Eighty Sermons, Trinity Sunday · Sermon 43
SERM. XLIII. Preached at S. Dunſtans upon Trinity-Sunday. 1624.
MAT. 3.17.
And lo, A voyce came from heaven, ſaying, This is my beloved Sonne, in whom I am well pleaſed.
IT hath been the cuſtome of the Chriſtian Church to appropriate certaine Scriptures to certaine Dayes, for the celebrating of certaine Myſteries of God, or the commemorating of certaine benefits from God: They who conſider the age of the Chriſtian Church, too high or too low, too ſoone or too late, either in the cradle, as it is exhibited in the Acts of the Apoſtles, or bed-rid in the corruptions of Rome, either before it was come to any growth, when Perſecutions nipped it, or when it was ſo over-growne, as that proſperity and outward ſplendor ſwelled it, They that conſider the Church ſo, will never finde a good meaſure to direct our religious worſhip of God by, for the outward Liturgies, and Ceremonies of the Church. But as ſoon as the Chriſtian Church had a conſtant eſtabliſhment under Chriſtian Emperours, and before the Church had her tympany of worldly proſperity under uſurping Biſhops, in this outward ſervice of God, there were particular Scriptures appropriated to particular dayes. Particular men have not liked this that it ſhould be ſo: And yet that Church which they uſe to take for their patterne, (I meane Geneva) as ſoone as it came to have any convenient eſtabliſhment by the labours of that Reverend man, who did ſo much in the rectifying thereof, admitted this cuſtome of celebrating certaine times, by the reading of certaine Scriptures. So that in the pure times of the Church, without any queſtion, and in the corrupter times of the Church, without any infection, and in the Reformed times of the Church, without any ſuſpition of back-ſliding, this cuſtome hath beene retained, which our Church hath retained; and according to which cuſtome, theſe words have been appropriated to this day, for the celebrating thereof, And lo, A voice came, &c.
In which words we have pregnant and juſt occaſion to conſider, firſt,Diviſio. the neceſſity of the Doctrine of the Trinity; Secondly, the way and meanes by which we are to receive our knowledge and underſtannding of this myſtery; And thirdly, the meaſure of this knowledge, How much we are to know, or to inquire, in that unſearchable myſtery: The Quid, what it is; the Quomodo, How we are to learne it; and the Quantum, How farre we are to ſearch into it, will be our three Parts. We conſider the firſt of theſe, the neceſſity of that knowledge to a Chriſtian, by occaſion of the firſt Particle, in the Text, And; A Particle of Connexion, and Dependance; and we ſee by this Connexion, and Dependance, that this revealing, this manifeſtation of the Trinity, in the text, was made preſently after the Baptiſme of Chriſt; and that intimates, and inferres, That the firſt, and principall duty of him, who hath ingrafted himſelf into the body of the Chriſtian Church, by Baptiſme, is to informe himſelfe of the Trinity, in whoſe name he is Baptized. Secondly, in the meanes, by which this knowledge of the Trinity is to be derived to us, in thoſe words, (Lo, a voyce came from heaven, ſaying) we note the firſt word, to be a word of Correction, and of Direction; Ecce, Behold, leave your blindneſſe, look up, ſhake off your ſtupidity, look one way or other; A Chriſtian muſt not goe on implicitely, inconſiderately, indifferently, he muſt look up, he muſt intend a calling: And then, Ecce againe, Behold, that is, Behold the true way; A Chriſtian muſt not thinke he hath done enough, if he have been ſtudious, and diligent in finding the myſteries of Religion, if he have not ſought them the right way: Firſt, there is an Ecce corrigentis, we are chidden, if we be lazy; And then, there is an Ecce dirigentis, we are guided if we be doubtfull. And from this, we fall into the way it ſelfe; which is, firſt, A voyce, There muſt be ſomething heard; for, take the largeſt Spheare, and compaſſe of all other kinds of proofes, for the myſteries of Religion, which can be propoſed, Take it firſt, at the firſt, and weakeſt kinde of proofe, at the book of creatures, (which is but a faint knowledge of God, in reſpect of that knowledge, with which we muſt know him) And then, continue this firſt way of knowledge, to the laſt, and powerfulleſt proofe of all, which is the power of miracles, not this weake beginning, not this powerfull end, not this Alpha of Creatures, not this Omega of miracles, can imprint in us that knowledge, which is our ſaving knowledge, nor any other meanes then a voyce; for this knowing is beleeving, And, how ſhould they beleeve, except they heare? ſayes the Apoſtle. It muſt be Vox, A voyce, And Vox de coelis, A voyce from heaven: For, we have have had voces de terra, voyces of men, who have indeed but diminiſhed the dignity of the Doctrine of the Trinity, by going about to prove it by humane reaſon, or to illuſtrate it by weak and low compariſons; And we have had voces de Inferis, voyces from the Devill himſelfe, in the mouthes of many Heretiques, blaſphemouſly impugning this Doctrine; Wee have had voces de profundis, voyces fetched from the depth of the malice of the Devill, Heretiques; And voces de medio, voyces taken from the ordinary ſtrength of Morall men, Philoſophers; But this is vox de Excelſis, onelyonly that voyce that comes from Heaven, belongs to us in this myſtery: And then laſtly, it is vox dicens, a voyce ſaying, ſpeaking, which is proper to man, for nothing ſpeaks but man; It is Gods voyce, but preſented to us in the miniſtery of man; And this is our way; To behold, that is, to depart from our own blindneſſe, and to behold a way, that is ſhewed us; but ſhewed us in the word, and in the word of God, and in that word of God, preached by man. And after all this, we ſhall conſider the meaſure of this knowledge, in thoſe laſt words, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleaſed; For, in that word, Meus, My, there is the Perſon of the Father; In the Filius, there is the Perſon of the Son; and in the Hic eſt, This is, there is the Perſon of the Holy Ghoſt, for that is the action of the Holy Ghoſt, in that word, He is pointed at, who was newly baptized, and upon whom the Holy Ghoſt, in the Dove, was deſcended, and had tarried. But we ſhall take thoſe words in their order, when we come to them.
Firſt then,1 Part. we noted the neceſſity of knowing the Trinity, to be pregnantly intimated in the firſt word, Et, And: This connects it to the former part of the hiſtory, which is Chriſts Baptiſme, and preſently upon that Baptiſme, this manifeſtation of the holy Trinity. Conſider a man, as a Chriſtian, his firſt Element is Baptiſme, and his next is Catechiſme; and in his Catechiſme, the firſt is, to beleeve a Father, Son, and holy Ghoſt. There are in this man, this Chriſtian, Tres nativitates, ſayes S. Gregory, three births; one, Per generationem, ſo we are borne of our naturall mother; one Per regenerationem, ſo we are borne of our ſpirituall Mother, the Church, by Baptiſme; and a third, Per Reſurrectionem, and ſo we are borne of the generall Mother of us all, when the earth ſhall be delivered, not of twins, but of millions, when ſhe ſhall empty her ſelfe of all her children, in the Reſurrection. And theſe three Nativities our Saviour Chriſt Jeſus had; Of which three, Hodie alter ſalvator is natalis, ſayes S. Auguſtine, This day is the day of Chriſts ſecond birth, that is, of his Baptiſme. Not that Chriſt needed any Regeneration; but that it was his abundant goodneſſe, to ſanctifie in his perſon, and in his exemplar action, that Element, which ſhould be an inſtrument of our Regeneration in Baptiſme, the water, for ever. Even in Chriſt himſelfe, Honoratior ſecunda, ſayes that Father, The ſecond birth, which he had at his Baptiſme, was the more honourable birth; for, Ab illa ſe, Pater qui putabatur, Ioſeph excuſat, At his firſt birth, Ioſeph, his reputed Father, did not avow him for his Son; In hac ſe, Pater qui non putabatur, inſinuat, At this his ſecond birth, God, who was not known to be his Father before, declares that now: Ibi labor at ſuſpicionibus Mater, quia profeſsioni deerat Pater, There the Mothers honour was in queſtion, becauſe Ioſeph could not profeſſe himſelfe the Father of the childe; Hic honoratur genetrix, quia filium Divinitas proteſtatur, Here her honour is repaired, and magnified, becauſe the God-head it ſelfe, proclaimes it ſelfe to be the Father.
If then, Chriſt himſelfe choſe to admit an addition of dignity at his Baptiſme, who had an eternall generation in heaven, and an innocent conception without ſin, upon earth, let not us undervalue that dignity, which is afforded us by Baptiſme, though our children be borne within the Covenant, by being borne of Chriſtian Parents; for the Covenant gives them Ius ad rem, a right to Baptiſme; children of Chriſtian Parents may claime Baptiſme, which aliens to Chriſt cannot doe; but yet they may not leave out Baptiſme: A man may be within a generall pardon, and yet have no benefit by it, if he ſue it not out, if he plead it not; a childe may have right to Baptiſme, and yet be without the benefit of it, if it be neglected.
Chriſt began at Baptiſme; Naturall things he did before; He fled into Aegypt, to preſerve his life from Herods Perſecution, before: And a miraculous thing he did before; He overcame in diſputation, the Doctors in the Temple, at twelve yeares old; but yet, neither of theſe neither, before his Circumciſion, which was equivalent to Baptiſme, to this purpoſe; but before he accepted, or inſtituted Baptiſme, he did ſome naturall, and ſome miraculous things. But his ordinary work which he came for, his preaching the Goſpel, and thereby raiſing the frame for our ſalvation, in his Church, he began not, but after his Baptiſme: And then, after that, it is expreſly and immediatly recorded, That when he came out of the waters, he prayed; and then, the next thing in the hiſtory is, that he faſted, and upon that, his tentation in the wilderneſſe. I meane no more in this, but this, That no man hath any intereſt in God, to direct a prayer unto him, how devoutly ſoever, no man hath any aſſurance of any effect of his endeavours in a good life, how morally holy ſoever, but in relation to his Baptiſme, in that ſeale of the Covenant, by which he is a Chriſtian: Chriſt took this Sacrament, his Baptiſme, before he did any other thing; and he took this, three yeares before the inſtitution of the other Sacrament of his body and blood: So that the Anabaptiſts obtrude a falſe neceſſity upon us, that we may not take the firſt Sacrament, Baptiſme, till we be capable of the other Sacrament too; for, firſt in nature, Priùs naſcimur, quàm paſcimur, we are borne before we are fed; and ſo, in Religion, we are firſt borne into the Church, (which is done by Baptiſme) before we are ready for that other food, which is not indeed milk for babes, but ſolid meat for ſtronger digeſtions.
They that have told us, that the Baptiſme, that Chriſt took of Iohn, was not the ſame Baptiſme, which we Chriſtians take in the Church, ſpeak impertinently;John 1.6. for Iohn was ſent by God to baptize; and there is but one Baptiſme in him. It is true, that S. Auguſtine calls Iohns Baptiſme, Praecurſorium miniſterium, as he was a fore-runner of Chriſt, his Baptiſme was a fore-running Baptiſme; It is true, that Iuſtin Martyr calls Iohns Baptiſme, Euangelicae gratiae praeludium, A Prologue to the grace of the Goſpel; It is true, that more of the Fathers have more phraſes of expreſſing a difference between the Baptiſme of Iohn, and the Baptiſme of Chriſt: But all this is not De eſſentia, but De modo, Not of the ſubſtance of the Sacrament, which is the waſhing of our ſoules in the blood of Chriſt, but the difference was in the relation; Iohn baptized In Chriſtum morituturum, Into Chriſt, who was to dye, and we are baptized In Chriſtum mortuum, Into Chriſt who is already dead for us. Damaſcen expreſſes it fully, Chriſtus baptizatur ſuo Baptiſmo: Chriſt was baptized with his own Baptiſme; It was Iohns Baptiſme, and yet it was Chriſts too. And ſo we are baptized with his Baptiſme, and there neither is, nor was any other; And that Baptiſme is to us, Ianua Eccleſiae, as S. Auguſtine cals it, The Doore of the Church, at that we enter, And Inveſtitura Chriſtianiſmi, The inveſting of Chriſtianity, as S. Bernard cals it, There we put on Chriſt Jeſus; And, (as he, whom wee may be bold to match with theſe two floods of ſpirituall eloquence, for his Eloquence, that is Luther expreſſes it) Puerpera regni Coelorum, The Church in Baptiſme, is as a Woman delivered of child, and her child is the Kingdome of Heaven, and that kingdome ſhe delivers into his armes who is truly Baptized. This Sacrament makes us Chriſtians; this denominates us, both Civilly, and Spiritually; there we receive our particular names, which diſtinguiſh us from one another, and there we receive that name, which ſhall diſtinguiſh us from the Nations, in the next World; at Baptiſme wee receive the name of Chriſtians,Act. 11.26. and there we receive our Chriſtian names.
When the Diſciples of Chriſt, in generall, came to be called Chriſtians, wee finde. It was a name given upon great deliberation, Barnabas had Preached there; who was a good Man, and full of the Holy Ghoſt, and of faith, himſelfe. But he went to fetch Paul too, a Man of great gifts, and power in Preaching; and both they continued a yeare Preaching in Antioch, and there, firſt of all, the Diſciples were called Chriſtians: Before they were called Fideles, and Fratres, and Diſcipuli; The Faithfull, and the Brethren, and the Diſciples, and (as S. Chryſoſtome ſayes) De via, Men that were in the way; for, all the World beſides, were beſide him, who was The Way, the Truth, and the Life. But, (by the way) we may wonder, what gave S. Chryſoſtome occaſion of that opinion or that conjecture, ſince in the Eccleſiaſtique Story (I thinke) there is no mention of that name, attributed to the Chriſtians: And in the Acts of the Apoſtles, it is named but once; when Saul deſired Letters to Damaſcus,Acts 9.2. to puniſh them, whom he found to be of That way. Where we may note alſo, the zeale of S. Paul, (though then, in a wrong cauſe) againſt them, who were of That way, that is, That way inclined; And our ſtupidity, who ſtartle not at thoſe men, who are not onelyonly inclined another way, a croſſe way, but labour peſtilently to incline others, and hope confidently to ſee all incline that way againe. Here then at Antioch, they began to be called Chriſtians; not onelyonly out of Cuſtome, but, as it may ſeeme, out of decree. For, if there belong any credit to that Councell, which the Apoſtles are ſaid to have held at Antioch,I …nus in Act 11.20. (of which Councell there was a Copy, whether true or falſe, in Origens Library, within two hundred yeares after Chriſt) one Canon in that Councell is, Vt credentes in Ieſum, quos tunc vocabant Galilaeos, vocarentur Chriſtiani, That the followers of Chriſt, who, till then, were called Galileans, ſhould then be called Chriſtians. There, in generall, we were all called Chriſtians; but, in particular, I am called a Chriſtian, becauſe I have put on Chriſt, in Baptiſme.
Now, in conſidering the infinite treaſure which we receive in Baptiſme, inſinuated before the text, That the Heavens opened, that is, The myſteries of Religion are made acceſſible to us, we may attaine to them; And then, The Holy Ghoſt deſcends, (And he is a Comforter, whileſt we are in Ignorance, and he is a Schoolemaſter to teach us all truths) And he comes as a Dove, that is, Brings peace of conſcience with him, and he reſts upon us as a Dove, that is, Requires ſimplicity, and an humble diſpoſition in us, That not onelyonly as Elias opened and ſhut Heaven, Vt pluviam aut emitteret, aut teneret, That he might poure out or withhold the raine; but (as that Father, S. Chryſoſtome purſues it) Ita apertum, ut ipſe conſcendas, & alios, ſi velles, tecum levares, Heaven is ſo opened to us in baptiſme, as that we our ſelves may enter into it, and by our good life, lead others into it too; As we conſider, I ſay, what we have received in Baptiſme, ſo, if we be not onelyonly Dealbati Chriſtiani, (as S. Auguſtine ſpeaks) White-lim'd Chriſtians, Chriſtians on the out-ſide, we muſt conſider what we are to doe upon all this. We are baptized, In plena & adulta Trinitate, ſayes S. Cyprian, not in a Father without a Son, nor in either, or both, without a Holy Ghoſt, but in the fulneſſe of the Trinity: And this myſtery of the Trinity, is Regula fidei, ſayes S. Hierom, It is the Rule of our faith, this onelyonly regulates our faith, That we beleeve aright of the Trinity; It is Dogma noſtrae Religionis, ſayes S. Baſil, As though there were but this one Article; It is, ſayes he, the foundation, the ſumme, it is all the Chriſtian Religion, to beleeve aright of the Trinity. By this wee are diſtinguiſhed from the Jews, who accept no plurality of Perſons; And by this we are diſtinguiſhed from the Gentiles, who make as many ſeverall perſons, as there are ſeverall powers, and attributes belonging to God. Our Religion, our holy Philoſophy, our learning, as it is rooted in Chriſt, ſo it is not limited, not determined in Chriſt alone; wee are not baptized in his name alone, but our ſtudy muſt be the whole Trinity; for, he that beleeves not in the Holy Ghoſt, as well as in Chriſt, is no Chriſtian: And, as that is true which S. Auguſtine ſayes, Nec laborioſius aliquid quaeritur, nec periculoſius alicubi erratur, As there is not ſo ſteepy a place to clamber up, nor ſo ſlippery a place to fall upon, as the doctrine of the Trinity; ſo is that alſo true which he addes, Nec fructuoſius invenitur, There is not ſo fulfilling, ſo accompliſhing, ſo abundant an Article as that of the Trinity, for it is all Chriſtianity. And therefore let us keepe our ſelves to that way, of the manifeſtation of the Trinity, which is revealed in this text; and that way is our ſecond part.
We muſt neceſſarily paſſe faſter through the branches of this part,2 Part. then the Dignity of the ſubject, or the fecundity of the words will well admit; but the cleareneſſe of the order muſt recompence the ſpeed and diſpatch. Firſt then, in this way here is an Ecce, An awaking, an Alarum, a calling us up, Ecce, Behold. Firſt, an Ecce correctionis, Ecce Correctionis.A voyce of chiding, of rebuking. If thou lye ſtill in thy firſt bed, as thou art meerely a Creature, and thinkeſt with thy ſelfe, that ſince the Lilly labours not, nor ſpins, and yet is gloriouſly cloathed, ſince the Fowles of the Heavens ſow not, nor reape, and yet are plentifully fed, thou mayeſt do ſo, and thou ſhalt bee ſo; Ecce animam, Behold thou haſt an immortall ſoule, which muſt have ſpirituall food, the Bread of life, and a more durable garment, the garment of righteouſneſſe, and cannot be empriſoned and captivated to the compariſon of a Lilly that ſpins not, or of a Bird that ſowes not. If thou thinke thy ſoule ſufficiently fed, and ſufficiently cloathed at firſt, in thy baptiſme, That that Manna, and thoſe cloathes ſhall laſt thee all thy pilgrimage, all thy life, That ſince thou art once Baptized, thou art well enough, Ecce fermentum, take heed of that leaven of the Phariſees, Take heed of them that put their confidence in the very act and character of the Sacrament, and truſt to that: for there is a Confirmation belongs to every mans Baptiſme; not any ſuch Confirmation as ſhould intimate an impotency, or inſufficiency in the Sacrament, but out of an obligation, that that Sacrament layes upon thee, That thou art bound to live according to that ſtipulation and contract, made in thy behalfe, at thy receiving of that Sacrament, there belongs a Confirmation to that Sacrament, a holy life, to make ſure that ſalvation, ſealed to thee at firſt. So alſo, if thou thinke thy ſelfe ſafe, becauſe thou haſt left that leaven, that is, Traditions of men, and liveſt in a Reformed, and Orthodox Church, yet, Ecce Paradiſum, Behold Paradiſe it ſelfe, even in Paradiſe, the bed of all eaſe, yet there was labour required; ſo is there required diligence, and a laborious holineſſe, in the right Church, and in the true Religion. If thou thinke thou knoweſt all, becauſe thou underſtandeſt all the Articles of faith already, and all the duties of a Chriſtian life already, yet Ecce ſcalam, Behold the life of a Chriſtian is a Iacobs Ladder, and till we come up to God, ſtill there are more ſteps to be made, more way to bee gone. Briefly, to the moſt learned, to him that knowes moſt, To the moſt ſanctified, to him that lives beſt, here is an Ecce correctionis, there is a farther degree of knowledge, a farther degree of goodneſſe, propoſed to him, then he is yet attained unto.
So it is an Ecce correctionis, an Ecce inſtar ſtimuli, God by calling us up to Behold, rebukes us becauſe wee did not ſo, and provokes us to doe ſo now: It is alſo an Ecce directionis, an Ecce inſtar lucernae, God by calling us up to Behold, gives us a light whereby wee may doe ſo, and may diſcerne our way: whomſoever God cals, to him hee affords ſo much light, as that, if he proceed not by that light, hee himſelfe hath winked at that light, or blow out that light, or ſuffered that light to waſt, and goe out, by his long negligence. God does not call man with an Ecce, To behold him, and then hide himſelfe from him; he does not bid him looke, and then ſtrike him blinde. We are all borne blinde at firſt; In Baptiſme God gives us that Collyrium, that eye-ſalve, by which we may ſee, and actually by the power of that medicine, we do all ſee,Mat. 7.…. more then the Gentiles do. But yet, Ecce trabs in oculis, ſayes Chriſt; Behold there is a beame in our eye, that is, Naturall infirmities. But for all this beame, when Chriſt bids us behold, we are able to ſee, by Chriſts light, our owne imperfections; though we have that beame, yet we are able to ſee that we have it. And when this light which Chriſt gives us, (which is his firſt grace) brings us to that, then Chriſt proceeds ſo that which followes there, Projice trabem, Caſt out the beame that is in thine eye, and ſo we become able by that ſucceeding grace, to overcome our former impediments: If Chriſt bid us behold, he gives us light; if he bid us caſt out the beame, he gives us ſtrength. There is an Ecce neutus, caſt upon Zachary, Behold thou ſhalt be dumbe, Luke 1.20.God puniſhed Zacharies incredulity with dumbneſſe; But there is never an Ecce caecus, Behold thou ſhalt be blinde, That God ſhould call man to ſee, and then blow out the candle, or not ſhew him a candle, if he were in utter darkneſſe; for this is an Ecce directionis, an Ecce lucernae, God cals, and he directs, and lightens our paths; never reproach God ſo impiouſly as to ſuſpect, that when he cals, he does not meane that we ſhould come.
Well then,Vox. with what doth he enlighten thee? Why, Ecce vox, Behold a voyce, ſaying. Now, for this voyce in the Text, by whom it was heard, as alſo by whom the Dove that deſcended was ſeen, is ſometimes diſputed, and with ſome perplexity amongſt the Fathers. Some thinke it was to Chriſt alone, becauſe two of the Euangeliſts, Mark and Luke, record the words in that phraſe, Tu es filius, not as we reade it in our Text, This is, but, Thou art my beloved Sonne: But ſo, there had been no uſe, neither of the Dove, nor of the voyce; for Chriſt himſelfe lacked no teſtimony, that he was that Sonne. Some thinke it was to Chriſt, and Iohn Baptiſt, and not to the company; Becauſe, ſay they, The myſterie of the Trinity was not to be preſented to them, till a farther and maturer preparation; And therefore they obſerve, that the next manifeſtation of Chriſt, and ſo of the Trinity,Mat. 17. by a like voyce, was almoſt three years after this, in his Transfiguration, after he had manifeſted this doctrine by a long preaching amongſt them; And yet, even then, it was but to his Apoſtles, and but to a few of them neither, and thoſe few forbidden to publiſh too; and how long? Till his reſurrection; when by that reſurrection he had confirmed them, then it was time to acquaint them with the Doctrine of the Trinity. But for the Doctrine of the Trinity, as myſterious as it is, it is inſinuated and conveyed unto us, even in the firſt verſe of the Bible, in that extraordinary phraſe, Creavit Dii, Gods, Gods in the plurall, created heaven and earth; There is an unity in the action, it is but Creavit, in the ſingular, and yet there is a plurality in the perſons, it is not Deus, God, but Dij, Gods: The Doctrine of the Trinity, is the firſt foundation of our Religion, and no time is too early for our faith, The ſimpleſt may beleeve it; and all time is too early for our reaſon, The wiſeſt cannot underſtand it. And therefore, as Chryſoſtome is well followed in his opinion, ſo he is well worthy to be followed, That both the Dove was ſeen, and the voyce was heard by all the company: for, neither was neceſſary to Chriſt himſelfe; And the voyce was not neceſſary to Iohn Baptiſt, becauſe the ſigne which was to governe him, was the Dove; He that ſent me, ſaid, upon whom thou ſhalt ſee the Spirit come down, and tarry ſtill, it is he that baptizeth with the Holy Ghoſt. But to the company, both voyce and Dove were neceſſary: for, if the voyce had come alone, they might have thought, that that teſtimony had been given of Iohn, of whom they had, as yet, a far more reverend opinion, then of Chriſt; And therefore, God firſt points out the perſon, and by the Dove declares him to all, which was He, and then, by that voyce declares farther to them all, what He was. This benefit they had by being in that company, they ſaw, and they heard things conducing to their ſalvation; for, though God worke more effectually upon thoſe particular perſons in the Congregation, who, by a good uſe of his former graces, are better diſpoſed then others, yet to the moſt graceleſſe man that is, if he be in the Congregation, God vouchſafes to ſpeake, and would be heard.
They that differ in the perſons,Via Creaturae. who heard it, agree in the Reaſon; All they heard it, in all their opinions, to whom it was neceſſary to heare it; And it is neceſſary to all us, to have this meanes of underſtanding and beleeving, to heare. Therefore God gives to all that ſhall be ſaved, vocem, his voyce. We conſider two other wayes of imprinting the knowledge of God in man; firſt in a darke and weake way, the way of Nature, and the book of Creatures; and ſecondly, in that powerfull way, the way of Miracles. But theſe, and all between theſe, are uneffectuall without the Word. When David ſayes of the Creatures,Pſal. 19.3. Rom. 10.17. There is no ſpeech nor language, where their voyce is not heard, (the voyce of the Creature is heard over all) S. Paul commenting upon thoſe words, ſays, They have heard, All the world hath heard; but what? The voyce of the Creature; now that is true, ſo much all the world had heard then, and does heare ſtill: But the hearing that S. Paul intends there, is ſuch a hearing as begets faith, and that the voyce of Creature reaches not to. The voyce of the Creature alone, is but a faint voyce, a low voyce; nor any voyce, till the voyce of the Word inanimate it; for then when the Word of God hath taught us any myſtery of our Religion, then the booke of Creatures illuſtrates, and eſtabliſhes, and cheriſhes that which we have received by faith, in hearing the Word: As a ſtick bears up, and ſuccours a vine, or any plant, more precious then it ſelfe, but yet gave it not life at firſt, nor gives any nouriſhment to the root now: ſo the aſſiſtance of reaſon, and the voyce of the Creature, in the preaching of Nature, works upon our faith, but the roote, and the life is in the faith it ſelfe; The light of nature gives a glimmering before, and it gives a reflexion after faith, but the meridianall noone is in faith.
Now, if we conſider the other way, the way of power,Via miraculorum. Miracles, no man may ground his beliefe upon that, which ſeems a Miracle to him. Moſes wrought Miracles, and Pharaohs inſtruments wrought the like: we know, theirs were no true Miracles, and we know Moſes were; but how do we know this? By another voyce, by the Word of God, who cannot lie: for, for thoſe upon whom thoſe Miracles were to worke on both ſides, Moſes, and they too, ſeemed to the beholders, diverſly diſpoſed to do Miracles. One Rule in diſcerning, and judging a Miracle, is, to conſider whether it be done in confirmation of a neceſſary Truth: otherwiſe it is rather to be ſuſpected for an Illuſion, then accepted for a Miracle. The Rule is intimated in Deuteronomy, where,Deut. 13. though a Prophets prophecy do come to paſſe, yet, if his end be, to draw to other gods, he muſt be ſlaine. What Miracles ſoever are pretended, in confirmation of the inventions of Men, are to be neglected. God hath not carried us ſo low for our knowledge, as to Creatures, to Nature, nor ſo high, as to Miracles, but by a middle way, By a voyce.
But it is Vox de Coelis, A voyce from heaven. S. Baſil applying (indeed with ſome wreſting and derorting) thoſe words in the 29 Pſalme, verſ. 3.De Coelis. (The voyce of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory maketh it to thunder) to this Baptiſme of Chriſt, he ſayes, Vox ſuper aquas Ioannes, The words of Iohn at Chriſts Baptiſme, were this voyce that David intends; And then that manifeſtation which God gave of the Trinity, (whatſoever it were) altogether, that was the Thunder of his Majeſty: ſo this Thunder then, was vox de Coelis, A voyce from heaven; And in this voyce the perſon of the Father was manifeſted, as he was in the ſame voyce at his Transfiguration. Since this voyce then is from Heaven, and is the Fathers voyce, we muſt looke for all our knowledge of the Trinity from thence. For, (to ſpeake of one of thoſe perſons,Mat. 11.27. of Chriſt) no man knoweth the Sonne, but the Father; Who then, but he, can make us know him? If any knew it, yet it is an unexpreſſible myſtery, no man could reveale it;Mat. 16.17. Fleſh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven; If any could reveale it to us, yet none could draw us to beleeve it; No man can come to me, except the Father draw him: Iohn 6.44.So that all our voyce of Direction muſt be from thence, De Coelis, from Heaven.
We have had Voces de Inferis, voyces from Hell, in the blaſphemies of Heretiques;De Inferis. That the Trinity was but Cera extenſa, but as a Rolle of Wax ſpread, or a Dough Cake rolled out, and ſo divided unto perſons: That the Trinity was but a neſt of Boxes, a leſſer in a greater, and not equall to one another; And then, that the Trinity was not onelyonly three perſons, but three Gods too; So far from the truth, and ſo far from one another have Heretiques gone, in the matter of the Trinity; and Cerinthus ſo far, in that one perſon, in Chriſt, as to ſay, That Jeſus, and Chriſt, were two diſtinct perſons; and that into Jeſus, who, ſayes he, was the ſonne of Ioſeph, Chriſt, who was the Spirit of God, deſcended here at his Baptiſme, and was not in him before, and withdrew himſelfe from him againe, at the time of his Paſſion, and was not in him then; ſo that he was not borne Chriſt, nor ſuffered not being Chriſt; but was onelyonly Chriſt in his preaching, and in his Miracles; and in all the reſt, he was but Jeſus, ſayes Cerinthus.
We have had Voces de Inferis, de profundis, from the depth of hell,De Medio. in the malice of Heretiques, And we have had Voces de medio, voyces from amongſt us, Inventions of men, to expreſſe, and to make us underſtand the Trinity, in pictures, and in Compariſons: All which (to contract this point) are apt to fall into that abuſe, which we will onelyonly note in one; At firſt, they uſed ordinarily to expreſſe the Trinity in foure letters, which had no ill purpoſe in it at firſt, but was a religious eaſe for their memories, in Catechiſmes: The letters were foreign, and foreign, and foreign, and foreign; The foreign was foreign, and the foreign was foreign, and the two laſt belonged to the laſt perſon, for foreign was foreign, and foreign was foreign, and ſo there was Father, Sonne, and Holy Ghoſt, as if we ſhould expreſſe it in F, and S, and H, and G. But this came quickly thus far into abuſe, as that they thought, there could belong but three letters, in that picture, to the three perſons; and therefore allowing ſo many to Father, Sonne, and Holy Ghoſt, they tooke the laſt letter P, for Petrus, and ſo made Peter head of the Church, and equall to the Trinity. So that for our knowledge, in this myſterious doctrine of the Trinity, let us evermore reſt, in voce de coelis, in that voice which came from heaven.
But yet it is Vox dicens, Dicens.A voice ſaying, ſpeaking, A voice that man is capable of, and may be benefited by. It is not ſuch a voice as that was, (which came from heaven too) when Chriſt prayed to God to glorifie his name, Iohn 12.28.That the people ſhould ſay, ſome, that it was a Thunder, ſome that it was an Angel that ſpake. They are the ſons of Thunder, and they are the Miniſteriall Angels of the Church, from whom we muſt heare this voice of heaven: Nothing can ſpeak, but man: No voice is underſtood by man, but the voice of man; It is not Vox dicens, That voyce ſayes nothing to me, that ſpeaks not; And therefore howſoever the voice in the Text were miraculouſly formed by God, to give this glory, and dignity to this firſt manifeſtation of the Trinity in the perſon of Chriſt, yet becauſe he hath left it for a permanent Doctrine neceſſary to Salvation, he hath left ordinary means for the conveying of it; that is, The ſame voice from heaven, the ſame word of God, but ſpeaking in the miniſtery of man. And therefore for our meaſure of this knowledge, (which is our third and laſt Part) we are to ſee, how Chriſtian men, whoſe office it hath been to interpret Scriptures, that is, how the Catholike Church hath underſtood theſe words, Hic eſt Filius, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleaſed.
How we are to receive the knowledge of the Trinity,3 Part. Athanaſius hath expreſſed as far as we can goe; Whoſoever will be ſaved, hee muſt beleeve it; but the manner of it is not expoſed ſo far as to his beliefe. That queſtion of the Prophet, Quis enarrabit? who ſhall declare this? carries the anſwer with it, Nemo enarrabit, No man ſhall declare it. But a manifeſtation of the Beeing of the Trinity, they have alwayes apprehended in theſe words, Hic eſt Filius, This is my beloved Son. To that purpoſe therefore, we take, firſt, the words to be expreſſed by this Euangeliſt S. Matthew, as the voyce delivered them, rather then as they are expreſſed by S. Marke, and S. Luke; both which have it thus, Tu es, Thou art my beloved Son, and not Hic eſt, This is; They two being onelyonly carefull of the ſenſe, and not of the words, as it fals out often amongſt the Euangeliſts, who differ oftentimes in recording the words of Chriſt, and of other perſons. But where the ſame voice ſpake the ſame words againe, in the Transfiguration, there all the Euangeliſts expreſſe it ſo,2 Pet. 1.17. Hic eſt, This is, and not Tu es, Thou art my beloved Son; And ſo it is, where S. Peter makes uſe by application of that hiſtory, it is Hic eſt, and not Tu es. So that this Hic eſt, This man, deſigns him who hath that marke upon him, that the holy Ghoſt was deſcended upon him, and tarried upon him; for ſo far went the ſigne of diſtinction given to Iohn, The holy Ghoſt was to deſcend and tarry: Manet, ſayes S. Hierome, The holy Ghoſt tarryes upon him, becauſe he never departs from him, ſed operatur quando Chriſtus vult, & quomodo vult, The holy Ghoſt works in Chriſt, when Chriſt will, and as Chriſt will; and ſo the holy Ghoſt tarryed not upon any of the Prophets; They ſpoke what hee would, but he wrought not when they would. S. Gregory objects to himſelfe, that there was a perpetuall reſidence of the holy Ghoſt upon the faithfull, out of thoſe words of Chriſt, The Comforter ſhall abide with you for ever; But as S. Gregory anſwers himſelfe, This is not a plenary abiding, and ſecundùm omnia dona, in a full operation, according to all his gifts, as he tarried upon Chriſt: Neither indeed is that promiſe of Chriſts to particular perſons, but to the whole body of the Church.
Now this reſidence of the holy Ghoſt upon Chriſt, was his unction; properly it was that, by which he was the Meſſias, That he was anointed above his fellowes; And therefore S. Hierome makes account, that Chriſt received his unction, and ſo his office of Meſſias, at this his Baptiſme, and this deſcending of the holy Ghoſt upon him: And he thinks it therefore, becauſe preſently after Baptiſme, he went to preach in the Synagogue, and he took for his Text thoſe words of the Prophet Eſay, Eſay 61.1.The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, becauſe he hath anointed me, that I ſhould preach the Goſpel to the poore. And when he had read the Text, he began his Sermon thus, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your eares. But we may be bold to ſay, that this is miſtaken by S. Hierome; for the unction of Chriſt by the holy Ghoſt, by which he was anointed, and ſealed into the office of Meſſias, was in the over-ſhadowing of the holy Ghoſt in his conception, in his aſſuming our nature: This Deſcending now at his baptiſme, and this Reſidence, were onelyonly to declare, That there was a holy Ghoſt, and that holy Ghoſt dwelt upon this perſon.
It is Hic, Eſt.This perſon; And it is Hic eſt, This is my Son; It is not onelyonly Fuit, He was my Son, when he was in my boſome, Nor onelyonly Erit, He ſhall be ſo, when he ſhall return to my right hand againe; God does not onelyonly take knowledge of him in Glory; But Eſt, He is ſo now; now in the exinanition of his perſon, now in the evacuation of his Glory, now that he is preparing himſelfe to ſuffer ſcorne, and ſcourges, and thornes, and nailes, in the ignominious death of the Croſſe, now he is the Son of the glorious God; Chriſt is not the leſſe the Son of God for this eclipſe.
Hic eſt, This is he, who for all this lowneſſe is ſtill as high as ever he was,Filius. and that height is, Eſt Filius, He is the Son. He is not Servus, The Servant of God; or not that onelyonly, for he is that alſo. Behold my ſervant, Eſay 41.1.(ſayes God of him, in the Prophet) I will ſtay upon him, mine elect, in whom my ſoule delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him, and he ſhall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles. But Chriſt is this Servant, and a Son too: And not a Son onelyonly; for ſo we obſerve divers filiations in the Schoole; Filiationem veſtigii, That by which all creatures, even in their very being, are the ſons of God, as Iob cals God Pluviae patrem, The father of the raine; And ſo there are other filiations, other wayes of being the ſons of God. But Hic eſt, This perſon is, as the force of the Article expreſſes it, and preſſes it, Ille Filius, The Son, That Son, which no ſon elſe is, neither can any elſe declare how he is that which he is.
This perſon then is ſtill The Son, And Meus Filius, ſayes God, My Son. Meus.He is the ſonne of Abraham, and ſo within the Covenant; as well provided by that inheritance, as the ſon of man can be naturally. He is the Son of a Virgin, conceived without generation, and therefore ordained for ſome great uſe. He is the ſon of David, and therefore royally deſcended; But his dignity is in the Filius meus, that God avows him to be his Son; for, VntoUnto which of the Angels ſaid he at any time, Thou art my ſonne? Heb. 1.5.But to Chriſt he ſayes in the Prophet, I have called thee by thy name: And what is his name? Meus es tu, Thou art mine. Quem à me non ſeparat Deitas, ſayes Leo, non dividit poteſtas, non diſcernit aeternitas: Mine ſo, as that mine infiniteneſſe gives me no roome nor ſpace beyond him, hee reaches as far as I, though I be infinite; My Almightineſſe gives me no power above him, he hath as much power as I, though I have all; My eternity gives me no being before him, though I were before all: In mine Omnipotence, in mine Omnipreſence, in mine Omnieſſence, he is equall partner with me, and hath all that is mine, or that is my ſelfe, and ſo he is mine.
My Son, And My beloved Son; but ſo we are all, who are his ſons, Deliciae ejus, Dilectus. Prov. 8.31.ſayes Solomon, His delight, and his contentment is to be with the ſons of men. But here the Article is extraordinarily repeated againe, Ille dilectus, That beloved Son, by whom, thoſe, who were neither beloved, nor Sons, became the beloved Sons of God; For, there is ſo much more added, in the laſt phraſe, In quo complacui, In whom I am well pleaſed.
Now, theſe words are diverſly read. S. Auguſtine ſayes,In quo. ſome Copies that he had ſeen, read them thus, Ego hodie genui te, This is my beloved Son, this day have I begotten him: And with ſuch Copies, it ſeemes, both Iuſtin Martyr, and Irenaeus met, for they reade theſe words ſo, and interpret them accordingly: But theſe words are miſplaced, and miſ-transferred out of the ſecond Pſalme, where they are. And as they change the words, and in ſtead of In quo complacui, In whom I am well pleaſed, reade, This day have I begotten thee; S. Cyprian addes other words, to the end of theſe, which are, Hunc audite, Heare him: Which words, when theſe words were repeated at the Transfiguration, were ſpoken, but here, at the Baptiſme, they were not, what Copy ſoever miſled S. Cyprian, or whether it were the failing of his own memory. But S. Chryſoſtome gives an expreſſe reaſon, why thoſe words were ſpoken at the Transfiguration, and not here: Becauſe, ſaies he, Here was onelyonly a purpoſe of a Manifeſtation of the Trinity, ſo farre, as to declare their perſons, who they were, and no more: At the Tranſ-figuration, where Moſes and Elias appeared with Chriſt, there God had a purpoſe to preferre the Goſpel above the Law, and the Prophets, and therefore in that place he addes that, Hunc audite, Heare him, who firſt fulfills all the Law, and the Prophets, and then preaches the Goſpel. He was ſo well pleaſed in him, as that he was content to give all them, that received him, Eph. 1.6.power to become the Sons of God, too; as the Apoſtle ſayes, By his grace, he hath made us accepted in his beloved.
Beloved, That you may be ſo, Come up from your Baptiſme, as it is ſaid that Chriſt did; Riſe, and aſcend to that growth, which your Baptiſme prepared you to: And the heavens ſhall open, as then, even Cataractae coeli, All the windowes of heaven ſhall open, and raine downe bleſſings of all kindes, in abundance; And the Holy Ghoſt ſhall deſcend upon you, as a Dove, in his peacefull comming, in your ſimple, and ſincere receiving him; And he ſhall reſt upon you, to effect and accompliſh his purpoſes in you. If he rebuke you, (as Chriſt, when he promiſes the Holy Ghoſt, though he call him a Comforter, John 16.7.ſayes, That he ſhall rebuke the world of divers things) yet he ſhall dwell upon you as a Dove, Quae ſi mordet, oſculando mordet, ſayes S. Auguſtine: If the Dove bite, it bites with kiſſing, if the Holy Ghoſt rebuke, he rebukes with comforting. And ſo baptized, and ſo purſuing the contract of your Baptiſme, and ſo crowned with the reſidence of his bleſſed Spirit, in your holy converſation, hee ſhall breathe a ſoule into your ſoule, by that voyce of eternall life, You are my beloved Sonnes, in whom I am well pleaſed.