Part 17
But it is certain that in respect that the word proceedeth from God it containeth in itself nothing but all goodness. And again we see what
pureness shineth there, how that all the treasures of God's righteousness, mercy, and goodness are uttered there. Thus then you see what manner of thing God's word is, and what is the nature thereof. Nevertheless when we corrupt it and falsify it by our own fancies, and make a mingle-mangle of it: we may still be taken for God's children, howbeit we shall be but as bastard children, as shall be declared more at large (by God's leave) after dinner. For then will Saint Paul declare, that although Ishmael were the eldest Son, yet was he in the end driven out of the house wherein he had taken the chief room upon him, howbeit that he was but a bastard, and also born of a bondwoman. Then let us mark that we must not only be begotten by God's word into a pure faith, and God by his holy spirit enlighten us that we may know his will according as he witnesseth it unto us. For if we change his word after our own fancy, and disguise it: truly it may be called God's seed still, but yet is it not so in deed, whatsoever we make of it, because it abideth not in his own soundness.
And here ye see the cause why so many do nowadays falsely name themselves Christians: according as the Papists will well enough confess that they believe in God, and that they be contented to hold themselves to the holy Scripture. But yet for all that, it is apparent that they be utterly perverted, and that as touching the Scripture, whereas they ought to receive it with all reverence, they turn it to their own liking, yea and make a mockage and scoff of it, and (as I said erewhile) they spew out this blasphemy against it, that it is a nose of wax, and that men may turn it which way they list: and moreover it is apparent that they have turmoiled all things by their own forgeries. For what else do men call God's service in Popery, but the things that men have set down of their own brain. There is no mention of ruling themselves by God's commandment and ordinance. God must be thrust out of his place, and men take upon
them that which belongeth unto him, challenging authority to bring folks' consciences into bondage, and to make what laws they think good. But that is too villainous and outrageous a corruption. On the other side, whence do the Papists draw the Articles of their faith? even out of their own decrees, for they reck not to draw any resolution out of the holy Scripture. So then they pass not a whit what is in the holy Scripture: but if anything be agreed upon and received by common opinion, that is as an Oracle from heaven with them. And we see also that when they intend to prove any of their toys, the first reason that they make, is that it is received, and that antiquity ought to prevail, as who would say that there were any prescription in the matter: and thereupon they pull out certain texts of the Scripture by the hairs of the head, and these must also help forward the matter. But [when all comes to all] it is but flat mockery, & it is apparent that they willfully corrupt God's word. For there is such gross and beastly ignorance in them, that very children might justly spit in their faces for it. So then the Papists are a fair looking glass to us at this day, for the things that are contained here in Saint Paul: that is to wit, that many of them vaunt themselves to be God's children, and household members of his Church, and yet notwithstanding are but bastard slips, and of a corrupted seed, because that instead of cleaving thoroughly to the pure doctrine which were able to beget them again into the hope of the heavenly life, they be so given to their own minglings, that there is not any more soundness in them.
But we need not to go any further to show that the matter which Saint Paul treateth of here, is verified too much of the Papistry. For whereabouts is our greatest strife nowadays, but for freewill, for merits, for satisfactions, and for such other things? The Papists say that we are able by our own freewill, to purchase grace at God's hand, not that we need not to be aided and succored by his holy spirit, but
because there is a certain matching together (say they) between God and us, so as God worketh one piece and we another. Thus do they make us God's marrows, and like as our strength would be too weak if it were not succored on God's behalf: so should God's grace (say they) be unavailing, if we made it not of force by our own moving thereunto. And hereupon again they forge and build their merits: there is none other talk among them, but of purchasing the realm of paradise, by making God beholden to them: & then step forth their merits and satisfactions to ransom all the faults that they have committed. Thus ye see in effect what the Papists prate and jangle. Thereupon they conclude, that it is blasphemy to say that God's Law is impossible, and that we be not able to perform it: saying that there is no man but he may fully discharge himself of it when he listeth. It is an easy matter for them to prate after that fashion in the shadow: but they that say so, are naughty ruffians, drunkards, swearers, and folk given to all villainy and outrage. For men know well enough what the holiness of the Monks, of the shavelings, and of all the whole rabble of their riffraff and Cankerworms is. But we on our side say that we be born the bondslaves of sin, and are held in so strait bands under the tyranny of Satan, that we cannot so much as think one good thought of well doing, but go forward still unto all evil, like as if an Ass should always bear his yoke or burden with him, and yet we sin not but willingly.
But however we fare, we are so steeped in sin that naturally we cannot do anything but offend God, and therefore he must be forced to enlarge us and set us at liberty by his holy spirit. Moreover, we say that the law of God is impossible to be fulfilled, and that it shows us our duty to the end to condemn us and to stop our mouths, and to make us come before God as wretched offenders, to obtain grace at his hand for the sins which we have committed, and to confound us with shame, to the end we should grant ourselves to be damned, and
seek to be saved at God's hand, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, we say that to justify ourselves before him is a thing that surpasses all our ability, and that he supplies our wants because he sifts us not with rigor, nor enters into account with us: and that when we have offended him, there is none other satisfaction for it than the sacrifice that was offered by our Lord Jesus Christ, nor any other cleansing than to plunge ourselves over head and ears in his blood. Thus you see how the doctrine which is contained in Saint Paul is to be put in practice in respect of the disputations of the Papists against us. For it is certain that for all their bragging and false pretending of the name of God, and for all their saying that they be his children because they be begotten by the holy scripture: they show that their mother is Hagar or Sinai, and consequently that they be bondmen born, and do tie the rope about their own neck because they have no will to go unto God, to receive the freedom that he offers them, but will rather usurp to themselves the thing that belongs to God only, and will needs justify themselves by their own merits; and fulfill the law of themselves. Therefore they be bond children, and continue slaves still, and in the end must be driven quite out of the house. As for us, we shall see hereafter what proof the doctrine has which we hold, and what it brings with it: which is, that we have none other freedom than is given us by the doctrine of the gospel, according also as our Lord Jesus Christ shows in the eighth of Saint John, that it is his peculiar office to make us free, and that the drawing of us out of damnation is a special privilege given unto him by God his father. Therefore when we come to our Lord Jesus Christ, and in him seek, for all things that we want, knowing that by his means we are delivered from the yoke of the law, which we are not able to bear, and which not only made us to stoop, but also weighed us down to the bottom of hell: it is the true seed that begets us again into full freedom to be God's children, not only to be reputed so in this world, but also to be avowed so at his hand before
his Angels, that in the end we may come to the heritage that is bought so dearly for us, and which we cannot attain to by our own power, but by the means of him to whom it belongs who communicates it unto us according as he offers it to us daily by his Gospel.
But now let us fall down before the Majesty of our good God with acknowledgment of our faults, praying him to make us feel them better than we have done, so as it may make us to grow and increase more and more in true repentance, that our coming unto him may be in all lowliness without hypocrisy, being ashamed of our wretchedness, and not seeking any other remedy than in our Lord Jesus Christ: and that forasmuch as our good God has adopted us and sealed the grace of his adoption in our hearts by his holy spirit, we may stand steadfast in the pureness of his Gospel, without adding anything of our own, and without marring it by our own interpretations, and that he so hold us in the obedience of faith by his holy spirit, that like as he has begun to show himself bountiful towards us, so we also may go continually forward to the said perfection; without swerving aside at any time. And so let us all say, Almighty God our heavenly father. &c.
The Thirtieth Sermon,
which is the seventh upon the fourth
Chapter.
26 But the Jerusalem which is from above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written, be glad thou barren which bearest Page [unnumbered] no children, break forth and cry thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she that hath a husband.
28 And we, my brethren, we are children of promise, after the manner of Isaac.
29 But like as then, he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit: even so it is now.
30 Nevertheless, what says the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free woman.
We have seen this morning that many boast themselves to be faithful, falsely pretending to be God's children, and are so taken toward the worldward. However, they are but bastards, and God disclaims them because they have corrupted the good seed, which is the pure doctrine whereby we are begotten anew to be made partakers of the free adoption to which God calls us. Therefore, all that we have to do is not to be counted as part of the Church unless we are of the pure and sound seed, meaning we follow God's word without any corruption or mingling.
For this reason, S. Paul brings us back to the heavenly Jerusalem so we might know who our true mother is. Those who pervert the
natural sense of scripture are not the children of God, and all their crying and calling upon Him as their father is nothing but stark lying and hypocrisy. However, because they are often considered to be of that degree, S. Paul distinguishes them by their mother so that we might know who are God's true and lawful children approved by Him.
The name of the Church is often pretended, and in these days, the Papists use it as a shield to protect their errors. They think having the Church on their side can cover their falsehoods, but S. Paul tells us we must be wise to discern the true Church. The Jews had enough reason to believe God abided in Jerusalem, as He had chosen it with the assurance that He would forever rest there. Yet, the same Jerusalem became a den of thieves because our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified there. Due to their unfaithfulness, the Jews were cut off from the house of God.
While Jerusalem's name had been honorable, it was then held in reproach and disdain before the Angels and all the faithful. Similarly, today, we must carefully discern which is the true Church, lest we be children of a bastard seed and be cast out of God's house for falsely claiming His name through hypocrisy before men.
God honors His Church, calling her the mother of all the faithful, which aligns with S. Paul's report elsewhere, where he describes her as the pillar upholding God's truth in this world. The truth does not need our maintenance, as we are inclined to lightness and inconstancy by nature. Yet, by His infinite goodness, God wills to have His word preached here below. He entrusts this task to those He calls, and in this regard, the Church is called the mother of us all.
As our Lord Jesus Christ tells us, we have only one Father, God, who is the spiritual father of our bodies and souls. Through His Church,
God begets us into the hope of eternal life, as the Prophet Isaiah declares: "My word shall be in thy mouth, and continue with thy children from time to time, and with all those that shall come of thy race." Thus, God governs His faithful ones through His word, which serves as a pledge and invaluable treasure of salvation in His Church, where we are begotten and nourished.
Therefore, as I have touched already, we need to be even more skilled in discerning the Church. Since it is the mother of God's children, its name ought not to be dishonored, trampled underfoot, or defiled as it is seen to be nowadays. There is no more common treachery than using the name of the Church to deface and darken God's truth. Why do the Papists boast with full mouth and full throat that they are the Church? It's to silence God's voice, trample His word, and elevate their own forged doctrines. They aim to silence God's truth so that their own inventions are received without question or challenge.
We see men, who are but earthworms and rottenness, pitted against God under the guise of the Church. Saint Paul warns us to seek the Church that holds the pure doctrine through which we were adopted by God as His children. As I've mentioned before, it all lies in being ingrafted into the body of our Lord Jesus Christ and acknowledging our cursed nature. We must recognize that all our works are filthiness, the Devil holds us subject to his tyranny, and our only hope lies in God's mercy and pity.
Therefore, let us enter God's house through the gate, acknowledging that the only way for us to enter is by the sheer grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, the Church breeds and bears us through the incorruptible seed. To better understand this text, we have two points to consider. Firstly, we must not be like those who think they can be faithful without reading or preaching, believing that the Holy
Ghost ought to reveal Himself through dreams or other means. Such individuals despise doctrine, considering all instruction as childish.
We must not fall into this trap by the wiles of Satan. If we desire to be counted as God's children and recognized before the angels, we must allow ourselves to be taught and uphold the order of the Church with reverence and humility. Even the greatest among us must acknowledge that the greatest dignity is to be children of the Church. Those who reject this status renounce God and forfeit all hope of salvation.
Secondly, we must discern and not behave like beasts driven aimlessly. We must recognize the signs God has imprinted on the Church, signs that will never deceive us. When we hear God's word preached purely, without corruption, and are led wholly to seek our welfare in Him, we are in God's house and sanctuary. When we follow the way shown to us—our Lord Jesus Christ—and cast away all pride and arrogance, we are clothed with the righteousness offered to us. This is when we truly become children of the Church, and we can be assured that God recognizes and accepts us as His own.
This is the most sure and infallible proof, unless we willingly become beasts, shutting our eyes and ears, pretending safety solely based on the name of the Church, to hide our abuses and deceptions of Satan. Therefore, let us not be so beastly by our own wilfulness, but consider whether God sends us to be truly regenerated by the seed of His word and to be fed with it as our only food. For this reason, the text of Isaiah is cited: God speaks not randomly to some multitude that might boast themselves to be the Church, but only to the flock that should be left after the Jews had been horribly led astray and scattered. At first sight, one might have thought that God had utterly banished and abolished His Church from the world. Yet, He had
gathered together a small remnant of them, called the remnant of the free election. The Prophet Isaiah says that those who are redeemed and sincerely returned to God, ruling their lives obediently according to His word, are the children of the Church.
We must note, by the way, that the Church does not triumph in this world or shine with such splendid pomp that men might be captivated by its sight alone, submitting themselves to it. Instead, it is most commonly forsaken and seemingly disfigured—a point worth marking. While the Papists boast of having the Church on their side, they must provide evidence. Yet, they only bring forth their riches, authority, and grandeur. However, these are not the things by which God will have His Church known. Our Lord Jesus Christ will reign amidst His enemies, and His disciples will be forsaken and despised by the world.
When anyone talks to us about the Church, let us remember what Saint Paul tells us here. He likens the Church to a widow, alone in her house, without aid or support. The world forsakes her, disregards her, and she is as good as half-dead and buried already. Nevertheless, God says she shall be restored and shall have more children than a married woman in good standing. This lesson must be applied nowadays when we see the poor Church trodden underfoot, and her enemies triumphing over her as though she were nothing but dust and smoke.
In such times, let us patiently wait for God to gather His chosen ones, content in the knowledge that He acknowledges us as His children, even if the world scorns and rejects us. We must not judge the Church with eyes full of vanity, seeking only pomp and outward displays. Instead, let us understand that God will afflict His Church
so severely that there will be no beauty or shape visible to the world —only utter desolation, with everyone rising up against her.
However she may fare, let us be content that God gathers us to Him as His children. When we are called by the pure doctrine of the Gospel, we become fellows with all the fathers chosen by God under the Law, with the holy kings, patriarchs, prophets, martyrs, and all the faithful since Abel. Despite the boasts of the Papists regarding their multitude, the Prophet laughs them to scorn. For we must always discern who are the true children. The churches of the Papists are nothing but brothels of Satan—infected with filthiness, marred God's service, and lack soundness.
Therefore, despite their claims to be God's Church, the Papists are nothing but misbegotten bastards, tied to the brothel with their mother, that synagogue of hell.
Ye see then how the case stands, and it is not I who say it, but it is the Prophet Isaiah who speaks so, and Saint Paul, who is a faithful expounder of God's meaning, confirms the matter. Therefore, let us learn to join with the true children of God, who have the infallible record of the Holy Ghost, and not follow the greater throng. Let all these wretches go, who cast themselves willfully into Satan's snares and wander like brute beasts without any discretion.
By the way, we have to mark that those who are the children of the Church do not cease to be our fathers. Besides the common brotherhood between them and us, there is also the fact that by their means we are begotten in the word of God. Therefore, we have those for our fathers who are also our brothers, and all of us together are the children of God and His Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the only Son of God, and He is called our head so that being knitted together in Him and becoming members of His body, we might be
held and taken for God's children, becoming that thing by free adoption which we are not by nature.
Saint Paul tells us that this happens to us by promise after the example of Isaac, to express that we must not have any vain confidence in our own merits or in any virtue within ourselves. We must be utterly devoid of all pride, knowing that all the worthiness we have comes from God's mere grace and free gift. The difference between us and the bastard children who falsely boast of God's name is that while they are puffed up with self-liking, delight in their hypocrisy, and always prattle about their free will, meritorious works, satisfactions, and virtues, we stick to the promise.
We believe that God, having looked upon us with mercy, has drawn us out of the dungeon of destruction wherein we were and, by His Gospel, told us and assured us that He will be our Father and that an inheritance awaits us. This inheritance is not purchased by ourselves or by any mortal creature, but by Jesus Christ, who being very God became man so that we might obtain in Him what is not to be found in all the world. Therefore, if we wish to be well grounded in the doctrine of the Gospel and sure of a good stud and anchorhold of our salvation, we must not intermingle any opinion of our own deserving with it.
We must not surmise that we are able to contribute anything of ourselves but simply receive what God offers us and allow Jesus Christ to be our Savior wholly and not in halves. This is what the word promise signifies. The promise Saint Paul speaks of abolishes all man's pride and disgraces men themselves, showing them that there is nothing in them but utter confusion and that all their welfare lies enclosed in our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, we cannot come by it or enjoy it but by means of the Gospel. The Gospel tells us that we must hold all of God and do Him homage for our salvation because He gives it to us, and it is not a wages due to us that He should be bound to us by any means. Therefore, Saint Paul says that it is so even today, as Moses declared under the figure which he set forth.
In Abraham's house, there was an elder son called Ishmael, and he persecuted Isaac, who was the lawful son. Therefore, we must be so handled and dealt with that those who have nothing but dissimulation and hypocrisy in them, who are but bastards, and who are utterly corrupt and become strangers, may nevertheless boast and set up their bristles against us, as though we were unworthy to kiss their feet.
Such manner of men then must perk up in all pride and persecute us. But let us be constant, says Saint Paul, and let not our faith be shaken down by such loftiness or by the wiles cast in our way by those hypocrites and falsifiers who have perverted God's doctrine. For in the end, the same fate will happen to them as is reported of the house of Abraham—drive out the son of the bondwoman, for he shall not be heir. All those then who boast themselves to be faithful and who must be taken to be of God's household shall be cut off as rotten members and not have any part or piece of inheritance there.
And it is moreover a right excellent lesson, which contains a very profitable admonition, even to confirm the thing which I have touched already, which is that the pomp of this world must not blind our eyes to carry us away at a gaze when we see great solemnities and gorgeous deckings. If a man should believe no further than he sees, when the Pope were in his Pontificalibus, he might be taken for a God, he has so many knickknacks glistering about him. And no
marvel though many are amazed at it, as though one had knocked them on the head with a club and become as good as brute beasts. For why? Men are so given to judge fleshly that they are worse than little children in things that concern God's kingdom.
But yet for all this, behold, Saint Paul says that those who have the primacy, and are all in all, and are dreaded by every man, and finally who bear the title of first-begotten, are oftentimes but Ishmaelites, so they are but bastards, though they allege their eldership never so much. But if Saint Paul were alive at this day, that one text of his would be enough to make him to be burnt a hundred times. For let men write and speak as much as they list, and they cannot more livelily decipher or betray that the Pope and all his clergy are a heap of Ishmaelites and filthy bastards, who fight against God and all His true and right-begotten children, according also as Moses has reported it.
For what else allege the Papists for themselves, save that it is not a day or two ago or a hundred years ago that they have had possession, but that they have kept their traditions and ceremonies these eight or nine hundred years? But surely even in this behalf also they lie and are past shame. But put the case that the world had not appraised these eight hundred years; yet notwithstanding, that eldership of theirs which they allege is not better nor of greater value than was the eldership of Ishmael.
Again, unto their eldership they add also multitude, saying that we are but a handful of folk in comparison to them. They have kings and princes on their side; the whole world agrees with them; both great and small say as they say, and the largeness of their kingdom stretches out far and wide throughout all Europe well-near, and into a piece of Africa. When they have all this for themselves, very well, it
is even as the eldership of Ishmael. Nay, it were more meet for them to have begun at the other end, that is to wit, at the holding fast of the pure doctrine of the Law and the Gospel, without mingling anything at all with it. For else it is a general conclusion that there is nothing in them but corruption and bastardy. But they will not enter into this discourse, that men might know whether they be basebegotten of God's word or not, for it is seen too manifestly already.
And in good faith, as I have said already, under the name of the Church, they have boldly taken upon them to disannul and falsify the whole word of God. So, there is no bringing of the Papists to the true trial or touchstone, that men might discern certainly whether they be God's children or not; but they stand proudly upon their eldership as Ishmael did; they allege that they are an infinite number, and we but sprules, as you would say, and folk despised to the worldward, which have neither estimation nor credit. Thus, you see how Ishmael speaks nowadays by the mouth of the Papists.
Now we, for our part, had need to be armed with patience, for it is a right hard temptation that they who are God's deadly foes should, after a sort, possess the highest rooms in His house, and that we should be hidden under them like corn under chaff upon a barn floor. This is a hard and irksome plight. And surely we see many that give over the Gospel through infirmity.
When the poor simple souls hear these so brave titles of Catholic Church, of Apostolic see, of Vicar of Christ, of Successor of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, of Prelates, and of Bishops; I say when all this gay gear is flashed out before the silly souls, they are amazed at it and conclude by and by, then must we needs stick to it. For they are ravished at the sight of these visors that serve to scare little children. But they that have any firmness in them and judge according to that
which God shows them, are not at that point. And in good sooth, when the Papists say that they are the representing Church, they say truly; for indeed they make a godly representation [resemblance, or show]; that is to say, there is as it were a gay gazing stock; but as the Proverb says, "All is not gold that glistereth."
Therefore, they must be searched to the bottom, to see if there be truth in them or no. And so let us mark what is told us here by Saint Paul, that is to wit, that it was not once only that there was an Ishmael in God's Church to persecute Isaac: but that we see the like at this day: and that the children of God shall be borne down and trampled underfoot, by such as have no more but the bare title of Eldership, and under that shadow beguile the simple sort, cloaking all their filths and foulness under the pretense of gay colors.
But however the world go, let us prepare ourselves to battle (says Saint Paul) and let not our faith quail at the sight of the pride of the enemies of God's truth, yes, even of the household enemies of it, which are not as Turks and heathen men, but keep a garrison in the Church, and yet will needs be Prelates and more than great pillars of it. However the world go (I say), let us not be abashed for it, since we be fenced with the example of our father Isaac, to the intent we should hold out stoutly, forasmuch as we be regenerated by the pure seed which God allows, whereby we be made His lawful children, and heirs of His heavenly kingdom.
But here a man might think it strange that Saint Paul should say that Isaac was persecuted of his brother Ishmael. For Moses rehearses no more but that at the day when Isaac should be weaned, and at the feast that was made at it, Ishmael laughed him to scorn. It is not said that Ishmael laid any persecution upon Isaac, for aught that is recorded by Moses: only it is said that he being then of some age, and
thinking to have a much higher degree than Isaac, because he was already come to years of discretion, did laugh at him, and mock him. Now if there were nothing more than simple mocking and laughter, it seems that Saint Paul should not term it persecution.
We must mark that the persecutions of God's children are not done only by sword, fire, racking, imprisonment, or other torments of the body: but also in that they be wounded with the scornful reproaches which the unbelievers and enemies of God's truth do spew out against them. And if we do well practice the thing that is said in the Psalm, we shall not think the manner of speech strange which Saint Paul uses here. For where it is said, that the railings which are cast forth against God's majesty, ought to rebound back upon us: it is to show that we ought to be very tender-hearted or squeamish when we hear God's name set light, or His honor diminished in any manner of wise.
If any of us be touched in our good name or honesty, we will be angry and make a quarrel of it: we see that for one cross word, choleric fellows do by and by draw their swords, and all is under color that they must maintain their honor and honesty. If a man speak evil of our Parents or kinsfolk, we will be in such heat and fumish passions, as we cannot be appeased. Then if God be misused, or His majesty dishonored in men's mouths, ought we to suffer, and not to be moved to choler and anger? Even for that cause also it is said, that the zeal of God's house ought to eat us up, so as we must not only be well-minded and sorry for the defacing of the majesty of our God, and for the corrupting of the doctrine of salvation, and for the disordering of His Church: but these things must also bite us at the heart.
According hereto it is said here that Ishmael persecuted Isaac. If a man demand, what? had he neither torture, fire, nor sword to cut his throat? No, none of all these: but he scoffed at the promise that had been made concerning Isaac. For it was said expressly, Ishmael shall live: but yet is he not therefore heir of the promise, Isaac is he in whom they shall be blessed. You see then that Jesus Christ, and consequently all hope of salvation, was closed up in the person of Isaac. When Ishmael did so disdain and scorn the sovereign welfare and happiness, that mockery of his wounded all the children of adoption, and all the faithful, yes, even with a deadly stripe.
Now then we see what Saint Paul meant, and how we ought to put this doctrine in use, which is, that we must prepare ourselves to inward battles, knowing that not only the Turks and Paynims shall be adversaries of the Gospel, but also the hypocrites, who to the uttermost of their power, do deface the doctrine of grace that is offered them in our Lord Jesus Christ, to abolish all the dignity and reverence which we ought to give unto it in magnifying the mere bounteous goodness of God, and in acknowledging that all our whole welfare lies there. Let us be ready (I say) to abide such battles at the hands of our household enemies, which boast themselves to be God's children, which are advanced even above us, and which outface us with their eldership, as who should say, that under the color of that, we ought to be utterly borne down and overwhelmed.
But there is yet more: that is to wit, that we must be touched to the quick, and sorry at the heart to see God's doctrine so corrupted. True it is that naturally we shun the harms that come against us, as bodily persecutions and such others. But yet for all that, we must not be so wedded to this world, as not to prefer the heavenly heritage before all things that we esteem most worthy to be desired.
Therefore whenever God's name is blasphemed, and when men labor to abolish the doctrine of life: let us in those cases set such grief to our heart, as we cannot bear with it, or at leastwise as if we were persecuted in our bodies. For he that should cut our throats, yes and put us to all the torments that were possible, as we see the enemies of the Gospel do, whose rage against their poor brethren, cannot nowadays be stanched with racking, burning, cutting out of their tongues, and such other like torments: all this ought not to grieve us so much, as to see God's name torn in pieces, and scorned by the wicked. For the very same is such a cutting of our throats, as not only bereaves us of this frightful and transitory life, but also bears us quite out of the kingdom of heaven. For when God's doctrine is corrupted, then is food turned into poison, life into death, and light into darkness.
So then let this text of Saint Paul's warn and exhort us, not to be so given to the earth and to the world, but that we may always have our minds and understandings lifted up to the inestimable benefit that is offered us by the Gospel, and fight more earnestly for that quarrel, than for our own life. For truly a whole million of such lives as we have here beneath, cannot be comparable to the endless life that is promised us in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus you see wherein it behooves us to exercise ourselves, and we cannot exceed measure in being too angry, when we see wicked men blaspheme God after that sort, and labor by their wiles and policies to overthrow and to falsify the only doctrine whereby we live spiritually.
Furthermore, let us mark also, how Saint Paul adds in the end for a conclusion, that all they which nowadays boast themselves so highly to be the Church, and specially those that have the title of eldership, shall be driven out as bastard children. Therefore let us not be beguiled with all the pomp that are among those which fight against
God's pure truth, to maintain themselves in their tyranny by force, persecutions, bragging, and such other like things: but let us tarry the end, which is, that they shall be cut off, for they are none inheritors. Well may they dwell in the house, as it is said of Antichrist that he shall sit in the Temple of God: but yet must they needs be swept out of it, as filth and uncleanness.
And although this be not so before men, but that it is hidden from us for a time: yet let us wait till God show His truth more fully, and until our Lord Jesus Christ confound His enemies with the breath of His mouth, and by the power of His word. Thus you see how we ought to be settled in invincible constancy. And although we be now despised and scorned, yet let us not cease to hold out in the holy calling of our God, knowing that we shall not be disappointed, if we be grounded upon the doctrine of the Gospel, and rest wholly thereupon till God discovers the things that are now hidden, and that we be thoroughly gathered unto Him, and find that it was not in vain that we were trained up in His pure word, giving over all the fancies of men, and not seeking life elsewhere than in the seed whereby we were begotten again, and in the food whereby we are sustained and nourished to the end.
Now let us fall down before the majesty of our good God, with acknowledgment of our sins, praying Him to make us feel them in such wise, as it may lead us to true repentance, that we may mourn continually before His majesty, and be so abashed in ourselves, as yet notwithstanding we may not doubt but that He accepts us for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and that we shall always obtain sure forgiveness of our sins, if we seek it in true faith without swerving to the right hand or to the left, but only following the path which He has showed us, as indeed we can never go amiss when we have the day sun of righteousness shining upon us. That it may please Him to
grant this grace, not only to us, but also to all people and nations of the earth.
The Thirty-First Sermon,
which is the first upon the fifth Chapter.
1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and put not yourselves again under the yoke of bondage.
2 Behold, I, Paul, do tell you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing at all.
3 And again I protest to every man that is circumcised, that he is bound to keep the whole law."
WE have seen heretofore, that to have a state of continuance in the Church, we must be grounded upon our Lord Jesus Christ. For many do boast themselves to be God's children, who notwithstanding are not begotten of the true seed, which makes the difference whereby God avows and acknowledges us for his children. Therefore, if we will be truly knit to our Lord Jesus Christ, we must hold fast the doctrine of the Gospel, that he as our head and mediator may join us to God his father. Therewithal, I have declared that the cause why Saint Paul speaks so of bond and free seed is that they who seek their righteousness in their own virtues do alienate themselves from our Lord Jesus Christ, and from his grace. For by that means, they bind themselves to an impossibility, that is to say, to satisfy God in
keeping his commandments. But there is such weakness in us, as none of us is able to perform the least point of the law: and therefore much less can we attain to the perfection that is showed us here. And for that cause Saint Paul concludes now, that we must stand fast in the freedom which our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us.
It is certain that he treats here of the ceremonies of the law: but yet must we always resort to the wellhead and chief point. For if the matter concerned no further than the keeping of a holy day, or the forbearing of some kind of meat: it were not of so great weight, that such strife should be moved for it in the Church. But Saint Paul pored not upon a matter so slight and of so small importance. He had an eye to the doctrine: he considered that if men should be tied to do this thing or that thing of necessity: it were an excluding of them from the hope of salvation. For if I must needs perform a thing under pain of deadly sin: then if I fail, I am become a transgressor, and there is no shift for me because God is my judge, and I must be fain to come to account, and there is no means to redeem me. Now it is certain that all of us are subject to the keeping of the law: but yet notwithstanding, there is a remedy for it, which is to run unto our Lord Jesus Christ in all our needs, who was made subject to the law to purchase us freedom, and bore our curse to discharge us of it. Now if any necessity be laid upon us again, to say that the doing of this or that is sin: then cannot our Lord Jesus Christ stand us in any more stead as I said before: by reason whereof we must needs be plunged in our own cursedness, without any manner of relief. Therefore it is not without cause that Saint Paul exhorts the Galatians to hold their own, and not to suffer themselves to be brought into bondage. For by that means, he faith that they shall be bereft of inestimable benefit, even so far forth as they shall be fallen quite away from God's grace or favour, and utterly separated from our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom lies all our welfare and happiness.
Now, that we may the better conceive Saint Paul's meaning, and also reap the fruit that is offered us in this text: Let us mark, that by this word Liberty or freedom, it is meant that we may walk with full confidence before God, and that he will always be favourable, so that although we be guilty of many offences, yet we shall be quit of them for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake: and moreover that it is not in man's power to bridle us or to hold us in bondage: but that it ought to suffice us to yield ourselves obedient unto God, albeit not after a slavish and constrained fashion, but as children yield themselves subject to their father, knowing well that their father will not handle them roughly. Thus you see what is meant by the word liberty or freedom which Saint Paul uses. Nevertheless, to the end that this shortness be not darksome: I will declare it more at large.
So long as we be in doubt whether God do love us or hate us, there will always be trouble and unquietness in our consciences, and we shall be as it were locked up in prison. So then there will be no freedom in our minds, till we know and be thoroughly persuaded that God is at one with us, and that he receives us into his favour and grace, though we be not worthy of it. But it is impossible for us to have any certainty of it, except we have our quittance always before our eyes, which was made us in the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why so? For as I said before, we be indebted unto God many ways, yea infinite ways. For we be bound to keep the law, and we break it a hundred times a day, yea even ere ever we think of it. Again we offend even in gross faults. But however we deal, we cannot assure ourselves of God's love, unless we be discharged against him of the obligation of everlasting death wherein we stand bound. Now we attain that benefit when we be persuaded by the Gospel, that the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was shed to wash away all our spots, and that his death is a sufficient sacrifice to appease God's wrath, and to wipe out the remembrance of all our offences and iniquities.
You see then that the way to set us free, is to know that God receives us to mercy for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and that our faults and sins shall not hinder us to find favour always in his sight, or to have familiar access unto him, as children have unto their fathers. Secondly, we must not be wavering to and fro, to make conscience of every thing that men devise of their own heads: but walk steadfastly according to God's word, knowing moreover that our consciences are free, and that whether men command or forbid anything, it is nothing to us, I mean as in respect of the spiritual regiment of our souls: For we talk not here of civil policy nor of the common life of men, but of our salvation.
So then, all things ought to be free unto us when they are not forbidden by God's own mouth. Yet it is not enough that we have God's word for our guide without mingling anything at all with it: but (as I have touched already) we must therewithal know that God accepts our affection when he sees us willing to obey him, and that although there be much faultiness and over many infirmities in us, and that we come halting unto him, and that all that ever we do were trifling toys if he listed to examine them with rigour: yet nevertheless, he takes all in good worth. And why? For he bears with us as a father with his children. That therefore is the freedom wherein we must stand, except we will be separated from our Lord Jesus Christ. For (as I have said already) if we believe not assuredly that God loves us, though we be unworthy of it, and that his loving of us is because our sins are buried by the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ: what will become of us? What shall Jesus Christ boot us? Again if we be in doubt and unquietness, not knowing whether God accepts our service or not, and therewithal be bound to the keeping of this or that at men's appointment, the entangling of ourselves in so many debatings will never suffer us to have any rest.
Neither is it without cause that Saint Paul, having exhorted the faithful to continue in the freedom that was purchased for them so dearly, adds, that Jesus Christ shall not profit them at all unless they know the thing that he has purchased for them, and suffer not themselves to be in any wise bereft of it by men. Now we see here, that the freedom which Saint Paul speaks of, is not to give us leave to do what we ourselves think good, as though he laid the reins of the bridle upon our neck: and that will he also protest in place convenient. Then intends he none other thing, than that we might serve God quietly without grief of mind, without constraint, and without any continual tormenting of ourselves with diversity of debatings and doubtful scruples as we see the unbelievers do, namely such as have not their trust wholly settled upon our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, besides that which has been said already, we have to mark further, that the end of that freedom is, to be able to carry a cheerful and quiet mind before God. For without that, we shall never have the heart to obey him, but we shall always be in trouble, and not be able to call upon him, which is the chief service that he demands and allows of. We see then that this matter concerns the chief point of our welfare, if it be well understood.
When we speak nowadays of Christian liberty, the Papists say we go about to abolish all the ordinances and traditions of the Church, and that we pass not what comes of it, so every man may live as he listeth, to eat flesh on all days alike without let, and to despise all other such ordinances. But their saying so, is because they never knew, that it is no obeying of God, unless it be done with an unconstrained will. For let the Papists be thoroughly sifted all the pack of them, yea even the devoutest of them: and it is certain that they chafe upon the bit, when they tire and overlabour themselves
most to serve God. For all that ever they do is but unwillingly: and if they could pluck their heads out of the collar, they would full fain do it. Furthermore, when they have toiled after that fashion in their fond devotions, they bear themselves in hand that God ought to like well of it. And if a man tell them that they cannot do anything that God should accept, and furthermore that although their works were good, yet they deserve not aught before him: you shall see them spew out their poison (as they do) and fall to blaspheming of God unless you believe them that they are able to work wonders by their own merits.
Howsoever the case stand, they are never able to know and to taste what it is to obey God. For why? They understand not what it is to be quiet: namely that it is an unconstrained offering of their doings unto God with a free heart, and an assuring of themselves that he accepts the same, even because he handles them gently, and bears with them as with his children. The Papists know not this, and therefore it is not to be wondered at, though they think it strange that we should strive for that freedom, for they wot not what it meaneth. But yet does not Saint Paul speak it without cause: and by those words we see how precious that liberty is, and that it is not a thing to be despised. For Jesus Christ did not jest in his death and passion when he offered up himself unto God his father: but wrought a work that in excellency and worthiness surpasses the creation of heaven and earth.
Now if Saint Paul brings in this liberty for an excellent fruit purchased to us by the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ: it must needs follow that it is a high and precious thing. And to the intent we may conceive what the nature and power of it is: we must learn to gather in ourselves unto God when we be spoken to of it. As for example: if we be commanded or enjoined of necessity to do such a thing or such a thing: very well, the doing thereof to the worldward
hinders not our freedom before God: for the things that concern common policy may be bidden or forbidden, because that otherwise they might turn to the hurt of the common weal, or else such things may be expedient, and then must one of us serve another's turn in common.
Therefore let us have a regard of the things that concern the policy, because it behooves us to be knit and united together, and to have such an onement among us, that every of us serve his neighbor's turn, and none of us be addicted to himself. But when the case concerns the spiritual liberty: then must every of us draw home into himself, to consider the nature and property thereof. Every of us (say I) must draw home himself as it were before God. For our account is to be made to the heavenly judge, and therefore it behooves us to enter into ourselves, to say thus: How may I present myself before God's judgment seat? If my life come to be tried by the law: woe worth me. For I am guilty after so many sorts, yea even without number, that if I should suffer a million of deaths, it were too little for the offenses that I have committed. Nevertheless God will be favorable to me, and take me to mercy for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and when I resort to him, I may come with my head bolt upright, as having my quits est and clear discharge, which was given me in the sacrifice that he offered up for us, because that therein he has made full satisfaction for me, and set me at full liberty. Mark this for one point, that I must serve God, and it is good reason that I should dedicate my life unto him. But at which end shall I begin? I cannot bring such perfection as is requisite, no nor the hundredth part of it. Yet for all that, God bears with me, and ceases not to take the things in good worth which are imperfect and weak, yea and sinful too. And why does he so? Because he admits me as one of his children for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake. After this manner (say I)
must we come before God, if we will conceive and understand the fruit of this liberty or freedom that Saint Paul treats of.
Now whereas he adds, that we should not wrap ourselves again in the yoke of bondage: thereby he shows, that before we be come to the faith of the Gospel, and do know what benefit is brought us by the death and passion of the Son of God, we be all held in strait bonds like prisoners, and have not any freedom or liberty at all. And in very deed, were it not that Jesus Christ makes intercession, and is a mean between God his father and us: it is certain that our minds should be in continual torment and unquietness. For there is none of us all but he is convicted to be more than guilty, and therefore we should needs stand at a stay as drowned in despair, till we were succored by our Lord Jesus Christ and knew that God will be favorable to us, and thereupon could find peace and assurance to call upon him, as knowing that Jesus Christ will be there beforehand.
On the other side, if we know not that God has so received us into his favor, as he is contented with our willingness to obey him, and with our coming towards him, though it be with infirmity: we see yet another halter that serves to hang us withal. But yet so is it with all unbelievers. Saint Paul therefore does purposely warn us, that until such time as the Gospel has taught us that God loves us, and of his own free goodness takes us as his children, and moreover will not have us to be overtrodden by men's tyranny, and specially that he delivers us from the bond and rigor of the Law: we are all of us drowned in bondage, and that when Jesus Christ has once set us free, it behooves us to maintain well such a benefit.
Now let us come to the reason that he adds, "Verily (says he) I Paul, yea even I do tell you, if you be circumcised, Jesus Christ shall profit you nothing at all." It is a very sore saying that circumcision should
cut men off in such wise, as they should have no part in the salvation that is purchased for us by our Lord Jesus Christ. But first of all we must mark, that when as Saint Paul speaks here of Circumcision, he looks not at the thing in itself, but unto the end of it, because the deceivers that had perverted the pureness of the Gospel among the Galatians, made them believe that they ought to be circumcised, to the end to keep the Law. Saint Paul stands upon that point, and says, that if we do so constrain and bind ourselves before God, or enter into such covenant with him: Jesus Christ shall profit us nothing at all. And this is well worth the noting.
For when we nowadays do say, that it is a hellish Tyranny for men to command the keeping of a thing under pain of deadly sin, or to forbid a thing because themselves like not of it: (as the commandment of keeping the Lent, or the shriving of men's sins once a year:) if we strive against such things, the Papists (as I said) cast forth their desperate rage, without considering of the cause that moves and constrains us to stand upon that point and ground. For why? They look no further than to the outward thing. But it behooves us to go further. For when the Papists command a thing under pain of deadly sin: it is a binding of us in such wise as we may not have God's favor but upon condition of doing our duty in that point. And he that shall have so done his duty, he I say shall have as it were bound God unto him, yea truly after the devilish opinion that reigns in popery, which is that we must earn grace by our own deserts, and also that we must pacify God's wrath and wipe out the remembrance of our sins and offenses by making amends.
Whereby it appears well, that if we can so discharge ourselves, then is Jesus Christ made unavailable to us, and he shall profit us nothing at all. For why? Jesus Christ cannot be our righteousness, except we seek the forgiveness of our sins in the sacrifice of his death, and
therewithal be well assured that God is our father, to the end we may call upon him with quiet consciences, because he has adopted us in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is true that the deceivers which had beguiled the Galatians, could well have found in their heart that Jesus Christ should have been acknowledged and called the Savior of the world. And they did so mingle the law with the Gospel, as yet notwithstanding Jesus Christ should have had his titles still. But they made a coparceny, that men on their side should deserve, and that by that means God should be appeased. As if they had said, that Jesus Christ supplied men's wants: howbeit after such a sort, as the wretched consciences were always out of quiet. The like dealing is at this day in the Papacy. And the Pope with all the rabble of his Clergy, differ nothing at all from the cosiners against whom Saint Paul encounters here, saving that those cosiners did put forth their own inventions and would have had them to prevail under the shadow and authority of Moses' Law. They then against whom Saint Paul disputes, said, we must keep still Circumcision, we must needs be circumcised still. And to what purpose? to the end we may discharge ourselves towards God, and be accepted at his hand for doing of our duty. Whereunto then shall Jesus Christ serve? He shall serve for to fill up a void room: for he is not utterly unprofitable: but when men have so discharged and cleared themselves, then if there be any want, Jesus Christ shall supply that. After that manner did those Cousiners speak, which were Saint Paul's adversary party.
And what says the Pope? He says that instead of the Ceremonial law of Moses, we must keep his ordinances, and the things that are decreed by Councils, or by this man or that man: and that the same binds us upon pain of deadly sin, so that if we offend God, we must make him amends for it by our own satisfactions, and not by the things that God has commanded. For the amends that we must make is not any of the things appointed by God's law: but an addition of an
overplus of our own device besides, and so are we discharged to Godward, and God must needs take it as worth. We see then that the Pope holds the same devilish foundation which those cosiners labored to bring in. Howbeit that this is yet worse, that whereas they enforced the law of Moses which ought to bear some sway: the Pope brings in his own inventions, and the forgeries of his own brain. But contrariwise Saint Paul says that Jesus Christ shall profit us nothing at all: when we will needs indent with God after that fashion. And why? For it is all one to pull Christ in pieces, and to give him but the one half of that which belongs fully and wholly unto him alone. He is given us to be our righteousness, and he is called our peace, and what betokens the word Righteousness? That God accepts us freely for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake. Now then if we say that we win God's favor by our own deserts, and that Jesus Christ is but a supplier of wants: is it not a rending of him in pieces, and a dismembering of him as much as in us lies? But that cannot be done nor suffered. Moreover, our Lord Jesus Christ is given for our satisfaction or amendsmaking: for there is none other means to set God and us at one, but by knowing that we be quite and clean discharged, and freely quit of the bond of endless death. For if we think to ransom ourselves by our own deserts, and say that if there be any want in us, Christ shall make it good as a small matter: it is a flat mockery, and that is in no wise to be borne with. We see then that the cause why Saint Paul tells us that Jesus Christ shall profit us nothing, is that men should not beguile themselves in devising a new Jesus Christ, that should do but half his duty: for we must receive him in such wise, as he is given us of God his father. Now he is given us with condition that we should rid ourselves of all self-trust, and resort wholly unto him, and furthermore that it should suffice us to have him to be our head, and thereupon serve God his father, offering him all that we have, and assuring ourselves that although the same all be nothing, yet notwithstanding howsoever we fare, it fails not to be taken in good
part, because the adoption that is gone afore, and grounded in our Lord Jesus Christ, makes us and our works to be always accepted of God, us (I say) that are nothing worth, and our works that are but pelting trash, and yet notwithstanding God takes them in good worth, because he looks not what we be, or what we do, nor upon the quality or quantity of our works: but only looks at this, that we come unto him as members of his only son, resting wholly upon the sacrifice whereby he has redeemed us.
And therefore Saint Paul, for a larger confirmation, adds that he protests and witnesses that he who is circumcised is a debtor of the performance of the whole law. For (says he) Jesus Christ is unavailable when folk will need to justify themselves by that means. We have a declaration clear and easy enough of the things that Paul has said: and we must mark it well, because it is hard to persuade men that Jesus Christ is utterly unavailable when they go about to make him unavailable in any part. For although the Turks and other Heathen folk never knew what Jesus Christ is: yet have they had an opinion fully like the Papists, and a man shall find them to be both of one stamp. For there were never yet any heathen men in the world, which have not been of the opinion that they could not satisfy God: and yet they have gloried in their own works, believing that their salvation or welfare proceeded of them.
The Heathen men then did always bear themselves in hand, that they were able to purchase grace, and to deserve somewhat at God's hand. And thereupon they offered Sacrifices, knowing not that the same were a figure of Jesus Christ, but yet howsoever the world went, they thought to make some satisfaction or amends. Even so also did the Jews, when they had once marred and corrupted the true meaning of the Law. As much also do the Papists at this day, fully resolving that God accepts their doings, and that he is in a manner bound to them
so to do. Let them then bargain with him to allow of their doings, though they do amiss. For they are sure enough that they cannot make satisfaction to the full, nor in all points: but yet on the other side they say, that they can do more than God has commanded and that that shall serve for recompense and payment. Now forasmuch as it is so hard a matter to persuade men, that Jesus Christ will not serve their turn by halves: it stands us on hand to mark this Text so much the better, where Saint Paul says, that whosoever is circumcised is a debtor of the performance of the whole Law. When Saint Paul speaks after that sort of Circumcision, we must mark that he talks not according to God's first instituting of it: for to what purpose did God give it unto Abraham? He gave it him as a seal of the righteousness of faith, and so does he himself say in the fourth to the Romans. Therefore the Circumcising of Abraham, was not to make him a debtor of the performance of the whole Law: but contrariwise, to assure him of the forgiveness of his sins, and that God accepted him for one of his children, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake. You see then that Circumcision did set our father Abraham at full liberty. Why then did he take it? Because God gave it him as a record and Sacrament of his free goodness. But contrariwise, those against whom Saint Paul reasons, took Circumcision as a meritorious work, and thought thereby to deserve at God's hand: they entered into a kind of bargaining with him, as if they should say, very well, I am beholding to you for such a thing, and I have done this or that in recompense of it. Therefore whenever we fall to indenting after that sort with God:
we become debtors of the whole Law. As if he should say, you must not bargain in this case: men must not bear themselves in hand that they can partly bind God, so as he should of right be in their debt, and bound of necessity to take them into his Paradise for doing this or that for him. No no (says Saint Paul) we must go more
substantially to work, we must not fall to bargaining with God, to say that he binds us to perform the whole Law, and that we bind him to give us everlasting life. If we come to that point, we become debtors of the whole Law. To be short, Saint Paul strives here against the devilish error that reigns in the Papadome. They term it a parting righteousness, that is to say, a righteousness that comes partly of God's grace, and partly of meritorious works. And why so? For it is well known that there was never yet man in this world, that performed God's Law, and that does experience show too much. Forasmuch then as the Papists (as shameless as they be) do know well enough (as I said) that it is too manifest a thing, that men are not able to keep all the Law: they say, we maintain not that we be fully righteous in all points, but we say that Jesus Christ is partly our righteousness and redeemer, and we ourselves do partly deserve well by our own works. Fie, fie, says Saint Paul, whosoever falls to indenting after that fashion, to say that he will earn aught at God's hand, or make him any recompense, so as he will play the hireling with him, and make him as it were his debtor, as if he would say, I have done this, and therefore you shall pay me that: he makes himself a debtor of the whole, and they are but fond imaginations wherewith men deceive themselves, thinking that God must be fain to take what they will give him, and to release them all the rest.