Fonseca - Houston-Packer Collection. BX1756.F66 D5713 1629

522 Mat.t. Rom.i. Luc.sy. Chrife teflifie by many, yt not embrace of thePhart- fees. Timecondi- tions required inenery Te- $imonie, What is meant by theLight of life. Vpon theSaturday after termed it)fome fort Luzesvicar, liuing Lights ; becaufe ( as Fling reporteth) theyThine inour mouthes, our hihds, andour cloathes : but thefeare but fhort Lights,theCarbuncle out-fhineth allthefe, yetall is too little foi the immenfr-'i tieand vaftneffeofHeaucn,nay for the leaft corner therein,the Sunne in it's grea- teft glorie (hall feeme therebutas a Candle. Butfhall haue the light ofLifi,&c. By thisLight,the Saintsand Doorsvn- derftandFaith ; for in regard that it is Princ:pium Iufifcatronta, TheNibeginning ofour Iuflifcation, Life is attributed thereunto. It bath beenea thing often re- peatedbyour Sauiour, ThyFaith' bathmade thee whole. And Saint Paul, The ruff bues byFaith : He beginswith Faith ;for, He that will approch neere znato God, muß firfl beleeue. Ir was the Apoftles fuit toour Sauiour, o Lordincreafeour Faüh,and fo weshall goe onfrom Faith to Faith, and from Vertue to Vertue. Ifthou bearefl Recordof thypie, thy Record tent true. Saint t.Augufline faith, ThatThere preceded fomany teftimonies of our Sauiour Chrift , as the Patri- arkes, Prophets, Prophefies,Sybils, Kings, Shcepheards, Simeon , Inna the Propheteffe, and laftly lehnRapt f,whom they held to be fome Diuine power fent downe from Héauen ; that our Sauiourasking them,Whether the Baprifine of John were from Men,or from God t' Theydurft not denie that it was from God, leafs the People fhould ftone them. And adding to thefe teftimonies, the workes that himfelfe wrought, Ifyeewillnot beleeueme, yet beleeue my worker ; for f Ihadnotdone thofe things whichnoman elfe hashdone, they hadnot f nned, but now theyhawno excufefar theirfinne. And for theteftimonie of his Doétrine, 2tán- quamfic locutteeell homo, Nettermanffiakeas heflake : God may fpeake fo,but Man cannot. What fhall we fay tothat teftimonieofhisfather in Iordan, Tore to my bdouedSonne inwhom Iamwelpleafed? And that ofthe Holy-Ghoft in the forme ofa Doue, which(as it is obferued bySaint Hierome) fate vpon our Sauiours head, becaufenone fhould prefume that the voyceproceeded from Saint lohn ? Andthat of the Sonne of Godhimfelfe, Though 1 beareRecordofmyfelfe,yet my Record ie true ? Complyingwith that which was fpokenby the Euangelift, There are threewhich beareRecordin heaué,the Fatber,the Word,&the Holyghofl: any one ofthefe Teftimonies mighthaue giuen fatisfaftion to a heart freefrom pafïion; but all ofthem put together,werenot able tomooue fuch rebellious breftsand fuchobftinatehearts as theirs were. Great wasthe hardneffeof Pharaohsheart, lineafter fomany ftrange prodigies, hefayd, I know not the Lord. c Mofes did not feeour SauiourChrift, nor had any more witneffes than his Rod : neither were his wonders fogreat as thofe myracles which our Sauiour wrought : fo that thePharifees being more hardthan Pharaoh, fayd,ifthou BeareRecord ofthy fefe,d-c. IfIbeare Recordofmyfelfe, yet my Record istrue,for i knowwhence Icame,andwhe- ther Igoe, but you cannot tell, &c. The circumftances ofmy Teftimonie admit no exception and thofe that are required, are commonly three, Ztetura,Condi- oto,Via. Nature,Whether it beaman ora woman. It'sQuaiitieand Condition,Whether hebe aFreemanor aSlaue,anold man or ayoung, aClergieman ora Layman. The Way, whetherit beofVertueor ofVice. Our SauiourChrift doth not alledgeany oneofthefecircumftances,but onely tells them,My teftimonie istrue, for Iknowwhence1come,and whetherIgoe. Whichwas as much in plaine language, as to tell them that hewas God, I amGod, andthe SonneofGod, inwhom therecan- not be the lealifgneorPhew of a lie ; andhis proofe is, I know whence I come , and whither

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