which is senseless in that condition but it is a vigorous judgment sways him to the act and confirms his faculties in working I grant it very difficult at first to believe because of the Enmity of Flesh and the Sophistry of Reason which is Flesh set out in another figure but where Faith gets an entrance there flesh is subdued and reason answer'd the heart comes prepared to embrace Christianity in its hardest terms For this is a Principle that humbles and lays us low and discovers our weakness to our selves It forces us to confess that God has depths of his own we cannot fathom and since we allow our assent to Mysteries in Nature no less ought we to do so to Mysteries in Religion though not to be explain'd by our narrow understanding This was the Apostles case who learnt to submit to the Doctrine that was preach'd and deriv'd from that submission a courage to adhere Let us consider next 2. The Authority of Truth notwithstanding the Opposition of the World God never left himself without witness in the midst of the greatest Apostacies He had Noah to be his Champion in the Old World Elijah in Israel and Apostles in the Infancy of the Christian Church that kept up Religion from perishing Truth and Light have this property common to them both that as they are apt to be clouded so they have vertue to break through those Mists that interpose There is a natural Soveraignty in them both and they seem to be born to an Universal Inheritance though they may be as Strangers and Exiles in some lands yet in others they take the Possession We all know the force of a good title how it prevails If a Prince of undoubted right be cast off by the vile treachery of his own Subjects yet his Title will still rule powerfully possessing the peoples hearts and as strongly warring in the conscience of an Usurper The like command has the Cause of Truth amongst Men and a surer too for a People may be scourg'd by a total loss of their Prince but Gods Faithfulness is ingag'd to maintain the Dominion of the other He that created and established all things by the word of his power has spoken this that Truth shall for ever endure and in order to accomplish what He has spoken he employs his Spirit to work gives us natures inquisitive and reflecting whereby we are stirred up to the duties of Piety so that as long as the Spirit abides which is eternal as long as Reason and Conscience last which are essential to our frame the Characters of Religion must for ever remain Whether it be of the Essence of Gods Church to be always visible I shall not discuss but the foundation upon which it is built can certainly never fail since He is God that is laid there For other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Should we now on the other side consider the growth of Error and the fair show it makes in the world we cannot conclude hence that it has strength to continue For strength presupposes a real existence in the Subject whereas Error is of it self a meer nothing and ows to Ignorance that it appears It is a Ghost that walks in the dark whose body is fram'd by our fancies and when day comes it vanishes with them But to Truth a being pertains and it constantly strives to open its way into Light to reveal that Being to others which when effected it gloriously spreads and enlarges its Empire with that discovery Before I pass to the second Head of my Discourse I shall briefly dispatch one Quere which is this Why Simon Peter that singly spoke here should so readily proclaim his own Faith and undertake likewise for the Faith of the Apostles though a Judas was of their number Now the reason of this I can only resolve into those Two Graces wherein he excell'd Zeal and Charity The one made him forward in a publick Confession of himself the other in a Defence of his Brethren Zeal is a fire that will be sure to get uppermost whence our Apostle being heated with it comes out first for his Lord but then lest the ambition of that act should urge him to pursue his own Glory he religiously suppresses it by his Charity to others It is the nature of Charity to be kind and free from envy not to seek her own but anothers praise It treats all persons alike except some visible fruits do distinguish them and brings a Garment along with it of an equal breadth to hide every right Professor in a word it is a generous Vertue enobling our works of piety and making us beneficial to the world This was the temper of our blessed Apostle whom many are prone enough to imitate for his Zeal but if this latter Grace be wanting they ought to suspect the birth of that flame since the true Gospel-fire that comes down from Heaven has a comforting warmth in it that heals and tends not to kill but to save I come now to my Second Head where we have 2. The reason of their choice drawn from the singular Excellency of Christs Teaching Thou hast the words of Eternal Life It might be expected that poor Fishermen as these were should have had Souls as low as their Trade that they should be far from conceiving and farther yet from pursuing a state of eternity whose great end and business before was but the small gain of a draught neither knew they how to prize any greater wealth than what a Lake or a Brook contains But see how Religion exalts them what high thoughts are now form'd and what vast desires are rais'd in them by the force of their Masters Discipline so that they begin to despise a present Good and breath after nothing but a future Reward Temporal Dominion was below their aim for who can imagine they should propound to themselves an Earthly Monarchy that stuck only to Christ for an Invisible Crown Truly the manner of his appearance in this our Flesh and the nature of his Doctrine taught them no other His appearance was so mean that it was but the form of a Servant which He assum'd Agen his Doctrine was so spiritual that He challeng'd only a Kingdom distinct from the World Joh. 17.36 Luke 9.2 and sent only his Disciples upon that Errand to preach it But the Pretended Successors of St. Peter who here follows his Lord for his Heavenly Ministry can arrogantly pursue a worldly claim as if Earth were in their Charter as well as Heaven and therefore they ought to take both by violence pull down Kings and Princes and advance themselves to an arbitrary Greatness Whose Apostles I pray are they that would thus rule or by what right of donation do the Kingdoms of the world belong to them For we do not read they were any of those Gifts Christ gave unto men but onely the Devils offer 4 Mat. 8. which He rejected I
Wilderness whence he never return'd but Christ that bore the sins of the World and entred the Wilderness not inhabited the Grave came out thence to bring us the news of his Expiation and so made us certain of the benesit It was not enough with him to work our Redemption except we were further enlightned to know it Thus He doubled the mercy of that act when we whose state He recover'd by dying had our Fears too heal'd by his Resurrection 2. It is an efficient cause of our rising with an identity of Body as He rose for we fall not in respect of our Souls but our Bodies if therefore the same Body does not rise the notion of a Resurrection is destroyed This power and right He has to raise us is part of that Dominion he receiv'd when He rose whereby He became Lord of the Dead as well as the Living Rom. 14.9 and He gave a pregnant instance of it at his rising when He caus'd the Stone to be remov'd not onely from his own but from others Sepulchers for He had many Bodies of Saints with him They had long before slept in the dust and perhaps were so far from being dry bones that the question might be put Can this dust live yet were they quickly fashioned in the earth and built up by vertue of their Masters breath to attend him in his Triumph If our rising be later than theirs yet it is as sure for in him says the Apostle shall all be made alive He is become the First-fruits of them that slept Now the First-fruits do not so go before other Fruits but that they are in being though not brought to the same maturity so though the Resurrection of the Dead be not ripe yet it really is begun because Christ is risen Whatever alterations befall us in death they are but changes of Figure no particle of us is lost the very least mite of our Frame is put into the Treasury whence it will be one day taken out and restored An excellent privilege Christs Members enjoy to be thus quickned by their Head otherwise the benefit of their reconciliation were small had he not proved their Life as well as their Sacrifice It is a poor stopping of the Plague to enter the Gulfe and not keep it by that Entrance from swallowing but to open it that it shall yield up its dead and no longer devour them here is a rich Atonement All our hopes depend upon the success of such an Undertaking which we have confirmed to us by the rising of our Lord who has abolisht Death broken the tyranny of that Oppressor and made it a Servant to convey us to Glory But this is all upon supposition that we are qualified for his Members then we are raised by a Power inherent in us whence we receive the influence of salvation if we are no part of his Body we shall however be raised but by a power without us the power of a Judge that will sit over us as Slaves and pronounce the Sentence of Execution Therefore the carnal liver can take no pleasure in this word Rise 't is like a Rack to stretch his limbs on and represents to him all his parts new set that they may be fitted for torment All his joys are plac'd in a life here which is the Senses Portion but the life of another world cuts him in reflecting on it as a Curse that is attended with pain Would we then make it our interest to rise let us live like Children of the Resurrection purge out all corrupt humours of Flesh and Blood mortifie our lusts keep our Souls pure and our Bodies clean that when they are quickned they may be raised to those Heavenly Mansions where the Honours of the Place the delights of Vision and the cloathing of Immortality will satisfy our utmost desires and show us the vanity of this Worlds good that holds us 3. It has procur'd the Assistance of Gods Spirit whereby we are sanctified and enabled to obtain the Promises of Eternal Life Had not Christ rose the Comforter had not been sent indeed the promise of the Holy Ghost was made before but it was shed upon none till after his Rising Then we read of his breathing upon the Apostles Joh. 20.22 which showed the Authority He had to bestow it and the Gifts that should afterwards follow upon his Ascension How necessary the coming of the Spirit was and consequently how great the Advantage of his Rising will appear in this That thereupon Ministers were impowred Wonders wrought a Church gathered and the Word made so powerfull in the hearts of the hearers that they were not able to resist the Doctrine of the Resurrection whereof the Apostles were ordain'd to be Witnesses See this exemplified in St. Acts 1.22 Peters first Sermon on that Subject which the Spirit accompanied with such efficacy that those who heard it were pricked to the heart and the same day there were added to them about three thousand Souls Where by the way the Temper of these new Converts is remarkable for it is said They continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers They were no lovers of Novelty or Schism but close adherers to the Truth and united together in Worship A rich Draught this which Peter had figur'd out to him in a former one when he drew the Net to land full of great fishes and for all there were so many yet was not the Net broken By the same Spirit Christ still rules in his Church in order to mens Conversion whose work is to enlighten and convince us by the Word to prevent us by his Grace in all our doings to encline our wills and further them in good without which assistance we could never by any natural strength of our own either rightly believe or repent and so be made capable of the Promises I have here given a short view of the Benefits of Christs rising which if we compare with the Vertue of his Death we shall find good reason for that Emphasis in the Apostle Yea rather is risen again What are the proper effects of each I have already mention'd How his Death in particular contributes but more eminently his Rising to the Saints freedom from Condemnation may be easily collected from what I have said so that I need not handle my Third Particular therefore I shall now onely in a few words apply this Truth to our selves Gods Justifying Grace we read in the former verse is restrained to his Elect or which is all one his peculiar people that are zealous of Good-works the Benefits of Christs dying and rising are restrained likewise to the same persons For He is become the Author of Salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 Others are excluded from that Purchase whence this Point obliges us to a duty of working that as He died to Nature and rose again in the Body so we might dye to Sin
and live unto Righteousness which is the Souls Resurrection The great design of his rising was to bless us in turning away every one from his iniquities Acts 3.26 which implyes the very nature of his Blessing consists in the cleansing of us from sin as our Taste of hereafter consists in being purified No unclean liver can enter Heaven for he wants the condition of Bliss no nor relish it if granted him because of the unsutableness of that Glory For the vast disproportion which is betwixt those objects that are pure and spiritual and such a mans desires that are filthy and carnal would turn the very Joyes of Heaven into a Punishment so that either way he is miserable in the Denyal of Heaven he has no hope in the Gift no pleasure We see a sanctity of nature is necessary to the fruition of Happiness and need we motives from some powerful example to encourage our obedience I can produce no greater than in my Text the manner of Christs love to us when He dyed and the manner of his acting for us when He rose are sufficient arguments to quicken us If we consider his love to us when He dyed it is the Picture of strength in weakness which could carry him chearfully to submit to Gods wrath the Jews malice and Human frailty and worked too his end by that submission for he nail'd our sins to the Cross when He was nail'd there himself and by death cancell'd our Bond. Such was the vertue of his Sacrifice that it did not require a Second Offering what is this else but a Pattern to our Mortification that we would dye to sin as He did for it that we need not kill it a Second time If we consider the manner of his Rising here strength of love is visible in the activity of the Conqueror He rose from the dead before day so He would often rise in his life-time He lov'd Early Devotions and Early Conquests the one to show his speed in interceding for us the other in comforting How is this a Lesson to us for following his steps and rising to a life of Righteousness in the very dawn of our Time when the Morn is fresh and our day begins that as He made haste to do us good so we might to fit our selves for him Youth is as much consecrated to his service as the Morning was to his rising if we come late to him we are unthankful Worshippers and besides the feebleness of such a course takes off from the value of the performance But his early leaving of the Sepulcher wherein the quickness of our Redeemer is manifested does not so much instruct us in duty as the perfectness of his Resurrection which discovers the absoluteness of his Conquest All others that were raised dropt agen into their Graves had not life so properly as death restored to them but Christ being raised from the dead dyes no more death hath no more dominion over him That glorious Body of his has put off mortality and all signs of it except wee 'l say the wound in his side and the prints of the nails are which yet He bears for another use which is this that whereas before they were Characters of his Weakness they might now be Trophies of his Strength whereas before they were marks of the Enemies Victory they might now prove marks of his own With the like strength of Perfection should we live to him so quit the deadness of corrupt nature as never to admit its return infuse such a Soul into our Good works that may make them vigorous and lasting Thus we shall copy out his Death and Life in our selves and bring that comfort home Who is he that condemns To think salvation for us is so wrought that we need not work it out our selves is miserably to delude our expectation since all those glorious effects which issue from his Dying and Rising are appointed to be Mercies to the doers but Wonders onely to lookers on Let us then put off the Old man with his deeds and keep up the memory of our Master in the Newness of our lives that when our Earthly Tabernacle is dissolv'd we may have a Building of God not made with hands eternal in the Heavens FINIS Books printed for and sold by Richard Chiswell FOLIO SPeed's Maps and Geography of Great Britain and Ireland and of Foreign Parts Dr. Cave's Lives of the Primitive Fathers Dr. Cary's Chronological Account of Ancient Time Wanly's Wonders of the Little World or History of Man Sir Tho. Herbert's Travels into Persia c. Holyoak's large Dictionary Latin and English Sir Ric. Baker's Chronicle of England Causin's Holy Court. Wilson's compleat Christian Dictionary Bishop Wilkin's Real Character or Philosophical Language Pharmacopaeia Regalis Collegii Medicorum Londinensis Judge Jone's Reports of Cases in Common-Law Judge Vaughan's Reports of Cases in Common-Law Cave Tabulae Ecclesiasticorum Scriptorum Hobb's Leviathan Lord Bacon's Advancement of Learning Bishop Taylor 's Sermons Sir Will. Dugdale's Baronage of England in 2 Vol. Raranelli Bibliotheca Theologica 3 Vol. QUARTO THe several Informations exhibited to the Committee appointed by Parliament to inquire into the burning of London 1667. Godwin's Roman Antiquities Dr. Littleton's Dictionary Bishop Nicholson on the Church Catechism The Compleat Clark Dr. Pierce on Gods Decrees History of the late Wars of New-England Dr. Outram de Sacrificiis Bishop Taylor 's Diswasive from Popery Garissolius de Christo Mediatori Corpus Confessionum Fidei Spauhemii Dubia Evangelica 2 Vol. Dr Gibb's Sermons Parkeri Disputationes de Deo Caryl on Job compleat 12 parts Description and History of the Future State of Europe 1 s. Fowler 's Defence of the Design of Christianity against John Bunyan 1 s. Lyford's Discovery of Errors and Heresies of the Times 4 s. Dr. Sherlock's Visitation Sermon at Warrington 1659. 6 d. Dr. West's Assize-Sermon at Dorchester 1671. 6 d Mr. Dobson's Sermon at Lady Farmers Funeral 1670. 8 d. Directions for Improvement of Barren Land 6 d. Culverwel's Discourse of the Light of Nature 3 s. 6 d. Dr. Meric Casaubon's Letter to Dr. Du Moulin about Experimental Philosophy 6 d. Lord Hollis's Relation of the Unjust Accusation of certain French Gentlemen charged with a Robery 1671. 6 d. The Magistrates Authority asserted in a Sermon by James Paston OCTAVO Conold's Notion of Schism according to the Antients with Reflections on Mr. Hales The Posing of the Parts Elborow's Rationale upon the English Service Burnets Vindication of the Ordination of the Church of England Winchester Phrases Wilkin's Natural Religion Hardcastle's Christian Geography and Arithmetick Ashton's Apology for the Honours and Revenues of the Clergy Lord Hollis's Vindication of the Judicature of the House of Peers in the case of Skinner Jurisdiction of the House of Peers in case of Appeals Jurisdiction of the House of Peers in case of Impositions Letter about the Bishops Vote in Capital Cases Xenophontis Cyropoedia Gr. Lat. Duporti Versio Psalmorum Graeca