Commentary on the Gospels and Acts, Commentary 1 · Chapter 3

Commentary on the Gospels and Acts · Commentary 1 · Chapter 3

p. 33CHAP. III.

Verse 1. In those daies came Iohn the Baptist.]

WHom Chrysologus fitly calleth, … legis & …, the bond or buckle of both Testaments. He standeth, as that Angel, with one foot on the sea (the law) and with the other footRevel. 10. ….Rev 10 on the land (the Gospel.)

Preaching in the wildernesse of Iudea,]

A place, wherein we finde six cities with … villages, Josh. 15. 61. But called a wildernesse, because more thinly inhabited. In which sense we may say of Germany, that Acheldama or field of bloud, and many other once rich and fertile countries, that they are become a wildernesse, warre being a tragedy that alway … eth the stage whereon it is acted: but for the wickednesse of them that dwell therein … 107 ….it is, that a … full land is turned into … wildernesse, saith David. … est ….And the Heathen … saith little …, when he tels us that the ruine and rubbish of Troy, are set by God before the eyes ofHerodot. …, for an example of that rule, that, Great … have great p. 34punishments. Now alterius perditio sit tua cautio, saith an Ancient,Isidor. soliloq Not to be warned by others, is a sure presage of ruine. Scipio beheld and bewail'd the downfall of Rome, in the destruction of Carthage. And when Hannibal was beleaguering Saguntum in Spain, the Romans were as sensible thereof, as if he had been thenLiv. beating upon the wals of their Capitoll. A storm, oft-times, begins in one place, and ends in another. When the sword rides circuit (as a Judge) it is in commission, Ezek. 14. 17. Ier. 47. 6, 7. And, When I begin (saith God) I will make an end, 1 Sam. 3. 12. We cannot but fore-see a storm, unlesse we be of those in Bernard, who seek straws to put out their eyes withall. If weQui …, … …. break not off our sins by repentance (that there may be a lengthening of our tranquillity) a removall of our Candleslick may be as certainly fore-seen and fore-told, as if visions and letters were sentDan. 4. 27.Dan 4:27 us from heaven, as once to the Church of Ephesus. God may well say to us, as to them of old, Have I been a wildernesse unto Jer. 2. 31.Jer 2:31Israel, a land of darknesse? Or, as Themistocles to his Athenians, Are ye weary of receiving so many benefits by one man? Bona à tergo formosissima. Our sins have long since sollicited an utter dissolution and desolation of all; and that we should be made aJer. 49. 2. & 25. 9.Jer 49:2Jer 25:9 heap and a hissing, a waste and a wildernesse: Quod Deus ave…tat.

Verse 2. And saying, Repent ye]

Change your mindes now atAd mentem redite. Erasm. the preaching of the Gospel, as they changed their garments at the promulgation of the Law, Rent your hearts and not your garments, As the Prodigall came to himself, who till converted, had been beside himself.plough up the fallows of your hearts; grieve for your sins, even to a transmentation, as those Corinthians did, and as Simon Peter counselled Simon Magus, that snake that had cast his coat, but kept his poison. For although he ca…ried the matter so cleanly and cunningly, that Philip took him for a true convert, andSee a like phrase, 2 Chro. 6. 372 Chr 6:37 baptized him; yet Peter soon saw that he was in the gall or venome of bitternesse (for the word used, Deut. 29. 18. whereunto theAct. 8. …, 23.Acts 8 Apostle alludes, signifieth both) and therefore prescribes him anforeign Antidote, the very same that John doth here, this generation offoreign vipers, Repent, if perhaps the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven thee. His wicked thought is called foreign, the godly change of minde that the Apostle perswadeth him unto, is called foreign, he that by some mischance hath drunk poison, must cast it up again as soon as he can, ere it get to the vitals. Repentance is the souls vomit, which is the hardest kinde of physick, but the p. 35wholsomest. Happy is he, that by the dung-port of his mouth (inNehem. 3. 14.Neh 3:14 a sorrowfull confession) can disburden himself of the sinne thatHeb. 12. 1.Heb 12:1 both clogs and hazards his soul to death eternall. We r…n from God by sin to death, and have no other way to return, but by death to sin.

For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.]

q. d. Ye have a price put into your hands, a fair opportunity of making your selves for ever. Will ye (like the vine and olive in …othams parable) not leaveJudg. 9. 9.Judg 9:9 your sweetnesse and fatnesse, your dilecta delicta, beloved sins, although it be to raign, yea and that in Gods kingdome? KnowestRom. 2. 4.Rom 2:4 thou not that the goodnesse of God should lead thee to repentance?Psal. 130. 4.Ps 130:4 Is there not mercy with God therefore, that he may beJoel 2. 12.Joel 2:12 feared? should not men rent their hearts, because God is gracious,Isa. 55 7.Isa 55:7 and turn to the Lord, because he will multiply pardon? To argue from mercy to liberty, is the devils logick; and makes God repent him of his favours to such, as David did of his kindenesse to Nabal. Rather we should argue from mercy to duty, as Joseph did to his master in a temptation: from deliverance to obedience, with David, Psal. 116 8, 9. And therefore return to our fathers house, with the Prodigall, because there is bread enough; therefore repent, because his Kingdome is at hand, and would be laid hold on. As John Baptist was Christs fore-runner into the world: so must repentance be his fore-runner into our hearts.

Verse 3. For this is he which was spoken of.]

Whether these be the words of the Baptist, or of the Evangelist, it appears not, skils not. The most say, of the Evangelist concerning the Baptist.

By the Prophet Isaias.]

Thus one Testament infolds another, as those wheels in Ezekiel: And the Law preacheth faith in Christ, as well as the Gospel, Rom. 10. 6. 7.

The voice of one crying]

Loudly and lustily; lifting up his voiceforeign, Boa…, Vociferant…. foreign. as a trumpet, or as the sound of many waters. Semblably S. Paul was ordained to be a crier, 1 Tim. 1. …1. and so is every faithfull Preacher, 2 Tim. 4. 2. He must cry, and be instant, stand to theforeign. work, and stand over it; Sta cum diligentia, saith the Syriack there, clangite, clamate, Jer. 4. 5. Ye have to doe with deaf men, dead men, living carcases, walking sepulchres of themselves.Isa. …8. 1.Isa 8:1 Now therefore as our Saviour lifted up his voice, when…. he said, Lazarus, come forth: So must Christs Ministers (when p. 36they speak to such as lie rotting and stinking in the graves of their corruptions) cry aloud, Awake thou that sleepest, and stand up …. …. 14. foreign.from the dead, that Christ may give thee light. Ecclesia (the Church) is a word in use among the Athenians, and signifies an Assembly of Citizens, called out of the multitude (as it were) by name, or in their ranks, by the voice of the publike Crier, to hear some speech or sentence of the Senate. The Church in like sort is a company called out of the kingdome of Satan, by the voice of Gods Ministers, as it were criers, to hear the doctrine of the Gospel revealed from heaven. There are that observe, that John Rolloc. in Joh. 1. 15.John 1:15Baptist entered upon his calling in the year of Jubilee, which used to be proclaimed by a Crier with the sound of a trumpet, and that in allusion thereunto, he is called, The voice of a crier.

Prepare ye the way of the Lord.]

… the terrours of the Lord to seize upon your souls: take not up bucklers against the stroaks of Gods Law: bring not your buckets to quench the motions of his Spirit, knocking at your hearts by the hammer of his Word: Make much of the least beginnings of grace, even those they call repressing; since they prepare the heart for conversion. Open the everlasting doors, that the King of glory may come in, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. As Esther leaned upon … two maids, when she came before the King: So let the soul … upon attrition of the Law, and contrition of the Gospel: so … the King of glory stretch out the golden Scepter of his grace, and we shall live. As Iohn Baptist was Christs fore-runner into the world: so must repentance be his fore-runner into our hearts: for he that repenteth not, the Kingdom of God is far from him: he cannot see it, for his lusts that hang in his light.

Make his paths straight.]

Walk exactly, precisely, accurately,foreign. … line and by rule; walk as in a frame, make straight steps toHeb foreign. Isa. 40. … & oculis ….Isa 40 your feet, or else there is no passing the strait gate: so strait, that as few can walk in it, so none can halt in it, but must needs goe upright. Plain things will joyn in every point one with another; not so … and rugged things. In like sort, plain spiritsObstant enim offect …, &c. Erasm. in …. close with Gods truths, not those that are swoln, &c. The old heart will never hold out the hardship of holines.

Verse 4. And the same Iohn had his raiment of Camels hair.]

Bradford.Sutable to Elias (in whose spirit and power he came) who wasEphes. 5. 15.Eph 5:15 thus habited. So those worthies, of whom the world was not worthy, wandered about in …-… and Goat-…: but theyHeb. 11. 37.Heb 11:37 p. 37were like the Ark, without, covered with Goats-hair, within,Saepe sub … latitat sapientia …. all of pure gold. God cloathed our first parents in leather, when there was means of better cloathing, to humble them, …:Vestes sunt peccati testes. and to shame all such as are proud of their cloathes, which are the ensigns of our shame, and came in with sin, as it's ….Vestium curiofit as deformitatis mentium & morum indiciū est. Bern.

And a leathern girdle about his ….]

So had Elias, and God takes notice of it, and records it: when the pomp and pride of many Monarchs lie hid in obscurity, buried in oblivion. Such love beareth the Lord to his people, that every thing in them is remarked and registred. He thinks the better of the very ground they goe upon, Psal. 87. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. their walls are ever in his sight, and he loveth to look upon the houses where they dwell, Isa. 40. 16.

And his meat was locusts.]

These creatures have their name inforeign Greek from the top of the ears of …, which, as they fled, they sed upon. That they were mans meat in those Eastern Countries appears, Levit. 11. 22. and Pliny testifieth as much. Course meatLib. 11. cap …. Hieron. in ep. they were: but nature is content with little, grace with lesse. Cibus & potus sunt divitiae Christianorum, saith that Father.Greenham. … and water with the Gospel are good chear, saith another.Horat. Opponit panem libis & placent is, lib. 1. epist. 10. … Saviour hath taught us to pray for bread, not for manchet … junkets, but down right houshold bread: and himself gave thanks for barley-bread and broiled fishes. A little of the creature will serve turn to carry thee thorow thy pilgrimage. One told aAdulator est qui …. Becman. Philosopher, If you will be content to please Dionysius, you need not feed upon green herbs. He replied, And if you can feed upon green herbs, you need not please Dionysius; you need not flatter,Holus ab foreign. comply, be base, &c. The Ancients held green herbs to be goodPrisci … obsonij sibi deesse … deesset …. chear: and accounted it wealth enough, foreign, not to be …, nor cold, saith …. But what … were … Jews that for foreign, locusts, read foreign, sweetmeats, as Epiphanius noteth against the Ebionites. The best, we see, are liable to be belied.

And wilde honey,]

Such as naturally distilled out of trees; as did that which Jonathan tasted with the tip of his rod, called honey of the wood, 1 Sam 14. 27. God made … suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock, Deut. 32. 13. Hence Iudea was called, Sumen totius orbis. And Strabo, that spitefully…. affirmeth it to be a dry, barren countrey, had not so much ingenuityLib. 16. p. 38as that railing Rabshakeh, 2 King. 18. 32.

… 5. Then went out to him Ierusalem]

Hitherto the prosopography of … Baptist: Follows now the resort that was made unto him; for by his divine doctrine and austere life, he had merited among many to be taken for the Messiah, Joh. 1.

And all Iudea]

That is, very many, as the word (All) is manySee Wilsons …. times elswhere taken in the new Testament.

And all the … round about Iordan.]

Stirred up by the noise of that new preacher. So sundry amongst us will be content … hear, if there, goe a great report of the man; or, if he deliver some new Doctrine; or, deal in deep points, as Herod, Lu. 23. 8. But these soon grow weary, and fall off, as those Jews did from Iohn, for the which they were justly taxed by our ….Joh. 5. 35.John 5:35Math. 11.Matt 11

Verse 6. And were baptized of him in Iordan.]

Baptizing of … was in use among the Jews, before the daies of Iohn Baptist. From this custome (saith Broughton) though without commandment, and of small authority, Christ authoriseth aIn Daniel 9.Dan 9 seal of entring into his rest, using the Jews weaknesse as an allurement thither. As from bread and wine, used with the Paschall Lamb, being without all commandment of Moses, but resting upon the common reason given by the Creatour, he authoriseth a seal of his flesh and bloud.

In Iordan]

At Bethabara, Joh. 1. 28. that is, at that very place, where the people of Israel passed over Jordan, and … the Land. Baptisme then was there first administred, where it had been of old fore-shadowed. Here also we see, that the acts of … and Iesus took their happy beginning, at one and the same place. And like as the people, after they had passed over …, … circumcised, before they received the Land by lot of inheritance: So, after we have been baptized, and thereby enrolled among the Citizens of the new Ierusalem, the … of…. 1. …. sinne, and super fluity of … must be daily pared off by theforeign. … to the … and … of the …. practice of mortification ere we can come to the Kingdome of Heaven.

Confessing … sins]

In token of their true repentance. For as only the man, that is wakened out of his dream, can tell his dream; so only he that is wakened out of his …, can clearly … them.foreign And this confession of sin, joyned with confusion of sin (withoutEst … & clara …. …. the which, confession is but winde, & the drops of contrition, water) is that which in baptisme we restipulate. Not the putting awayforeign. p. 39of the … of the …, but the … answer of a good conscience toward God, 1 …. 3. 21. A …, … conscience, a heart … from wickednesse in this … of regeneration, the baptisme of repentance, the washing of the new birth, the being baptized with the holy Ghost and with fire, this saveth, saith S. Peter. Not as the efficient cause of salvation, for that is Christ alone: nor yet as a … instrument, for that's faith alone: but only as a … of the saved, and a pledge of their salvation. As on the other side, God will not own a viperous brood, though baptized, that bring not forth fruits meet for repentance. To such, baptisme is not the mark of Gods childe, but the brand of a fool, that maketh a vow, and then breaketh it, Eccles. 5. 3. For the font is Beersheba, The well of an Oath: and there we swear (asPsal. 119. 106.Ps 119:106 David did) to keep Gods righteous judgements. Now, if Zedekiah Isa. 10.Isa 10and … paid so dear for their …, for their fast and loose with men; how will God revenge the quarrell of his Covenant? The Spanish converts in Mexico remember not any thing of the… enquiries … Ben. promise and profession they made in baptisme, save only their name, which many times also they forget. In the Kingdom of Congo in Africk, the Portugals, … their first arrivall, finding the people to be …, … God, did enduce them to a professionArchb. Abbots. Geog p. 179.of Christ, and to be baptized in great abundance, allowing … the principles of religion; till such time as the Priests prest them to lead their lives according to their profession: which the most part of them in no case enduring, returned again to their Gentilisme. Such renegadoes we have amongst us, not a few;Augustin. that give themselves up to Christ, Quoad Sacramenti perceptionem, by externall profession, but when it comes once ad … sanctificationem, to … of …, there they leave him in the open field, forsaking their colours, renouncing their baptisme, and running away to the enemy. Now for such there is but one law, and it is Martiall law, Heb. 10. 39. If any with draw, or … foreign.Heb. 10. 38.Heb 10:38from his Captain (as the military … there used importeth) he doth it to perdition; he is even a son of perdition, as …; who was … indeed, as well as Peter, but better he had not.Mark. 14. 21.Mark 14:21 As it had been better for him, never to have been born, so, being born, never to have been circumcised, and thereby bound to the Law. Unregenerate Israel is as …, Amos 9. 7. And it had been happy that font water had never been spilt on that face, that is afterwards hatcht with impudent …, Ier. 3. 3, 4. 5.

p. 40Verse 7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadduces.]

De his lege Joseph de bello.Two leading sects among the Jews, but notable hypocrites, yet…. … 2. c. & Antiq … l. 13. cap. 17. pressing to the ordinances. A Doeg may set his foot as far within the Sanctuary as a David, and let him. He may be caught, as those catch-poles sent to apprehend our Saviour, as Sauls messengers coming to Naioth were turned from … to Prophets: Come (saith Latymer) to the holy Assemblies, though thou comest to …; for God, perhaps, may take thee napping.

He said unto them, O generation of vipers]

Or adders, which are outwardly specious, inwardly poisonous: so are all hypocrites a meer out-side: but God will wash off their paint with rivers of brimstone. Of the viper it is said, that when he hath … a man, he makes haste to the water, and drinks or dies for it. So did these Pharisees to baptisme, hoping, by the … done, to avoid the wrath to come, But a man … goe to hell … font-water on his face: unlesse with the water of baptisme he have grace to quench the fiery darts of the devil: as that holy… de qua. dam sancta … quae quo …, non nisi … nabat, …, Christiana sum. … enim bost is statim … baptismi & …, & fugit ab ea. Luther. virgin, whereof Luther reports, that she beat back Satans temptations with this only argument, I am a Christian. The enemy quickly understood (saith he) the … of baptisme, and the value of that vow, and fled from her. There are that boast and bear themselves bold on their Christendome; but hath not many a ship, that hath been named Safe-guard and Good-speed, miscarried at sea, or fallen into the hands of pirates? This generation of vipers conceited themselves to be Abrahams seed: so doe many of the Serpents seed now adaies, because of their baptisme; but all in vain, unlesse they walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham. The old Serpent hath slung them, neither is there any antidote for such, but the flesh (not of the biting viper, but) of the slain Messiah, fore-shadowed by the brazen Serpent. SeeRom. …. foreign derived … foreign a viper.Isa. 27. 1. God hath promised to break for us the Serpents head, who hath so deeply set his lims in us: yea, with his sore, and great and strong sword, to punish Leviathan that piercing Serpent, and to … the dragon that is in the sea.

Who hath fore-warned you?]

Who hath privily and under-hand,foreign. … & …. as it were, shewed you, and set you in a course of avoiding the danger, that hangs over your heads, as by a twined threed. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven, and hell hath enlarged her self, and even gapes for you: who gave you an inkling thereof, and sent you hither for help, &c?

p. 41From the wrath to come]

Called the damnation of hell, Chap. 23. 23. which hath torments without end, and past imagination.Psal. 90. 11.Ps 90:11 For, Who knoweth the power of thine anger, saith David? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. That is, as I conceive it, Let a man fear thy wrath never so much, he is sure to feel a fair deal more thereof, then ever he could have feared. When but a drop of Gods displeasure lights upon a poor soul in this present world. What intolerable pain is it put to? The spirit of a man may sustain Prov. 18. 14.Prov 18:14his infirmity, saith Solomon, q. d. some sorry shift a man may make to rub thorow an outward affliction, and to bear it off by head and shoulders, But a wounded spirit who can bear? q. d. the stoutest cannot possibly stand under it: there's no proportion between the back and the burden; … able to crush and crack the mightiest amongst us. Iudas chose an halter rather then to endure it: and well he might, when as Iob (with whom God was butJob 7. 15.Job 7:15 in jest, in comparison) preferred strangling, and any death before such a life. But all this (alas) is but present wrath, and nothing at all to the wrath to come. A phrase of speech that involves and carries in it stings and horrours, woe and alas, flames of wrath, and the worm that never dieth, trembling and gnashing of teeth, seas of vengeance, rivers of brimstone, unutterable and unsufferable tortures and torments. We read of racking, roasting, hanging, stoning, putting men under harrows of iron, and saws of iron, scratching off their flesh with thorns of the wildernesse,foreign. Heb. … pulling their skins over their ears, and other exquisite and unheard of miseries that men have here been put unto. But what's all this to the wrath to come? not so much as a flea-biting, as a prick with a pin, or fillip with a finger: no, though a man should go thorow a thousand cruell deaths every hour, his whole life thorowout. Oh blesse and kisse that blessed Son of God, that bore for us the brunt of this unsupportable wrath, even Iesus that delivered us from the wrath to come, 1 Thess. 1. 10. And shun sin, that draws hell at the heels of it. Is it nothing to lose an immortall soul to purchase an ever-living death?

Verse 8. Bring forth therefore fruits]

q. d. You cannot wash your hands in innocency, wash them therefore in tears: there's no way to quench hell flames, but by the tears of true repentance; to prevent the wrath to come, but by bearing those fruits of righteousnesse that are by Christ Jesus to the glory and praise of God, Phil. 1. 11. Optima & … est nova vita, saith p. 42Luther. Which saying, though condemned by Pope Leo, is certainly an excellent ….

Meet for repentance.]

That weigh … as much as repentance, that may parallel, and … it to be right, … and evidence it to be a repentance never to be repented of. There is no grace butCor. 7. hath a …. See therefore that your graces be of the right stamp, an effectuall faith, … love, patient hope, &c. as the Apostle… Thess. 1 3. hath it. See that your performances and whole course be such as becomes repentance, and may justifie it; as may bearforeign weight in the balance of the sanctuary, and amount to as much… 64 6. as repentance comes to. And … your righteousnesses be but1 …. as a … clout, and your works at best (if tried by the fire…. 13. …. of the Word) would burn (which made … Nehemiah to pray for pardon of his reformations) yet upon your true repentance for the evil that cleaves to your best works, your … may be saved from the wrath to come; yea they are such as accompany salvation, and comprehend it, as the … Scholiast expounds thatHeb. 6. ….Heb 6 text. Labour ther fore to … a heart full of goodnesse, as thoseforeign, i. e, foreign Romans, Chap. 15. 14. and a life full of good works, as Tabitha, Act. 9. 33. such as may beseem amendment of life.

Verse 9. And thinke not to say within your selves.]

Hypocrites are never without their starting-holes, out of … they must be ferretted. There are infinite turnings and windings in the heart of man, studious of deceiving it self by some paralogisme. Therefore the Apostle so oft premiseth, Be not deceived, when he reckons upforeign. reprobates, 1 Cor 6 9. Eph. 5. 6 &c.

We have Abraham to our father]

What of that? so had Ishmael …. …. ….an …, Esau a castaway, &c. Externall priviledges profit not, where nothing better can be pleaded. … the fool was of the line of faithfull Caleb, Qui … post me, Followed me fully, … God, Numb. 14. 24. Vertue is not, as lands, inheritable. Why should these men brag they had Abraham to their father, when they might have observed, that God had raised up of this stone, a son to Caleb?

God is able]

His power is, 1. Absolute, whereby he can doe more then he doth. 2. Actuall, whereby he doth that only that he willeth. Some things he can doe, but will not, as here, and … 26. 53. Rom. 9. 18. Some things he neither will nor can, … lie, to die, to deny himself. 2 Tim. 2. 13. …. 1. 3. Heb. 6. 17. for these things contradict his …, and imply impotency. p. 43But whatsoever he …, without impediment he …, Isa. 46. o Psal. 115. 3.

Of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.]

This he could doe, though he will not. And yet he doth as much as this, when he takes the stone out of the heart: when of carnall he makes us a people created again, Psal. 102. 18. when cut of a hollow person (one as empty and void of heart, as the hollow of a tree is of …) is fetcht out heart of oak, and of a wilde asse-colt-born,Job 11. 12.Job 11:12 is made a man: See both these similitudes, Job 11. 12. It was aexpounded. strange change that Satan mention'd and motion'd to our Saviour of turning stones into bread. But nothing so strange as turning stony hearts into hearts of flesh. This is a work of Gods Almighty power, the same that he put forth in raising Christ from the dead, Ephes. 1. 19. (where the Apostle, the better to set forth the matter, … a six-fold gradation in the Originall) and in creating the world, …. 51. 10. 2 Cor. 5. 17. The Prophet Isaiah …. 51. 16.tels us, That he plants the heavens, and laies the foundation of the earth, that he may say to Zion, Thou art my people. And althoughIsa 42. 5, 6.Isa 42:5Isa 42:6 mans heart be an emptinesse, as in the Creation, as herbs in Winter, or as a breathlesse clod of earth, yet that hinders not, … the Prophet.

Verse 10. And now also is the axe laid to the root of the tree.]

q. d. God is now taking aim where to hit, and how to fell you: as a man laieth his axe at that very place that he intends to to smite at) he seeth well enough that all his patience and painsLuk. 13.Luke 13 in digging, in dunging, and in dressing you, is to no purpose.Ultimae desperationis … est, quoties securis admovetur radici. He comes seeking fruit from time to time, but findeth none, Luk. 13. 7. Now therefore he hath laid down his basket, and taken up his axe, as resolved to ruine you, unlesse present course be taken. Neglect not the present Now, lest ye be cut off for ever. GodEras. Annot. will not alway serve you for a …-stock. Since ye have a Preacher, repent or perish. Let this spring distinguish between dead and living trees.

Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit.]

So God is graciously pleased to stile our poor …; in every of which…. there is something of his, as well as something of our own. That which is his, he accepts: that which is ours he pardons. But good it must be, quoad fontem, the Spirit of God: and quoad finem, the glory of God. Negative … serves no mans tur,M. … ex … to save him from the axe. It is said of …, that the … of p. 44the Priscillian heresie, was all the vertue that he had. The evil servant did not riot cut his talent: those reprobates, Mat. 25. robbed not the Saints, but relieved them not. Moab and Ammon …. 23. 4.were bastardized and banished the sanctuary to the tenth generation, for a meer omission, because they met not Gods Israel with bread and water in the wildernes: And Edom is sore threatned,…. for not harbouring them when scattered by the …. Take we heed that live in the last age of the world, lest God hasten the calling of the Jews, and cast us off for our unfruitfulnesse, Rom. 11.

Verse 11. I indeed baptize you with water to repentance.]

Thereforeign. is a two fold baptisme, Heb. 6. 2. the doctrine of baptismes, viz,1 …. 3. 21. … & flaminis, externall and internall, the putting away of the pollution of the flesh, and the answer of a good conscience (purged from dead works) to God-ward. When these two meet, when men are baptized with water to repentance, then baptisme saveth, 1 Pet. 3. 21. that is, it effectually assureth salvation, whensoever by the Spirit and faith, the baptized comes to be united to Christ, and to feel the love of God shed abroad in his soul, whereby is wrought in him a spirit of …, a grief … sinne, as it is an offence against God. And hereupon S. Peter foreign.saith, Baptisme saveth, in the present tense: implying that it is of permanent and perpetuall use; effectuall to save and seal up the promises, whensoever we repent. From which happy time,Zech. …. 10. with 13. 1. baptisme once received, remains a fountain alwaies open for sinne and … uncleannesse, to those that mourn over him, that bled overEzek. 36. 25.Ezek 36:25 them; a laver of regeneration, a washing of the spirit, who … clean water upon them: ridding and … them from all their sins, past, present, and future. Provided, that they standA patrum lect ione, … evolvisset D. Piscator, sibi …: … dicere, Vix ullum … usum & effica … ratione …. to the Covenant and order of baptisme, in a continuall renovation of faith and repentance, as occasion shall be offered. This doctrine of baptismes (now cleared by Divines) divers of the ancient Doctours understood not: which disheartned Piscator from spending much time upon them.

He that commeth after me.]

Whose Harbinger and Herald … am, whose Prodromus and Paranymph, friend and … I am, as the morning-starre, …-runs the Sunne, with whose light it shineth.

… mightier then I]

And will easily out-… me: He must encrease, but I must decrease; and this is the complement of myTheolog. p. 45joy, Ioh. 3. 29, 30. To rejoyce in the good parts of others, though it eclipseth thy light, and that from the heart, this is indeed to be able to do more then others: this is to excell others in any excellency whatsoever, if this be wanting.

Whose shoes I am not … to bear.]

Christ thought … worthy to lay his hand on his holy head in baptisme, who thinks not himself worthy to lay his hand under Christs feet. The more fit any man is for whatsoever vocation, the … he thinks himself.Non … in aliis … rebus multa me latēt. &c. …. 119. cap. 21. Who am I? said Moses, when he was to be sent to Egypt: whereas none in all the world was comparably fit for that embassage. Not only in innumerable other things am I utterly unskilfull, faith S. Augustine, but even in the holy Scriptures themselves (my proper profession) the greatest part of my knowledge is theEgo in parvo tuguriolo, cum …, i. e. … meis, de … non audeo Epist. ad August. least part of mine ignorance. I, in my little cell, saith Hierom, with the rest of the Monks my fellow-sinners, dare not determine of great matters. This is all I know, that I know nothing, said Socrates: and Anaxarchus went further, and said, that he knew not that neither, that it was nothing, that he knew. This is the utmost of my wisdom (said David Chytraeus) that I see my self to be without all wisdome. And if I would at any time… se …, …, quod nihil sciret. … 3. Melch. Adam. 694. delight my self in a fool, saith Seneca, I need not seek farre, I have my self to turn to. Thus the heaviest ears of corn stoop most toward the ground: Boughes the more laden they …, the more low they hang: and the more direct the Sunne is over us, the less: is our shadow: So the more true worth is in any man, the lesseSiquando … delectari volo, non longè mihi … est, me video. Sen. Quod … ex parte … didicerim, tamen in …, … intellexisse …. Baldus …. Tanti …, quanti tibi …. self conceitednesse; and the lower a man is in his own eyes, the higher he is in Gods. Surely … Baptist lost nothing by his humility and modesty here: for our Saviour extols him to the multitude, Math. 11. and there are that doubt not to affirm (where they have it I know not) that for his … on earth, he is dignified with that place in heaven, from whence Lucifer fell. Sure it is, That he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. If men … us as we set selves, God values us according to our abasements. The Church was black in her own eyes, fair in …, Cant. 1. 5—15.

With the holy Ghost, and with fire.]

That is, with that fiery holy Ghost, that spirit of judgement and of burning, wherewith the filth of the daughters of Zion … washed away, Isa. 4. 4. that they may escape that … fire, mentioned in the verse next following. This fire of the spirit must be … from heaven, Lumenforeign. p. 46de lumine, from the father of lights, who giveth his spirit toH nc … dicitur, foreign. them that ask it. It must be a coal from his altar, which when you have once gotten, your heart must be the hearth to uphold it; your hands, the tongs to build it; Gods ordinances, the fuell to … it; the Priests lips, the bellows to blow it up into a flame: So shall we finde it (according to the nature of fire) 1. To illighten 1us, as the least sparkes of fire lightens it selfe at least, and may be seen in the greatest darknesse. 2. To enliven and 2revive us; for whatsoever is of the spirit is spirit, that is, nimble andJoh. 3.John 3 active, full of life and motion. A bladder is a dull lumpish thing, so is a bullet: but put winde into the one, and fire to the other in a Gun, and they will flee farre. Fire is the most active of all other elements, as having much form, little matter; and therefore… quasi … ignis, id est, frigidus, …. Tardis … non facilè …. Cic. the Latines call a dull dronish man, a firelesse man, which God cannot away with, What thou doest, doe quickly, said our Saviour to …: So odious to him is dulnesse in any businesse. Baruch, full of the spirit, repaired the wall of Ierusalem earnestly, Nehem, 3. 20. Se accendit, he burst out into heat, and so finish'd his part in shorter time, I presse toward the mark, saith Paul, foreign, I persecute it, Phil. 3. 14. Never was he so mad in persecuting the Saints, Act. 26. 11. as after his conversion, he was judg'd to be, the other way, 2 Cor. 5. 13.

—Paulus in omnia …,De … Lucan. …. Phars.

Nilactum credens, cum quid superesset agendum.

3. To assimulate: As fire turns fuell into the same property 3with …; so doth the spirit inform the minde, conform the will, reform the life, transform the whole man more and more, into the likenesse of the heavenly patern, it spiritualizeth and … us, as it were, into the same image from glory to 2 Cor. 3. ult.2 Cor 3glory, as the Sunne (that fire of the world) by often beating with its beams, upon the pearl, makes it radiant and orient, bright and beautifull like it self. 4. To elevate and carry the heart heaven-ward, 4… 6.as fire naturally aspireth, and the spark fleeth upwards,Heb. 12. 1.Heb 12:1 to kindle our Sacrifices, and make us heavenly-minded; to breakThe least spark of fire … endeavour to rise above the air: so the Spirit. out at length, though for a while it lie under the weight of sin, that doth so easily beset us: as fire may lie puffing and blowing under green wood, as almost smoothered. 5. To purifie us (as fire doth metals) from our drosse, and to take away all our sinne, …. 1. 25. 1 Cor. 9. 11. For he is like a refiners fire, and like fullers 5sope, Mal. 3. 2. whereby we are purified, by obeying the truth, unto p. 47unfeigned love of the …, 1 Pet. 1. 22. 6, And that's the 6least property of the holy Ghost and of fire (that I now insist upon) Congregat …, segregat heterogenea; it unites them to2 Cor 6.2 Cor 6 …, and separates them from sinners: for what communion hath light with darknesse? It maketh division from those of a mans house, if not of his heart; and yet causeth union with Gentile, Barbarian, Scythian, if truly Christian, Coloss. 3. 11. Oh'get this fire from heaven: So shall you glorifie God, Matth. 5. 16. and be able to dwell with devouring fire (which hypocrites cannot doe, Isa. 33. 14.) get warmth of life and comfort to your selves, giveZech. 2. 5.Zech 2:5 light and heat to others, walk surely as Israel did by the conduct of the pillar of fire, and safely, as walled with a defence of fire.Revel. 11. 5.Rev 11:5 And if any man shall hurt such, fire shall proceed out of their … to devour them. So that a man were better anger all the witches in the world, then one of those that are baptized with the holy Ghost and with fire, &c. especially if they be much mortified Christians, such as in whom this fiery spirit hath done with the body of sin, as the King of Moab did with the King of Edom, Am. 2. 1. burnt its bones into lime.

Verse 12. Whose fanne is in his hand]

Though the devil and wicked men mightily strive to wring it out of his hand; for what, say they, need this shedding and this …? This distinguishing and differencing of men into Saints and sinners? Are not all the Lords people holy? Is there any man lives and sinnethNumb. 16. 3.Num 16:3 not? but yet there is as wide a difference between sinner and sinner, as is betwixt the bosome of Abraham, and, and the bellyLuk. 16. 26.Luke 16:26 of hell. 1. The godly man projects not sin as the wicked doth; but is preoccupated by it, against his generall purpose. 2. Heforeign. …. …. 1.arts not the sin that he acts: he sins not sinningly; he is not transformedforeign into sinnes image, as the wicked are, Mica. 1. 5. His 1 …. 3.scum rests not in him, he works that out by repentance, that heEzek. 24. 11.Ezek 24:11 committed with reluctance. 3. He is the better for it afterwards. His very sin (when be wailed and disclaimed) maketh him more heedfull of his waies, more thankfull for a …, more mercifull to others, more desirefull after the state of perfection,foreign. &c. Whence grew that paradox of M. Iohn Fox, That his graces did him most hurt, and his sinnes most good. Whereas wicked… of …. men grow worse and worse, Deceiving and being …, 2 Tim. 3. 13.2 Tim 3:13till at length by long trading in sin, being hardened by the deceitfulnesseHeb. 3. ….Heb 3 thereof, they are utterly deprived of all (even passive) p. 48power of recovering themselves out of the devils snare; which is a conformity to the devils condition. This their covering therefore2 Tim. 2. 23.2 Tim 2:23 is too short. Christs fan is in his hand to take out the precious from the vile; and the Ministers of Christ must separate (as theJer. …. Priests of old did) the clean from the unclean, drive the chaff one way, and the wheat another: For what is the chaff to the wheat, Ier. … 28.Jer 28saith the Lord? See this enjoyned them, Isa. 3. 10, 11. Zuinglius, as in his publike lectures, he would very sharply … sinne; so ever and anon he would come in with this proviso,Scultet, arnal. Probe vir, haec nihil ad te, This is nothing to thee, thou godly man. He knew that he could not beat the dogs, but the children would be ready to cry, whom therefore he comforted.

And he will thorowly purge his floor]

That is, his Church, calledIsa. …. 10. Gods threshing floor in Isaias, because usually thresht by God with the flail of affliction. That is one way, whereby the Lord Christ doth purge his people, and separate between the Sonne that he loves, and the sin that he hates. This he doth also by his Word and Spirit: Sanctifying them by his truth, … Word is truth, Joh. 17. And such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are justified, but 1 Cor. 6. 11.1 Cor 6:11ye are sanctified in the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God. Thus Christ purgeth his floor here incoatively and in part, hereafter thorowly and in all perfection. In all which we may observe (saith a Divine) this difference between Christ and the tempter. Christ hath his fan in his hand, and he fanneth us: the devil hath a sive in his hand, and he sifteth us. Now a fan … out the worst, and keepeth in the best: a sive keepeth in the worst, and casteth out the best. Right so Christ (and his trials) purgeth chaff and corruption out of us, and rourisheth and increaseth his graces in us. Contrariwise, the devil, what … soever is in us, he confirmeth it; what faith or other good thing soever, he weakneth it. But Christ hath praid for his…. 22. 31. (though never so hard laid at) that their faith fail not, and givethforeign, …. them in time of fanning, to fall low at his feet, as wheat, when the wicked, as light chaff, are ready to flee in his …, as murmuring at their hard measure, with those miscreants in the wildernesse.

And gather his wheat into the garner]

Mali in area nobiscum esse possunt, in horreo non possunt. The wicked may be with us in the floor, they shall not, in the garner: for there shall in no wise … into the City of the lamb, any thing that defileth, or thatAugust. p. 49worketh abomination; Heaven spewed out the Angels in the first…. …. …. act of their Apostacy; and albeit the devil could scrue himself intoforeign of foreign, …. Paradise, yet no unclean person shall ever enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Without shall be doggs, and evil-doers; no dirty doggeRev. 21. 8.Rev 21:8 doth trample on that golden pavement, no … is with that gold, no chaff with that wheat; but the spirits of just men made perfect, amidst a panegynis of Angels, and that glorious …, Heb. 12. 22. In the mean while, … ego … (may everyIgnatius. good soul say, with that Father) I am Gods wheat: And although the wheat be as yet but in the ear, or but in the blade, yet when the fruit is ripe, he will put in the sicle (because the … is Mark. 4. …. 29.Mark 4come,) and gather his wheat into his barn, into his garner. It doth the husbandman good at heart to see his corn come forward,Spes alit agricolas, sed … mea messis in … est. though the harvest be not yet.

But will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.]

In reference to the custom of those countries, which was, to cast their chaff into the fire. But this (alas) is another manner of fire then that. A metaphoricall fire doubtlesse, and differs from materiall fire. 1. In respect of the violence, for it is unspeakable, 2. Of the durance, for it is unquenchable; 3. Of illumination, for though it burn violently to their vexation, … it shines not to their comfort. 4 Of operation, for it consumes not what it burneth; they ever fry, but never die; vivere …, …; they … death, but … it not, as those Rev. …. A just … of God upon them; that they that once might have had life, and … not, now would have death, and cannot.

Verse 13. Then cometh Iesus from Galilee.]

Our Saviour came far to seek his baptisme. Let not us thinke much of any pains taken, that we may … of the Ordinances. The Shunammite went (ordinarily)2 King 4. 23.2 Kgs 4:23 every Sabbath and new-moon, on horsback, to hear the Prophet: The good people in Davids time, passed … the valley Psal. 84. 6.Ps 84:6of Baca, from strength to strength, to see the face of God in Sion, though but in that dark glasse of the ceremonies. And in Daniels Dan. …. 4.time, they ran to and fro to increase knowledge. In … daies, the inhabitants of one City went to …, saying, Let … go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to … the Lord of host: Zech. 8. ….Zech 8I will go also. Our Saviour took it ill, that men came not as far toMat. 12.Matt 12 hear him, as the Queen of Sheba did, to hear …. The … Acts 8.Acts 8came as far to worship in the Temple. And of our fore-fathers in K. Henry the eights time, M. Fox … thus: To see … travels, p. 50earnest seeking, burning zeal, readings, watchings, sweet assemblies,Act and Mon. sol. 750. love, concord, godly living, faithfull marrying with the faithfull, may make us now in these our dayes of free profession to blush for shame. George Eagles, Martyr, in Q. Maries daies, for his greatIbid. 18 23. pains in travelling from place to place to confirm the brethren, was sirnamed, Trudge-over-the-world, &c.

To be baptized of him]

Not for any need he had (for he was a Lamb without blemish of naturall corruption, and without spot of actuall transgression, 1 Pet. 1. 19.) but meerly for our benefit, to sanctifie baptisme to us, and to grace his own ordinance for us.

Verse 14. But John for bad him[

Flatly forbad him, and keptforeign … è …; ad vim … foreign …. him out of the water, with both hands, earnestly; not out of disobedience, but reverence; though faulty and erroneous. The very best have their blemishes. Omnibus malis punicis inest granum putre, dixit Crates: And the fairest Apple-tree may have a fit of barrennesse. But for involuntary infirmities, and those of daily incursion, there is a pardon of course, if sued out. And although Satan stood at the right hand of Jehoshuah the high Priest, because (as some will have it) his accusation was as true as vehement, and so Satan seemed to have the upper hand of him: Yea although he was so ill clothed, yet he stood before the Angel. Christ did not abhor his presence, nor reject his service.Zech. 3. …Zech 3

I have need to be baptised of thee]

There can be no flesh without filthinesse, as a grave Divine noteth upon this text. Neither theD. …. supernaturall conception, nor austere life of John could exempt him from need of baptisme.

And commest … to me?]

Amica foreign, a friendly falling out, but quickly made up. Most of our jarrings grow from mistakes. Be swift to hear, slow to wrath; easily satisfied. Not …, which being once broken, cannot be peeced again.

Quae modò pugnârant jungunt sua ….

Ovid.Verse 15. Suffer it to be so now]

Or, Let be, now: for the BaptistConsent … est, …. seems to have laid hands upon Christ, to keep him off. Our Saviour assents to that John had said, but yet shews cause, why he should suffer it so to be, for present.

To fullfill all righteousnesse]

Not legall only, and of equality, ….but that of his present condition also, and of equity; to the end, that all kinde of sinners might have all kinde of comfort in Christ, an absolute and all-sufficient Saviour.

Then he suffered him]

The wisedom from above is gentle, andforeign. p. 51easie to be perswaded, when better … is alledged: as in Peter, Jam. 3. 17.Jas 3:17Joh. 13. 8. first peremptory, but, after conviction, pliable. An humble man will never be an heretick; shew him his errour, and he will soon retract it. Joannes Bugenhagius (a Reverend Dutch Divine) lighting upon Luthers book de captivitate Babylonica, and reading some few pages of it, as he sate at supper; rashly pronounced him the most pestilent and pernicious heretick, that ever the Church had been troubled with, since the times of Christ. But, a few daies after, having seriously read over the book, and well weighed the businesse, he returned to his Collegioners, and recanted what he had said amongst them; affirming and proving, thatScultet. Annal. Luther only was in the light, and all the world besides in grosse darknesse, so that many of them were converted by him to the truth. Ioannes … (a learned Bavarian) held this heresie, That no man or Devil should be damned eternally, because God willeth that all should be saved; and Christ saith, There shall be one shepherd, and one sheep-fold. ….But, being an humble minded man, he was convinced and converted by Oecolampadius, and died of the plague (but piously) at Basile, Anno …. Of … the heretick, becauseNon defuisse …, … copul regula …. he praid ardently, and lived unblameably, Bucholeerus the Chronologer was wont to say, that his heart was good, but his head not well regulated. But how that could be, I see not, so long as he lived and … in his detestable opinions, and would not … them. If the … were gotten into the head, the Priest was to pronounce such utterly unclean, Levit. 13 44. And the Prophet pronounceth … soul, that is lifted up with pride and pertinacy, not to be upright in him.Habak. …. 4.

Verse 16. And Iesus when he was baptised.]

Many of the Ancients held, that the day of Epiphany, was the day of our Saviours baptisme. But that, I think, is but a …. The Habassines, a kinde of … in Afrique, baptise themselves every year on that day in lakes or …; thereby to keep a memoriallBreerwoods of … Saviours baptisme in Iordan. This is (as … was wont…. to say of a like matter) to passe by the provision, and lick the signe-post.

Went up straightway out of the …]

And stood upon the shore, apart from the company, that all might see and hear whatLuk. 3. 21.Luke 3:21 was now to be done. S^t Luke addeth, that he fell thereupon his knees and prayed; thereby teaching us, with what deep devotion, p. 52we are to receive the Sacraments: Which are given us of God, to signifie, as by signe, to assure, as by seal, and to convey, as by instrument, Jesus Christ and all his benefits: the Father, Son and holy Ghost are there one in covenanting and working thy salvation. … up thy self therefore to hope and faith at the Sacrament: speak to thy faith, as Deborah did to her self, Awake, awake, Deborah, Judg. 5. 12.Judg 5:12… a song: Give glory to God, lay claim to the covenant: lean on Christs bosom at that supper, and be think thy self, with Hesther at the feast, what suit thou hast to commence, what Haman to hang up, what lust to subdue, what grace (chiefly) to get growth in, &c. But, for most communicants, urge them to prayer afore, in, and after Sacrament, and they must say (if they say truly,) as David did of Sauls armour, I cannot go with these, for I have not been … 1 Sam. 17. 39.1 Sam 17:39omed to them.

And, lo, the heavens were opened unto him]

As he was praying; for prayer is the … of heaven, wherewith we may take out of Gods treasury plentifull mercy for our selves and others. He … possibly be poor, that can pray, Rom. 10. 12. One said of the Pope, that he could never want money, so long as he could hold … pen in his hand; of the faithfull Christian it may safely be affirmed, He cannot want any good thing, while he can call to God for it. If he can finde a praying heart, God will finde a pitying heart, and a supplying hand. Now, he is worthily miserable that will not make himself happy by asking. The Ark and the Mercy-seat were never separated. God never said to Israel, Seek ye me in vain: TheIsa. 45. 19.Isa 45:19 hand of faith never knockt at Heaven gates, but they were opened, and the Spirit, descended, though not so visibly as here, at the baptisme of our Saviour, nor a voice heard so audibly from Heaven as then, yet, as truly and effectually to the support of the poor suppliant: Who while he prayeth in the holy Ghost, Jude 20. … new supplies of the Spirit, Phil. 1. 19. and is sweetly, but secretly,foreign. sealed up thereby to the day of redemption.…. 1. 13.

And he saw the Spirit of God descending]

From the Father,2 Pet. …. 16. (who spake from the most excellent glory) upon the Son, who stood upon the shore, so that here was concilium augustissimum, a most majesticall meeting of the three Persons in Trinity, about the worke of mans redemption, as once about his creation, Gen. 1. 26. Let us make …: The Hebrews interpret it, I and my Iudgementhall; ….by which phrase, the Trinity, of old, was implied. For … …-Hall in Israel consisted of three at least; which, in p. 53their close manner of speech, they applied to God; but their posterity understood it not. And as in the matter of mans creation, and redemption, so likewise of his …; … is that of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 12. 45 67. where the … of gifts are said to be of the Spirit: the diversities of ministeries (whereby1 Cor. 12. 4, 5, 6. exp.1 Cor 12:41 Cor 12:51 Cor 12:6 these gifts are administred) of the Lord, that is, of Christ, and the diversities of operations (… by the gifts and ministeries) to be of God, the Father.

Like a dove, and lighting upon him]

This was shadowed, of old, by Noahs dove lighting upon the Ark: and serveth to denoteforeign. …. Christs innocency, purity, love to his little ones, foreign, saith Aristotle. And another thus;

… columba caret, rostro non …, & ungues

Possidet …, pura que ….

That was more then ridiculous (nay it was …) that those Pilgrims, that went to … to fight in the Holy war (as they…. … 5. called it,) did carry a goose before them, pretending it to be theAnnal. holy Ghost. These were drunk with the wine … the whore of Babylons …: and not filled with the Spirit, as S^t Stephen was, and Barnabas, and others of old; as of late, among many, that famous Beza; de quo … saepe …, … Melch. …. in ….vivere. And himself reports of …, and his colleagues, in an Epistle to Calvin, that, disputing … a Spanish Jesuit about the Eucharist, the … (saith he) called us vulpes, & …, & serpentes, foxes, apes, serpents. My answer was this, Non magis nos credere, quàm …. So that Angel John Bradford (as one calleth him) when he … with … a Castro; the Frier was in a wonderfull rage, and spake so high, thatAct and …. the whole house rang again, chasing with om and cho, saith … Fox. But Bradford answered him with … of wisedom, and,Isa. 8. 6.Isa 8:6 like the waters of Siloe at the … of …, ran …. He had been baptized with that holy … that … Saviour, who received not the spirit by …, but had a …, not of abundance only, but also of …, …. 1. 14

Verse 17. And …, a … from … ]

Whereupon … Peter foundeth the certainty of Christian faith and doctrin, 2 Ep. 1. 17. especially since we have amore … word of prophecy: for thatforeign … foreign. …. …. former might have been slandered, or suspected for an imposture.

Saying, this is my beloved]

My …, he on whom my love p. 54resteth; so that I will seek no further. Zeph. 3. 17. when the earth was founded, Christ was with his Father as his daily delight, sporting, or laughing, alwaies before him, risum … acconsilium, Prov. 8. 30.

In whom I am well pleased]

The beloved, in whom he hath made us accepted, Eph. 1. 6. Gods Heptsibah, so the Church is called, …. 62. 4. the dearly beloved of his soul, Jer. 12. 7. Or (as the Septuagintforeign. render it) his beloved soul, over whom he rejoyceth, as the bridegroom over his bride, Isa. 62. 5. … he will rest in his Dedi … meam.love, as abundantly well pleased, he will joy therein with singing. So well thinketh God of his Son Christ, and of us thorow him; asVulg r. some of the Ancients rendered this word, foreign, In quo … …. 3 17.foreignsensi. So (after Irenaeus) Tertullian, Cyprian and Augustine interpretGraecis dicuntur celebres, & de … est opinio. Eralm. it. And yet, as well as he thought of his only Son, he spared him not, but delivered him up for us all, Rom. 8 32. whereupon S^t Bernard thus cries ont, O quantum dilecti, prae quo filius ipse … non dilectus, … neglectus? God so loved his Son, thatDe temp. he gave him all the world for his possession, Psal. 2. but he so lovedJoh. 3. 16.John 3:16 the world, as he gave Son, and all, for its redemption. OneEphe. 3 18, 15.Eph 3:18Eph 3:15 … this an …, an excesse of love, a miracle of mercy, a … without a sicut. God … loved the loved, so infinitely, so …, so incomprehensibly, as that there is no similitude in nature, whereby to expresse it. Abraham (Gods friend) shewed his love to him, in not withholding his only Son Isaac: but what was … to Christ? or what was Abrahams love to Gods? He did that … and voluntary, that Abraham would never have done, but upon a command. Besides, Isaac was to be offered up after the manner of holy sacrifices; but Christ suffered, after the manner of …. And yet further, … was in the hand of a … and compassionate father: but Christ died by the wicked hands of barbarous and blood-thirsty enemies; that thereby he might … the enmity, and reconcile us to God: so making peace, and pavingEphe. 2. 15, 16.Eph 2:15Eph 2:16 us a new and living way, with his blood, to the throne of grace,foreign. … he hath made us accepted in the beloved, Ephes. 1. 6. … saw the features of his friend Ionathan, in lame Mephibosheth, and therefore loved him. He forgave Nabal at Abigals intercession: and was pacified toward …, at …. … … Iacobs house, for Iosephs sake: Shall not God do us much more for Jesus sake? Ioseph was well pleased with his brethren, when they brought Benjamin: Bring but the childe Jesus in our p. 55arms (as, Simeon did, and as … did the King of Persines childe) and he cannot but smile upon us. … he never so much displeased before, yet upon the sight of this his wellbeloved Son, in whom he is well pleased, all shall be … and quiet, as the sea was, when once Ionas was cast into it.