Commentary on John, Chapter 12
CHAP. XII.
Verſe 1. Came to Bethaxy]
TO convert ſome, confirme others, and to refreſh himſelf with his faſt friends, ere he fell into the hands of his bloody enemies. So Cromwell, Earl of Eſſex, going to his death, firſt called for his breakfaſt, and chearfully eating the ſame, and, after that, meeting the Lord Hungerford going likewiſe to his execution, and perceiving him to be all heavy and dolefull, with chearfull countenance and comfortable words asking him why he was ſo heavy, he willed him to pluck up his heart, and to be of good comfort: For, ſaid he, there is no cauſe for you to fear; Act. and Mon. fol. 1096.for if you repent and be heartily ſorry for that you have done, there is for you mercy with the Lord, who, for Chriſts ſake, will for give you; therefore be not diſmaid: And though the breakfaſt we are going to be ſharp; yet, truſting to the mercy of the Lord, we ſhall have a joyfull dinner. And ſo went they together to the place of execution, and took their death chearfully.
Verſe 3. Of spikenard, foreign. In Thatia.very coſtly] Herodotus reckons an alabaſter box of ointment among the precious gifts that Cambyſes ſent, for a preſent, to the King of Ethiopia. Mary thinkes nothing too good for him, whom her ſoul loved. She will honour him with the beſt of her ſubſtance: ſhe knew there was nothing loſt; but though it took from the heap, yet it increaſed the heap: as it is ſaid of tithes and offerings, Mal. 3. This made David ſo free and frollick, that he would not ſerve God of that which coſt him nothing: and that he made ſuch plentifull preparation for the Temple worke. It is both love and good husbandry, to make our ſervice to God coſtly: His retributions are bountifull. This ointment in the text was a coſtly confection, like that of the Church, Cant. 4.14 Spikenard and ſaffron, calamus and cynamon, &c. Lib. 1. Antidot.Now Galen writes, that in his time cynamon was very rare, and hard to be found, except in the ſtorehouſes of princes. And Pliny reports, that a pound of cynamon was worth a thouſand denarij, that is 150 crowns of our money.
Verſe 4. Then ſaid one of his Diſciples] St Matthew tells us, that all the Diſciples ſaid thus. Judas was of ſo great eſteem and authority amongſt them, that what he did, they are all ſaid to do. So cunningly he had carried his conſpiracy, that they all ſuſpected themſelves rather then Judas, every one ſaid, Is it I?
Verſe 5. Sold for three hundred pence] He, the thief, had quickly computed and caſt it up. Pliny tels us, that a pound of ordinary ointment might be had for ten pence; but the beſt was worth three hundred and ten pence. So that Judas was much about the good, as they ſay: And Mary ſpared for no coſt; as neither did Juſtinian in his rich Communion-table, Cedren. hiſt ad Annum 32. Juſtin. p. 317.offered up by him in the Temple of Sophia in Conſtantinople, that had in it (ſaith the Authour) all the riches of land and ſea.
Verſe 6. He was a thief] It's the conceit of Tertullian, that even Judas carried himſelf honeſtly and aright, uſ que ad loculorum officium, till he bare the bag. When once he came to be maſter of the money, he grew into ſuch a deviliſh humour of covetouſneſſe, that rather then he would be out of taking, he would ſell his very Saviour: And a fair match he made: For as Auſtin ſaith, Iudas ſold his ſalvation, and the Phariſees bought their damnation.
And had the bag, and bare] Our Saviour then had a bag for ſtore; and ſo big, that it had need to have one ſpecially deputed, to bear it: This was Iudas; who could be well content to bear the croſſe on his back, ſo, he might bear the bag in his hand; which he thought (as all covetous men do) to be the beſt tongue a man can uſe for himſelf, foreign.as the Greek word here uſed importeth. But what an odions peece of hypocriſie is that in the Cappucine Friars, that none of them may take or touch ſilver? at the offer thereof they ſtart back, as Moſes from the ſerpent. Yet have they ever a boy with a bag in their company, D. Hall's Epiſt. 5. Decad. 1.that takes and carries it, and never complains of either metall or meaſure.
Verſe 7. Let her alone] Chriſt croſſed the traytour in his covetous deſire of fingering ſuch a ſumme. Hence his diſcontent put him upon that deſperate deſigne of contracting with the chief Prieſts. Horat.He is reſolved to have it, how ever he come by it: Rem, rem, quocun que modo rem. Take heed of diſcontent. It was the devils ſinne, that threw him out of heaven. Ever ſince which, this reſtleſſe ſpirit loves to fiſh in troubled waters, to dwell in a darkened ſoul: as in Saul, envious at David: and as ſome hereticks miſſing of preferment, have invented their hereſies, ut ſe conſolarentur, as Epiphanius obſerved.
Verſe 8. The poor ye have alwayes with you] To give to when you pleaſe; and, in gratifying whom, ye may glorifie God, and ſecure your ſubſtance: for Manus pauperum gazophylacium Christi, ſaith an Ancient.
But me ye have not alwayes] And yet we have, in his poor members, the family of faith. Hence Salvian ſticks not to ſay, That Chriſt is Maximus mendicorum, the greateſt of beggers; and addeth, Salv. ad Eccleſ. Cathol lib. 4.Non eget miſeriâ, ſed eget miſericordiâ: non eget deitate proſe. ſed eget pietate pro ſuis.
Verſe 9. And they came, &c.] Do the Phariſees what they could to the contrary. Truth may be oppreſt, not ſuppreſt. Impij ſunt piorum foreign. foreign, aſcandendo.This people (like thoſe branches of palmtrees borne by them, ver. 13.) ſpred and ſprang up, the more they were held under by the high-Prieſts.
But that they might ſee Lazarus] And fiſh ſomewhat out of him concerning the future eſtate of the dead. But here they loſt their labour.
Verſe 10. That they might put Lazarus alſo to death] In malice is ſteeped the venome of all vices. What agiant like madneſſe was this, to take up armes againſt heaven it ſelf? to ſeek to kill a man, only becauſe God had made him alive? was it not becauſe they were even acted and agitated by the devil? Si videris aliquandò perſecutorem tuum nimis ſaevientem, ſcito quia ab aſcenſore ſuo daemone perurgetur, ſaith Bernard. Mr Barr. his Moſes choice, pag. 34.Theſe Phariſees had ſinned that ſin to death; which made another, in the ſame caſe, wiſh that his wife and children, and all the world might be damned together with him. Hacket at the gallows cryed out, O heavenly God—ſhew ſome miracle out of the cloud to convert theſe Infidels, and deliver me from mine enemies: But if not, Camdens Eli. ſabeth 403.I will ſet the heaven on fire, and with theſe hands pluck thee out of thy throne: and other ſpeeches he uſed, more unſpeakable.
Verſe 11. Becauſe that by reaſon of him] This was it that imbittered the Phariſees, as it doth now their ſucceſſours, the Papiſts. Ab eo tempore quo per vos Papa Antichriſtus eſſe caepit, non modo non crevit ejus imperium, &c. De Papa Rom. l. 3. c. 21.Bellarmine bewrayes his grief, and tells us, That ever ſince we proclaimed the Pope to be that Antichriſt, his Kingdom hath not only not increaſed, but daily more and more decreaſed. And Eraſmus being asked by the Electour of Saxony, why Luther was ſo hated by the Popiſh Clergy? For two great faults that he hath committed, ſaid he, For medling with the Popes triple Crown, and the Monkes fat paunches.Scultet Annal. pag. 25.
Verſe 12. On the next day much people] The envious Phariſees feeding the while upon their own hearts. Iſrael never increaſed ſo faſt, as when Pharaoh moſt oppreſſed them. Plures efficimur, quoties metimur, ſaith Tertullian.
Verſe 13. Took branches of palm-trees] Plutarch writeth, that the Babylonians make 360 benefits of the Palm-tree, and therefore do highly honour it. Pintus upon Daniel telleth us, that the Palm-tree will not grow in a fat ground, but in a light and ſandy: And if the ſoyl be ſtrong and fertile, they muſt caſt ſalt and aſhes at the root, to qualifie the ſtrength of the ground. Sure it is, that if proſperity be not ſeaſoned with the ſalt of grace, it will be unfruitfull and unprofitable.
Hoſanna, Bleſſed is the King, &c.] This ſhews they were well ſeen in Davids Pſalms, which are, ſaith Chryſoſtom, foreign. Chry. Ioſt.a rich ſtorehouſe of all good doctrines: And they are ſo penned, ſaith Athanaſius, that every man may think they ſpeak de ſe, in re ſua, of himſelf, and for his particular purpoſe; which, of other parts of Scripture, cannot be affirmed.
Verſe 24. When he had found a young aſſe] To make religion dance attendance upon policie, Spec. belli ſacri. p. 240. Sapientia mundi quae vult omnia redigere in ordinem, &c. Melch. Adam in Luch. foreign Hinc Heraclidae Sophiſtae foreign. Ptolom. Sophiſta. Wolph. Mem. Lect.ſaith one, is to ſet the aſſe upon Chriſt, and not Chriſt upon the aſſe. Theſe three things, ſaid Luther, will be the ruin of religion, Unthankfullneſſe, Security, and Carnall Policie.
Verſe 15. Sitting upon an aſſe] Not upon a ſtately palfrey, as an earthly Potentate; but upon a ſilly aſſe, without pomp, to comfort the pooreſt, and to teach us humility, tolerance, patience. An aſſe is a beaſt profitable (whence he hath his name in the Originall) but borne to bear burdens. Oneramus aſinum, ſaith Bernard, & non curat, quia aſinus est. But what notorious aſſes are thoſe ſuperſtitious Papiſts, that ſhew the aſſes tayl at Genua in Italy, whereon our Saviour rode, for a relique, and give it divine worſhip? Are not theſe given up to the very efficacie of errour?
Verſe 16. Theſe things underſtood not, &c.] They only beheld it, as a pretty Pageant. They had read it often, in the Prophet, and now ſaw it acted; yet were never the wiſer, for preſent. Reader hear, though thou underſtandeſt not, God may drop in divine light, when thou leaſt lookeſt for it.
Verſe 17. When he called Lazarus, &c.] This notable miracle the Evangeliſt, as he had punctually deſcribed it, chap. 11. ſo, he cannot but again and again recite it. We ſhould ſet forth Gods noble acts, and not be ſated. David never linns talking of what God had done for his ſoul. Thoſe in heaven have no reſt (and yet no unreſt neither) crying, Rev. 4.8.Holy, holy, holy, &c.
Verſe 18. For this cauſe alſo the people met him] To the Phariſees extreme grief and regret: to ſhew that there is neither wiſdome, nor underſtanding, nor counſell againſt the Lord, Prov. 21.30.
Verſe 19. Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing?] Thus they ſtir up one another to more madneſſe, as if hitherto they had been overmilde, Act. and Mon. fol. 1461.and uſed too much gentleneſſe. So Steven Gardiner, being charged of cruelty by Bradford, anſwered, I for my part have been challenged for being too gentle oftentimes. Which thing Bonner confirmed, and ſo did almoſt all the audience, that he had been ever too milde and moderate. So Bonner in open Court to the Lord Major, They report me, ſaid he, to ſeek blood, and call me bloody Bonner, Ibid. 1537.whereas. God knows, I never ſought any mans blood in all my life, But a certain unknown good woman, in a letter to Bonner, told him his own in theſe words: Indeed you are called the common cut-throat, and generall ſlaughter-ſlave to all the Biſhops of England. And therefore it is wiſedom for me and all other ſimple ſheep of the Lord, Act. and Mon. fol. 167….to keep us out of your butcherly ſtall, as long as we can: eſpecially ſince you have ſuch ſtore already, that you are not able to drinke all their blood, leſt you ſhould break your belly; and therefore ye let them lye ſtill, and die for hunger, &c. Thus ſhe to Bonner. As for D. Story, who was hang'd, drawn and quartered for his treaſon in Q. Elizabeths raign, I ſee (ſaid he in open Parliament) nothing to be aſhamed of (though he had been a furious perſecutour under Q Mary) ſo leſſe I ſee to be ſorry for, but rather becauſe I have done no more: Ibid. 1925.wherein he ſaid there was no default in him, but in them, whom he oft and earneſtly had exhorted to the ſame: being not a little grieved therefore with them, for that they laboured only about the young and little ſprigs and twigs, while they ſhould have ſtricken at the root (the Lady Elizabeth he meant) and clean rooted it out. The Lord Paget in a certain conſultation ſaid, that King Philip ſhould never have any quiet common-wealth in England, Ibid. 1899.unleſſe Lady Elizabeths head were ſtricken from her ſhoulders. Whereunto the Spaniards anſwered, God forbid that their King and Maſter ſhould have ſuch a minde, to conſent to ſuch a miſchief. A Writ came down, whiles ſhe was in the Tower, ſubſcribed with certain hands of the Councell, for her execution, Engl Eliſah. pag. 109.Steven Gardiner being the engineer. Mr Bridges, Lieutenant of the Tower, miſtruſting falſe play, preſently made haſte to the Queen, who renounced and reverſt it. And yet of her, that was true that Joſephus writeth of Alexandra, Ipſa ſolem nomen regium ferebat, caeterum omnem regni potestatem Phariſaei poſſidebant.
Verſe 21. Sir, we would ſee Jeſus] That is, We would have private conference with him; for they had ſeen him, likely, as he came riding into the City. Our Saviour ſeems not to have yet admitted them, becauſe the time appointed for their calling was not yet come. Every thing is beautifull in its time: Eccleſ. 3.11.but as fiſh and fleſh, ſo other things too, are naught out of ſeaſon.
Verſe 23. That the Son of man ſhould be glorified] That is, crucified: but he looked thorow death, and ſaw Heaven beyond it: ſo muſt we: then ſhall we ſay, Surely the bitterneſſe of death is paſt. This made Simeon ſing out his ſoul: Hilarion chide it out; 1 Sam 15. Egredere ô anima meaTaylour fetch a frisk when he was come near the place where he was burned; Bradford put off his cap and thanke God, when the keepers wife brougth him word he was to be burned on the morrow: Act. and Mon.Roper ſtand in the fire with his armes ſtretched out like a rood: Hawkes clap his hands over his head three times, when they were all on a light fire, &c.
Verſe 24. Ne Ieſum quidem audias glorio…um. niſi videris prius cruc fixum. Luch. epiſt. ad Melanct.Except a corne of wheat &c.] The Apoſtles thought Chriſt ſhould have been preſently glorified. He lets them here know, that he muſt firſt ſuffer, before he enter into his glory; bear the croſſe, before he wear the Crown; paſſe the ſtroke of deaths flaming ſword, before he come into Paradiſe.
Verſe 25. He that loveth his life] As Chriſt loved not his life to the death for us: ſo neither muſt we for him. If every hair of my head were a man, Act. and Mon. fol. 1438.I would ſuffer death in the opinion and faith that I am now in, ſaid John Ardely Martyr, to Bonner. God be praiſed, ſaid D. Taylour, ſince my condemnation, I was never afraid to die: Gods will be done. If I ſhrinke from Gods truth, I am ſure of another manner of death then had Judge Hales, Ibid. 1382.&c.
Verſe 26. If any man ſerve me, let, &c.] Art thou not glad to fare as Phocion? foreign. plut.ſaid he to one that was to die with him. How much more to die with and for Chriſt?
Verſe 27. Now is my ſoul troubled] Chriſti perturbatio nos tranquillat, & infirmitas firmat, ſaith Auguſtine.
Father, ſave me from this hour] As man, he naturally feared and deprecated death; ſuch a dreadfull death eſpecially as he was to ſuffer. foreign, ſaith the Greek Letany; by thine unknown ſufferings, Good Lord deliver us. Howbeit this was but with his ſenſitive will; for his rationall will was ever the ſame with that of his Father.
Verſe 28. Then came there a voice from Heaven] God ſometimes gives a ſenſible anſwer to the prayers of his people, as they are praying, or immediately after, as Dan. 9.21. Acts 4 31. And Luther praying for the good ſucceſſe of Gods cauſe in Germany, came leaping out of his ſtudy, with Vicimus, vicimus, in his mouth.
Verſe 29. Fuerunt praeter Apoſtotos etiam aliqui minas ſiniſtri interpretes. Calvin.That it thundered: others ſaid, An Angel, &c.] But the Apoſtles and ſome few others underſtood, that it was neither thunder, nor an Angel, but God that ſpake. In like ſort nowadayes God ſpeaks by his word, but few hear him in it. The word of God (ſaith Forbes on Rev. 14.) hath three degrees of operation in the hearts of men. Firſt, it falleth to mens ears, as the ſound of many waters; a confuſed found, which commonly bringeth neither terrour nor joy, but yet a wondring and acknowledgment of a ſtrange force, and more then humane power, Mark. 1.22, 29. Acts 13.41. The ſecond effect is, the voice of thunder; which brings not only wonder, but fear: Theſe two may be in the reprobate, as Faelix, and the multitude in our text. The third effect, proper to the elect, is the ſound of harping; whiles the word not only raviſheth with admiration, and ſtriketh the conſcience with terrour, but alſo filleth it with ſweet peace and joy.
Verſe 30. But for your ſakes] That ye might beleeve: which if ye do not, how ſhall ye eſcape, that neglect ſo great ſalvation, ſuch an heavenly preacher? See then that ye refuſe not, that ye ſhift not off him that ſpeaks from heaven: foreign Heb. 11.15, 16.ſee that ye turn not from him, whoſe voice once ſhook the earth, but now heaven too, &c.
Verſe 31. The Prince of this world] Gratian ſaith, Ignatius his Concl. 43.The devil is called Prince of this world, as a King at cheſſe, or as the Cardinall of Ravenna, only by deriſion. That power he hath is meerly uſurped, and becauſe the world will have it ſo, which even lyeth down in that wicked one, as St John hath it, that is, 1 Joh. 5.10. Quomodò Plautus. In fermento tota jacet uxor.under the power and vaſſallage of the Devil. It is wholly ſet upon wickedneſſe, as Aaron ſaith of the people, Exod. 32.22.
Verſe 32. And if I be lifted up, &c.] Pope Ʋrban the ſixth ſaid, that theſe words, Give unto Caeſar the things that are Caeſars, were aboliſhed when Chriſt was lifted up from the earth, and drew all things to him; Iacob Rev. de vit Pont. pag. 213.that is (as he expounds it) when Chriſt aſcended, he drew to the Popes Empire all Kings and their Kingdomes, making him King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Is not this a ſweet Interpreter?
Verſe 33. Signifying what death, Abſolom Marte fureus penſitis a…bre obit.&c.] Be lifted up betwixt heaven and earth, as Abſolom was, who therein ſaith Gretſer the Jeſuite, became a lively figure of Chriſt crucified. Sed ô mirum & delirum figurativae crucis fabrum!
Verſe 34. Quilibet nos flrum de lege interrogatus, faciltùs quam nomen ſuum respondet. Joſ.We have heard out of the Law] But had they never heard out of the Law, that Chriſt muſt firſt ſuffer, and then enter into his glory? Iſa. 53 2. Dan. 9.26. There's none of us Jews, ſaith Joſephus, but being asked of any point of the Law, can anſwer to it more readily, then tell his own name. Is it then ignorance or malice that they thus cavill and quarrell our Saviour?
Verſe 35. Yet a little while is the light, &c.] The day of grace, which is very clear and bright, is uſually a ſhort one. Therefore break off your ſinnes by repentance: be abrupt in the work: for life is ſhort, opportunities headlong, and, once paſt, irrecoverable. He is the wiſe man that prefers opportunity before time, in laying hold upon eternall life: but fools are ſemper victuri, ſaith Seneca, they will, and they will, &c. ſo they trifle, and by futuring, fool away their own ſalvation. Amend, before the draw-bridge be taken up. Charles King of Sicily and Jeruſalem was called Cunctator: not in the ſenſe as Fabius, becauſe he ſtayed till opportunity came; but becauſe he ſtayed till opportunity was paſt. Too many ſuch. Manna muſt be gathered in the morning, or not at all: and not kept till the morrow, leſt it ſtinke.
Verſe 38. That the ſaying of the Prophet] Theſe unbeleevers were not ſuch, becauſe the Prophet had ſo foretold it; but the Prophet therefore foretold it, becauſe they ſhould be ſuch. Like as Joſeph's foretelling the famine, was no cauſe of it, but an antecedent only.
Verſe 39. Therefore they could not beleeve, &c.] They could not, becauſe they would not, ſaith Theophylact out of Chryſoſtome, who yet extolleth mans free-will more then is meet. Contra Julian. l. 1 c. 2.Pelagianis nondum litigantibus, Patres ſecuriùs loquebantur, ſaith Augustine.
Verſe 40. He hath hardned their hearts] With a judiciary hardneſſe. This is in ſome reſpect worſe then hell; ſith (beſides that God inflicts it as a puniſhment of former obſtinacy) it is one of the greateſt ſins, and ſo far greater in evil then any of the greateſt puniſhments. Hence it was the ſaying of a Reverend man, If I muſt be put to my choice, I had rather be in hell with a ſenſible heart, then live on earth with a reprobate minde.
Verſe 41. When he ſaw his glory] His train only in the Temple. Iſa. 6.1. where the Seraphims are ſaid to hide their faces with two wings, as with a double ſcarfe before Gods glorious brightnes, that would put out their eyes elſe: they clap their wings on their faces, as men do their hands, when the lightning flaſheth in their eyes.
Verſe 42. Leſt they ſhould be put out &c.] which would redound to their diſgrace: and this, theſe Ambitioniſts could not away with. But what ſaith a Reverend Divine? Bravely contemne all contumel es and contempts for thy conſcience, taking them as crowns, and confirmations of thy conformity to Chriſt.
Verſe 43. They loved the praiſe of men] Which what is it elſe, but a little ſtinking breath? Theſe have their reward, Mercedem ſuam, non Dei, ſaith Hierome. How much better Luther, Haud velim, Eraſme, gloriâ aut nomine vehi: Epiſt. ad Nic. Hanſm.Major eſt mihi timor in laudibus, gaudium verò in maledictis & blaſphemijs.
Verſe 44. Jeſus cryed, &c.] As being now to cry his laſt to them, and is therefore ſo earneſt in his conteſtation. This was the Conclamatum est to this perverſe people, his farewell-Sermon, &c.
Verſe 45. Seeth him that ſent me.] For God was in Chriſt reconciling the world to himſelf, Col 2.and in him the God-head dwelt bodily: So that in all our addreſſes, we muſt fix the eye of faith on the humane nature of Chriſt, and there ſpeak as to our God. Like as where I ſee the body of a man, there I know his ſoul is, and therefore I ſpeak to his underſtanding, when and where I ſee his body, becauſe they are not ſevered: ſo, viewing by faith Chriſts manhood now glorified, I there ſee and ſpeak to the great God, becauſe I know he is there perſonally united.
Verſe 46. I am come a light into the world] Not by participation only (as the Apoſtles were the lights of the world, Mat. 5.14.) but by nature. How prodigiouſly blaſphemous then was that Biſhop in the Councell of Trent, that (in his oration there made, C…r el. Epiſcop. Bipontan.) applied this text to the Pope, who at that time was Paul the third, an odious hypocrite?
That whoſoever beleeveth in me &c.] And he that this way ſeeks the Kingdom of Heaven, muſt, with him in Juſtin, Stratonis ſervus, ap. Juſtin. l. 18.look for this Sun of righteouſneſſe in the Weſt; that is, dying upon the altar of his croſſe: ſo ſhall he become King of Heaven.
Verſe 47. I judge him not] viz. Whiles I am here on earth. I ſuſtain another perſon now, that men may come apace to me without fear. Some ancient hereticks hold, that God in the time of the Law, was a ſevere Judge: and now, in the dayes of the Goſpel, he was all made of mercy and mildneſſe. But the Apoſtle ſaith ſomewhat otherwiſe. Heb. 2.1, 2, 3. God is more peremptory in his judgments now, then ever of old.
Verſe 48. The word that I have spoken] If the word ſhall judge us, then ought it much more to be a Judge of our doings now, ſaid Mr Philpot Martyr. Therefore let it be preſident in all Aſſemblies and judgements, ſaith Beza: as in the Nicen Councell, Constantine cauſed the Bible to be ſet upon a desk, as Judge of all controverſies.
Verſe 49, 50. For I have not spoke of my ſelf] The divine authority of Goſpel-doctrine, is here, in the cloſe of this laſt Sermon ad populum, moſt gravely aſſerted by our Saviour; as that which is undoubtedly authentick, becauſe it comes from the Father, Sic de Virgilio S…aliger, dc Tacito Peacham.e cujus ore nil temerè excidit. David (ſaith one) ſets the 119 Pſalm as a Poem of commendation afore the book of God. The ſonne of David (ſay I) ſets this Text, as his Imprimatur, his authoritative Licenſe, at the end of the Goſpel. And as a friend once wrote to Aegidius Abbot of Norinberg, concerning the 119 Pſalm, that they were, verba vivenda, non legenda, words not to be read, but lived: the ſame may I affirme of our Saviours Sermons, and I know that his commandement is life everlaſting.