Sarcerius:

Of the Gospel.

Distinction.

The Gospel is a preaching of repentance and forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name.

Probation.

The distinction is made of the parts of the Gospel and appears by the words of Christ whereafter his resurrection he said to his disciples. Thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise again from death, the 3^rd day, and that repentance and redemption of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, &c. Christ is the person and for whom forgiveness of sins chances.

Cause.

The cause of the Gospel disclosed is the mercy of God, by which God promised them glad tidings to mankind concerning Christ [Eph. 1.]. This cause the apostle otherwise calls the acceptable pleasure of God, otherwhiles grace. The promise also may be the cause of the Gospel according to the saying of Paul, put a part to preach the Gospel of God which he promised before, &c.  Hither unto belong also such places of Scripture as contain the promises of the Gospel which first was made to Adam and afterward to Abraham an so by first and little, oftentimes afterward to the holy fathers [Gen, 3, 12, 16, and 22].

The Mean.

Christ is the mean or person in whom God has promised the Gospel to mankind, and in whom it was first revealed and disclosed at the time appointed that God had set with himself and determined that through him, in him, and for him should be offered to all that believe forgiveness of sins which is the very effect of the Gospel.

The Illumination
of to the Gospel
of the promise.

The Holy Ghost lights to the Gospel which was promised in Christ and now opened.   Now man’s nature oppressed, with sin and death for the fall of Adam was the occasion of the Gospel first promised and afterward disclosed. This occasion is opened in the 3^rd chapter of Genesis, where even in the very sins the Gospel is promised to Adam.

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Jacombe:

1) 5. I might add, (which indeed will be but a more particular explication of the former head,) this condemnation will be the sadder, especially to such who live under the gospel, because they will lie under the sense and conviction of this, that they have foolishly and willfully brought all this misery upon themselves. For—and their hearts will tell them of it—Christ offered himself to them from time to time, but they refused to close with him; he tendered pardon to them, but they slighted it; and who will pity the traitor that dies for his treason, when his prince offered him a pardon and he scorned to accept of it 1 They might have been saved as well as others, would they but have hearkened to the free, gracious, hearty, often repeated invitations which in the gospel were made to them; how often would Christ have ‘gathered them as the hen gathers her chickens, but they would not,’ Mat. xxiii. 37; and therefore now their souls are lost for ever. O sinner! ‘thy destruction is of thyself,’ Hosea xiii. 9; and the consideration of this will sadly gnaw upon thy conscience for ever ; this is the worm that never dies. The Jews, when they had adjudged a malefactor to die, the judge and the witnesses used to lay their hands upon him, and to say ‘Thy blood be upon thy own head;’ in imitation of which the murderers of our Savior said, ‘His blood be on us and our children,’ Mat. xxvii. 25. Thus Christ, when he shall have passed the dreadful sentence of eternal death upon the impenitent and unbelieving, he will say, Your blood be upon your own heads. Thomas Jacombe, Sermons on the Eight Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1868), 309-310. [Some spelling modernized, underlining mine.] Thomas Jacombe, Sermons on the Eight Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1868), 28. [Underlining mine.]

2) It is to be feared that the greatest part of men (not out of any want of mercy in God, or from anything to be charged upon God, but merely through their own sin and folly) will perish therein. You read of the condemning of the world, Cor. xi. 32; now therefore what are you, or what do you do, that you may be exempted from the general misery? Certainly if you lie in the common state, and live in the common course, you must perish in the common condemnation; think; of it, and make some timely provision against it. Your judge deals very graciously with you; he warns you beforehand, tells you how his terrible sentence may be prevented, nay, he offers life and pardon to you if you will but accept of it. And after all this, will you force him to condemn you? Then it will be condemnation with a witness. I would upon this consideration be the more earnest with you in the present advice, because though this condemnation will be sad enough to all, yet to you it will be superlatively sad. You living under the gospel, where the way of salvation is set before you, where tenders of grace are made to you, if you be not wise and serious in securing the main, this will not only make your condemnation more unavoidable,—‘How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?’ Heb. ii. 3,—but also more intolerable: it will be condemnation with an accent or emphasis to you. ‘This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,’ &c., John iii. 19. The Scripture speaks of ‘greater damnation,’ Mat. xxiii. 14. It will be great damnation to pagans and infidels, but greater damnation to Christians. According to the different measures of that gospel light and gospel grace which men live under, so will the different measures of their future misery be. If they live and die in impenitency and unbelief Oh how will these aggravate your condemnation! If there be one place in hell hotter than another, that very place shall be yours, whilst others shall mitius ardere. ‘Thou Capernaum, which art exalted into heaven, &c. But I say unto you. That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you,’ Mat. xi. 23, 24. Thomas Jacombe, Sermons on the Eight Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1868), 29. [Underlining mine.]

Sarcerius:

The effects of
God. Rom. 1.

The effects and works of God be these: to create and maintain that he has created.

For the power and divinity of God (says Paul) is everlasting. Now, the power and devinity of God to be everlasting, is nought else, but that God creates, governs and maintains his creatures everlastingly [Ac. 17, Psalm. 146] In him (as it is said in the Acts) we live and move, and we have our being. He gives (says the prophet) escam omni carni, meat to every creature. Also his effects be: To love his creatures because he maintains them. To be merciful, patient, pitiful. To bear his humbles suiters[?], for (Prope est deus inuo cantibus eun) God is at hand to them that call upon him. To forgive sins, for only God by himself is righteous.

Erasmus Sarcerius, Common Places of Scripture (Imprinted at London by Nycolas Hill for Abraham Vele, dwelling in Pauls church yarde at the signe of the Lambe, 1553),  folio 2. [Some spelling modernized, marginal references cited inline; verse and folio notation modernized; and, underlining mine.]

[Note: Erasmus Sarcerius is not to be confused with Desiderius Erasmus.]

Sarcerius:

1) Also here unto pertain such places as do promise a universal grace, whereby a man’s conscience ought to lift itself up against such assaults as his reason makes of predestination, as this universal promise. “God wills all men to be saved” [ 1 Ti. 2.a]. “God wills not the death of the sinner, but that he turn and do repentance” [Eze. 31.b]. Also: “Come unto me,” (says Christ) “all ye that labor & are laden, and I shall refresh you.” Undoubtedly  it is an extreme madness a man to vex his mind with unfruitful questions concerning predestination, whereas he may comfort himself with the general promise of of grace, and with the sure tokens, that he is chosen to be saved as by these tokens: to give credit to the Gospel, to desire & receive mercy offered by the Gospel, to endure in faith to the last end. Erasmus Sarcerius, Common Places of Scripture (Imprinted at London by Nycolas Hill for Abraham Vele, dwelling in Pauls church yarde at the signe of the Lambe, 1553),  folio 11. [Some spelling modernized, marginal references cited inline; verse and folio notation modernized; and, underlining mine.]

2) An Argument

The Gospel is a universal promise. Ego justification (which is the effect thereof) must needs be a universal promise. The former part of my argument called the antecedent is plain, for the Gospel is not bound to circumstances: Yea, and many places of Scripture of the universal promise prove the same as the text of Christ, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are laden, and I will refresh you,” [ Mat. 11.d]. Also the language of Paul, Deus vult omnes homines salvos fieri: “God will have all men to be saved,” [1 Tim 1:2a]. Erasmus Sarcerius, Common Places of Scripture (Imprinted at London by Nycolas Hill for Abraham Vele, dwelling in Pauls church yarde at the signe of the Lambe, 1553),  folio 11. [Some spelling modernized, marginal references cited inline; verse and folio notation modernized; and, underlining mine.]

[Note: Erasmus Sarcerius is not to be confused with Desiderius Erasmus.]