Six Sermons, Sermon 6
S. PAULS CONCRUCIFIXION. SERMON Second.
GAL. 2. 20. I am crucified with Chriſt, nevertheleſſe I live, yet not I, but Chriſt, &c.
I Muſt beginne this After-noone, abruptly, as I ended in the Fore-noone, leſt I end this After-noone abruptly, as I doe beginne; and I ſhall beginne this After-noone where I ended in the Fore-noone, that this After-noone I may end with this Text, where in the Forenoone I did beginne.
In the Text I obſerved two Remarkables.
1. The Propounding of a Riddle.
2. The Expounding of the Riddle.
In the Fore-noone you heard the Riddle propounded, This After-noone you are to heare it expounded. The Riddle was propounded in theſe words, I am crucified with Chriſt, nevertheleſſe I live. Now it is to be expounded by theſe words, yet not I, but Christ that liveth in me.
Not I, but how doe theſe words Reſolve, or Reade the Riddle? They rather ſeeme to make an other Riddle, or to make the Text like the Prophets Myſticall Viſion of a Wheele within a Wheele. Here is one ſeeming contradiction upon an other, a Riddle upon a Riddle; for firſt hee ſayes, I live, and then hee ſayes, not I, and ſo ſeemes to ſay, and unſay, or to contradict himſelfe.
Indeed, had hee ſaid no more but yet not I, hee had not read the former, but made an other; But the clauſile added in the cloſe diſcloſeth all, not I, but Chriſt that liveth in me. This like a Key unlocks the Cabinet of the myſtery; This like an Oedipus unriddles all; Like a Clue it guides the Reader thorow the Labyrinth of the Riddle to the Reading of it. It ſhews what life it is, that now hee liveth; It ſpeakes the change of his life, from that of a Naturall man, to that of a Chriſtian; He liveth now the life of one that is in Chriſt, the Lord of life. The life of one that hath the Lord of life, Chriſt Jeſus, and the life of the Lord now in him, not I now, but Chriſt in me. Hee cannot now ſay with the Heatheniſh Poet, Ille ego qui quondam, I the ſame Man, that in time paſt did ſo and ſo, but with the convert, Ego non ſum ego, I am not I.
I live, yet not I, Not I the ſame, but I an other. An other, and yet I. I an other Man, I a new Man, Non amplins ego, Not I a meere Man any longer, but now a Chriſtian; Not I ſtill contrary unto Chriſt, but I a Convert now unto him, and ſo I am not I, and yet I am; I am ſtill, but not ſtill what I was; IActs 23. 6. Phil. 3. 5. Acts 9. 1. 1 Tim. 1. 13. Virgil. Aeneid. l. 1. was a Phariſee, but now I am not; I was an enemy to the Croſſe of Chriſt, but now I am not; I was a Blaſphemer of his moſt bleſſed Name, ſed quantum mutatus ab illo? But now how much am I altered from what I was? So changed in my ſelfe I am, that I cannot ſay, I am my ſelfe; Yea ſo unlike I am my ſelfe, that I cannot but ſay, that I am not my ſelfe. It is not INeceſse eſt ut qui non vivit in ſe, vivat Christus in illo. Et hoc eſt quod …it Apoſtolus vivo autem, …am non ego. S. Bernard. that liveth in my ſelfe, But Chriſt my Saviour that liveth in mee.
Hee is not now the Man hee was, and yet a Man hee is even as hee was; Hee is now a new Man by his ſecond Birth, and yet hee is the ſame Man hee was by his firſt; Hee is a Man ſtill as hee was, and ſtill the ſame Man that hee was, and yet hee is an other Man then hee was, changed much from what hee was. The ſame Man ſtill in Perſon hee is, and ſtill the ſame in Parts: But in Paſſions or Affections hee is now an other. The ſame hee is in conſtitution of Body, and in Quantity, but in quality of Minde, and in conditions hee is an other Man. A new Creature. It is the ſame Man that liveth ſtill, but he now liveth as an other Man; He is not the ſame in Life, His manner of Life is not the ſame. A new Converſation does ever follow a true Converſion. This Mutation aimes not at the Transformation of the Man, But at the Reformation of his Manners.
It is not like the Poets Metamorphoſes, where Jupiter tranſformesOvid Metamor. lib. 3. Lib. 3. Lib. 4. Lib. 5. Lib. 15. Lib. 1. Lib. 9. Lib. 10. Lib. 1. Lib. 6. Lib. 6. Lib. 11. Lib. 13. Lib. 10. Lib. 14. himſelfe into a Bull, and Diana turnes Actaeon into a Stagg; where the Theban Siſters, the Mineides, are metamorphoſed into Batts, Aſcalaphus into an Owle, and Aeſculapius into a Serpent; Io into a Cow, and Ilithyia into an Heifer; Daedalion into a Faulcon, Arachne into a Spider, and the Lycian Clownes into croaking Frogs; Lycaon into a Wolfe, Hippomenes into a Lyon, and Hecuba into a Dog. The Inhabitants of Cyprus into Oxen, and the Companions of Ʋlyſſes into Hoggs. Men by the fictions of the Poets were transformed into Beaſts and other Brutes; But by this Myſticall Mutation in the Text, a Beaſt or Brute may be Reformed into a Man, and a man Regenerated to a Saint; Such men as are degenerated into brutiſh manners may be reſtored to the Properties of men, and the Prerogatives of Saints. S. Paul was changed by his Regeneration into a new Creature, and yet was ſtill the ſame in ſubſtance that hee was by Generation. Hee was Reformed in Moralls, and yet remained what hee was by his Naturall forme.
I live, yet not I, but Chriſt that liveth in mee, That is, ſaithAquin. Comment. in loc. Aquinas, tantum Chriſtum habeo in affectu, My love is wholy fixed upon Chriſt, My delight is onelyonly in him, Ad alia quidem omnia mortuus ſum, as ſaith S. Bernard, to all other things I am as a man that is dead, I minde them not, I looke not after them, I care not for them; Placet quod ad ejus honorem fieri video, diſplicent quae aliter fiunt, That which tendeth to the honor of Chriſt I like well, but I diſlike things that have no tendency towards it.Nichol. de Gorr. Heming. Theophilac.
Some there be that take the Apoſtles Mortification, or his Concrucifixion, to relate not onelyonly to the Law in the Members, …ut to the Law of Moſes. Or not more to the Law of ſinne, then …o the Law of C…remonies. And his vivification by Chriſt, or his ſpirituall Reſurrection with Chriſt, not more to intend the Reformation of his Moralls, then the Conformation both of his Opinion, and of his Practice according to the Doctrine of the Goſpell. It may be taken both wayes. In the words before the Text, he ſaith, he is dead unto the Law, but alive to God; Dixit ſe mortuū legi ut Deo vivat. Nunc quomodo Deo vivat exprimit. Ne quis ſ…spicetur illud intelligendum eſſe de vita naturae, quod de vita gratiae intelligi debet. Hemingius in Locum. Aquinas in Locum.And in the Text he tells the Manner how, that ſo we may not underſtand him of the life of Nature, but of the life of Grace, qua Chriſtus in fidelibus vivit ſua virtute, juſtitia, & vita, ſaith Hemingius, By which grace of life, or in which life of Grace, our Saviour Chriſt doth live in all Beleevers by his vertue, and juſtice and life. For fides in Chriſtum eſt vita fidelium, ſaith he, The beleeving in Chriſt is the life of the Beleever. Ipſe Chriſtus eſt vita mea, ſaith Aquinas, Chriſt himſelfe is my life, for he is life it ſelfe, as he ſaith himſelfe, John 14. 6. therefore might S. Paul moſt truly ſay, Mihi vivere Chriſtus eſt, To me to live is Chriſt, Phil. 1. 21. And the life that I …ow live, I live by the faith of the Sonne of God, who loved me, and gave himſelfe for me, as it is in the words immediately after the Text. And the Rule of this my life is not the law of Moſes; But the Goſpell of Jeſus Chriſt. I was a Phariſee by my Education, and by my profeſſion I was of the ſtricteſt ſect of the Phariſees; I lived preciſelyGal. 3. 11. Rom. 3. 28. Cermoniae legis ante Chriſtum nec Mortuae e…ant, nec Mortiferae, poſt promulgationem Evangelii, & Mortuae, & Mortif…rae, inter paſſionem Chriſti, & promulgationem mortuae, ſed non mortiferae. S. Aug. Epiſt. 19 Tom 2. Mat. 11. 13. Mark. 1 19. Luk. 3. 21. according to the Law, and hoped to live for ever by it: But I have now found my miſtake, I have now found, that by the workes of the Law, there ſhall no fleſh living be juſtified. I have moſt happily found that life, and happineſſe, is no where to be found but onelyonly in Jeſus Chriſt, that was crucified for me, to bring me unto life. And therefore now with him I am for ever Crucified to the Law, and to that life which I ſought in my ſelfe by my obſervance of the Law.
The Ceremoniall Law before the Incarnation of Chriſt was neither dead nor deadly; But after the Crucifixion of Chriſt, and Promulgation of the Goſpell, it was both dead and deadly. And betwixt both it was dead, but not deadly. The Baptiſt was Pr… curſor Chriſti, the forerunner of Chriſt to make way for his Goſpell. And the law of Ceremonies was alive in Strength till John the Baptiſt, but with his Preaching of the Goſpell it began to dy. Yea dead it was when Chriſt was once Baptized of John in Jordan. Dead it was quoad neceſſitatem, in reſpect of any neceſſary obſervance of it, yet propter vinculum Charitatis Thom. Aquin. 1. 2. Quaeſ. 103. ar. 4.& quoad Convenientiam, to avoyd offence and Scandall, and for Conveniency ſake, it was not preſently caſt out, nor did the Apoſtles deeme the obſervation of it to be deadly, but for Charity ſake they ſought an honourable Buriall for it, which could not be on the ſuddaine; yet was it dead unto Saint Paul, Act. 13. 59. Rom. 7. 27.and he to that. It was not the Law of Moſes, but the Law of Faith, that now was the Tutour of his life; It was not Moſes the Servant of God, but Chriſt the ſonne of God that lived in him. I live, yet not I, non ego qualis fui ſub lege, not I, ſuch as I wasNichol. de Lyra in Locu…. under the Law. But Chriſt now liveth in me, habitans in me per gratiam Vivificantem, dwelling in me by his quickning grace. So that the life which I now live is by the grace of Chriſt.
It was neither a Ceremoniall, nor yet meerely a Morall life which the Apoſtle lived, but an Evangelicall, and this finiſhed his Ceremoniall, and furthered his Morall. By Chriſts living in him, he did not meane the Perſon of Chriſt, but his power in him. Chriſts living in us ſaith S. Chryſoſtome is his working inS. Chryſ. in loc. us, and his ruling over us, and over-ruling of us, to make us mend our Moralls according to the way and purpoſe of the Goſpell. For the Goſpell does not utterly deſtroy the Morall law, nor make it abſolutely voyd. Thinke not that I am come to deſtroy the law or the Prophets; I came not to deſtroy, ſaith Chriſt, but to fulfill, Math. 5. 17. Doe we then make voyd the law through faith? ſaith our Apoſtle, God forbid, ye we eſtabliſh the Rom 3. 31.law. Indeed they that are in Chriſt, and have Chriſt living in them, are not under the law but under Grace. But how? NotRom. 6. 14. under the law to ſeeke for juſtification by it, but yet they are under it to encreaſe their ſanctification by it. They are not under the Curſe of the law to Condemnation, but under the Courſe of the law they are for Commendation. Not under the Rigor of it, but under the Rule of it. And he can never be a true diſciple of Chriſt that will not be ruled by it.
He that would live with Chriſt in Heaven, muſt live with him on Earth firſt. He that would be like him in the life of Glory, muſt be like alſo in the life of Grace. And he that would be ſo, muſt labour to be like him in his Moralls. He that is Crucified with Chriſt, muſt live like one that is ſo Crucified, like one that is dead to ſinne, like one that is dead unto himſelfe, like one that hath Chriſt living in him, and that can never be, untill the life of Chriſt be repreſented in his life, in the manner, or morality of it. It is this that our ApoſtleS. Auguſt. Serm. 13. de verb. Dom. cheifely points at in the Text, when he ſayes Chriſt liveth in him. Ʋnumquodque ſecundùm hoc vivat, unde vivit, Saith Saint Auſtine, every thing ought to live according to that by which it liveth. The Body liveth of the Soule; And the Soule liveth of Chriſt: Let both then live according to thoſe things that give them life; let the Body live ſo after the Soule, and the Soule ſo after Chriſt, that both ſoule and body may live together with Chriſt for ever hereafter.
It is from this kinde of life, that a man may have hope in death. And it is by this kinde of life that a man may aſſure himſelfe that he is dead. Death unto ſinne is beſt atteſted by the life of Grace. It was by this that Saint Paul could aſcertaine himſelfe of his concrucifixion. By this it was that he knew himſelfe to be a Mortified member of the myſticall body of Chriſt. He found Chriſt living in him, and that made him ſay, that he was crucified with Chriſt.
It is no eaſie matter for a man to be as this Apoſtle was, a Mortified Man, Crucified with Chriſt; But eaſie it is for a Man to know he is ſo, if he be ſo; yet many are miſtaken in this matter, and take themſelves to be ſo when they are not; but the reaſon is, they doe not obſerve the Manners of a Man concrucified. They doe not obſerve how it was with Chriſt, when he was crucified, or with Saint Paul when he was crucified with Chriſt. They doe not enquire whether it be ſo with themſelves.
When Chriſt was crucified he was Patient, and ſo was Paul Iſal. 53. 7.in all his ſufferings for Chriſt, when he was concrucified. Are all we ſo? Are we patient in tribulations? Can we ſuffer our1 Pet. 2. 23. loſſes, and croſſes with patience? When our Saviour was reviled, he revlied not againe. When he ſuffered, he threatned not, but Committed himſelfe to him that Judgeth righteouſly. Doe we doe ſo? So did S. Paul, Being reviled we bleſſe, ſaith he, and being Perſecuted we Suffer it, and being defamed we intreate, 1 Corinth. 4. 12, 13.
Againe when Chriſt was crucified he was very pious. Are weLuke 23. 34. ſo? He prayed for the pardon of his Perſecutors; doe we ſo? So did the Protomartyr Saint Steven, and ſo did Paul, andActs 7. 60. ſo doe all that are conformed to our Crucified Saviour. And if we do not ſo, it is a ſigne we are not crucified with our Saviour.
Againe, when Chriſt was crucified, he left the world; He neither reckoned of the Pompe, nor of the Glory of it. And ſo it was with Paul when he was crucified with Chriſt; The worldGal. 6. 14. was crucified to him, and he unto the world. Now is it ſo with us? If it be ſo, the world may fawne upon us, but we will notS. Aug. lib. de Salu. doc. cap. 16. fancy it, and it may frowne upon us, but we will not feare it. If we be crucified to that, and that to us, we will not Court it for any Pleaſure; nor Covet it for any Profit. We will notChryſoſt. in Math. hom. 55. flatter it, nor yet be flattered by it. We will not ſeeke to win, nor ſuffer our ſelves to be wonne by the alurements of it. With Paul concrucified we will eſteeme all worldly things, asPhil. 3. 8. dung, and droſſe, in compariſon of Chriſt.
Againe, when Chriſt was crucified, he was a dead Man, andCrucifixum eſſe eſt mortuum eſſe. Muſculus. foreign. Photius. Epheſ. 4. 19. ſo was Paul, and a dead man does not ſinne; he that is crucified with Christ, as Paul was, is dead indeed unto ſinne, and alive unto God. Though ſin it ſelf be not departed, yet the life of ſin is gone. Sin is mortified in him. Now how is it with us? How is ſin now committed by us? Doe we ſtill ſinne with greedineſſe? Does ſinne ſtill live in us? and we ſtill love to live in ſinne? If ſo, we are not yet concrucified. True it is, that the old ſinnes of Man, as well as the old man of ſinnes, muſt have a time to dy after they be crucified. There will be ſinne in any Regenerate Man as long as he liveth, though he be never ſo long concrucified before his death. For if we ſay we have no ſinne we deceive our ſelves, and the truth is not in us. Yet if we be truly Crucified with Chriſt, the love of ſinne will abate in us, yea our loving will turne into a loathing of it, and though we carry ſinne every whither about with us, yet we will not be carried every whither about with ſinne. There will appeare the power of godlineſſe in us Counter-manding the Commanding power of ſinne, though it cannot alwayes prevaile. The fleſh luſteth againſt the spirit, Gal. 5. 17.and the spirit againſt the fleſh, and theſe two are ſo contrary that a man cannot doe the things that he would. There is a continuallSee Perkins in his combate of the Fleſh and Spirit. Combate between the Regenerate and the Unregenerate parts of any Regenerate Perſon. Such a Perſon is like that myſticall purſe that has both old and new coyne in it. The firſt, and ſecondRegenetatus duplici conſtat homine, interiore nimirum, ut …xteriore. Zanch. Miſcellan. lib. 3. Adams are both in the old new Man, a living dead man, a renewed man, crucified with Chriſt, and yet alive. Such a perſon was S. Paul, a perſon that had both ſin and ſanctitie at once. A perſon crucified with Chriſt, and ſo dying daily unto ſin, but not quitedead unto it; or dead it may be unto many ſins, but not to all; or dead to all it may be in ſome degrees, but not in all. There were ſtill peccata quotidianae incurſionis, though not peccata prav… diſpoſitionis, in him, ſins of infirmity he had, and ſins of inadvertenſie, though not of high preſumption, and deliberation.
There are two degrees of Morall Concrucifixion, non ſervir… peccato, and mori peccato, not to ſerve ſinne, and to dy unto ſin. The firſt is poſſible in this life, ſaith Cajetan, but not the ſecond. Nondū mortuus, ſed fixus eſt noſter vetus homo, Our old man is notCajetan. in c. 6 Epiſt. ad Roman. yet dead, ſaith he, but fixed unto the Croſſe he is, and ſo made ſure for ſerving Sin any longer. This inchoation of our concrucifixion is very feizible in this life; But not the conſūmation of it: for that is to be affected rather then effected here. From the ſervice of ſin we may be free, but not from ſin it ſelfe, whileſt here we live.
It is one of the hardeſt things in the World to be truly crucified to the World. The Practicalls of Chriſtianity are harder then the Theoreticalls; And of all the Practicalls this is one of the hardeſt. I would faine ſay with Paul, that I am crucified with Chriſt, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world, but I cannot, ſaith S. Chryſoſtome; And ſo ſaid SaintChryſoſt. in Math. Hom. 55 S. Auguſt. de docu. Spirit. S. Bernar. in in Cant. Serm. 72. Auſtine too; And ſo Saint Bernard: Yet theſe were holy Men, Concrucified, and ſuch as did even Sequeſter themſelves from this evill World. But ſo ſenſible they were of their owne infirmities in it, that they ſeemed to themſelves uncrucified to it. They wanted much of Pauls degree of Mortification, and wiſhed as much for it; But it would not come with wiſhing. Yea Paul himſelfe fell ſhort of that Perfection of it, which he wiſhed. Indeed he freed himſelfe from Servitude to ſinne, though not without much Labour: But with that Labour and much more he could not free himſelfe from Sinne. Yet nevertheleſſe, but much the more, he ſtrove to be as free as he could from ſinne. And ſo muſt we. He did, and ſuffered much to be Concrucified; He faſted, he prayed, he watched, he laboured, he was in wearineſſe and painefulneſſe, in watchings often, in hunger, 2 Cor. 11. 27.and thirſt, in faſting often, in cold, and nakedneſſe. Yet all that he did, and ſuffered, would not doe it alone; But it was1 Cor. 15. 10. by the Grace of God, that he was what he was.
All our Endeavours are but in vaine, unleſſe that God vouchſafes a bleſſing to them. And all in vaine it is to expect a bleſſing at his hands, unleſſe we endeavour with our owne. It is by Grace Epheſ. 2. 5. Phil. 2. 12. 2 Pet. 1. 10.that we may be ſaved; yet muſt we worke out our owne ſalvation with feare and trembling; And give all diligence to make our calling and Election ſure; we muſt be foreign, workers together with God in this moſt godly worke of Morall Concrucifixion. We muſt endeavour the effecting of it, and pray the Father of Mercies to crowne our endeavours with his bleſſing.
And the Difficulty of the Worke ſhould make us double our diligence to performe it. Difficilia quae pulchra, the beſt things are ever dearely purchaſed, and the beſt workes hardly perfected. Facilis eſt deſcenſus Averni, It is an eaſie matter to deſcend toSanctitatis via ardua eſt. Franciſcus de Mendoza in li. 1. Reg. cap. 4. Tom. 2. Mat. 7. 13, 14. Hell; But very hard to aſcend to Heaven. Ardua eſt via virtutis. Men may paſſe in the Broad Way, and enter in at the Wide Gate without contending; But at the Straite Gate there is no entring without much ſtriving. There muſt be vis impreſſa, a violent force impreſſed upon a ſtone, or any heavy Body, to make it aſcend; And we muſt offer a kind of violence to our ſtony Hearts, heavy with loades of ſinne, or they will never aſcend to Heaven-ward.
It is very difficult indeed to be concrucified, but not impoſſible. Conſider this Apoſtle, and be encouraged. This was as unlikely a man before his Converſion as any here. Of all men the Jewes were moſt unlikely to be converted unto Chriſt, and crucified with him; And of all the Jewes the moſt unlikely were the Rulers; And of all the Rulers the moſt unlikely were the Phariſees, Have any of the Rulers, or of the Phariſees believed on him? John 7. 48.It ſeemes it was a thing unlikely, that any ſuch ſhould ever become his Proſelites; but unlikely things are brought to paſſe ſometimes, and this very thing, as unlikely as it was, was more then once effected, for Nicodemus was converted, yet was he a Jew, a Ruler, a Phariſee, A man of the Phariſees a Ruler of the Jews. John 3. 1. Acts 22. 3, 4, 19, 20.And Paul was a Jew too, and a Phariſee too, and a kinde of Ruler, at leaſt an unkinde Under-officer he was, and very pragmaticall in his Office. A new commiſſioner he was made, with powerPhil. 3. 5, 6. delegated to him, to enquire after all ſorts of Chriſtians, and to perſecute them all whether they were men or women. A p…ſtilent Acts 24. 5.fellow he was, as that Oratour Tertullus called him, though not in his ſenſe; And a mover of ſedition amongſt all the Jewes, and a Ring, leader of tumults againſt the Church of Chriſt. Hee breathed out Acts 9. 1, 2. Acts 8. 3.nothing but threatnings and ſlaughters againſt the Diſciples of the Lord; And fearefull havock it was that he made with the Church; yetLupii …xuit ſubito, induitque agnum. Geor. Abbot. Cantua. Archie. de fuga in perſe. Linus de Paſſione Pauli. Mat. 3. 9. See Archb. Abbot in his ſix Queſtions determin'd at Oxford at the beginning of the 5. De ſug … in perſecutione. Acts 13. 9. Saul, abutens, vel abuſivum eorum. Philo. Interpr. Arquirius in Dictionario Theologico. Eucherius de Nomin. Hebraic. 1 Cor. 15. 9. Paulus, mirabilis, vel electus. S. Hieronim. Arquirius. Theolo. Dictio. John 22. 27. 1 Tim. 1. 15. Acts 9. 15. Acts 8. 1. Philem. 9. Acts. 13. 7. S. Hieronim. de claris Scriptorib. this furious Perſecutour of thoſe Chriſtians was ſoon turned to a zealous Preacher of Chriſtianity. This Wolf was turned ſoon into a Lamb, yea this crucifier of others was himſelf even crucified with Chriſt in his Life, and ſuffered for Chriſt at his Death.
Let no Man therefore here exclude himſelfe from hopes of Heaven. Let none diſpaire of his own converſion, or concrucifixion; God is able of ſtones to raiſe up children unto Abraham, of hard and ſtony hearted ſinners, he can make moſt tender hearted Chriſtians. He can make wheate of tares, corn of chaffe, floure of bra…, good of evill, gold of droſſe, light of darkneſſe, life of death, grace of nature, Quidlibet ex quolibet, A Paul of a Saul. This great Apoſtle was Saul at firſt, that is, Superbus, proud, and lofty, as Phariſees were wont to be; But he became a Paul at laſt, that is, humilis, humble and lowly; mirabilis, vel minimus, ſo Eucherius, Marvellous, or the meaneſt. Indeed he deemed himſelfe the least of all the Apoſtles, as well as the laſt, not worthy to be an Apoſtle, foraſmuch as he had ſo much oppoſed the truth of the Goſpel. And it was marvellous indeed that ever hee proved ſuch an Apoſtle as he did. But ſee what God can do, Thoſe things that ar… impoſſible with men, are poſſible with God, with him all things ar… poſſible, Mat. 19. …6. Then be not faithleſſe, but believing; Of the cheifeſt of ſinners, ſee one of the choyceſt of Saints, of a Veſſell of diſhonour, ſee now a Veſſell of honour, vas electionis, a choſen veſſel. Of a young Saul that conſented to the ſtoning of that holy Proto-Martyr S. Steven, ſee now an aged Paul, that converted S…rgius Paulus, Proconſull of Cyprus, and from that changing of him unto Chriſtianity had his own name changed amongſt the Chriſtians, from Saul to Paul, as S. Jerome avoucheth. The Name of Paul in the oldeſt holy language ſoundeth wonderfull, and full of wonder we may be, that ever the Man was changed ſo in Nam… and Nature. But let us more admire the Power of God, and godlineſſe in Paul, that did ſo change him in himſelf, and yet ſo keepe him in the change, that he might truely ſay, as he did, I am Crucified Buxtor. Etimol.with Christ, nevertheleſſe I live, yet not I, but Chriſt that liveth in me.
FINIS.
End of the text · Edward Willan, Six Sermons (1651)