John Trapp on Galatians 4

CHAP. IIII. Verſe 1. Differeth nothing from a ſervant]

IN alluſion whereunto there is written upon the Princes arms, Icb dien, Daniels Chro. fol 109. that is, I ſerve. Henry the ſecond, King of England. crowned his eldeſt ſon Henry, whileſt he was yet alive: which made his ambition quite turn off his obedience. Ambition ever rides without reins.

Verſe 2. [non-Latin text not transcribed] But is under tutours] Thoſe under the Law were but Alphabetaries in compariſon of thoſe under the goſpel. the Sea about the Altar was brazen, I King. 7.23. and what eyes could pierce thorow it? Now our ſea about the throne is glaſſie, Revel. 4.6. like to cryſtall clearly conveying the light and ſight of God to our eyes.

Verſe 3. [non-Latin text not transcribed] When we were children] Gr. Infants, babies, that muſt be pleaſed with rattles: ſo the old Church with carnall Ceremonies.

Verſe 4. But when the fulneſſe of the time] This anſwers to that time appointed of the Father, verſ. 2. Plato ſaid, that God doth alwaies [non-Latin text not transcribed], he doth all things in number, weight and meaſure: He never comes too ſoon, neither ſtaies he too long.

Godſent forth his Son] Out of his own boſome. May not we ſay, as they did, ſob. 11.36. Loc how he loved us. This was an hyperbole of love.

Made of a woman] Of the ſanctified ſubſtance of the holy virgin. Note this againſt Marcionites and Anabaptiſts.

Made under the Law] Circumciſed the eighth day, and ſo made a debtour to do the whole law: which he perfectly fulfilled, and yet (for us) ſuffered the curſe.

Verſe 5. To redeem them, &c.] To buy them off, who were in worſe caſe then the Turks Gally-ſlaves chained to an oar.

That we might receive the adoption] That is, the poſſeſſion of our adoption, the full enjoyment of our inheritance.

Verſe 6. Crying Abba, Father] God hath no ſtill-born children. Paul was no ſooner converted, but behold he praied, Act. 9.11. The ſpirit of grace is a ſpirit of ſupplication, Zech. 12.10. And when God ſends this ſpirit of praier into our hearts, it is a ſure ſign, that he means to anſwer our deſires: like as when we did our children ſay, I pray you, father, give me this, we do it not, but when we mean to give them that which we teach them to ask.

Verſe 7. And if a ſon, &c.] See the Note on Rom. 8.17.

Verſe 8. Ye did ſervice] Here all religious ſervice done to any, but God, is manifeſtly condemned as impious, whether in Pagans or Papagans.

Verſe 9. Or rather are known of God] Whoſe gracious foreknowing and fore-appointing of us to eternall life, is the ground and foundation of our illumination and converſion: our love to him a reflex of his love to us.

Verſe 10. Ye obſerve daies] The Chriſtian Church knows no holy-daies, beſides that honourable Lords-day, Iſa 57.14. Revel. 1.10. and ſuch holy feaſts, and upon ſpeciall occaſions the Church ſhall ſee ſit to celebrate, as Novemb. 5, &c.

Verſe 11. Leſt I have beſtow'd labour] Gr. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Even to laſſitude, as a day-labourer. Other work-folks finde their work as they left it [illegible: 1 letter] but a Miniſter hath all marr'd many times, between Sabbath and Sabbath: or if but a while abſent, as Moſes was in the Mount.

Verſe 12. Be as I am] No longer a legaliſt, as once, Philip. e.5, 8.

Ye have not injured me at all] He was above their buſſoneries and indignities.Sendeìra [illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 letter]. When an ineonſiderate fellow had ſtricken Cate in the bath, and afterwards cried him mercy, he replied,Tacit. I remember not that thou didſt ſtrike me; Tu linguae, ego aurium Dominus, ſaid one to another that railed on him. I cannot be maſter of thy tongue, but I will be maſter of mine own ears. One having made a long and idle diſcourſe before Ariſtotle, concluded it thus,Plutar. degarrulit. I doubt I have been too tedious to you Sir Philoſopher, with my many words: In good ſooth, ſaid Ariſtotle, you have not been tedious to me; for I gave no heed to any thing you ſaid. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Momus in Lucian tels Jupiter, It is in thy power whether any one ſhall vex or wrong thee. St Paul here ſhakes off the affronts and injuries offered unto him with as much eaſe, as once he did the Viper. Some would have ſwelled, and almoſt died at the ſight of ſuch a thing: he only ſhook it off, and there was no hurt done.

Verſe 13. Through infirmity of the fleſh] That is, though much broken with many miſeries, yet I ſpared not to take pains amongſt you. Zachary, though he ceaſed to ſpeak, yet he ceaſed not to miniſter: he took not his dumbneſſe for a diſmiſſion, but ſtaid out the eight daies of his courſe, Luk. 1.

Verſe 14. And my temptation] That is, mine afflictions, whereby the Lord tempts his, feels which way their pulſes beat, and how they ſtand affected toward him.

Which was in my fleſh] My ſpirit being haply untoucht. For oſt the body is weak, the foul well. Afflictions may reach but to the out ward man. ſob never complained till he was wet thorow, till the waters went over his ſoul.

Nor rejected Gr. Ye ſpet not on., as they did, that ſpet in Chriſts face. [non-Latin text not transcribed]

Even as Chriſt Jeſus] Who hath ſaid, He that receiveth you, receiveth me. It was a common ſaying at Conſtantinople, Better the Sunne ſhould not ſhine, then that Chryſoſtome ſhould not preach. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Beatitu[illegible: 1 letter]inia praedicatio B. 30.

Verſe 15. Where is then the bleſſedneſſe] q. d. time was when ye held your ſelves happy in me, and bleſſed the time that ever ye ſaw and heard me. Is the change now in me, or in your ſelves? Thus the Jews rejoyced in John for a ſeaſon, but he ſoon grew ſta[illegible: 1 letter]e to them, Joh. 5.35. See the Note there. Neutrum modo, mas modò vulgus.

Verſe 16. Am I there ſore become, &c.] Truth breeds hatred, as the fair Nymphes did the ugly Fawns and Satyrs. the hearing of truth galls, as they write of ſome creatures, that they have fel in aure, gail in their ears. It was not for nothing therefore that the Oratour called upon his Countreymen to get their ears healed before they came any more to hear him. to preach, faith Luther is nothing elſe but to derive upon a mans felt the rage of all the Countrey. And therefore when one defined the miniſteriall function to be Artom artium & ſcientiam ſcientiarum, the art of arts, and ſcience of ſciences. Melancthon ſaid, If he had defined it to be miſeriam miſeriarum, the miſery of miſeries, he had hit it.

Becauſe I tell you the truth?] He that prizeth truth (ſaith Sir Walter Raleigh) ſhall never proſper by the poſſeſſion or profeſſion thereof.Hiſt l. 1.0.1. An expectas, ut Quintilianus ametur? When we ſeek to fetch men out of their ſins, they are apt to fret and ſnarl & as when men are wakened out of ſleep, they are unquiet, ready to brawl with their beſt friends.

Verſe 17. They zealouſly affect you] Depereunt vos: as Jealous wooers they would have you whole to themſelves without a corrivall, [non-Latin text not transcribed], cognata ſunt.

They would exclude us] As ſtanding in their way. this is the guiſe of all ſectaries and ſeducers, they denigrate the true teachers, that they may be the only men.

Verſe 18. To be zealouſly affected in a good thing] In a good cauſe, for a good end, and in a good manner. There is a counterfeit zeal, as it that of the Popiſh Martyrs or traitours rather, of whom Campian in his Epiſtle to the honourable Counſellours of Queen Elizabeth, Quamdiu vel unus quispiam è nobis ſupererit qui Tiburno veſtro fruatur, &c. As long as there ſhall be left any one of us to wear a Tibu[illegible: 1 letter]n tippet, we will not ceaſe our ſuit.

And not only when I am preſent] Sith even abſent I teach and tell you the truth of God by letters.

Verſe 19. Till Christ be formed] That you may ſeek for ſalvation by him alone. Together with the word there goes forth a regenerating power, Jam. 1.18. It is not a dead letter, an empty ſound, as ſome have blaſphemed. Only let us not, as Hoſea's unwiſe ſon, ſtay in the place of breaking forth of children, proceed no further then to conviction: much leſſe ſtifle thoſe inward workings for ſin, as harlots deſtroy their conceptions that they may not bear the pain of childe-birth.

Verſe 20. And to change my voice] To ſpeak to your neceſſity: for now being abſent I ſhoot at rovers, [non-Latin text not transcribed] and am at ſome uncertainty how to frame my diſcourſe to you.

Verſe 21. Ye that deſire, &c.] that are ambitious of ſlavery, of beggery, v. 9. How many have we at this day, that rejoyce in their bondage, and dance to hell in their bolts?

Verſe 22. For it is written] It was enough of old to ſay, It is written: there was no need to quote Chapter and verſe, as now. Men were ſo ready in the Scriptures, they could tell where to turn to any thing at firſt hearing.

Verſe 23. Was born aſter the fleſh] In an ordinary way, as all others are: for Hagar was young, and Abraham not old.

Was by promiſe] i. e. By a ſupernaturall power, by a divine miracle.

Verſe 24. Which things are an allegory] That is, they ſignifie or import an allegory: or they, being the things that they were, [non-Latin text not transcribed] repreſented and typed out the things that they were not. So did the brazen ſerpent, the deluge, the red ſea, &c. As for thoſe allegories gories of Origen and other wanton wits, luxuriant this way, what are they elſe but Scripturarum ſpuma, as one calleth them, Scripture-froth?

Verſe 25. For this Agar is mount] The Arabian, call Mount Sina, Agar. Twice Hagar ſled thither, Gen. 16. and 21. it being in her way home to Aegypt. From her the Arabians are called Hagarens, and ſince (for more honour ſake) Saracens of Sarah Hagars miſtreſſe.

Anſwereth to Jeruſalem] That is, to the Jewiſh Synagogue, born to bondage, as Tiberius ſaid of the Romans, that they were homines ad ſervitutem parati.

Verſe 26. But Jeruſalem which is above] that is, the Chriſtian Church, the heavenly Ieruſalem, the Panegyris and congregation of the firſt-born, whoſe names are enrolled in heaven, Heb, 12.23. The Hebrew word for Ieruſalem is of the Duall number; to ſhow,AmamainCoronide. ſay the Cabaliſts, that there is an heavenly as well as an earthly Ieruſalem, and that the taking away of the earthly was intimated by the taking away of the letter jod out of Ieruſhalaim, 2 Sam. 5.13.

Verſe 27. Far it is written] When theſe teſtimonies of the old Teſtament are thus cited in the new, it is not only by way of Accommodation, but becauſe they are the proper meaning of the places.

Verſe 28. Now we, brethren, as Iſaac] This the Jews to this day will not hear of, but call us Ma[illegible: 1 letter]zer Goi baſtardly Gentiles.

Verſe 29. Perſecuted him] By cruell mockings and reall injuries, challenging the birth right, and deriding the Covenant, &c. The Papiſts made way for their great project of perdition in 88. by dividing the people here under the rearms of Proteſtant and Puritan,George Abbots [illegible: 1 letter]of. to D. Hiſs 3 real. and provoking them thereby to reall and [illegible: 1 letter]un[illegible: 1 letter]uall, both hate and contempt.

Even ſo it is new] And to alſo it is now, may we ſay at this day. For what do Papiſts perſecute us for elſe, but becauſe we reject their juſtification by works? They poiſoned their own Cardinall Contarenus, for that he declared himſelf found in this point by a book that he ſet forth ſome four years afore the Councell of Trent.

Verſe 30. Shall not be beirs] No juſtitiary can be ſaved. A Papiſt cannot go beyond a reprobate. Pur us pu[illegible: 1 letter]us Papistanon potest ſervani, Rev. 19.21.

Verſe 31 We are not children, &c.] q. d. We are in a farre better condition then Legaliſts. I have bleſſed Iſmael, faith God, twelve Princes ſhall be beget, but my Covenant will I establiſh with Iſaac, Gen 17.20, 21. And ſuch honour have all his Saints.