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A09411 An exposition of the Symbole or Creed of the Apostles according to the tenour of the Scriptures, and the consent of orthodoxe Fathers of the Church. By William Perkins. Perkins, William, 1558-1602. 1595 (1595) STC 19703; ESTC S120654 454,343 561

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shine unto them and to say that faith is partly by nature partly by grace is the condemned heresie of the semi-Pelagian for wee can not so much as thinke a good thought of our selues The last defect in the platforme is that they ascribe unto God a wrong end of his counsels namely the communication of mercie or goodnesse in eternall happines For the absolute soueraigne ende of all gods doings must be answerable to his nature which is not mercy and loue alone but also iustice it selfe and that is the manifestation of his glorie both in iustice and mercy by the expresse testimonie of scripture Againe if this were so all men without exception should be saued because God can not be frustrated of his end purpose if but one man be damned he is dāned either because God wil not saue him or because he cannot If they say he will not then he is changeable if he can not then he is not omnipotent considering his purpose was to convey happines to all creatures Thus much of the efficient cause of the Church namely Gods predestination which doctrine could not here be omitted cōsidering no man can beleeue himselfe to be a mēber of the Church unlesse withall he beleeue that he is predestinate to life euerlasting Now we come to the second point namely the Mysticall vnion which is the very forme of the Church whereby all rhat beleeue are made one with Christ. To the causing of this union 2. things are required a Donation or giuing of Christ unto that man which is to be made one with him a Coniunction betwene them both Of the first the Prophet Esai saith Vnto us a child is borne unto us a sonne is given Paul who spared not his own sonne but gave him for us all how shall he not with him give vs all things also And touching it sundry points must be considered The first is what is meant by this Giuing Ansvvere It is an action or worke of God the Father by the holy ghost whereby Christ as redeemer in the appointed time is really communicated to all ordained to saluation in such manner that they may truly say that Christ himselfe with all his benefites is theirs both in respect of right thereto and in respect of all fruite redounding thence and that as truly as any man may say that house and lande giuen him of his ancetours is his owne both to possesse and to use The second point is what is the verie thing giuen Answer Whole Christ God and man is giuen because his humanitie without his godhead or the godhead without the humanitie doth not reconcile us to God Yet in this giuing there must be a diuers consideration had of the two natures of Christ for the communication of the godhead is meerely energeticall that is onely in respect of operation in that it doeth make the manhood personally vnited vnto it to be propitiatorie for our sinnes and meritorious of life eternall And to auouch any communication of the godhead in respect of essence were to bring in the heresie of the Maniches and to maintaine a composition a commixtion of our natures with the nature of God Againe in the manhood of Christ we must distinguish betweene the subiect it selfe the substance of bodie and soule and the blessings in the subiect which tend to our saluation And the communication of the aforesaide manhoode is in respect of both without separation for no man can receiue sauing vertue from Christ vnlesse first of all he receiue Christ himselfe as no man can haue the treasure hid in the field unlesse first of all he haue the field and no man can be nourished by meate and drink unlesse first of all he receiue the substance of both And this is the cause why not only in the preaching of the word but also in the institution of the Lordes supper expresse mention is made not only of Christs merite but also of his verie body and bloode whereby the whole humanitie is signified as appeares by that place where it is said that the Word was made flesh And though the flesh of it selfe profite nothing as S. Iohn saith yet as it is ioyned to the godhead of the sonne and doth subsist in his person it receiueth thence quickening vertue to reuiue and renewe all those to whome it shall be giuen Lastly among the blessings that are stored up in the manhood of Christ for our saluation some are giuen unto vs by imputation as when we are iustified by the righteousnesse indeed inherent in his manhood but imputed vnto us some by infusion as when holinesse is wrought in our hearts by the spirit as a fruite of that holinesse which is in the manhood of Christ deriued from it as the light of one candle from another The thirde point is in what maner Christ is giuen unto us Ansvv. God the father giueth Christ unto his Church not in any earthly or bodily manner as when a King bestoweth a gift with his owne hand and puttes it into the hande of his subiect but the manner is altogither celestiall and spirituall partly because it is brought to passe by the meere diuine operation of the Holy Ghost and partly because in respect of vs this gift is receiued by an instrument which is supernaturall namely faith whereby we lay hold of apply unto our selues the Euangelicall promises And this maner of giuing may be conceiued thus A mā that neuer stirred foote out of England holdes and enioyes lande in Turkie but how comes it to be his Thus the Emperour was willing and content to bestow it and the man for his part as willing to accept and receiue it and by this meanes that which at the first was the Emperours by mutuall consent becomes the mans In the same manner God the Father hath made an Evangelicall couenant with his Church in which of his mercy hee ha●h made a graunt of his owne sonne vnto us with righteousnesse and life euerlasting in him and we againe by his grace accept of this graunt and receiue the same by faith and thus by mutuall consent according to the tenour of the couenant any repentant sinner may truly say though I now haue mine abode upon earth Christ in respect of his manhood be locally in heauē yet is he truly mine to haue to enioy his body is mine his blood is mine As for the giuing receiving of the body blood of Christ in bodily maner which the Papists maintaine in auouching the reall transubstātiatiō of bread and wine in the sacraments into the body blood of Christ and the Lutheranes also in teaching that his body and bloode is substantially either in or with or under the bread and wine is an erronious conceit flat opposite to sundrie points of the Christian faith For Christ to this verie houre retaineth still the essence and essentiall properties of a true bodie and wee
penned by the Prophets and Apostles the answear is that they doe it with adding to the Canon and by corrupting the natiue sense of the Scriptures in the very foundation and therefore they are but as a lanthorne that shews light to others and none to it selfe Fourthly it is further said that they hold the Creede of the Apostles and make the same confession of faith that we doe I answeare that in shew of wordes they doe so indeede but by necessarie consequents in the rest of their doctrine they ouerturne one of the natures and all the offices of Christ and therewithall most of the articles of the Creede And herein they deale as a father that in outward shew tenders the bodie of his child and will not abide the least blemish vpon it and yet by secret conveiances inwardly annoies the heart the braine or the liuer and so in truth destroies the same Fifthly it is alledged that Antichrist must sit in the Temple of God that is the Church therefore say some that desire an vnion between vs and the Papists popish assemblies are true Churches but the argument is not good For it is one thing to be in the Church an other thing to be of it And Antichrist is said to sit in the Church not as a member thereof but as an vsurper or as the pyrate in the ship of the marchant hēce it cannot be prooued that assemblies of Papists are Churches but that in them and with them there is mingled an other hidden Church in the midst whereof Antichrist the Pope ruleth though himselfe hath no part therein Lastly whereas some being no Papists think their Churches to be like a bodie diseased and full of soares and wounds frō the head to the foot the throat also cut yet so as life is still remaining we may better thinke their foule errours considered their worship of God which is nothing els but a mixture of Iudaisme and Paganisme that it is a rotten and dead corps void of spirituall life And therefore we haue seuered our selues from the Church of Rome vpon iust cause neither are we schismaticks in so doing but they rather because the groūd the proper cause of the schisme is in thē As for the Assemblies of Anabaptists Libertines Antinomies Trit●eits Arrians Samosa●eniās they are no churches of God but conspiracies of monstrous heretikes iudicially condemned in the primitiue Church and againe by the malice of Satan renewed and revived in this age The same we are to thinke and say of the Familie of loue As for the Churches of Germanie commonly called the Churches of the Lutheranes they are to be reputed of vs as the true Churches of God Though their Augustane Confession haue not satisfied the expectation of other Reformed Churches yet haue they all the same enemies in matter of religion and doe alike confesse the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost and of the office of the Mediatour of faith and good works of the Word the Church and the Magistrate are all of one iudgement They differ indeede from vs in the question of the Sacrament but it is no sufficient cause to induce vs to hold thē as no Church for that there is a true or reall receiuing of the bodie and blood of Christ in the Lordes supper wee all agree and wee ioyntly confesse that Christ is there present so farre forth that hee doth truly feede vs with his very bodie and blood to eternall life and all the controuersie lies in the manner of receiuing we contenting our selues with that spirituall receiuing which is by the hande of faith they adding therto the corporall whereby they imagine themselues to receiue Christ with the hand and mouth of the bodie And though to maintaine this their opinion they be constrained to turne the ascension of Christ into a dispa●ition whereby his bodie being visible becomes invisible yet in the maine points we agree that Christ ascended into heauen that he entred into his kingdome in our name and for vs that we are gouerned and preserued by his power and might and that whatsoeuer good thing we haue or doe proceeds wholly from the grace of his spirit Indeede the opinion of the Vbiquitie of the bodie of Christ reviveth the condemned heresies of Eutiches and Nestorius and it ouerturneth by necessarie consequent most of the articles of faith but that was priuate to some men as Brentius and others and was not receiued of whole Churches and whereas the men were godly and learned and we are vncerten with what affection and how long they held this errour we rest our selues in condemning it leauing the persons to God Againe Popish Transubstantiation and Lutherian Consubstantiation are both against the truth of the manhoode of Christ yet with great difference Transubstantiation is flat against an article of faith for if Christs bodie be made of bread and his blood of wine which must needes be if there be a conuersion of the one into the other then was not he conceiued and borne of the Virgin Marie for it can not both be made of bakers breade and of the substance of the Virgin Againe it abolisheth the outwarde signe in the Lordes supper and the analogie betweene the signe and the thing signified but Consubstantiation doth not so neither doeth it ouerturne the substance of any article of Religion but onely a maine point in Philosophie which is that A body doth occupy only one place at once Furthermore the Churches of Heluetia Savoie the free cities of France the low Countries Scotland are to be reuerēced as the true churches of God as their Confessiōs make manifest And no lesse must we thinke of our owne Churches in England and Ireland For we hold beleeue and maintaine and preach the true faith that is the auncient doctrine of saluation by Christ taught and published by the Prophets and Apostles as the Booke of the articles of faith agreed vpon in open Parliament doe fully shewe withal now we are and haue bin ready to testifie this our faith by venturing our liues euen in the cause of religion against forraigne power and especially the Spainard and hereupon all the Churches in Europe giue vnto vs the hand of fellowship And whereas sundrie among vs that separate and indeed excommunicate themselues giue out that there is no Church in England no Ministers no Sacraments their peremptorie asseuerations wanting sufficient grounde are but as paper-shot They alleadge that our assemblies are full of grieuous blottes and enormities Ansvv. The defects and corruptions of Churches must be distinguished and they be either in doctrine or manners Againe corruptions in doctrine must be further distinguished some of them are errours indeed but beside the foundation some errors directly against the foundation and these ouerturne all religion wheras the former do not Now it can not be shewed that in our Churches is taught any one errour that raceth the foundation and consequently annihillateth the
God both in measure nūber degree aboue all mē angels Secondly the sumptuous gorgious apparell which the high priest put on when hee came into the sanctuary was a signe of the rich glorious robe of Christs righteousnes which is the puritie integrity of his humane nature of his life Thirdly the speciall parts of the high priests attire were first the Ephod the 2. shoulders whereof had 2 onyx stones vvheron vvere engrauē the names of the 12. tribes of Israel 6. names on the one stone 6. on the other as stones of remēbrance of the childrē of Israel to god vvard secondly the brestplate of iudgement like the work of the Ephod vvherin were set 12. stones according to the names of the childrē of Israel grauē as signets euery one after his name Now by these 2. ornamēts vvere figured two things in Christ by the first that he carries all the elect on his shoulders supports thē by his spirit so long as they are in this world against the world the flesh the deuill By the secōd that Christ our high priest being now in his sanctuary in heauen hath in memory al the elect their very names are writtē as it vvere in tables of gold before his face he hath an especiall loue care ouer them Vpon this ground the church in the Canticles praies on this maner Set me as a seale on thy heart as a signet vpon thy arme And indeed this a matter of cōfort to us all that Christ hath our seueral names writtē in pretious stones before his face though he be now in heauē vve on earth the particular estate of euery one of us is both knowē regarded of him Again God gaue to Moses the Vrim Thummim which was put on the brestplate of the high priest when he was to aske coūsell frō God of things unknowē before the mercy seate whence God gaue answer What the Vrim Thummim was it is not known it is like it was not made by any arte of mā but giuē by God how it vvas used vve can not tell but yet the signification of the wordes affordeth matter of meditatiō Vrim signifies lights Thummim signifies perfections And by this a further matter was prefigured in Christ vvho hath the perfite Vrim Thummim in his brest first because in him are hidde all the treasures of wisdome and knovvledge secōdly because he reveiles to his Church out of his word such things as none cā know but the childrē of God as Dauid saith The secret of the Lord is reveiled to thē that feare him And for this cause the spirit of Christ is called the spirit of wisdom revelatiō the spirit of God whereby we know the things that are giuē unto us of God as namely our electiō vocation iustificatiō sanctificatiō in this life our eternall glorificatiō after this life yea to euery member of Christ vvithin his Church he giues a speciall spirit of revelatiō vvherby he may knovve that God the father is his father the son the redeemer his redeemer the H. ghost his sanctifier cōforter Lastly the high priest had a plate on his forehead therin vvas in grauē the holines of Iehovah this signified the holines of Christ for as he is God he is holines it self as he is mā he is most holy being sanctified by the H. ghost for this end that he might couer our sins unrighteousnes vvith his righteousnes holy obedience The secōd order of priesthood is the order of Melchisedec of which Christ vvas as Dauid saith Thou art a priest for euer after the order of Melchisedeck that in 2. speciall respects I. Melchisedeck vvas both a priest a king so vvas Christ. II. Melchisedeck had neither father nor mother because his historie is set dovvne vvith mention of neither So likevvise Christ as hee is God had no mother and as hee is man he had no father The Papists auouch Christ to be a Priest of this order in a new respect in that as Melchisedeck offered bread and wine when Abraham came from the slaughter of the Kings so say they Christ in the last supper did offer his owne bodie and bloode vnder the formes of bread and wine But this is a friuolous deuise of theirs for if we read Hebr. 7. where this point is handled there is no comparison at all made of their two sacrifices but the resemblances before named are onely set downe Againe it is not said in Genesis that Melchisedeck offered sacrifice but that he brought forth bread and wine and made a feast to Abraham his companie And if Christ should be of the order of Melchisedeck in regard of the offering of bread wine yet would this make much against the papists For Melchisedeck brought forth true bread true wine but in the sacrifice of the masse there is no true breade nor true wine but as they say the reall bodie and blood of Christ vnder the forme of bread and wine The 4. point is whether there be any more reall priests of the new Testament beside Christ or no Ans. In the old testament there were many priests one following an other in continuall succession but of the new testament there is one onely reall priest Christ Iesus God man no more as the author of the Hebr. saith because he endureth for euer he hath an euerlasting priesthoode the word trāslated euerlasting signifieth such a priesthood which cannot passe frō him to any other as the priesthood of Aaron did And therfore the priesthood of Christ is so tied to his owne person that none can haue the same but he neither man nor angel nor any other creature no not the father nor the H. Ghost But the factours of the Church of Rome will say that Christ may haue men to be his deputies in his stead to offer sacrifice Answ. We must consider Christ 2. waies I. as he is God II. as he is mediatour As he is God with the father with the holy Ghost he hath kings magistrates to be his deputies on earth and therefore they are called Elohim that is gods But as he is Mediatour and so consequently a priest and a King hee hath neither deputie nor vicegerent neither king to rule in his stead over his Church nor priests to offer sacrifice for him nay hee hath no prophet to be his deputie as he is the doctour of the Church And therefore he saith to his disciples be not called doctours for one is your doctour Indeede he hath his ministers to teach men his will but a deputie to offer sacrifice in his steade he hath not And therfore we may with good conscience abhorre the massing priesthood of the Church of Rome as a thing fetched from the bottome of Hell their massing priests as instruments of Sathan holding
had they then any neede of faith in the same God as he is Messias but this faith is a new grace of God added to regeneration after the fal first required in the couenant of grace And by this faith differeth from the rest of the gifts of God as the feare of God the loue of God the loue of our brethren c. for these were in mans nature before the fall and after it they are but renewed but iustifying faith admits no renewing For the first in grafting of it into the heart is in the conuersion of a sinner after his fall The place and seat of faith as I thinke is the minde of man not the will for it stands in a kinde of particular knowledge or perswasion and there is no perswasion but in the minde Paul saith indeede that we beleeue with the heart Rom. 10. but by the heart he vnderstands the whole soule without any limitation Some doe place faith partly in the minde and partly in the will because it hath two parts knowledge and affiance but it doth not stand greatly with reason that one particular and single grace should be seated into diuerse parts of the soule The forme of faith is to apprehend the promises Gal. 3.14 that we might receiue the promise of the spirite through faith and Iohn 1.12 to receiue Christ and to beleeue are put one for another and to beleeue is to eate and drinke the bodie and bloud of Christ. To apprehend properly is an action of the hand which laies hold of a thing and puls it to it and by resemblance it agrees to faith which is the hand of the soule receiuing and applying the sauing promise This apprehension of faith is not performed by any affection of the will but by a sound and particular perswasion whereby a man is resolued that the promise of saluation belongs vnto him Which perswasion is wrought in the mind by the holy Ghost 1. Corint 2.12 And by this the promise which is generall is applied particularly to one subiect By this sauing faith differeth from all other kinds of faith From historicall for it wanteth all apprehension standeth onely in a generall assent From temporarie faith which though it make a man to professe the Gospel and to reioyce in it yet doth it not throughly applie Christ with his benefits For it neuer brings with it any thorough touch of conscience or liuely sense of Gods grace in the heart And the same may be said of the rest The principal and maine obiect of this faith is the sauing promise God so loued the world that he gaue his onely begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleeues in him shall not perish but haue euerlasting life But some will say Christ is commonly said to be the obiect of faith Answ. In effect it is all one to say the sauing promise and Christ promised who is the substance of the couenant Christ then as he is set forth vnto vs in the word and sacraments is the obiect of faith And here certaine questions offer themselues to be skanned The first What is that particular thing which faith apprehendeth Answ. Faith apprehendeth whole Christ God and man For his Godhead without his manhoode and his manhood without his Godhead doth not reconcile vs to God Yet this which I say must be conceiued with some distinction according to the difference of his two natures His Godhead is apprehended not in respect of his essence or nature but in respect of his efficacie manifested in the māhoode his manhood both in respect of the substance it selfe and also in respect of the efficacie and benefits thereof The second In what order faith apprehēds Christ Ans. First of all it apprehends the very body blood of Christ secondly the vertue benefits of his bodie and blood as a man that would feele in his bodie the vertue of meate and drinke must first of all receiue the substance thereof To go forward Besides the mayn promise which cōcernes righteousnes life in Christ there be other particular promises touching strēgth in temptatiōs cōfort in afflictiōs such like which depēd on the former they also are the obiect of iustifying faith with the very same faith we beleue thē wherwith we beleeue our saluatiō Thus Abrahā by the same faith wherwith he was iustified beleued that he shold haue a son in his old age Rō 4.19.22 And Noe by that faith wherby he was made heire of righteousnes beleeued that he his family should be preserued in the flood And hereupō it comes to passe that in our praiers besides the desire of things promised we must bring faith whereby we must be perswaded that God will graunt vs such things as he hath promised and this faith is not a new kinde or distinct faith from iustifying faith Thus we see what sauing faith is Whereas some are of opiniō that faith is an affiāce or cōfidence that seems to be otherwise for it is a fruit of faith indeede no man can put any confidence in God till he be first of all perswaded of Gods mercy in Christ towards him Some again are of mind that loue is the very nature and forme of faith but it is otherwise For as cōfidence in God so also loue is an effect which proceeds frō faith 1. Tim. 1.5 The end of the law is loue frō a pure heart and good conscience faith vnfained And in nature they differ greatly Christ is the fountain of the waters of life Faith in the heart is as the pipes ledds that receiue in hold the water loue in some part is as the cocke of the cōduit that lets out the water to euery cōmer The property of the hād is to hold of it self it cānot cut yet by a knife or other instrumēt put into the hād it cuts the hād of the soule is faith his property is to apprehend Christ with al his benefits by it self it cā do nothing els yet ioyn loue to it by loue it wilbe effectual in al good duties Now to proceed further first we are to cōsider how faith is wrought 2. what be the differēces of it For the first faith is wrought in by the outward ministery of the gospel accōpanied by the inward operatiō of the spirit that not suddēly but by certē steps degrees as nature frameth the body of the infant in the mothers wombe 1. by making the brain and heart 2. by making veines sinewes arteries bones 3. by adding flesh to them al. And the whole operation of the spirit stands in two principall actions First the enlightening of the minde the second the moouing of the will For the first the holy Ghost enlightens mens mindes with a further knowledge of the lawe then nature can afoard and thereby makes them to see the sinnes of their hearts and liues with the ouglines thereof and withall to tremble at the curse of the lawe Afterward
the trees and fruits thereof This shewes vnto vs a good lesson that euery man must haue a particular calling wherein he ought to walke and therefore such as spend their time idlely in gaming and vain delights haue much to answer to God at the day of iudgement This will not excuse a man to say then that he had land and liuing to maintaine himselfe and therefore was to liue as he list for euen Adam in his innocencie had al things at his will and wanted nothing yet euen then God imployed him in a calling therefore high and low none must be exempted euery man must walke in his proper calling Adams generall calling was to worship his Creator to which he was bound by the right of creation considering the morall law was written in his heart by nature VVhich is signified in the decalogue where the Lord requires worship and obedience of his people because he is Iehovah that is one which hath beeing in himselfe and giues beeing to all men by creation For the better vnderstanding of this point we are to consider three things I. The place where Adam did worship II. The time III. The sacraments For the first God euer since the beginning had a place where he would be worshipped and it is called Gods house which then was the garden of Eden For it was vnto Adam a place appointed by God for his worship as Church-assemblies are vnto vs where also the Lord at time did in a speciall manner shew himselfe vnto his creature Touching the time of Gods worship it was the seauenth day from the beginning of the creation the Sabboth day And here we must note that the keeping of the Sabboth is morall Some indeede doe plead that it is but a ceremonie yet falsly for it was ordained before the fall of man at which time Ceremonies signifying sanctification had no place Nay marke further Adam in his innocencie was not clogged with sinne as we are and yet then he must haue a set Sabboth to worship God his creator and therefore much more neede hath euery one of vs of a sabboth day wherein we may seuer our selues from the workes of our callings and the workes of sinne to the worship of God in the exercise of religion and godly meditation of our creation This point must be learned of vs for when no occasion is offered of busines then men will formally seeme to keepe the sabboth but if their come occasion of breaking the sabboth as traffique gaming and vaine shewes then sabboth farewell men will haue their pleasures let them worship God that will But let vs remember in the feare of God that who so euer continueth in the breach of this lawe beeing morall God will no lesse poure forth his punishments vpon them then for the breach of any other commandement the consideration whereof must mooue euery man to a reuerent sanctifying of the Lords day Now for Adams sacraments they were two the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and euill these did serue to exercise Adam in obedience vnto God The tree of life was to signifie assurance of life for euer if he did keepe Gods commandements the tree of knowledge of good and euill was a sacrament to shew vnto him that if he did transgresse Gods commandements he should die and it was so called because it did signifie that if he trāsgresse this law he should haue experience both of good and euill in himselfe Now in the fourth place followeth the ende of the creation of man which is two-fold First that there might be a creature to whome God might make manifest him selfe who in a speciall manner should set forth and acknowledge his wisdome goodnes mercie in the creation of heauen and earth and of things that are in them as also his prouidence in gouerning the same Secondly God hauing decreed to glorifie his name in shewing his mercie and iustice vpon his creature hereupon in time createth men to shew his mercie in the saluation of some and to shew his iustice in the iust and deserued damnation of other some And therefore he hath appointed the creation specially of man to be a means of manifestation and beginning of the execution of his eternall counsell Thus much concerning mans creation in generall The speciall parts of man are two bodie and soule And the reason why the Lord would haue him stand on these two parts is this Some creatures made before him were onely bodily as beasts fishes foules some spirituall as Angels now man is both spirituall in regard of his soule corporall and sensible in regard of his bodie that nothing might be wanting to the perfection of nature If it be alleadged that man consistes of three parts bodie soule and spirit because Paul praies that the Thessalonians may be sanctified in bodie soule and spirit the answer is that the spirite signifies the minde whereby men conceiue and vnderstand such things as may be vnderstoode and the soule is there taken for the will and affections and therfore these twaine are not two parts but onely two distinct faculties of one and the same man The bodie of man at the first was formed by God of clay or of the dust of the earth not to be the graue of the bodie as Plato said but to be an excellent and most fit instrument to put in exequution the powers and faculties of the soule And howsoeuer in it selfe considered it is mortal because it is compounded of contrarie natures called Elements yet by the appointment of God in the creation it became immortall till the fall of man As for the soule it is no accidentarie qualitie but a spirituall and inuisible essence or nature subsisting by it selfe Which plainely appeares in that the soules of men haue beeing and continuance as well forth of the bodie as in the same and are as well subiect to torments as the bodie is And whereas we can and doe put in practise sundrie actions of life sense motion vnderstanding we doe it onely by the power and vertue of the soule Hence ariseth the difference between the soules of men and beasts The soules of men are substances but the soules of other creatures seeme not to be substances because they haue no being out of the bodies in which they are but rather they are certain peculiar qualities arising of the matter of the bodie and vanishing with it And it may be for this cause that the soule of the beast is said to be in the bloode whereas the like is not said of the soule of man And though mens soules be spirits as angels are yet a difference must be made For angels can not be vnited with bodies so as both shall make one whole and intire person whereas mens soules may yea the soule coupled with the bodie is not onely the moouer of the bodie but the principall cause that makes man to be a man The beginning of the soule is not of the
vvoulde neuer rest nor be quiet but seeke unto him for his helpe and crie vvith Dauid O Lorde say unto my soule that thou art my salvation The woman that was diseased with an issue of bloode came behinde our Sauiour Christ and when shee had but touched him shee was healed In the same maner if wee shall seeke to come to Christ and do but touch his pretious body blood by the hand of faith the issues and the bleeding woundes of our soules shalbe dried up When a man that had bene sicke 38. yeres was come to the poole of Bethesda hee was faine to lie there vncured because when the angell troubled the water euermore some stept before him but if we will seeke to Christ for the saluation of our soules no man shall preuent us or step before us And if wee finde our selues to be so laden with the burden of our sinnes that we can not come to him let us then doe as the palsie man did he got 4. men to carry him on their shoulders to the place where Christ was and when they coulde not by reason of the prease of people enter into the house they opened the roofe and let him downe in his bedde by cordes to Christ that he might be healed And so let vs vse the helpe of such as be godly that by their instructions and consolations they may as it were put too their shoulders by their prayers as with cordes bring us to Christ that wee may receiue eternall saluation being otherwise deade in sinne and subiect to damnation Lastly whereas Ioseph and Mary gaue this name not at their owne pleasure but at the appointment of God himselfe this ministers a good instruction to all parents touching the naming of their children when they are baptised that they are with care and deliberation to giue convenient names vnto them which may put them in mind of duties either to God or men This is worthy of our obseruation for many care not how they name their children yea it is at this day euer hath bene that some giue such names to them as that at the verie rehearsing thereof laughter ensueth But this ought not to be so for the name is giuen unto children at the time of their baptisme in the presence of God of his Church and angels euen then vvhen they are to be entred into the Church of God and that in the name of the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost therefore though we do not place religion in titles or names yet neuerthelesse a vvise and godly choise in this matter is to be had that the names imposed may be in stead of instructions and admonitions to the parties named and for this cause in the old testament names were giuen either by propheticall instinct or according to the euent of things which came to passe about the time of the birth of children or they were borowed from the holy auncetours to put the posteritie in mind to follow their steppes And thus much of the duties Now follow the consolations that Gods Church and people reape from this that the sonne of God is our Saviour When as all mankind was included under sinne condemnation then the Lord had mercy upon us and gaue unto man the couenant of grace in vvhich he promised that his owne sonne should be our redeemer This is a great and unspeakable comfort as may appeare in that the angels so greatly reioyced herein when Christ was borne Behold say they I bring you tidings of great ioy that shall be to all the people that is that unto you is borne i● the citie of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. Now if they reioyce thus exceedingly at Christs birth who vvas not their Sauiour because they stand not in neede to be redeemed then much more ought the Church of God to reioyce herein whome it doeth principally concerne and no marvell for if this sauiour had not beene it had bene better to haue been● a bruite beast or any other creature then a man for the death of a beast is the end of his woe but the death of a man without a Sauiour is the beginning of endelesse miserie Satan and his angels are fallen and haue no Sauiour but when man was fallen God of his mercie dealt not so with him but gaue his ovvne sonne to restore him to better estate whereas he might as iustly haue damned all men for the fall of our first parents as hee did the wicked angels for theirs for God is not bound to any creature beholde then a matter of unspeakeable ioy let us therefore receiue and embrace Christ our Saviour flie to him for the pardon of all sinnes Nowe vvee come to the second title of the Sonne of God whereby hee is tearmed Christ vvhich title is as it were the surname of the seconde person as some doe thinke yet according to the opinion of some others it is no name at all but onely a meere appellation as vvhen in the like case a particular man is called a Duke or a King It is all one vvith Messiah in Hebrewe wherwith the redeemer was named in the olde Testament and both signifie annointed Among the Iewes before the comming of Christ three estates or orders of men were annointed with oile First of all kings as Saul Dauid and the rest of the kings of Iuda Secondly the priestes that serued in the tabernacle and temple before rhe Lorde when they were ordained and as it vvere installed into the priesthoode were annointed vvith oyle as first of all Aaron and his sonnes but aftervvard the high priests alone Thirdly prophets were thus annointed as Elisha Now this legall annointing was a tipe and figure of the annointing of Christ which was not with bodily oile but by the spirite and it was more excellent then all other annointings were For David saieth hee was annointed with the oile of gladnesse aboue all his fellowes signifying that neither king priest nor prophet was euer annointed in the same manner as he was Christes annointing is according to both his natures for in what nature hee is a Mediatour in the same hee is annointed but according to both his natures ioyntly hee is a mediatour the godheade is no mediatour without the manhoode nor the manhoode vvithout the godhead and therefore his annointing extendes it selfe both to his godhead and to his manhood Christes annointing hath two partes both of them figured by the annointing of the Iewes The first is his consecration whereby hee was set apart to doe the office of a Mediatour betweene God and man and therefore to be a king a priest a prophet a king to gather and withall to gouerne his Church and people a priest to make satisfaction and intercession for the sinnes of the elect a prophet to reveale and teach his people the will of God his father And though it be true that Christ is set a part to the worke
humilitie as the Apostle exhorts the Philippians in the same place and that shall wee doe when we beginne to cast off that high opinion which euery man by nature conceiueth of himselfe become vile base in our own eyes Secure and drowsie protestants thinke themselues blessed and say in their hearts as the Angell of the Church of Laodicea said I am rich and increased with golde and haue neede of nothing whereas indeede they are most miserable and wretched and poore and naked and blinde And the same fond opinion possesseth the mindes of our ignorant people who chaunt it in the very same tune saying that God loues them and that they loue God with all their hearts and their neighbours as them selues that they haue perfect faith in Christ and euer had not once so much as doubting of their saluation that all is well with them and that they are past all daunger whatsoeuer in the matter of their saluation and therefore neede not take so much care for it Thus ye may see how men are commonly carried away with vain and fond conceits of their own excellencie And truely so long as this ouerweening of our owne righteousnes raignes in our hearts let Preachers speake and say what they will wee will neuer become followers of Christ in the practise of humilitie Some will say peradventure that they neuer had any such opinion of their owne righteousnesse but I answeare againe that there was never yet any man descending of Adam saue Christ but hee had this proude phantasie ruling and raigning in him till such time as God giue grace to chaunge and altar his heart and this inwarde pride the lesse wee discerne it the more it is and the more we discerne it the lesse it is Therefore though as yet thou see it not in thy selfe yet labour both to see it and to feele it and to striue against it casting downe thy selfe for thine owne miserie after Christes owne example who beeing God abased him selfe to the condition of a miserable man For thou shalt neuer be filled with the good things of God till thou be emptied of selfe-loue and selfe-liking For this cause let us purge and emptie our selues of all conceit of our owne righteousnesse that God may fill our heartes with his grace Furthermore the Incarnation of Christ is the ground and foundation of all our comforte as the names of Christ seruing to expresse the same doe testifie Iaakob in his last testament saieth that the scepter shall not depart from Iudah till Shilo that is the Messias come Now the name Shilo signifieth the tunicle or skinne that lappeth the infante in the mothers wombe called by the Phisitians the Secundine and by a kinde of figure it is put for the Sonne of God in the wombe of the virgine made man And Iob to comforte him-selfe in his affliction saieth I knovve that my redeemer liveth Now the worde which he useth to signifie his redeemer by is verie emphaticall for it signifieth a kinsman neere allyed vnto him of his owne flesh that will restore him to life And the Lorde by the prophet Esai calleth Christ Immanuel that is God with vs which name importeth verie much namely that whereas by nature we haue lost our fellowshippe with God because our sinnes are a wall of partition severing vs from him yet neverthelesse the same is restored to all that beleeue by the Mediatour Christ Iesus because his divine nature is coupled to mans nature and so the word is made flesh And this strait coniunction of two natures into one person ioynes God to men and men to God yea by Christ wee are brought to God and haue free accesse unto him and againe in him wee apprehend God and are made one with him And further whereas Christ beside our nature tooke our infirmities also it is a wonderfull comforte unto Gods Church for it shewes that hee is not onely a Sauiour but also a verie compassionate and pitifull Sauiour As the holy ghost saith In all things it became Christ to be like vnto his breethren that hee might be mercifull and a faithfull high priest in things concerning God Let a man be sicke of a grievous disease and if a friend come that hath hene troubled with the same disease hee will shewe more compassion then twentie others and so Christ hauing felt in his owne soule and bodie the anguish and the manifolde perplexities that wee feele in our temptations and afflictions hath his bowels as it were earning towards vs euermore being prest and readie to relieve vs in all our miseries In the daies of his flesh he wept ouer Ierusalem when he saw it a farre off because she continued in her old sins did not know the time of her visitation and no doubt though now hee be exalted in glorie in heauen yet his compassion to his poore members upon earth is no whit diminished Nowe wee come to speake of the incarnation more particularly and the Creede yet further expresseth it by two partes the first is the conception of Christ in these wordes Conceived by the holy Ghost the second is his birth in the words following Borne of the virgine Mary The conception of Christ is set downe with his efficient cause the holy ghost as the Angell saide to Ioseph Feare not to take Marie for thy wife for that vvhich is conceived in her is of the holy ghost Here it may be demanded why the conception of Christ shoulde be ascribed to the holy ghost alone which is common to all the persons in Trinitie as all other such actions are Ansvvere It is not done to exclude the Father or the Sonne himselfe from this worke but to signifie that it comes of the free gifte and grace of God which commonly is tearmed by the name of the Holy Ghost that the manhoode of Christ being but a creature shoulde be advaunced to this dignitie that it shoulde become a parte of the sonne of God And againe the Holy Ghost is the authour of this conception in a speciall manner for the father and the sonne did cause it by the holy Ghost but the holy ghost did cause it from them both immediatly In the conception of Christ wee must obserue and consider three things The framing of the manhoode the sanctifying of it and the personall union of the manhoode with the godheade And howsoeuer I distinguish these three for orders sake yet must wee knowe and remember that they are all wrought at one and the same instant of time For when the Holy Ghost frames and sanctifies the manhood in the wombe of the virgine at the verie same moment it is receiued into the unitie of the second person In the forming of Christes manhoode two things must be considered the matter and the maner the matter of his body was the very flesh and bloud of the virgine Marie otherwise he could not haue beene the sonne of David of Abraham and Adam according
praying all the daies of a mans life for hereby the bond of nature is broken and a man can not doe the duty vnto his parents which Gods law requireth and Christ here himselfe practiseth nor the duties of a mēber of Christ which are to be done to the whole Church and to the rest of the members thereof The place where Christ suffered is called Calvary or Golgotha that is the place of dead mēs skulls without the walls of Ierusalem Concerning the reason of this name men be of divers opinions Some say it was so called because Adam was buried there that his skull beeing there found gaue the name to the place And this is the very opinion of some ancient divines that Christ was there crucified where Adā was buried but because it hath no certen ground I leaue it as uncerten Others thinke it was called Calvary because the Iewes were wont to cary out the bones of dead men there to heape them togither as in times past the manner was in the vauts of sundry Churches in this land And some others thinke it was called Golgotha or Calvary because theeues and murtherers and malefactours were there executed stoned burned whereby it came to passe that many skulles and bones of dead men were found there The time vvhen Christ was executed was at the Iewes passeover when not onely the Iewes but also many Proselytes of many countries and nations were assembled and therefore this execution was not in a private corner but openly in the viewe of the worlde For as he was a Sauiour not to the Iewes onely but also to the Gentiles so it was verie requisite that his death shoulde be publicke before all men both Iewes and Gentiles As for the houre of the day in which he suffered there is some difficultie in the Euangelists for S. Iohn saith that hee was condemned about the sixt houre of the day and S. Marke saieth he was crucified the third houre Hence it may be demaunded how both these can stand togither Answer Howsoeuer the Iewes naturall day began at evening yet the artificiall day began at sunne-rising and ended at sunne-setting and it was divided two waies First into twelue partes called twelue houres whether the daies were longer or shorter Secondly into foure partes or quarters and euery part contained three houres as from the first houre to the third was one part called morning from the third houre to the sixt an other part called the sixt houre from the sixt houre to the ninth the third part called the ninth houre and from the ninth houre to the twelfth the fourth part called euening Nowe when S. Iohn saieth Christ was condemned about the sixt houre it must be understood of the second quarter of the day called the sixt houre and whereas S. Marke saith he was crucified the thirde houre of the day he speakes of the lesser houres twelue whereof made the vvhole day and thus they both agree for the third houre of the day and the beginning of the 2. quarter followe ech other immediatly Againe it may be answered that Christ was condēned at six of the clock after the Roman account which begins the day at midnight crucified at 3. which is 9. of the clock in the morning with us aftet the Iewes accoūt who begin their artificiall day as I said at the sunne-rising The fourth last point is the order whole proceeding of Christs executiō vvhich may be reduced to 4. heads the first his going to execution the 2. his crucifying the 3. his death the 4. the consequents of his death Againe in his going to execution we may consider many pointes The first that he is brought out of Hierusalem as a malefactour For the olde and ancient custome of the Ievves was to put those whome they iudged to be notorious offenders to death without ●heir tentes when they wandred in the wildernesse and without the walles of Hierusalem lest they should any way be defiled with their blood And this fell out by the speciall providence of God that that might be fulfilled in Christ which was prefigured in the sacrifices of the old testament when the bodies of beasts were not eaten of the priests but burnt without the campe therfore saith the H. ghost even Iesus that he might sanctifie the people with his owne blood suffered without the gates Hence may all Christians learne to know their owne estate and condition first in this world they must looke to be accounted the offscouring of the earth and the filth of the worlde as the Apostle saith and vvee must all prepare our selues to beare this estate They that vvill be Gods children must not looke to be better accepted of in the vvorld then Christ vvas Secondly by this every one of us must learne to be content to use this vvorld as straungers pilgrimes being every day and houre readie to leave the same for if Christ the sonne of God himselfe vvas brought out of Ierusalem as not beeing vvorthy to haue his abode there then must euery Christian man looke much more for the like extremitie And therefore it is not good for us to haue our hearts tyed to the vvorlde to seeke alvvaies to be approoued of the same for that argueth that vve are not like to Christ but vve must rather do as poore pilgrimes in strange cuntries that is only to look for safe conduct through the miseries in this vvorlde hauing in the meane season our hearts vvills affections set on the kingdome vvhich is in heauen The second thing is that Christ vvas made to beare his ovvne crosse for so it seemes the maner of the Romanes was to deale vvith malefactours And this must put vs in mind of that notable lesson vvhich Chtist himselfe taught his disciples namely that if any man vvill be his disciple he must denie himselfe take up his ovvne crosse daily and follow him where by the crosse we must vnderstand that portion of affliction which God hath alotted to euery one of his children for there is no child of God to whome hee hath not measured out as it were some bitter cup of misery in this life And therfore Paul saith Now reioyce I in my suffering for you fulfill the rest of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh By Christes sufferings he meaneth not the passion of Christ but the sufferings of the bodie of Christ that is the Church whereof Christ is the head Moreouer wee must suffer as he did that daily because as one day followeth another so one crosse comes in the necke of another And whereas Christ beares the crosse that was laide on him by the hands of the soldiers it must teach us not to pull crosses upon ou● selues but waite till God lay them on vs and then we must willingly bend our shoulders stoope downe and take them up whether they be in body or in soule and that every day if it
the Angell of God came to destroy the first borne both of man and beast and saw the blood upon their houses might passe ouer them that the plague should not be upon them to destruction So likewise if thou doest feede on the lambe of God and by a liuely faith sprinkle the dore of thine heart with his blood the iudgements of god in this life and the terrible curse of death vvith the fearefull sentence of condemnation at the day of iudgement all punishments due unto thy sinnes shall passe ouer thee and not so much as touch thee And whereas the legges of our Sauiour Christ were not broken by the souldiers who sought by all meanes possible to worke against him all the mischiefe they could wee may note that the enemies of Christ and his Church let them intende to shewe neuer so much malice against him they can not goe beyonde that libertie which God giueth them then Gods will is they can doe no more for their liues The Medes and Persians are called the Lords sanctified ones Cyrus is called the man of Gods counsell because whatsoeuer they intended against the people of God yet in all their proceedings they did nothing but that which God had determined before to be done And whē Senacherib came against the Iewes as a wild beast out of his denne the Lord telleth Hezekiah cōcerning Ashur that he will put his hooke in his nostrills his bridle in his lippes and bring him back againe the same way he came that is he will so rule him that he shall not do the lest hurt unto the Iewes more thē god will This is a matter of great cōfort to Gods Church oppressed with manifold enimies Papists Iewes Turkes all infidels maliciously bent against it for Christs sake Now they may intend practise mischiefe but more then Gods will and counsell is they cā not doe for he hath his ring in their nostrills and his bridle in their lips to rule them as he listeth The second thing which fell out immediatly upon the death of Christ is that the soldiers pearced his side with a speare thence issued water blood The use which ariseth of this point is twofolde First it serves to prooue that Christ died truly not in shew or a fained death for there is about the heart a filme or skin like unto a purse wherein is contained cleare water to coole the heate of the heart and therefore when water blood issued out after the pearcing of the side it is very likely that that very skin was pearced for els in reason we can not coniecture whence this water should come S. Iohn an eye-witnesse of this thing being about to proue that Iesus the sonne of Mary was the true Messias bringeth in sixe witnesses three in heauē the Father the Worde and the Holy Ghost and three in earth the Water the Spirite and the bloode where no doubt hee alludeth to the water and blood that issued out of the side of Christ by spirit wee may vnderstand the efficacie and operation of Gods spirite making men to bring foorth the fruits of the same as loue peace ioy c. And the second witnes namely water hath relation to the water that came forth of Christs side which signifieth the inward washing away of sinne the purging of the heart by Christs blood which also is and was signified by the outwarde washing of the bodie with water in baptisme The thirde witnesse hee calles blood alluding to the blood that issued out of Christs side vvhereby is signified the expiation or satisfaction made to Gods iustice for mans sinne The same use had the ceremoniall sprinkling with blood in the old testament typically signifying the sprinkling of Christs blood Now these three witnesses are not to be sought for in heauen but euerie Christian man must search for them in his owne heart and conscience there shall hee finde them in some measure And this water and blood flowing out of the side of Christ being now deade signifieth that he is our iustification and sanctification euen after his death that out of his death springs our life and therefore as Eve was made of a ribbe taken out of the side of the first Adam so springs the Church of the blood that flowes out of the side of the second Adam Hauing thus intreated of Christs execution let us nowe come to the last point namely the excellencie of Christes passion consisting in these two points I. a sacrifice II. a triumph For the first whē Christ died he offered a propitiatorie reall sacrifice to his father herein his death passiō differeth frō the sufferings deaths of all men whatsoeuer In this sacrifice we must consider 4. things I. who was the priest II. what was the sacrifice III. what vvas the altar IV. the time wherein this sacrifice was offered The priest was Christ himselfe as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrues prooues at large from the third chap. to the 9. and of him we are to consider these 4. points The first what is the office of Christs priesthood Ansvver The office of Christs priesthood stands in 3. things I. to teach doctrine therefore he is called the high priest of our profession that is of the Gospell which we professe because he is the authour and doctour of the same II. to offer up himselfe unto his father in the behalfe of man for the appeasing of his wrath for sinne III. to make request or intercession to God the father that he would accept the sacrifice which hee offered on the crosse for us The secōd is according to which nature he was a priest whether in his manhood or in his godhead or both togither Ans. The office of his priesthood is performed by him according to both his natures therfore he is a priest not as the papists would haue him according to his manhood only but as he is both God man for as he is a mediatour so is he a priest but Christ is a mediatour according to both natures ech nature doing that which is peculiar to it conferring somthing to the worke of redemptiō therfore he is a priest as he is both God mā The third point after what order is he a priest Ans. The scripture mētioneth 2. orders of priests the order of Levi the order of Melchisedeck Christ was not a priest after the order of Aarō yet notwithstāding in that priesthood were many notable rites wherby the priesthood of our Sauiour Christ was resembled we may note 5. especially First in the anointing of the high priests as of Aaron his sonnes after him oile was powred on his head it ran down to the verie edge of his garments wherby was signified that Christ the true high priest was annointed with the oile of gladnesse above his fellowes that his manhood was filled with the giftes and graces of
this for a verie truth that we haue but one only priest euē Christ himselfe god man Indeed all Christians are Priests to offer up spirituall sacrifice but it is the propertie of Christ alone to offer an outward reall sacrifice unto God now in the new testamēt Thus much of the first point who is the priest The second followeth what is the sacrifice Answer The sacrifice is Christ as he is man or the manhood of Christ crucified As the priest is both God and man so the sacrifice is man not God So it is said we are sanctified by the offering of the bodie of Iesus Christ. Touching this sacrifice sundrie questions are to be skanned The first what kind of sacrifice it was Answer In the olde Testament there were two kinde of sacrifices one propitiatorie which serued to satisfie for sinne the other eucharisticall for praise and thankesgiuing Now the sacrifice of Christ was a sacrifice propitiatorie specially prefigured by the typicall sacrifice called the whole burnt offering the use whereof was from the beginning for as it was all consumed to ashes upon the altar and turned into smoke so the fire of Gods wrath did seaze upon Christ on the crosse and did consume him as it were to nothing to make us something Secondly whē Noe offered an whole burnt offering after the flood it is saide God smelled a savour of rest not because hee was delighted with the smell of the sacrifice but because he approued his faith in Christ. And hereby was figured that Christ upō the crosse was an offering a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour vnto God because God was well pleased therewith Nowe whereas Christ was content wholly to offer up himselfe to appease the wrath of his father for us it must teach us to giue our bodies and soules as holy liuing acceptable sacrifices wholly dedicating them to the seruice of God The second question is how oft Christ offered himselfe Ans. Once only no more This must be held as a principle of divinitie With once offering hath he consecrated for ever them that are sanctified againe Christ was once offered to take away the sinnes of many And it serueth to ouerthrow the abominable sacrifice of the masse in which the true bodie blood of Christ is offered under the formes of bread and wine really substātially as they say for the remissiō of the sinnes of the quicke the deade that continually but if this vnbloody sacrifice of Christ be good then it is either the continuing of that which was begun on the crosse by Christ himselfe or the iteratiō of it by the masse priest Now let papists choose whether of these 2. they will if they say it is the continuing of the sacrifice of Christ then they speake outragious blasphemy for it is in effect to say that Christes sacrifice was not perfect but only begun on the crosse and must be accomplished by the masse priest to the end of the worlde If they affirme the second that it is an iteration of Christs sacrifice thē also they speake blasphemie for hereby they make it also an imperfite sacrifice because it is repeated iterated for upō this ground doth the authour to the Hebrues prooue that the sacrifices of the old testament were imperfit because they were daily offered And wheras they say that there be 2. kinds of sacrifices one bloody once only offred upō the crosse the other unbloody which is daily offred I answer that this distinctiō hath no ground out of Gods word neither was it known to the H. ghost who saith that without blood there is no remission of sinnss The 3. questiō is what is the fruit of this sacrifice Answ. The whole effect therof is contained in these 4. things I. the oblation of Christ purgeth the beleeuer frō all his sinnes whether they be originall or actuall so it is said If we walk in the light we haue fellowship one with another the blood of Iesus Christ his sonne purgeth vs from all sinne whether they be of omission in regard of our duties or of cōmission in doing euil II. the oblatiō serueth for the iustifying of a sinner before God as Paul saith We are iustified by his blood are reconciled to god by his death This being here remēbred that in the passiō of Christ we include his legall obediēce wherby he fulfilled the law for us III. the oblatiō of Christ serves to purge mens cōsciences frō dead works How much more then shall the blood of Christ which through the eternall spirite offred himselfe without spot to God purge your consciences from dead works to serue the living God IV. the oblation of Christ procures us liberty to enter to heauen By the blood of Christ Iesus we may be bold to enter into the holy place by the new and living way which he hath prepared for vs through the vail that is his flesh By our sinnes there is a partition wall made betwene God vs but Christ by offring himselfe upon the crosse hath beaten down this wall opened heauen and as it were trained the way with his own blood wherby we may enter into the kingdome of God and without the which we can not enter in at all The last questiō is how this sacrifice may be applied to vs. Ans. The meanes of applying the sacrifice be two I. the hand of God which offreth II. the hād of the beleeuer that receiveth the sacrifice offred The hand of God wherby he offereth unto us his benefit is the preaching of the word the administratiō of the sacraments baptisme the Lords supper whersoeuer these his holy ordinances are rightly administred put in practise there the Lord puts forth his hand unto us offereth most freely the vertue benefit of the death of Christ. And then in the next place cōmeth the hand of the beleeuer which is faith in the heart which when God offereth doth apprehend and receiue the thing offered and make it ours The third thing to be spokē of is the altar wheron Christ offred himselfe The altar was not the crosse but rather the godhead of Christ. He was both the priest the sacrifice and the altar the sacrifice as he is man the priest as he is both God mā the altar as he is God The propertie of an altar is to sanctifie the sacrifice as Christ saith Ye fooles blinde whether is greater the offering or the altar that senctifieth the offering Now Christ as he is God sanctifieth himself as he was man therfore saieth he for their sakes sanctifie I my selfe by doing 2. things I. by setting a part the manhood to be a sa●rifice unto his father for our sins II. by giuing to this sacrifice merit or efficacie to deserue at Gods hāds remissiō of our sins the māhood of Christ without the godhead hath no vertue nor efficacie in
it self to be a meritorious sacrifice therfore the dignity excellencie which it hath is deriued thence As for the chalkie stony altars of the Church of Rome they are nothing els but the toyes of mans brain Christ himselfe is the only reall altar of the new testament And instead of altars which were under the lawe wee haue now the Lords table vvheron vve celebrate the sacraments of his body and blood to shew forth his death till he come The 4. point is concerning the time of Christs oblation which he himselfe calleth the acceptable yere of the Lord alluding unto another yere under the lavve called the yeere Iubile vvhich was every 50. yere amōg the Iewes in which at the sound of a trumpet all that had set or sold their possessions receiued them againe all that were bondmen were then set at libertie This Iubile was but a figure of that perfect deliverāce which vvas to be attained by Christs passiō which was no temporarie deliverance for euery 50. yere but an eternal freedome from the bondage of sinne hell death condemnation And the preaching of the worde is the trumpet sounded which proclaimeth unto us freedome frō the kingdome of darkenesse invites us to come dvvell in perfect peace vvith Christ himselfe Well if the yeere of perpetuall Iubile be novv come in what a vvre●ched estate are all our loose blind people that esteem nothing of that libertie vvhich is offered to them but choose rather to liue in their sinnes and so in bondage under Satan condemnation then to be at freedome in Christ. Novv follovv the uses vvhich are to be made of the sacrifice of Christ. The prophet Aggai saith that the second temple built by Zorubbabell vvas nothing in beautie unto the first vvhich was built by Salomon and the reason is plaine for it vvanted five things vvhich the first temple had I. the appearing of the presence of God at the mercie seat betweene the two Cherubims II. The Vrim and Thummim on the breast-plate of the high Priest III. The inspiration of the holy Ghost vpon extraordinarie Prophets IV. The Arke of the Covenant for that was lost in the captiuitie V. Fire from heauen to burne the sacrifices Yet for all this the Prophet afterward saith The glorie of the last House shall be greater then the first Now it may be demaunded how both these sayings can stand together Answer We are to know that the second Temple was standing in the time when Christ was crucified for our sinnes and it was the sacrifice of Christ which gaue glorie and dignitie to the second temple though otherwise for building and outward ornaments it was farre inferiour to the first And by this we are taught that if we would bring glorie vnto our owne selues vnto our houses and kindred either before God or before men we must labour to be partakers of the sacrifice of Christ and the sprinkling of his blood to purge our hearts This is the thing that brings renowne both to place and person how base soeuer we be in the eyes of the world Secondly all oblations and meate offerings were sprinkled with salt and euery sacrifice of propitiation which was to be burned to ashes was first salted and hereby two things were signified The first that euery one of vs in our selues are loathsome or vile in the sight of God like vnto stinking carrion or raw-flesh kept long vnpoudered A dead and rotten carkeise is loathsome vnto vs but we in our selues are a thousand times more loathsome vnto God The second that we are as it were salted and made sauorie and acceptable to God by the vertue of the sacrifice of Christ vpon the crosse Our dutie thē is to labour that we may feele in our selues the biting and sharpnes of the oblation of Christ to wast cōsume the superfluities of sinne and the corruptions of our natures And we must withall indeauour that the whole course of our liues and our speach it selfe be gratious and poudred with this salt least God at length spue vs out of his mouth To this end hath God appointed his ministers to be the salt of the earth that by their ministerie they might applie the death of Christ and season the people And it hath pleased God to besprinkle this land with more plentie of this salt then hath beene heretofore But alas small is the number of them that giue any rellish of their good seasoning The more lamentable is their case For as flesh that can not be seasoned with salt putrifies so men that cannot be sweetned and changed by the sacrifice of Christ doe rotte and perish in their sinnes The waters that issued from vnder the threshold of the Sanctuarie when they came into the dead sea the waters thereof were holsome but myrie places and marishes which could not be seasoned were made salt-pits Now these waters are the preaching of the Gospell of Christ which flowing through all the parts of this Ile if it doe not season and chaunge our nation it shall make it as places of nettles and salt-pits and at length be an occasion of the eternall curse of God Thirdly Christs priesthoode serues to make euery one of vs also to be priests And being priests we must likewise haue our sacrifice and our altar Our sacrifice is the cleane offering which is the lifting vp of pure hands to God without wrath or doubting in our praiers also our bodies and soules our hearts and affections the workes of our liues and the works of our callings all which must be dedicated to the seruice of God for his glorie and the good of his Church The altar whereon wee must offer our sacrifice is Christ our redeemer both God and man because by the vertue of his death as with sweet odours he perfumes all our obedience and makes it acceptable to God The ministers of the Gospell are also in this manner priests as Paul insinuateth when he calleth the Gentiles his offering vnto God And the preaching of the word is as it were a sacrificing knife whereby the old Adam must be killed in vs and we made an holy and acceptable sweete smelling oblation vnto God sanctified by the holy Ghost Therefore euery one that heareth Gods worde preached and taught must endeauour that by the profitable hearing thereof his sinnes and whole nature may be subdued and killed as the beast was slaine and sacrificed vpon the altar by the hand of the Leuite Lastly the exhortation of the holy Ghost must here be considered Seeing saith he we haue an high Priest which is ouer the house of God let vs draw neere with a true heart in assurance of faith sprinkled in our hearts from an euill conscience and washed in our bodies with pure water the meaning of the words is this that if Christ haue offered such a sacrifice of such value and price which procureth pardon of sinne
iustification sanctification and redemption then we must labour to be partakers of it to haue our bodies and soules purified and clensed by his blood and sanctified throughout by the holy Ghost that thereby we may be made fit to doe sacrifice acceptable to God in Christ. This is the vse which the Apostle maketh of the doctrine of Christs priesthood in that place which also euery man should applie vnto himselfe for why should we liue in our sinnes and wicked waies euery houre incurring the daunger of Gods iudgements seeing Christ hath offered such a sacrifice whereby we may be purged and clensed and at length freed from all woe and miserie Thus much of Christs sacrifice now follows his triumph vpon the crosse That Christ did triumph when he was vpon the crosse it is plainly set downe by the Apostle Paul where he saith that putting out the hand writing of ordinances that was against vs which was contrarie to vs he euen tooke it out of the way and fastened it vpon the crosse and hath spoiled the principalities and powers and hath made shew of them openly and hath triumphed ouer them in the same crosse This triumph is set forth by signes testimonies of two sorts I. By signes of his glorie and maiestie II. by signes of his victorie on the crosse The signes of his glorie and maiestie are principally seauen The first is the title set ouer his head vpon the crosse Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iewes The ende why titles were set ouer the heads of malefactours was that the beholders might know the cause of the punishment and be admonished to take heede of like offences and be stirred vp to a dislike of the parties executed for their offences And therefore no doubt Pilate wrote the title of Christ for the aggrauating of his cause and that with his owne hand Yet marke the strange euent that followed for when Pilate was about to write the superscription God did so gouerne and ouerrule both his heart and hand that instead of noting some crime he sets downe a most glorious and worthie title calling him Iesus of Nazareth king of the Iewes which words containe the very summe and pith of the whole Gospell of Christ deliuered by the Patriarkes and Prophets from age to age We must not thinke that Pilate did this of any good minde or vpon any loue or fauour that he bare to Christ but onely as he was guided and ouerruled by the power of God for the aduancement of the honour and glorie of Christ. The like did Caiphas who though a sworne enemie to Christ yet he vttered a prophecie of him saying that it was necessarie that one should die for the people nor that he had any intent to prophecie but because the Lord vsed him as an instrument to publish his truth And when Baalam for the wages of vnrighteousnes would haue cursed the Lordes people for his life hee could not nay all his cursings were turned into blessings By this then it appeares that it is not possible for any man doe what he can to stoppe the course of the Gospell of Christ nay as we see God can raise vp the wicked sometime to spread abroad and to publish the truth though they themselues intend the contrarie Furthermore let vs marke that when the Iewes did most of all intend to bring disgrace and ignominie vpon our Sauiour Christ then did they most of all extoll and magnifie his name they could not for their liues haue giuen him a more renowmed title then this that he was king of the Iewes And the same is the case of all the members of Christ for let a man walke in good conscience before God and man he shall finde this to be true that when he is most disgraced in the world then commonly he is most honoured with God and men Further Pilate wrote this superscription in three languages Hebrew Greeke and Latine And no doubt the ende thereof in the prouidence of God was that the passion of Christ as also the publishing of his kingdome and Gospell might be spread ouer the whole world This shewes the malice of the Church of Rome which will not suffer the word of God to be published but in the latine tongue least the people should be intangled in errours Againe when Pilate had thus written the superscription the high priests and Pharisies offended thereat came to Pilate willing him to chaunge the title saying Write not the king of the Iewes but that he said I am the king of the Iewes but Pilat answeared them againe That which J haue written I haue written Though Pilate had bin ouerruled before to condemne Christ to death against his owne conscience yet will he not in any-wise condescend to change the superscription How comes this to passe Surely as he was ruled by the hand of God in penning it so by the same hand of God was he confirmed in not changing it Hence we learne sundrie instructions First that no man in the world let him endeauour himselfe to the vttermost of his power is able to stoppe the course of the kingdom of God it stands firme and sure and all the world is not able to preuaile against it Secondly whereas Pilate being but an heathen man was thus constant that he will not haue his writing chaunged we may note how permanent vnchāgeable the writings of the holy word of God are They are not the wordes of heathen men but were spoken by the mouth of the Prophets and Apostles as God gaue them vtterance The booke of Scripture therefore is much more immutable so as no creature shall be able to chaunge the least part of it till it be fulfilled Thirdly by Pilates constancie we learne to be constant in the practise and profession of the religion of Christ this is a necessarie lesson for these daies wherein mens professions doe fleete like water and goe and come with the tyde Many zealous professours to day but to morow as cold as water And the complaint of the Lord touching times past agrees to our daies O Ephraim what shall I say to thee thy righteousnes is like the morning dewe The second is the conuersion of the thiefe a most worthie argument of the Godhead of Christ. For by it when he was vpon the crosse and in the very middest of his passion he giues vnto all the world a liuely and notable experience of the vertue and power of his death so as his very enemies might not onely behold the passion it selfe but also at the same time acknowledge the admirable efficacie thereof And therefore with the passion of Christ we must ioyne the conuersion of the thiefe which is as it were a crystall glasse wherein we may sensibly behold the endles merit and vertue of the obedience of Christ to his father euen to the death of the crosse And therefore I will briefly touch the speciall instructions which are to be learned by it First let vs
of a whale that so he might chastice him and thus doth he deale with his owne seruants to make them conformable to Christ. And further when it pleaseth God to lay his hand vpon our soules and make vs haue a troubled and distressed conscience so as we doe as it were struggle with Gods wrath as for life and death and can finde nothing but his indignation seazing vpon our soules which is the most grieuous and perplexed estate that any man can be in in this case howsoeuer we cannot discerne or see any hope or comfort in our selues yet we must not thinke it strange nor quite despaire of his mercie For the sonne of God himselfe descended into hell and death carried him captiue and triumphed ouer him in the graue and therefore though God seeme to be our vtter enemie yet we must not despaire of his helpe In diuers Psalmes we reade howe Dauid was not onely persecuted outwardly of his enemies but euen his sou●e and conscience were perplexed for his sinnes so as his bones were consumed within him and his moysture was turned into the drought in sommer This caused Iob to cry out that the arrowes of God were within him and the venyme thereof did drinke vp his spirit the terrours of God did fight against him and the griefe of his soule was as waightie as the sand of the sea by reason whereof he saith that the Lord did make him a marke and a butte to shoote at and therefore when God shall thus afflict vs either in bodie or in soule or in both we must not alwaies thinke that it is the wrathfull hand of the Lord that begins to bring vs to vtter condemnation for our sinnes but rather his fatherly worke to kill sinne in vs and to make vs grow in humilitie that so we may become like vnto Christ Iesus Secondly whereas Christ for our sakes was thus abased euen vnto the lowest degree of humiliation that can be it is an example for vs to imitate as Christ himselfe prescribeth Learne of me that I am meeke and lowly And that we may the better doe this we must learne to become nothing in our selues that we may be all in all forth of our selues in Christ we must loath and thinke as basely of our selues as may be in regard of our sinnes Christ Iesus vpon the crosse was content for our sakes to become a worme and no man as Dauid saith which did chiefely appeare in this lowest degree of his humiliation when as death did as it were tread on him in his denne and the same minde must likewise be in vs which was in him The liking that we haue of our selues must be meere nothing but all our loue and liking must be forth of our selues in the death and bloode of Christ. And thus much of this clause as also of the state of Christs humiliation Nowe followeth his second estate which is his exaltation into glorie set down in these words The third day he rose againe from the deade c. And of it we are first to speake in generall then in particular according to the seuerall degrees thereof In generall the exaltation of Christ is that glorious or happie estate into which Christ entred after he had wrought the worke of our redemption vpon the crosse And he was exalted according to both natures in regard of his Godhead and also of his manhood The exaltation of the Godhead of Christ was the manifestation of the glorie of his Godhead in the manhoode Some will peraduenture demaunde how Christs Godhead can be exalted seeing it admits no alteration at all Answer In it selfe it cannot be exalted yet beeing considered as it is ioyned with the manhood into one person in this respect it may be said to be exalted and therefore I say the exaltation of Christs Godhead is the manifestation of the glorie thereof in the manhood For though Christ from his incarnation was both God and man and his Godhead dwelt in his manhood yet from his birth vnto his death the same Godhead did little shew it selfe and in the time of his suffering did as it were lie hid vnder the vaile of his flesh as the soule doth in the bodie when a man is sleeping that thereby in his humane nature he might suffer the curse of the law and accomplish the worke of redemption for vs in the low and base estate of a seruant But after this worke was finished he began by degrees to make manifest the power of his Godhead in his manhood And in this respect his Godhead may be saide to be exalted The exaltation of Christs humanitie stoode in two things The first that he laide downe all the infirmities of mans nature which he carried about him so long as he was in the state of a seruant in that he ceased to be wearie hungrie thirstie c. Here it may be demāded whether the skarres woūds remain in the bodie of Christ now after it is glorified Ans. Some think that they doe remain as testimonies of that victorie which Christ obtained of his our enemies that they are no deformitie to the glorious bodie of our Lord but are themselues also in him in some vnspeakable manner glorified But indeede it rather seemes to be a truth to say that they are quite abolished because they were a part of that ignominious and base estate in which our Sauiour was vpon the crosse which after his entrance into glorie he laid aside And if it may be thought that the woundes in the hands and feete of Christ remaine to be seene euen to the last iudgement why may we not in the same manner thinke that the vaines of his bodie remaine emptied of their blood because it was shed vpon the crosse The second thing required in the exaltation of Christs manhood is that both his bodie and soule were beautified and adorned with all qualities of glorie His minde was inriched with as much knowledge and vnderstanding as can possibly befall any creature and more in measure then all men and angels haue and the same is to be said of the graces of the spirit in his wil and affections his bodie also was incorruptible and it was made a shining bodie a resemblance whereof some of his disciples sawe in the mount and it was indued with agilitie to mooue as well vpward as downeward as may appeare by the ascension of his bodie into heauen which was not caused by constraint or by any violent motion but by a propertie agreeing to all bodies glorified Yet in the exaltation of Christs manhood we must remember two caveats first that he did neuer lay aside the essentiall properties of a true bodie as length breadth thicknes visibilitie locallitie which is to be in one place at once and no more but keepeth all these still because they serue for the beeing of his bodie Secondly wee must remember that the gifts of glorie in Christs bodie are not infinite but
the proofes of Christs resurrection which are diligently to be obserued because it is one of the most principall points of our religion For as the Apostle saith He died for our sinnes and rose againe for our iustification and againe If Christ be not risen then is our prea●hing vaine and our faith is also vaine The proofes are of two sorts first Christs appearances vnto men secondly the testimonies of men Christs appearances were either on the first day or ●n the daies following The appearances of Christ the same day he rose againe are fiue And first of all ●arely in the morning he appeared to Marie Magdalen In this appearance diuerse things are to be considered The first of what note and qualitie the partie was to whome Christ appeared Answer Mary Magdalen was one that had beene possessed with seuen deuils but was deliuered and became a repentant sinner and stoode by when Christ suffered and came with sweete odours when he was dead to embaulme him And therefore to hir is graunted this prerogatiue that shee should be the first that should testifie his resurrection vnto men And hence we learne that Christ is readie and willing to receiue most miserable wretched sinners euen such as haue beene vassa●ls and bondslaues of the deuill if they will come to him Any man would thinke it a fearefull case to be thus possessed with deuills as Marie was but let all those that liue in ignorance and by reason thereof liue in sinne without repentance know this that their case is a thousand times worse then Marie Magdalen● was For what is an impenitent sinner Surely nothing els but the castle hold of the deuill both in bodie soule For looke as a captaine that hath taken some hold or skonse doth rule gouerne all therein and disposeth of it at his wil pleasure euen so it is with all blinde and impenitent sinne●s not one deuill alone but euen legions of deuills possesse them rule their hearts therfore howsoeuer they may sooth themselues say all is well for God is mercifull yet their case is farre worse then Mari●s was Now then would any be freed from this feareful bondage let them learne of Marie Magdalen to follow Christ and to seeke vnto him and then albeit the deuill and all his angels possesse their hea●ts yet Christ beeing the strong man will come and cast them all out and dwell there himselfe The second is what Christ in his appearance saide to Marie Answ. He said Touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my father Mary no doubt was glad to see Christ therfore looked to haue cōversed as familiarly with him as shee was wont before his death but he forbids her to touch him that is not to look to inioy his corporal presence as before but rather to seeke for his spirituall presence by faith considering he was shortly to ascend to his father For this cause when he appeared to his disciples he staied not long with them at any time but onely to manifest himselfe vnto thē thereby to prooue the certentie of his resurrection This prohibition shows first of all that it is but a fond thing to delight in the outward picture and portraiture of Christ as the Iesuits doe who stand much vpō his outward forme and lineaments Secondly it ouerthroweth the popish crucifixes and all the carued and molten images of Christ wherein the Papists worship him for corporall presence is not now required therefore spirituall worship onely must be giuen vnto him Thirdly it ouerthroweth the reall presence of Christ in the Sacrament Many are of minde that they cannot receiue Christ except they eat drink his bodie blood corporally but it is not much materiall whether we touch him with the bodily hand or no so be it we apprehend him spiritually by faith Lastly as we must not haue earthly considerations of Christ so must we on the cōtrarie labour for the spiritual hand of faith which may reach vp it selfe to heauen there lay hold on him This is the very thing which Christ insinuateth vnto Mary in saying Touch me not And S. Paul saith Henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea though we had knowne Christ after the flesh yet now know we him no more that is we know him no more as a man liuing among vs therfore he addes If any mā be in Christ he is a new creature and this new creation is not by the bodily presence of Christ but by the apprehēsiō of faith The second appearance was to Marie Magdalen to the other Marie as they were going from the graue to tell his disciples at which time Christ meeteth them bids them go tell his brethrē that he is risen again And wheras Christ sendeth womē to his disciples he purposed hereby to check thē for their vnbeliefe For these womē forsooke him not at his death but stood by saw him suffer whē he was buried they came to embalme him but all this while what became of Christs disciples Surely Peter denied him al the rest fled away euē Iames Iohn the sonnes of thūder saue that Iohn stood a loofe to behold his death Herupon Christ to make thē ashamed of their fault sendeth these women unto them to publish that to them which they by their calling ought aboue all other to haue published Secondly this teacheth that whereas Christ buildeth his kingdome publisheth his Gospell by Apostles Euangelists Pastors teachers hee can if it so please him perfourme the same by other meanes In this his second appearance he used weak and silly women to publish his resurrection and thereby shewes that he is not bound to the ordinarie means which now hee useth Thirdly hee sent them to his disciples to shew that howsoeuer they had dealt unfaithfully with him by forsaking him and denying him yet hee had not quite forsaken them but if they would repent and beleeue hee would receiue them into his loue and fauour againe and therefore calleth them his brethren saying Goe and tell my brethren This teacheth us a good lesson that howsoeuer our sinnes past are to humble us in regard of our selues yet must they not cut us off or dismay us from seeking to Christ yea euen then when we are laden with the burdē of them we must come unto him he will ease us Fourthly whereas silly women are sent to teach Christes disciples which were schollers brought up in his owne schoole wee are admonished that superioritie in place and calling must not hinder us sometime to heare and to be taught of our inferiours Iob saieth he neuer refused the counsell of his seruant And Naaman the Syrian obeyed the counsell of a silly maide which advised him to go to the Prophet of the Lorde in Samaria to be cured of his ●eprosie and when he had beene with the Prophet hee obeyed the counsell of his seruant that perswaded him
and therefore it standeth them in hande not to content themselues with this that they know and teach others Gods wil but they themselues must be the first doers of the same The fourth common gift of the holy Ghost is Abilitie to bridle and restraine some affections so as they shall not breake out into outragious behauiour Haman a wicked man an enemie to Gods Church when he saw Mordecai the Iew sitting in the kings gate that he would not stand vp nor moue for him he was full of indignatiō neuertheles the text saith that he refrained himselfe And when Abimelech an heathen king had taken Sara Abrahams wife God said vnto him I know that thou diddest this with an vpright heart and the text addeth further I haue kept thee that thou shouldest not sinne against me And thus the Lord giueth to men as yet without the spirit of sanctification this gift to bridle them selues so as in outward action they shall not practise this or that sinne For why did not Abimelech commit adulterie surely because God kept him from it Againe in the histories of the heathen we may read of many that were iust liberall meeke continent c. and that by a generall operation of the holy Ghost that represseth the corruption of nature for the common good Here then if any man aske how it commeth to passe that some men are more modest and ciuill then others seeing all men by nature are equally wicked the answeare may be not as the common saying is because some are of better nature then others for all the sonnes of Adam are equall in regard of nature the childe new borne in that respect is as wicked as the eldest man that euer liued but the reason is because God giueth this common gift of restraining the affections more to some then to others This must be considered of vs all For a man may haue the spirit of God to bridle many sinnes and yet neuer haue the spirit to mortifie the same and to make him a new creature And this beeing so we must take heede that we deceiue not our selues For it is not sufficient for a man to liue in outward ciuilitie to keepe in some of his affections vpon some occasion for that a wicked man may doe but we must further labour to feele in our selues the spirit of God not onely bridling sinne in vs but al●o mortifying and killing the same In deede both of them are the good gifts of Gods spirit but yet the mortification of sinne is the chiefest beeing an effectuall signe of grace and proper to the elect The fifth grace and gift of the holy Ghost is to heare and receiue the word of God with ioy In the parable of the sower one kinde of badde grounde are they which when they haue heard receiue the word with ioy And this is that which the author of the Hebrues calls the tasting of the good vvord of God and of the povvers of the vvorld to come We knowe that there is great difference betweene tasting of meate and eating of it They that sit downe at the table doe both tast and eate but they that dresse the meate doe onely see and tast thereof so it is at the Lords table Many there be that haue this gift truly both to tast and eate of the bodie and bloode of Christ offered in the word and sacraments and some againe doe onely tast and feele the sweetenesse of them and reioyce therein but yet are not indeede partakers thereof Now if this be so then all those which heare the worde of God must take heede how they heare and labour to finde these two things in themselues by hearing I. that in heart and conscience they be thoroughly touched and humbled for their sinnes II. that they be certēly assured of the fauour and loue of God in Christ and that the sweete promises of the Gospell doe belong to them and in consideration hereof they must make conscience of all sinne both in thought word deede through the whole course of their liues And this kinde of hearing bringeth that ioy which vanisheth not away Thus much of the benefits of the holy Ghost common to all men both good and bad now follow such as are proper to the Elect all which may be reduced vnto one namely the Inhabitation of the spirit whereby the elect are the temples of the H. Ghost who is said to dwell in men not in respect of substance for the whole nature of the H. Ghost cannot be comprised in the bodie or soule of man but in respect of a particular operation and this dwelling stands in two things The first that the holy Ghost doth abide in them not for a time onely but for euer for the worde dwelling noteth perpetuitie Secondly that the holy Ghost hath the full disposition of the heart as when a man commeth to dwell in an house whereof he is lord he hath libertie to gouerne it after his owne will now this disposition of the hearts of the faithfull by the holy Ghost standeth in fiue speciall notable gifts euery one worth our obseruation The first is a certen knowledge of a mans owne reconciliation to God in Christ. As it is said in Isai By his knowledge my righteous seruant shall iustifie many And Christ saith This is life eternall that they knowe thee to be the onely very God and vvhome thou hast sent Jesus Christ. This knowledge is not generall for then the deuils might be saued but it is particular whereby a man knoweth God the father to be his father and Christ the redeemer to be his redeemer and the holy Ghost to be his sanctifier and comforter And it is frō the speciall worke of the H. Ghost as Paul saith The spirit of God beareth witnes to our spirits that we are the children of God And we haue receiued the spirit which is of God that we might knowe the things that are giuen vnto vs of God The second gift is regeneration whereby a man of a limme of the deuill is made a member of Christ and of a child of satan whome euery one of vs by nature do as liuely resemble as any man doth his owne parent is made the child of God Except a man saith our Sauiour Christ be born againe by water and the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen Iohn Baptist in saying that Christ baptized with the H. Ghost and fire compares the spirit of God to fire and water To fire for two causes I. as it is the nature of fire to warme the bodie that is benummed and frozen with cold so when a man is benummed and frozen in sinne yea when he is euen stark dead in sinne it is the propertie of the holy Ghost to warme and quicken his heart and to reuiue him II. Fire doth purge and eate out the drosse from the good mettall now there is no drosse nor canker that hath
written of the Phoenix that first shee is consumed to ashes by the heat of the sunne and that afterward of her ashes riseth a young one and on this manner is her kinde preserued Againe swallowes wormes and flyes which haue lien dead in the winter season in the spring by vertue of the sunnes heat reuiue againe so likewise men fall in sounes and traunses beeing for a time without breath or shew of life and yet afterward come againe and to vse Pauls example before the corne can grow and beare fruit it must first be cast into the ground and there rotte And if this were not seene by experience men would not beleeue it Againe euery present day is as it were dead and buried in the night following and yet afterward it returns againe the next morning Lastly we reade how the old Prophet● raised some from death and our Sauiour Christ raised Lazarus among the rest that had lien foure daies in the graue and stanke why then should any thinke it impossible for God to raise all men to life But let vs see what reasons may be alleadged to the contrarie First it is alleadged that the resurrection of bodies resolued to dust and ashes is against common sense reason Answeare It is aboue reason but not against reason For if impotent and miserable men as experience sheweth can by art euen of ashes make the most curious workemanship of glasse why may we not in reason thinke that the omnipotent and euerliuing God is able to raise mens bodies out of the dust Secondly it is said that mens bodies beeing dead are turned into dust and so are mingled with the bodies of beasts and other creatures and one mans bodie with another and that by reason of this confusion men cannot possibly rise with their own bodies Answ. Howsoeuer this is impossible with men yet it is possible with God For he that in the beginning was able to create all things of nothing is much more able to make euery mans body at the resurrectiō of his own matter to distinguish the dust of mens bodies from the dust of beasts and the dust of one mans bodie from another The goldsmith by his art cā sunder diuers metells one frō another some men out of one metell can draw another why then should we thinke it vnpossible for the almightie God to do the like It may be further obiected thus A man is eaten by a wolfe the wolfe is eaten by a lyon the lyon by the foules of the ayre and the foules of the ayre eaten againe by men againe one man is eaten of another as it is vsuall among the Canibals Nowe the body of that man which is turned into so many substāces especially into the bodie of another man cannot rise againe if the one doth the other doth not Ans. This reason is but a cavill of mans braine for we must not think that whatsoeuer entreth into the bodie is turned into the substance therof must rise again become a part of the bodie at the day of iudgement but euery man shall then haue so much substance of his own as shal make his bodie to be entire perfect though another mans flesh once eaten be no part therof Againe it is vrged that because flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of God therfore the bodies of men shall not rise againe Answ. By flesh blood is not meant the bodies of men simple but the bodies of men as they are in weaknes without glorie subiect to corruption For flesh blood in scripture signifies sometime the originall sinne corruption of nature sometime mans nature subiect to miseries infirmities or the bodie in corruption before it be glorified and so it must be vnderstoode in this place Lastly it is obiected that Salomon saith The condition of the children of men and the condition of beasts are euen as one condition Now beasts rise not againe after this life therefore there is no resurrection of men Answer In that place Salomon expoundeth himselfe They are like in dying for so he saith as the one dieth so dieth the other he speaketh not of their estate after death The second point to be considered is the cause of the resurrection In mankinde we must consider two parts the Elect the Reprobate and they both shall rise againe at the day of iudgement but by diuers causes The godly haue one cause of their resurrection the vngodly another The cause why the godly rise again is the Resurrection of Christ yea it is the proper cause which procureth and effecteth their resurrection In the Scripture Adam Christ are compared together Christ is called the second Adam these were two roots The first Adam was the root of all mākind and he conuaieth sinne by sinne death to all that sprang of him Christ onely excepted the second Adam which is the root of all the Elect cōuaieth life both in body soule to all that are vnited to him by the vertue of his resurrection they shall rise againe after this life For looke as the power of the Godhead of Christ when he was dead in the graue raised his bodie the third day so shall the same power of Christ his Godhead conuaie it selfe vnto all the faithfull which euē in death remain vnited vnto him raise thē vp at the last day And for this cause Christ is called a quickning spirit Nowe the cause why the wicked rise againe is not the vertue of Christs resurrection but the vertue of Gods curse set downe in his word In the day that thou shalt eate of the tree of the knowledge of good and euill thou shalt die the death that is a double death both of bodie and soule And therefore they arise onely by the power of Christ as he is a iudge that this sentence may be verified on them and that they may suffer both in bodie and soule eternall punishment in hell fire Furthermore Saint Iohn setteth downe the outwarde meanes whereby the dead shalbe raised namely the voyce of Christ The houre shall come saith he in which all that are in the graues shall heare his voice and they shall come forth For as he created all things by his word so at the day of iudgement by the same voice all shalbe raised againe This may be a good reason to mooue vs to heare the ministers of God reuerently for that which they teach is the very word of God and therefore we are to pray that it may be as effectuall in raising vs vp from the graue of sinne in this life as it shalbe after this life in raising vs vp from the graue of death vnto iudgement Thirdly we are to consider what manner of bodies shal rise at the last day Answeare The same bodies for substance this Iob knew well when he said I shall see him at the last day in my flesh whome I my selfe shall see and none other