shadowed the whole Iland So these Lawes were but the shadowes of good things to come as Saint Paul saiâ—h They were all under a cloud but now the vaile is taken away the partition wall is broken The Sun appeares the shadowes vanish and saving knowledge is apparent to all Nations in the world that doe not wilfully shut their eyes against that light Thirdly the Moone is called Phoebe to signifie as I conceive that all the splendor and brightnesse she hath it is from the Sun So these legall Ceremonies came from the Son of righteousnesse the wisdome of the Father God Almighty commanded instituted and ordained them It also shewes that they are true light though dim and darke And last of all the Moone is called Diana the Goddesse of Chastitie to shew her simplicity purity so likewise these ceremonies in themselves were harmlesse and undefiled but may bee abused as they are used Having taken a view of the Metaphor see it in the thing it selfe Circumcision is the cutting off the foreskin of mans flesh which in Latine is called Praeputium whereby God would have Abraham and his posterity distinguished from other Nations and therefore was called the signe of the Covenant betweene God and his people which was to bee performed the eight day after the birth of the child and they that refused to be circumcised were to bee out off from the living Gen. 17. The reason of which Law was to signifie that all that is begotten of man is corrupt and must bee mortified Now because Christ as on this day subjected himself to this Law Epiphanius writes that the followers of Ebion and Cerinthus gather from hence that Christians ought to be circumcised because the disciple ought to be as his master is But he confutes them thus Christ was not circumcised as a meere Man as they hold but being God he came downe from heaven by taking the true nature of man and was circumcised that this figure might appeare to have the spirituall effect from him that from thenceforth not figures any more but the truth might be divulged by him and his Disciples Hee was circumcised for many causes First that he might shew the truth of his flesh against the Manichees Secondly that it might appeare that his Humanity was not consubstantiall with his Divinity against Apollinaris Thirdly that he brought it not from heaven against Valentinus Fourthly that he might confirme Circumcision which did serve as a figure of his comming And lastly that the Jewâ—s might have no excuse left unto them for if he had not been circumcised they might have said they could not receive a Christ uncircumcised Origen saith As we dye with Christ dying and rise with Christ rising so wee are circumcised with Christs Circumcision so that we need not now to be circumcised Beda renders the reason thus Christ was circumcised to commend unto us the vertue of obedience by his owne example and that in compassion he might helpe those that being set under the Law were not able to beare the yoake of the Law and thus hee which came in the similitude of sinfull flesh doth not refuse the remedy whereby sinfull flesh was wont to bee cleansed there being the same remedie against the wound of originall sin in Circumcision which is now in Baptisme for as Athanas saith Nothing else was figured out by Circumcision but the spoiling of the old generation in that part of the body was cut away which was the cause of generation Therefore Christ being without originall sin needed not to be circumcised but onely to commend obedience by his example and to take away the yoke of the Law For our sakes only hee was circumcised in his flesh that we in him might be circumcised in spirit and Cyril saith that Christ was circumcised the eighth day and so rose againe the eighth day and intimatâ—d unto us the spirituall Circumcision when he said Goe teach all Nations Baptising them c. At the same time he had the Name JESUS imposed upon him which signifieth a Saviour because he is the salvation of the whole world which he prefigured in his Circumcision according to which the Apostle saith Yee are circumcised not with Circumcision mâ—de with hands â—ut with the Circumcision of Christ Now it is rendeâ—ed by some of the Rabbins that the name of the Messias shall be Jesus for this reason among others that as the name of him who first brought the Iewes out of bondage into the Land of promise was Iesus of Iosuah which is all one so must his name be Iesus that shall the second â—ime deliver them from the bondage wherein they are and restore them to their old and ancient possession of Iewry which is the chiefe benefit they expect by the Messias which is true in a spirituall sense And the expresse name of Iesus was prophesied long before Christ as it is to be seene in the second book of Esdras which though it be not canonicall yet it is allowed for a good book in these words of God the Father Behold the time shall come when the signe shall appear that I have told c. And my son Iesus shall be revealed with these who are with him And after those dayes my sonne Christ shall dye and the earth shall render those that sleepe therein So now having taken a view of the old Law let us look into the new and the rather because this day is called New-yeares-day the beginning of the Iulian yeare And the Sacrament that came in place of the old is called the Sacrament of initiation the beginning or entrance into a holy profession And it is as a most effectuall pledge and witnesse of our renewing and restoring by Christ as it is well set downe in our Common Catechisme in these words For we being by nature borne in sin and the children of wrath are by the meritorious blood of Christ made the children of grace which is lively represented in the element of water for as water purifieth the uncleannesse of the body so saith the Apostle The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sinne for wee are buried with Christ in Baptisme That is he hath by his death so fully satisfied for our sins that by his mighty power sin is dead in them that lay hold on him by a true and a lively faith which with repentance is required in persons to be baptized for the efficacy of Christs blood signified by the element of water in Baptisme is not only to set before our eyes the expiation and purgation from sinne but also to demonstrate our livelyhood and growth in grace for so saith the Apostle that like as Christ was raised from the dead to the glory of the Father so we also should wâ—lke in newnesse of life Now here are the great benefits we receive by Christ at our initiation mortification and vivification the casting off the old man and the putting on of the new The death of sinne and the life of
my teares to wash those thy wounds that bled for my sinnes and in a lively faith to touch the print of thy naâ—les and thrust my finger into the hole of thy side thereby to take reall and corporall possession of thee that I may with Thomas truly call thee My Lord and my God my dread and my love my surety and my ransome my sacrifice and my Priest my Advocate my Iudge my desire and my contentment the life of my hope here and the hope of my life hereafter Before I was thine for thy hands made and fashioned mee but sith thou hast offered thy selfe to be my pledge and thy blood for my ransome thou art truly mine My Lord and my God O let the speare which ran thee thorow fasten my heart to thy crosse let the nailes which printed thy flesh imprint thy love in my soule Let the thornes which pricked thy temples not suffer the teÌ„ples of my head to take any rest in sin let the vineger which was given thee melt my adamantine heart into sorrow let the Spunge which was offered thee on the Crosse wipe out all my debts out of thy fathers tables Let others go on forward if they please I will stay still at thy crosse and take no other lesson For I desire no other Pulpit then that tree no other Preacher then thy crucified body no other text then thy death and passion no other parts then thy wounds no other amplification then thy extension no other notes then thy marks no other points then thy nailes no other booke then thy opened side The first Adam did eat the fruit of the forbidden tree Therefore thou the second Adam hangedst upon a tree By his fall all mankinde was so sorely wounded that the whole head was sicke and the whole heart faint from the crowne of the head to the sole of the foot there was nothing but wounds and bruises and sores full of corruption therefore thy whole head was pained that whole heart wounded from the sole of thy foot which was gored with nailes to the crowne of thy head which was pricked with thornes there was nothing but cuts and stripes and markes and scars and sores and wounds in thy whole body Because our heads plotted and devised wickednesse on thy head was platted a crowne of thornes Because our eyes burned with lust thy eyes were bedewed with teares because wee belched out blasphemies against thy father thy face was spitted upon because our bodies have beene stretched wantonly upon our soft beds thy body was stretched upon the hard crosse O Lord our eares have offended thee by listning to wanton musick prophane speeches and songs therefore thou sufferedst in thine eares by hearing scoffes and blasphemous taunts we have offended in our smell by luxurious perfumes sweet odours therefore thou sufferedst in thy smell by the stench of Golgotha our taste hath offended in gluttony and drunkennesse therefore thou sufferedst in thy taste by gall and vineger because our feet were swift to shed blood thy feet were nailed to the crosse because our hands were defiled thy hands were bathed in blood Because all parts of our bodies offended thou wast punished in all parts In thy temples with thornes on thy cheeks with buffets in thy joynts with straines in thy flesh with stripes Lastly because our hearts most grievously offended in unchaste malicious covetous ambitious thoughts desires and affections and piercing our selves with worldly cares therefore thou wast most grievously pained in thy heart which was run through with a speare If all the sufferings of Martyrs since the world began were put in one skale and thine in the other thy passion would beare them all downe for thou barest the full weight of thy Fathers heaviest hand Never were there sufferings like thy sufferings because never such a sufferer the torments being infinitely improved by the bearer Never sweat like thy sweat because never any had a burthen like thine Never teares like thy teares because shed for them who thirsted for thy blood Never torments like thy torments because never flâ—sh so pure and tender as thy flesh Never horror like thy horror being forsaken of thy father because never love like thy love of him nor sorow like thine because never sense and apprehension like thy sense and apprehension of the infinite displeasure of thy father for the sins of maÌ„kinde O my most bountifull Redeemer who bestowedst largely and wast bestowed liberally for me It concerneth mee to know how much I stood thee in for how should I estimate thy love if I cannot cast the totall of thy debt thou didst discharge for me But no heart can conceive what sorrow thou conceivedst no tongue can expresse what griefe thou didst expresse by thy bloody teares and these thy strong cryes when thou complain'dst that thy soule was heavie unto death and prayedst thy Father if it were possible to let this cup passe from thee I am appaled at thine agony I am astonished at thy feare I am amazed it thy patience I am ravished at thy love My heart riseth my veines swell my blood boyles within me against thy persecutors If it were in my power I would put them all to millions of torments I would inflict a thousand deaths upon Iudas that betrayed thee and Pilate that condemned thee and the envious Scribes and Pharisees that laid snares for thee and the perjured witnesses that gave false evidence against thee and that execrable rout that preferred a murtherer before thee the barbarous souldiers that spit upon thee and buffeted thee and the bloody executioners of the Iewâ—sh malice and Roman cruelty that banged nayled and goared thee But when I dive into thy bloody passion I finde my selfe as deepe in thy blood-shedding as they They were in that but instruments but I by my sins was a principall in the death of thee the Lord of life My sinnes by their tongues and hands did all this villany and outrage upon thee Their nailes and speares pierced but thy flesh but my sinnes pierced thy very soule My sins my sins O Lord by their hands crucified thee wherefore I condemne mine eyes to continuall teares my heart to perpetuall sighes and my thoughts to everlasting pensivenesse What shall I do to wash away the guilt of thy blood which alone can take away the guilt of my sins verily I should be utterly swallowed up in this gulfe but that the price of thy blood hath satisfied as for all other sinnes so for the guilt of spilling it selfe And now my anger and feare and trouble and anguish are all turned into joy and comfort and love and admiration of the infinite wisdome of thy Father in providing such a remedy and his justice in requiring such a satisfaction but most of all for all thine infinite love making so full a payment of the infinite debt of my sins What can I doe what can I suffer enough for thee gracious God to all the rest of thy blessings spirituall
nay of immortalitie if otherwise it turneth into deadly poyson for hee that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himselfe not discerning thâ— Lords body Now the only reason why I do compare the meritorious action of our blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus on this day to Jupiter who as the Poets feine him was Lord of Heaven and Earth is for that as he overcame the malicious and revengefull Titan and all those monstrous and cruell Giants his sonnes called the Titanes and victoriously triumphed over theÌ„ so likewise Christ the Lord of glory and King of Kings as on this day being then the fifth of Aprill and first day of the Jewish weeke having overcome the dreadfull and spitefull Serpent the old Dragon in the Revelation according as it was prophesied of him Gen. 3. 15. and all those fiends that follow him sinne death and hell according to another prophesie in Hosea and having by his divine power raised himself from death to life as David long agoe foretold that God would not leave his soule in hell nor suffer his holy one to see corruption but that according to another prophesie of Hosea in the person of the children of Israel After two dayes he will revive in the third day raise up that we may live in his sight which is the same with the Sybils in these words He shall end the necessity of death by three dayes sleepe and then returning from death to life againe he shall be the first that shall shew the beginning of the resurrection to his chosen for that by conquering death he shall bring us life And last of all having according to his own promise which he oft times made to his Disciples That as Ionas was three dayes and three nights in the whales belly so should he be three dayes and three nights in the heart of the earth destroy this Temple and in three dayes I will raise it up are his owne words in another place meaning the temple of his body And that the Sonne of man shall be delivered into the hands of men and they shall kill him but the third day he shall rise again in another place fast bound the Dragon in the bottomelesse pit and taking away the sting of death which is sinne gloriously triumphed over the enemies of mans salvation and rising out of the Sepulchre of death confounded the souldiers that were his guard with amazement caused the earth to quake and the Angels of God to descend from heaven to attend upon his triumphs did forty dayes walke upon the earth in this triumphant manner and made twelve apparitions to his Disciples and others The first was to Mary Magdalen alone Iohn 10. 14. The second to all the women together as they returned homewards Matth. 20. 9. The third was to Simon Peter alone about noone 1 Cor. 15. 5. Luke 24. 34. The fourth was in the afternoon to the two Disciples as they went to the Castle of Emaus which was some eight miles from Jerusalem the ones name was Cleophas and brother of Joseph who brought up our Saviour and the other as may be gathered by the circumstance of the story was Luke because he hath set it downe so exactly Luke 24. The fifth was after he returned invisibly from Emaus to Jerusalem where when the doores were all shut and his Disciples were assembled together for feare of the Jewes he came and stood in the midst of them Iohn 20 19. And all these apparitions were in one day which was called the first day of the weeke The sixth apparition was eight dayes after his resurrection being the twelth of Aprill to all his Disciples Thomas being then present and the doores shut That he might make evident that his omnipotency was not tyed to any secondary causes or hindred by the property of any naturall bodies which according to S. Austine was so much the more wonderfull because hee appeared unto them substantially and effectually not as a phantasma or shadow which vanisheth away and is without any corporâ—all substance but did eat and drink and suffered his body to be handled by his Disciples The seventh apparition was to Peter Thomas Nathaneel the sons of Zebedeus and other two Disciples as they were fishing upon the shore of Tiberias which stood 36 miles from Ierusalem Northward betweene Bethsaida and Capernaum Iohn 21. The eighth was to the eleven Apostles on Mount Tabor in Galilee The ninth was to more then five hundred brethren at one time as S. Paul witnesseth The tenth was to James the son of Alpheus for he had beene seene before by Iames the son of Zebedeus but the certaine time of these foure last apparitions is not set downe But on the fourteenth day of May which was forty dayes after his resurrection he appeared to all his Apostles Disciples and friends together on Mount Olivet And in their sight with great triumph and joy he ascended into Heaven And last of all after his ascension he appeared to S. Paul as himselfe relates Thus as Luke affirmeth he shewed himselfe alive by many arguments for the space of forty dayes together and reasoned with them of the kingdome of his father Why then should any man mistrust the testimony of these men which saw him ate with him dranke with him touched him and heard him speak and whose entire estate and welfare depended wholly of the certainety thereof For what comfort had it beene or consolation to those men to have devised of themselves those former apparitions what encouragement might they have taken in these dolefull times of desolation and affliction to have had among them the dead body of him on whose only life their universall hope and confidence depended The Scribes and Pharisees being astonished at the sudden news of his rising againe confirmed unto them by their owne souldiers that saw it found no other way to resist the fame thereof but only by saying as their posterity do at this day that his Disciples came by night and stole away his body while the souldiers slept But what likelyhood or possibility can there be in this for first it is evident to all the world that his Apostles themselves who were the heads of all the rest were so dismaied discomforted and dejected at that time as they durst not once goe out of the doore for which cause only those silly women who for their sex esteemed themselves more free from violence presumed alone to visit his Sepulchre which no one man durst doe for feare of the souldiers untill by those women they were informed that the foresaid band of souldiers were terrified and put to flight by Christs resurrection And then how was it likely that men so much amazed and overcome with feare should adventure to steale away a dead body from a guard of souldiers that kept it or if their hearts had served to adventure so great a danger what hope or probability had there beene of successe especially considering the said body lay in
thy triumph over them O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory O my soule where is all thy comfort If in this life thou art most miserable If thy life be hid with Christ in God then when Christ which is thy life shall appeare thou shalt also appeare in glory What though I mourne here I shall be comforted what though I fast here I shall be satisfied what though I be disgraced here I shal be glorified What though I am here trampled under feet I shall be there crowned What though my flesh bee eaten with wormes and these wormes turned into dust and that dust blowed by the wind over the face of the earth yet after thou turnest man to destruction Againe thou sayest Come againe yee children of men I know thou my Redeemer livest and shalt stand up at the last day and I shall see thâ—e in my flesh with these eyes and none other Lord establish this beleefe in me beat downe all the forts that naturall reason reareth against it Grant that I may every day more and more feel as the power of thy birth in my regeneration and of thy death in my mortification so also of thy Resurrection in my rising from the death of sinne to the life of grace Lord thou restoredst life to three men to one in his bed to another on the beare a third in the grave They who conceive sinne in their hearts are like him that was dead in his bed they who bring it forth into action are like him that was brought forth dead on the beare but they that continue in sinne and all impurity and putrifie in the custome therof are like him that was foure dayes dead and stanke in the grave such a one or worse am I for I have laine not foure dayes but many years in this loathsome grave and am even devoured of the worme of conscience Yet Lord this day of thy glorious Resurrection say unto mee as thou didst to him Come forth awake thou that sleepest and stand up from the dead and I will give thee light Make this day of thy Resurrection from the death of nature the day of my rising from the death of sin and corruption first to the life of Grace and after to the life of Glory Amen MERCVRY OR A Meditation on Ascension day ACcording to my proposed method I should in this place shew how the sweet Incense of the blessed Sacrifice Christ Jesus ascended into heaven to bee as the Leviticall Sacrifices were an Oblation of a sweet savour unto the Lord for as God after the universall Deluge smelled a pleasant savour of Rest in the offering of Noah so likewise God the Father after the inundation of sin overflowing the whole world for the space of 4000. years and upwards did smell a sweet savour of Pacification Reconciliation and satisfaction in this last meritorious act of our blessed Saviour which I compare to the flight of winged Mercury who by Poets is fained to descend and ascend to keepe unity and concord between their fained gods being their observant Messenger And Christ the Angell or Messenger of the everlasting Covenant descended from heaven in the day of his Nativity and brought those blessed tidings of Salvation revealed in the Gospell to mankind and as this day ascended into heaven to accomplish the work of mans redemption but this glorious Act of our Saviour is so divinely pathetically and excellently accomplished by Mr. Austin in his divine Meditations that though I like foolish Icarus because as on this day I first drew breath received the common aire doe strive with waxen wings to take an higher flight than my learning is able to performe am so melted with the rayes of the scorching heat of his devotions that I am forced to dash out my dim taper before his bright Sonne and conclude with Master Doctor Featleyes divine Prayer saying Glorious and gracious Redeemer Lord Iesus Christ who huÌ„bledst thy selfe and didst become obedient to death even the death of the Crosse and therefore thy Father highly exalted thee above the Grave in thy Resurrection above the earth in thy Ascension above the heavens in thy session at his right hand and then He gave thee a Name above all names that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow both of things in heaven and in earth and of things under the earth I humbly bow the knees not only of my body but of my heart and soule unto thee I never heare of thee or remember never think or speak of thee but with greatest reverence and love that heart can conceive or tongue expresse I admire the mystery of thy Incarnation I tremble at the horror of thy passion I adore the power of thy Resurrection and triumph in the glory of thy Ascension My God and my Lord make me wholly thine as thou art mine Thy birth was my life thy life my merit thy death my ransome thy Resurrection my delivery out of the prison of death where thy Father laid thee for my debt thy Ascension my assurance and taking possession of an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance reserved in the heavens O Saviour if thou haddest not been borne I never had been born a new if thou hadst not dâ—ed for my sinnes I had dyed in my sins If thou haddest not risen from the dead my soule might have been with thee in Paradise but my body should not have rested in hope neither should I have seene God in my flesh If thou hadst not ascended I might have been freed from hell but I should never have had a place prepared for me in heaven O Lord when thou camest to us on earth Iohn was thy fore-runner but thou wert my fore-runner in thy returne into heaven Iohn prepared the way before thee on Earth but thou preparedst a way before me into heaven That way and those Regions in the aire which Lucifer defiled and cursed by his fall through them from heaven thou hast clensed and blessed by thy marching triumphantly thorow them into heaven O blessed Creator and Repairer of nature in thee not onely all the kindred of the Earth but all creatures under the cope of heaven are blessed and therefore they sigh and groane together with us desiring fervently thy second comming The earth was blessed and sanctified by thy birth and thy treading upon it The water by thy descending into the River Iordan at thy Baptisme and walking on the Seas Now the Aire likewise and fire expected an honour and a blessing from thee and both received it the Aire by thy Ascending thorow it the Fire by sending downe the Holy Ghost in the likenesse of fiery cloven tongues O Lord my Redeemer how excellent is thy Name in all the world Creatures without voice praise thee as the Heavens and Earth without understanding know thee as the Star that lighted the Sages to thee without will obey thee as winds and Seas without â—ares hearken to thee as the Fig-tree which
dust and ashes dare speak unto him for my sins cry for vengeance and shall I be silent for pardon Gracious God either silence them or heare me If thou wilt not heare the voice of my words heare the voice of my tears if thou wilt not heare them heare the voice of thy sonnes blood which speaketh better things then the blood of Abel I confesse I have sorely displeased thee but it troubleth me that I have so incensed thee I have grieved thy Spirit but it grieveth me that I should be so gracelesse as to grieve that Spirit of grace which sealeth thy chosen to salvation I deserve that thou shouldest even abhorre me for my sinnes but I abhorre my selfe for them in dust and ashes I have offended thee in gluttony but I now fast for it in pride but I humble my selfe in laughter and sports but I weepe for it in sinfull joyes but I mourne for it I have wallowed in filthy pleasures but I wallow for it in dust and ashes I have broken all thy Comman dements but I have broken my heart in true contrition for it Thou didst not break a bruised reed wilt thou grinde to powder a broken heart What profit is in my blood O Lord when I goe downe into the pit Nay what profit is in thy blood O blessed Redeemer if they for whom it was shed goe downe into the pit of destruction shall the dust give thanks unto thee O Lord or the ashes and cinders of hell praise the God of heaven Heare O Lord and have mercy upon me thou that healest those that are broken in heart and givest medicine to cure their sicknesse raise up my prostrate and dejected soule Why diddest thou hunger O Lord but to satisfie for my gluttony why didst thou thirst but to satisfie for my drunkennesse why didst thou weepe but to satisfie for my sinfull joyes why didst thou endure unspeakable torments but to satisfie for my lewd pleasures why didst thou dye an ignominious death but to satisfie for my sinfull life why didst thou shed thy blood but to satisfie for my crimson sins Adam our first parent did eat the forbidden fruit and all our teeth are set on edge but thy fasting forty dayes hath fully satisfied for his eating But I renew my sins daily and thou renewest thy mercies The guilt of my sinne is great but the price of thy blood is greater I have offended an infinite Majestie but satisfaction hath beene made by an infinite Majestie My wickednesse cannot exceed thy goodnesse for my power of sinning is finite but thy faculty of pardoning is infinite Wherefore sith my sinnes be they never so many never so weighty fall within the measure of thy mercy and compasse of thy goodnesse and sith it is all one with thee to give what I ask and to incite me to aske to heale my wounds and to make me feele the smart of them Lord who hast given me the one deny me not the other rebuke the surges of temptations and quiet my soule Thou who in the dayes of thy flesh offeredst up prayers with strong cries here the strong loud cries of a penitent sinner Thou who tookest upon thee our infirmities take pity upon them thou who wert in thine agony stricken with horror and unutterable griefe allay the troubles of my affrighted conscience Thou who fastedst forty dayes accept of my humiliation these forty dayes and grant that my stomack may not onely fast from accustomed meats but all my sences from their usuall delights and most of all my heart from worldly comforts and contentments Let no sight delight me till I see my sins removed like a mist and thy countenance shine upon mee Let no sound or voice delight me till I heare thee by thy Spirit to speake peace to my conscience and say to my soule I am thy salvation Let no pleasant fields and gardens delight me till I have gathered red flowers out of that garden which was watered with thy blood Let no fruit delight me till I have fully tasted of the fruit of the tree of thy crosse Let no meat delight me till with the sowre hearbs of sorrow and anguish of heart for my sin I have eaten the Christian Passeover the flesh of thee that immaculate Lambe slaine from the beginning of the world Heare me blessed Redeemer and as thou wrotest in dust when thou tookest the woman in adultery so I beseech thee write my sins in dust bury them all in the ashes of oblivion So be it Amen SATVRNE OR a Meditation on Goodfriday HAving in the former meditations shewed you an immaculate Lambe and the first fruits of the meritorious blood thereof then how the said Lambe was prepared to be a fitting Sacrifice for the expiation of the sins of the whole world Now I should according to my promise in the entrance of this work show you how this Sacrifice was laid upon the Altar of the Crosse as on this day under the metaphor of the Planet Saturne But herein I perceive my owne inability and presumption that I should dare to adventure upon such holy things in such vile comparisons for the expulsion of Saturne out of his kingdome by his brother Titan and sonne Jupiter is no way equivalent to the malice of the Jewes against our blessed Saviour For Saturne broke covenant with his brother and kept three of his male children alive contrary to the condition which he held his kingdome by And therefore Titan had just cause to make warre against him and recover his inheritance due to the first borne And Jupiter likewise did expell his father out of his kingdome because his father threatned to kill him But Christ had done offence to none he had broken no bonds but rather made up the breach hee was so farre from destroying that he came on purpose to save and redeeme that which was lost And what were the troubles of Saturne King of Creet to the unsupportable sufferings of Christ the King of glory Nay what were all the troubles of all the men that are or ever were in the world to the troubles of our blessed Saviour And where is the patience of Saturne Iob or any other that was in Christ For as the light of the natural Sun is darknesse to the Splendor of the Sunne of Righteousnesse so all the excellency and worth that is in all mankind is not able fully to demonstrate the excellencie that is in Christ yet because Saturne was imprisoned by his Brother and driven out of his Kingdome by his own sonne I did intend to shew how our blessed Saviour as on this day was bound imprisoned by the cruell Jews his brethren according to the flesh of the Virgin Mary and driven out of the Kingdome of this world by those which should as obedient children to the cōmands of God their Father have kept their hands from killing the innocent But being conscious of my owne insufficiency for the performance of such a work it being excellently
a new Sepulchre of stone shut up locked and fast sealed by the Magistrate how was it possible I say that his Disciples should come thither break up the monument take out his body and carry away the same never after to be seene or found without espiall of some one amongst so many that attended there or if this were possible as in reason it is not yet what profit what pleasure what comfort could they receive hereby We see that these Apostles and Disciples of his who were so abandoned of life and heart in his passion after two dayes only they were so changed as life and death cannot be more contrary for whereas before they kept home in all feare and durst appeare no where except among their owne private friends now they came forth into the streets and common places and avouched with all alacrity and irresistable constancy even in the faces and hearing of their greatest enemies that Jesus was risen from death to life that they had seene him and enjoyed his presence and that for testimony and confirmation hereof they were most ready to spend their lives And could all this proceed onely of a dead body which they had gotten by stealth into their possession Would not rather the presence and sight of such a body so torne mangled and deformed as Jesus body was both upon the Crosse and before have rather dismaid them more than given them any comfort Yes truly And therefore Pilate the Governour considering these circumstances and that it was unlikely that either the body should bee stolne away without privity of the souldiers or if it had been that it should yeeld such life heart consolation and courage to the stealers began to give eare more diligently to the matter and calling to him the souldiers that kept the watch understood by them the whole truth of the accident to wit that in their sight and presence Jesus was risen out of his Sepulchre to life and that at his rising there was so dreadfull an earth-quake with trembling and opening of Sepulchres round about such skriches cries and commotion of all elemēts as they durst not abide longer but ran and told the Jewish Magistrates thereof who being greatly discontented as it seemed gave them money to say that while they were sleeping the body was stolne from them by his Disciples All this wrote Pilate presently to his Lord Tiberius who was then Emperour of Rome And he sent withall the particular examinations and confessions of divers others that had seene and spoken with such as were risen from death at that time and had appeared to many of their acquaintance in Jerusalem assuring them also of the resurrection of Jesus Which information when Tiberius the Emperor had considered hee was greatly moved therewith and proposed to the Senate that Jesus might be admitted among the rest of the Roman Gods offering his owne consent with the priviledge of his supreme royall suffrage to that decree But the Senate in no wise would agree thereunto Whereupon Tiberius being offended gave license to all men to beleeve in Jesus that would and forbid upon paine of death that any officer or other should molest or trouble such as bare good affection zeale or reverence to that Name Thus much testifieth Tertullian against the Gentiles of his owne knowledge who living in Rome a learned man and pleader of causes divers yeares before hee was a Christian which was about 180. yeares after our Saviour Christs Ascension had great abilitie by reason of the honour of his Family learning and place wherein he lived to see and know the Records of the Romans Neither onely divers Gentiles had this opinion of Jesus Resurrection again from death but also sundry Jewes of great credit and wisdome at that time were inforced to beleeve it notwithstanding it pleased not God to give them so much grace as to become Christians This appeareth plainly by the learned Josephus who writing his Story not above forty yeares after Christs Passion tooke occasion to speake of Jesus and of his Disciples And after he had shewed how he was crucified by Pilate at the instance of the Jewes and that for all this his Disciples ceased not to love him still he adjoyneth forthwith these words For this love of his Disciples hee appeared unto them againe the third day when he had resumed life unto him Which expresse plaine and resolute words wee may in reason take not as the confession only of Iosephus but as the common judgement opinion and sentence of all the discreet and sober men of that time laid downe and recorded by this Historiographer In whose dayes there were yet many Christians alive that had seene and spoken with Jesus after his Resurrection and infinite Iewes that had heard the same protested by their fathers brethren kinsfolke and friends who had been themselves eye-witnesses thereof And thus much for the story of Christs Resurrection which I conclude with this divine Prayer Glorious Son of Righteousnesse who this morning didst prevent the dawning of the day by sending forth the beames of thy glorified body out of the Pit of darknesse and shadow of death shine upon my soule by the light of this grace Inlighten my dark apprehension of the mysteries of thy Resurrection Inflame my cold affections and revive my heart even deaded with pensive thoughts upon thy bitter passion O how did the surest ground of Faith shake the safest Ancor of hope loosen at the earthquake at thy death What smiting together of knees what wringing of hands what knocking of breasts what fainting of hearts what hanging down of heads were there at giving up of thy ghost when thy head hung down on the Crosse With thee the faith with thee the hope with thee the joy with thee the life of thy dearest Disciples might seeme to expire What should or could the prisoners of death ever expect when they saw him whom they thought to have been their Redeemer the Lord of life arrested by death and kept close prisoner in the grave so long O death how sharp was then thy sting O grave how fearfull was thy seeming Victory But blessed be the Angell which removed the stone and thereby made way that the stone which the builders refused might be preferred to be the head stone in the corner Blessed be the right hand of thy Father who in raising thee out of the grave raised our hope out of the dust for where is our hope Our hope is even in thee O Christ and thy Resurrection Thou art the life and the Resurrection of all that beleeve in thee Death like a Hornet by stinging thee hath lost his sting and now may make a buzzing noise to affright me but can thrust out no sting to hurt me The grave by thy lying in it is turned to a bed and a withdrawing roome to retire my selfe a while to put off this ragged flesh and attire my selfe with roabs of glory Now dare I insult over Death and Hell since
fishes Matthew the Publican at the receipt of custome and S Austin enamoured with eloquence by the lustre of S. Ambroses stiâ—e and intising eloquence I beseech thee take advantage of such seasons and apply such meanes for my unfeined conversion unto thee as are most agreeable to my inclination disposition and condition So will I come unto thee and fall downe before thee and present unto thee gold frankincense and Myrrh gold in acknowledgement of thy kingdome frankincense of thy Priâ—sthood and Myrrh of thy death I will offer willingly and freely unto thee incense of praise and thanksgiving for thy benefits the Myrrh of bitter teares for my sins and gold according to my ability for the maintenance of thy service and adorning thy Temple Lord who by this rich present providedst for the Virgins wants to supply them in her journey to Egypt extend thy goodnesse to me in all necessities and establish my faith and confidence in all dangers and difficulties whatsoever for thou hast promised never to leave nor forsaken them that trust in thee The stony rock shall yeeld a fountaine of water and the dry cruse a spring of oile the loaves shall multiply by spending nay the clouds shall be store-houses of bread and the winde serve in foul and the Ravens bring in provision the fishes pay tribute of money and Heathen sages from the East by the conduct of a starre bring in costly presents and new yeares gifts before thy children shall want their necessary maintenance or sustenance Blessed Babe who at thy birth didst presage thy death and assayedst the crosse in thy cratch and being excluded as it were from all men wast constrained to take up thy lodging with beasts in a stable teach me what I am to look for in this world If it give me course and base and beastly entertainment it gave thee worse and the servant is not to expect better respect then the Master O King of glory who hadst no Palace but an Inne no chamber of presence but a Stable no Tapestry but straw no chaire of estate but a Cratch no Scepter but a Reed and no Crowne but a wreath of Thorns work in me a holy high-mindednesse to despise this world which so despised thee Make worldly greatnesse seeme small honour base estimation vile and pompe vaine unto mee let not the glittering show of gold silver and pretious stones or the lustre of eminent condition dazell the eyes of my minde but let the beames of this starre light and guide me rather to honour thee in a stable then leave thee to follow Herod in his palace upon any hopes whatsoever The wise men after they had seene thee never returned back to Herod but went another way to their owne home so let me after thou hast called mee to the knowledge of thy truth and redeemed me from my vaine conversation never returne back to my worldly courses but take another way to my true home in Heaven The wise men when they saw thy starre in the aire were exceeding glad I see thy starre in Scriptures nay I see the bright morning starre in my heart O let my joy exceed theirs as my knowledge doth The starre still lighted them till they came to the place where thou layest and entred into thy bedchamber So O Lord let the light of faith guide me all the way of this life even till I come to see thee not in a stable on earth strewed with litter and dung but in a Palace in Heaven built with Sâ—phyrs and founded upon Pearls not receiving a present of gold from men but wearing a crowne of glory put upon thee by thy Father not having a quantity of frankinsence or Myrrh in thy hand but a golden Censor full of sweet odours which are the prayers of Saints Among which I beseech thee offer up the prayers of me a sinner that I may be a Saint after thou hast purged me from all filthinesse in the royall bath of thy blood Amen The Southerne Hemisphere OR a Meditation on Innocents-day THe reason why I fix the Stars of the Southerne Pole on this day is because as those innocent Doves those harmelesse Lambes those glorious Starâ—eâ— that first appeared in the Christian firmament the infinite number of sucking infants under two yeares old that were as this day slaine by the appointment of cruell Herod were borne and soone after dyed in the place of Christs Nativity Bethlehem Ephrata which was a City which stood upon a hill some six miles from Jerusalem towards the South But for the number of the starres noted by Astronomers in this Hemisphere 15 Constellations which are 293 are not the third part of the tithe of 14000 which is the number of those blessed martyred Infants if it be true which the Lyturgie of the Aethiopians and Calends of the Greeks affirme But all this was done as S. Matthew testifies to performe the word of the Lord spoken by Ieremiah the Prophet saying In Rama was heard a voice of lamentation weeping and great mourning Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they were not That it was prefigured by Rachels weeping is evident For Rachel Iacobs wife dyed in childbed and was buried about a quarter of a mile from this place on the right hand towards Jerusalem The monument that Iacob set upon her grave as some affirme was twelve stones pitcht an end which ceremony the ancient Fathers used to testifie their hope of the Resurrection to come which was not generally reveiled And by reason of this grave al the countrey therâ—bouts ever since was called by the name of Rachel And for this cause these Infants were called her children albeit she were dead above 2000 yeares before they were slaine and 1500 yeares before Ieremy writ the prophesie Having thus taken a view of the truth of the story I will insist a little further in the description of this ambitious Tyrant Herod who being of meane parentage though of an ambitious spirit by faire pretences subtile demeanour obtained the daughter of a King for his wife then having one foot in the stirrup of preferment and worldly honour he further hunting after his prey the Crowne of the Kingdome of Jewry deposâ—d his father in law and sâ—ew him and all his sonnes he stayed not there but killed his own wife and all the Nobility of Juda. And so fearfull was hee that any should rob him of his honour when hee heard that a King was borne from the Magi and could not finde the particular party that he did not only cause an infinite number of innocent babes to be slaine but for more assurance killed his own sonne because as Philo saith he descended by his mothers side of the line of Juda which cruelty comming to Augustus's eares he said as Macrobius reporteth That he had rather be Herods Swine then his Sonne for that he being a Jew was forbidden by his religion to kill his swine though not ashamed to kill his