with a bag of gold? Spirituall comforts which have alwayes Gods ſtampe upon them, are his gold, and temporall comforts, when they have his ſtampe upon them, are his ſilver, but comforts of our owne coyning, are counterfait, are copper. Becauſe I am weary of ſolitarineſſe, I will ſeeke company, and my company ſhall be, to make my body the body of a harlot: Becauſe I am drouſie, I will be kept awake, with the obſcenities and ſcurrilities of a Comedy, or the drums and ejulations of a Tragedy: I will ſmother and ſuffocate ſorrow, with hill upon hill, courſe after courſe at a voluptuous feaſt, and drown ſorrow in exceſſe of Wine, and call that ſickneſs, health; and all this is no comfort, for God is the God of all comfort, and this is not of God. We cannot ſay with any colour, as Eſau ſaid to Iacob, Haſt thou but one bleſsing, my Father? Gen. 17.38.for he is the God of all bleſſings, and hath given every one of us, many more then one. But yet Chriſt hath given us an abridgement, Vnum eſt neceſſarium, Luke 10.42.there is but one onelyonly thing neceſſary, And David, in Chriſt, tooke knowledge of that before, when he ſaid, Vnum petii, One thing have I deſired of the Lord, What is that one thing? All in one;Pſal. 27.4. That I may dwell in the houſe ef the Lord (not be a ſtranger from his Covenant) all the dayes of my life, (not diſſeiſed, not excommunicate out of that houſe) To behold the beauty of the Lord, (not the beauty of the place only) but to inquire in his Temple, (by the advancement and advantage of outward things, to finde out him) And ſo I ſhall have true comforts, outward, and inward, becauſe in both, I ſhall finde him, who is the God of all comfort.
Iacob thought he had loſt Ioſeph his Son, And all his Sons, Gen. 37.35.and all his Daughters roſe up to comfort him, Et noluit conſolationem, ſayes the Text, He would not be comforted, becauſe he thought him dead. Rachel wept for her children and would not be comforted, Mat. 2.18.becauſe they were not. But what ayleſt thou? Is there any thing of which thou canſt ſay, It is not? perchance it is, but thou haſt it not: If thou haſt him, that hath it, thou haſt it. Haſt thou not wealth, but poverty rather, not honour, but contempt rather, not health, but daily ſummons of Death rather yet? Non omnia poſsidet, cui omnia cooperantur in bonum, Bernard.If thy poverty, thy diſgrace, thy ſickneſſe have brought thee the nearer to God, thou haſt all thoſe things, which thou thinkeſt thou wanteſt, becauſe thou haſt the beſt uſe of them.1 Cor. 3.23. All things are yours, ſayes the Apoſtle; why? by what title? For you are Chriſts, and Chriſt is Gods. Carry back your comfort to the root, and bring that comfort to the fruit, and confeſſe, that God who is both, is the God of all comfort. Follow God in the execution of this good purpoſe upon thee, to thy Vocation, and heare him, who hath left Eaſt, and Weſt, and North, and South, in their dimneſſe, and dumneſſe, and deafneſſe, and hath called thee to a participation of himſelfe in his Church. Go on with him to thy juſtification, That when in the congregation one ſits at thy right hand, and beleeves but hiſtorically (It may be as true which is ſaid of Chriſt, as of William the Conquerour, and as of Iulius Caeſar) and another at thy left hand, and beleeves Chriſt but civilly, (It was a Religion well invented, and keeps people well in order) and thou betweene them beleeveſt it to ſalvation in an applying faith; proceed a ſtep farther, to feele this fire burning out, thy faith declared in works, thy juſtification growne into ſanctification, And then thou wilt be upon the laſt ſtaire of all, That great day of thy glorification will breake out even in this life, and either in the poſſeſſing of the good things of this world, thou ſhalt ſee the glory, and in poſſeſſing the comforts of this World, ſee the joy of Heaven, or elſe, (which is another of his wayes) in the want of all theſe, thou ſhalt have more comfort then others have, or perchance, then thou ſhouldeſt have in the poſſeſſing of them: for he is the God of all comfort, and of all the wayes of comfort; And therefore, Bleſſed be God, even the Father, &c.