rigour or the nayles of holy constraint or the speare of deepe remorse How doe wee how can we for shame say we are crucified with Christ Diuine St. Austin in his Epistle or booke rather to Honoratus giues vs all the dimensions of the Crosse of Christ The latitude he makes in the transuerse this saith hee pertaines to good workes because on this his hands were stretched The length was from the ground to the transuerse this is attributed to his longanimitie and persistance for on that his body was stayed and fixed The height was in the head of the crosse aboue the transuerse signifying the expectation of supernall things The depth of it was in that part which was pitcht below within the earth importing the profoundnesse of his free grace which is the ground of all his beneficence In all these must we haue our part with Christ In the transuerse of his Cross by the ready extension of our hands to all good works of piety iustice charity In the Arrectary or beame of his Crosse by continuance and vninterrupted perseuerance in good In the head of his crosse by an high-eleuated hope and looking for of glory In the foot of his crosse by a liuely and firme faith fastening our soules vpon the affiance of his free grace and mercy And thus shall we be crucifyed with Christ vpon his owne Crosse Yet lastly wee must goe further then this from his Crosse to his person So did St. Paul and euery beleeuer dye with Christ that hee died in Christ For as in the first Adam we all liued and sinned so in the second all beleeuers dyed that they might liue The first Adam brought in death to all mankinde but at last actually dyed for none but himselfe The second Adam dyed for mankind and brought life to all beleeuers Seest thou thy Sauiour therefore hanging vpon the Crosse all mankinde hangs there with him as a Knight or Burgess of Parliament voyces his whole Burrough or Countrey what speake I of this The armes and legges take the same lot with the head Euery beleeuer is a limme of that body how can he therefore but dye with him and in him That reall vnion then which is betwixt Christ and vs makes the crosse and passion of Christ ours So as the thornes pierced our heads the scourges blooded our backs the nayles wounded our hands feet and the speare gored our sides and hearts By vertue whereof we receiue iustification from our sinnes and true mortification of our corruptiōs Euery beleeuer therefore is dead already for his sins in his Sauiour he needs not feare that he shal dy againe God is too iust to punish twise for one fault to recouer the sum both of the surety and principall All the score of our arerages is fully strucke off by the infinite satisfaction of our blessed Redeemer Comfort thy selfe therfore thou penitent and faithful soule in the confidence of thy safety Thou shalt not dy but liue since thou art already crucifyed with thy Sauiour He dyed for thee thou dyedst in him Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that iustifies Who shall condemne It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen againe and liues gloriously at the right hand of God making intercession for vs To thee ô blessed Iesu together with thy Coeternall Father and holy Spirit three persons in one infinite and incomprehensible Deitie be all praise honour and glory now and for euer Amen FINIS 1. Chron. 55 21. Psal 6. 1. Psal 12. 1. Psal 31. 23. Verse 7. Prou. 31. 29. Ier. 15. 10. Dan 9. 4. Dan. 9. 16 19. 1 Tim. 3. 16. His eyes looke to the Gentiles c. Wine within Oyle without Cic. de Fin. Ier. 6. 26. Epist 120. ad Honoratum
disgrace I am crucified St. Paul speaks not this singularly of himselfe but in the person of the renued sinne doth not cannot liue a vitall and vigorous life in the regenerate Wherefore then say you was the Apostles complaint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death Marke I beseech you it was the body of sin not the life of sinne a body of death not the life of that body Or if this body had yet some life it was such a life as is left in the limmes when the head is struck off some dying quiuerings rather as the remainders of a life that was then any act of a life that is Or if a further life such a one as in swounds and fits of epilepsie which yeelds breath but not sense or if some kind of sense yet no motion or if it haue some kinde of motion in vs yet no manner of dominion ouer vs. What power motion sense reliques of life are in a fully crucifyed man such a one may waft vp and downe with the winde but cannot mooue out of any internall principle Sinne and grace cannot more stand together in their strength then life and death In remisse degrees all contraries may bee lodged together vnder one roofe Saint Paul sweares that he dies daily yet he liues so the best man sinnes hourely euen whiles hee obeyes but the powerfull and ouer-ruling sway of sinne is incompatible with the truth of regeneration Euery Esau would be carying away a blessing No man is willing to sit out Ye shall haue strong drinkers as Esay calls them Esay 5. 22. Neighing stallions of lust as Ieremy calls them Ier. 5. 8. Mighty hunters in oppression as Nimrod Gen. 10. 9. rotten talkers Ephesians 4. 9. which yet will be challenging as deepe a share in grace as the conscionablest Alas how many millions doe miserably delude themselues with a meere pretēce of Christianity aliter vivunt aliter loquuntur as he said of the Philosophers Vaine hypocrites they must know that euery Christian is a crucified man How are they dead to their sinnes that walke in their sins how are their sinnes dead in them in whom they stir raigne flourish Who doth not smile to heare of a dead man that walkes Who derides not the solecisme of that Actor which exprest himselfe fully dead by saying so What a mockery is this eyes full of lust itching eares scurrilous tongues bloody hands hearts full of wickednesse and yet dead Deceiue not your solues deare Christians if ye loue them This false death is the way to the true eternall incomprehensibly-wofull death of body and soule If yee will needs doe so walke on ye falsly dead in the wayes of your old sinnes be sure these pathes shall lead you downe to the chambers of euerlasting death if this be the hanging vp of your corruptions feare to hang in hell Away with this hatefull simulation God is not mocked Yee must either kill or dye Kill your sinnes or else they will bee sure to kill your soules apprehend arraigne condemne them fasten them to the tree of shame and if they be not dead already breake their legs armes disable them to all offensiue actions as was done to the theeues in the Gospell so shal you say w th our blessed Apostle I am crucified Neither is it thus onely in matter of notorious crime and grosse wickednesse but thus it must be in the vniuersall cariage of our liues and the whole habituall frame of our dispositions In both these we are we must bee crucified Bee not deceiued my brethren it is a sad and austere thing to bee a Christian This worke is not frolicke iouiall plausible there is a certaine thing call'd true mortification required to this businesse and who euer heard but there was paine in death but among all deaths in crucifying what a torture must there needs be in this act of violence what a distention of the body whose weight is racke enough to it selfe what strayning of the ioynts what nayling of hands and feet Neuer make account to bee Christians without the hard taskes of penitence It will cost you teares sighes watchings selfe-restraints selfe-struglings selfe-denyalls This word is not more harsh then true Yee delicate hypocrites what doe yee talke of Christian profession when ye will not abate a dish from your belly nor spare an houres sleepe from your eyes nor cast off an offensiue rag from your backes for your God In vaine shall the vassals of appetite challenge to be the seruants of God Were it that the Kingdome of God did consist in eating and drinking in pampering and surfets in chambering and wantonnesse in prancking and vanity in talke and ostentation Oh God how rich shouldest thou bee of subiects of Saints But if it require abstinence humiliation contrition of heart subiugation of our flesh renunciation of our wills serious impositions of laborsome deuotions O Lord what is becomne of true Christianity where shall we seeke for a crucified man Looke to our Tables there yee shall finde excesse and riot Looke to our backs there yee shall finde proud disguises looke to our conuersation there ye shall finde scurrile and obscene iollity This liberty yea this licentiousness is that which opens the mouthes of our aduersaries to the censure of our real impiety That slander which Iulian could cast vpon Constantine that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 led him to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 delicacie to intemperance the very same doe they cast vpon vs they tell vs of their strict Lents frequent fastings Canonicall houres sharpe penances their bashfull shrifts their painefull scourgings their solitatie Cells their woolward and barefoot walkes their hard and tedious pilgrimages whiles wee they say deny nothing to backe or belly fare full lie soft sit warme and make a wantō of the flesh whiles we professe to tend the spirit Brethren heare a little the words of exhortation The bragges of their penall will-worship shall no whit moue vs All this is blowne away with a Quis requisiuit Baals Priests did more then they yet were neuer the holyer But for our selues in the feare of God see that we do not iustifie their crimination whiles they are in one extreame placing all Religion in the outside In touch not taste not handle not let not vs be in the other not regarding the externall acts of due humiliation It is true that it is more easie to afflict the body then to humble the soule A dramme of remorse is more then an ounce of paine O God if whippings and haire-clothes and watchings would satisfie thy displeasure who would not sacrifice the blood of this vassall his body to expiate the sinne of his soule who would not scrub his skin to ease his conscience who would not freeze vpon an hardle that hee might not fry in hell who would not hold his eies open to auoid an eternall vnrest and torment But such sacrifices and
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but God suffering and dying was so much more as death is more penall then birth The Godhead of man and the blood of God are two such miracles as the Angels of heauen can neuer enough looke into neuer admire enough Ruffine tells vs that among the sacred characters of the Egyptians the crosse was anciently one which was said to signifie eternall life hence their learneder sort were conuerted to confirmed in the faith Surely we know that in Gods Hieroglyphicks eternall life is both represented and exhibited to vs by the Crosse That the Crosse of Christ was made of the tree of life a slip the Angels gaue to Adams sonne out of Paradise is but a Iewish legend Galatine may beleeue it not wee but that it is made the tree of life to all beleeuers we are sure This is the onely scale of heauen neuer man ascended thither but by it By this Christ himselfe climbd vp to his owne glory Dominus regnauit a ligno as Tertullian translates that of the Psalme Father glorifie thy name that is saith he Duc me ad crucem Lift me vp to the tree not of my shame but of my triumph Behold we preach Christ crucified saith St. Paul to the Iewes a stumbling blocke to the Greekes foolishnesse but to them which are called Christ the power of God and the wisdome of God 1 Cor. 1. 23. Foolish men that stumble at power and deride wisedome Vpbraid vs now ye fond Iewes and Pagans with a a crucified Sauiour it is our glorie it is our happinesse which ye make our reproch had not our Sauiour dyed he could haue bin no Sauiour for vs had not our Sauiour dyed we could not haue liued See now the flagge of our deare Redeemer this Crosse shining eminently in loco pudoris in our forheads and if we had any place more high more conspicuous more honourable there we would aduance it O blessed Iesu when thou art thus lifted vpon thy crosse thou drawest all hearts vnto thee there thou leadest captiuity captiue and giuest giuest gifts vnto men Yee are deceiued O yee blind Iewes and Paynimes ye are deceiued It is not a gibbet it is a throne of honour to which our Sauiour is raised A throne of such honour as to which heauen and earth and hell doe and must veile The Sun hides his awfull head the earth trembles the rockes rend the graues open and all the frame of nature doth homage to their Lord in this secret but diuine pompe of his crucifixion And whiles yee thinke his feet and hands despicably fixed behold he is powerfully trampling vpon hell and death and setting vp trophees of his most glorious victory and scattering euerlasting Crownes and Scepters vnto all beleeuers O Sauiour I doe rather more adore thee on the Caluary of thy passion then on the Tabor of thy transfiguration or the Oliuet of thine ascension and cannot so affectuously blesse thee for Pater clarifica Father glorifie me as for My God my God why hast thou forsaken me sith it is no newes for God to bee great and glorious but for the eternall and euer-liuing God to be abased to be abased vnto death to the death of the crosse is that which could not but amaze the Angels and confound Deuills and so much more magnifies thine infinit mercie by how much an infinite person would become more ignominious All Hosannaes of men all Alleluiahs of Saints and Angels come short of this Maiesticke humiliation Blessing honour glory and power be vnto him that sits vpon the throne and to the Lambe for euer and euer Reuel 5. 13. And yee honorable and beloued as euer ye hope to make musicke in heauen learne to tune your harpes to the note and ditty of these heauenly Elders Reioyce in this reioyce in nothing but this crosse not in your transitory honors titles treasures which will at the last leaue you inconsolately sorrowfull but in this crosse of Christ whereby the world is crucified to you and you to the world Oh clip and embrace this precious crosse with both your armes and say with that blessed Martyr Amor meus crucifixus est my loue is crucified Those that haue searched into the monuments of Ierusalem write that our Sauiour was crucified with his face to the West which howsoeuer spightfully meant of the Iewes as not allowing him worthy to looke on the holy Citie and Temple yet was not without a mystery Oculi eius super Gentes respiciunt saith the Psalmist As Christ therefore on his crosse look't towards vs sinners of the Gentiles so let vs look vp to him Let our eyes be lift vp to this brazen serpent for the cure of the deadly stings of that old serpent See him O all ye beholders see him hanging vpon the tree of shame of curse to rescue you from curse and confusion and to feoffe you in euerlasting blessednesse see him stretching out his armes to receiue and embrace you hanging downe his head to take view of your misery opening his precious side to receiue you into his bosome opening his very heart to take you in thither pouring out thence water to wash you and blood to redeeme you O all ye Nazarites that passe by out of this dead Lyon seeke and find the true honey of vnspeakable and endlesse comfort And ye great Masters of Israel whose lips professe to preserue knowledge leaue all curious and needlesse disquisitions and with that diuine and extaticall Doctor of the Gentiles care onely to know to preach Christ and him crucified But this though the summe of the Gospell is not the maine drift of my Text I may not dwell in it though I am loath to part with so sweet a meditation From Christ crucified turne your eyes to Paul crucified you haue read him dying by the sword heare him dying by the crosse and see his morall spirituall liuing crucifixion Our Apostle is two men Saul and Paul The old man and the new in respect of the old man he is crucified and dead to the law of sinne so as that sinne is dead in him neither is it otherwise with euery regenerate Sin hath a body as well as the man hath who shall deliuer mee from this body of death Rom. 7. 24. A body that hath limmes and parts Mortifie your earthly members saith our Apostle Colos 3. 5. Not the limmes of our humane body which are made of earth so should wee bee hostes naturae as Bernard but the sinfull limmes that are made of corruption Fornication vncleannesse inordinate affection c. The head of sinne is wicked deuices the heart of sinne wicked desires the hands and feet of sinne wicked executions the tongue of sin wicked words the eyes of sinne lustfull apprehensions the forehead of sinne impudent profession of euill the backe of sinne a strong supportation and maintenance of euill all this body of sinne is not onely put to death but to shame too so as it is dead with