Six Sermons, Sermon 5
S. PAULS CONCRUCIFIXION.
GAL. 2. 20. I am crucified with Chriſt, nevertheleſſe I live, yet not I, but Chriſt that liveth in me.
THat we are all alive, and here together this Day, we ſee: But how many Dayes we ſhall be here,Jam. 4. 13, 14. Pſal. 89. 48. Heb. 9. 27. Moriendum enim certum eſt, ſed id incertum an ipſo die. Cicero de Senectute. Mat. 28. 5, 6. Mark. 16. 6. Acts 2. 24, 25. Rev. 1. 18. Rom. 1. 1. or alive, we cannot ſay. And that we ſhall all die, we all know: But how many here amongſt us all are now both dead, and alive together, God knowes. Indeed S. Paul was ſo. He was both dead and alive indeed; and ſo may ſome here be: But it may be, all here are not ſo. Saint Pauls Condition was never Common.
Our Lord, and Saviour dyed once, and lived againe: But his Servant Paul was dead, and alive at once. The Lord of life, our Saviour Chriſt was crucified for Paul, and loſt his life: But Paul the Servant of Chriſt was crucified with Chriſt his Lord, and lived nevertheleſſe.
Some men have lived here the leſſe by being crucified for Gal. 2. 7. Linus Epiſcopus de paſſione Petri. Euſebius Pamphil. Eccleſi. Hiſtor. lib. 2. 25.Christ: But others much the more for being crucified with Chriſt. The great Apoſtle of the Jewes was crucified for Chriſt, and dyed: But the great Apoſtle of the Gentiles was crucified with Christ, and lived. The Croſſe of Chriſt did bring that one to death, but not this other. It brought Death to Saint Peter, but life unto Saint Paul. It can bring life as well as death; It giveth life ſometimes, and ſometimes it taketh life away. It taketh life away ſometimes that it may give it. It taketh one away to give another. It taketh this away to give a better; And ſometimes it kills, and ſaves alive together. It can doe both at Severall times, and it can doe both at once. It can doe both to ſeverall men, and it can doe both to one. It can doe both by ſeverall wayes, and it can doe both by one. ſometimes it bringeth Life with Death, and ſometimes after Death it bringeth Life. With the Death of ſinne it brings the Life of Grace; And after the Death of Nature it brings the Life of Glory.
True it is, that the End of Life is ever by Death. And yet it is as true, that Death is not ever at the end of Life. The Apoſtle dyed before his life was ended. In the midſt of Death a Man may be in Life; And in the midſt Life a Man may be in Death. 1 Cor. 15. 31.I dye dayly ſayd this Apoſtle, when as yet he lived. He had both Life and Death together in him. He was in Death and Life at once; A living dead man, vivus & crucifixus, Crucifi'd with Chriſt, and yet alive. I am crucified with Chriſt, nevertheleſſe I live, yet not I, but Chriſt, &c.
This Text you ſee, is full of turnings. The Apoſtles Converſion is the Subject of it; and well may it be the Subject of many converſions to quicken my diſcourſe upon it. Would my diſcourſe upon it might quicken as many Converſions by it.
Now the Chiefe Conſiderables in it are theſe two.
1. A Contradiction in Seeme.
2. A Reconciliation in Subſtance.
In the firſt we have a Riddle Propounded.
In the Second we have the Riddle Expounded.
And in both together we may both Read the Riddle, and the Reading of the Riddle.
I am crucified with Chriſt, nevertheleſſe I live, there's the Riddle.
Yet not I, but Chriſt that liveth in me, there's the Reading of the Riddle.
In the Riddle there are two Remarkables.
1. The Mannr of it.
2. The Matter in it.
It is the Manner of it that makes it ſeem ſo intricate a Riddle as indeed it is, for it is propoſed in a ſeeming Contradiction. Firſt the Apoſtle ſayes, that he is crucified with Chriſt, and thereby ſeemes to ſay as much, as that he is not living, but dead. For Chriſt was crucified to Death. And then he ſayes, that he is nevertheleſſe alive, and thereby ſeemes to ſay, and ſayes it in more then ſeemes, that he is not dead, but living. Now thus to ſay it, and to unſay it, is to make a contradiction of it, at leaſt in ſeeme. It is to ſpeak a Paradox in it. And all Paradoxes are admirable Propoſitions, ſaith the Romane Oratour; And this Text for a Paradox is as admirable as any other. Every Riddle hath ſomething myſticall in it: But this Paradoxicall Riddle is a very myſtery. Yea, whole Armies of Myſteries do keep their Randezvous within the quarters of this grand Paradox, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheleſſe I live.
And for the Matter in it, it could not be more clearely expreſſed then it is by this very Manner of expreſſion. The Subject matter of it is S. Pauls Regeneration, And that's a matter very Myſterious. It is mirabile magnum as Muſculus calls it; aJohn 3. 1. great Wonder. When our Saviour firſt propounded the Doctrine of Regeneration to Maſter Nicodemus, that great Ruler of the3. Jewes, and Maſter in Iſrael, 10.it ſeemed a very Riddle to him, and ſuch a Riddle, as he neither apprehended, nor beleeved; And therefore his Reply was not by unriddling, but rejecting of it with a foreign; How can theſe things be? It did ſo9. puzle his Reaſon, and ſo perplex his Faith, that it ſeemed foreign, a thing impoſſible, a thing incredible, though it were propoſed by Truth it ſelfe, in the plaineſt Dialect of the Goſpell.John 14. 6. What would it have done, if it had beene lapped up in Aenigmaticall Language, like this of Saint Paul? How wouldRationis humanae in mysteriis regni dei caecitas in Nicodemo apparet, cui omnia iſta, quae de regeneratione proponuntur, abſurda apparent. Theodoricus in Analyſ. Evangel. Domin. Trinit. 1 Cor. 15. 45. it have poſed his Maſterſhip, had it beene propoſed in the Wonderment of a Riddle, or ſeeming contradiction? Yet in this Seeming Contradiction, we may plainely ſee the parts of Saint Pauls Converſion, and in that, the parts of a perfect Regeneration.
The firſt part is Mortification.
The ſecond is Vivification.
The firſt is a Death unto Sinne; The Second is a New Birth …nto Sanctimonie. The firſt is the killing of the firſt Adam; The Second is the Quickning of the Second in him.
I am crucified with Chriſt, there's his Mortification, His Death unto ſinne, The killing of the firſt Adam in him. Nevertheleſſe I live, there's his Vivification, His New Birth unto Righteouſneſſe, The quickning of the Second Adam. I an crucified with Chriſt, there's his putting off of the Old Man, which Epheſ. 4. 22.is corrupt concerning the former Converſation. Nevertheleſſe I live, there's the putting on of the New-Man, which after God … Epheſ. 4. 24.created in righteouſneſſe, and true holineſſe. I am crucified … Chriſt, there's the Mortifying of the fleſh, The members upon the Coloſſ. 3. 5. Rom. 8. 13. 4.Earth, The deedes of the Body. Nevertheleſſe I live, there's the Quickning of the Spirit, The walking after the Spirit, The life of righteouſneſſe by the Spirit: for the spirit is life becauſe of righteouſneſſe, Rom. 8. 10. I am crucified with Chriſt, and ſo broken for ſinne; nevertheleſſe I live, and ſo am broken from ſinne. In the firſt, there is a true Humiliation, in the ſecond, a reall Reformation; In both together there is a preſent Change of the State of Nature into the State of Grace. Yea he is ſo Changed, that he is not himſelfe any longer, not the man he was, but … new man, a new Creature, and hence it is, that he ſaith, I liv…, 2 Cor. 5. 17. Galat. 6. 15.Yet not I, non amplius ego, not I any longer, not I the ſame man I was, but another. Not Saul now, but Paul; Not a perſecutour of the Goſpel, but a Preacher of it; Not an Enemy to the Phil. 3. 18. 2 Cor. 11. 30.Croſſe of Chriſt; But a friend unto it, A lover of it, one that gloryeth in it. God forbid that I ſhould glory, ſave in the Croſſe of Chriſt, by whom the world is crucified in me, and I unto the World. Gal. 6. 14.
I am crucified with Chriſt, that is, baptized into the death of Rom. 6. 3, 5, 6, 7.Chriſt, or planted in the likeneſſe of his Death, which was by crucifixion, that the old Man might be crucified with him, that the ſinne of the body, and the Body of ſinne might be deſtroyed, that henceforth I might not ſerve ſinne, for he that is dead is freed from ſinne. Nevertheleſſe I live; not the leſſe, but the more,Coloſſ. 2. 12, 13 by being quickened with Chriſt, and riſen with him through the faith of the operation of God; Tranſplanted in the likeneſſe of his Rom. 6. 4. 5.Reſurrection, to walke with him in newneſſe of life. Now the Rom. 7. 24.Body of Death being thus killed in this holy Apoſtle, and the spirit of his minde being thus renewed, hee reckons himſelfe to …e dead indeed unto ſinne, but alive unto God, through Jeſus Chriſt our Epheſ. 4. 23. Rom. 6. 12. Uno verbo dici potect, concrucifixus. Faber Stapulenſis in Examin.Lord, which in other tearmes hee ſignifieth ſaying, Chriſto concrucifixus ſu…, vivo autem, as Montanus has it, I am crucified with Chriſt, nevertheleſſe I live.
foreign, I am Crucified with Chriſt, theres his Mortification, or the firſt pat of his Regeneration, and in theſe words we may obſerve two Remarkables,
| 1 | Exemplum, | A Patterne, | and |
| 2 | Exemplatum, | A Parallel. |
The Patterne is our Saviours Crucifixion; The Parallel in S. Pauls concrucifixion. Our Saviours Crucifixion was in example to S. Pauls; And S. Pauls concrucifixion was in imitation of our Saviours. Chriſt was crucified for Paul, and Paul was crucified with Chriſt; and wee ſhould all be crucified with both. The crucifixion of our Saviours Body for ſinne was a patterne to every one of us as well as to S. Paul, that all wee might learne to crucifie the Body of ſinne in our ſelves. His dying upon theChriſtus crucifixu… eſt idaea noſtrae mortificationis. Climac. Croſſe for our ſinnes, ſhould teach us all the Apoſtles way of dying unto ſinne. Chriſts crucifixion is the true Idaea of out mortification, and a Chriſtian truly mortified is to the life the likeneſſe of Chriſt crucified; Chriſt was crucified for all true Chriſtians, and all true Chriſtians are, as Paul in this was, crucified with Chriſt.
Our Saviours crucifixion, and S. Pauls concrucifixion were both myſterious, both full of Paradoxes; and our Saviours Perſon was as paradoxicall as his Paſſion. They are both the ſubjects of many and many ſeeming contradictions. In his Perſon hee was made a very contradiction for ſinners, and at his Paſſion hee endured the contradictions of ſinners. In his Perſon heeHeb. 12. 3. was the great Creatour himſelfe that formed every creature; yet was a Creature formed by that Creatour. His Body was made of his Mothers ſubſtance: yet hee it was that made the ſubſtance of his Mothers Body, of which hee was made. Hee was made after the World was, what hee was not before the World was made; yet was hee ſtill after hee was made, what he was before the World was made, or hee ſo in it. Hee was begotten before his Mother was borne; yet was hee borne of his Mother before hee was begotten of her. As old hee was asDaniel. 7. 9. John 1. 14. 3. 16. the ancient of dayes, his Father, that begat him: and older hee was then his Virgin Mother that gave birth unto him. Begotten hee was of his Father, and borne hee was of his Mother; yet was hee not begotten by his Father as hee was borne of his Mother; not yet borne of his Mother as hee was begotten of his Father. He was the onelyonly begotten Sonne of his Father, and he was begotten of his Father onelyonly; His Father begate him withoutVirgo & Mater, utiq…e & admirabilis, & ſingularis, a ſeculo non eſt auditum quod virgo eſſet, quae p…perit: & Mater eſſet, quae virgo permanfit. S. Bernard. Ser. 10. Iſaiah 9. 6. the office of his Mother. And hee was the onelyonly Sonne of his Virgin Mother, and the Sonne onelyonly of his Mother as hee was her Sonne, and borne of her; His Mother, did bear him without the office of a Father. On his Fathers ſide hee was God, and not Man, and on his Mothers ſide he was Man, and not God; yet betwixt both hee was both, God and Man, to mediate betwixt both, at his firſt comming, and to arbitrate betwixt both at his ſecond.
No wonder then it was, that his Name was called Wonderfull: for every thing in him was full of Wonder, and his Paſſion was as wonderfull as any thing. His comming into the world had a world of wonder in it; and ſo had his being in it, and his leaving of it did leave as many behind it.
Hee was crucified, yet was not crucified; Hee ſuffered, yet did not ſuffer; Hee dyed, yet did not die; and hee roſe againe ſaith S. Ambroſe, yet did not riſe againe: And are not all theſeS. Ambroſ. de Spirit. ſancto. ſeeming contradictions? Is not every period a very Paradox? yet all very orthodox, and eaſie to be unriddled? Two Natures were united in that one Perſon of Chriſt; And Chriſt endured that in one of his Natures which the other could not endure; As Man, or in his Manhood he ſuffered, was crucified, and dyed, and roſe from Death: But as God, or in his Deity, he could doe neither.
Thus the Life and Death of Chriſt were very myſterious, full of myſteries, and ſo are the Life and Death of every myſticall Member of Chriſt. Every true Chriſtian is ſuch a Member, and this Veſſell of Election, our holy Apoſtle, was ſuch a Chriſtian. Hee was one that had the characters of Chriſts ſufferings in his mortified Body, I beare in my Body the markes of the Lord Ieſus, ſaith hee, Galat. 6. 17. conformed to the myſticall Head of the Church in ſufferings, Chriſto concrucifixus, crucified with Chriſt; and his eſtate now was very Myſterious, he was both dead and alive at once, Crucified with Chriſt, and yet alive nevertheleſſe.
But why ſhould wee thinke it ſtrange to heare of a Man alive and dead at the ſame time? Are not all Men living ever ſo? Is not every Man alwayes dead and living ſo long as hee is a Man, or living? Alive naturally, and dead ſpiritually; orQui luxuriatur vivens mortuu… eſt. S. Hieron. ad matr. & filiam. dead myſtically, and alive ſpiritually? Dead in ſinne, and alive in Nature? or dead unto ſin, and alive in Grace?
When Paul was in the ſtate of Nature, hee was both dead and alive, hee was alive Naturally, but dead ſpiritually. But when he changed the ſtate of Nature for the ſtate of Grace, he changed the Natures of his life and death. He was dead in ſinne before, but now dead unto ſinne, or ſinne is dead in him; Hee lived as a Naturall Man before, but now as a Spirituall; He lived in ſin before, but now Grace lives in him. Hee is now dead to himſelfe, dead to his ſinnes, but alive to his Saviour, living to the Lord of life; Crucified with Chriſt, and living to him, alive in him. Now this his myſticall death is very deſirable. It is rather to be wiſhed, then any kinde of Death, that Auguſtus thought of. It is a Death that may be lawfully ſought for: yea, it is a Death that men muſt pull upon themſelves as ſoon as they can with a holy kinde of violence, and the more earneſt any man is in doing of it, the more he is to be praiſed for it; and more worthy of praiſe is hee, that thus killeth the old Man in himſelfe, then ever Cleombrotus was, or Cato, or Lucretia, forPlato in Phaedone. S. Auguſt. de Civitate Dei, l. 1. ca. 19. 23. killing, as they did, themſelves; yea, hee deſerves no praiſe that does not thus crucifie himſelfe. This is an Euthanaſy indeed, and there can be none without it; They never can die well, that doe not die thus whilſt they live; Nor can they ever live well, that are not thus dead. When Paul was crucified with Chriſt, then hee reckoned himſelfe to be alive indeed; Chriſto confixus ſum cruci, vivo autem jam, ſaith hee, as the vulgar tranſlation has it, I am crucified with Chriſt, and now I live; Jam viv…, now I live, as if hee had not lived indeed till now that hee was thus crucified with Chriſt. As hee liveth after his crucifixion, ſo hee liveth by it; Hee that layes downe aDuplex hic eſt miraculum, & quòd mortuum vitae restituit, & quòd per mortem. Theophil. in locum. temporall life for Chriſts ſake, ſhall take up one eternall for it; and hee that with Paul does part with an evill life, does gaine a good one by it; yea hee gaines two good ones by it; one here, and one hereafter: for hee ſhall raigne with Christ, that is crucified with him, as well as hee, that is crucified for him.
I am crucified with Chriſt, ſaith our Apoſtle; Chriſt was crucified, and ſo was Paul, but ſeverall wayes; Chriſt was crucified for Paul, but ſo was not Paul for Chriſt. Yet ſan… ſenſu, in ſome ſenſe Paul was crucified for Chriſt; but not ſo as Chriſt for Paul. Paul was crucified for Chriſts ſake, and Chriſt for Pauls; But Chriſt was crucified for Pauls ſinnes, ſo was not Paul for Chriſts. Chriſt had no ſinnes of his owne to demerit any crucifixion in himſelfe, or in any other for him, but ſo had Paul; And Pauls crucifixion was for himſelfe rather then his Saviour; yet it was of the ſinnes in himſelfe, rather then of himſelfe in his ſinnes. It was a crucifying of ſin… in his mortall Body; Not a crucifying of his mortall Body in ſinne.
Chriſt was crucified for Paul in Body, and Paul for ChriſtPer crucem Chriſti remotus eſt à me proprius affectus. Aquin. Commenta. in locum. 1 Cor. 9. 27. in Minde. Mente orucifixus ſum, As Theophilact expounds it, In minde I am crucified with Chriſt; In minde with him, not in perſon for him. It was not a corporall but a ſpirituall concrucifixion; Yet it was in Body as well as Minde, foreign, I beate my body downe, ſaith hee, and keepe in ſubjection. And this ſubjection of the Body it ſelfe was ſpirituall. It was not a crucifixion of fleſh, but of fleſhly-mindedneſſe; It was the ſuppreſſing of the Rebellions of Nature, not the deſtroying of Nature it ſelfe. The Nature of his life was altered by it; But the Life of his Nature was not utterly aboliſhed, for ſtill hee lived for all this kinde of Death. This concrucifixion was not to Death, but Life. There are two kinds of concrucifixions.
1. Corporall.
2. Spirituall.
Thoſe two Malefactours that dyed when Chriſt did uponLuke 23. 33. the Croſſe, were both crucified with Chriſt; But not as Paul was in the Text; for one of the two was never the better for that corporall concrucifixion. Hee loſt his temporall life upon the Croſſe with Chriſt himſelfe: yet hee got not Life eternall for it from the Croſſe of Chriſt. Alas for him! His was a Croſſe indeed, but none of Chriſts. Hee ſuffered not for Chriſts ſake, but for his owne ſinnes, and there is ſeldome Life in ſuch a Death. A Croſſe may be the Tree of Life unto a Penitent theefe; But ſuch Malefactours are ſeldome truely penitent. Indeed the Croſſe is vita juſtorum, life to the Righteous, but mors infidelium, Death to the Wicked, ſaith Caſſiodorus. The true Believer layes hold of an other, a better Life then this preſent,2 Cor. 5. 1, 2. Heb. 11. 35. as hee parts with this; But the Infidell loſeth this and gets no other for it. The wretched, and impenitent unbeliever, by the Croſſe of ſufferings, or by his ſufferings upon the Croſſe, does loſe even all his ſtock of Life, and gaineth nothing; The believing penitent loſeth little and gaineth much, hee parteth with a bad life and receives a better for it. But our Apoſtle loſeth nothing, and gaineth all: He gets a new life without giving the old away. But his concrucifixion was of an other kinde, It was not corporal, but ſpiritual, and ſuch concrucifixions are twofold.
Primarie, and
Secondarie.
Now the firſt of theſe is that which every true Believer ſuffered in the Perſon of Chriſt, when as Chriſt ſuffered in the Perſon of every true Believer: For as all that fell by the ſinne of the firſt Adam, did ſinne with that Adam in his perſon, andRom. 5. 12. fell in his Perſon with him; So all that are ſaved by the ſufferings of the ſecond Adam, did ſuffer with him in his perſon, and are ſo ſaved with him. Chriſtiani omnes unà cum Chriſto tanquam illius membra in cruce pependerunt; All Chriſtians as theMuſculus in locum. members of Chriſt did ſuffer with him upon the Croſſe. The catholick Head of the Church was faſtened to the Croſſe, and ſuffered for the whole Myſticall Body, and all the myſticall Members that are faſtened to the Body by love, and to the Head by faith, muſt needs be ſenſible of the ſufferings of the1 Cor. 12. 26, 27. Head; Whereas one member ſuffers, all the members ſuffer with it, by way or ſympathy, and therefore ſurely, when as the Head ſuffers, which is the fountaine of ſenſe, there muſt needs be a Catholike Compaſſion in all the Members. Thoſe are not living Members of Chriſts Myſticall Body that do not ſympathize with him in the biterneſſe of his paſſion. The very Remembrance of his grievous ſufferings upon the Croſſe for their ſakes does make make them grieve for his ſake, And that's their firſt Concrucifixion; Now the ſecond followes this, and is twofold.
1. Myſticall.
2. Morall.
And the firſt of theſe is in the Sacrament of Baptiſme. For that Chriſtens a man, and makes him a member of Chriſt: So many as are baptized into Chriſt, they put on Chriſt. And they putGalat. 3. 27. on Chriſt crucified, that put him on by baptizme. It is into the Death of Chriſt, that they are Baptiſed; And the Death of Chriſt was upon the Croſſe, by crucifixion. And this laver of Signum eſt exhibitivum.Regeneration, the Sacrament of Baptiſme, does both ſigne and ſeale the Benefits of Chriſts crucifixion to a Chriſtian. And from this ſacramentall or myſticall concrucifixion muſt we all derive that concrucifixion which is Morall.
And the Morall Concrucifixion does Crowne the Myſticall. The Sacrament of Baptiſme does begin the life of Chriſtianity, but it is the Chriſtianity of life that does compleate a Chriſtian, and fits him for the Crowne of life. Non quaeritur in Chriſtianis S. Gregor. l. 28. Moral.initium, ſed finis, ſaith S. Gregory, The initiation of Chriſtianity in any man is nothing ſo remarkable as the conſummation of it. Alas what is it to begin to be a Chriſtian, unleſſe a man goes on to the perfection of Chriſtianity? I meane, what profit is it to be baptized into Chriſt, unleſſe a man does live like a Chriſtian?Quid enim tibi prodect, vocari quod non es, & nomen uſurpare alienum? ſed ſi Chriſtianum te eſſe delectat, quae Chriſtianitatis ſunt gere. S. Auguſt. de doctrinâ Chriſtianâ. What benefit can there be in putting on of Chriſt by Baptiſme, unleſſe we keepe him on in our lives, and weare him in our Converſations? Chriſtiani nomen ille fruſtra ſortitur qui Chriſtum minimè imitatur, ſaith S. Auſtine, Its a frivolous thing to be a Nominall, and not a Reall Chriſtian, to have the Name of a Chriſtian, and not be a follower of Chriſt. Chriſtianus à Chriſto, A man is called a Chriſtian from Chriſt, whoſe follower he profeſſes himſelfe to be, as thoſe Diſciples did which were firſt called ſo at Antioch, Act. 11. 26. But thoſe men belyA Chriſto Chriſtiani & …umus & …uncupamur. Athan. Orat. 2. contr. Arian. Gregor. Nyſſ. de profeſ. Chriſtianor. S. Cypr. de 12. abuſionib. Greg. Naz. in Orat. funebri de S. Baſilio. the Name of Chriſt, ſaith Gregory Nyſſen, that doe nor make their practice of Chriſtianity to anſwer their profeſſion of it. Nemo Chriſtianus verè dicitur, niſi qui Chriſto moribus, pro ut valet, coaequatur, ſaith S. Cyprian, No man is rightly called a Chriſtian, unleſſe he followeth Chriſt in his moralls as neere as he can. S. Baſil the Great, and Gregory the Divine, that were like Twinnes of Devotion in the Service of the Church, did both rejoyce that they both were, and were called Chriſtians. The putting on of Chriſt by Baptiſme, does give the Name, but it is the keeping of him on in our moralls that ſpeakes us Chriſtians indeed. It is not enough therefore to be crucified with Chriſt in Baptiſme onelyonly. Ecce baptizati ſunt homines, See ſaith SaintS. Aug. Ser. 16. de verb. Apoſt. Auſtine, men are baptized, and thereby their ſinnes be waſhed away, yet ſtill ſomething remaines on their parts to be performed. Reſtat lucta cum carne, reſtat lucta cum diabolo, reſtat lucta cum mundo, ſtill there remaineth many Combates toRevel. 2. 10. Myſterium hoc geritur in Chriſtianis ſacramentaliter, & efficaciter. Sacramentaliter in Baptiſmo, efficaciter in ipſa veteris noſtri hominis mortificatione, & vitae novitate. Muſculus. Dicendo, ſimul cum Chriſto crucifixus ſum, Baptiſmum tecte ſignificat, di…do, Vivo autem jam non ego, ſequemē vitae rationē ſignificat, per quam mortificantur membra. S. Chryſ. in loc. be maintained againſt our Ghoſtly Enemies the world the fleſh and the Devil. And indeed every Chriſtian is engaged by his Baptiſme, to bid defiance unto theſe, and to fight againſt them under the Banner of Chriſts Croſſe, to the utmoſt of his life. We muſt be faithfull unto Death, or never expect the Crowne of life.
Thus is this Myſterie begun, and carried on in all true Chriſtians, as Saint Chryſoſtome hath obſerved, and after him Theophilact, and Muſculus after both. It begins in Baptiſme, and muſt be carried on in our lives. It is this Morall concrucifixion, that God expecteth, and rewardeth. But this is not eaſily and quickly finiſhed; Hic labor, hoc opus, it requires our greateſt care and diligence to crucifie our ſelves with Chriſt in our lives. This part of Chriſtianiſme is the hardeſt task that our Maſter Chriſt hath impoſed upon us as his Diſciples. It is a worke that muſt be done ſo long as we live, for that ſo long as we live we muſt never thinke we have done it. But what is it, that makes it ſo hard to be done? there are many things that doe encreaſe the difficulty of it.
The firſt is, that innate power, or naturall ſtrength that the Body of ſinne hath in our Mortall Bodies. I delight in the law Semper in nobis, dum vivimus, peccati Adami nōnullae reliquiae manent. Si enim iſta ſemina ſic omnino clui poſſit, ut nullae in nobis reſtarent ſordes vitiorum, nec Paulus de leg… membrorum mortiſ que corpore conqueſtus fuiſſet, nec nos aſſidua ſpiritus renovatione opus haberemus. Whitak. …. 1. li. 8.of God, after the inward man, ſaith this Apoſtle; But I ſee another law in my members, warring againſt the law of my mind, and bringing me into Captivity to the law of ſinne, which is in my members, Rom. 7. 22, 23. See, here was law againſt law, and members againſt minde, in Paul himſelfe. The corrupted Principles of Nature oppoſing the reformed and refined Principles of Grace, and ſomtimes prevailing to the conquering, to the captivating of this great Apoſtle, and compelling him to cry foreign, O wretched man that I am, who ſhall deliver … from the body of this death? Rom. 7. 24. Though man be renewed in his mind by the law of Grace, or the Grace of the New man, yet the Old man is ſtill in him, and the old man in him hath the law of Nature, or the law of the Members on his ſide, and the Nature of that law is not eaſily overcome; ſo ſoone as wee begin to kill or crucifie the old man in our bodies, he preſently layes the law to us, and pleads the law of Nature againſt us, and ſo makes us very remiſſe, and it may be lay aſide our work of morall Concrucifixion. There was peccatum habitans, ſinne dwelling inRom. 7. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Concupiſcentia in renatis eſt peccatum. Daven. Determ. Quaeſt. pr. Paul himſelfe, and that ſinne made him doe the evill which he hated, and made him leave und one the good he greatly deſired. Such ſin there is in every man, though he be regenerate, and that ſinne in him does make his Concrucifixion very difficult.
The Second thing that greatens the difficulty of it, is the Old mans eaſie Recovering, or his ſpeedy Recruting of his forces, within us, when we thinke we have ſo farre worſted them, as that they muſt needs yeeld. It is ſtoryed of the Giant Antaeus, Antaeus gigas ex terrae filiis cum Hercule congredi…s ut deprehenſus eſt ex telluris tactu vires excreſcere Volatera. Paralipom. Nat. Comes Mytholog. l. 7. c. 1. 1 Cor. 15. 47.the ſonne of Neptune by the Earth, that when ever his ſtrength began to faile him, tactu terrae recreabatur, it was recruted, or renewed by his touching of the Earth. And this made it ſo hard for Hercules to overcome and kill him. Natales Comes ſeekes to verifie this fable by other alluſions, but it is moſt true of the Body of ſinne, which is indeed Terrae filius, The ſonne of the Earthie part which is in Man. The Old man is of the Earth Earthie. And ſinne is the Sonne of the Old Man, and like the Giant Antaeus it reneweth ſtrength by touching of Earth and Earthly things, which maketh it ſo hard a matter for the Body of ſinne to be Mortified by us, ſo long as we have our Converſations upon the Earth.
I remember a ſtory, which I have read in Neubrigenſis, it isQ ippe ex Alienora quondam Francorum Regina ſuſceptis 4 ſiliis, Henricum natu majorem Regni Anglici, & Ducatus Normanici, cum Andegavenſi Comitatu ſucceſſorem relinq…cre, Richardum vero Aquitaniae, & Galfridum Britanniae praeſicere cogitabat: quartum natu minimum Joannem ſine terra cognominans, &c. Gulielm. Neubrigen. lib. 2. c. 18. of King Henry the Second, who having bequeathed no Land of inheritance to John his fourth and youngeſt Sonne by Queene Elinor, ſurnamed him Johannem ſine terra, John without Earth or Land to live upon. It was his Fathers Pleaſure ſo to deale with him, and ſo to miſcall him. He wanted ſuch a portion of Earth without him as was given by his Father to his other Brothers, but he wanted not his portion of Earth within him. He had the inheritance of an earthie part in his Mortall Body derived from the Old man in his Father. He was not Johannes ſine terra, in reſpect of the body of ſinne; he was of the Earth Earthy, and ſo is every man living upon the Earth, and the Earth within us, doth ſtrengthen ſinagainſt us, and makes it very hard for us to crucifie it in us.
A Third thing that makes our Mortification difficult, is the Time that the Old Man in us muſt have to dye in. He muſt needs dye a lingring death, for he muſt be dying all the dayes of our Naturall life. Thoſe two Malefactours, that were crucified corporally when Chriſt was, had lingring Deaths; yea ſo long they were in dying, that the Souldiers had Orders given them to breake their legs, for the haſtening of their Deaths. And he that begins to crucifie the Old Man in himſelfe, ſhall finde him ſo loath to dye, and ſo long in dying, that new violences muſt be offered to him to make him yeeld. The faſtening of him to the Croſſe does make him ſick, and the breaking of his legs does make him weak: Yet will he not dye ſo long as the man does live, nor wholly yeeld to the spirituall man untill that ye yeelds up his ſpirit. The nature of this myſticall death does differ much from the death of Nature; this is mors ſine morte, a death without death. That may be a lingring death ſometimes, but this is ever a living death, a death in life. It is Martyrium vivum, as Tertullian phraſeth it, a living Martyrdome, a killing of the fleſh, and a leaving of the man alive. Martyrium ſine ſanguine, S. Bern. inter Sententias.ſaith S. Bernard; A Martyrdome without any Bloudſhed, a Mortifying of the Body without killing of it. Other MartyrdomsDuo ſunt Martyrii genera, unum in habitu, alterum in actu, &c. P…imaſius in c. 7. & in c. 11. Apocalyp. Joſua. 9. 21. Carranza in Sum. Concilior. Apoſtolor. Canon. 23, 24. Concil. Nicaen. Can. 1. Concil. Arelaten. Can. 7. are either in Minde, or Body, this is in both, without the deſtruction of either. A man may Mortifie his members with S. Paul, without cutting of them off with Origen.
Gods people, the Iſraelites, did not kill thoſe enemies of theirs the Gibeonites, but brought them into ſubjection, and made them ſerviceable. And ſuch as are godly people need not deſtroy their bodies, or their affections naturall, but ſubdue them, and make them ſpirituall, and ſerviceable. Thus much the Apoſtle intimated to the Romanes, in ſaying, As ye have yeelded your members ſervants to uncleanneſſe, and to iniquity, unto iniquity; even ſo now yeeld your members ſervants to righteouſneſſe, unto holineſſe, Rom. 6. 19. Where obſerve, that they ſtill be members, and ſtill yours, your members, and ſtill ſervants, but not ſtill in ſervitude to the ſame maſters. Their maſters are newed, and ſo is the manner of their ſervice. This Morall Concrucifixion may conſiſt with Naturall Conſervation; This Mortification is not meant of the Common Death of Man, ſaith Saint Chryſoſtome, andS. Chryſ. Theophil. in locum. Quos Deus mortificat, & affligit, poſtea vivificat. Mendoza in lib. 1. Regum. Tom. 1. after him Theophilact, but of a Death unto ſinne. And with this Mortification of the Old man there muſt ever be the Vivification of the New man. I am Crucified with Chriſt, nevertheleſſe I live. There is life with Death, yea life by it.
When the Naturall Man beginnes to live, then hee beginnes to die: and when the Spirituall Man beginnes to die, then hee begins to live. Mans firſt Birth leads him unto Death, His ſecond lets him into Life. Hee is borne at firſt to die; But borne againe to live. It is the beginning of Miſery to be borne once; But the beginning of Felicity to be borne againe. The firſt Birth onelyonly lets man into Naturall life, and into that but onelyonly for a time, and that time but a ſhort one too; But the ſecond Birth does let life into Man, and that a Spirituall life, and that's the Pledge, and Meanes of life eternall. It is the Nature of mans firſt life to give him onelyonly the life of Nature; But the ſecond life, being the life of Grace, does give the Grace of life. And this life of Grace is the only way unto the life of Glory, and to the Glory of that life.
But firſt a Man muſt be crucified, before he can be glorified; he muſt die before hee can live: and this his dying too muſt be before his death. Hee muſt be as the Apoſtle was, Dead and alive together, Crucified with Chriſt and yet alive. Dead and yet not dead; Not dead in treſpaſſes and ſinnes, and alive in Nature: But dead unto ſinne, and alive in Grace and Nature. A live unto God, and dead unto the World. Like Simon Mat. 19. 27. 2 Tim. 4. 10.Peter that forſooke the World for Chriſts ſake; Not like to Demas that forſooke S. Paul to imbrace the preſent World. Like a dead man in the World, hee muſt not doate upon it; But live in it as if hee were departed from it. Hee muſt not be like that younger Widdow that our Apoſtle wrote a warning of unto young Timothy, that liveth in pleaſure, and is dead whilſt 1 Tim. 5. 6.ſhe liveth; But like our holy Apoſtle himſelfe, that lived whileſt hee was dead. Hee muſt dy unto ſinne before his NaturallClimac. in ſcala Parad i. Death, that hee may not dy in ſinne, when hee muſt needs dy a Naturall Death. If hee ſuffereth ſinne to live in him untill his Naturall Death, hee muſt ſuffer a Death Eternall for living ſo in ſinne.
Mans firſt Birth brings him forth a Sinner, his ſecond brings him forth a Saint: By his firſt Birth hee is made what hee was not before his Generation; By his Second hee is made againe what hee was not by his First, and yet remaineth what hee was. His Generation made him a Man, His Regeneration makes him more, it makes him a good Man, a Man of God, a Member of Chriſt. This is that, that this Apoſtle intended of himſelfe in his ſtate of Regeneration, when hee ſaid that hee did live, and yet not he. I am crucified with Chriſt, nevertheleſſe I live, yet not I. Now this may ſet our thoughts to the ſecond Generall of the Text, the Reading of the Riddle; but I muſt deale with you, as thoſe are wont to doe with others, that propoſe hard Riddles to them, I muſt give you a longer time to conſider of it, then meerely this time of your hearing of it; I muſt give you untill our meeting next in this place, which muſt, (God willing) be in the afternoone, then I ſhall give you the reading of this Riddle; but thus much for this Time.