Six Sermons Upon Several Occasions, Sermon 5 – Title page 6
John 5. 22.
The Father Judgeth no man, but hath committed all Judgement to the Sonne.
WHen our Saviour Chriſt forbids us to caſt pearls before ſwine, we underſtand Matth. 7. 6.ordinarily in that place, that by pearls are underſtood the Scriptures: and when we conſider the naturall generation and production of pearls, that they grow bigger and bigger by a continuall ſucceſſion and devolution of dew, and other glutinous moiſture, that falls upon them, and there condenſes and hardens, ſo that a pearl is but a bodie of many ſhells, many cruſts, many films, many coats enwrapped upon one another: to this ſcripture that we have in hand, doth that Metaphor of pearl very properly appertain; becauſe our Saviour Chriſt, in this chapter undertaking to prove his own divinitie and godhead to the Jews, who acknowledged and confeſſed the Father to be God, but denied it of him, he folds and wraps up reaſon upon reaſon, argument upon argument, that all things are common between the Father and him, that whatſoever the Father does, he does; whatſoever the Father is, the Sonne is: for firſt, he ſayes he is a partner, a copartner with the Father in the preſent adminiſtration and government of the world; My Father worketh hitherto, John 5. 17and I work: well, if the Father eaſe himſelf upon inſtruments now, yet was it ſo from the beginning? had he a part in the creation? yes: What John 5. 19things ſoever the Father doth, thoſe alſo doth the Sonne likewiſe. But doth this extend to the works properly and naturally belonging to God, to the remiſſion of ſinnes, to the infuſion of grace, to the ſpirituall reſurrection of them that are dead in their iniquities? yes, even to that too: For as the John 5. 21.Father raiſeth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even ſo the Sonne quickeneth whom he will. But hath not this power a determination and expiration? ſhall it end at the leaſt when the world ends? no, not then; for God hath given him authoritie to execute John 5. 27.judgement, becauſe he is the Sonne of man. Is there then no Superſedeas upon the commiſſion? is the Sonne equall with the Father in our eternall election, in the means of our ſalvation, in the laſt judgement, in all? In all. Omne judicium, God hath committed all judgement to the Sonne; and here is the pearl made up: the dew of Gods grace ſprinkle upon your ſouls, the beams of Gods Spirit ſhed upon your ſouls that effectuall and working knowledge, that he who died for your ſalvation, is perfect God aſwell as perfect man, fit and willing to accompliſh that ſalvation.
In handling then this judgement, which is a word that embraces and comprehends all, all from our election, where no merit, no future actions of ours were conſidered by God to our fruition and poſſeſſion of that election, where all our accounts ſhall be conſidered and recompenſed by him, we ſhall ſee firſt, that judgement belongs properly to God; and ſecondly, that God the Father, whom we conſider to be the root and fountain of the Deitie, can no more diveſt his judgement, then he can his godhead; and therefore in the third place we conſider, what that committing of judgement, which is mentioned here, imports; and then, to whom it is committed, to the Sonne; and laſtly, the largeneſſe of that commiſſion, Omne, All judgement, ſo that we cannot carrie our thoughts ſo high or ſo farre backwards, as to think of any judgement given upon us in Gods purpoſe or decree, without relation to Chriſt; nor ſo farre forwards, as to think there ſhall be a judgement given upon us, according to our good morall diſpoſitions or actions, but according to our apprehenſion and imitation of Chriſt. Judgement is a proper and inſeparable character of God; that is firſt: the Father cannot diveſt himſelf of that; that is next: the third is, that he hath committed it to another: and then the perſon, and that is his delegate, his onelyonly Sonne: and laſtly, his power is everlaſting, and that judgement-day that belongs to him, hath and ſhall laſt from our firſt election, through the participation of the means prepared by him in his Church, to our aſſociation and union with him in glorie; and ſo the whole circle of time, and before time was, and when time ſhall be no more, makes up but one judgement-day to him, to whom the Father, who judgeth no man, hath committed all judgement.
Firſt then, judgement appertains to God, it is Part. I his in criminall cauſes. Vindicta mihi, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, ſaith the Lord. It is ſo in civil things too, for God himſelf is proprietarie of all; Domini eſt terra & plenitudo ejus, The earth is the Lords, and all that is in and on the earth; your ſilver mine, and your gold mine, ſayes the Prophet, and the beaſts upon a thouſand mountains are mine, ſayes David: you are the uſufructuaries of them, but I am proprietarie. No attribute of God is ſo often iterated in the Scriptures, no act of God ſo often inculcated as this judge and judgement, no word concerning God ſo often repeated: but it is brought to the height in that place of the Pſalme, where we reade, God judgeth among the gods, the Pſal. 82. 1.Latine Church ever read it, Deus dijudicat deos, God judgeth the gods themſelves: for though God ſay of judges and magiſtrates, Ego dixi, Dii eſtis, I have ſaid, You are gods (and if God ſay it, who ſhall gainſay it?) yet he ſayes too, Moriemini ſicut homines; the greateſt gods upon earth die like men: and if that be not humiliation enough, there is more threatned in that which follows, Ye ſhall fall like one of the princes: for the fall of a prince involves the ruine of many others too, and it fills the world with horrour for the preſent, and dominions with diſcourſe for the future: but the fartheſt of all is, Deus dijudicabit deos, even theſe judges muſt come to judgement: and therefore that Pſalme which begins ſo, is concluded thus, Surge Domine, Ariſe O God, and judge the earth: if he have power to judge the earth, he is God; and even in God himſelf it is expreſſed, as a kinde of riſing, as ſome exaltation of his power, that he is to judge. And that place in the beginning of the Pſalme, many of the Ancients reade in the future, Dijudicabit, God ſhall judge the gods; becauſe the frame of the Pſalme ſeems to referre it to the laſt judgement. Tertullian read it Dijudicavit, as a thing paſt: God hath judged in all times, and the letter of the text requires it to be in the preſent, Dijudicat. Collect all, and judgement is ſo eſſentiall to God, as that it is coeternall with him: he hath, he doth, and he will judge the world, and the judges of the world. Other judges die like men, weakly; and they fall (that is worſe) ignominiouſly; and they fall like princes (that is worſe) fearfully and ſcornfully; and when they are dead and fallen, they riſe no more to execute judgement, but to have judgement executed upon them: the Lord dies not, he falls not; and if he ſeem to ſlumber, the martyrs under the altar awake him with their Ʋſque quò, Domine? How long, O Lord, before thou execute judgement? and he will ariſe and judge the world, for judgement is his. God putteth down one, and ſetteth up another, ſayes David: where hath he that power? why, God is the Judge, not a judge, but the Judge, and in that right he putteth down one, and ſetteth up another.
Now for this judgement which we place in God, we muſt conſider in God three notions, three apprehenſions, three kindes of judgements. Firſt, God hath Judicium deteſtationis; God doth naturally know, and therefore naturally deteſt all evil: for no man in the extreameſt corruption of nature is yet fallen ſo farre, as to love or approve evil, at the ſame time that he knows and acknowledges it to be evil. But we are ſo blinde in the knowledge of evil, that we needed that great ſupplement and aſſiſtance of the Law it ſelf to make us know what was evil. Moſes magnifies, and juſtly, the Law; Non appropinquavit, ſayes Moſes, God came not ſo neare to any nation as to the Jews: Non taliter fecit, God dealt not ſo well with any nation as with the Jews; and wherein? becauſe he had given them a Law: and yet we ſee the greateſt dignitie of this Law to be, that by the Law is the Rom. 3. 20.knowledge of ſinne; for though by the law of nature written in our hearts, there be ſome condemnation of ſome ſinnes; yet to know that every ſinne was treaſon againſt God, to know that every ſinne hath the reward of death and eternall death annexed to it, this knowledge we have onelyonly by the Law: now if man will pretend to be a judge, what an exact knowledge of the Law is required at his hands! for ſome things are ſinnes to one nation, which are not ſo to another; and where the juſt authorite of the lawfull Magiſtrate changes the nature of the thing, that which is naturally indifferent, is neceſſarie to them who are under his obedience: ſome things are ſinnes at one time, which are not ſo at another, as all the ceremoniall Law created new ſinnes, which were not ſinnes before that Law was given, nor ſince it expired: ſome things are ſinnes in a man now, which will not be ſinnes in the ſame man to morrow; as when a man hath contracted a juſt ſcruple againſt any particular action, it is a ſinne to do it during the ſcruple; and it may be a ſinne in him to omit it, when he hath digeſted the ſcruple. OnelyOnly God hath Judicium deteſtationis, he knows and therefore deteſts evil: and therefore flatter not thy ſoul with a Tuſh, God ſees it not; or, Tuſh, God cares not; doth it diſquiet him, or trouble his reſt in heaven, that I break his ſabbath here? doth it wound his bodie, or draw his bloud there, that I ſwear by his bodie and bloud here? doth it corrupt any of his virgins there, that I ſollicit the chaſtitie of a woman here? are his martyrs withdrawn from their allegeance, or retarded in their ſervice to him there, becauſe I dare not defend his cauſe, nor ſpeak for him, nor fight for him here? Beloved, as it is a degree of ſuperſtition, and an effect of an indiſcreet zeal perchance, to be too forward by making indifferent things neceſſarie, and ſo to imprint the nature and ſting of ſinne, where naturally it is not (for certainly it is a moſt ſlipperie and irreligious thing to be too apt to call things meerly indifferent, and to forget that even in eating and drinking, walking and ſleeping, the glorie of God is intermingled; as if we knew exactly the preſence and foreknowledge of God, there could be nothing contingent or caſuall; for though there be a contingencie in the nature of the thing, yet it is certain to God) ſo if we conſider duely wherein the glorie of God might be promoted in every action of ours, there could ſcarce be any action ſo indifferent, but that the glorie of God would turn the ſcale, and make it neceſſarie to me at that time: but then private intereſts and private reſpects create a new indifferencie to my apprehenſion, and call me to conſider that thing as it is in nature, and not as it is conditioned with the circumſtance of the glorie of God; and ſo I loſe that judicium deteſtationis, which onelyonly God hath abſolutely and perfectly, to know, and therefore to deteſt evil. And ſo he is a Judge. As he is a Judge ſo, judicat rem, he judges the nature of a thing; he is ſo too, that he hath judicium diſcretionis, and ſo judicat perſonam: he knows what is evil, and he diſcerns when thou committeſt that evil. Here you are fain to ſupply defects of laws, that things done in our countrey may be tried in another; and that in offences of high nature, tranſmarine offences might be enquired and tried here: but as the Prophet ſayes, Who hath meaſured the waters in the hollow Iſa. 40. 12.of his hand, or meted out the heavens with a ſpanne? who comprehended the duſt of the earth in a meaſure, or weighed the mountains in a ſcale? ſo I ſay, Who hath divided heaven into ſhires or pariſhes, or limited the territories or juriſdictions there, that God ſhould not have and exerciſe judicium diſcretionis, the power of diſcerning all actions in all places, when there was no more to be ſeen nor conſidered upon the whole earth, but the garden of Paradiſe? for from the beginning, Deliciae ejus eſſe cum filiis hominum, Gods delight was to be with the ſonnes of men; and man was onelyonly there. Shall we not diminiſh God or ſpeak too vulgarly of him, to ſay that he hovered like a falcon over Paradiſe, and that from the height of heaven the piercing eye of God ſaw ſo little a thing as the forbidden fruit, and what became of that? and the reaching eare of God heard the hiſſing of the ſerpent, and the whiſpering of the woman, and what was concluded upon that? ſhall we think it little to have ſeen things done in Paradiſe, when there was nothing elſe to divert his eye, nothing elſe to diſtract his counſels, nothing elſe done upon the face of the earth? take the earth now as it is repleniſhed, and take it either as it is torn and crumbled in rags and ſhivers, not a kingdome, not a family, not a man agreeing with himſelf; or take it in that concord which is in it, as all the kings of the earth ſet themſelves, and all the rulers of the earth take counſel together againſt Pſal. 2. 2.the Lord; take it in this union, or this diſunion; in this concord, or this diſconcord; ſtill the Lord that ſitteth in the heavens diſcerns all, looks at all, laughs at all, and hath them in deriſion. Earthly judges have their diſtrictions, and ſo their reſtrictions; ſome things they cannot know: what mortall man can know all? ſome things they cannot take knowledge of, for they are bounded: no cloud, no darkneſſe, no diſguiſe keeps him from diſcerning and judging all our actions: and ſo he is a Judge too. And he is ſo laſtly, as he hath Judicium retributionis: God knows what is evil, and he knows when that evil is done, and he knows how to puniſh and recompenſe that evil. For the office of a judge who judges according to a law, being not to contract nor to extend that law, but to know what was the true meaning of the lawmaker, when he made that law; God hath this judgement in perfection, becauſe he himſelf made that Law by which he judges. When he hath ſaid, Stipendium peccati mors eſt, Every ſinne ſhall be rewarded with death; If I ſinne againſt the 1. Sam. 2. 25Lord, who ſhall intreat for me? who ſhall give any other interpretation, any modification, any Non obſtante upon his Law in my behalf? when he comes to judge me according to that Law which himſelf hath made, who ſhall think to delude the Judge, and ſay, Surely this was not the meaning of the Law-giver, when he who is the Judge, was the Law-maker too.
And then as God is Judge in all theſe three reſpects, ſo he is a Judge in them all Sine appellatione, and Sine judiciis: man cannot appeal from God: God needs no evidence from man. For the appeal firſt, to whom ſhould we appeal from the Soveraigne? wrangle as long as we will, who is chief Juſtice, and which Countie hath juriſdiction one over another? I know the chief Juſtice, and I know the Soveraigne court; the King of heaven and earth ſhall ſend his miniſtring ſpirits, his Angels, to the wombe and bowels of the earth, and to the boſome and bottome of the ſea, and earth and ſea ſhall deliver Corpus cum cauſa, all the bodies of the dead, and all their actions, to receive a judgement in his court; when it will be an erroneous and frivolous appeal to call to the hills to fall down upon us, and to the mountains to cover and hide us from the wrathfull judgement of God.
He is Judge then, Sine appellatione, Without any appeal from him; he is ſo too Sine judiciis, Without any evidence from us. Now if I be warie in my actions here, incarnate devils, detractours and informers cannot accuſe me: if my ſinne come not into action, but lie onelyonly in my heart, the devil himſelf, who is the Accuſer of the brethren, hath no evidence againſt me. But God knows the heart: Doth not he that pondereth the heart, underſtand Prov. 24. 12it? where it is not in that faint word which the vulgar edition hath expreſſed it in, Suſpector cordium, that God ſees the heart; but the word is Fochen, that is, every where to weigh, to number, to ſearch, to examine; as the word is uſed by Solomon: again, The Lord weigheth the ſpirits: and Prov. 16. 2.it muſt be a ſteadie hand and exact ſcales that ſhall weigh ſpirits: ſo though neither man nor devil, nay, nor my ſelf give evidence againſt me; yea, though I know nothing by my ſelf, I am not thereby juſtified. Why? where is the further danger? in this which follows there, in S. Paul, He that judgeth 1. Cor. 4. 4.me is the Lord: and the Lord hath means to know my heart better then my ſelf. And therefore S. Auguſtine makes uſe of thoſe words, Abyſſus Pſal. 42. 9.abyſſum invocat, One depth calls up another, the infinite depth of my ſinnes muſt call upon the infinite depth of Gods merciemercy: for if God who is a Judge in all theſe reſpects, Judicio deteſtationis (he knows and abhorres evil) and Judicio diſcretionis (he diſcerns every evil perſon and every evil action) and Judicio retributionis (he can and will recompenſe evil with evil) and all theſe Sine appellatione (we cannot appeal from him) and Sine judiciis (he needs no evidence from us) if this Judge enter into judgement with me, not onelyonly not I, but not the moſt righteous man, nay, nor the Church, whom he hath waſhed in his bloud, that ſhe might be without ſpot or wrinkle, ſhall appeare righteous in his ſight.
This then being thus, that judgement is an inſeparable Part. II character of God, and God the Father being Fons deitatis, the root and ſpring of the whole deitie, how is it ſaid that the Father judgeth no man? not that we ſhould conceive a wearineſſe or retiring in the Father, or a diſcharging of himſelf upon the ſhoulders and labours of another, in the adminiſtration and judging of this world; for as it is truely ſaid that God reſted the ſeventh day (that is, he reſted from working in that kinde, from creating) ſo it is true that Chriſt ſayes here, My Father worketh yet, and I work; and ſo it is truely ſaid here, The Father judgeth no man; it is truely John 8. 5.ſaid by Chriſt too, of the Father, I ſeek not mine own glorie, there is one that ſeeketh and judgeth; ſtill it is true that God hath Judicium deteſtationis. Thy eyes are pure eyes, O Lord, and cannot behold iniquitie, ſayes the Prophet: ſtill it is true that he hath Judicium diſcretionis; Becauſe they committed Jer. 29. 23.Villanie in Iſrael, even I know it, ſaith the Lord: ſtill it is true that he hath Judicium retributionis; The Lord killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth 1. Sam. 2. 6.down to the grave, and bringeth up: ſtill it is true that he hath all theſe Sine appellatione; for go to the ſea, or earth, or hell, as David makes the diſtribution, and God is there: and he hath them Sine judiciis, for our witneſſe is in heaven, and our record on high. All this is undeniably true; and beſides this, that great name of God by which he is firſt called in the Scriptures, ELOHIM, is not inconveniently derived from Elah, which is jurare, to ſwear. God is able as a Judge to miniſter an oath unto us, and to draw evidence from our own conſciences againſt our ſelves: ſo that then the Father judgeth ſtill, but he judges as God, and not as the Father. In the three great judgements of God, the whole Trinitie judges. In the firſt judgement before all times, which was Gods judiciarie ſeparating of veſſels of honour from veſſels of diſhonour, in our election and reprobation; In his ſecond judgement, which is in execution now, which is Gods judiciarie ſeparating of ſervants from enemies, in the ſeals and in the adminiſtration of the Chriſtian Church; And in the laſt judgement, which ſhall be Gods judiciarie ſeparating ſheep from goats to everlaſting glorie or condemnation: In all theſe three judgements all the three perſons of the Trinitie are Judges. Conſider God all together, and ſo in all outward works all the Trinitie concurres, becauſe all are but one God: but conſider God in relation, in diſtinct perſons, and ſo the ſeverall perſons of the Trinitie do ſome things which the other perſons of the Trinitie are not intereſſed in: the Sonne had not generation from himſelf, ſo as he had from the Father; and the holy Ghoſt, as a diſtinct perſon, had none at all; the holy Ghoſt had a proceeding from the Father and the Sonne, but from the Sonne a perſon, who had his generation from another, but not ſo from the Father. Not to ſtray into clouds or perplexities in the contemplation, God, that is, the whole Trinitie, judges ſtill; but ſo as the Sonne judgeth, the Father judgeth not, for that judgement he hath committed. That we may husband our houre as well, and reſcribe as much as we can for our two laſt conſiderations, the Cui and the Quid, To whom, and that is to the Sonne; and what he hath committed, and that is all judgement; we will not ſtand much upon this, more needs not then this, that God in his wiſdome foreſeeing that man by his weakneſſe would not be able to ſettle himſelf upon the conſideration of God and his judgements, as they are meerly ſpirituall and heavenly, out of his abundant goodneſſe hath eſtabliſhed a judgement, and ordained a judge upon earth like himſelf, and like our ſelves too: that as no man hath ſeen God, ſo no man ſhould go about to ſee his unſearchable decrees & judgements, but reſt in thoſe ſenſible and viſible means which he hath afforded, that is, Chriſt Jeſus ſpeaking in his Church, and applying his bloud unto us in the ſacraments unto the worlds end. God might have ſuffered Abraham to reſt in the firſt generall promiſe, Semen mulieris, The ſeed of the woman ſhall bruiſe the ſerpents head: but he would bring it nearer to a viſible, to a perſonall covenant, In ſemine tuo, In thy ſeed ſhall all nations be bleſſed: he might well have let him reſt in that appropriation of his promiſe to his race; but he would proceed further, and ſeal it with a ſenſible ſeal in his fleſh, with circumciſion. He might have let him reſt in that ratification, that a Meſſias ſhould come by that way: but he would refreſh it by a continuall ſucceſſion of Prophets till the Meſſias ſhould come. And now that he is come and gone, ſtill God purſues the ſame way, How ſhould they beleeve except they heare? And therefore God evermore ſupplies his Church with viſible and ſenſible means, and knowing that the naturall inclination of man, who when he cannot have or cannot comprehend the originall and prototype, deſires to ſatisfie and refreſh himſelf with a picture and repreſentation: ſo, though God hath forbidden us that ſlipperie, frivolous, and dangerous uſe of graven images; yet he hath afforded us his Sonne, who is the image of the inviſible God, and ſo more proportionall to us, more apprehenſible by us: and ſo this committing is no more but that God (in another form then that of God) hath manifeſted his power of judging. And this committing, this manifeſting, is In Filio, In his Sonne.
But in our entrance into the handling of this, we ask onelyonly this queſtion, Cui Filio? To which Sonne of God is this commiſſion given? not that God hath more ſonnes then one, but becauſe that one Sonne is his Sonne by a twofold filiation; by an internall and expreſſible generation, and by a temporarie and miraculous incarnation: in which of theſe rights is this commiſſion derived upon him? doth he judge as he is the Sonne of God, or as he is the ſonne of man? I am not ordinarily bold in determining points (eſpecially if they were fundamentall) wherein I finde the Fathers among themſelves, and the School in it ſelf, and reverend Divines of the Reformation amongſt themſelves to differ: But yet neither am I willing to raiſe doubts, and leave the auditorie unſatisfied and unſettled. We are not upon a lecture, but upon a ſermon, and therefore we will not multiply varietie of opinions. Summe up the Fathers upon one ſide in S. Ambroſe mouth, and they will ſay with him, Deditutique generando, non largiendo, God gave his Sonne this commiſſion then, and when was that then? then when he begat him, and then he muſt have it by his eternall generation, as the Sonne of God. Summe up the Fathers now on the other ſide in S. Auguſtines mouth, and there they will ſay with him, that it is ſo cleare and ſo certain, that whatſoever is ſaid in the Scripture to be committed or given to Chriſt, belongs to Chriſt as the ſonne of man, and not as the Sonne of God, as that the other opinion cannot be maintained, and at this diſtance we ſhall never bring them to meet: but take in this rule, Judicium convenit ei ut homo, cauſa ut Deus; God hath given this commiſſion to Chriſt as man; but Chriſt had not been capable of this commiſſion, if he had not been God too: and ſo it is eaſily to be reconciled. If we ſhall hold ſimply to the letter of the text, Pater dedit, then it will ſeem to be committed unto him in his eternall generation, becauſe that was a work of the Father onelyonly, and in that generation the holy Ghoſt had no part: but ſince in this judgement which is now committed to him, the holy Ghoſt hath a part; (for, as we ſaid before, the judgement is an act of the whole Trinitie) and that is as he is man; for, Tota Trinitas univit Auguſt.humanitatem, the hypoſtaticall union of God and man, in the perſon of Chriſt, was a work of the whole Trinitie.
Taking it then ſo ſettled, that the capacitie of this judgement, and (if we may ſay ſo) the future title to it, was given to him as God, by his eſſence, in his eternall generation, by which Non vitae particeps, ſed vita naturaliter eſt, We cannot ſay that Chriſt hath life, but that he is Life, and the Life; for whatſover the Father is, He is, excepting onelyonly the name and relation of Father; the capacitie, the abilitie is in him eternally, before any imaginable, any poſſible conſideration of time. But the power of the actuall execution of this judgement, which is given and is committed, is in him as man; becauſe, as the ſame father ſayes, Ad hominem dicitur, Quid habes quod non accepiſti? when S. Paul ſayes, What haſt thou that thou haſt not received? he asks that queſtion of man; that which is received, is received as man. For Bellarmine in a place where he diſpoſes himſelf to quarrell at ſome form of words of Calvins, though he confeſſe the matter to be true, and (as he calls it there) Catholick, ſayes, Eſſentiam genitam negamus, We confeſſe that Chriſt hath not his eſſence from his Father by generation. The relation and filiation he hath from his Father; he hath the name of Sonne, but he hath not the execution of this judgement, by that relation, by that filiation: ſtill as he is the Sonne of God, he hath that capacitie; as the ſonne of man, he hath the execution. And therefore Proſper, that follows S. Auguſtine, limits it (perchance too narrowly) to the fleſh, to the humanitie; Ipſa, non ipſe, erit Judex, quae ſub judice ſtetit; & ipſa judicabit, quae judicata eſt: where he places not this judgement upon the mixt perſon (which is the ſafeſt way) of God and man, but upon man alone. God hath appointed a day in which Act. 17. 31.he will judge the world in righteouſneſſe; but by whom? By that man whom he hath ordained. God will judge ſtill, but ſtill in Chriſt: and therefore ſayes S. Auguſtine upon thoſe words, Ariſe O God Pſal. 82. 8.and judge the earth, Cui Deo dicitur, Surge, niſi ei qui dormivit? What God doth David call upon to ariſe, but that God who lay down to ſleep in the grave? as though he ſhould ſay, ſayes S. Auguſtine, Dormiviſti judicatus à terra, ſurge & judica terram: ſo that to collect all, though judgement be ſuch a character of God as God cannot diveſt; yet the Father hath committed ſuch a judgement to the Sonne as none but he can execute.
And what is that? Omne judicium, All judgement, that is, Omne imperium, omnem poteſtatem: It is preſented in the name of judgement, but it involves all. It is literally and particularly judgement in S. John; The Father hath given him authoritie to John 5. 27.execute judgement: it is extended into power in S. Matthew; All power is given to me in heaven and Matt. 28. 18in earth: and it is enlarged as farre further, as can be expreſſed, in another place of S. Matthew; All Matt. 11. 27things are delivered me of my Father. Now all this our Saviour Chriſt Jeſus exerciſes either Per carnem, or at the leaſt In carne; whatſoever the Father does, the Sonne does alſo In carne, becauſe now there is an inſeparable union between God and humane nature: the Father creates new ſouls every day in the inanimation of children, and the Sonne creates them with him. The Father concurres with all ſecond cauſes, as the firſt moving cauſe of all in naturall things. And all this the Sonne doth too, but this is In carne; though he be in our humane fleſh, he is not the leſſe able to do the acts belonging to the godhead: but Per carnem, by the fleſh inſtrumentally he executes judgement, becauſe he is the ſonne of man. God hath been ſo indulgent to man, as that there ſhould be no judgement given upon man, but man ſhould give it.
Chriſt then having all judgement, or (to refreſh your memories) thoſe three judgements which we touched upon before, firſt the judgement of our election, ſevering of veſſels of honour and diſhonour; next, the judgement of juſtification here, ſevering friends from enemies; and then the judgement of glorification, ſevering the ſheep from the goats: and for the firſt, of our election, as if I were under the condemnation of the Law for ſome capitall offence, and going to execution, and the kings merciemercy expreſſed in a ſealed pardon were preſented me, I ſhould not ſtand to enquire what moved the king to do it, what he ſaid to any bodie elſe, what any bodie elſe ſaid to him, what he ſaw in me, or what he looked for at my hands; but embrace that merciemercy cheerfully and thankfully, and attribute it onelyonly to his abundant goodneſſe: ſo when I conſider my ſelf to have been let fall into this world, In maſſa damnata, under the generall condemnation of mankinde, and yet by the working of Gods Spirit I finde at firſt a deſire, and after a modeſt aſſurance, that I am delivered from that condemnation; I enquire not what God did in his bed-chamber, in his cabinet-counſel, in his eternall decree; I know that he hath made Judicium electionis in Chriſt Jeſus; and therefore that I may know whether I do not deceive my ſelf, in preſuming my ſelf to be of that number, I come down and examine my ſelf, whether I can truely tell my conſcience that Chriſt Jeſus died for me; which I cannot do, if I have not a deſire and endeavour to conform my ſelf unto him: and if I do that, there I finde my predeſtination, I am a Chriſtian, and I will not offer before my maſter Chriſt Jeſus: I cannot be ſaved before there was a Saviour; in Chriſt Jeſus is omne judicium, all judgement; and therefore the judgement of election, the firſt ſeparating of veſſels of honour and diſhonour, in election and reprobation, was Jeſus Chriſt.
Much more evidently is the ſecond judgement of our juſtification, by means ordained in the Chriſtian Church, the judgement of Chriſt. It is the Goſpel of Chriſt which is preached unto you there, it is the bloud of Chriſt which is preſented unto you there; there is no other name given under heaven whereby you may be ſaved, there are no other means given wherein ſalvation ſhould be applied in his name, but thoſe which he hath inſtituted in his Church: ſo that when I come to the ſecond judgement, to trie whether I ſtand juſtified in the ſight of God or no, I come for that judgement to Chriſt in his Church. Do I remember what I contracted with Chriſt Jeſus, when I took the name of a Chriſtian at my entrance into the Church by Baptiſme? do I finde that I have endeavoured to perform thoſe conditions? do I finde remorſe when I have not performed them? do I ſeek the meſſage of remiſſion of ſinnes, from the mouth of his miniſter? have I a true and ſound conſolation without ſhift, or diſguiſe, or flattering of my conſcience, when I receive the ſeal of his pardon in the ſacrament? Beloved, not in any morall integritie, not in keeping the conſcience of an honeſt man in generall, but in uſing well the means ordained by Chriſt in the Chriſtian Church, am I juſtified: and therefore this judgement of juſtification is his too.
And then the third and laſt judgement, which is the judgement of glorification, that is eaſily agreed by all, that it appertains to Chriſt. Idem Jeſus, The ſame Jeſus that aſcended, ſhall come to judgement: Videbunt quem pupugerunt. Every Apoc. 1. 7.eye ſhall ſee him, and they alſo which pierced him. Then the ſonne of man ſhall come in glorie, & he as man ſhall give the judgement for things done or omitted towards him as man, for not feeding, for not clothing, for not harbouring, for not viſiting. The ſumme of all is, that this is the overflowing goodneſſe of God, that he deals with man by the ſonne of man, and that he hath ſo given all judgement to the Sonne, as that if you would be tried by the firſt judgement, Are you elected or no? the iſſue is, do you beleeve in Chriſt, or no? if you would be tried by the ſecond judgement, Are you juſtified, or no? the iſſue is, do you finde comfort in the application of the word and ſacraments of Chriſt Jeſus, or no? If you would be tried by the third judgement, Do you expect a glorification or no? the iſſue is, are you ſo reconciled to Chriſt Jeſus now by heartie repentance for ſinnes paſt, and by a deteſtation of occaſions of future ſinnes, that you durſt welcome that Angel that ſhould come at this time, and ſwear that time ſhould be no more, that your tranſmigration out of this world ſhould be this minute, and that this minute you could ſay unfeignedly and effectually, Veni Domine Jeſu, Come Lord Jeſus, come quickly, come now? If this be your ſtate, then are you partakers of all that bleſſedneſſe which the Father intended to you, when for your ſakes he committed all judgement to the Sonne.
FINIS.
A SERMON Upon the xv verſe of the viii Chapter of JOHN.
By Dr. DONNE DEAN OF PAƲLS.
¶ Printed by the Printers to the Ʋniverſitie of CAMBRIDGE.
MDCXXXIIII.