One-Hundred Forty-Five Sermons Upon John 17, Title page – Errata
CXLV Expoſitory Sermons UPON The whole 17th CHAPTER OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO St JOHN: OR, CHRISTS PRAYER Before his PASSION Explicated, AND BOTH Practically and Polemically Improved. By Anthony Burgeſs Miniſter of the Goſpel, ſometime Fellow of Emanuel-Colledge in Cambridge, and now Paſtour of the Church of Sutton-Coldfield in Warwickshire.
LONDON, Printed by Abraham Miller for Thomas Underhill at the Anchor and Bible in St Pauls Church-yard. MDCLVI.
TO The Chriſtian READER.
THe Evangeliſt John, becauſe of that admirable, uſefull, and excellent matter, which he hath left on Record for the good of the Church, is dignified with ſome remarkable Titles; That which is the principall, and most to be obſerved, is the name Chriſt himſelf gave him, Mark 3.17 *Of the reaſon why Chriſt impoſed on ſome new names, ſee Caſau…. ad Annal. Exerc. 13.He with his brother James are called, Sons of Thunder; When our Saviour changed Peters Name, there is the reaſon of that mutation expreſſed; but becauſe here is none given, therefore the conjectures of Interpreters are various: As for the application of it to John, Some ſay, It was becauſe of the greatneſſe and vehemency of his voice, foreign, but it is hard to prove that. Grotius thinketh our Saviour doth allude to that of Haggai chap. 2.6. Yet once it is a little while, and I will ſhake (foreign, from which he makes Boanerges, though other Criticks judge much otherwiſe) the Heavens and Earth, &c. This Promiſe was fulfilled in the great Mutation and Change, which was made by the Goſpel, in which this Evangeliſt was an excellent Inſtrument: Some attribute it to the Secrecy and Sublimity of that matter which he delivereth, as having more familiarity with Chriſt, then others, for he uſed to lean on his Breaſt, and ſo might receive ſome peculiar inſtruction from Chriſt. Thus Heinfius making Thunder to be no more then the Hebrew Shechina, Gods Preſence and Majeſty, applying that place, Pſal. 81.7. I have heard thee in the ſecret place of Thunder. But that which is moſt probable is, Becauſe of the admirable gravity and weight in the matter delivered, as alſo the ſhort and ſudden expreſsions thereof. Thoſe Sentences in the beginning of his firſt …hapter, are like ſo many thunderbolts, inſomuch that if you do regard the Matter and Manner of his expreſsion, he might more truly be ſaid foreign, then Pericles in his Orations; Whatſoever therefore we finde delivered by this Divine Penman, we are with much reverence and awfull reſpect to receive it. Antiquity alſo hath in a peculiar manner honoured him with ſome other names, He is called the Heavenly Eagle, and that becauſe of the ſublime Myſteries manifeſted by him in reference to the Godhead of Chriſt; And to this purpoſe, he is likewiſe ſtyled Theologos, the Divine, where foreign or foreign, is not uſed in that ſenſe, as afterwards it was in the Church of God, for it is oppoſed to foreign, hence they ſay, the other Evangeliſts do deliver foreign of Chriſt, the manner of his Humane Nativity, but this Evangeliſt doth the foreign, the Divine Nature of Christ, although the Socinians have ſacrilegiouſly perverted the beginning of that first Chapter of John to another ſenſe, then of Chriſts Eternal Deity (which yet was uſed inſtrumentally to convert Junius from his Atheiſme.) Now although the whole matter delivered thus by this Evangeliſt be ſo admirable and excellent, yet this Seventeenth Chapter, wherein is related the Prayer of Christ for believers, not long before his Death (and mentioned onelyonly by him) hath ſome appropriated Reaſons for a more peculiar Attention and Affection towards it; Hence it hath alwayes had a peculiar Preſidency in the hearts of Believers: So that the opening of this precious Box of Ointment, muſt needs ſend forth a refreſhing fragrant ſmell to thoſe that are ſpiritual; For it is truly ſaid by Melancthon concerning this Prayer, Nec digniorem, necſanctiorem, nec fructuoſiorem, nec magis patheticam vocem in Coelo ac Terrâ unquam fuiſſe auditam, quam hanc ipſius Filii precationem; There was never a more excellent, more holy, more fruitfull, and more affectionate voice ever heard in Heaven or Earth, then this Prayer. So that we may call this Chapter, as ſome of the Pſalms are, A Chapter of Degrees, If this reaſon may be admitted of that Inſcription, becauſe they did ſurpaſſe other Pſalmes in Excellency, as alſo thereby the ſoul was like Elijah carried up in a fiery Chariot to Heaven, At the end of every verſe we may write Selah. There was a very ſuperſtitious Cuſtome among Chriſtians in Chryſoſtome's time, which he doth ſeverely inveigh against, that they would hang this Goſpel of John, or part of it about their necks, as an Anulete, nor a Spell againſt malignant things: But certainly, a gracious heart, preſerving this Prayer of Chriſt, and making a wiſe and skilfull improvement thereof, will finde it wonderfully advantagious, both for the increaſe of Godlineſſe and Comfort, here will be both Bread to nouriſh, and Wine to refreſh and comfort. Although therefore multitude of Books be complained of, as glutting the world; So that we may justly think there are more Books then Readers, yet the Excellency, perpetual Uſefulneſſe, and raviſhing Conſolations of the matter delivered by our Saviour in this Valedictory Prayer, have prevailed with me to publiſh theſe Expoſitory Sermons to the world, and the rather, not knowing of any Engliſh Writer, who hath purpoſely made it his buſineſse to explicate and practically improve this Chapter, whereas ſome other parts of Scripture have been diligently diſcuſſed. In the managing of this Work, I have occaſionally entered into ſome Socinian and Arminian Diſputes, ſome Verſes in this Chapter being the proper ſubject for them. Although the greateſt part of my Work is to make Honey rather then to ſting; to informe us how to believe and walk in a Chriſtian life, then to diſpute and digladiate about Controverſies, for we ſeldome gather Grapes from ſuch Thiſtles; Yea ſometimes in ſtead of Conviction, they work confirmation in thoſe Errours, the mindes of men are prepoſſeſſed with. And here I ſhall take leave to enter into a ſhort Digreſsion, which would have come out more ſeaſonably long before this time, but I had no opportunity till this occaſion was offered to me.
Not long ſince I publiſhed The Second Part of the Treatiſe of Juſtification, wherein among other particulars, my Work was to prove, That Works, though done by Grace, are not the Condition of our Juſtification, but that we are juſtified alone by Faith, as the Means or Inſtrument receiving of it. Theſe two kindes of Juſtification (viz. by Faith receiving, or Faith and Workes as a Condition,) I conceive to differ ſpecifically one from the other, and that he who is justified the one way cannot be the other. The former way, as the Scripture doth maintain, ſo generally the Reformed Churches have readily inſiſted in; The latter way the Remonstrants have vehemently pleaded for, oppoſing Faiths inſtrumentality in Juſtification, with whom Vorſtius and Grotius in this, Opinion aſſociate themſelves, as alſo one or two late Engliſh Writers, Doctor Hammond, Pract. Catech. lib. …. Sect. 3. Now when I had endeavoured to ſtate the Queſtion in a moſt candid and fair way between thoſe that deny Works to be a Condition ſine quâ non of our Juſtification, and thoſe who affirme. A Reverend and Learned Brother, judging himſelf to be concerned in this Opinion likewiſe, doth complain of the want of candor and truth (Confeſſ. Preface) in my ſtating of the Queſtion, wherein I rather expected thanks for my ingenuity: For first, I ſaid, All Merit and Efficiency was with great diſtaſte removed from theſe works of Grace in our Justification: Therefore the Question was, Upon what account theſe are required in Juſtified perſons, Whether in ſome Cauſality or Concurrence, as Faith is, onelyonly not with ſuch a Degree of Excellency? Now let any Judicious Reader, that is acquainted with this Controverſie decide, wherein any candour or truth may be deſired herein: For I ſay Cauſality (which is a general word) not Efficiencie or Merit. Againe, I ſay, Some Cauſalitie, Cauſalitas quaedam, which is Terminus diminuens; Yea, I added the word Concurrence, which might eaſily ſatisfie any, how low I brought the Queſtion; Yea, as if this had not been enough, I propounded it in other termes, Whether good Workes be required, as well as Faith? Yet when I had done all this, he complaineth, as if wrong were done. I am ſtill more confirmed, and that by this inſtance, in what I delivered in that Preface, That it is not a compendious or proper way to finde out truth, and diſcover an Errour, by dealing with perſons according to their particular expreſsions, or to attend to perſonall reflexions, but to abſtract the Queſtion, and to handle it in Theſi, For how many words upon words may be multiplied in this very particular. My Reverend Brother ſaith, He vehemently diſclaimeth all Cauſality of Workes in Juſtification: Surely his meaning is all Proper Cauſall Efficiency (and ſo did I in the ſtating of it) but to deny Cauſality in a large ſenſe is plainly to contradict himſelf: For in his Aphoriſme 74 Theſis, They both (viz.) Faith and Works juſtifie in the ſame kinde of Cauſality, viz. as Cauſae ſi…e q…ibus non, or m…d…ate and improper Cauſes; Or as Doctor Twiſs, Cauſae di…poſitivae but with this difference, Faith as the principall part, Obedience as the leſſe princ…pall: Here is Cauſality, though improper; Here is a Cauſa diſpoſitiva, and yet ſhall I be blamed, after I had removed Efficiency and Merit, to ſta…e it with a Cauſalitas quaedam, ſome Cauſality or Concurrence; And therefore all the Arguments I produce, are not againſt any ſuppoſed Cauſality, but that Faith onelyonly is that which juſtifieth, and that good Works, quâ Workes (let them be Meritorious, Efficient, or Conditions onelyonly) are excluded as to the Act of Juſtification. Grotius (in cap. 2. Jacobi) who maketh this Promiſe of Juſtification and Salvation, Ad donationem ſub conditione, quam ad proprie dictam locu…ionem & conductionem, propius accedere (happily this may occaſion ſuch great recourſe to the Lawyers about the Nature of Conditions) doth yet notwithſtanding on the 2… th verſe of the 2d Chapter of James, from that expreſsion of the Apoſtle, Faith did foreign, inferre, Docemur non male fidem & opera fidei poſſe dici cauſam Juſtificationis — modo non intelligamus, cau…am primariam— ſed conditiones quae ſaepe cau…ae ſine quibus non, aut ſui generis cauſae dicu…tur. But I need not runne to this, for my Arguments militate againſt Workes, as Workes juſtifying under any pretended Notion whatſoever: And this maketh me admire, how my Learned Brother could let …f all one Paſſage, wherein he may be ſo p…lp…bly and ocularly convinced to the contrary by the firſt looking upon my Arguments, That which he ſaith, is, The ſtrength of my Arguments lieth upon a ſuppoſition, That Conditions have a moral Efficiency (not to examine how freely he manageth his Anſwer to ſuch a ſuppoſition.) Now this is that which I aff…rme, That there is not one o… theſe ten Arguments brought againſt Juſtification by Workes, as a Conditio ſine quâ non, that is built upon this ſu…poſition, or hath any dependance on it, onelyonly in the fourth Argument, after the full ſtrength thereof is delivered, then I do ex abun…anti, and by way of amplification, ſhew, that a Condition in a Covenant ſtrictly taken (I put in that limitation) hath a moral Efficiencie, and is a cauſa cum quâ, not a cauſa ſine quâ non: But this is onelyonly by way of addition, The Argument did not depend on this Aſſertion.In his Apology, pag. 8. And my Learned Brother ſaith, Some conditions (and moſt among men) are Morall Impulſive cauſes. I finde another thing urged likewiſe, as not fair dealing, and that is, To fasten upon his Opinion, that we may ſay a Juſtifying Repentance, as well as Juſtifying Faith, and alſo Juſtifying Love; Indeed in my Book it is Law, and that was the Printers fault, which I am ſorry for, becauſe I ſee my Learned Brother ſo much moved at that, as if he were charged to hold a juſtifying Law, it ſhould have been Love: But why doth this offend my Reverend Brother? He doth not ſay, It is not true to ſay, juſtifying Repentance, or juſtifying Love, but it is not fit to ſay, (Confeſſ. in the Pref.) Why is it not fit, if it be true? It may be ſuch an expreſsion would be offenſive to godly eares, and therefore not fit: Can Love be a Condition of Juſtification, and yet not Juſtifying Love as a Condition? This ſeemeth very ſtrange. But it's ſaid, Faith hath a peculiar fitneſſe and aptneſſe to receive Chriſt, which Love hath not. It is true, and therefore Faith onelyonly Justifieth, and not Love: Thus it maketh againſt him, and not for him. Beſides with him, Faith juſtifieth as a Condition, not from its peculiar aptneſſe, and therefore Love and Repentance being Conditions, muſt juſtifie aequè with Faith, though not aequaliter, Faiths aptneſſe is the remote reaſon, as it is a Condition, that is the proxime and formall reaſon: Now Repentance and Love have this formall reaſon, for they are Conditions: Certainly, if Brutum were Animal rationale, he would be Homo, as well as man is. Some other minute and inconſiderable Objections are alſo brought in, but they are not worthy of a conteſt.
I therefore return again from this Digreſsion to the Subject in hand, which is to take notice of the great Uſefulneſs and Excellency of the matter contained in this Prayer of Christs. Luther did juſtly call John the Evangeliſt for this Book, Malleus Pelagianorum, the hammer of Pelagians, we may adde alſo of Socinians and Arians. Hence Sixtus Senenſis ſpeaketh of ſome Heretiques called Alogi (a name that Epiphanius did justly put upon them) becauſe they rejected this Goſpel of John, and could not endure this foreign, the Word, ſo often mentioned by him; What is thus ſaid of the whole Goſpel, may alſo be applied to this Prayer. For
Firſt, Here is the Systeme, as it were, of moſt exact and pure Divinity, eſpecially the Socinian and Arminian Errours are moſt powerfully and evidently profligated by it; Poſſevine chargeth it under his head of Atheiſme upon the Heretiques, that Luther ſhould ſay, There was no other Goſpel but that of John, as if the Books of the other Evangelists did not deſerve that Name; but till I can finde that expreſſion in Luther, I ſhall not be ſollicitous for an anſwer; This is certain, that this very Chapter I am treating of, is enough to put to flight and conquer the Armies of the chiefeſt Heretiques; there being ſcarce any Doctrine of weight in Religion, which may not from hence be ſtrongly confirmed. Chryſoſtom maketh this Chapter foreign not foreign, a Sermon, not a Prayer, but it may have this inſtructing matter in it, though poured out prayer-wiſe.
Secondly, As this Chapter is thus, the Compendium and Marrow of Divinity, ſo it is alſo the Foundation of the Miniſtry, yea and of the Church alſo; For as at the Creation by that word of bleſsing, Increaſe and multiply, all things have their being, and are continued therein, ſo from the vertue and efficacie of this Prayer, the Miniſtry, the Ordinances, the Church it ſelf have their exiſtence and preſervation.
Thirdly, Whereas the life and comfort of believers lieth in their Union with Christ, and Communion one with another. This precious truth is largely mentioned by our Saviour, which giveth occaſion to treat of a Believers Union with Chriſt, as alſo of the Unity which ought to be amongst Believers, from which Foundation we treat concerning the means to preſerve Unity, as alſo the cauſes of Diviſions amongst them, and likewiſe how farre a Forbearance and Toleration in a Church-way (for that Queſtion of a Politicall and Civil one, is not ſo pertinent to our Saviours words) is to be yeelded unto in reſpect of erring Brethren.
Laſtly, This Prayer of Chriſt may be compared to a Land flowing with milk and honey, in reſpect of that treaſure of Conſolation which is contained therein: For as Chryſoſtome (Praefat. ad Johan.) ſaith, Though he be the Sonne of Thunder, yet his voice is ſweeter than any Melody; therefore at the 13th verſe he relateth, that our Saviour ſaid, Theſe things have I ſpoken in the world that my joy might be fulfilled in them. It is obſerved, that when Chriſt did in a more extraordinary and ardent manner pray unto God, he went into ſome ſecret place, and was alone; And Caſaubon leaveth it to be conſidered by the Learned (Exerc. 16. cap. 62.) Whether our Lord did not alſo pray this Prayer privately. But this expreſsion [I ſpeak theſe things in the world] doe plainly demonſtrate, that it was at leaſt ſpoken in the preſence of the Diſciples, and that for their Edification and Conſolation. Seeing therefore this is ſuch a Fountain for healing and refreſhing, Come with a ſpiritual thirſt to be repleniſhed thereby: Seeing here is the Honey and the Honeycomb, doe not with Jonathan taſte a little onelyonly, but eat freely and abundantly thereof, thou wilt by a ſerious and conſtant Meditation finde this heavenly matter in Chriſts Prayer make thee heavenly alſo, and aſsimulate thee into his own likeneſſe: How vain and empty will all the Glory of the world appear to thee, when thou ſhalt be lifted up upon this Mount of Transfiguration? They that live under the Torrid Zone never feel any cold, and thou who ſhalt finde this Prayer of Chriſt active and vigorous in thy breaſt, wilt never have cauſe to complain of that Dulneſſe, Formality and Coldneſse which many others groan under. The Lord grant that thou mayeſt finde this ſavoury Power, and experiment all Efficacie upon thy heart in the reading thereof.
Thy Souls Well-wiſher ANTHONY BURGESSE. Sutton-Coldfield, June 22th. 1656.
ERRATA.
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