sum iudicatus condemnatus I am accused iudged condemned and so expired O heare and feare this all yee that desire rather to be feared then deserue to bee loued in the midst of your ruling remember your reckoning and by your more diligent charitable and conscionable demeanor hereafter preuent that iudgement which hangs ouer your heads for your negligence and want of conscience in your callings heeretofore And let vs all euen now begin if not before whether wee be Ministers or Magistrates or persons of inferiour place to looke to our charges diligently to attend on our offices faithfully to discharge our stewardship carefully to examine our receipts and expences daily and accordingly to make vp our perfect reckonings and accounts that when that great day of reckoning shall come our Lord and Master may say to euery one of vs p It is well done good seruant Mat. 25. 23. and trustie Thou hast beene faithfull in a little I will make thee ruler ouer much enter into thy Masters ioy And thus much bee spoken of the first part and of the vses thereof namely Mors est in olla death is our lot none can auoid it Now of the second and that more briefly Spes est in vrna there â—ecunda pars â—iz Spes est in â—rna â—hrys in 22. Math. is hope in the graue beeing dead we shall liue againe none may denie it Tolle spem resurrectionis saith golden mouth'd Chrysostome resoluta est omnis obseruantia pietatis take away the hope of resurrection and the building of piety wanteth her foundation For then Christ is not risen and so our preaching is in vaine and your faith is 1. Cor. 15. vaine and of all others the best christians were most miserable and of al stories the Gospell were most fruitlesse and vnprofitable But the Lords Herauld Isaiah of all the Prophets most Euangelicall of all the Euangelists most Propheticall besides the streame of all holy antiquitie consenting thereunto hath plainly proclaimed it q Isa 26. 19. Thy dead men shall liue with my body shall they rise and againe Peace shall come to the righteous Isa 57. 2. they shall rest in their beds that is their graues vntill the morning of the resurrection Post tenebras spero lucem saith Iob. Sybilla Iob 17. prophesied heereof in this manner Tunc castus Cbristus ponet certamina iusta Sybil. Ornabitque probos aeternaque praemia reddet The great Poet could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—hocilid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wee hope and know that we shall not for euer sit in darknesse or sleepe in the graue but we shall come to the heauenly light liue with Christ r through the power of God in whose 2. Cor. 13. 4. booke all our members are written God hath a threefold book The first is his priuate booke Enchiridion or vade mecum in which onely the names of the elect are written whom hee knoweth and calleth by their Å¿ Exod. 32. 32. names whose â—sa 43. 1. names hee will not put out of the booke t Reu. 3. 5. of life è libro praesentis iustitiae aut praedestinationis aeternae as the Schoolmen distinguish The second is his booke of accounts and black booke blurde and blotted with the register of sin wherein onely the wicked are written according to that Dan. 7. The Dan. 7. 10. iudgement was set and the bookes opened The third is his vniuersall common-place booke wherein both good and bad are recorded according to that of the Prophet In thy book are all my members written Psalm 139. so that albeit in death there be a dissolution of body and soule yet in the resurrection there shall bee a restitution and revniting of the same body in substaÌ„ce though altered in quality to the same soule that the ioy of both may be consummated to which purpose God is said to write all our members in his booke Yea he keepeth the very bones of his Saints Psal 34. and not a haire of their heads Psalm 34. 2 Luk. 21. 18. shall perish Luk. 21. Hence it is that the Prophet Daniel speaketh so expressely Many Dan. 12. 2. that sleepe in the dust shall awake and rise againe some to euerlasting life some to shame and perpetuall contempt Hence it is that our Sauiour Christ speaketh so plainelie Maruell not at this for the Ioh. 5. 28. 29. houre shall come in which all that are in the graâ—es shall heare his voice and they shall come foorth that haue done good vnto the resurrection of life but they that haue done euill vnto the resurrection of condemnation To which infallible truth Saint Paul beareth witnesse 2. Cor. 5. We must all appeare Cor. 5. 10. before the iudgement seate of Christ that euery man may receiue according to the things which are done in his body whether good or euill Whereunto that of the beloued Disciple Saint Iohn is very agreeable Reuel 20. where the maiesty â—eu 20. 11. 12 of Gods throne is described the singularity of the Iudge is declared the vniuersality of all both great and small which must stand before him is manifested and the equity of proceeding in iudgement excellently shewed by the bookes opened and the sentencing of euery mans cause according to his workes Whence by the way wee may Note note the difference betweene the act of iustification and the act of iudgement for the act of iustification wherein God maketh vs righteous which were vniust is onely by u Rom. 3. 24. faith i. by the apprehension application and appropriation of Christs merits righteousnesse by a liuely faith But the act of iudgement wherein God declareth those to bee iust which Mat. 25. 2. Cor. 5. were iustified in this life is according to our workes God iudgeth not according to the root of faith which is hidden but according to the fruits of faith namely good workes which are open and manifest and the fittest meanes to try euery mans cause and to discerne who were by faith working in loue Gal. 5. 6. iustified in this life Not to affect more testimonies of proofe in a point of christianitie so plaine This holy perswasion of the resurrection after death impression of immortality hath euer possessed the hearts of Gods Saints and seruants and hath bene as a naile of the Sanctuary to keep them from desperate distractions in the errours of this life and to set them forward to perfection vndanted constancie in the terrors of death Iob patient and iust Iob in the plea Iob 19. 25. of all his miseries with the single eie of faith held fast by this hope and made it the issue of all his maladies I know that my Redeemer liueth and I shall liue againe c. this sentence of vndoubted assurance is matter worth the remembrance and therefore Iob setteth a Preface vnto it O saith he that Iob 19. 23. 24. 25. my
words were now written and written not in loose papers but in a booke and not written onely but engrauen and that with an iron pen in lead or in stone to endure not for a time onely but for euer to the solace of all distressed Saints I know that my Redeemer liueth and though the wormes destroy my body yet shall I see him in my flesh againe with these mine eies c. Dauid distressed Dauid anchored on this hold and indeede the surges of sorrow had quite sunke his soule when Saule a 1. Sam. 19. persecuted him b 2. Sam. 6. Micholl derided him c 1. Sam. 22. Doeg accused him d 2. Sam. 16. Shemei rayled vpon him and e 2. Sam. 18. Absalon rebelled against him but that hee fixed his eies on this cape of good hope and f Psalm 27. 13. beleeued verily to see the goodnes of the Lord in the Land of the liuing Paul blessed St. Paul was rauished with this heauenly hope and soule-solacing assurance of life after death and therefore desireth to be dissolued and to be with Christ Phil. 1. 23. which is best of all St. Stephen that bold champion for christianity and faithful Proto-Martyr Act. 7. of Christ Iesus when hee was to be stoned feeling this holy comfort in the middest of heauy combats opposuit furori patientiā Lossius in Act. mortis terrori vitae despicientiam opposed his patience to his enemies fury the contempt of life to the terrour of death and hauing a sweet foretaste of the ioies which body and foule should iointly inioy in heauen he with a victorious grace despised all matter of torment and discontentment which his aduersaries malice could inflict vpon them on earth Ignatius that holy Martyr in the Primitiue Church beeing fully furnished with this assured hope of his bodies resurrection went confidently vnto a bloudy execution saying Frumentum Dei ego sum c. I am Gods corne now shall I bee ground small by the teeth of wild beasts to bee made fine manchet for my Lords table Babilas Bishop of Antioch building on the same assurance spake comfortably to his soule when he was drawne to a cruell death Returne my soule vnto thy rest for the Lord hath bene mercifull vnto thee This infallible expectation of a glorious resurrection made Saint Paul to conclude so triumphantly Rom. 8. I am perswaded that neither Rom. 8. 38. 39. life nor death nor things present nor things to come shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God And againe My departing is at hand I haue fought a good fight 2. Tim. 4. 7. 8. I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith Hencefoorth is laid vp for mee the crowne of righteousnesse which the righteous ludge shall giue me at that day and not to mee onely but vnto all them also which loue his appearing To which purpose hee speaketh thus in the name of all the faithfull Heere we haue no continuing City Heb. 13. 14. but wee looke for one to come and though we liue on earth yet our conuersation is in heauen from whence also wee looke for the Sauiour Phil. 3. 20. 21. euen the Lord Iesus Christ who shall change our vile bodies that they may be like his glorious body So that a change shall come and indeed wee are all desirous of some change as not contented with our estate Adam would change to be as Gen. 3. 2. Sam. 15. wise as his maker Absolon would sit in his fathers seat and of a subiect bee a Soueraigne Salomon would haue change of wiues The Israelites would change Samuell 1. Sam. 8. 5. the righteous Iudge for Saul a wicked King The Sychemites Gen. 34 23. would change their religion in hope of commodity and too many amongst vs would change the food of Angels and heauenly Manna for the flesh-pots of Egypt in hope of more libertie Yea the most haue changed plaine dealing into crafty vndermining mercy into malice single tongues and hearts into dubble and a great number like Proteus can change themselues into all formes like Polypus into all colours like courtly Aristippus into all fashions Omnis Aristippum decuit color status res But while we affect these alterations not vnlike to Glaucus his commutation of gold for brasse Homer while we are thus occupied about these choppings and changings we seeme seldome or neuer to remember that great change whereof the Apostle speaketh in the place before mentioned wherevnto Iob here aimeth saying All the daies of mine appointed time will I wait till my changing shall come Which changing is not onely an exchange of earth for heauen of a prison for a Pallace of an estate in sinne and misery for perfect holinesse and glory in respect of the foule but a change also of a mortall life for an immortall of corruption for incorruption in regard of the body For as there is a twofold death the one of the soule beeing depriued of the operation of Gods spirit and separated from God by sinne The other of the body being 1. Tim. 5. 6. destitute of the operation and working of the soule So there is a twofold resurrection the one Two-fold Resurrection spirituall of the soule a peccato ad gratiam from sinne vnto grace here the other corporall of the body a sepulchro ad gloriam from the graue vnto glory heereafter Which great day of the generall resurrection the Angels desire to see the diuels tremble to heare of and other creatures sigh groane for and man especially must looke and long for and cannot be without it whether we respect the manifold profits which come by it or the wonderfull inconueniences which would arise from the want of it For how can we dwelling on earth haue our conuersation in heauen if we do not looke for the comming of our Sauiour Phil 3. 20. 21. Christ and how can wee looke for his cōming except wee beleeue the resurrection and how can we beleeue the resurrection vnlesse we acknowledge that power by the which hee is able to subdue all things vnto himselfe Againe how doe wee acknowledge God to be God in almighty power without the faith of the resurrection and how can wee haue the faith of the resurrection without the hope of a Sauiour and how can we haue the hope of a Sauiour without an heauenly conuersation so that the life of this conuersation is hope by the which we expect the comming of a Sauiour and the ground of this hope is faith by the which we are assured that at his comming hee shall change our vile bodies and make them like to his glorious body And the reason of this faith beyond reason is his power by which hee is able to subdue all things vnto himselfe All these bee linkes so diuinely hanging depending each on other in that golden chaine of the Apostle that if we let slip one we loose the
face before our Sauiour The carnall man stands here at a mammering and maruelling how it can be done The Atheist stands mocking as though it were vnpossible to bee done But I answere them both as St. Gregory doth 20. D. Greg. 20. Hom. in Ezek. Hom. on Ezekiell O ye maruellers mockers at the resurrection doth this seem strange that God should raise and reforme man out of the dust who causeth out of the lest graine the greatest tree to grow doth this seeme so wondrous a matter incredible then mocke on and maruell likewise at the Suns setting rising the Moones waxing and waining the Seas ebbing and flowing the childs breeding in the wombe of the mother and the hearbs fading and reflorishing out of the wombe of the earth for such is the resurrection froÌ„ the dead though not wrought by naturall causes yet by the same God of nature and by the same power by which these things are wrought who doubtles can as easily repaire our bodies of somewhat in the resurrection as he did make all things of nothing at first in the creation of the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Linus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doe we not see how the Potter of a broken vessell turned to dust maketh another in the same forme at his pleasure doe we not know that the artificer out of the ashes of Ferne bloweth vp the purest glasse and frameth it in what fashion he list and do we not by daily experience find that out of a little kernell which was neither hard nor rough nor greene in shew nor good in taste nor sweete in smell there ariseth and issueth the hardnes of the Timber the roughnes of the barke the greennesse of the leaues the sweet smell of the blossome the good taste of the fruit And shall wee not beleeue that out of the dust which is neither flesh or bloud or bone our bodies consisting of them all shall at the last day by the power of the Almighty be repaired shall we bind God to meanes who worketh what he will as well against them Dan. 3. and without them 1. King Dan. 3. 27. 1. King 19. 8. 19. as with them because his might is vnmeasurable shall we in a rash presumption assume to our selues to know how farre possibility can reach by denying the resurrection impossible shall wee presumptuouslie intromit our ouer-weening curiosity into the sacred bosome of Gods vnsearchable omnipotencie God forbid Fides credat c. let faith beleeue the resurrection let not wit seeke a reason for it Ne aut non inuentum putetur incredibile aut repertum non credatur singulare least if in iudgement it be concealed we should thinke it incredible or if in mercy it be reueiled we esteem it but ordinary common And let vs all in humility submit our reason to that rule of Dr. Greg. in 9. Iob c. 11. Gregory In factis Dei qui rationeÌ„ non videt infirmitatem suam considerans quare non videat rationem videt In the wonderfull workes of God he that seeth not a reason for it if hee consider but his owne infirmity shall soone see a reason why he doth not see it And let vs account it euer a point of greatest reasoÌ„ to leaue reasoning in things beyond reason beleeuing stedfastly this article of our faith the resurrection of our flesh and in assured expectation heereof studying and striuing earnestly to haue our part in the first resurrection that the second death may haue no power ouer vs. Reu. 20. 6. As for those blasphemous-truthopposing Heretikes and Atheisticall naturalists prophaÌ„e wretches which so tie the power of God to second causes and allow themselues in so irreligious courses that they grow doubtfull not onely of the resurrection of the body but of the immortality of the soule and liue not only without hope of heauen but euen without feare of hell seruing sâ—n so slauishly pleasing the Diuell so wretchedly delighting in the world and their lusts so brutishly as if their mindes were not only made of earth but as though their soules were made of flesh I will heere let them passe as eare-markt slaues of Sathan with this note of horror confusion telling them to the sealing vp of their coÌ„demnation that though the generall resurrection seeme to them now so strange prodigious that their purest vnderstanding sight is not sharpe ynough to kenne and perceiue it yet assuredly the day will come and it wil be a dreadfull direfull day for them when their dullest deadest sense shal be quicke ynough to feele it when they shall see the world burning without them feele the worme of conscience Anselm gnawing within them behold an vnappeasable Iudge aboue them beneath soule-thirsty Sathan ready to execute Gods IudgemeÌ„ts vpoÌ„ them on euery side the Saints accusing them and so in an horrible amazement shall cry but all in vaine to the mountains to fall vpon them to the deepes to swallow them to the hils to hide them from the sight of him whose eies are of flaming fire before whom it is as intollerable to appeare as not to appeare impossible for them Vse And so I leaue theÌ„ returne againe to our selues who are to make a religious vse of this Doctrine of the Resurrection for the life of this perswasion should bee the death of sinne in vs and the remembrance that there is dies Deus vltionis both a day and God of reuenge for his iustice inflexible for his wisdome infallible for his power vnresistable that there is an eie which seeth vs an eare which heareth vs and a book whercin all our words and workes are written according to which sentence shall passe vpon vs in the great day of resurrection The remeÌ„brance of these things I say ought to strike sinne in the blade break it in the head and kill it to the heart yea the due meditation of the revniting of our bodies and soules together in that day to bee ioint partakers of heauenly happinesse must moue vs all to consecrate both our bodies and soules as pure Nazarits to the seruice of God in all holines sobriety and righteousnesse Belshazzar lost his Kingdome Dan. 5. and life together for prophaning in a carousing iollity the vessels of Gods temple and shall wee prophane the teÌ„ples of the holy Ghost our bodies soules and put them to base vses to bee slaues to our lusts drudges to the world feruants to Sathan God forbid Salomon when hee had drawne out the threed of delight stretched Eccl. 2. 11. the web of pleasures on the largest tenter of variety saith that he found nothing herein but vexation of spirit doubtles this is the issue of all worldly carnall pleasures Wee are therefore to deale with them as Dauid did with the water brought by his worthies whereof he would not drinke but powred it foorth saying O Lord be it farre from mee that I should doe 2. Sam. 23. 17. this