Twenty-Six Sermons, Sermon 13
A SERMON Preached at White-hall. Serm. 13.April 19. 1618. SERMON XIII.
1 Tim. 1.15.
This is a faithfull ſaying, and worthy of all acceptation, That Chriſt Jeſus came into the World to ſave Sinners; of which I am the chiefeſt.
THE greateſt part of the body of the old-Teſtament is Prophecy, and that is eſpecially of future things: The greateſt part of the new-Teſtament, if wee number the peeces, is Epiſtles, Relations of things paſt, for inſtruction of the preſent. They erre not much, that call the whol new-Teſtament Epiſtle: For, even the Goſpells are Evangelia, good Meſsages, and that's proper to an Epiſtle, and the booke of the Acts of the Apoſtles is ſuperſcrib'd, by Saint Luke, to one Perſon, to Theophilus, and that's proper to an Epiſtle; and ſo is the laſt booke, the booke of Revelation, to the ſeverall Churches; and of the reſt there is no queſtion, An Epiſtle is collucutio ſcripta, ſaies Saint Ambroſe, Though it be written far off, and ſent, yet it is a Conference, and ſeperatos copulat, ſayes hee; by this meanes wee overcome diſtances, we deceive abſences, and wee are together even then when wee are aſunder: And therefore, in this kinde of conveying ſpirituall comfort to their friends, have the ancient Fathers been more exerciſed then in any other former, almoſt all of them have written Epiſtles: One of them, Iſidorus, him whom wee call Peluciotes, Saint Chryſoſtom's ſchollar is noted to have written Myriades,Nicephor. and in thoſe Epiſtles, to have interpreted the whole Scriptures: St. Paul gave them the example, he writ nothing but in this kind, and in this exceeded all his fellow Apoſtles, & pateretur Paulus, quod Saulus ſeceret, ſaies St. Auſtin, That as he had asked Letters of Commiſſion of the State to perſecute Chriſtians, ſo by theſe Letters of Conſolation, hee might recompence that Church againe, which hee had ſo much damnified before: As the Hebrew Rabbins ſay, That Rahab did let down Jofuah's ſpies, out of her houſe, with the ſame cord, with which ſhe had uſed formerly to draw up her adultrous lovers, into her houſe. Now the holy-Ghoſt was in all the Authors, of all the books of the Bible, but in Saint Paul's Epiſtles, there is, ſayes Irenaeus, Impetus Spiritus Sancti, The vehemence, the force of the holy-Ghoſt; And as that vehemence is in all his Epiſtles, ſo amplius habent, quae e vinculis (as Saint Chryſoſtome makes the obſervation) Thoſe Epiſtles which were written in Priſon, have moſt of this holy vehemence, and this (as that Father notes alſo) is one of them; And of all them, we may juſtly conceive this to be the moſt vehement and forcible, in which he undertakes to inſtruct a Biſhop in his Epiſcopall function, which is, to propagate the Goſpell; for, he is but an ill Biſhop that leaves Chriſt where he found him, in whoſe time the Goſpell is yet no farther then it was; how much worſe is he, in whoſe time the Goſpell loſes ground? who leaves not the Goſpell in ſo good ſtate as he found it. Now of this Goſpell, here recommended by Paul to Timothie, this is the Summe; That Chriſt Jeſus came into the World to ſave Sinners, &c.
Diviſion.Here then we ſhall have theſe three Parts; Firſt Radicem, The Roote of the Goſpell, from whence it ſprings; it is fidelis ſermo, a faithfull Word, which cannot erre: And ſecondly, we have Arborem, Corpus; the Tree, the Body, the ſubſtance of the Goſpell, That Chriſt Jeſus came into the world to ſave ſinners; And then laſtly, fructum Evangelii, the fruit of the Goſpell, Humility, that it brings them who embrace it, to acknowledg themſelves to be the greateſt ſinners, And in the firſt of theſe, the Roote it ſelfe, wee ſhall paſſe by theſe ſteps: Firſt, that it is Sermo, the Word; That the Goſpell hath as good a ground as the Law; the new-Teſtament as well founded as the Old; It is the word of God: And then it is fidelis Sermo, a faithfull Word: now both Old and New are ſo, and equally ſo; but in this, the Goſpell is fidelior, the more faithfull, and the more ſure, becauſe that word, the Law, hath had a determination, an expiration, but the Goſpell ſhall never have that. And againe, It is Sermo omni acceptatione dignus, Worthy of all acceptation; not only worthy to bee received by our Faith, but even by our Reaſon too; our Reaſon cannot hold out againſt the proofes of Chriſtians for their Goſpell: And as the word imports it deſerves omnem acceptationem, and omnem approbationem, all approbation, and therefore, as wee ſhould not diſpute againſt it, and ſo are bound to accept it, to receive it, not to ſpeake againſt it; ſo neither ſhould wee doe any thing againſt it; as wee are bound to receive it by acknowledgment, ſo wee are bound to approve it, by conforming our ſelves unto it; our conſent to it ſhewes our acceptation, our life our approbation; and ſo much is in the firſt Part, the Roote; This is a faithfull Word, and worthy of all acceptation. And in the Second, the Tree, the Body, the ſubſtance of the Goſpell; That Jeſus Chriſt is come into the World to ſave Sinners; Firſt, here is an Advent, a coming of a new Perſon into the World who was not here before, venit in mundum, hee came into the World; And ſecondly, hee that came, is firſt Chriſt, a mixt Perſon, God and Man, and thereby capable of that Office, able to reconcile God and Man; And Chriſtus ſo to, a perſon anoynted, appointed, and ſent for that purpoſe, to reconcile God and Man; And then hee is Jeſus, one did actually and really doe the office of a Saviour, hee did reconcile God and Man; for, there wee ſee alſo the Reaſon why hee came; Hee came to Save, and whom hee came to Save; to ſave Sinners: And theſe will bee the branches and lymbs of this Body. And then laſtly, when wee come to conſider the fruit, which is indeede the ſeede, and kernell, and ſoul of all virtues Humility; then wee ſhall meete the Apoſtle confeſſing himſelfe to bee the greateſt Sinner, not only with a fui, that hee was ſo whileſt he was a Perſecutor, but with a preſent ſum, that even now, after hee had received the faithfull Word, the light of the Goſpell, yet hee was ſtill the greateſt Sinner; of which (Sinners) I (though an Apoſtle) am (am ſtill) the chiefeſt,
Firſt then, the Goſpell is founded and rooted in ſermone, Part 1.in verbo, in the Word; it cannot deſerve omnem acceptationem, if it bee not Goſpell, and it is not Goſpell, if it be not in ſermone, rooted in the Word: Chriſt himſelfe, as he hath an eternall Generation, is verbum Dei, Himſelfe is the Word of God; And as he hath a humane Generation, he is ſubjectum verbi Dei, the ſubject of the Word of God, of all the Scriptures, of all that was ſhadowed in the Types, and figur'd in the Ceremonies, and prepared in the preventions of the Law, of all that was foretold by the Prophets, of all that the Soule of man rejoyced in, and congratulated with the Spirit of God, in the Pſalms, and in the Canticles, and in the cheerefull parts of ſpirituall joy and exultation, which we have in the Scriptures; Chriſt is the foundation of all thoſe Scriptures, Chriſt is the burden of all thoſe Songs; Chriſt was in ſermone then, then he was in the Word. The joy of thoſe holy Perſons which are noted in the Scriptures, to have expreſſed their joy at the byrth of Chriſt, in ſuch ſpirituall Hymns and Songs, is expreſſed ſo, as that we may ſee their joy was in this, That that was now in actu, that was performed, that was done which was before in ſermone, in the Promiſe, in the Word, in the Covenant of God. They rejoyced that Chriſt was borne; but principally that all was done ſo, ſicut locutus, as God had ſpoken before, that all ſhould be done; done of the ſeede of a Woman, as God had ſaid in Paradice, done by a Virgin, as God had ſaid by Eſai, done at Bethlehem, as he had ſaid by Micheas; and done at that time, as he had ſaid by Daniel; Sicut locutus eſt, ſayes Zacharie, in his exultation, All is performed as he hath ſpoke by the mouth of the Prophets, which have beene ſince the World began. There in the Word, the Goſpell begins, and there, and there only, it ſhall continue for ever, as long as there is any ſpirituall ſeed of Abraham, any men willing to embrace it, and apply it, as the bleſſed Virgin expreſſes it, when her Soul magnifies the Lord, and her Spirit rejoyces in God her Saviour; ſicut locutus, as God hath ſpoken to our Fathers, to Abraham and his ſeed for ever: ſo then there never was, there never muſt be any other Goſpel then is in ſermone, in the written word of God in the Scriptures. The particular comfort that a Chriſtian conceives, as it is determined and contracted in himſelf, is principally in this, that Chriſt is come; his comfort is in this, that he is now ſaved by him; and he might have this comfort, though Chriſt had never been in ſermone, though he had never been propheſied, never ſpoken of before: But yet the proof and ground of this comfort to himſelf, that is, the aſſurance that he hath, That this was that Chriſt that was to ſave us; and then, the munition and artillery by which he is to overthrow the forces of the enemy, the arguments and objections of Jews, Gentils and Hereticks, who deny this Chriſt in whoſe ſalvation he truſts, to have then any ſuch Saviour: And then the Band of the Church, the Communion of Saints, by which we ſhould prove, That the Patriarchs and the Apoſtles, our Fathers in the old and new Teſtament, doe belong all to one Church; this aſſurance in our ſelf; this ability to prove it to others; this joyning of theſe two walls, to make up the houſhold of the faithfull: This is not only that, that the ſumme of the Goſpel is riſen, in that Chriſt is come, but in this, that he is come ſicut locutus eſt, as God had ſpoken of him, and promiſed him by the mouth of his Prophets from the beginning, as he was in ſermone, in the word.
In the firſt Creation, when God made heaven and earth, that making was not in ſermone, for that could not be propheſied before, becauſe there was no being before; neither is it ſaid, that at that Creation God ſaid any thing, but only creavit, God made heaven and earth, and no men; ſo that that which was made ſine ſermone, without ſpeaking, was only matter without form, heaven without light, and earth without any productive virtue or diſpoſition, to bring forth, and to nouriſh creatures. But when God came to thoſe ſpecifique formes, and to thoſe creatures wherein he would be ſenſibly glorified after, they were made in ſermone, by his word; Dixit & facta ſunt, God ſpake, and ſo all things were made; Light and Firmament, Land and Sea, Plants and Beaſts, and Fiſhes and Fowls were made all in ſermone, by his word. But when God came to the beſt of his creatures, to Man, Man was not only made in verbo, as the reſt were, by ſpeaking a word, but by a Conſultation, by a Conference, by a Counſell, faciamus hominem, let us make Man; there is a more expreſſe manifeſtation of divers perſons ſpeaking together, of a concurrence of the Trinity; and not of a ſaying only, but a mutuall ſaying; not of a Propoſition only, but of a Dialogue in the making of Man: The making of matter alone was ſine verbo, without any word at all; the making of leſſer creatures was in verbo, by ſaying, by ſpeaking; the making of Man was in in ſermone, in a conſultation. In this firſt Creation thus preſented there is a ſhadow, a repreſentation of our ſecond Creation, our Regeneration in Chriſt, and of the ſaving knowledge of God; for firſt there is in Man a knowledge of God, ſine ſermone, without his word, in the book of Creatures: Non ſunt loquelae, ſayes David, Pſal. 19.They have no language, they have no ſpeech, and yet they declare the glory of God. The correſpondence and relation of all parts of Nature to one Author, the conſinuity and dependance of every piece and joynt of this frame of the world, the admirable order, the immutable ſucceſſion, the lively and certain generation, and birth of effects from their Parents, the cauſes: in all theſe, though there be no ſound, no voice, yet we may even ſee that it is an excellent ſong, an admirable piece of muſick and harmony; and that God does (as it were) play upon this Organ in his adminiſtration and providence by naturall means and inſtruments; and ſo there is ſome kind of creation in us, ſome knowledge of God imprinted, ſine ſermone, without any relation to his word. But this is a Creation as of heaven and earth, which were dark and empty, and without form, till the Spirit of God moved, and till God ſpoke: Till there came the Spirit, the breath of Gods mouth, the word of God, it is but a faint twilight, it is but an uncertain glimmering which we have of God in the Creature: But in ſermone, in his word, when we come to him in his Scriptures, we finde better and nobler Creatures produced in us, clearer notions of God, and more evident manifeſtations of his power, and of his goodneſs towards us: for if we conſider him in his firſt word, ſicut locutus ab initio, as he ſpoke from the beginning in the Old Teſtament, from thence we cannot only ſee, but feel and apply a Dixit, fiat lux, that God hath ſaid, let there be light; and that there is a light produced in us, by which we ſee, that this world was not made by chance, for then it could not conſiſt in this order and regularity; and we ſee that it was not eternall, for if it were eternall as God, and ſo no Creature, then it muſt be God too; we ſee it had a beginning, a beginning of nothing, and all from God. So we find in our ſelf a fiat lux, that there is ſuch a light produced: And there we may find a fiat firmamentum, that there is a kind of firmament produced in us, a knowledge of a difference between Heaven and Earth; and that there is in our conſtitutions an earthly part, a body, and a heavenly part, a ſoul, and an underſtanding as a firmament, to ſeparate, diſtinguiſh and diſcern between theſe. So alſo may we find a congregenter aquae, that God hath ſaid, Let there be a ſea, a gathering, a confluence of all ſuch means as are neceſſary for the attaining of ſalvation; that is, that God from the beginning ſettled and eſtabliſhed a Church, in which he was alwayes carefull to miniſter to man means of eternall happineſs: The Church is that Sea, and into that Sea we launched the water of Baptiſm. To contract this ſine ſermone, till God ſpake, in his Creatures only, we have but a faint and uncertain, and generall knowledge of God: in ſermone, when God comes to ſpeak at firſt in the Old Teſtament, though he come to more particulars, yet it was in dark ſpeeches, and in vails, and to them who underſtood beſt, and ſaw cleareſt into Gods word; ſtill it was but de futuro, by way of promiſe, and of a future thing. But when God comes to his laſt work, to make Man, to make up Man, that is, to make Man a Chriſtian by the Goſpel, when he comes not to a fiat homo, Let there be a Man (as he proceeded in the reſt) but to a faciamus hominem, Let us make Man: Then he calls his Sonne to him, and ſends him into the world to ſuffer death, the death of the Croſſe for our ſalvation: And he calls the Holy Ghoſt to him, and ſends him to teach us all truth, and apply that which Chriſt ſuffered for our ſouls, to our ſouls. God leaves the Nations, the Gentiles, under the non locutus eſt; he ſpeaks not at all to them, but in the ſpeechleſs creatures: He leaves the Jewes under the locutus eſt, under the killing letter of the Law, and their ſtubborn perverting thereof: And he comes to us, ſicut locutus eſt, in manifeſting to us that our Meſſias, Chriſt Jeſus, is come, and come according to the promiſe of God, and the foretelling of all his Prophets; for that is our ſafe anchorage in all ſtorms, that our Goſpel is in ſermone that all things are done, ſo as God had foretold they ſhould be done; that we have infallible marks given us before, by which we may try all that is done after.
All the word of God then conduces to the Goſpel; the Old Teſtament is a preparation and a poedagogie to the New. All the word belongs to the Goſpell, and all the Goſpell is in the word; nothing is to be obtruded to our faith as neceſſary to ſalvation, except it be rooted in the Word. And as the locutus eſt, that is, the promiſes that God hath made to us in the Old Teſtament; and the ſicut locutus eſt, that is, the accompliſhing of thoſe promiſes to us in the New-Teſtament, are thus applyable to us; ſo is this eſpecially, Quod adhuc loquitur, that God continues his ſpeech, and ſpeaks to us every day; ſtill we muſt hear Evangelium in ſermone, the Goſpel in the Word, in the Word ſo as we may hear it, that is, the Word preached; for howſoever it be Goſpel in it ſelf, it is not Goſpel to us if it be not preached in the Congregation; neither, though it be preached to the Congregation, is it Goſpel to me, except I find it work upon my underſtanding and my faith, and my conſcience: A man may believe that there ſhall be a Redeemer, and he may give an Hiſtoricall aſſent, that there hath been a Redeemer, that that Redeemer is come, he may have heard utrumque ſermonem, both Gods wayes of ſpeaking, both his voices, both his languages; his promiſes in the Old Teſtament, his performances in the New Teſtament, and yet not hear him ſpeak to his own ſoul: Ferme Apoſtoli plus laborarunt, ſays S. Chryſ. It coſt the Apoſtles, and their Succeſſors, the preachers of the Goſpell, more paines and more labour, ut perſuaderent hominibus, dona Dei iis indulta, To perſwade men that this mercy of God, and theſe merits of Chriſt Jeſus were intended to them, and directed upon them, in particular, then to perſwade them that ſuch things were done: they can beleeve the promiſe, and the performance in the generall, but they cannot finde the application thereof in particular; the voice that is neereſt us we leaſt heare, not becauſe God ſpeaks not loud enough, but becauſe we ſtop our eares; nor that neyther; for wee doe hear, but becauſe we do not hearken then, nor conſider; no nor that neyther, but becauſe we doe not anſwere, nor cooperate, nor aſſiſt God, in doing that which he hath made us able to doe, by his grace towards our own Salvation. For (not to judge De iis qui foris ſunt) of thoſe whom God hath left (fot any thing we know) in the darke, and without meanes of Salvation, becauſe without manifeſtation of Chriſt; we are Chriſtians incorporated in Chriſt in his Church; and thereby, by that Title, we have a new Creation, and are new creatures; and as wee ſhall have a new Jeruſalem hereafter, ſo we have a new Paradiſe already, which is the Chriſtian Church. In this Paradiſe ſaith St. Auguſtine, Quatuor Evangelia ligna fructifera; In the books of the Goſpell, as they grow, and as they are ſuplicated in the Church, growes every Tree pleaſant for the ſight, and good for meat: And there, ſayes that Father, lignum vitae Chriſtus, Chriſt Jeſus himſelf (as he is taught hee that gives life to all our actions; and even ſo our faith it ſelf, which faith qualifies and dignifies thoſe actions: And then, ſayes from the Scriptures, in the Church) is the Tree of Life, for it is he, As Chriſt alone, in this Paradiſe, that is, the chriſtian Church, is this Tree of life, ſo lignum ſcientiae boni & mali, The Tree of knowledg of Good and Evill, is Proprium voluntatis arbitrium, the good uſe of our own Will, after God hath enlightned us in this Paradiſe, in the Chriſtian Church, and ſo reſtor'd our dead will again, by his Grace precedent and ſubſequent, and concommitant: for, without ſuch Grace and ſuch ſucceſſion of Grace, our Will is ſo far unable to pre-diſpoſe it ſelfe to any good, as that nec ſcipſo, homo, niſi pernicioſe uti poteſt (ſayes he ſtill) we have no intereſt in our ſelves no power to doe any thing of, or with our ſelves, but to our deſtruction. Miſerable man! a Toad is a bag of Poyſon, and a Spider is a bliſter of Poyſon, and yet a Toad and a Spider cannot poyſon themſelves; Man hath a dram of poyſon, originall-Sin, in an inviſible corner, we know not where, and he cannot chooſe but poyſon himſelfe and all his actions with that; we are ſo far from being able to begin without Grace, as then where we have the firſt Grace, we cannot proceed to the uſe of that, without more. But yet, ſayes Saint Auguſtine; The Will of a Chriſtian ſo rectified and ſo aſſiſted, the lignum ſcientiae, the Tree of knowledge, and he ſhall be the worſe for knowing, if he live not according to that knowledg; we were all wrapped up in the firſt Adam, all Mankind; and we are wrapped up in the ſecond Adam, in Chriſt, all Mankinde too; but not in both alike; for we are ſo in the firſt Adam, as that we inherit death from him, and incurre death whether we will or no; before any conſent of ours be actually given to any Sin, we are the children of wrath, and of death; but we are not ſo in the ſecond Adam, as that we are made poſſeſſors of eternall life, without the concurrence of our own Will; not that our will payes one penny towards this purchaſe, but our own will may forfeit it; it cannot adopt us, but it may diſinherit us. Now, by being planted in this Paradiſe, and received into the Chriſtian Church, we are the adopted ſons of God, and therefore, as it is in Chriſt, who is the naturall Son of God, Qui non naſcitur & deſinit, as Origen expreſſes it, He was not born once and no more, but hath a continual, becauſe an eternall generation, and is as much begotten to day, as he was 100. 1000. 1000 millions of generations paſſed; ſo ſince we are the generation and of-ſpring of God, ſince Grace is our Father, that Parent that begets all goodneſs in us, In ſimilitudine ejus, ſayes Origen, conformable to the Pattern Chriſt himſelf, Qui non naſcitur & deſinit, who hath a continuall generation, Generemur Domino per ſingulos intellectus, & ſingula opera, in all the acts of our underſtanding, and in a ready concurrence of our Will, let us every day, every minute feele this new generation of ſpirituall children; for it is a miſerable ſhort life, to have been borne when the glaſſe was turned, and dyed before it was run out: to have conceived ſome good Motions at the beginning, and to have given over all purpoſe of practiſe at the end of a Sermon. Let us preſent our own will as a mother to the father of light, and the father of life, and the father of love, that we may be willing to conceive by the overſhadowing of the Holy Ghoſt, and not reſiſt his working upon our Soules; but with the obedience of the bleſſed Virgin, may ſay, Ecce ancilla, Behold the ſeruant of the Lord, fiat mihi ſecundum verbum tuum, Be it done unto me according to thy Word; I will not ſtop mine eares to thy Word, my heart ſhall not doubt of thy word, my life ſhall expreſſe my having heard and harkened to thy word, that word which is the Goſpell, that Goſpell which is peace to my Conſcience, and reconciliation to my God, and Salvation to my Soul; for, hearing is but the conception, meditation is but the quickning, purpoſing is but the byrth, but practiſing is the growth of this bleſſed childe.
Fidelis.The Goſpell then, that which is the Goſpell to thee, that is, the aſſurance of the peace of Conſcience, is grounded in ſermone, upon the word; not upon imaginations of thine owne, not upon fancies of others, nor pretended inſpirations, nor obtruded Miracles, but upon the word; and not upon a ſuſpicious and queſtionable, not upon an uncertain or variable word, but upon this, that is fidelis ſermo, This is a faithfull ſaying. It is true, that this Apoſtle ſeemes to uſe this phraſe of ſpeech, as an earneſt aſſeveration, and a band for divers truths in other places: He ſaies ſometimes, This is a true ſaying, and This is a faithfull ſaying, when he does not meane, that it is the word of God, but only intends to induce a morall certitude, when he would have good credit to be given to that which followes, he uſes to ſay ſo, fidelis ſermo, it is a true, it is a faithfull ſaying: But in all thoſe other places where he uſes this phraſe, he ſpeaks only of ſome particular duties, or of ſome particular point of Religion; but here he ſpeaks of the whole body of Divinity, of the whol Goſpell, That Chriſt is come to ſave Sinners, and therefore more may be intended by this phraſe here, then in other places: When hee ſpeaks of that particular point, The Reſurrection, he uſes this phraſe, It is a true ſaying; If we be dead with him we ſhall alſo live with him; 2 Tim. 2.11.when he would invite men to godlineſſe, even by the reward which accompany it in this life, he uſes this addition, this confirmation, For this is a true ſaying, and worthy to bee received; 1 Tim. 4 9.when he gives a dignity to the function and office of the Miniſtery, he propoſes it ſo, It is a true ſaying; If any man deſire the Office of a Biſhop, 1 Tim. 3.5.he deſireth a good worke; it is a worke, not an occaſion and oportunity of eaſe. And laſtly, when he provokes men to glorify God, by good works, he labors to be beleeved, by the ſame phraſe ſtill, This is a true ſaying, and theſe things I would thou ſhouldſt affirme,Tit. 3.8. That they which have beleeved in God, might be carefull to ſhew forth good works. Till he have found faith, and beleefe in God, he never calls upon good works, he never calls them good; but when we have Faith, he would not have us ſtop nor determine there, but proceed to works too. It is a phraſe which the Apoſtle does frequently, and almoſt proverbially uſe in theſe many places, but in all theſe places, upon particular and leſſer occaſions; but here, preparing the doctrine of the whole Goſpell, this phraſe admits a larger extent, That as it is grounded upon the Word, that is, we muſt have ſomthing to ſhew for it; ſo it is upon a faithfull word, upon that which is cleerly, and without the encumbrance of diſputation, the infallible word of God; no traditionall word, no apocryphall word, but the cleere and faithfull word. Now of all the attributes, of all the qualities that can be aſcribed to the word of God, this is moſt proper to it ſelfe, and moſt available, and moſt comfortable to us, that it is fidelis, a faithfull word; For, this being a word that hath principally reſpect and relation to the fidelity of God, it implies neceſſarily a Covenant, a Contract with us, which God hath bound himſelfe faithfully to perform unto us; and therefore God calls his Covenant with David by this name, fideles miſerecordias David, An everlaſting Covenant, Eſai. 55.3 15.11.even the ſure mercies of David. And when the Prophet Jeremy apprehended a feare that God would breake that Covenant which hee had made with that Nation, which had broken with him, he expreſſes that paſſion in a word, contrary to this, and imputes out of his haſty feare, even infidelity to God, Why art thou unto mee (ſayes hee there) as a Lyar, & ſicut aquae infideles, as unfaithfull water, that I cannot truſt to; or Aquae mendaces, as it is in the Originall, lying waters, deceitfull waters, that promiſe a continuance and doe not perform it? Why doſt thou pretend to make a Covenant with thy people and wilt not perform it faithfully? Moſt of Gods other attributes are accompanied with this in the Scriptures, whatſoever God is called beſides, he is called fidelis, faithfull too. In one place he is fortis & fidelis, Deut. 7 9.he is powerfull; but if he turne his power vindicatively upon me, I were better if he were leſſe powerfull; but he hath made a Covenant with me, that he will turn his power upon thoſe whom he hath called his Enemies, becauſe they are mine, and therein lies my comfort, that he is a powerfull and a faithfull God. In another place,Eſay. 49 7. he is fidelis & ſanctus; he is a holy God; but if he be ſo, and but ſo, how ſhall I, who am unholy, ſtand in his ſight? He hath made a Covenant with me, that as they who look'd upon the Serpent in the Wilderneſſe, ſhed and caſt out the venom of that ſerpent who had ſtung them before; ſo when I look'd faithfully upon my Saviour, all my unholineſſe falls off as rags, and I ſhall be inveſted in his Righteouſneſſe, in his Holyneſſe; and ſo in that lies my comfort, that he is a Holy and a Faithfull God. Howſoever wee conſider God in the Schools, in his other attributes, yet here is my Univerſity and my Chair, here I muſt take my Degree, in my Heart, in my Conſcience; and this is that that brings God home, and applies him cloſs to me, that he is fidelis, a faithfull God; that in his mercy he hath made a Covenant with us, and in his faithfulneſſe hee will performe it. And therefore conſider God in his firſt great worke,1 Pet. 4.19. his Creation, ſo he is fidelis Creator, let them that ſuffer according to the will of God, commit their Souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithfull Creator. He had gracious purpoſes upon us in our Creation, and he is faithfull to his purpoſes; and ſo this faithfull God is God the Father. Conſider God in his next great worke, the Redemption,Heb. 2.17. and ſo he is fidelis Pontifex, a faithfull high-Prieſt, in things concerning God, that he might make reconciliation for the ſins of the People, and ſo this faithfull God is God the Son. Conſider God in his continuance and dwelling in the Church, uſque ad conſummationem, Apocal. 1.5.till the end of the world, ſo he is fidelis Teſtis, He ſhall be evermore preſenting to God, and teſtifying in our behalfe, the Covenant which he hath ſealed to the Church in his blood, and teſtifying to our ſpirit, that that ſeale belongs unto us; and ſo this faithfull God is God the holy-Ghoſt; ſo that when we conſider our Creation, we are not to conſider a Creation to condemnation; God forbid: When we conſider a Redemption, we are not to conſider it excluſively, as not intended to us; God forbid: And when we conſider Gods preſence and government in the Church, we are not to conſider it in a Church whoſe dores are ſhut up againſt any of us, ſo as that we can have no Repentance, no abſolution; God forbid, we are not to conſider God in thoſe Decrees, wherein we cannot conſider him as fidelem Deum; In thoſe Decrees, which are not revealed to us, we know not whether he be faithfull, or no; for we know not what his promiſe, what his purpoſe was: But as he hath manifeſted himſelf in his Word, as he hath made a conditionall contract with us, ſo as that if we performe our part, he will performe his, and not otherwiſe; ſo we may be ſure that he is fidelis Deus, a God that will ſtand to his word, a God that will performe his promiſes faithfully; for, though it were meerly his Mercy, that made thoſe promiſes, yet it is his fidelity, his Truth, his faithfulneſſe, that binds him to the performance of them.Pſal. 31.4. Rom. 3.9. The faithfull word of God hath ſaid it; in the old-Teſtament, and in the New too; Let God be true, and every man a Lyar. The word of the man of Sinne, the God of Rome, is a ly; Pope Stephen abrogates all the Decrees of Pope Formoſus, and ſo gives that ly to him: Next yeere Pope Romanus abrogates all his, and ſo gives that ly to him; and within ſeven yeers, Servius all his; and where was fidelis ſermo, the faithfull word all this while? When they ſend forth Bulls and Diſpenſations to take effect occaſionally, and upon emergencies, That rebus ſic ſtantibus; If you finde matter in this State, this ſhall be Catholique Divinity; if not, then it ſhall be Hereſie; where is this fidelis ſermo, this faithfull word amongſt them? If for the ſpace of a 1500 yeers, the twelve Articles of the Apoſtles Creed might have ſav'd any man, but ſince as many more, Trent Articles muſt be as neceſſary; ſtill where is that fidelis ſermo, that faithfull word which we may rely upon? God hath not bound himſelfe, and therefore neither hath he bound us to any word but his own; In that only, and in all that wee ſhall bee ſure to finde him, Fidelem Deum, A faithfull God.
Now the Truth and Faithfulneſſe of the Word,Acceptatio. conſiſts not only in this, quod verax, that it is true in it ſelfe, but in this alſo, quod teſtificatus, that it is eſtabliſhed by good teſtimony to be ſo. It is therefore faithfull becauſe it is the word of God, and therefore alſo becauſe it may be proved to be the word of God by humane teſtimonies; which is that which is eſpecially intended in this clauſe, Omni acceptatione dignus, It is worthy of all acceptation; worthy to bee received by our Faith, and by our Reaſon too: Our Reaſon tels us, that Gods will is revealed to Man ſomewhere, elſe man could not know how God would be worſhipped; and our Reaſon tells us, that this is that Word in which that Will is revealed. And therefore the greateſt part of the Latine-Fathers, particularly Ambroſe and Auguſtine, read theſe words otherwiſe; not fideliter, no, but Humanus ſermo; and ſo many Greek Copies have it too, That it is a ſpeech which man, not as he is a faithfull man, but even as he is a reaſonable man may comprehend, not as Saint Hierom will needs underſtand thoſe words: Si Humanus & non Divinus, non eſſet omni acceptatione dignus; for that's undenyably true; if it came meerly from man, and not from God, it were not worthy to be received by faith; but as S. Auguſtine expreſſes that which himſelfe and S. Ambroſe meant, ſic Humanus & Divinus, quomodo Chriſtus Deus & homo, as Chriſt is God too, ſo as that he is Man too; ſo the Scriptures are from God ſo, as that they are from Man too: the Goſpel is a faithfull word eſſentially, as it is the word of God, derived from him, and it is a faithfull word too, declaratively, as it is preſented by ſuch light and evidence of Reaſon, and ſuch teſtimonies of the Church, as even the reaſon of Man cannot refuſe it: So that the reaſon of man accepts the Goſpell, firſt out of a generall notion, That the will of God muſt be revealed ſomewhere, and then he receives this for that Goſpell, rather then the Alcoran of the Turks, rather then the Talmud of the Jewes, out of thoſe infinite and cleere arguments which even his reaſon preſents to him for that. And then, as when he compares Scripture with the booke of Creatures and Nature, he finds that evidence more forcible then the other; and when he finds this Scripture compared with other pretended Scriptures, Alcaron or Talmud, he finds it to be of infinite power above them; ſo when he comes to the true Scriptures, and compares the new-Teſtament with the Old, the Goſpel with the Law, he finds this to be a performance of thoſe promiſes, a fullfiling of thoſe Prophecies, a revelation of thoſe Types and Figures and an accompliſhment, and a poſſeſſion of thoſe hopes and thoſe reverſions; And when hee comes to that argument which works moſt forcibly, and moſt worthily upon man's reaſon, which is Antiquiſtrum, That's beſt in matter of Religion that was firſt, there he ſees the Goſpell was before the Law:Gal. 3.17. This I ſay, ſayes the Apoſtle, that the Law, which was four hundred thirty yeers after, cannot diſannull the Covenant, which was confirmed of God in reſpect of Chriſt; ſo ſhall alwaies in reſpect of faith and in reſpect of Reaſon, It is worthy of acceptation; for, would thy Soule expatiate in that large contemplation of God in generall?Rom. 1.1. It is Evangelium Dei, the Goſpell of God: wouldſt thou contract this God into a narrower & more diſcernable ſtation?Mar. 1.1. It is Evangelium Jeſu Chriſti, the Goſpell of Jeſus Chriſt: wouldſt thou draw it neerer to the conſideration of the effects? It is Evangelium pacis, Epheſ. 6.15. Mar. 1.14. Revel. 14.6.the Goſpell of peace,; wouldſt thou conſider it here? Here it is Evangelium Regni, the Goſpell of the kingdom, wouldſt thou conſider it hereafter? It is Evangelium aternum, the eternall Goſpell,Act. 20.24. wouldſt thou ſee the way by it? it is Evangelium Gratiae, the Goſpell of Grace; wouldſt thou ſee the end of it? it is Evangelium gloriae, 1 Tim. 1.11.the Goſpel of glory: It is worthy of all acceptation from thee,Gal. 1. for the Angels of heaven can preach no other Goſpel, without being accurſed themſelves.
But the beſt and fulleſt acceptation is that which we called at firſt an Approbation, to prove that thou haſt accepted it by thy life and converſation: That as thy faith makes no ſtaggering at it,Approbatio. nor thy Reaſon no argument againſt it, ſo thy actions may be arguments for it to others, to convince them that doe not, and confirme them that doe beleeve in it; for this word, which ſignifies in our ordinary uſe; the Goſpell, Evangelium, was verbum civile, verbum forenſe a word of civill and ſecular uſe, before it was made Eccleſiaſticall; and as it had before in civil uſe, ſo it retaines ſtill, three ſignifications: Firſt it ſignified Bonum nuntium, a good and a gracious Meſſage: And ſo, in ſpirituall uſe, it is the Meſſage of God, who ſent his Son; and it is the meſſage of the Son, who ſent the holy-Ghoſt. Secondly it ſignified Donum offerenti datum, the reward that was given to him that brought the good news: and ſo in our ſpirituall uſe, it is that ſpirituall tenderneſſe that Religious good nature of the Soule (as we may have leave to call it) that appliableneſſe, that Ductileneſſe, that holy credulity which your bring to the hearing of the word, and that reſpect which you give to Chriſt, in his Miniſters, who brings this Goſpel unto you. And then Thirdly, it ſignifies Sacrificium Datori Immolatam, the Sacrifice which was offered to that God who ſent this good Meſſage; which in our ſpirituall uſe, is that which the Apoſtle exhorts the Romans to with the moſt earneſtneſſe,Rom. 1.12. (and ſo doe I you) I beſeech you brethern by the mercies of God, that yee give up your Bodies a living Sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reaſonable ſerving of God: Now a reaſonable ſervice is that which in reaſon we are bound to doe, and which in reaſon we thinke would moſt glorifie him, in contemplation of whom that ſervice is done; and that is done eſpecially, when by a holy and exemplar life, we draw others to the love and obedience of the ſame Goſpell which we profeſſe: for then have we declared this true and faithfull ſaying, this Goſpell to have been worthy of all acceptation, when we have look'd upon it by our reaſon, embraced it by our Faith, and declared it by our good works; and all theſe conſiderations aroſe out of that which at the beginning we called Radicem, the Roote of this Goſpell, the Word, the Scripture, the Tree it ſelf, the Body of the Goſpell, that is The coming of Chriſt, and the Reaſon of his coming, To ſave Sinners; And then the fruit of this Goſpell, that Humility, by which the Apoſtle confeſſeth himſelfe to be the greateſt Sinner, we reſerve for another exerciſe.