Six Sermons Upon Several Occasions, Sermon 6
John 8. 15.
I Judge no man.
THe rivers of Paradiſe did not all runne one way, and yet they flowed from one head. The ſentences of the Scripture flow all from one head, from the holy Ghoſt, and yet they ſeem to preſent divers ſenſes, and to admit divers interpretations: in ſuch an appearance doth the text differ from that which I handled in the morning. And as heretofore I found it an uſuall and acceptable labour, to employ our evening exerciſes upon the vindicating of ſuch places of Scripture, as our adverſaries of the Romane Church had detorted in ſome points of controverſie between them and us, and reſtoring thoſe places to their true ſenſe (which courſe I held conſtantly for one whole yeare) ſo I think it an uſuall and acceptable labour now, to employ for a time theſe evening exerciſes, to reconcile ſome ſuch places of Scripture as may at firſt ſight ſeem to differ one from another. In the morning we ſaw how Chriſt judged all; now we are to ſee how he judgeth none, I judge no man.
To come then to theſe preſent words, here we have the ſame perſon Chriſt Jeſus; and hath he not the ſame office? is not he Judge? certainly though he retain all his other offices, though he be the Redeemer, and hath ſhed bloud, in value ſatisfactorie for all our ſinnes; though he be our Advocate and plead for us in heaven, and preſent our evidence to that kingdome, written in his bloud, ſealed in his wounds: yet if he be not our Judge, we cannot ſtand in judgement. Shall he be our Judge, and is he not our Judge yet? long before we were, he was our Judge, at the ſeparation of the elect and reprobate in Gods eternall decree: was he our Judge then, and is he not ſtill? ſtill he is preſent in his Church, and cleares us in all ſcruples, rectifies us in all errours, erects us in all dejections of ſpirit, pronounces peace and reconciliation in all apprehenſions of his judgements, by his word, by his ſacraments: was he, and is he, and ſhall he not be our Judge ſtill? I am Job 19. 25.ſure my Redemer liveth, and he ſhall ſtand at the laſt day on the earth; ſo that Chriſt Jeſus is the ſame to day, and yeſterday, and for ever, before the world began, and world without end; ſicut erat in principio, as he was in the beginning, he is, and ſhall be ever our Judge.
So that then theſe words are not de tempore, but de modo: there was never any time when Chriſt was not Judge; but there were ſome manner of judgements, which Chriſt did never exerciſe. And Chriſt had no commiſſion which he did not execute, for he did all his Fathers will. Firſt, In ſecularibus, in civil and criminall buſineſſes, which belong meerly to the judicature and cogniſance of the world, Judicat neminem, Chriſt judges no man. Secondly, Secundum carnem, ſo as they to whom Chriſt ſpoke this, who judged (as himſelf ſayes here) according to fleſhly affections, Judicat neminem, He judges no man. And thirdly, Ad internecionem, ſo as that upon that judgement a man ſhould deſpair of any reconciliation, any redintegration with God again, and be without hope of pardon or remiſſion of ſinnes in this world, Judicat neminem, He judges no man. Firſt, Chriſt uſurps upon no mans juriſdictions; that were againſt juſtice. Secondly, he imputes no falſe things to any man; that were againſt charitie. Thirdly, Chriſt induces no man to deſperation; that were againſt faith: and againſt juſtice, againſt charitie, againſt faith, Judicat neminem.
Firſt then, Chriſt judges not in ſecular judgements, Part. I and we note his abſence therein, firſt in civil matters. When one of the companie ſaid unto him, Maſter, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me, (as S. Auguſtine ſayes) the partie thought his cauſe to be juſt, and he thought Chriſt to be a competent Judge in the cauſe; yet Chriſt declines the judgement, diſavows the authoritie, and he anſwers, Homo, quis me conſtituit judicem? Luk. 12. 14.Man, who made me a judge between you two? That generall which we had in the morning, Omne judicium, The Sonne hath all judgement, here is an exception of the ſame Judges making: for in ſecular judgement Nemo conſtituit, He had no commiſſion; and therefore Judicat neminem, He judges no man: he forbore in civil, he forbore in criminall matters too. For when the woman taken in adulterie was brought before him, he condemned her not: he undertook no office of a Judge, but of a ſweet and ſpirituall counſellour, Go and ſinne no more; for this was his element, his tribunall.
When then Chriſt ſayes of himſelf with ſuch a pregnant negative, Quis me conſtituit judicem? may not we ſay ſo too, to his pretended Vicar the Biſhop of Rome? Quis te? Who made you a judge of kings, and that you ſhould depoſe them in criminall cauſes? or who made you proprietour of kingdomes, that you ſhould diſpoſe of them as of civil inheritance? when to countenance ſuch a pretence, they detort places of Scripture not onelyonly perverſly, but ſenſeleſly, blaſphemouſly, and ridiculouſly (as ridiculouſly as in their paſquils) when in an undiſcreet ſhameleſneſſe, to make their power greater then it is, they make their fault greater then it is too, and fill their hiſtories with kings depoſed by Popes, which in truth were not depoſed by them (for in that they are more innocent then they confeſſe themſelves) when ſome of their authours ſay that the Primitive Church abſtained from depoſing of the Emperours, onelyonly becauſe ſhe was not ſtrong enough to do it; when ſome of them ſay that all the Chriſtian kingdomes of the earth may fall into the Church of Rome by faults in thoſe princes; when ſome of them ſay that de facto the Pope hath alreadie a good title to every Chriſtian kingdome; when ſome of them ſay the world will never be well governed till the Pope himſelf puts himſelf in poſſeſſion of all (all which ſeverall propoſitions are in ſeverall authours of good reputation amongſt them) will he not endure Chriſts own queſtion, Quis to conſtituit? Who made you a judge of all this? if they ſay Chriſt did, did he it in his doctrine? it is hard to pretend that: for ſuch an inſtitution as that muſt have very cleare, very pregnant words to carrie it. Did he do it by his example and practiſe? we ſee he abſtained in civil, he abſtained in criminall cauſes. When they come to their laſt ſhift, that Chriſt did exerciſe judiciarie authoritie, when he whipt merchants out of the temple, when he curſed the fig-tree, and damnified the owner thereof, when he deſtroyed the herd of ſwine (for there, ſay they, the devil was but the executioner, Chriſt was the Judge) to all theſe and ſuch as theſe, it is enough to ſay all theſe were miraculous and not ordinarie: and though it might ſeem half a miracle, how that Biſhops ſhould exerciſe ſo much authoritie as he hath done, over the world; yet when we look nearer, and ſee his means that he hath done all this by, by maſſacres, & that of millions, by withdrawing ſubjects from their allegeance, by aſſaſſinating and murdering of princes; when we know that miracles are without means, and we ſee the means of his proceedings, the miracle ceaſeth: howſoever that Biſhop, as Chriſts Vicar, can claim no other power then was ordinarie in Chriſt, and ſo exerciſed by Chriſt; and ſo Judicat neminem, In ſecular judgement Chriſt judges no man; and therefore that Biſhop, as his Vicar, ſhould not.
Secondly, Chriſt judges no man by calumnie, Part. II by imputing or laying falſe aſperſions upon him, nor true things extrajudicially: for that is a degree of calumnie, and ſlander, and detraction, ſo large a field, as that we may fight out the laſt drop of our bloud, preach out the laſt gaſp of our breath, before we overcome it. Thoſe to whom Chriſt ſpoke here, were ſuch as gave perverſe judgements, and calumniated the cenſures upon him; and ſo he judges no man: we need not inſiſt upon that, for it is manifeſtè verum: but that we may ſee our danger and our dutie, what calumnie is, and ſee how to avoid it actively, and how to bear it paſſively, I muſt by your leave ſtop a little upon it.
When we would preſent to you that monſter, ſlander and calumnie, though it be hard to bring it within any compaſſe of a diviſion, yet to take the largeneſſe of the School, and ſay that every calumnie is either direct or indirect, that will comprehend all; and then a direct calumnie will have three branches; Either to lay a falſe and unjuſt imputation; Or elſe to aggravate a juſt imputation with unneceſſarie, but heavie circumſtances; Or thirdly, to reveal a fault which in it ſelf was ſecret, and I by no dutie bound to diſcover it. And then the indirect calumnie will have three branches too; Either to deny expreſſely ſome good that is in another; Or to ſmother it in ſilence, when my teſtimonie were due to him, and might advantage him; Or laſtly, to diminiſh his good parts, and ſay they are well, but not ſuch as the world eſteems them to be. Collect them again (for that is all we are able to do) that he is a direct calumniatour, that imputes a falſe crime, that aggravateth a true crime, that diſcovers any crime extrajudicially; That he is an indirect calumniatour, that denies another mans ſufficiencies, that conceals them, that diminiſhes them. Take in ſome of S. Bernards examples of theſe rules, that it is a calumnie to ſay, Doleo vehementer, I am ſorie at the heart for ſuch a man, becauſe I love him, but I would never draw him from ſuch and ſuch vice; or to ſay, Per me nunquam innotuiſſet, I ſhould never have ſpoken of it; yet ſince all the world talks of it, the truth muſt not be diſguiſed; and ſo take occaſion to diſcover a fault which no bodie knew before, and thereby, as the ſame Father ſayes, Cum gravamine & tarditate aggredi maledictionem, to cut a mans throat gravely and ſoberly, and ſo much the more perſwaſively, becauſe he ſeems and pretends to do it all againſt his will. This being the rule, and this being the example, who amongſt us is free from the paſſive calumnie? whom amongſt us hath not ſome other man calumniated? nay, who is free from the active part? which of us hath not in ſome of theſe degrees calumniated ſome other?
But thoſe of whom Chriſt makes this exception here, that he judges no man as they judge, were ſuch calumniatours as David ſpeaks of, Sedens adverſus fratrem tuum loquebaris, Thou ſateſt and Pſal. 50. 20ſpakeſt againſt thy neighbour: as S. Auguſtine notes upon that place, Non tranſitoriè, non ſurreptionis paſsione, ſed quaſi ad hoc vacans; Not by chance and unawares, not in paſſion, becauſe he had offended thee; not for companie, becauſe thou wouldſt be of their mindes, but as though thy profeſſion would bear thee out in it, to leave the cauſe, and lay an aſperſion upon the perſon, ſo thou art a calumniatour. They eat up my people like Pſal. 53. 5.bread, as David ſayes in Gods perſon: and upon thoſe words of the ſame Prophet, ſayes the ſame Father, De caeteris, When we eat of any thing elſe, we taſte of this diſh, and we taſte of that. Non ſemper hoc olus, ſayes he; We do not alwayes eat of one ſallet, one meat, one kinde of fruit; ſed ſemper panem; whatſoever we eat elſe, we eat bread: howſoever they employed their thoughts or their wits otherwiſe, it was ever one exerciſe of them to calumniate Chriſt Jeſus. And in that kinde of calumnie, which is the bittereſt of all, they abounded moſt, which is, in ſcorn and deriſion. David and Job, who were ſlander-proof in a good meaſure, yet every where complain paſſionately, that they were made a ſcorn, that the wits made libels, that drunkards ſung ſongs, that fools and children of fools derided them: and when Saul was in his laſt, but worſt agonie, and had abandoned himſelf to a preſent death, and prayed his armour-bearer to kill him, it was not becauſe the uncircumciſed ſhould not kill him, for he deſired death, and he had their deadly arrows alreadie in his boſome; but it was (as it is expreſſed there) leſt the uncircumciſed ſhould come and abuſe him; he was afraid of ſcorn, when he had but a few minutes of life. Since then Chriſt judgeth no man, as they did, Secundum carnem, neither Secundum carnem ejus, according to the outward appearance (for they thought no better of Chriſt then he ſeemed to be (as ſome Fathers take that phraſe) Nec ſecundum carnem ſuam, nor according to his own fleſhly paſſions, as ſome others take it; judge not you neither. Firſt, Judge not that ye be Matt. 7. 1.not judged, that is, (as Ambroſe interprets it well enough) Nolite judicare de judiciis Dei, When you ſee Gods judgements fall upon a man, do not you judge that that man ſinned more then you; when you ſee another man born blinde, do not you think that he or his father had ſinned, and that you are onelyonly derived from a pure generation; eſpecially Non maledicas ſurdo, Speak not evil of the deaf that Lev. 19. 14.heares not, that is, as Gregorie interprets it (if not literally, yet appliably and uſefully) Calumniate not him who is abſent, and cannot defend himſelf. It is the devils office to be Accuſator fratrum: and though God do not ſay in the Law, Non erit, yet he ſayes, Non eris criminator; It is not plainly, There ſhall be no informer: for as we diſpute, and Levit. 19. 16for the moſt part affirm in the School, that though we could, we may deſtroy no entire ſpecies of the creatures which God made at firſt, though it were a tiger or a viper, becauſe this were to take one link of Gods chain out of the world; ſo ſuch vermin as informers, may not for ſome good uſe that is of them be taken away: though it be not, Non erit, There ſhall be none; yet it is at leaſt by way of good counſel to thee, Non eris, Thou ſhalt not be the man, thou ſhalt not be the informer: and for reſiſting thoſe that are, we are bound, not onelyonly not to burn our neighbours houſe, but to help him, if caſually his houſe fall on fire: we are bound, where we have authoritie, to ſtop the mouthes of other calumniatours; where we have no authoritie, yet (ſince as the north winde driveth Pro. 25. 23.away rain, ſo an angrie countenance driveth away a backbiting tongue) at leaſt to deal ſo with a libeller, with a calumniatour: for he that looks pleaſantly, and hearkens willingly to one libell, makes another, occaſions a ſecond. Alwayes remember Davids caſe, when he thought he had been giving judgement againſt another, he was more ſevere, more heavie then the law admitted: the Law was, that he that had ſtolen the ſheep, ſhould reſtore fourefold; And Davids anger was kindled, ſayes the 2. Sam. 12. 5.text, and he ſwore, As the Lord liveth, that man ſhall reſtore fourefold: Et filius mortis, and he ſhall ſurely die. O judicis effluentem juſtitiam! O ſuperabundant and overflowing juſtice, when we judge another in paſſion! But this is Judicium ſecundum carnē, according to which Chriſt judgeth no man: for Chriſt is Love, and that non cogitat malum, Love thinks no evil any way; the charitable man 1. Cor. 13. 5.neither meditates evil againſt another, nor beleeves eaſily any evil to be in another, though it be told him.
Laſtly, Chriſt judgeth no man Ad internecionem, he judges no man ſo in this world, as to give a finall condemnation upon him here; there is no errour in any of his judgements, but there is an appeal from all his judgements in this world, there is a verdict againſt every man; every man may finde his caſe recorded, and his ſinne condemned in the Law; and in the Prophets there is a verdict, but before judgement God would have every man ſaved by his book, by the apprehenſion and application of the gracious promiſes of the Goſpel to his caſe, and his conſcience. Chriſt judgeth no man ſo as that he ſhould ſee no remedie but to curſe God and die, nor ſo as that he ſhould ſay his ſinne were greater then God could forgive: For God ſent not his Sonne into the world to condemne the world, but that the world through him might be John 3. 17.ſaved.
Do not then give malicious evidence againſt thy ſelf, do not weaken the merit, nor leſſen the value of the bloud of thy Saviour, as though thy ſinne were greater then it is. Doth God deſire thy bloud now, when he hath abundantly ſatisfied his juſtice with the bloud of his Sonne for thee? what haſt thou done? haſt thou come hypocritically to this place, upon collaterall reaſons, and not upon the direct ſervice of God, not for love of information or reformation of thy ſelf? if that be thy caſe, yet, If a man will heare my word, ſayes Chriſt, and beleeve it not, I judge him not, he hath one that judgeth him; and who is that? The word that I have ſpoken, the ſame ſhall judge him: it ſhall, but when? It ſhall judge him, ſayes Chriſt, at the laſt day: for till the laſt day, the day of his death, no man is paſt recoverie, no mans ſalvation is impoſſible. Haſt thou gone further then this? haſt thou committed ſcruples of diffidence and diſtruſt of Gods merciemercy, and ſo taſted of the lees of deſperation? It is true, Perpetrare flagitium, eſt mors animae; ſed deſperare, eſt deſcenſus ad inferos; In every ſinne thy ſoul dies, but in deſperation it deſcends into hell: But yet, Portae inferni non praevalebunt, The Matt. 16. 18gates of hell ſhall not prevail againſt thee. Aſſiſt thy ſelf, argue thine own caſe; deſperation it ſelf may be without infidelitie, deſperation as well as hope is rooted in the deſire of happineſſe. Deſperation proceeds out of a fear of God, and horrour of ſinne: deſperation may conſiſt with faith thus farre, that a man may have a true and faithfull opinion in the generall, that there is remiſſion of ſinnes to be had in the Church, and yet have a corrupt imagination in the particular, that to him in this ſinfull eſtate that he is in, this remiſſion of ſinnes ſhall not be applied; ſo that the reſolution of the School is good, Deſperatio poteſt eſſe ex ſolo exceſſu boni, Deſperation may proceed out of exceſſe of that which is good in it ſelf, from any exceſſive over-fearing of Gods juſtice, from an exceſſive over-hating thine own ſinnes. Et virtute quis malè utitur? can any man make ſo ill uſe of ſo great vertues as the fear of God and hatred of ſinne? yes, they may: ſo forward a weed is ſinne, as that it can ſpring out of any root: and therefore if it have done ſo in thee, and thou thereby haſt made thy caſe the harder, yet know ſtill, that Objectum ſpei eſt arduum & poſsibile, The true object of hope is that which is hard to come by, yet poſſible to come by. And therefore as David ſaid, By my God have I leapt over the wall, ſo by thy 2. Sam. 22. 30.God thou muſt break through the wall, through this wall of obduration which thou thy ſelf haſt begun to build about thy ſelf. Feather thy wings again, which even the flames of hell have touched in theſe beginnings of deſperation; feather them again with this text, Neminem judicat, Chriſt judgeth no man ſo as a deſperate man judges himſelf: do not make thy ſelf beleeve that thou haſt ſinned againſt the holy Ghoſt, for this is the neareſt ſtep thou haſt made unto it, to think that thou haſt done it: walk in that field, in the Scriptures of God, and from the firſt flower at the entrance, the flower of Paradiſe, Semen mulieris, the generall promiſe that the ſeed of the woman ſhould bruiſe the ſerpents head, to the laſt word of that Meſſias upon the croſſe, Conſummatum eſt, that all that was promiſed for us, is now performed; and from the firſt to the laſt thou ſhalt finde the ſavour of life in all thoſe flowers: walk over the ſame alley again, and conſider the firſt man Adam in the beginning, who involved thee in originall ſinne, and the thief upon the croſſe, who had continued in actuall ſinnes all his life, and ſealed all with the ſinne of reviling Chriſt himſelf, and a little before his expiration, and yet recovered Paradiſe that day; and ſee if thou canſt make any ſhift to exclude thy ſelf. Receive the fragrancie of all theſe cordialls, Vivit Dominus, As the Lord liveth, I would not the death of a ſinner; Quandocunque, At what time ſoever a ſinner repenteth, and of this text, Neminem judicat, Chriſt judgeth no man to deſtruction here; and if thou finde after all theſe antidotes a ſuſpicious aire, a ſuſpicious working in that Impoſsibile eſt, that it is impoſsible for them who were once enlightened, if they fall away, to renew them again by repentance; ſprinkle upon that wormwood of Impoſsibile eſt, that Manna of Quorum remiſeritis, Whoſe ſinnes ye remit, they are remitted; and then it will have another taſte of thee, and then thou wilt ſee that that impoſſibilitie lies onelyonly upon them who are utterly fallen away into an abſolute apoſtaſie and infidelitie, that make a mock of Chriſt, and crucifie him again, as it is expreſſed there; who undervalue and deſpite the Church of God, and thoſe means which Chriſt Jeſus hath inſtituted in his Church for renewing of ſuch as are fallen. To ſuch it is impoſſible, becauſe there are no other ordinarie means poſſible: but that is not thy caſe, thy caſe is onelyonly a doubt that thoſe means that are ſhall not be applied to thee. And even that is a ſlipperie ſtate, to doubt of the merciemercy of God to thee in particular: this goes ſo neare making thy ſinne greater then Gods merciemercy, as that it makes thy ſinne greater then dayly adulteries, dayly murders, dayly blaſpheming, dayly profaning of the ſabbath could have done. And though thou canſt never make that true in this life, that thy ſinnes are greater then God can forgive; yet this is a way to make them greater then God will forgive.
Now to collect both our exerciſes, and to conject both texts, Chriſt judgeth all men, and Chriſt judgeth no man; he claims all judgement, and he diſavows all judgement; & they conſiſt well together. He was at our creation, but that was not his firſt ſcene. The Arians, though they ſay, Erat quando non erat, There was a time when Chriſt was not, (intimating that he had a beginning, and therefore was a creature) yet they will allow that he was created before the generall creation, and ſo aſſiſted at ours. But he was infinite generations before that, in the boſome of his Father, at our election; and there in him was executed the firſt judgement of ſeparating thoſe which were his, the elect from the reprobate: And then he knows who are his by that firſt judgement, and ſo comes to his ſecond judgement, to ſeal all thoſe in the viſible Church with the outward mark of his Baptiſme, and the inward mark of his Spirit. And thoſe whom he calls ſo, he juſtifies, ſanctifies, and brings them to this third judgement, to an eſtabliſhed and perpetuall glory; and ſo all judgement is his. But then to judge out of humane affections and paſſions, by detraction and calumnie, as they did to whom he ſpake at this time, ſo he judgeth no man, ſo he denieth judgement. To uſurp upon this juriſdiction of others, or to exerciſe any other judgement then was in his commiſſion, as his pretended Vicar does, ſo he judges no man, ſo he diſavows all judgement: to judge ſo as that our condemnation may be irremediable in this life, ſo he judgeth no man, ſo he forſweares all judgement. As I live, ſaith the Lord of hoſts, and, As I have died, ſaith the Lord Jeſus, I judge none. Acknowledge his firſt judgement, thy election in him; cheriſh his ſecond judgement, thy juſtification by him; breathe and pant after the third judgement, thy crown of glorie for him: intend not upon the right of other men, which is the firſt; defame not, calumniate not other men, which is the ſecond; lay not the name of reprobate in this life upon any man, which is the third judgement that Chriſt diſavows here; and then thou ſhalt have well underſtood and well practiſed both theſe texts, The Father hath committed all judgement to the Sonne, and yet The Sonne judgeth no man.
FINIS.
End of the text · John Donne, Six Sermons Upon Several Occasions (1634)