Twenty-Six Sermons, Sermon 14
Serm. 14.A Second SERMON Preached at Whitehall. April 2. 1621. SERMON XIV.
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.
WE have conſidered heretofore that which appertained to the Roote, and all the circumſtances thereof. That which belongs to the Tree it ſelfe, what this acceptable Goſpell is, That Chriſt Jeſus came into the World, to ſave Sinners; and then, that which appertains to the fruit of this Goſpell, the Humility of the Apoſtle, in applying it to himſelfe, Quorum ego, Of which Sinners I am the chiefeſt, were reſerved for this time. In the firſt of theſe, that which we call the Tree, the Body of this Goſpell, there are three branches; firſt an Advent, A coming; and ſecondly, the Perſon that came; and Laſtly, the worke for which he came. And in the firſt of theſe, we ſhall make theſe ſteps; Firſt, that it is a new coming of a Perſon who was not here before, at leaſt, not in that manner as he comes now, venit, He came; And Secondly, that this coming is in Act, not only in Decree; ſo he was come and ſlaine ab initio, from all eternity, in God's purpoſe of our Salvation; nor come only in promiſe, ſo he came wrapped up in the firſt promiſe of a Meſſiah; in Paradiſe, in that ipſe conteret, He ſhall bruiſe the Serpents head; nor come only in the often renuing of that promiſe to Abraham, in ſemine tuo, In thy ſeed ſhall all Nations be bleſſed, nor only in the ratification and refreſhing of that promiſe to Judah, Donec Silo, Till Silo come; and to David, in Solio tuo, The Scepter ſhall not depart; nor as he came in the Prophets, in I ſays virgo concipiet, That he ſhould come of a virgin, nor in Michaeas, Et tu Bethlem, That he ſhould come out of that Towne; but this is a Hiſtoricall, not a Propheticall, an Actuall not a Promiſſary coming; it is a coming already executed; venit, he came, he is come. And then Thirdly, venit in mundum, He came into the World, into the whole World, ſo that by his purpoſe firſt extends to all the Nations of the World, and then it ſhall extend to thee in particular, who art a part of this world; He is come into the world, and into thee. From hence, we ſhall deſcend to our ſecond branch, to the conſiderations of the perſon that comes; and he is, firſt Chriſtus, in which one name we find firſt his capacity to reconcile God and man, becauſe he is a mixt perſon, uniting both in himſelf; and we find alſo his Commiſſion to work this Reconciliation, becauſe he is Chriſtus, an annointed perſon, appointed by that unction, to that purpoſe; And thirdly, we find him to be Jeſus, that is, actually a Saviour; that as we had firſt his capacity and his Commiſſion in the name of Chriſt, ſo we might have the execution of this Commiſſion in the name of Jeſus. And then laſtly, in the laſt branch of this part, we ſhall ſee the work it ſelf, Venit ſalvare, He came to ſave; It is not offerre, to offer it to them whom he did intend it to, but he came really and truly to ſave; It was not to ſhow a land of promiſe to Moyſes, & then ſay, there it is, but thou ſhalt never come at it; It was not to ſhew us ſalvation, & then ſay there it is, in Baptiſm it is, in Preaching, and in the other Sacrament, it is; but ſoft, there is a Decree of predeſtination againſt thee, and thou ſhalt have none of it; But venit ſalvare, He came to ſave; And whom? Sinners. Thoſe, who the more they ackowledg themſelves to be ſo, the nearer they are to this ſalvation.
Firſt then for the Advent, this comming of Chriſt,Part 1. we have a Rule reaſonable general in the ſchool, Miſsio in divinis eſt novo modo operatio, Then is any perſon of the Trinity ſaid to be ſent, or to come, when they work in any place, or in any perſon in another manner or meaſure then they did before; yet that Rule doth not reach home, to the expreſſing of all commings of the perſons of the Trinity: The ſecond perſon came more pretentially then ſo, more then in an extraordinary working and Energie, and execution of his power, if it be rightly apprehended by thoſe Fathers, who in many of thoſe Angels which appear'd to the Patriarcks, and whoſe ſervice God us'd in delivering Iſrael out of Egypt, and in giving them the Law in Sinai, to be the ſon of God himſelf to have been preſent, and many things to have been attributed to the Angels in thoſe hiſtories, which were done by the ſon of God, not only working, but preſent in that place, at that time. So alſo the Holy Ghoſt came more preſentially then ſo, more then by an extraordinary extention of his power, when he came preſentially and perſonally in the Dove, to ſeal Johns Baptiſm upon Chriſt. But yet, though thoſe pretential commings of Chriſt as an Angel in the old Teſtament, and this comming of the Holy Ghoſt in a Dove in the New, were more then ordinary commings, and more then extraordinary workings too, yet they were all far ſhort of this comming of the ſon of God in this Text: for it could never be ſaid properly in any of thoſe caſes, That that or that Angel, was the ſon of God, the ſecond perſon, or that that Dove was the Holy Ghoſt, or the third perſon of the Trinity; but in this Advent, which we have in hand here, it is truly and properly ſaid, this man is God, this ſon of Mary is the ſon of God, this Carpenters ſon, is that very God that made the world. He came ſo to us, as that he became us, not only by a new and more powerful working in us, but by aſſuming our nature upon himſelf.
It is a perplex't queſtion in the School, (and truly the Balance in thoſe of the middle age, very even) whether if Adam had not ſinned, the ſon of God had come into the world, and taken our nature and our fleſh upon him. Out of the infinite teſtimonies of the abundant love of God to man many concluded, that howſoever, though Adam had not ſinned, God would have dignified the nature of man in the higheſt degree, that that nature was any ways capable off: and ſince it appears now, (becauſe that hath been done) that the nature of man was capable of ſuch aſſuming, by the Son of God, they argue, that God would have done this though Adam had not ſinn'd. He had not come, ſay they, ut medicus, if man had not contracted that infections ſickneſs by Adams ſin; Chriſt had not come in the nature of a Phyſitian, to recover him; non ut Redemptor ſay they, If man had not forfeited his intereſt and ſtate in heaven by Adams ſin; Chriſt had not come in the nature of a Redeemer, but ut frater, ut Dominus, ad nobilitandum genus humanus, out of a brotherly love, and out of a royal favour, to exalt that nature which he did love, to impart and convey to us a greater and nobler ſtate, then we had in our Creation: in ſuch a reſpect, and to ſuch a purpoſe, he ſhould have come. But ſince they themſelves who follow that opinion come to ſay, That that is the more ſubtle opinion, and the more agreable to mans reaſon, (becauſe man willingly embraces, and purſues any thing that conduces to the dignifying of his own nature) but that the other opinion, that Chriſt had not come, if our ſins had not occaſioned his comming, is magis conformis ſcripturis & magis honorat Deum, is more agreable to the Scriptures, and derives more honor upon God: we cannot err, if we keep with the Scriptures, and in the way that leads to Gods glory, and ſo ſay with St. Auguſt. Si homo non periiſſet, filius hominis non veniſſet, If man could have been ſav'd otherwiſe, the ſon of God had not come in this manner: ot if that may be interpreted of his comming to ſuffer only, we may enlarge it with Leo, Creatura non fieret qui Creator mundi, He who was Creator of the world, had never become a Creature in the world, if our ſins had not drawn him to it. It is uſefully ſaid by Aquinus, Deus ordinavit futura, ut futura erant: God hath appointed all future things to be, but to be ſo as they are, that is, neceſſary things neceſſarily, and contingent things contingently; abſolute things abſolutely, and conditional things conditionally; He hath decreed my ſalvation, but that ſalvation in Chriſt; He had decreed Chriſts comming into this world, but a comming to ſave ſinners. And therefore it is a frivolous interogatory, a loſt queſtion, an impertinent article, to enquire what God would have done if Adam had ſtood. But Adam is fallen, and we in him; and therefore though we may piouſly wiſh what St. Auguſtine, utinam non fuiſſet miſeria ne iſte miſericordia eſſet neceſſaria, I would man had not been ſo miſerable, as to put God to this way of mercy; yet ſince our ſins had induced this miſery upon us, and this neceſſity (if we may ſo ſay) upon God, let us change all our diſputation into thankſgiving, and all our utrums, and quaeres, and quando's of the ſchool, to the Benedictus, and Alelujahs and Oſanna's of the Church; Bleſſed be the Lord God of Iſrael, who hath viſited and redeemed his people; bleſſed that he would come at all, which was our firſt, and bleſſed that he is come already, which is our ſecond conſideration; venit, He came, He is come.Venit.
As in the former branch the Gentils the Heathens are our adverſaries, they deny the venit, that a Meſſias is to come at all; ſo in this, the Jews are our enemies, they confeſs the veniet, a future comming, but they deny the venit that this Meſſias come yet. In that language in which God ſpoke to man there is ſuch aſſurance intimated, that whatſoever God promiſes ſhall be performed; that in that language ordinarily in the Prophets, the times are confounded, and when God is intended to purpoſe or to promiſe any thing in the future, it is very often expreſſed in the time paſt; that which God means to do, he is ſaid to have done; future, and preſent, and paſt is all one with God: But yet to man it is much more, that Chriſt is come, then that he would come; not but that they who apprehended faithfully his future comming, had the ſame ſalvation as we, but they could not ſo eaſily apprehend it as we: God did not preſent ſo many handles to take hold of him in that promiſe, that he would come, as in the performance, that he was come. They had moſt of theſe handles that liv'd with him, and ſaw him, and heard him; but we that come after, have more then they which were before them, we have more in the hiſtory then they had in the Prophets.
It was time for him to come in the beginning of the world, for the Devil was a murderer from the beginning.Joh. 8 44. As the Devil was felo de ſe, a murderer of himſelf; as he killed himſelf Chriſt gave him over; he never came to him in that line, he never pardoned him that ſin: but as he practis'd upon man, Chriſt met with him from the beginning: He ſav'd us from his killing, by dying himſelf for us; for being dead, & having taken us into his wounds, and being riſen, and having taken us into his glory; if we be dead in Chriſt already, the Devil cannot kill us, if we be riſen in Chriſt the Devil cannot hold us: And ſo he was Agnus occiſus ab origine mundi, the Lamb ſlain from the beginning of the world, that is, as ſoon as the world had any beginning in the purpoſe of God. God ſaw from all eternity that man would need Chriſt, and as ſoon as there was conceiv'd an ego occido, I will kill, in the Devils mouth, then was an ego vivificabo, I will raiſe from death in Gods mouth; and ſo, there was an early comming from all eternity; for he is the Ruler of Iſrael, ſaies the Prophet,M…ch. 5.2. and his goings forth have been from the beginning, and from everlaſting: it is goings in the plural; Chriſt hath divers goings forth, divers commings, & all from the beginning; not only from Moſes his In principio, which was the beginning of the Creation, (for then alſo Chriſt came in the promiſe of a Meſſiah) but from St. Johns In principio, that beginning which was without beginning, the eternal beginning, for there Chriſt came in that eternal decree, that he ſhould come. Neither is this only as he is Germen Jehovae, the bud of Jehovah, iſſuing from him as his eternal Son,Eſa. 4 2. but as the Prophet Michaeas ſaies in that place, cited before, it is, as he ſhall come out of Bethlem, and as he ſhall be a Ruler of Iſrael: ſo as he came in our humane nature, as he came to dye for us, as he came to eſtabliſh a Church, ſo his comming is from all eternity for all this was wrapped up in a decree of his coming: And therefore we are not carried upon the conſideration of any decree, or if any means of ſalvation higher or precedent to the comming of Chriſt, for that were to antidate eternity it ſelf.
So then this coming in the Text, is the execution of that coming in the decree, which is involv'd in St. Johns In principio, and it is the performance of it coming, which was enwrapped in the promiſe, in Moſes In principio, 10.24.it is his actual coming in our fleſh: that coming of which Chriſt ſaid in St. Luke many Prophets and Kings;13.17. and in St. Matth. many Prophets and righteous men, deſired to ſee theſe things which you ſee, and have not ſeen them: the prophets who in their very name were videntes, ſeen, ſaw not this comining thus;Joh. 8.56. your Father Abraham, rejoyced to ſee my day ſaith Chriſt, and he ſaw it, and was glad. All times and all Generations before time was were Chriſts day; but yet he cals this coming in the fleſh eſpecially his day, becauſe this day was a holy Equinoctial, and made the day of the Jews and the day of the Gentiles equal; and Teſtamenta copulat, ſaies St. Chriſoſtome, it binds up the two Teſtaments into one Bible; for if the Partriarks had not deſired to ſee this day, and had not ſeen it in the ſtrength of faith, they and we had not been of one communion. We have a moſt ſure word of the Prophet,2 Pet. 1.19. ſaies the Apoſtle, and to that we do well that we take heed; but how far? As unto a light that ſhineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day ſtar ariſe in your hearts. But now ſince this coming,1 Joh. 1.2. This light hath appeared, and we have ſeen it, and bear witneſs and ſhew it unto you. Simon had an aſſurance in the Prophets, and more immediatly then ſo in the viſion; but herein was his aſſurance and his peace eſtabliſhed, Lord now letteſt thou thy ſervant depart in peace, Luk. 2.19.for mine eyes have ſeen thy ſalvation. The kingdom of Heaven was but a reverſion to them, and it is no more to us; but to them it was a reverſion, as after a Grandfather, and father; two lives, two comings of Chriſt before they would come to their ſtate; Chriſt muſt come firſt in the fleſh, and he muſt come again to Judgment. To us, and in our caſe one of theſe lives is ſpent; Chriſt is come in the fleſh: and therefore as the earth is warmer an hour after the ſun ſets, then it was an hour before the ſun roſe, ſo let our faith and zeal be warmer now after Chriſt departing out of this world, then theirs was before his coming into it: and let us ſo rejoyce at this Ecce venit Rex tuus, that our King our Miſſias is already come, as that we may cherefully ſay, veni Domine Jeſu, come Lord Jeſu come quickly, and be glad if at the going out of theſe dores, we might meet him coming in the clouds.In Mundum
Thus far then he hath proceeded already, venit He came, and venit in mundum, He came into the world; it is not in mundam, into ſo clean a woman as had no ſin at all, none contracted from her Parents, no original ſin; for ſo Chriſt had placed his favours and his honors ill, if he had favoured her moſt who had no need of him: to dye for all the world, and not for his mother, or to dye for her, when ſhe needed not that hell, is a ſtrange imagination: ſhe was not without ſin; for then why ſhould ſhe have died? for even a natural death in all that come by natural generation, is of ſin: But certainly as ſhe was a veſſel reſerved to receive Chriſt Jeſus, ſo ſhe was preſerved according to the beſt capacity of that nature, from great and infections ſins. Mary Magdalen was a holy veſſel after Chriſt had thrown the Divel out of her; the Virgin Mary was much more ſo, into whom no reigning power of the Devil ever entred; in ſuch an acceptation then Chriſt came per mundam in mundum, by a clean woman into an unclean world. And he came in a purpoſe, as we do piouſly believe) to manifeſt himſelf in the Chriſtian Religion to all the nations of the world; and therefore, laetentur Inſulae, ſaies David, The Lord reigneth let the Iſland rejoyce the Iſland who by reaſon of their ſituation, proviſion and trading, have moſt means of conveying Chriſt Jeſus over the world. He hath ca…ried us up to heaven & ſet us at the right hand of God, & ſhal not we endeavour to carry him to thoſe nations, who have not yet heard of his name? ſhall we ſtill brag that we have brought our clothes, and our hatchets, and our knives, and bread to this and this value and eſtimation amongſt thoſe poor ignorant Souls, and ſhall we never glory that we have brought the name, and Religion of Chriſt Jeſus in eſtimation amongſt them? ſhall we ſtay till other nations have planted a falſ Chriſt among them? and then either continue in our ſloth, or take more pains in rooting out a falſe Chriſt then would have planted the true? Chriſt is come into the world; we will do little, if we will not ferry him over, and propagate his name, as well as our own to other Nations.
At leaſt be ſure that he is ſo far come into the world, as that he become into thee. Thou art but a little world, a world but of a few ſpanns in length;…. and yet Chriſt was ſooner carried from eaſt to weſt, from Jeruſalem to theſe parts, then thou canſt carry him over the faculties of thy Soul and Body; He hath been in a pilgrimage towards thee long, coming towards thee, perchance 50, perchance 60 years; and how far is he got into thee yet? Is he yet come to thine eye? Have they made Jobs Covenant, that they will not look upon a Maid; yet he is not come into thine ear? ſtill thou haſt an itching ear, delighting in the libellous defamation of other men. Is he come to thine ear? Art thou rectified in that ſenſe? yet voluptouſneſs in thy taſt, or inordinateneſs in thy other ſenſes keep him out in thoſe. He is come into thy mouth, to thy tongue; but he is come thither as a diſeaſed perſon, is taken into a ſpittle to have his blood drawn, to have his fleſh cauterized, to have his bones ſawd; Chriſt Jeſus is in thy mouth, but in ſuch exrecations, in ſuch blaſphemies, as would he Earthquaks to us if we were earth; but we are all ſtones, and rock, obdurate in a ſenſeleſnes of thoſe wounds which are inflicted upon our God. He may be come to the skirts, to the borders, to an outward ſhow in thine actions, and yet not be come into the land, into thy heart. He entred into thee, at baptiſm; He hath crept farther and farther into thee, in catechiſms and other infuſions of his doctrine into thee; He hath pierced into thee deeper by the powerful threatnings of his Judgments, in the mouths of his meſſengers; He hath made ſome ſurvey over thee, in bringing thee to call thy ſelf to an account of ſome ſinful actions; and yet Chriſt is not come into thee; either thou makeſt ſome new diſcoveries, and falleſt into ſome new ways of ſin; and art loth that Chriſt ſhould come thither yet, that he ſhould trouble thy conſcience in that ſin, till thou hadſt made ſome convenient profit of it; thou haſt ſtudied and muſt gain, thou haſt bought and muſt ſell, and therefore art loth to be troubled yet; or elſe thou haſt ſome land in thee, which thou thy ſelf haſt never diſcover'd, ſome waies of ſin which thou haſt never apprehended, nor conſidered to be ſin; and thither Chriſt is not come yet: He is not come into thee with that comfort which belongs to his coming in this Text, except he had overſhadowed thee all, and be in thee intirely.
Perſon.We have done with his coming; we come next to the perſon; in which we conſider firſt, that he was capable of this great employment to reconcile God to man, as he was a mixt perſon of God and man; and then, that he had a Commiſſion for this ſervice, as he was Chriſtus, anointed, ſeald to that office; and then, that he did actually execute this commiſſion, as he was Jeſus. Now when we conſider his capacity & fitneſs, to ſave the would this capacity & fitneſs muſt have relation to that way, which God had choſen; which was by Juſtice. For God could have ſaved the world by his word, as well as he had made it ſo. Adetur venia now had bin as eaſie to him, as a fiat lux at the beginning; a general pardon & a light of grace, as eaſie as the ſpreading of the light of nature. but God having purpoſed to himſelf the way of Juſtice, then could none be capable of that Imployment but a mixt perſon; for God could not dye, nor man could not ſatisfie by death; & both theſe were required in the way of Juſtice, a ſatisfaction that by death. Now as this unexpreſſible mixture & union of God & man made him capable of this imployment,Christi. ſo he had a particular Commiſſion for it, imployed in the ſame name too; for every capable perſon is not alwaies imployed; & this was his unct… on as he is Chriſtus, anointed, ſeverd, ſealed for that purpoſe, for that office. Now whether this unction, that is, this power, to …atisfie Gods Juſtice for all the ſins of all mankind, were ex ratione ſua formali intrinſica, that is, whether the merit of Chriſt were therefore infinite in it ſelf, becauſe an infinite Godhead reſided in his perſon, or whether this power and ability by one act, to ſatisfie for all ſins aroſe ex pacto & acceptatione, by the contract they had paſt between the Father and Him, that it was ſo becauſe it was covenanted between them that it ſhould be ſo; this hath divided the School into that great oppoſition which is well known by the name of Thomiſt and Scotiſh. The ſafeſt way is to place it in pacto, in the contract, in the covenant; for if we place it abſolutely in the perſon, and cauſe the infiniteneſs of the merit from that, then any act of that perſon, the very incarnation it ſelf had been enough to ſave us; but his unction, his Commiſſion was to proceed thus & thus, and no otherwiſe then be did in the work of our Redemption. His unction was his qualification; He was anointed with the oyle of gladneſs above his fellows, elſe the ſeaſon of his enduring the croſs,Pſ. 45.7. could nor have been joy: He was anointed liberally by that woman, when he himſelf was ſold for 30 peeces of ſilver,Mar. 14.3. beyond the value of 300 peeces in oyntment upon him: He was honorably embalmed by Joſeph, and Nicodemus, who brought an 100 pound weight of Myrrhe and Aloes to bury him: every way anointed more then others, by others. All his garment ſmell of Myrrhe,Job. 19. and Aloes, and Caſſia, as it is in the Canticles; even in the garments of Religion, the Ceremonies of the Church, there is a ſweet ſavour of life: Oleum effuſum nomen ejus, even in the outward profeſſion of the name of Chriſt there is a ſavour of life, an aſſiſtance to ſalvation; for even in taking upon us this name Chriſt, we acknowledg, both that he was able to reconcile, and ſent purpoſely to reconcile God and man.
But then, the ſtrength of our conſolation lies in the other name;Jeſus. as he was Jeſus, actually he executed that Commiſſion, to which, as he was Chriſt he was fitted and anointed. Now this is a name, which though the Greeks have tranſlated it into ſoter, yet the great Maſter of Latine language, Cicero, profeſſes that there is no word, which expreſſes it; and that great Minter of Latine words Tertullian doth ſo often call by the name of ſalutificator: for Jeſus is ſo; not only a bringer, an applier, a worker of our ſalvation, but he is the author of the very decree of our ſalvation, as well as of the execution of that Decree: there was no ſalvation before him, there was no ſalvation intended in the book of Life, but in him; yea, no Grammarian can clear it, whether this name Jeſus ſignifie ſalvatorem or ſalutem, the Inſtrument that ſaves us, or the ſalvation that is afforded us; for it is not only his perſon, but it is his very righteouſneſs that ſaves us. It was therefore upon that ground that this name was given him,Matth. 1.21. thou ſhalt call his name Jeſus, ſaies the Angel at his conception: why? for he ſhall ſave his people from their ſins: not only that he ſhall be able to do it, nor only that he ſhall be ſent to do it: ſo far he is but Chriſtus a mixt perſon, and an anointed perſon; but he ſhall actually do it, and ſo he is Jeſus. Names of children are not alwaies anſwered in their manners, and in the effects: Non omnes Joannes qui vocantur Joannes, ſaies St. Chriſoſt. every nominal John is not a real John: Abſolons name was Patris pax, his Fathers peace, but he was his Fathers affliction; but the name of Jeſus had the effect, He was called a Saviour, and he was one.
1.21.It may ſeem ſtrange that when St. Matthew ſaies, That Mary was to bring forth a child and call his name Jeſus, He ſaies alſo that this was done that the Prophecy of Eſai might be fulfilled, who ſaid, That a virgin ſhall bring forth a child, & who ſhalbe called Emanuel; to fulfil a prophecy, of being called Emanuel, he muſt be called Jeſus. Indeed, to be Jeſus is a fulfilling of his being Emanuel: Emanuel is God with us, a mixt perſon, God and man; but Jeſus is a Saviour the performer of that ſalvation, which only he who was God and man could accompliſh. He was Emanuel, as ſoon as he was conceived, but not Jeſus till he began to ſubmit himſelf to the Law for us; which was firſt in his circumciſion, when he took the name of, Jeſus, and began to ſhed ſome drops of blood for us. The name of Jeſus was no new name when he took it; we find ſome of that name in the Scriptures, and in Joſephus, we find one officer, that was his enemy, and another a great robber, who lighted upon Joſephus more then once, of that name and yet the Prophet Eſai ſaies of Chriſt, (& St. Cyril. 62.2.interprets thoſe words of this particular man Jeſus) thou ſhalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord ſhal name: And how was this a new name, by which ſo many had been called before? The newneſs was not in that, that none other had had that name, but that the Son of God, had not that name, till he began to execute the office of a Saviour.Eſa. 4.2.…. He was called Germen Jehovae, the bud of Jehova, before; and he was called the Counſelor, and the wonderful, and the Prince of peace, by the ſame Prophet. But it is the obſervation of Origen, and of Lactantius after, (and it appears in the text it ſelf) That Moſes never cals Oſhea the ſon of Nun, Joſhuah, (which is the very name of Jeſus) till he was made General,Num. 13.17. to deliver and ſave his people, ſo what names ſoever were attribu- to the Son of God before; the name of Jeſus was a new name, to him then, when he began the work of ſalvation in his circumciſion. Take hold therefore of his name Emanuel, as God is with us, as there is a perſon fit to reconcile God and man; and take hold of him as he is Chriſtus, a perſon ſealed and anointed for that reconciliation: But above all, be ſure of thy hold upon the name Jeſus thy Saviour. This was his name, when he was carried to the Altar to circumciſion, and this was his name when he carried his Altar the Croſs; this was his ſtile there, Jeſus Nazarenus, Jeſus of Nazareth: and in the virtue of that name, he ſhall give thee a circumciſed heart, and circumciſed lips in the courſe of thy life; and in the virtue of that name he ſhall give thee a joyful conſummatum eſt, when thou comeſt to finiſh all upon thy laſt Altar, thy death-bed.Servare.
Now from this conſideration of the perſon, ſo far as aroſe out of his ſeveral names, we paſs to his action, He was able to redeem man, He was ſent to redeem man, He did redeem man; How? Servavit, He came to ſave. And here alſo is that word, which as we ſaid before, is above expreſſing; for the word which we content our ſelves with, To ſave, implies but a preſerving from falling into ruine; but we were abſolutely fal'n before. The word ſignifies ſalutem dare, medici, and it ſignifies ſalutem eſſe; and Chriſt is truly both, both the Phyſitian and the Phyſick.9. 13. But how is it miniſtred? we ſee his method is in St. Matth. veni vocare, I came to call: his way is a voice now, vocat non cogit; God doth but call us he does not conſtrain us, He does not drive us into a pound; He cals us as Birds do their young, and he would gather us as a Hen doth her Chickins. It is true there is a Trahit, but there is no cogit; no man comes to me, ſaies Chriſt, except the Father draw him, But,Joh 6 44. non inviti trahimur, non inviti credimus, ſaies St. Auguſtine, God draws no man againſt his will, no man believes in God againſt his will, non adhibitus violentia ſed voluntas exitatur, ſaies the ſame Father, God only excites and exalts our will, but he does not force it: He makes uſe of that of the Poet, Trahit ſua quemque voluptas, our carnal deſires draw us, but this drawing is not a conſtraining; for then we ſhould not be commanded to reſiſt them, nor to fight againſt them, for no man will bid me do ſo againſt a Cannon bullet that comes with an inevitable, and irreſiſtible violence now,Auguſt. habet ſenſus ſuas voluptates, & animus deſeritur a ſuis? ſhall our carnal affections draw us, though they do not force us, and ſhall not Grace do the ſame office too? ſhall we ſtill truſt to ſuch a power, or ſuch a meaſure of that Grace, at laſt, as that we ſhall not be able to reſiſt, but ſhall convert us whether we will or no, and never concur willingly with Gods preſent grace? Draw me, and I will run after thee, ſaies the Spouſe:Cant. 1.4. ſhe was called before, now ſhe awakens; and ſhe does not ſay draw me, and ſo I ſhall be ſcrewd up unto thee, and lay all upon the force of grace, but draw me and I will run; ſhe promiſes an application and concurrence on her part. So then venit ſalvare, is venit vocare, He came to ſave by calling us, as an eloquent and a perſwaſive man draws his Auditory, but yet imprints no neceſſity upon the faculty of the will; ſo works Gods calling of us in his word. God expreſſes it fully in the Prophet,Hoſe. 11.3. I ſought Ephraim to go,; we are not able to go, to riſe, to move without him; But how did he teach him? I took them by their arms; God made uſe of their faculties, which faculties are the limbs of the Soul: ſo he enlightned their underſtanding, and he rectified their will; but ſtill their underding, and their will I draw them ſaies God their; But how, and with what? With cords of man ſaies he, and with bands of love; with the cords of man, the voice of the Miniſter, and the power which Gods Ordinance hath infuſed into that, and with the band of love, that is, of the Goſpel ſo propoſed unto us: and as it is added there, I took off the yoke from their jaws, and I laid meat before them: God takes off our yoke, the weight of our ſins, and the indiſpoſition of our natural infirmities, and he laies meat before us, the Word and the Sacraments in his Church. So that his venit ſalvare, is venit ſolvere; ſolvere, that is, to pay our debt, in his death, and ſolvere, that is, to unty our bands, and by his grace to make our natural faculties, formerly bound up in a corrupt inhability, to do ſo, now able to concurre with him, and cooperate to good actions. He prepared and he preſcribed this phyſick for man,Auguſt. when he was upon earth; etiam cum occideretur medicus erat, then when he died, he became our phyſitian; medici ſanguinem fundunt, ille de ipſo ſanguine medicamenta facit: other Phyſitians draw our blood, He makes phyſick of blood, and of his own blood. So he came to ſave, in preparing and preſcribing, and he came to ſave in applying, when by the preaching of his word, Joſeph who is in the well, and Jeremy who is in the Dungeon, do as much as they can, for the tying and fitting of that rope which is offered and let down to them, to draw them. God ſaves us by a calling, and he ſaves us by drawing; but he cals them that hearken to him, and he draws them that follow upon his drawing; He ſaves us who acknowledg that we could not be ſaved without him, and deſire, and that with a faithful aſſurance to be ſaved by him; which is that which is intended in the next word, peccatores, he came to ſaveſinners.
Peccatores.He came not to call the righteous, but ſinners: Is that intended of all effectually? all have ſinned, and all are deprived of the glory of God;Rom. 2.23. But ſinners here are thoſe ſinners, who ackowledg themſelves to be ſinners; for ſaies he, I came to call them to repentance: and thats the meaning of that excluſion of the righteous; He came not to call the Righteous; not to call them who call themſelves Righteous, and thought themſelves ſo, but ſinners; not all whom he knew to be ſinners, but all who would be brought to know themſelves to be ſo. Them he came to call by the power of Miracles when he lived upon earth, and them he ſtaies to call by the power of his word, now he is aſcended into heaven; for as a furnace needs not the ſame meaſure and proportion of fire to keep it boiling, as it did to heat it; but yet it doth need the ſame fire, that is, fire of the ſame nature, (for the heat of the Sun will not keep it boiling how hot ſoever,) ſo the Church of God needs not miracles now it is eſtabliſhed; but ſtill there is the ſame fire, the working of the ſame ſpirit to ſave ſinners: for that was the end of miracles, and it is the end of preaching, to make men capable of ſalvation by acknowledging themſelves to be ſinners. And this hath brought us to the laſt part of this text, that which at firſt we called the fruit of the Goſpel, Humility.Third part.
This brought St. Paul to be of that Quorum, Quorum ego maximus, not only to diſcern and confeſs himſelf to be a ſinner, but the cheifeſt and greateſt ſinner of all. Nihil humilitate ſublimius; it is excellently, but ſtrangely ſaid by St. Hierome; He might rather and more credibly have us'd any word then that: He might have been eaſily believed if he had ſaid, nihil ſapientius, there is no wiſer thing then humility, for he that is low in his own, ſhall be high in the eyes of others; and to have ſaid nihil perfective, there is not ſo direct a way to perfection as humility: But nihil ſublimius, muſt needs ſeem ſtrangely ſaid, there is nothing higher then lowneſs; no ſuch exaltation as dejection; no ſuch revenge as patience; and yet all this is truly and ſafely ſaid, with that limitation which St. Hierome gives it there, apud Deum, in the ſight of God, there is no ſuch exaltation as humiliation. We muſt not coaſt and croſs the neareſt way, and ſo think to meet Chriſt in his end, which was glory, but we muſt go after him in all his ſteps, in the way of humiliation; for Chriſts very deſcent was a degree of exaltation; and by that name he called his crucifying a lifting up, an exaltation. The Doctrine of this world goes for the moſt part otherwiſe; here we ſay, lay hold, upon ſomething, get up one ſtep; in all want of ſufficiency, in all defection of friends, in all changes, yet the place which you hold which raiſe you to better. In the way to heaven, the lower you go, the nearer the higheſt and beſt end you are. Duo nobis neceſſaria ſaies St. Auguſt. Ut cognoſcamus quales ad malum, quales ad bonum: There are but two things neceſſary to us to know, how ill we are, and how good we may be; where nature hath left us, and whether Grace would carry us. And Abraham, (ſaies that Father.) expreſſes this two fold knowledg, when he ſaid to God, Loquar ad Dominum, qui pulvis ſum & cinis, I know I am but duſt and aſhes,Gen. 18. ſaies Abraham, and there is his firſt knowledg Qualis ad molum, how ill a condition naturally he is in: but then, Loquar ad Dominum, for all this, though I be but duſt and aſhes, I have acceſs to my God, and may ſpeak to him; ther's his improvement and his dignity. Vere pulvis omnis homo; ſaies he; truly every man is truly duſt; for as duſt is blown from one to another corner by the wind, and lies dead there till another wind remove it from that corners; ſo are we hurried from ſin to ſin, and have no motion in our ſelves, but as a new ſin imprints it in us: ſo vere pulvis, for our diſpoſition to evil we are truly duſt; and vere cinis, we are truly dry aſhes; for aſhes produceth no ſeed of it ſelf, nor gives growth to any ſeed that is caſt into it; ſo we have no good in us naturally, neither can we nouriſh any good that is inſus'd by God into us, except the ſame Grace that ſow'd it; water it, and weed it, and cheriſh it, and ſo ment it after. To know that we have no ſtrength of our ſelves, and to know that we can lack none if we ask it of God, theſe are St. Auguſtines two Arts and Sciences, and this is the humility of the Goſpel in general.
Quo umprimusTo come to St. Paul's more particular expreſſing of his humility here, Quorum ego primus, of which ſinners I am the cheifeſt, as it is true veritas non nititur mendatio, no truth needs the ſupport or aſſiſtance of any lie; a man muſt not belie himſelf, nor accuſe himſelf againſt his own conſcience, ſo alſo, Humilitas non nititur ſtupiditati, An undiſcerning ſtupidity is not humility, for humility it ſelf implies and requires diſcretion, for humiliation is not precipitation when the Devil inticed the Jeſuit at his midnight ſtudies, and the Jeſuit roſe and offered him his chair, becauſe howſoever he were a Devil, yet he was his better; this was no regulated humility: and therefore this which St. Paul ſaies of himſelf, that he was the greateſt ſinner was true in his own heart, and true in a convenient ſenſe, and ſo neither falſly nor inconſiderately ſpoken. How then was this true? As there is nothing ſo fantaſtical and ſo abſurd, but that ſome Hereticks have held it Dogmatically; ſo Aquinas notes here, that there were Hereticks that held, that the very ſoul of Adam was by a long circuit and tranſmigration come at laſt into Paul, and ſo Paul was the ſame man (in his principal part, in the ſoul) as Adam was; and in that ſenſe it was literally true that he ſaid, he was primus peccatorum the firſt of all ſinners, becauſe he was the firſt man Adam: but this is an heretical fancy, … a Pythagorean bubble. Great Divines have refer'd this Quorum ad ſalvandos, that Chriſt came to ſave ſinners; of which ſinners that are ſaved ſay they, S. Paul acknowledges himſelf to be the greateſt; not the greateſt ſinner in the world, but the greateſt of them upon whom the grace of God hath wrought effectually. St. Auguſtines interpretation is for one half thereof, for the negative part ſake; primus ſaies he, non tempore; He ſaies he was the firſt ſinner, but he does not mean the firſt that ſinned, the firſt in time; but then for the affirmative part, which follows in Auguſtine, that he was primus malignitate, the firſt, the higheſt, the greateſt ſinner, why ſhould we, or how can we charge the Apoſtle ſo heavily? Beloved, to maintain the truth of this which St. Paul ſaies, we need not ſay that it was materially true, that it was indeed ſo; it is enough to defend it from falſhood, that it was formally true, that is, that it appeard to him to be true, and not out of a ſodain and ſtupid inconſideration but deliberately: Firſt, he reſpected his own natural diſpoſition, and proclivity to great ſins, and out of that evidence condemned himſelf: As when a man who profeſſed an art of judging the diſpoſition of a man by his face, had pronounced of Socrates, (whoſe virtue all the world admir'd) that he was the moſt incontinent and licentious man, the greateſt theif and extortioner of any man in the world; the people deſpiſ'd and ſcorned the Phyſiognomer and his art, and were ready to offer violence unto him: Socrates himſelf corrected their diſtemper again, and ſaid, It is true that he ſaies, & his Judgment is well grounded, for by nature no man is more inclined to theſe vices then I am. And this diſpoſition to the greateſt ſins, St. Paul knew in himſelf. He that hath theſe natural diſpoſitions is likely to be the greateſt ſinner, except he have ſome ſtrong aſſiſtance to reſtrain him: and then, he that hath the offer of ſuch helps, and abuſes them, is in a farther ſtep of being the greateſt ſinner: And this alſo St. Paul had reſpect to now, that he had had a good and learned education, a good underſtanding of the law and the Prophets, a good mortification, by being of the ſtrict ſect of the Phariſees; and yet he had turned all the wrong way, and was therefore in this abuſe of theſe manifold graces the greater ſinner. He look'd farther then into his own nature, or into his reſiſtance of aſiſtances; he looked into thoſe actions which theſe had produc'd in him, and there he ſaw his breathing of threatnings and ſlaugher againſt the Diſciples of the Lord, his hunger and thirſt of chriſtian blood: and ſo ſaies St. Auguſtine, Nemo acrior inter perſecutores, ergo nemo prior inter peccatores, as he found himſelf the greateſt perſecutor, ſo he condemns himſelf for the greateſt ſinner. But all theſe natural diſpoſitions to great ſins, negliences, of helps offer'd, ſinful actions produced out of theſe two, might be greater in many others, then in St. Paul; & it is likely, & it may be certain to us, that they were ſo; but it was not certain to him, he knew not ſo much ill by any other man, as by himſelf. Conſider thoſe words in the Proverbs, 30.2.Surely I am more fooliſh then any man, and have not the underſtanding of a man in me: for though they be not the words of Salomon, yet they are the words of a Prophet, and a Prophet who ſurely was not really more fooliſh then any man, then in conſideration of ſomething which he found in himſelf, ſaies ſo: he that conſiders himſelf, ſhall find ſuch degrees of ſin, as that he cannot ſee than any man hath gone lower: Or if he have in ſome particular and notorious ſin, yet in quovis alio, quid occultum eſſe poteſt; quo nobis ſuperior ſit: August.He that is fallen lower then thus in ſome ſin, yet may be above thee in Grace; he may have done a greater ſin, & yet not be the greater ſinner: another hath killed a man, and thou haſt not; thon mayſt have drawn and drunk the blood of many by uſury, by extortion, by oppreſſion. Another in fury of intemperance, hath raviſhed and thou haſt not; thou maiſt have corrupted many by thy deceitful ſolicitations; and then in thy ſelf art as ill as the raviſher, and thou haſt made them worſe whom thou haſt corrupted. Caſt up thine own account, Inventary thine own goods;Rom. 2.5. for ſin is the wrath of the ſinner, and he treaſures up the wrath of God) reckon thine own ſins, and thou wilt find thy ſelf rich in that wealth, and find thy ſelf of that Quorum, that the higheſt place in that company and myſtery of ſinners belongs to thee.
Sum.St. Paul does ſo here; yea then, when he ſaw his own caſe, and ſaw it by the light of the ſpirit of God; when he took knowledg that Chriſt was come, and had ſav'd ſinners, had ſav'd him; yet ſtill he ſaies ſum primus, ſtill he remains in his accuſation of himſelf that he was ſtill the greateſt ſinner, becauſe he remained ſtill in his infirmity, and aptneſs to relapſe into former ſins. As long as we are, we are ſubject to be worſe then we are; and thoſe ſins which we apprehend even with horror and amazement, when we hear that others have done them, we may come to do them with an earneſtneſs, with a delight, with a defence, with a glory, if God leaves us to our ſelves. As long as that is true of us, ſum prmus homo, I am no better then the firſt man, then Adam was, (and none of us are in any proportion ſo good) that is true alſo, Quorum primus ſum ego, I am ſtill in a ſlippery ſtate, and in an evident danger of being the greateſt ſinner. This is the concluſion for every humble chriſtian, no man is a greater ſinner then I was, and I am not ſure but that I may fall to be worſe then ever I was, except I husband and imploy the Talents of Gods Graces better then I have done.