Twenty-Six Sermons, Sermon 11
ASerm. 11. SERMON PREACHED AT GREENVVICH Aprill 30. 1615. SERM. XI.
Eſay 52.3.
Ye have ſold your ſelves for nought, and ye ſhall be redeemed without money.
IT is evident in it ſelf, and agreed by all, that this is a prophecy of a deliverance; but from what calamity it is a deliverance, or when this prophecy was accompliſhed, is not ſo evident, nor ſo conſtantly agreed upon. All the expoſitions may well be reduced to three; firſt, that it is a deliverance from the captivity of Babylon, and then the benefit appertains onelyonly to the Jews, and their deliverer, and Redeemer is Cyrus; Secondly, that it is a deliverance from perſecutions in the primitive Church, and ſo it appertains onelyonly to Chriſtians, and their Redeemer, from thoſe perſecutions is Conſtantine; And thirdly that it is a deliverance from the ſting and bondage of death by ſin; and ſo it appertains to the whole world, and the Redeemer of the whole world is Chriſt Jeſus: For the firſt, ſince both the Chaldee Paraphraſe, and the Jewiſh Rabbins themſelves, do interpret this to be a prophecy of the Meſſias, becauſe they labour ever more, as ſtrongly as they can, to wring our weapons out of our hands, and to take from us, many of thoſe arguments, which we take from the Prophets, for the proof of the Meſſias: it concerns us therefore to hold faſt, as much as they grant us, and not to interpret this place of a temporal deliverance from Babylon, but of the deliverance by the Meſſias. And for the ſecond, which is the deliverance of the chriſtians, from the perſecutions in the primitive times, though the Chriſtians did then with a holy cheerfulneſs ſuffer thoſe perſecutions, when they could not avoid them, without prevaricating, and betraying the hour of Chriſt Jeſus, yet they did not wilfully thruſt themſelves into thoſe dangers, they did not provoke the Magiſtrate; And the word which is here tranſlated, ye ſold your ſelves, vendictiſtis vos, implies actionem ſpontaneam, a free and voluntary action, done by themſelves, and therefore cannot well be underſtood of the perſecutions in the Primitive Church. The third therefore, as yet is the moſt uſefull, and moſt received, ſo it is the moſt proper acceptation of the word, that it is a deliverance from the bondage of ſin, to be wrought by Chriſt: for as Saint Hierome ſays, this Prophet Eſay, is rather an Evangeliſt, than a Prophet, becauſe almoſt all that Chriſt did, and ſaid, and ſuffered, is foretold, and prophetically antidated in his prophecy, and almoſt all his prophecy hath ſome relation (at leaſt in a ſecondary ſenſe of accommodation, (where it is not ſo primarily) and literally) to the words and actions, and paſſions of Chriſt.
Following then this interpretation in general of the word, that it is a deliverance from the wages of ſin, Death, by Chriſt we may take, in paſſing a ſhort view, of the miſerable condition of man, wherin he enwraped himſelf, & of the aboundant mercy of Chriſt Jeſus in withdrawing him from that univerſal calamity, by conſidering onelyonly the ſenſe, and largeneſs, and extention of thoſe words, in which the holy Ghoſt hath been pleaſed to expreſs both theſe in this Text. For firſt, the word in which our action is expreſſed, which is Machar verdidiſtis, ye have ſold, ſignifies in many places of Scripture, dare proreatia, a permutation, an exchange of one thing for another; and in other places it ſignifies Dedére, upon any little attempt to forſake and abandon our defences, and to ſuffer the enemy eaſily to prevail upon us; ſo alſo it ſignifies Tradere, not onelyonly to forſake our ſelves, but to concur actually to the delivering up of our ſelves; and laſtly, it ſignifies Repellere, to joyn with our enemies in beating back any that ſhould come to our relief, and reſcue. And then, as we have ſo ſold our ſelves, for the ſubſtance of the Act, as is expreſſed in that word Machar, we have exchanged our ſelves at an undervalue, and worſe than that, we have yeelded up our ſelves upon eaſie tentations, and worſe than that, we have offered our ſelves, expoſed our ſelves, invited the devil, and tempted temptations, and worſe than that, we have Rejected the ſuccours and the ſupplies which have been offered us in the means and conduits, and ſeals of his Graces. As it ſtands thus with us, for the matter, ſo for the manner, how we have done this, that is expreſſed in that other word, kinnan which ſignifies fecit, as it is here, Gratis, for nought. And in another place, Fruſtra, to no purpoſe; for it is a void bargain, becauſe we had no title, no intereſt in our ſelves, when we ſold our ſelves; and it ſignifies, temere, raſhly, without conſideration of our own value, upon whom God had ſtamped his Image; And then again it ſignifies, Immerito, undeſervedly, before God, in whoſe juriſdiction we were by many titles, had forſaken us, or done any thing to make us forſake him. So that our action in ſelling our ſelves for nothing, hath this latitude, That man whom God hath dignified ſo much, as that in the Creation he imprinted his Image in him, and in the Redemption he aſſumed not the Image, but the very nature of man, That man whom God ſtill preſerved as the Aple of his Eye, and (as he expreſſes himſelf often in the Prophets) is content to reaſon, and to diſpute with man, and to ſubmit himſelf to any tryal whither he have not been a gracious God unto him: That this man ſhould thus abandon this God, and exchange his ſoul for any thing in this world, when as it can profit nothing, to gain the whole world and looſe our own ſoul, and not exchange it, but give it away, thruſt it off, and be a devil to the devil, to tempt the tempter himſelf to take it. But then, as the word aggravates our condemnation, ſo it implies a conſolation too; for it is fructra, That is unprovidently, unthriftily, inconſideratly, vainly, and that multiplies our fault, but then it is invalidly, and uneffectually too; that is, it is a void bargain; and when our powerful Redeemer, is pleaſed to come, and claim his right, and ſet on foot his title, all this improvident bargain of ours is voided, and reverſed, and not though, but becauſe we have ſold our ſelves, for nought, we ſhall be redeemed without money.
For the other word, in which the action of our Redeemer is expreſſed, though it have ſomewhat different uſes in the Scriptures, yet it is evermore ſpoken of him, Qui habet jus re dimendi, no man, by the Law could redeem a thing, but he who had a title to that thing. So the word is uſed, where there are given Cities of refuge from the avenge….. There the word is, a redemptor, from him that hath right to redeem his kinſmans blood, to bring an Appeal, and to proſecute for the death of his kinſman, who was ſlaine. So is the word uſed alſo, where that Law is given, &c. If thy brother be impoveriſhed, & he ſell his poſſeſſion then his redeemer &c. That is, he that is next to that land; And ſo alſo, when a man dyed without iſſue, he who had the right, and the obligation, to raiſe ſeed to the dead man, he was the redeemer: I am thy kinſman, ſaith Booz to Ruth, but ſaith he, Alius Redemptor magis propinquus. Thou haſt another Redeemer, nearer in blood then I am. How ill a bargain ſoever we made for our ſelves, Chriſt Jeſus hath not loſt his right in us, but is our Redeemer in all theſe acceptations of the world: He is our ſanctuary and refuge; when we have commited ſpiritual murder upon our own Souls, he preſerves us, and delivers us to the redemption ordained for us: when we have ſold our poſſeſſions, our natural faculties, He ſupplies us with grace, and feeds us with his Word, and cloaths us with his Sacraments, and warms us with his Abſolutions, againſt all diffidence, which had formerly frozen us up: and in our barrenneſs, he raiſes up ſeed unto our dead ſouls, thoughts, and works, worthy of repentance. All this, thy Redeemer hath right to do; &, when it pleaſes him to do it, he does it, ſine argento, without money; when the now Caſ…ph, ſignifies not onelyonly money, but, Omne appe…ibile, any thing that we can place our deſires, or caſt our thougths, upon. This Redemption of ours, is wrought by ſuch means, as the deſire of man could never have fortuned upon; The Incarnation of God, and then the death and Crucifying of that God, ſo Incarnate, could never have fallen within the deſire, nor wiſh of any man; neither would any man o… himſelf ever have conceived, That the Sacraments of the Church, poor and naked things of themſelves, (for all that the wit of man could imagine in them, or allow to them) ſhould be ſuch means to ſ…al, and convey the graces, which accompany this Redemption of our ſouls, to our ſouls.
Diviſio.So then, Having thus repreſented unto you, a model, and deſigne, of the miſerable condition of man, and the abundant mercy of our Redeemer, ſo far, as thoſe words which the Holy Ghoſt hath choſen in this text, hath invited and led us, That we may look better upon ſome pieces of it, that we may take ſuch a ſight of this Redeemer here, as that we may know Him, when we meet Him at home, at our houſe, in our private meditations, at His houſe, in the laſt judgment. I ſhall onelyonly offer you two conſiderations; Exprobrationem, and Conſola…ionem: Firſt, an exprobration, or increpation from God to us, And then a conſolation, or conſolidation of the ſame God upon us; And in the exprobration, God reproches to us, firſt, our Prodigality, that we would ſell a reverſion, our poſſibility, our expectance of an inheritance in heaven; And then, our cheapneſs, that we would ſell that, for nothing.
ProdigalityFirſt then, Prodigality is a ſin, that deſtroys even the means of liberality. If a man waſt ſo as that he becomes unable to releive others; by this waſt, this is a ſinful prodigality; but much more if he waſt ſo, as that he is not able to ſubſiſt, and maintain himſelf: and this is our caſe, who have even annihilated our ſelves, by our pro…uſeneſs; For, it is his mercy that we are not conſumed. It is a ſin, and a viperous ſin; it eats out his own womb; The Prodigal conſumes that that ſhould maintain his Prodigality: It is peccatum Biathana ton, a ſin that murders it ſelf,
Now, as in civil Prodigalities, in a waſtfulneſs of our temporal eſtate, the Laws inflicts three kinds of puniſhment, three incommodities upon him that is a Prodigal, ſo have the ſame puniſhments a proportion, and ſomethings that anſwer them, in this ſpiritual prodigality of the ſoul by ſin. The firſt is, bonis ſuis interdicitur; He that is a Prodigall, in the Law, cannot diſpoſe of his own Eſtate; whatſoever he gives, or ſells, or leaſes, all is void, as of a mad-man, or of an Infant. And ſuch is the condition of a man in ſin; He hath no intereſt in his own natural faculties; He cannot think, he cannot wiſh, he cannot do any thing of himſelf; the venem and the malignity of his ſin goes through all his actions, and he cannot purge it.
The ſecond incommodity is, Teſtamentum non facit, The Prodigal perſon hath no power allowed him by the Law, to make a will, at his death: And this alſo doth an habitual ſinner ſuffer: For, when he comes to his end, he may dictate to a Notary, and he may bid him write, Imprimis, I give my Soul to God, my Body to ſuch a Church, my Goods to ſuch, and ſuch perſons: But if thoſe Goods be l…able to other debts, …he Leg…tarie; ſhall have no profit; If the perſon be under excommunication, he ſhall not lye in that Church; If his ſoul be under the weight of unrepented ſins, God will do the devil no wrong, he will not take a ſoul, that is ſold to him before.
The third Incommodity that a Prodigal incurrs by the Law, is, Exhaeredatus creditur, He is preſum'd to be diſinherited by his father; that whereas, by that Law, if the father, in his Will, leave out any of his childrens names, and never mention him, yet that child which is pretermitted, ſhall come in for a childs part, except the father have aſſigned a particular reaſon why he left him out; If this childe were a Prodigal, there needs no other reaſon to be aſſigned, but Exhaeredatus Creditur, He is preſum'd to be diſinherited. And ſo alſo, if we have ſeen a man prodigal of his own ſoul, and run on in a courſe of ſin, all his life, except there appear very evident ſigns of reſumption into Gods grace, at his end, Exhaeredatus Creditur, we have juſt reaſon to be afraid, that he is diſinherited. If any ſuch ſinner ſeem to thee to repent at his end, Fa…eor vobis non negamus, quod petit, ſaith St. Auguſtin: I confeſs, we ought not to deny him, any help that he deſires in that late extremity? Sed non praeſumimus quia bene exit, I dare not aſſure you, that that man dyes in a good ſtate; he adds that vehemence, non praeſumo, non vos fallo, non praeſumo: I ſhould but deceive you, if I ſhould aſſure you, that ſuch a man dyed well. There was one good and happy Thief, that ſtole a Salvation, at the crucifying of Chriſt; but in him, that was throughly true, which is proverbially ſpoken, Occaſio facit furem, the oppotunity made him a thief: and when there is ſuch another opportunity, there may be ſuch another theif; when Chriſt is to dye again, we may preſume of mercy, upon ſuch a late repentance at our death. The preventing grace of God, made him lay violent hands upon heaven. But when thou art a Prodigal of thy ſoul, will God be a prodigal too, for thy ſake, and betray and proſtitute the kingdome of Heaven for a ſigh, or a groan, in which thy pain may have a greater part than thy repentance. God can raiſe up children out of the ſtones of the ſtreet, and therefore he might be as liberal as he would of his people, and ſuffer them to be ſold for old ſhoes; but Chriſt will not ſell his birth-right for a meſſe or pottage, the kingdome of Heaven, for the dole at a Funeral. Heaven is not to be had in exchange for an Hoſpital, or a Chantry, or a Colledge erected in thy laſt will: It is not onelyonly the ſelling all we have that muſt buy that pearl, which repreſents the kingdome of Heaven; The giving of all that we have to the poor, at our death, will not do it; the pearl muſt be ſought, and found before, in an even and conſtant courſe of Sanctification; we muſt be thrifty all our life, or we ſhall be to poor for that purchaſe.
It is then an unthrifty, a perplexed bargain, when both the buyer, and the ſeller looſe; our loſſe is plain enough, for we looſe our ſouls: And certainly, howſoever the devil be expreſſed to take ſome joy at the winning of a ſinner, howſoever his kingdome be thereby enlarged, yet Almighty God ſuffers not his treaſon, his undermining of man, to be unpuniſhed, but afflicts him with more and more accidental torments, even for that; as a licencious man takes pleaſure in the victory of having corrupted a woman, by his ſolicitation, but yet inſenſibly overthrows his conſtitution by his ſin; ſo the withdrawing of Gods Subjects, from his alleigance, induces an addition of puniſhment upon the devil himſelf.
Conſider a little further, our wretchedneſs, in this prodigality; we think, thoſe Laws barbarous and inhumane, which permit the ſute of men in debt, for the ſatisfaction of Creditors; but we ſell our ſelves, and grow the farther in debt, by being ſold; we are ſold, and to even rate our debts, and to aggravate our condemnation. We find in the hiſtory of the Muſcovits, that it is an ordinary detainder amongſt them, to ſell themſelves, and their poſterity, into everlaſting bondage, for hot drink: In one winter, a wretched man will drink himſelf, and his poſterity, into perpetual ſlavery. But we ſell our ſelves, not for drink, but for thirſt: we are ſory when our appetite too ſoon decaies, and we would fain ſin more than we do. At what a high rate did the bleſſed Martyrs ſell their bodies; They built up Gods Church with their blood: They ſowed his field, and prepared his harveſt with their blood: they got heaven for their bodies, and we give bodies, & ſouls for hell.
In a right inventary, every man that aſcends to a true value of himſelf, conſiders it thus; Firſt, His Soul, then His life; after his fame and good name: And laſtly, his goods and eſtate; for thus their own nature hath ranked them, and thus they are (as in nature) ſo ordinarily in legal conſideration preferred before one another. But for our ſouls, becauſe we know not, how they came into us, we care not how they go out; becauſe, if I aske a Philoſopher, whither my ſoul came in, by propagation from my parents, or by an immediate infuſion from God, perchance he cannot tell, ſo I think, a divine can no more tell me, whither, when my ſoul goes out of me, it be likely to turn on the right, or on the left hand, if I continue in this courſe of ſin. And then, for the ſecond thing in this inventary, Life; the Devil himſelf ſaid true, skin for skin, and all that a man hath, will he give for his life; Indeed we do not eaſily give away our lives expreſly, and at once; but we do very eaſily ſuffer our ſelves to be couſened of our lives: we pour in death in drink, and we call that health, we know our life to be but a ſpan, and yet we can waſh away one inche in ryot, we can burn away one inch in luſt, we can bleed away one inch in quarrels, we have not an inch for every ſin; and if we do not pour out our lives, yet we drop them away. For the third peece of our ſelf, our fame and reputation, who had not rather be thought an uſurer, then a beggar? who had not rather be the object of envy, by being great, than of ſcorn and contempt, by being poor, upon any conditions? And for the laſt of all which is our goods,Seneca. though our coveteouſneſs appears moſt, in the love of them, in that loweſt thing of all (Adeo omnia homini cariora ſeipſo, ſo much does every man think every inferiour thing better than himſelf, than his fame, than his body, than his ſoul; which is a moſt perverſe undervaluing of himſelf, and a damnable humility) yet even with theſe goods alſo, (as highly as he values them) a man will paſt if to fuell, and foment, and maintain that ſin, that he delights in: that which is the moſt precious, our ſouls, we undervalue moſt; and that which we do eſteem moſt, (though naturally it ſhould be loweſt) our eſtate, we are content to waſt, and diſſipate for our ſins: And whereas the Heathens needed laws to reſtrain them, from an expenſive, and waſtful worſhip of their Gods, every man was ſo apt to exceed in ſacrifices and ſuch other religious duties, til that law, Deus frugi Colunto Let men be thrifty & moderate in religious expenſes, was enacted, (which law was a kind of mortmain, and inhibition, That every man might not beſtow what he would, upon the ſervice of thoſe Gods) we have turned our prodigality the other way, upon the devil, whom we have made Haeredem in eſſe and our ſole executor, and ſacrificed ſoul, and life, and fame, and fortune, all the gifts of God, and God himſelf, by making his religion, and his Sacraments, and the profeſſion of his name, in an hypocriticall uſe of them, to be the devils inſtruments, to draw us the eaſilyer, and hold us the faſter; and what prodigality can be conceived to exceed this, in which we do not onelyonly miſpend our ſelves,Nihil. but miſpend our God.
The other point in this exprobration is, that, as we have prodigally ſold our ſelves, ſo we have inconſiderately ſold our ſelves for nothing; we have in our bargain, diſeaſes, and we have poverty, and we have unſenſibleneſs of our miſeries; but diſeaſes are but privations of health, and poverty but a privation of wealth, and unſenſibleneſs but a privation of tenderneſs of Conſcience; all are privations, and privations are nothing. if a man had got nothing by a bargain but repentance, he would think, and juſtly, he had got little: but if thou hadſt repentance in this bargain, thy bargain were the better; if thou couldſt come to think thy bargain bad, it were a good bargain; but the height of the miſery is in this, that one of thoſe nothings, for which we have ſold our ſelves is a ſtupidity, an unſenſibleneſs of our own wretchedneſs.
The Laws do annull, and make void fraudulent conveyances; and then the laws preſume fraud in the conveyance, if at leaſt half the value of the thing be not given: now if the whole world be not worth one ſoul, who can ſay, that he hath half his value? it were not meerly nothing, if (conſidering that inventary, which we ſpoke of before) we had the worſe for the better; that were but an ill exchange, but yet it were not nothing. If we had bodies for our ſouls, it were not meerly nothing; but we finde, that ſin that ſells our ſouls, decays and withers our bodies; our bodies grow incapable of that ſin, unable to commit that ſin, which we ſold our ſouls for. If we had fame and reputation for out bodies, it were not nothing: but we ſee, that Heretiques, that give their bodies to the fire, are by the very law, infamous, and they are infamous in every mans apprehenſion. If we had worldly goods for loſs of fame, and of our good name, yet ſtill it were not nothing; but we ſee that witches, who are infamous perſons, for the moſt part, live in extreme beggery too. So that the exprobration is juſt, we have ſold our ſelves for nothing; and however the ordinary murmuring may be true, in other things, that all things are grown dearer, our ſouls are ſtill cheap enough, which at firſt were all ſold in groſs, for (perchance) an Apple, and are now retailed every day for nothing.
Joſeph was ſold underfoot by his brethren; but it is hard to ſay, for how much; ſome Copies have that he was ſold for 20 pieces, and ſome for 25, and ſome for 30: and S. Ambroſe and S. Auguſtin, collects arguments, at leaſt, alluſions, from this variety of Copies: but all theſe ſay, it was but ſo many pieces of ſilver. The Septuagints, in their tranſlation, extend them to gold, to ſo many crowns, or ſuch: Joſephus multiplies them to pounds, ſo many pounds: all think it too low a price for Joſeph, to be ſold for twenty pieces of ſilver. But yet if it were ſo, this was not for nothing; and for this ſelling, his brethren had ſome pretence of excuſe ne polluantur manus, they would but ſell him, leaſt their hands ſhould be defiled with blood: but we ſell our ſelves, ut polluantur manus, therefore, that our hands may be defiled with blood, even with our own blood, with the loſs of our bodies, which we conſume by ſin, and of our ſouls, which periſh eternally by it.
Our Saviour Chriſt, every drop of whoſe blood was of infinite value (for one of our ſouls is more worth than the whole world, and one drop of his blood had been ſufficient for all the ſouls of 1000 worlds, if it had been applied unto them) was ſold ſcornfully and baſely, at a low price; at moſt, not above ſix pound of our money; but vve ſell our ſelves, and him too, we crucifie him again every day, for nothing: & when our ſin is the very crucifying of him, that ſhould ſave us, who ſhall ſave us? Earthly Princes have been ſo jealous of their honours, as that they have made it Treaſon, to carry their pictures into any low Office, or into any irreverend place. Beloved, whenſoever we commit any ſin, upon diſcourſe, upon conſideration, upon purpoſe, and plot, the image of God which is engraved and imprinted in us, and lodged in our underſtanding, and in that reaſon which we employ in that ſin, is mingled with that ſin; we draw the image of God into all our incontinencies, into all our oppreſſions, into all our extortions, and ſupplantations: we carry his image, into all ſoul places, which we haunt upon earth; yea we carry his image down with us, to eternal condemnation: for, even in Hell, uri poteſt, non exuri Imago Dei, ſays S. Bernard; The image of God burns in us in hell, but can never be burnt out of us: as long as the underſtanding ſoul remains, the Image of God remains in it, and ſo we have uſed the image of God, as witches are ſaid to do the images of men; by wounding or melting the image, they deſtroy the perſon: and we by defacing the image of God in our ſelves by ſin, to the painful & ſhameful death of the Croſs.
Gen. 31.Rachel and Lea complained of their father Laban, thus, He hath ſold us, and hath eat, and conſumed the money; they lamented it much, to ſee themſelves ſold, and by their father, and their father never the better for the bargain. But ſtill our caſe is worſe than any; the devil hath bought us, and he, he who hath bought us, hath eaten and conſumed the money: he pretends to buy us, by giving us pleaſure, or profit for our ſelves, and then thoſe very pleaſures, and thoſe riches, which he pretends to give us, are his food, and his inſtruments, to effect his miſchievous, and tyrannous purpoſes upon us. And therefore let no man think himſelf exempt from this challenge, that he hath ſold himſelf for nothing. Let no man preſent his Dutals, his Court-rolls, his Bacus, his good Debts, his titles of honour, his Maces, or his Staves, or his Enſignes of power and Office, and ſay, call you all this nothing? Compare all theſe with thy ſoul, and they are nothing. Now, whileſt thou walloweſt in all theſe here, thou mayeſt hear God ſay, Quid habes, quod non accepiſti, What haſt thou of all this, which thou haſt not received; but when the Bell tols, then he ſhall ſay, in the voyce of that Bell, Quid habes quod accepiſti, What haſt thou of all that thou haſt received? Is not all that come to nothing? and then thou that thoughteſt thy ſelf ſtrong enough in purſe, in power, in favour, to compaſs any thing, and to embrace many things, ſhalt not finde thy ſelf able to attain to a door-keepers place in the kingdome of heaven.
Let no man therefore take too much joy, to apply to himſelf thoſe words of the parable, Filii ſaeculi, The children of this world (which grow rich) are wiſer than the children of light; for it is but, In generatione ſua, Wiſer in their generation; and how litle a while that generation ſhall laſt, God knows; and what fools they ſhall appear to be, for all generations after, we know. They are called the wiſeſt amongſt men, as the Serpent was called the wiſeſt amongſt Beaſts, that is, ſtill, the fitteſt for the devil to work in, to make his inſtruments, and engines to deſire a curſe upon themſelves, and their poſterity. Let no man wreſt Gods example to his purpoſe, and ſay, if he do ſell himſelf for nothing, he does but as God himſelf did, and as David told him he did,Pſal. 44. Thou ſelleſt thy people without gain, and doeſt not increaſe their price. That was not for nothing; God had his end in that: neither was it an abſolute ſale; but a ſhort term: God ſels us over to ſickneſs, to tribulations, to afflictions, for ſometime; perchance for the whole term, of this ſhort life; but all this is but to improve us, and that we may be the fitter for him when he Takes us into his owne hand again, in that ſurrender of our ſelf, In manus tuas, when we ſhall deliver up our ſouls: to him, that gave them: for here no propriety is Deſtroyed, ſtill here is meum & tuum betwen God and me; It is ſtill my ſoul, and ſtill his ſoul; and when God looked mercyfully towards Job then Satans leaſe expired. God doth not give his ſaints …or Nothing; for ſanguis Semen, The blood of the Martyrs was the ſeed of the Church & ye are bought with a price ſayes the Apoſtle;1. Cor. 6. It is pretiore ye are pretiouſly bought, even with the pretious blood, of the onelyonly Sone of God. And for our temporall and ſecular value, in Gods account, we ſee how God expreſſed his care of the people, when he diverted Sennachrib, from afflicting them,Eſa. 43. by turning him upon other wars. I gave Egypt for thy ranſome, Ethiopia, and ſeba for the, becauſe thou waſt pretious in my ſight, and thou waſt honourable, and I loved the; therfore will I give man for the, and people for thy ſake. And this leads us in to the ſecond part, The Conſolation, that Though, nay, becauſe we have ſold our ſelves for nothing, we ſhall be Redemed with out mony.
Into this part then, there is at firſt a ſtrange Enterance;2 Part. Therfore, That therfore, becauſe we have ſold our ſelves we ſhould be redeemed; Therefore becauſe we have been prodigal, we ſhould be made rich. But, this Therfore, this reaſon, relates to the priſe, not to the worke of the Redemption, Becauſe it was for nothing, that we were ſold, it is without money, that we are Redeemed: for, for that, there is reaſon in Equity: but for the Redemption itſelf, there is no therfore, no reaſon at all: to be aſſigned, but onley the Eternall goodneſs of God himſelf, and the Eternall purpoſe of his will: Of which will of God, whoſoever ſeeks a reaſon, Aliquid majus Deo quaerit, ſays S. Auguſtin, he that ſeeks what perſwaded or inclind the will of God, ſeeks for ſomthing wiſer, and greater than God himſelf.
In this redemption then God purſues the devil, in all thoſe ſteps, by which he had made his profit, of a prodigality; for, firſt, as we gave away our ſelves, ſo he reſtores us to our ſelves again. It is well expreſed in the parable of the prodigall;Luc. 15. and his caſe is ours. The portion which he asked of his father, was the uſe of his free-will. God gave it him; Adams firſt Immortality was, poſſe non mori he needed not to have died: It was in his own power whether he would keep a free-will, or, no, and he ſpent that ſtock, he loſt that free-will. He ſpent not his free-will ſo as Bellarmin underſtands this ſpending, that that man may be ſayd to ſpend his life ill, that miſimployes it, but yet he hath this life in him ſtill: But the prodigall, Adam, ſpent is utterly: he ſpent it ſo, that he and we have no freewill at all left. But yet; even the prodigall ſayd, that he would return to his father, and he came; He had not only ſome ſudden thoughts of Repentance, but he put himſelf actually in the way: cum longe abeſſet, ſays that parable, when he was a great way off, yet becauſe he was in the way, his father met him and kiſſed him, and put that Robe upon him, which was not onelyonly Dignitas, quam perdidit Adam, as S. Auſtin qualifies it, a reſtitution to the ſame integrity, which Adam had and had loſt, but that was Amictus ſapientiae, (ſo S. Ambroſe calls it) it was an ability to preſerve himſelf in that integrity, to which he was reſtored. It was a Robe that was put upon him; it vvas none of his ovvn; but vvhen it vvas put upon him, it rectified and reſtored thoſe faculties, which were his own: as the eye ſees in a man reſtored to life, though the ſoul enable the eye and not the eye it ſelf, ſo the faculty of free-will works in us as well as it did in Adam though onelyonly the grace of God enable that faculty.
When God hath wrought that firſt cure (which he does by incorporating us, in the Church by baptiſme) that we are our ſelves again, then (as in the caſe of prodigals in the law) as they had Tutors, and Curators appointed them, ſo he ſends the Holy Ghoſt, to be our Guardian our Curator: and as the office of that perſon, in that law, was double, firſt to reverſe all contracts and bargains, which that prodigal perſon, in that ſtate, had made, and ſecondly to inhibit, and hinder him, from making new contracts, ſo this bleſſed Spirit of conſolation, by his ſanctification, ſeals to our conſciences a Quietus eſt, a diſcharge of all former ſpiritual debts, he cancells all them, he nails them to the croſs of Chriſt, and then he ſtrengthens us againſt relapſes into the ſame ſins again.
He proceds farther than this; beyond reſtering us, beyond preſerving us; for he betters us, he improves us, to a better condition, than we were in, at firſt. And this he does, firſt by purging and purifying us, and then by changing, and tranſmuting us. He purges us by his ſun-ſhine, by his temporal bleſſings; for, as the greateſt globes of gold lye neareſt the face and top of the earth, where they have received the beſt concoction from the heat of the ſun; ſo certainly, in reaſon, they who have had Gods continual ſun-ſhine upon them, in a proſperous fortune, ſhould have received the beſt concoction, the beſt digeſtion of the teſtimonies of his love, and conſequently be the purer, and the more refined mettall. If this purging prevail not, then he comes to purge thoſe whom he means to lay up in his treaſure, with tribulation; he carries them from the ſunſhine into the fire, and therefore, if thoſe tribulations fall upon thee in a great and heavy meaſure, think thy droſs needed this vehemence, and do not make afflictions, Arguments of God neglecting thee, for he that is preſented to have ſuffered very much, is alſo preſented to have been very righteous, that is Iob; And he that was the moſt innocent of all, ſuffered moſt of all, Chriſt Ieſus thy Saviour.
From this purifying comes our tranſmutation, that we are changed in ſemen Dei, made the ſeed of God: for, ſo God calls children that are derived from honeſt, and godly parents,Mal. 2. The ſeed of God, in the Prophet: but more fully in the Apoſtle, whoſoever is born of God ſinneth not, for his ſeed remaineth in him: 1 Ioh. 3.for this generation, is our regeneration,Iacob. 1. of his own will begat he us, with the word of truth: this grace makes us as properly the ſeed of God, as ſin makes us the ſeed of the Devill, of the Serpent,3. and ſo we are expreſly called in Gen. and ſo alſo in the Apoſtles, you are of your father the devil, Io. 8.and the luſts of your father, you will do. So we are changed in naturam Dei, as S. Peter expreſſes:2.1. it By his precious promiſes we are made partakers of the divine nature: not Ab anteriori, nor a poſteriori; not that we are ſo derived from the nature and eſſence of God, as that our ſouls ſhould be of his very ſubſtance, as the Manichees imagined, nor, as Origen miſtook, upon miſinterpreting theſe words to the Corinthians, ut Deus ſit omnia in omnibus, 1.15.That God ſhould be all in all, ſo as that at laſt, the whole nature of mankind, and indeed, all other natures and ſubſtances (if Origen have been rightly underſtood by ſome men near his own times) ſhould be ſwallowed up, and drowned in the very ſubſtance of God himſelf. But this tranſmutation is a glorious reſtoring of Gods image in us, and it is our conformity to him; and when either his temporal bleſſings, or his afflictions, his ſun, or his fire, hath tried us up to that height, to a conformity to him, then come we to that tranſmutation, which admits no re-tranſmutation, which is a modeſt, but infalible aſſurance of a final perſeverance, ſo to be joyned to the Lord, as to be one ſpirit with him; for as a ſpirit cannot be divided, ſo they who are thus changed into him, are ſo much His, ſo much He, as that nothing can ſeparate them from him; and this is the ladder, by which we may try, how far we are in the way to heaven.
And when we are come to this, then we are able to ſee, and to conſider, the poverty, and the value of him, who had before bought us, for nothing, and enthraled us.2 Cor. 4. The Devil is called the Lord of the world; but that is, in the perſon of Infidells; and we are none of that world. Though we have to do with Principallities, and ſpiritual wickedneſs,Epheſ. yet St: Paul motions it thus much, Eſt nobis Colluctatio, He arms us at all points, in that chapter, fit to indure any violent, or any long attempt, and yet he tells us, that all that we have to do with the Devil, is but Colluctatio, but a wraſtling; we may be throwen, but we cannot be ſlain. So alſo is the ſame ſtate of the ſaints of Gods deſcribed. That the Devil labours to Devoure, That he walks about, and ſeeks, Thoſe who are without the pale, without the Church, and theſe that are Rebellious and refractary within it, theſe he may devoure without any reſiſtance: they fall into his mouth; but for us, who are embraced by thy Redemtion, he is put to his labour, and to loſe his labour too; He is put to ſeek, and put to miſs too. He was put to ſue out a Commiſſion, for Jobs good; till then he con…eſſed to God, Thou haſt put a hedge about him. He was put to renew this commiſion, for his perſon; Touch his bones? but further he durſt not aſk. He hath a Kingdom, but no body knowes where: I would we might ſtill diſpute, whether it were in the Earth, or in the Ayre, and not finde this Kingdome in our owne hearts. Expell him thence; and Gods ſpirit is as the Air, that admits no vacuity, no emptineſs: deſtroy this kingdome of Satan in your ſelves, and God will eſtabliſh his, God will be content with his place. Himſelfe you cannot ſee; thats one degree of his tiranny, to Reſerve him ſelfe, and not be ſeen; for his deformities would make ye hate him: but in his glaſes in the riches, & in the vanities of this world, you ſee him and know him not; you ſee him, and know him, and embrace him, St. Chryſoſt. hath convinced you, in all that can be ſayd, for the love of this world; If thou wilt (ſays he) that I muſt therfore look after worldly things, becauſe they are neceſſary, E regione reſpendeo, ſays he: Therefore thou needeſt not look after them, becauſe they are neceſſary: Si eſſent ſuperflua, non deberes confidere quia ſunt neceſſaria, non debes ambigere: for that which is more than neceſſary, thou ſhouldeſt not labour, and for that which is neceſſary thou ſhoudſt not doubt, for, whatſoever God does not give thee, he knows was not neceſſary for thee, for he can make thee happy without theſe temporal things, as his way in this text is, to redeem without money, which is our laſt circumſtance.
Sine Argento.In delivering his people out of Egypt, he gave no money for them; nay, he made them get money and Jewels at their coming away. In delivering them out of Babylon, he brought them away rich; Here, in this redemption, it had been bribery to have given, in ſo good a cauſe: and it had been a new kind of Simony, never heard of, to give money for the exerciſe of their own grace. He gave no money then; not becauſe he had it not;Amos 3. for Domini eſt terra, The earth and all in it, is his: ye have taken my ſilver, and my gold, ſays God in one Prophet;Agg. 2. and he makes his continual claim, in another, The ſilver is mine, and the gold is mine. But it was God and not the devil, that was to be ſatisfied. In devilliſh trading there is no paſſing without money: in the Temple it ſelf there were, In the Church, and Church affaires there are buyers, and ſellers too; if there were no buyers there would be no ſellers; but there was a third ſort that was whiped out too; which were Changers. But in oure caſe it was God, that was to be ſatisfied; and therefore we were not redeemed with corruptable things, as ſilver and gold,1 Pet. 1. but with the precious blood of Chriſt.
Now this blood of Chriſt Ieſus was not within the Compaſs of this word, which is here tranſlated Money: though, as I noted at the begining, this word Caſaph includes all that the heart can wiſh, or deſire: for though the Application of the blood of Chriſt, now that is ſhed is to be wiſhed by every ſinner to his own ſoul, Though the ſheding of that blood might have been wiſhed by the patriarchs, to whom God had revealed, that in the fullneſs of time it ſhould be ſhed, at the ſecond coming of Chriſt, and the Reſurrection may be wiſhed for, by us now, yet, if we take Rem integram, if we take the matter at firſt, without any ſuch revealing of Gods purpoſe as he in his Scripture hath afforded us; ſo no man might have wiſhed, or prayed, without a greater ſin in that wiſh and in that prayer than all his former ſins, that the Son of God might come down and dye for his ſins: If it could poſſibly have fallen into his imagination, that this might have been a way for his redemption; yet he ought not to have wiſhed that way: neither might it, neither certainly did it ever fall within the deſire of any deſparing ſinner, that thought, that the death of Chriſt appertaind not to him, to wiſh that God the father, or God the Holy Ghoſt, would come down, and become man and ſhed his blood for him. Th blood of Chriſt by which we are redeemed was not this Caſaph it was not Res appetibilis, a thing that a ſinner might, or could deſire to be ſhed for him, though being ſhed, he muſt deſire, that it may be applied to him. And hence it is that ſome of the fathers argue, that when the Devill began to tempt Chriſt, he knew him not to be the Son of God: for even to the devil himſelf, the blood of Chriſt; could not be Res appetibilis, a thing that deliberately he could have deſired ſhould have been ſhed. If the devil had conſidered, that the ſhedding of that blood, would have redeemed us, would he have haſtned the ſhedding of that blood?
He redeemed us then without money; And as he bought ſo he ſells: He paid no money, he asks no money: but he proclaims freely to all,Eſa. 55. Ho every one that thirſteth come to the waters, and ye that have no ſilver, come, buy, and eat; come, I ſay, buy wine, and milk, without ſilver, and without money. But you muſt come; and you muſt come to the market; to the Magazine of his graces, his Church; And you muſt buy, though you have no money: he paid obedience, and he asks obedience to himſelf, and his Church, at your hands. And then, as Joſeph did to his brethren, he will give you your corn, and your money again; he will give you grace, and temporal bleſſings too: he will refreſh and re-eſtabliſh your natural faculties, and give you ſupernatural. He hath already done enough for all, even in his mercy, he was juſt; juſt to the Devil himſelf: for as we had done, ſo he did; he gave himſelf; both to the firſt death, as long as it could hold him, and to the ſecond death, as far as it could reach him. But though all this be already done, yet, to conclude, there is a particular circumſtance of Comfort, in this word, you ſhall be: that though the act of our redemption be paſt the Application is future: and in the elect and regenerate child of God, though his conſcience tells him every day, that he ſels away himſelf, yet his conſcience ſhall tell him too, he ſhall be redeemed without money, he ſhall not periſh finally: as we cannot carry our thoughts to ſo high a time, but that God elected us, before that, ſo we cannot continue our ſins of infirmity ſo long, but that God will have mercy upon us after that: I cannot name a time, when Gods love began, it is eternal, I cannot imagine a time, when his mercy will end, it is perpetual.