Project Canterbury
Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology
Lancelot Andrewes Works, Sermons, Volume
One
SERMONS
OF THE NATIVITY.
PREACHED UPON CHRISTMAS-DAY, 1609.
Preached before King James, at Whitehall, on Monday, the Twenty-fifth
of December, A.D.
MDCIX
Transcribed by Dr Marianne Dorman
AD 2001
Galatians iv:4-5
But
when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman,
made under the Law, To redeem them that were under the Law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons.
At
ubi venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum factum ex muliere, factum
sub Lege, Ut eos, qui sub lege erant, redimeret, ut adoptionem filiorum
reciperemus.
If, when the
Ôfullness of time came,Õ ÔGod sent His Son,Õ then when ÔGod sent His
Son,Õ is Ôthe fulness of timeÕ come. And at this day ÔGod sent His
Son.Õ This day therefore, so oft as by the revolution of the year it cometh
about, is to us a yearly representation of Ôthe fullness of time.Õ So it
is; and a special honour it is to the feast that so it is. And we ourselves
seem so to esteem of it. For we allow for every month a dayÑlook how many
months so many daysÑto this feast, as if it were, and we so thought it to
be, the full recapitulation of the whole year.
This honour
it hath from Christ who is the Substance of this and all other solemnities.
Peculiarly, a Christi missa, Ôfrom
Christ's sending.Õ For they that read the ancient writers of the Latin
Church, Tertullian and Cyprian, know that missa
and missa, and remissa and remissio, with
them [45/46] are taken for one. So that Christa missa, is the sending of Christ. And when then hath this
text place so fit as now? Or what time so seasonable to entreat of it as this?
of the sending of His Son, as when ÔGod sent His Son;Õ of Ôthe fulness
of time,Õ as on the yearly return and memorial of it?
To entreat of
it then. The heads are two. I. Of Ôthe fulness of time.Õ II. And of that
wherewith it is filled. I. Time's fulness in these, ÔWhen the fulness of
time came.Õ II. Time's filling in the rest, ÔGod sent His Son, made of a
woman, made under the Law,Õ &c.
I. In the
former, Quando venit plenitudo temporis,
there be four points. 1. Plenitudo te
poris, Ôthat hath a fulness;Õ or, Ôthat there is a fulness of
time.Õ 2. Venit plenitudo, Ôthat
fulness cometh by steps and degrees;Õ not all at once. 3. Quando
venit, that it hath a quando,
that is, Ôthere is a time when time thus cometh to this fulness.Õ 4. And
when that when is and that is
Ôwhen God sent His Son.Õ And so pass we over to the other part in the same
verse, Misit Deus; ÔGod sent His
Son.Õ
II. For the
other part, touching the filling of time. There be texts, the right way to
consider of them is to take them in pieces, and this is of that kind. And if
we take it in sunder, we shall see as it is of fullness so a kind of fulness
there is in it, every word more full than the other; every word a step in it
whereby it rises still higher, till by seven several degrees it comes to the
top and so the measure is full. 1. ÔGod sent;Õ the first. 2. ÔSent His
Son;Õ the second. 3. ÔHis Son made;Õ the third. 4. And that twice made;
Ômade of a woman;Õ the fourth 5. ÔMade under the Law;Õ the fifth;
every one fuller than other, still.
And for all
this, for some persons, and some purpose; the person ut nos, Ôthat we.Õ The purpose, reciperemus,
Ôthat we might receive.Õ Nay, if you mark it, there be two uts, 1. ut ille; 2. ut nos, Ôthat He might,Õ and that Ôwe
might.Õ He might redeem, and we might receive; that is, He pay for it, and
we reap the benefit. 6. A double benefit, of 1. Redemption, first, from the
state of persons cast and condemned under the Law; which is the sixth. 7. And
then, of 2. Translation into the state of adopted children of God, which is
the seventh, and the very filling up of the measure.
[46/47] III.
All which we may reduce to a double fulness: God's as much as He can send;
ours as much as we can desire. God's
in the five first. 1. ÔGod sent.Õ 2. ÔSent His Son.Õ 3. ÔHis Son
made.Õ 4. ÔMade of a woman.Õ 5. ÔMade under the Law.Õ And ours in
the two latter; 6. ÔWe are redeemed,Õ the sixth. 7. ÔWe receive
adoption,Õ the seventh.
In that of
God's every point is full. The thing sent, full; the sending, and the manner
of sending, full. The making, and the two manners of making. 1. Ôof a
woman,Õ and 2. Ôunder the Law,Õ both full. And our fulness in the two
latter, the effects of these two acts or makings, 1. Ôof a woman,Õ 2.
Ôunder the Law,Õ redemption and adoption, which make up all. That when we
were strangers from the adoption, and not that only, but lay under the Law, as
men whose sentence had passed on; from this latter we are redeemedÑHe
Ôunder the Law,Õ that we from under the LawÑthat being so redeemed we
might further Ôreceive the adoption of children,Õ and as He the ÔSon of
man,Õ so we might be made the Ôsons of GodÕÑwhich two are as much as
we can wish. And this is our fulness.
IV. And to
these I will crave leave to add another fulness of ours, rising out of these,
and to make a motion for it. That as it is the time when we from God receive
the fulness of His bounty, so it might be the time also when He from us may
likewise receive the fulness of our duty. The time of His bountifulness, and
the time of our thankfulness: that it may be plenitudo temporis, qua ad illum, qua ad nos; Ôdownward and
upward, from Him to us, and from us to Him again;Õ and so be both ways
Ôthe fulness of time.Õ
Quando venit plenitudo temporis
I. Plenitudo
temporis. First there is a fulness in time. The term ÔfulnessÕ carrieth
our conceit to measure straight from whence it is borrowed; which is then said
to be full when it hath as much as it can hold. Now ÔGod hath made all
things in measure;Õ and if all things then time. Yea time itself is by the
Apostle called mensura temporis,
Ôthe measure of time.Õ As then all other measures have theirs; so the
measure of time also hath his fulness, when it receiveth so much as the
capacity will [47/48] contain no more. So time is a measure; it hath a
capacity; that hath a fulness. That there is such a thing as Ôthe fulness of
time.Õ
2. Venit
plenitudo. But nothing is full at first; no more is time by and by. Venit
plenitudo, it coemth not at once or straightways, but by steps and paces,
nearer and nearer; fills first a quarter, and then half, till at last it come
to the brim. And degrees there be by which it cometh. Ecce palmares posuisti dies meos; from which word [palmares]
it is an observation of one of the Fathers,
[Alcuin] Ôa man may read his time.Õ In his own hand visibly there
in an ascent, the fingers rise still till they come to the top of the middle
finger; and when they be come thither, down again by like descent till they
come to the little which is the lowest of all. So is it in our time. It riseth
still by degrees till we come to the full pitch of our age, and then declineth
again till we grow to the lower end of our days. But howsoever it may beÑas
it oft falls outÑthe descent is sudden, we go down headlong without degrees,
go away in a moment; yet ever this holdeth, to our fulness we come not but by
degrees.
3. Quando
venit. Now thirdly, this coming hath a quando
venit, Ôa time when it cometh thither.Õ As a time there is a great
while when we say, nondum venit hora,
Ôthe time is not yet come.Õ while the measure is yet but in filling; so at
the last a time too that we may say, venit
hora, Ôthe time is now come,Õ when the measure is full; that is, a
time there is when the time cometh to the full. As in the day, when the sun
cometh to the meridian in the line; in the month, when it cometh to the point
of opposition with the moon; in the year, when to the solstice; in man, when
he cometh to his full years; for that is the Ôfulness of time' the Apostle
allegeth in three verses before.
And when is
that when that time thus cometh to
his fulness? Quando misit Deus,
Ôwhen God sends it;Õ for time receives his filling from God. Of itself
time is but an empty measure, hath nothing in it. Many days and months run
over our heads, Dies inanes, saith
the Psalmists; Menses vacui, saith
Job, Ôempty days,Õ Ôvoid months,Õ without any thing to fill them.
That which
filleth time is some memorable thing of God's pouring into it; or, as it is in
the text, of His sending to fill it [48/49] withal. Misit Deus is it; and so cometh time to be more or less full,
thereafter as that is which God sends to fill it.
Now many
memorable missions did God make before this here, whereby in some measure He
filled up certain times of the year under Moses and the prophets; all which
may well be termed, The implements of time.
But for all
them, the measure was not yet full;Ñfilled perhaps to a certain degree, but
not full to the brim; full it was not, seeing it might be still fuller, till
God sent That than Which a more full could not be sent.
And That He
sent when ÔHe sent His Son,Õ a fuller than Whom He could not send, nor
time could not receive. Therefore with the sending Him when that was, time was
at the top, that was the quando venit,
then it was plenitudo temporis.
1. And well
might that be called Ôthe fullness of time.Õ For when He was sent into the
world, Ôin Whom the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily;Õ in Whom Ôthe
Spirit was not by measure;Õ in Whom was Ôthe fulness of grace and truth;'
of Whose fulness we all receive;Ñwhen He was sent That was thus full, then
was time at the full.
2. And well
also might it be called Ôthe fullness of timeÕ in another regard. For till
then all was but in promise, in shadows and figures and prophecies only, which
fill not, God knows. But when the performance of those promises, the body of
those shadows, the substance of those figures, the fulfilling or filling full
of all those prophecies came, then came Ôthe fullness of time,Õ truly so
called. Till then it came not; then it came.
3. And well
might it be called Ôthe fulness of timeÕ in a third respect. For then the
heir, that is, the world, was come to his full age; and so that the fittest
time for Him to be sent. For to that compares the Apostle their estate then;
that the former times under Moses and the prophets were as the non-age of the
world, sub p¾dagogo, ôpÍ
otoiceÜa at their A. B. C. or rudiments, (as in
the very last words before these.) Their estate then, as of children in their
minority, little differing from servants. For all this while, nondum
venit. Ôthe fullness of timeÕ was not yet come. But a time there was,
as for man, so for mankind to come to his full years; that time [49/50] came
with Christ's coming, and Christ's coming with it, and never till then was
`the fullness of time;' but then it was.
And let this
be enough for this point; more there is not in the text. But if any shall
further ask why then, at that age of the world the world was at his full age,
just then and neither sooner nor later? I know many heads have been full of
devices, to satisfy men's curiosity in that point. But I hold it safest to
rest with the Apostle, in the second verse, on God's ¯poqesmÉa. Let that content us. Then
was the time, for that was tempus pr¾finitum
a Patre, Ôthe time appointed of the Father.Õ For even among men,
though Ñthe fathere being deadÑthe law setteth a time for the son to come
to his heritage; yet the father living, no time can be prefixed, but only when
it liketh him to appoint; and the Father here liveth; and therefore let His proqesmÉa
stay us. ÔThe times and seasons He hath put in His own power, it is not for
us to know them.Õ This is for us to know, that with His appointment, we must
come to a full point. So doth the Apostle, and so let us, and busy ourselves
much with it; doth more concern us. To that therefore let us come.
II. ÔGod
sent.Õ The degrees are seven, as I said. To take them as they rise. Misit
Deus, ÔGod sent.Õ That standeth first, and at it let our first stay
be. That will fall out to make the first degree. For even this, that God sent
at all, ipsum mittere Dei, this very
sending itself is a degree. It is so; and so we would reckon of it, if we knew
the Sender, and Who He is; the Majesty of His presence how great it is, and
how glorious, how far surpassing all we can see on earth.
For HimÑfor
such an one as HeÑto condescend but to send, is sure a degree. For enough it
had been, and more than enough for Him, to be sent to; and not to send
Himself. To have sit still, and been content that we might send to Him, and
have our message and petition admitted, and not He send to us. That had been
as much as we could look for, and well if we might have been vouchsafed but
that. But it was He that sent; not we to Him first, nay not we to Him at all,
but He to us.
He to us! And
what were we that He to us? Us, as elsewhere He termeth us, Ômere aliensÕ
from Him and His [50/51] Household; not that only, but us, in case of men whom
the law had passed upon. So is our estate described in the end of the text.
For Him to send to us, so great as He to such as we; to think us tanti, Ôso much worth,Õ as to make any mission, or motion, or to
disease any about usÑthis may well be the first. Be it then so; that to us,
or for us, or concerning us, God would trouble Himself to make any sending; a
fulness there is in this. Full He was; a fulness there was in HimÑeven the
fulness of compassion in His bowels over our estateÑelse such a Sender would
never once have sent.
2. ÔHis
Son.Õ ÔGod sent;Õ Ôsent,Õ and Ôsent His Son.Õ That I make no
question will bear a second. Others He might have sent; and whosoever it had
been He had sent, it might well have served our turns. If sent by the hand of
any His servants, any Patriarch, Prophet, any ordinary messenger, it had been
enough. So hitherto had been His sending. So, and no otherwise, ever till now.
Then, if to
send by any may seem sufficient, to send ÔHis SonÕ must needs seem full.
For ever the more excellent the person sent, the more honourable the sending;
the greater he, the fuller it. Now greater there is not than ÔHis Son,Õ
His first, His only-begotten Son, Ôin Whom the fullness of the Godhead
dwelt;Õ in sending Him He sent the greatest, the best, the fullest thing He
had.
To heap the
measure up yet more with the cause of His sending, in the word Ôexapùsteila.
It was voluntary. He sent Him not for need; but for
mere love to us, and nothing else. There was no absolute necessity that He
should have sent Him. He might have done what He intended by the means and
ministry of some besides. God could have enabled a creature; a creature
enabled by God, and the power of His might, could soon have trod down Satan
under our feet. But if it had
been any other He had sent, His love and regard to us had not showed so full.
It had been Ostendit Deus charitatem,
but not Ecce quantam charitatem ostendit
Deus. Whomsoever He had sent besides, His love had not been full; at
least, not so full, at least, not so full as it should have been, if He had
sent His Son. That therefore it might be full, and so appear to us for full, Misit
Deus Filium suum. Enough it was, in compassion of our estate, to have
relieved us by any. [51/52] Men that are in need to be relieved care not who
they be that do it. Enough then for compassion; nut not enough to manifest the
fulness of His love, unless to relieve us He sent His own Son.
3.
ÔMade.Õ This full one would think; yet the manner of His sending Him is
fuller still. Misit Filium; Filium
factum. ÔSent His Son;Õ ÔHis Son made.Õ Sent Him, and sent Him
Ômade.Õ This is a third. For if He would have sent Him, He should not have
sent Him `made;' but as He was, Ôneither made nor created,Õ but like
Himself in His own estate, as was meet for the Son of God to be sent. To make
Him anything is to mar Him, be it what it will be. To send Him made, is to
send Him marred, and no better. Therefore I make no doubt Christ's sending is
one degree, His making is another; so to send as withal to make are two
distinct measures of this filling. As He is, He is a Maker, a Creator. If God
make Him any thing, He must be a thing made, a creature, and is a great
disparagement. So that howsoever the time is the fuller for this, He is the
emptier; pl/hrwma
crñnou kùnwma Cristoˆ Ôthe fulness of time is
His emptiness;Õ the exalting of that, His abasing. And this very exinanivit
seipsum, Ôemptying HimselfÕ for our sake, is a pressing down the
measure; and so even by that still the measure is more full.
Yea the very
manner of this making hath his increase too, addeth to it still. In the word geuñmwnou,
which is not every making, but Ômaking it His nature.Õ To have made Him a
body and taken it upon Him for a time till He had performed His embassage, and
then laid it off again, that had been much; but so to be made as once made and
ever made; so to take it as never lay it off more, but continue so still, gùnesqai,
Ôit is to become His very nature;Õ so to be made
is to make the union full. And to
make the union with us full, He was content not to be sent alone but to be
made; and that gùnesqai,
Ôto be made so as never unmade more.Õ Our manhood becoming His nature, no
less than the Godhead itself. This
is Filium factum indeed.
ÔMade,Õ
and twice Ômade,Õ for so it is in the verse, 1. Factum
ex, and 2. Factum sub; Ômade
of,Õ and Ômade under;Õ Ôof a
woman.,Õ Ôunder the Law.Õ So two makings [52/53] there be; either of
them of itself a filling to the measure, but both of them maketh it perfectly
full.
ÔMade,Õ
first, Ôof a woman;Õ that I take clearly to be one. For if He, if the Son
of God must be made a creature, it were meet He should be made the best
creature of all. And if made of any thing, if any one thing better than
another, of that; made some glorious Spirit, some of the orders of the Angels.
Nay Ômade,Õ but made no Spirit; Verbum
caro factum est, ÔThe Word became flesh;Õ ÔmadeÕ no Angel; nusquam
Angelos, ÔHe in no wise took the Angels; nature upon Him.Õ
But
ÔmadeÕ man. First I will ask with David, Domine,
quid est homo? ÔLord what is man?Õ And then tell you his answer. Homo
quasi res nihili, ÔMan is like a thing of nought.Õ And this He was
Ômade,Õ this He became, ÔmadeÕ man, Ômade of a woman;Õ Ôdid not
abhor the Virgin's womb,Õ as we sing daily to the high praise of the
fullness of His humility, to which His love brought Him for our sakes. For
whatsoever else He had been Ômade,Õ it would have done us no good.
In this then was Ôthe fulness' of His love, as before of His
Father'sÑthat He would be made, and was made, not what was fittest for Him,
but what was best for us; not what was most for His glory, but what was most
for our benefit, and behoof.
ÔMade of a
woman.Õ For man He might have been Ômade,Õ and yet have had a body
framed for Him in Heaven, and not Ômade of a woman.Õ But when He saith, Factum ex muliere, it is evident He passed not through her as water
through conduit pipe, as fondly dreameth the Anabaptist. ÔMade of,Õ Factum
ex; ex dicit materiam. ÔMade of her;Õ she ministered the matter,
Ôthe flesh of her flesh.Õ Semen mulieris, Ôthe seed;Õ and semen
intimum substanti¾, Ôthat is the principal and very inward chief part
of the substance.Õ Made of that, made of her very substance.
And so have
we here now in one both twain His natures. ÔGod sent His SonÕÑthere His
divine; Ômade of a woman,ÕÑhere His human nature. That, from the bosom
of His Father before all worlds; this, from the womb of His mother in the
world. So that as from eternity God His Father might say that verse of the
Psalm, Filius Meus es Tu, hodie genui Te
[53/54] ÔThou art My Son, this
day have I begotten Thee:Õ so, in Ôthe fulness of timeÕ might the Virgin
His mother no less truly, Filius me Tu,
hodie peperi Te, ÔThou art my Son, this day have I brought Thee into the
world.Õ
And
here now at this word, Ômade of a woman,Õ He beginneth to concern us
somewhat. There groweth an alliance between us; for we also are made of a
woman. And our hope is as He will not be confounded to be counted inter
natus mulierum: no more will He be, saith the Apostle, to say, in
medio fratrum, Ôto acknowledge us His brethren.Õ And so by this time
He growth somewhat near us.
This now is
full for the union with our nature to be Ômade of a woman.Õ But so to be
Ômade of a womanÕ without He be also Ômade under the Law,Õ is not
enough yet. For if He be out of the compass of the Law that the law cannot
take hold of Him, factum ex muliere will
do us small pleasure. And He was so born, so Ômade of a woman.Õ As the
verity of His conception is in this factum
ex muliere, so the purity is in this, that it is but ex
muliere, and no more; of the Virgin alone by the power of the Holy Ghost,
without mixture of fleshly generation. By virtue whereof no original soil was
in Him. Just born He was, and Justo non
est lex posita, Ôno law for the justÕÑno law could touch Him. And so
we never the better for factum ex
muliere.
For if one be
in debt and danger of the law, to have a brother of the same blood, made of
the same woman, both as we say lying in one belly, will little avail him,
except he will also come Ôunder the law,Õ that is, become his surety and
undertake for him. And such was our estate. As debtors we were by virtue of chirigraphum
contra nos, Ôthe hand-writing that against us.Õ Which was our bond,
and we had forfeited it. And so, factus
ex muliere, to us, without factus
sub Lege, would have been to small purpose.
No remedy
therefore, He must be new made; made again once more. And so He was, cast in a
new mould; and at His second making Ômade under the Law;Õ under which if
He had not been made, we had been marred; even quite undone for ever, if this
had not been done for us too. Therefore He became bound for us also, entered
bond anew, took on Him not only our nature but our debt, our nature [54/55]
and condition both. Nature as men, condition as sinful men, expressed in the
words following, Ôthem that were under the Law;Õ for that was our
condition. There had indeed been no capacity in Him to do this, if the former
had not gone before, factum ex muliere;
if He had not been, as we, Ômade of a woman.Õ But the former was for this;
Ômade of a womanÕ He was, that He might be Ômade under the Law:Õ being
ex muliere, He might then become sub Lege, which before He could not, but then He might and did; and
so this still is the fuller.
And when did He this? When was He Ômade under the Law?Õ Even then
when He was circumcised. For this doth St. Paul testify in the third of the
next chapter, ÔBehold, I Paul testify unto you whosoever is circumcised,Õ factus
est debitor univers¾ Legis, Ôhe becomes a debtor to the whole Law.Õ
At His circumcision then He entered bond anew with us; and in sign that so He
did, He shed then a few drops of His blood, whereby He signed the bond as it
were, and gave those few drops then, tanquam
arrham universi effundendi, Ôas a pledge or earnestÕ that Ôwhen the
fullness of time came,Õ ÔHe would be ready to shed all the rest;Õ as He
did; For I would not have you mistake; though we speak of this sub
Lege, being Ôunder the Law,Õ in the terms of a debt sometimes, yet the
truth is this debt of ours was no money debt; we were not sub
Lege pecuniari‰, but capitali;
and the debt of a capital law is death. And under that, under death He went,
and the worst death law had to inflict, Ôeven the death of the cross,Õ the
most bitter, reproachful, cursed death of the cross. So that upon the matter, factus
sub Lege, and factus in cruce,
come both to one; one amounts to as much as the other. Well, this He did
undertake for us at His circumcision, and therefore then and not till then He
had His name given Him, the name of Jesus, a Saviour. For then took He on Him
the obligation to save us. And look, what then at His circumcision He
undertook, at His Passion He paid even to the full; and having paid it, delevit
chirographum, Ôcancelled the sentence of the Law,Õ that till then was
of record and stood in full force against us.
Howbeit, all
this was but one part of the Law; but He was made sub Lege univers‰, Ôunder the whole Law;Õ and that not [55/56]
by His death only, but by His life too. The one half of the Law, that is, the
directive partÑHe was made under that, and satisfied it by the innocency of
his life, without breaking so much as one jot or tittle of the Law; and so
answered that part, as it might be the principal. The other half of the Law
which is the penaltyÑHe was under that part also, and satisfied it by
suffering a wrongful death, no way deserved, or due by Him; and so answered
that, as it might be the forfeiture. So He was made under both, under the
whole Law. Satisfying the principal, there was no reason He should be liable
to all, that the whole Law might be satisfied fully, by His being under both
parts; and so no part of it light upon us.
These two
then, 1. Ômade of a woman,Õ 2. ÔMade under the Law,Õ ye see, are two
several makings, and both very requisite. Therefore either hath a several
feast, they divide this solemnity between them. Six days apiece to either; as
the several moities of this Ôfulness of time.Õ This day, Verbum
caro factum, Ôthe Word made flesh;Õ that day, ÔHim that knew no sin,
He made sin,Õ that is, made Him undertake to be handled as a sinner, to be
Ôunder the Law,Õ and to endure what the Law could lay upon Him. And so now
the thing sent is full; and fully sent, because made; and fully made, because
made once and twice over; fully made ours, because fully united to us. ÔMade
of a woman,Õ as well as we; Ômade under the Law,Õ as deep as we; both ex muliere and sub Lege.
So of our nature Ôof a woman,Õ that of our condition also Ôunder the
Law.Õ So, fully united to us in nature and condition both.
And so we are
come to the full measure of His sending. And that we are come to the full ye
shall plainly see by the overflowing, by what which we receive from this
fulness; which is the latter part of the verse and is our fulness, even the
fulness of all that we can desire. For if we come now to ask, for whom is all
this ado, this sending, this making, over and over again? It is for us. So is
the conclusion, ut nos, that we
might from this fulness receive the full of our wish. For in these two behind,
1. Redemption and 2. Adoption; to be redeemed and to be adopted are the full
of all we can wish ourselves.
[56/57] The
transcendent division of good and evil is it that comprehendeth all. And here
it is. Our desire can extend itself no further than to be rid of all evil, and
to attain all that good is. By these two, being redeemed and being adopted, we
are made partakers of them both. ÔTo be redeemed from under the Law,Õ is
to be quit of all evil. ÔTo receive the adoption of children,Õ is to be
stated in all that is good. For all evil is in being Ôunder the LawÕ from
whence we are redeemed, and all good in being invested in the heavenly
inheritance whereunto we are adopted. Thus stood the case with us, Ôaliens
we were from God, His covenant, and His kingdom.Õ More than that, prisoners
we were, fast laid up under the Law. From this latter we are freed; of the
former we are seized; and what would we more?
Only this you
shall observe that in the idiom of the Scriptures it is usual, two points
being set down, when they are resumed again, to begin with the latter and so
end with the former. So is it here. At the first, Ômade of a woman, made
under the Law.Õ At the resuming, He begins with the latter, Ômade under
the Law, that He might redeem them that were under the Law.Õ And then comes
to the former, Ômade of a woman,Õ made the Son of man, `that we by
adoption might be made the sons of God.Õ But this we are to mark, it is He
that is at all the cost and pain; and we that have the benefit by it. At the
redeeming it is, ut ille; at the receiving it is, ut nos.
Briefly of
either. And first, of our redeeming. Redeeming, as the word giveth it, is a
second buying, or buying back of a thing before aliened or sold. Ever, a
former sale is presupposed before it. And such a thing there had gone before.
A kind of alienation had formerly been whereby we had made away ourselves, for
a sale I cannot call it, it was for such a trifle; our nature aliened in Adam
for the forbidden fruit, a matter of no moment. Our persons likewise; daily we
ourselves alien them for some trifling pleasure or profit, matters not much
more worth. And when we have thus passed ourselves away, by this Ôselling
ourselves under sin,' the Law seizeth on us, and under it we are sukekleismùnoi
even Ôlocked upÕ as it were in a dungeon, Ôtied fast with the cords of
our sins;Õ the sentence passed on us, and we waiting but for [57/58]
execution. What evil is there not in this estate, and on every soul that is in
it? Well then, the first ut, the
first end is to get us rid from under this estate.
He did it;
not by way of entreaty, step in and beg our pardon; that would not serve. Sold
we were, and bought we must be; a price must be laid down for us. To get us
from under the Law it was not a matter of intercession, to sue for it and have
it. No, He must purchase it and pay for it. It was a matter of redemption.
And in
redemption or a purchase we look to the price. For if it be at any easy rate,
it is so much better. But with a high price He purchased us; it cost Him dear
to bring it about. Non auro, nec argento;
neither of them would serve; at an higher rate it was, even pretioso
sanguine. ÔHis precious Blood was the price we stood Him in.Õ Which He
paid, when ÔHe gave His life a ransom for manyÕ. It stood thus between Him
and us in this point of redemption. Here are certain malefactors under the
Law, to sufferÑto be executed. What say you to them? Why, I will become
Ôunder the Law,Õ suffer that they should, take upon Me their execution,
upon condition they may be quit. In effect so much as His Passion He said, Si
ergo Me qu¾ritis, ÔIf you lay hold on Me,Õ if I must discharge all, sinite hos abire, Ôlet these go their way.Õ Let the price I pay
be their redemption, and so it was. And so we come to be Ôredeemed from
under the Law.Õ
And this is
to be marked, that Ôthem that were under the LawÕ and Ôwe that are to
receiveÕ are but one, one and the same persons both; but being so redeemed,
then we are ourselves. Till then the Apostle speaks of us in the third person,
Ôthem that were under the Law,Õ as of some strangers, as of men of another
world, none of our own. But now being redeemed, the style changeth. He
speaketh of us in the first person ut
nos, Ôthat we.Õ For till now, we were not our own, we were not
ourselves; but now we are. Till
this it was the old year still with us, but with the new year cometh our new
estate.
Being thus
redeemed, we are got from under the Law; and that is much. Till a party come
to be once under it and feel the weight of it, he shall never understand this
aright; [58/59] but then he shall. And if any have been under it, he knows
what it is, and how great a benefit to be got thence. But is this all? No, He
leaves us not here; but to make the measure complete, yea even to flow over,
He gives us not over when He had rid us out of this wretched estate, till He
has brought us to an estate as good as Himself is in. After our redemption we
stood as prisoners enlarged; that was all: but still we were as strangers; no
part nor portion in God or His Kingdom, nor no reason we should hope for any.
He now goeth one step further, which is the highest and farthest step of all.
For farther than it He cannot go.
ÔThat we
might receive the adoption,Õ that is, from the estate of prisoners condemned
be translated into the estate of children adopted. Of adopted, for of natural
we could not. This is His peculiar alone, and He therein only above us; but
else, fully to the joint fruition of all that He hath, which is fully as much
as we could desire. And this is our fieri
out of His factum ex muliere. We
made the sons of God, as He the Son of man; we made partakers of His divine,
as He of our human nature. To purchase our pardon, to free us from death and
the law's sentence, this Ôseemed a small thingÕ to Him, yet this is lex
hominis. Man's goodness goeth no farther, and gracious is the prince that
doth but so much. For who has ever heard of a condemned man adopted afterward,
or that thought it not enough and enough if he did but scape with his life?
So far then to exalt His bounty to that fulness as pardon and adopt
both, non est lex hominia h¾c,
Ôno such measure amongst men;Õ zelus
Domini exercitum, Ôthe zeal of the Lord of HostsÕ was to perform this;
Ôthe fulness of the Godhead dwelt in HimÕ that brought this to pass.
For, to speak
of adopting, we see it daily; no father adopts unless he be orbe, have no child; or if he have one, for some deep dislike have
cast him off. But God had a Son, Ôthe brightness of His glory, the true
character of His substance.Õ And no displeasure there was; no, in
Quo complacitum est, Ôin Whom He was absolutely well pleased;Õ yet
would He by adoption for all that Ôbring many sons to glory.Õ Is not this
full on His part?
We see again
no heir will endure to hear of adoption, nay nor divide his inheritance; no,
not with his natural brethren. [59/60] Then, that Ôthe Heir of all thingsÕ
should admit Ôjoint-heirsÕ to the Kingdom He was born to; and that admit
them not out of such as were near Him, but from such as were strangers; yea,
such as had been condemned men under the lawÑis not this full on His part?
To purchase us, and to purchase for us, both at once? And not to do this for
us alone, but to assure it to us. For as His Father in this verse sends Him,
so in the next verse ÔHe send the Spirit of His SonÕ to give us seisin of this our adoption; whereby we now call Him, the Jews Abba,
the Gentiles Pater, as children all and He our Father, which is the privilege of
the adoption we here receive.
And now are
we come to the fulness indeed. For this adoption is the fullness of our
option; we cannot extend Ñwe our wish, or HeÑHis love and goodness any
farther. For what can we ask, or
He give more, seeing in giving this He gives all He is worth? By this time it
is full sea; all the banks are filled. It is now as Ezekiel's waters that he
saw Ôflow from under the threshold of the Temple;Õ that took him to the
ancles first, then to the knees, after to the loins; at last, so high risen
there was no more passage.
1. From the
fulness of His compassion, He ÔsentÕ to release us. 2. From the fulness of
His love, ÔHe sent His Son.Õ 3. In the fulness of humility, ÔHe sent Him
made.Õ 4. ÔMade of a woman,Õ to make a full union with our nature. 5.
ÔMade under the Law,Õ to make the union yet more perfectly full with our
sinful condition. 6.ÕThat we might obtain a full deliverance from all evil,
by being redeemed.Õ 7.ÕAnd a full estate of all the joy and glory of His
Heavenly inheritance, by being adopted.Õ So there is fulness of all hands.
And so much for the fulness of the benefit we receive.
Now, for the
fulness of the duty we are to perform this day, For, Ôin the fulness of
timeÕ all things are to be full. Plenitudo
temporis, tempus plenitudinis. And seeing God hath suffered us to live, to
see the year run about to this plenitudo
temporis; if it be son on God's part, meet also it be so on ours; and that
we be not empty in this Ôfulness of time.Õ It is not fit, if He be at the
brink that we at the bottom. But, as we be willing to yield Him of ours again,
of our duty, I [60/61] mean; that it to Him in a measure and proportion be
like full, as His bounty hath been full above measure towards us. That so from
us, and on our parts, it may be plenitudo
temporis, or tempus plenitudinis,
Ôthe fulness of time,Õ or Ôtime of fulness,Õ choose you whether.
1.And a time
of fullness it will be, I know, in a sense; of fulness of bread, of fulness of
bravery, of fulness of sport and pastime; and this it may be. And it hath been
ever a joyful time in appearance, for it should be so. ÔWith the joy,Õ
saith Esay a verse or two before puer
natus est nobis, Ôunto us a Child is born,Õ Ôthat men rejoice with
in the harvest.Õ Not to go from our text here, with the joy of men that are
come out of prison, have scaped the law; with the joy of men that have got the
reversion of a goodly heritage. Only, that we forget not the principal; that
this outward joy eat not up, evacuate not our spiritual joy proper to the
feast; that we have in mind in the midst of our mirth the cause of it,
Christ's sending, and the benefits that come thereby. And it still be a good
sign unto us if we can this rejoice, if this our joy can be full, if we can
make a spiritual blessing the object of our mirth. Beatus
populus qui scit jubilationem, ÔBlessed is the people that can rejoice
on this manner.Õ
2. And after
our joyfulness or fullness of joy, our fullness of thanks or thankfulness is
to ensue; for with that fulness we are to celebrate it likewise.
Our minds first, and then our mouths, to be filled with blessing, and
praise, and thanks to Him, Who has made our times not to fall into those empty
ages of the world, but to fall within this Ôfulness of time,Õ which Ôso
many Kings and Prophets desired to have lived in,Õ but fell short of; and
lived then when the times were full of shadows, and promises, and nothing
else. How instantly they longed to have held such a feast, to have kept a
Christmas, it is evident by David's Inclina
Caelos, by Esay's Utinam disrumpas
Caelos, ÔBow the Heavens,Õ and ÔBreak the Heavens:Õ how much, I
say, they longed for it; and therefore, that we make not light account of it.
To render our
thanks then, and to remember to do it fully, to forget none; to Him who was
sent, and to Him who Ôsent;Õ Ôsent His SonÕ in this, Ôthe Spirit of
His SonÕ in the next verse. To begin with Osculamini
Filium, it is the first [61/62] duty enjoined us this day, to Ôkiss the
BabeÕ new born, That when His Father would send Him said. Ecce venio, so readily; and when He would make Him, was content with
Corpus aptasi Mihi, to have a body
made Him, meet for Him to suffer in; who willingly yielded to be our ShiloÑto
this ¢pùsteile
here; yea, to be not only Christ but an Apostle for us, even Ôthe Apostle of
our profession.Õ
And not to
Him that was sent and made alone; but to the Father that sent Him, and to the
Holy Ghost that made Him, as by Whom He was conceived. To the Father for His
mission, the Son for His redemption, the Holy Ghost for His adoption; for by
Him it is wrought. He that made Him the Son of Man, doth likewise regenerate
us to the state of the sons of God. And this for our thankfulness.
3. And to
these two, to make the measure full, to join the fulness of duty, even
whatsoever dutiful-minded persons may yield to a bountiful-minded Benefactor.
And with this to begin, to consecrate this first day of this fulness of time
even with our service to Him at the full; which is then at the full when no
part is missing, when all our duties of preaching, and praying, of hymns, of
offering, of Sacrament and all, meet together. No fullness there is of our
Liturgy or public solemn service, without the Sacrament. Some part, yes the
chief part is wanting, if that be wanting. But our thanks are surely not full
without the Holy Eucharist, which is by interpretation, thanksgiving itself.
Fully we cannot say Quid retribuam
Domino? but we must answer, Calicem
salutaris accipiam, Ôwe will take the Cup of Salvation,Õ and with it in our hands give thanks to Him, render Him our
true Eucharist, or real thanksgiving indeed. In which the Cup is the Blood not
only of our redemption, of the covenant that freeth us from the Law and maketh
the destroyer pass over us; but of our adoption, of the New Testament also
which entitles us and conveys unto us, testament-wise or by the way of legacy,
the estate we have in the joy and bliss of His Heavenly Kingdom whereto we are
adopted. We are then made partakers of Him, and with Him of both these His
benefits. We there are made Ôto drink of the Spirit,Õ Ôby which we are
sealed to the day of our redemptionÕ and adoption both. So that [62/63] our
freeing from under the Law, our investiture into our new adopted state, are
not fully consummate without it.
And what?
Shall this be all? No, when this is done, there is allowance of twelve days
more for the Ôfulness of time;Õ that we shrink not up our duty then into
this day alone, but in the rest also to remember to redeem some part of the
day, to adopt some hour at the least, to bethink ourselves of the duty the
time calleth to us for; that so, we have not Job's dies
vacuos, Ôno day quite emptyÕ in this fulness of time. Hereof assuring
ourselves, that what we do in this Ôfulness of timeÕ will have full
acceptance at His hands. It is the time of His birth, which is ever a time, as
accepted, so of excepting; wherein, what is done will be acceptably taken to
the fullÑfully accepted, and fully rewarded by Him, Ôof Whose fulness we
all receive;Õ with this condition Ôof grace for grace,Õ ever one grace
for another.
And so,
growing from grace to grace, finally from this ÔfulnessÕ we shall come to
be partakers of another yet behind, to which we aspire. For all this is but
Ôthe fulness of time.Õ But that, the fullness of eternity, when time will
run out and his glass empty, et tempus
non erit amplius, which is at His next sending. For yet once more will God
send Him, and He come again. At which time we shall then indeed receive the
fullness of our redemption, not from the LawÑthat we have alreadyÑbut from
corruption to which our bodies are yet subject, and receive the full fruition
of the inheritance whereto we are but adopted. And then it will be perfect,
complete, absolute fulness indeed, when we shall all be filled with Ôthe
fulness of Him that filleth all in all.Õ For so will all be, when nothing
will be wanting in any; for ÔGod will be all in all.Õ Not as here He is,
something and by something in every one; but then, omnia
in omnibus. And then, the measure will be so full as it cannot enter into
us, we cannot hold it. We must enter into it; intra
in gaudium Domini tui.
To this we aspire, and
to this in the fullness appointed of every one of our times Almighty God bring
us by Him, and for His sake, Who in this fullness of time was sent to work it for us in His Person; and work
it in us by the operation of His blessed Spirit. To Whom, &c.
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