Lord be thou pleased to give us this grace so to instruct us and convince us of the shortness of our lives that we may by this consideration be brought to pay that constant reverence and obedience which is due to Thee and wherein the true wisdom consists for there cannot be any greater folly imaginable than to provoke Thee by our sins and to run the adventure of being cut off by Thee in our sins Vers 13. And O Lord if it stand with thy good pleasure reverse the sentence of excision which is gone out against us let it suffice that thy wrath hath swept away so many of us vouchsafe at last to be pacified and reconciled with us Vers 14. We have lain very long under thy wrath delay not now to afford us the full streams of thy mercy which we have so long wanted and impatiently thirsted after that so for the remainder of our time we may have some matter of rejoycing after so much sadness Vers 15. May the days of our rejoyceing hold some proportion with the days of our mourning and let our comforts be answerable to our calamities Vers 16. Magnifie thy glorious work of grace and mercy which is properly thy work to us and our posterity Vers 17. Shew thy loving kindness and light of thy countenance towards us look in mercy upon us give us thy grace to direct us all our days and in all our ways work in us both to will and to do and then by thy good providence prosper our designs and undertakings Vid. Dr. Hammond Note Why Gloria Patri concludes this and the foregoing Psalms I have given my Reasons in another Book upon the Common-Prayer Rubrick Then shall follow the Lesson taken out of the Fiftéenth Chapter os the former Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians Paraphrase Note This Lesson indeed the whole Office sets forth the peculiar hope of the Church touching the Resurrection of the Dead Which is Primarium Evangelii caput The Predominant Article that presupposeth all the rest It is Nexus Articulorum Fidei The tying Knot upon which all other links of holy Faith depend By this hand Religion is held up by the head 1 Cor. 15. vers 20. ad finem Vers 20. All the hope of a Christian is not terminated with this life of his here on Earth for if it were so Christians would be the most unhappy Persons and the most proper objects of compassion in the World But blessed be God for it it is much otherwise for Christ is risen and he by raising himself raiseth all others with him as in the consecration of the first fruits the whole Harvest is also consecrate So that we Christians who are miserable here shall be rewarded hereafter for Christ's Resurrection is a most certain proof of ours As the Head must rise before the Members so the Members are sure to follow the Head Christus est typus Christianorum Christus resurgens non solum est auspex exemplar sed fide-jussor chirographum nostrae resurrectionis Vers 21. As one Man brought death into the World so another Man brought Resurrection into the World Vers 22. For as upon Adam's sin All who are partakers of his nature are concluded under the sentence of his death so all regenerate believers who are like to Christ and belong to him shall be raised to immortal life Vers 23. But yet with some distance of Time shall this be Christ the first fruits shall rise some time before and all regenerate Christians shall rise after Him at his last coming to Judgment Vers 24. And then at the Conclusion of this World and of the spiritual Kingdom of Christ in the Church here below he shall deliver up all his power exercised by Himself and his Commissioners into the hand of God his Father having first destroyed all earthly Dominions pronouncing sentence upon the mightiest as well as the meanest Men subduing all to his Power either by their conversion or their destruction Vers 25. For this was the promise which was made to Christ Psal 110. that his Spiritual Kingdom on Earth should last so long till God had brought all the World to be subject to Him Vers 26. The last Enemy to be subdued by him is death and that must be therefore subdued that Men may be raised again from death to life Vers 27. The evidence is clear that God will subdue all enemies and things without exception under Christ only God is excepted from being so subdued from whom Christ hath received this power Vers 28. And when all things shall thus be brought in subjection to Christ then shall Christ lay down that Office which til then he exerciseth and in which he is conspicuous in his Church And then shal God Father Son Holy Ghost fill all the Elect with endless Bliss and Glory Vers 29. Now if the dead rise not why do Men at their Baptism make profession of the belief of it for the Resurrection of the dead is one of the prime Articles of belief into which Christians are Baptized and to which Baptism refers as a significant emblem first of Christs then of our Resurrection from the Grave The putting in and taking out of the Water being a sign of descending into the state of the dead and ascending from thence To be a Baptized Christian and not to believe the Resurrection is a ridiculous thing an Hypocrisie which will never be answer'd to God or men Note These words of St. Paul which are plain and easie and rational enough in the sense before mentioned are by some diversly rendred and strangely too 1. Stapleton and others prove from hence a Purgatory Vid. Du Moulin in his Confutation of Purgatory pag. 268. 2. Thomas Aquinas by the dead understandeth sins which are dead works 3. Claudius Guiliandus understands it of Martyrdom for the Faith of the Resurrection 4. Some interpret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 over the dead as if it had been the manner of some to Baptize over the Graves of the dead to cherish their hope of the Resurrection but this custome is no where read of 5. Others think it may allude to an ancient custome of the faithful Jews who to strengthen their hopes of a Resurrection used to wash the Bodies of their dead and then embalm them before they buried them 6. Calvin following Epiphanius interprets it to refer to the custome of such Conveâ—ts in Religion who neglected Baptism til their death approached 7. Franciscus Junius interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not super but insuper as if the Apostle had said why is Baptisme still continued in the Church for the comfort of the Living as it was found of comfortable use to those who are now dead if the dead rise not 8. St. Ambrose understands it of a Sacramental washing applied unto some living Man in the name and behalf of his Friend dying without Baptism 9. Du Moulin applies it to the manner of Baptisme used By plunging the Body in Water to
qualities from the glorified Bodies in Heaven Vers 40. For it is to be observed that in the Resurrection there shall be 1. An improvement of all Mens estates who have their part in the Resurrection of the just above that which they here enjoy Vers 41. 2. There shall be degrees of glory of one above another as Heavenly Bodies are more glorious than Earthly and one Heavenly Body more glorious than another so shall it be in the Resurrection Vers 42. For it is to be noted which is indeed the chief thing notable in this present Discourse that the Bodies which shall rise differ from those that die and the state of the Resurrection differs from that of this life That which falls into the Grave is a corruptible Body that which shall rise again an incorruptible Vers 43. The Body which we live in here and must put off is subject to many dishonorable deformities weaknesses diseases age but the Body which we shall take up again and put on shall be a Body glorious and strong Vers 44. The Body we carry about with us while we live and lay down in the Grave when we die is nourished and sustained by meats and drinks whereas the Body in our future state will be immortal wanting nothing to sustain it For indeed such Bodies there are of both these sorts Vers 45. For thus we find it written in the Scriptures that we have one nature from Adam such a Body as Adam is mention'd to have had before his fall Gen. 2.7 we derive from him who communicated it to his Posterity But another Nature and another Body we shall receive from Christ who at the Resurrection shall restore us from the Grave and change our vile Bodies that they may be like unto His glorious Body Phil. 3.21 Vers 46. The mortal Body was first formed which needed sustenance without which it must needs perish and when this is put off by death the immortal Body shall be returned to us instead of it at the Resurrection Vers 47. The stock of our animal life was Adam so called as an earthy Man made and taken out of the Earth The stock of the life immortal is Christ the Lord who came down from Heaven Vers 48. Such a Body as Adam had such have all mortal Men and such a Body as Christ now hath shall we have who live according to his Precept and Example at the Resurrection Vers 49. As we have first been made like the mortal Adam here on Earth so we shall be made like the immortal Christ when we come to Heaven Vers 50. I shall add but this one thing more that it is not possible for these earthy corruptible weak ignominious Bodies of ours which are in a state of growing and feeding to come to Heaven but they must first be changed purified and immortaliz'd Vers 51. Therefore concerning those who shall be found alive at the Day of Judgment I shall tell you a Secret not yet discovered to you that though they die not at all yet they shall all be changed before they go to Heaven for these Bodies thus qualified as they now are cannot come thither Vers 52. And this change shall be wrought in a minute at the point of time when all the World shall be summoned to Judgment For God shall make the Angels alarm all the World of Men that ever was or shall be as by the sound of a Trumpet to appear before his Tribunal and when that alarme is given all that were formerly dead shall arise with immortal Bodies and they who shall be then alive shall from their mortal Bodies be changed into such Vers 53. For it is most certain and necessary that our mortal Bodies must be changed into immortal Vers 54. And when this is done then shall that saying of the Prophet be made good Hos 13. Vers 14. that death shall be devoured and destroyed for ever never to recover strength again over any thing nothing from thenceforth shall ever die Vers 55. In contemplation whereof a Christian may look upon death as a hurtless thing the sting or plague or wounding power of it being by Christ taken away and look upon the state of separation of Soul from Body to be such as shall not last for ever Vers 56. The only thing which makes Death sting like a Serpent and puts it in a capacity to hurt us is sin for were it not for sin Death would differ nothing from a calm sleep and that which gives sin any strength to mischief us is the Law which prohibits it and so consequently upon the breach brings guilt upon us Vers 57. But thanks be to God who by what Christ hath done for us hath given us victory over Sin and Death and by Conquest of Sin hath made Death but an Entrance to Immortality Vers 58. These Arguments may suffice to teach any Christian constancy and perseverance in doing Gods will and in suffering Gods will too and may oblige him to the utmost industry and diligence in the service of God knowing that nothing which we thus undergo shall fail of receiving a reward Vid. Dr. Hammond Rubrick When they come to the Grave while the Corps is made ready to be laid into the Earth the Priest shall say or the Priest and Clerks shall sing Note Here follows another very seasonable part of the Funeral Office to mind the standers by and those who are yet alive of the shortness miseries and uncertainty of this life Job 14. vers 1 2. Man that is born of a Woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery he cometh up and is cut down like a flower he fleeth as it were a shadow and never continueth in one stay That is Man is born of a Woman and as he hath received being from her so he hath derived weakness he lives here few Years but in so short a time he suffers many miseries He is born like a flower and passeth away like it he is like the shadow of our Quadrants in a perpetual motion and change is so far passed into his nature that notwithstanding all his endeavours he cannot remain one sole moment in the same condition Note here That the sticking of the Herse with Flowers and the use of Garlands at such a time is a custom which hath some resemblance with the Jews who as they went along by the Corps used to pluck up the Grass 1. To note the shortness of Man's life that Man is but as Grass as the flower of the Field It was said of a great Emperour that he was Parietira a wall-flower and so are we all our time is proclaimed Isay 40.6 withering sooner than the Grass which is short fading sooner than the flower of the Grass which is shorter From April to June the Sith cometh nay the Wind but bloweth and we are gone Hodie in agro cras in clibano Flourishing in the Morning fading cut down and withered before Night 2. To note the certain
hopes of a Resurrection Such Ceremonies are used in exprobration to Death and Mortality By them we shew that we are not sorry for our departed friends as Men without hope we look upon them only as Herbs and Flowers cropt off for a time and to spring up again in their season We sow their Bodies in the Earth with as much faith as we do our Seeds and Herbs and equally expect the spring of both In the midst of life we are in death of whom may we seek for succour but of Thee O Lord who for our sins art justly displeased Note Our end borders upon our beginning Finisque ab origine pendet Death and Life like Jacob and Esau take hold on each others â—eel Orimur morimur We bring sin and death into the World with us Haeret lateri lethalis arundo 'T is in vain to hope for long life which is so short that it is at an end whilst we are speaking of it Dum loquimur fugit vita The Man in the Gospel sung a Requiem to his Soul for many Years when the summons came presently Stulte hac nocte Luk. 12.20 Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare longam A Christians hope is not in this life only which is not the only life indeed not to be reckon'd of as life at all Via non vita A midling betwixt life and death Mortalis vita vitalis mors but truly my hope saith David is in Thee O Lord who canst deliver my Soul from sin and my Body from the Grave Psal 39.7 8. Thou killest and thou makest alive thou bringest down to the Grave and bringest up 1 Sam. 2.6 Yet O Lord God most Holy O Lord most Mighty O Holy and most Merciful Saviour deliver Us not into the bitter pains of Eternal Death Note As there is a two-fold Resurrection a Resurrection from sin to the life of grace which is glory begun Rom. 6.4 1 Cor. 15.34 and a Resurrection from the Sepulchre to the life of glory which is grace compleat 1 Cor. 15.54 Philip. 3.21 So there is a two-fold death The first death to which the first nature which we derive from Adam is subjected For upon Adam's sin all that are partakers of his nature are concluded under the sentence of death pronounced against him 1 Cor. 15.22 It was a statute made in Paradise a Decree not to be reversed a Debt not possible to be declined Gen. 3 19. Statutum est omnibus semel mori Heb. 9.27 All Men must die the first Death Wherein the Sepulchre like the Serpent feeds on nothing but dust it is not so much the death of the Body as the Death of the Corruption of the Body Mortalitas magis finita est quam vita And there is a second death to which all regenerate Christians who belong to Christ are not subjected but as they derive another nature from Christ so in that nature they shall be raised again to the life immortal 1 Cor. 15.22 Souls and Bodies both For however there is a death of the Soul not that it ceaseth to be but when it ceaseth to be righteous Habet anima mortem suam cum vita beata caret quae vâ—ra animae vita dicenda est August Perdere animam est non ut non sit sed ut male sit So the glosse upon Matth. 16.26 Yet they who belong to Christ who live according to his Doctrine and Example shall be raised Souls and Bodies to an endless life of endless felicities They who have a part in the Resurrection of grace shall have no part in the Second Death Which first Resurrection is proverbially applied to the flourishing condition of the Church under the Messias after a long time of Persecution Revel 20.5 According to that of the Apostle speaking of the Jews received to favour as Persons raised from the dead again Rom. 11.15 and the Second Death is applied to an â—tter final irreparable excision and cutâ—ing off Revel 20.6 Now against this Second Death the bitter pains of Eternal Death in the burning Lake where the Worm never dies and the Fire is not quenched the Church here teaches us to pray for as to the first Death which is a Debt to be paid to that nature which we derive from Adam there is no avoiding of it Palvis es in pulverem reverteris â—s Man's Epitaph written with Gods own Finger Gen. 3.19 But Libenter mortalis sum qui sim futurus immortalis is the faithful Man's subscription Thou knowest Lord the secrets of our hearts shut not thy merciful Eares to our Prayers but spare us Lord most Holy O God most Mighty O Holy and Merciful Saviour Thou most worthy Judge Eternal suffer us not at our last Hour for any pains of death to fall from Thee Note Here we pray to God who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Maker of hearts and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Knower and Searcher of hearts and of actions as well as of hearts that he would in mercy hear our Prayers and in equal mercy pardon and forgive us our sins that he would sanctifie us by his Holiness imparted to us that he would defend us by his power save us in his infinite mercy and as we must all stand before him at the day of Judgment so he would stand by us at the Hour of Death that so the Devil who assaults us in the heel Gen. 3.15 and is most busie at the end and close of our life may have no advantage of us but that by the Shield of Faith we may put by all his Fiery Darts and never come into those everlasting Burnings but dying as Moses did Ad osculum oris Jehovae At a kiss of the Mouth of God So the Chalde paraphrase in Deut. 34.5 We may depart in the arms of God and so pass by Death temporal to Life Eternal Rubrick Then while the Earth shall be cast upon the Body by some standing by the Priest shall say Note This is left arbitrary for any by-stander to perform by which it is implied that it shall be the state and condition of every One one day He that casts earth upon the dead Body to day may have earth cast upon his tomorrow Hodie mihi cras tibi For as much as it hath pleased Allmighty God of his great mercy to take unto Himself the Soul of our dear here departed Eccles 12.7 we therefore commit _____ Body to the ground earth to earth ashes to ashes dust to dust Eccles 12.7 Eccles 3.20 Gen. 3.19 in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to Eternal Life Psal 16.9 1 Cor. 15.20 21 22. 1 Thes 4.13 14. through our Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile Body that it may be like unto his glorious Body according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to Himself Philip. 3.20 21. Note When we perform these officia postremi muneris as the Fathers call them and decently commit the Bodies
they are Persons who must give an account of their proficiency in the Gospel who are under their charge Heb. 13.17 I wish the Ministers were so careful of their People as to go to the Sick when they call or send for them and that the People had so much respect for the Ministers and for themselves too as to send for them upon all occasions when ever they stand in need of any spiritual aids Peace be to this House and to all that dwell in it Note This is clearly grounded upon that of our Saviour When ye come into an House salute it say peace that is all kind of prosperity be to this House Matth. 10.12 13. Luk. 10.5 6. And if there be any pious Person or Son of Peace in the house capable of so great a blessing theâ— the blessing of peace shall rest upon him if not the blessing shall return to the Minister and the party visited shall receive no advantage by the Ministers coming to him upon a design of so much charity Rubrick When he cometh into the sick Mans presence he shall say knéeling down Remember not Lord our iniquities c. Note This short Prayer is warranted from these Texts of Scripture Joel 2.17 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Act. 20.28 Psal 85.3 Answer Spare us good Lord. Note This supposes a company joyned in Prayers with the Minister and to return back Spare us good Lord in answer to the Ministers Spare thy People going before Rubrick Then the Minister shall say Let us Pray Lord have mercy c. Our Father which art in Heaven c. Note I have already often accounted for the frequent use of these in our divine Offices and therefore I shall not now say any thing of them only give me leave to insert this short Paraphrase upon the Lord's Prayer Our Father which art in Heaven O Lord God our Heavenly Father who art the giver of all goodness who art the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ by nature ours by grace and favour who dwellest in Heaven the Throne of thy Majesty the Seat of thy Glory attended by myriads of Angels ready to take Commissions from Thee in order to execute thy will and pleasure Hallowed be thy Name Send down thy grace unto us and to all People that we may glorifie thy great Name as we ought to do Let thy blessed and glorious Name be ever sanctified by us and by all that draw nigh unto Thee may we never profane it in our common talk abuse it by detestable oaths or blasphemies nor vainly make use of it in words or works professing Thee with our Lips and departing from Thee in our Lives Thy Kingdom come May the Scepter of thy Spirit so over-rule our unruly Spirits that we may worship Thee serve Thee and obey Thee as we ought to do Lord remove from us the Kingdom of thy Justice for if Thou shouldst strictly account with us no flesh could be justified bring us into Thy Kingdom of Grace that we may be comforted here and into thy Kingdom of Glory that we may be crowned hereafter Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven So long as we are to live in this Vale of misery let not our own wills but Thy will be done in us and by us in our several stations periods and conditions incline our hearts unto Thee that we may do all thy commands sincerely readily chearfully and in some proportion to what is done by the blessed Saints and glorious Angels in Heaven where there is no opposing disputing or resisting of thy will Give us this Day our daily Bread And that we may go on the more cheerfully in the discharge of our duties not taken off nor interrupted by any anxious thoughts about the things of this life We pray Thee to send us all things needful both for our Souls and Bodies the necessaries of our lives from day to day proportion'd to every Mans being or sustenance Give us the day of our life and the life of our days our daily bread victual for the nourishing of our bodies doctrinal for the reforming of our lives Sacramental for the sanctifying and saving of our Souls And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us We beseech Thee also to be merciful unto us and to forgive us our sins punish not on us those sins wherewith we have offended and provoked Thee to punish us Pardon all our sins of impiety committed against Thee of injustice and uncharitableness committed against our Neighbours of intemperance and uncleanness committed against our selves These and all other sins committed by us against thy Divine Majesty in thought word or deed we pray Thee to pardon and pass by as we forgive all who have any way or at any time trespassed against us in thought word or deed in body goods or Name And lead us not into Temptation And to these blessings of thy Mercy in pardoning what is past add that other of thy providence to preserve us for the time to come Suffer us not through our own corâ—uptions which are very many nor through the Devils malice which is very great to be brought into any temptation or snare or to be intangled in any dangers or difficulties which may not be easily supported by us But deliver us from evil But let it be thy pleasure to save and defend us in all dangers ghostly and bodily to keep us from all sin and wickedness from our ghostly enemy and from everlasting death Deliver us from the blandishments of the flesh the allurements of the World the plausible snares of the Devil From external evils internal evils eternal evils by thy grace from the evil of sin by thy mercy from the evil of punishment Good Lord deliver us For thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever Amen These and all other blessings of thy grace goodness mercy and Majesty we trust Thou wilt bestow upon us of thy mercy and goodness through our Lord Jesus Christ For thine is the Kingdom and we doubt not but that Thou art able to remove from us all those Evils and Judgments which we have prayed to be delivered from For thine is the power Both which we beg at thy hands in order to advance and to set forth thy glory For thine is the glory To Thee therefore Father Son and Holy Ghost Three Persons and One God be ascribed in our Prayers and in our praises all honour glory power praise might majesty and dominion to both Ages the present and the future for the ever of this World which hath an end and the ever of that other World which is without end Amen Lord so be it Minister O Lord save thy Servant c. O Lord look down from Heaven c. Hear us Almighty and most merciful God and Saviour c. Note These Prayers are all prescribed and deliver'd in the very Scripture phrase so full of piety charity and devotion and so sitted to all
that is a Romish error for all that Rome holds is 〈◊〉 â—oneous let them take the Common-pâ—â—â—â—â—â—ook and Book of xxxix Articles and the â—â—eed look no further for a confutation Truly I never had yet the confidence which some Men have to call the Pope Antichrist and the Church of Rome the Whore of Babylon and yet the very same Men have fastned the same titles of disgrace upon the Bishops and Church of England but I could wish the Pope more l ke the Primitive Bishops and Rome more like her Primitive self that so that Church ours may both be reconciled upon such terms of reconciliatâ—on as is consistent with Christian rules and so upon their union it is to be hoped another party would be disappointed of their foul ends who are for the Church of Rome and England one while and and another while call them both Whores only to destroy both and to set up themselvs Farewel The a ORDER for the Burial of the DEAD Rubrick I. Here is to be noted that the Office ensuing is not to be used for any that die b unbaptized or b excommunicate or b have laid violent hands upon themselves II. The c Priest and Clerks méeting the Corps at the entrance of the Church-yard and going before it either into the Church or towards the Grave shall say or sing Annotat. a ALl Offices to be performed to Christians living or dead are to be done according to the custom of the Church which is the rule of decency and according to the order directions and appointment of our lawful Superiours 1 Cor. 14.40 b These Three are denied Christian Burial The First because they were never visibly received into the bosom of the Church for Baptism is Introitus in Ecclesiam The Second because for some notorious crimes they are by just censure cast out of the bosom of the Church The Third and last because guilty of so foul a crime which is directly contradictory to Christian profession yet ought we to judg charitably of the first especially when born of believing Parents and where there was rather the want than the contempt of Baptism The Second we leave to the mercies of God neither are they absolutely denied the external rites of decent Funeral when repentance for the faults of such offenders is before their deaâ—h signified to those who have power to receive them into the Church upon their repentance as they had power to cast them out in a legal way for their crimes But if they die in a state of impenitency then these and the last who in their life and death would be as Pagans are not judged fit to be as Christians in their Burial All that authority can do to such Persons is to put their Carkasses to shame and to deny them the honour of seemly Sepulture For it hath been the practice of very Heathens Aegyptians Athenians and others to deny Burial to those who were notoriously wicked and self-murderers Athenienses decreverunt ne si quis se interfecisset sepeliretur in agro Attico August de civitat dei lib. 1. This difference God himself made in Jezebel 2 King 9.36 The King of Babylon Isay 14.19 Jehojakim Jerem. 22.18 19. And the Church hath frequently done the same by this means if possible to keep others in good courses and to terrify them from committing those horrid acts which have rendred some uncapable of Christian Burial Those Grecian Virgins who feared not death were yet restrained with the fear of shame after Death It hath been a usual practice thus to lay open the faults of Persons notoriously criminal by putting them to exemplary punishments and denying them the solemnity of honest Sepulture So Eusebius calls it Splendidissima Sepultura lib. 7. c. 15. Corah who rebelled against Moses and Aaron died not the common death of Men nor was buried after the manner of Men but went down quick into the ground opening under him Numb 16.32 Baana and Rechab who rose up against their Lord had their quarters set upon Poles 2 Sam. 4.12 Bigthan and Thares were fairly hanged upon a Tree Esth. 2.22 So Absalom came to a strange end 2 Sam. 18.14 So Sheba 2 Sam. 20.22 All the punishments of Rebels and Traytors now in use are collected and drawn together from the several examples we meet with in the Book of God Now these exemplary punishments are inflicted upon some to terrifie many and vengeance is taken in such manner upon such sinners that the just Cum viderit vindictam Psal 58.10 may wash his Feet or Hands in the blood of the wicked And then do the just wash their Hands and Feet when by other Mens punishments they learn to amend their own lives And there is a necessity to make some Persons thus exemplary in their Deaths and Burials 1. For the punishment of the offence for sins not corrected are incouraged 2. For a vindication of the Laws and Authority against which the offence is For such a disrespect unpunish'd would in time breed a contempt of all Law and Authority 3. For a terrour to others that other Mens punishments may be our instruction As David intitles his Psalm wherein he reports Israel's punishments a Psalm to give instruction Psal 78. That Man is desperately a Fool whom other Mens harms cannot make wise The Fox was warned when he saw the tracks of other Beasts leading to the Lyons Den but none returning So the foot-steps of others may be a warning to us to fix us upon firmer and better Principles that we do not fall and perish as they did The Foot-steps of the fallen Angels may check us for our pride The ashes of Sodom admonish us of our filthiness Ex eorum cinere fiat nobis lixivium The Gibbet of Hamman be an allay to our ambition Achans heap of stones in the Vally of Achor give check to our Sacriledge And the fearful examples of Absalom Corah Zimry Sheba Judas and others antidote us against Sedition Rebellion and Treason Miror quorum facta imitamur eorum exitus nos non perhorrescere c By the Priest and Clerks we are to understand the chief Minister of the Congregation and his Assistants who are either Clerici or Ministerialis ordinis candidati These are for the more solemnity to meet the Corps or dead Body at the entrance of the Church-Yard which Church-Yard is the usual and accustomed place of Burial Vid. Mins Diction expressed in the Teutonick German and other Languages by such words which signify Gods Glebe-Land the Churches Orchard or Garden noting unto us that the dead Bodies are there sowne like Seeds in the Furrow of the Grave and shall ripen into a fruitful and joyful Harvest at the Resurrection They are sown in tears but shall be reaped in joy they are sown in dishonour shall be raised in glory sowne in weakness shall be raised in power 1 Cor. 15.43 As Trees and Plants in the Winter they are as dead for a time but shall bud and spring
out again at the Resurrection The Spring for the time the Gardens for the place present us with significant emblems of the Resurrection sufficient to convince Heathens to subscribe to the truth of it And this is a critical reason given by some why Christ made choice of the Spring and of a Garden for the place both of his Sepulture and rising again Bishop And. Serm. in Mark 16.1 2 3 4 5 6. The Hebrew Doctors in their Language express the Place of Burial by a word which signifies the House of the Living The Greeks Latines and others by words which signify Dormitories Dortors Sleeping-Places Places of Rest Euseb lib. 7. c. 12. Where the Bodies of God's Servants rest in hope of a joyful Resurrection A carnal Mans hope is but Spes Spirantium a hope while he breaths but a Christian Man's hope is Spes Expirantium a hope when he can fetch his breath no longer Dum spiro spero saith the one whilst there is breath there is hope Dum expiro spero says the other when there is no breath yet there is hope My flesh doth rest in hope saith David Psal 16.9 And this is the Christian hope laid up in the bosom of every departing Saint and Servant of God that though his Body and Soul by a natural death be for a time separated the one from the other yet they shall meet again at the time appointed in inseparable unions Now howâ—ver such consecrated Places are made choice of for the Sepulture of Gods Servants it is not to be conceived that our Religion teacheth us to call any place holy in it self since the Temple only some we esteem of as more holy in their use than others and these distinctions of places are made only out of a respect to decency and order and to keep up that honourable esteem which is due to Christian Profession and to shew our selves charitably affected towards the remains not of dead Men but of dead Christians and those whom we hope one day to see glorious As we neither scorn the Carkasses of our Friends with the old Troglodites so neither do we with the old Aegyptians respect them more than when they were informed with a living Soul but we keep such an even mean betwixt both in disposing of their Bodies to the Earth from whence they first came that we keep as close as may be to the Apostles Canon of Decency and Order avoiding on one hand the indelible brand of barbarous inhumanity and on the other hand the more tolerable errour of being superstitious What a more than common esteem the first Christians had of these Places where the Bodies of God's Servants sleep in peace we may be sufficiently taught out of Eusebius Splendidissima Sepultura So He. lib. 7. cap. 15. lib. 7. c. 10. And out of St. Augustine Curatio Funeris conditio Sepulturae pompa exequiarum magis sunt vivorum solatia quam subsidia mortuorum So He. de civit Dei lib. 1. c. 12. And out of Origen Rationalem animam honorare didicimus So He. Cont. Cels lib. 8. And out of our own Sir Henry Spelman as much as any de concil tom 1. proem Yet in making choice of such places for Burial and using such Rites and Ceremonies however in Origen's sense we may express a civil honour to Christian Souls departed in committing the instruments or cases of them honourably to the Grave We intend them not saith Augustine as helps to the dead but only as comforts to the living shewing how great account we Christians make of Heaven and of a Resurrection Therefore in this pompous manner are the Priest and Clerks to go before the Corps either into the Church or towards the Grave saying or singing John 11.25 26. I am the Resurrection and the Life saith the Lord he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die Note These words are Christs words to Martha touching Lazarus wherein our Saviour told her that he was able to raise the dead to life again whensoever he pleased One that is a Believer said he and faithful Disciple of mine such as thy Brother Lazarus was I can though he be dead and buried raise him presently to life again And he who is now alive and so not capable of such a present Miracle shall if he receive and obey my Doctrin though he dies after the manner of other Men rise again unto life immortal Job 19.25 26 27. I know that my Redeemer liveth and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my Skin worms destroy this Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold and not another Note These are the words of holy Job that Miracle of Patience Tertullian applies them to Christs Incarnation but the most as our Church doth to the Resurrection The words carry this meaning Whatsoever terms I am forced to make use of to express my grief yet I know that he from whom I expect my salvation is living and that after he hath tried my patience he will bring me out of that miserable condition to which I am reduced And I may well believe it since faith perswades me that I must rise again after my death that my Bones shall once again be cloathed with Flesh that in my own Body I shall see the God who I adore and hear from his Mouth a Sentence favourable to my Innocence This holy Job who was poor even to a Proverb was enriched with this singular faith I shall see God in my Flesh that is I in my flesh shall see God Videbo Deum in carne hoc est Deum incarnatum I shall see God having taken flesh on him 1 Tim. 6 7. We brought nothing into this World and it is certain we can carry nothing out Note That Christianity is an advantageous calling is in one sense most true for a Christian life with a competent subsistence is as much as all the wealth in the World For any thing above sufficiency for this life is no way advantageous to us for as we brought nothing into the World with us so neither can we carry any thing out so that all that which we do not spend or use is lost to us Job 7.21 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Note Job being prostrate upon the Earth for to adore and kiss the hand which struck him said with sentiments of râ—spect I came naked out of the womb of my Mother and shall enter naked into the bosom of the Earth the bounty of God gave me Riches Children Friends and his Justice takes them from me the loss though it be sensible is welcome to me since it is he that ordains it and by whatsoever misfortune he tries my patience his Name shall always receive praises from my Mouth Now the Priest and Clerk go in
Tertullian is very plain and full Vid. Melanct. in Evangel domin in loc commun And Mr. Calvin is very express That Christ alone is enter'd into the Sanctuary of Heaven and that he presents unto God the Prayers of the People who remain in a remoter Court till the end of the World Instit lib. 3. c. 20. Sect. 20. lib. 3. cap. 25. sect 6. in Luc. cap. 16. vers 22. vid. Marlorat vid. Calvin lib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 1 Pet. 3.19 2 Pet. 2.4 Luc. 23.43 Mat. 8. Genes 5. de raptu Enochi Job 14. Philip. 1.6 2 Cor. 5.1 2 Cor. 12.13 Instit lib. 4. cap. 4. sect 12. in Catechism In all which places he will not define or determine any thing in terminis only holds as we do that they are in bliss but shall not have their perfect consummation and bliss till the Resurrection and Day of Doom The Collect. O merciful God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Resurrection and the Life in whom whosoever believeth shall live though he die and whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall not die eternally Joh. 11.25 26. who also hath taught us by his holy Apostle St. Paul not to be sorry as Men without hope for them that sleep in him 1 Thes 4.13 14. We meekly beseech Thee O Father to raise us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness Rom. 6.3 4. 1 Cor. 15.34 That when we shall depart this life we may rest in him as our hope is this our _____ doth and that at the general Resurrection in the last day we may be found acceptable in thy sight and receive that blessing which thy well beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear Thee saying Come ye blessed Children of my Father receive the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World Mat. 25.34 Grant this we beseech thee O merciful Father through Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer Amen Note This Collect sums up all the remarkableness of the Burial Office in a short devout prayer and brings all home in pious application Herein we declare our hope concerning all who depart this life in the bosom of the Church for so long as we are in the bosome of the Church we are in the state of pardon however if we are sometimes mistaken in our hope as to particulars yet it is ever a testimony of our charity It is Error amoris in case it happen at any time to be an errour 2 Cor. 13.14 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all ever more Amen Viz. The charity of God the Son the love of God the Father and the bounty or liberal effusion of the graces of God's Holy Spirit be in us with us and upon us now and ever Amen POSTSCRIPT Christian Reader IN the first place I am to desire thee to have so much charity for our reviving Mother the Church of England as not to think her any way addicted to an affected singularity in her prescribed Office for the Burial of her dying Children for as in her other Offices so in this she holds exact conformity with her other Sisters the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas so far as they may be permitted to hold conformity with her Vid. Mr. Durel Touching the conformity of other reformed Churches with the Reformed Church of England pag. 34. sect 38. pag. 48. sect 60. Besides take notice of the words of the most judicious Hooker Take away saith he these prayers praises and holy Lessons which were ordained at Burials to shew the peculiar hope of the Church touching the Resurrection of the dead and in the manner of the dumb Funerals what one thing is there whereby the World may perceive that we are Christians Hook Eccles Pol. lib. 5. sect 75. Some few Rites more I shall add observed at Funerals together with their Reasons annexed only to give satisfaction to those better sort of weak Christians who quarrel at their use more out of tenderness of conscience than out of turbulency or any contentious spirit as for such who are contentiously given who are ill-willers to Sion who are enemies to the peace of the Church who delight in nothing but dreadful confusions and make it a great part of their Religion to quarrel the ancient practises of the Church and just Orders of Superiours I leave them to the severest execution of the Laws of the Land and the power of those who are invested with Jurisdiction to punish them as schismatical and seditious Persons and as the nature of their offence shall deserve and truly I think Superiours may be blamed for their indulgence in such cases as well as for their severity Our Church will never be at peace and our State never at quiet from the working of some Mens spirits and intemperate zeal Si vitiis Principum irasci liceat insidiari bonitati But enough of this I proceed now to speak of the few other Rites rather practised at Funerals than by Law or Canon prescribed and to account for them with what brevity and perspicuity I can 1. The ringing of the Passing-bel or Soul-bell as we call it is not intended to help the passage of the Soul when departed out of the Body but only to stir up devout Christians to pray for its happy passage out of its Body and to move those who are living to make reflexions upon their own mortality and seriously to consider of their later end This Bell is like St. Paul's Trumpet 1 Cor. 14.8 which gives such a certain sound that all within the hearing of it may prepare themselves to the Battel which is to be fought in the Field of Death 2. It was an ancient custom and is still practised to bury the Dead with their Faces turning towards the East to shew that they were as sure of an uprise as the Sun that comes forth of his Eastern Chamber and that they lie waiting for that Sun of Righteousness Malach. 4.2 who shall at the last day return with his healing Wings and quicken and revive all the dead Bodies of his Servants by his healing and life-giving influence when he comes with his Prodi Lazare or Surge qui dormis then the Graves shall set open their Marble Doors and restore their deposita When the Arch-Angel shall sound the Trump of Collection then the scattered bones of Gods Saints shall be gathered together with sinews and those sinews incorporated with flesh and that flesh covered over with skin all mortality being purged away and by a new 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Pythagoras never dreamed of the same Soul shall re-enter the same Body These and the like Ceremonies the Church hath practised in her Funerals to be as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so many significant emblems to strengthen and confirm her living Children in the hopes of a joyful resurrection 3. It was an
Ecclesia Extra Ecclesiam Uzzah is not to touch the Ark. Nor Oziah to meddle with the censer Nor Saul to offer the sacrifice Obedience is better than such Sacrifices Quae sacra sed sacrilega vota non vovenda sed devovenda Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Here we pray that we may readily and promptly obey all the Laws of the Kingdome before mentioned not to live as we list but to live as we ought to make God's Word our Rule his Spirit our guide and his Sons life our example that we may as cheerfully do God's will on earth as the Angels do it in Heaven do it sincerely not in hypocrisie do it not because we will it but because God wills it though it be contradictory to our own wills We must not only do Gods will but suffer GOD's will as it must cheerfully be done by us so we must patiently submit when done upon us when Gods hand is upon our backs our hand must be upon our mouths Could we in all accidents and various changes of this world resign up our wills to GOD's will it would make the Cross easy here and keep us from those everlasting burnings hereafter We must not only do what God wills but as he wills it too Voto desiderio animo We must not do it Utcunque in any manner but with a sicut in the best manner 1. Voluntas Dei est decretum Haec est voluntas quam Deâ— vult Voluntas haec adoranda non scratanda 2. Voluntas Dei est mandatum Haec est voluntas quam ipse nos velle vult Voluntas haec scrâ—tanda facienda Converte meum nâ—n velle Domine in tâ—â—â— velle Tolle voluntâ—teâ— tuam O Homo ego extinguam infernum 'T is Factum Domini So Eli. Obmutui quia tu fecisti So David Modo occidat fiduciam non deponam So Job Perdidit vitam ne per deret obedientiam So Christ Bonum est verbum Domini So Ezekiah Bonum bene God loves adverbs better than verbs Quid Deus vult quomodo Deus vult Give us this Day our daily Bread Here we pray that God who is the giver of all good would bestow upon us those temporal blessings which are convenient for us in this life That he would give us the necessaries of our lives from day to day proportioned to every Mans being or sustenance neither do we pray only for our selves but for others the motive of necessity puts us upon the first the motive of Charity puts us upon the latter Omne bonum Dei donum We must beg our daily Bread before we have it Dicimas da nobis ne patetur esse a nobis In sudore vultus Gen. 3.19 Deus habet sinum facilem sed non perforatum Jacob 's Prayer Gen. 28.20 Agur 's Prayer Prov. 30.8 Paul 's Dimensum 1 Tim. 6.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meat and cloathing are sufficient for us Non mihi sed nobis non meam sed nostram And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us We are no sooner taught to pray for our daily Bread but as soon as those words are out of our mouths to pray for the forgiveness of our sins so apt we are to make the blessings of God instruments of Rebellion against him and to enslave our faith to our present enjoyments And in regard our sins hinder the current of his blessings and keep good things from us we are taught to beg that God would be merciful unto us forgive us our sins and work in our hearts though not in the like measure yet in some measure the same mercy towards others as he bears towards us How can we expect pardon from God when we will not pardon our Brethren Again in begging pardon we confess how much we need it and that our righteousness is depending on Gods forgivenes Least I be full and deny thee Pro. 30.9 Then beware least thou forget the Lord Deut. 6.12 Religio peperit divitias filia devoravit matrem Plenty causeth forgetfulness noted in Joseph's two Sons Ephraim and Manasses Gen. 41.51 52. When GOD is most mindful of us we are most unmindful of him Vid. Aristoph Plut. Quid alimenta proderunt si illis reputamur revera quasi taurus ad Victimam Tertul. Quid est ad pacem Dei accedere sine pace ad remissionem debitorum cum retentione quomodo placabit patrem iratus in fratrem Tertul. Qui petit veniam delictum confitetur Tertul. And lead us not into Temptation In this Petition seeing our own nature is so strong in its weakness as to incline us to sin we pray that God would support us by his grace to keep us from falling and when we are fallen to raise us up again by repentance Ne nos patiaris induci a diabolo qui utique tentat Tertul. Christus a diabolo tentatus praesidem artificem tentationis demonstravit Tertul. But deliver us from evil Seeing we are exposed to many temptations in this World and by reason of our sins lie open to many dangers so that in the midst of life we are in death one evil opening a way to another the evil of sin to the evil of punishment therefore we pray that God who is so powerful that he can and so merciful that he will would keep us from the evil of sin by his grace and keep from us the evil of punishment by his mercy Haec clausula priorem interpretatur Tertul. Qui Deo se committit diabolum non timet Ambros Libera nos 1. a malo mundi 2. a malo carnis 3. a malo diaboli Libera nos a nobis For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever This clause is an Appendix to the Prayer and shews that when we pray in this forme and take the meaning along with the words and our hearts and words go together we may have an humble confidence we shall be heard and have our requests granted either according to our desires or according to our needs in another kind which may not be so well known to us in regard He we pray to is a King invested with all Power and Authority and will deny us nothing which tends to the advancement of his glory Deus vult dare quod petimus potest dare quod petimus 1. Ab officio regis Tuum est regnum 2. A potentia dei Tua est potentia 3. A causa finali Tua est gloria This Doxologie is often omited because in St. Luke it is no part of the Prayer nor is to be found in that most ancient Manuscript of St. Matthew's Gospel but is thought to be added by the Greek Church and used in their Liturgies but divided from the Prayer as if it were no part of it Vid. Dr. Sparr Ration pag. 28. Amen This Word being an Index of the Peoples ascent to the preceding Prayer was usually in the Primitive Church
Purification of sin whereby the Blood of the Lamb of God and the death of the Messias was prefigured Levit. 14.6 7. Numb 19.6 So shall I be restored to that blessed estate from which I have so sadly fallen by my sinful miscarriages Vers 8. I am yet in a sad and most wretched condition thy wrath continuing over me sets my soul upon torture my own conscience under thee being my dreadful executioner but O be thou pacified unto me again and that shall be the most joyful news which ever came to any poor tortured suppliants ears when he is taken from the rack his bones set and he restored to ease again Vers 9. Lord pardon my sins return thy wonted favour towards me Vers 10. I have sadly fallen from my wonted purity and sincerity but O Lord by the good work of thy grace upon my heart restore me to it again renew me inwardly and throughly my thoughts as well as actions that I never fall into the least beginning of any such pollutions again Vers 11. It is just with thee to cast me from thy spiritual commerce who have resisted thy spirit it is just with thee to withdraw thy grace to which I have done such despite but O do not thus severely punish me by withdrawing that which I now more than ever stand in need of Vers 12. Without thy gracious aid and assistance I am not able to get out of this broken condition the free assistances of thy Spirit are so necessary to me that without them I cannot indeavour in the least the recovering of that purity from which I am fallen Therefore Lord restore them to me that I may be restored unto thee Vers 13. This thy exceeding mercy to me a sinner so sadly lapsed may be a means to bring wicked livers home to repentance by mine own happy success I shall encourage them to return who have fallen as sadly as any of them can have done and yet have met with mercy and many I doubt not encouraged on by my example by the assistance of thy grace will be brought home to thy service and the practise of the duties of new life Vers 14. The sin of Murder is an horrid and crying sin of a black and deep die deliver me from that so far as my conscience assures me guilty though my own hands have not been polluted with it Blessed Lord from whom all deliverance comes be pleased to deliver me from this and all other foul commissions which will be welcome news to me and make me with greatest exultation of Heart to proclaim abroad thy abundant mercies Vers 15. Thy work of grace towards me shall set my lipps wide open in praysing thee Vers 16. It is not any Hecatombe or most chargeable oblation for sin thou requirest of me for the truth is my sins are such as for which all exteriour performances afford no reconciliation Vers 17. 'T is my sincere humiliation confession and renovation which alone thou admittest and which thou art mercifully pleased to have respect to however I am in this foul condition and to look upon them as the most acceptable oblation These with an honest heart presented unto Thee will be sure to find a favourable and welcome reception Vers 18. Be merciful O Lord not to me only but to all that love and fear thy Name and meet uniformly in the place appointed for thy service Be thou a defence and succour to all such Let them be walled about with thy protection and preserve them from falling into any wilful and presumptuous sins Vers 19. For then shall all our services of Prayers and praises typified by the Legal sacrifices our solemn acts of the most ardent devotion to Thee and most diffusive charity to our brethren be accepted by Thee being upon an humble but cheerful confidence of thy acceptance presented to Thee upon the Altars of our very hearts Vid. Dr. Hammond Glory be to God the Father maker of all the World and to God the Son Redeemer of all Mankind and to God the Holy Ghost Sanctifier of the Church or all the Elect People of God Answer This was the confession of faith taken up from the first beginning of the Christian name and grounded upon Christ's own institution Matth. 28.19 therefore against all Arrians and Antitrinitarians we make confession of the same faith in the ever blessed Trinity and pray for the continuance of it to the Worlds end subjoyning our Amen of confirmation that so it is and of option that so it may continue Lord have mercy upon us Christ have mercy upon us Lord have mercy upon us Note These Versicles are of very ancient usage in the Church-Service mention'd in the Clementine Constitutions lib. 8. c. 5. c. 6. Council of Vas c. 5. Ann. Dom. 440. received both in the Eastern and Western Church called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seasonable at all times and therefore it hath a part in all our divine Offices and is set ever or for the most part before the Lord's Prayer as a fit preparative to usher it in Vid. Haman Lestrange Alliance of Divine Offices Pag. 83. Dr. Sparrow's Rational pag. 71 72 73. Our Father which art in Heaven c. Note This Prayer is Tanquam sal omnium divinorum Officiorum Upon which I have here added this Paraphrastical Prayer Preface O Lord God who art great in power rich in mercy whose glory is above the Heavens whose goodness is over all the Earth who art Almighty for in Heaven who art most merciful for our Father in Heaven so able to help us our Father so willing to hear us Lord what art not thou able to do for us who art in Heaven Lord what art not thou willing to do for us who art our Father Here we lie prostrate before Thee upon the Earth yet pressing in our affections towards the Heaven where thou art and presume not for any merit in us but for thy mercies in Christ that thou wilt deny us nothing which may do us good who vouchsafest us this to call Thee Father 1 Petit. Thou art an Holy God and delightest that all thy Worshipers should worship Thee in the beauties of holiness we desire Thee to shed thy Holy Spirit abroad in our hearts that we may perform this our bounden duty and service in an holy manner that we may lift up holy hands with holy hearts to Thee who dwellest in the Heavens Thou who art the sanctifier of all that is made holy make us to be holy as Thou art holy give us holiness in our thoughts words and actions sanctify us inwardly and outwardly in our Souls and Bodies make us holy in our lives that we may be happy at our deaths Let thy Name of Father be hallowed in us and upon us that we may in our lives and conversations walk before Thee in newness of life and as it becometh the Sons of God 2 Petit. To this end we humbly beg of Thee to sanctifie our corrupt nature and to beautifie
note the state of death and taking it out again to represent the Resurrection 10. But Chrysostom Tom. 3. pag. 514. and Theophylact and others understand Baptizing for the Dead to imply this and no more The being Baptized in the faith and profession of the Resurrection of the dead And so Harmenopulus refuting the Marcionites interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Sect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only the Resurrection of the dead is expressed here by way of abbreviation by this word Dead Vers 30. And why do we Christians run hazards and encounter dangers and difficulties which may certainly bring death upon us if we had no assurance that there was another life wherein all our patience and valour for Christ should be rewarded by Him Vers 31. For my part I protest by my fidelity to Christ which is the greatest thing I joy in in this World that I daily run the hazard of death which sure I should never do if I had not confidence of another life after this Vers 32. Certainly all the hazards which I ran at Ephesus Act. 19. being as far as Mans purposes could go to have me sentenc'd and condemned to have me combat with wild Beasts upon their Theaters however I was by God's good providence snatched out of those dangers can be nothing at all advantageous to me unless there be another life after this Besides if it was so that there is no other life it would excuse and justify that common saying which is used amongst some of you Let us enjoy the good things of this World at present for when Death comes which cannot be far of there is an end of all Note This Place of fighting with Beasts at Ephesus is variously expounded by learned Men. Tertullian Theophylact and others take it to be spoken metaphorically of Men in shape Beasts in condition and Oecumenius saith That these Beasts were the Jews at Ephesus and Demetrius with his faction called Beasts in the same sense as Nero is called a Lyon 2 Tim. 4.17 and Herod is termed a Fox Luk. 13.32 David's Persecutors Bulls of Basan Psal 22.12 The Scribes and Pharisees Vipers Matth. 23.33 The Enemies of the Church wild Boars Psal 80.13 with these did Paul fight by strength of Argument proving them to be no Gods which are made with hands and so cut the throat of that Ephesian Beast Idolatry as that all the Silver-Smiths of Diana could not Hammer out a Reply to his Charge Chrysostom Ambrose and others take it literally as if Paul did actually encounter with Beasts upon their Theatre and Pareus inclines to be of the same judgment For to fight with Beasts was a punishment which Malefactors were condemned to in those days it was used in Asia as appears by the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna about the Martyrdom of Polycarpus Euseb lib. 4. c. 15. For upon their Festivities and Solemnities they performed these barbarous inhumanities as an honour to their gods and they made choice of such times for the punishing of Malefactors not only to make their punishments more exemplary but to be as a piece of sacrifice to their gods Now that there was a Theatre at Ephesus for this purpose we read Act. 19.29 and that Christians as Malefactors were punished after this manner we find in Tertullian that Christianos ad Leones was a common word and of Damnatio ad Bestias Bestiarii we may read at large in the Jewish Antiquities But the most genuine and proper sense of this place is by very learned Men taken to be this that Paul was condemned at least by the Multitude designed to this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or combating with Beasts at Ephesus as appears Act. 19.30 31. 2 Cor. 1.8 9. The Sentence of this kind of death was passed on him but God took him out of their hands and snatched him out of those dangers raising him as it were from the dead by delivering him from so great a death 2 Cor. 1.9 10. whereas Gaius and Aristarchus two of Paul's Companions were hailed to the Theatre Act. 19.29 The devout Christians would not permit Paul to come amongst them vers 30. and the Asiarcha who had some kindness for him which was a work of God's Providence to him sent unto him that he should keep close and not run the hazard by coming out of being carried thither vers 31. By which it is evident that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the manner of Men signifies this that Paul so far as Man's purpose extended concerning him was condemned to this death of fighting with Beasts at Ephesus only God by a wonderful providence delivered him from it Now it had been very strange should the Apostle have exposed himself to so apparent danger of death as Men led on by nothing but that which is humane such as vain glory and some other respect have done had not he by faith looked at a Resurrection and at God the Rewarder of those who suffer for him at that Day Vers 33. But have a care that ye be not seduced by any Philosophical or debauched Discourses to disbelieve the Resurrection Take heed that such Atheistical temptations to sensuality under pretence of no other life after this do not work upon you and the rather because good natures and the most flexible dispositions are the soonest cheated and deceived by such corrupt converse and foolish dispute Vers 34. Ye have all the Reason in the World and now it is more than time that ye should rouse up your selves out of the drouzy condition of sin which ye have been in for a long time in so much that some of you by your behaviour and discourse show your selvs to be very Atheists stil and meer Heathens of whom I am forced to speak only to work shame in you for suffering such Men among you and that ye may not permit your selves to be tempted by them into such Errours and Debaucheries Vers 35. But some perhaps may object that if Men die How can they live again or what kind of Body shall they have seeing that which they had is rotten in the Grave Vers 36. But this is a foolish Objection for even in Corn that is sowed the rotting of the Corn is necessary to the enlivening of it or springing of it up again Vers 37. And it is not the custom to sow that very thing which after comes up the Blade and Ear and Corn in it but only the Corn without the rest as the Corn of Wheat and the like Vers 38. And whensoever such a single Grain is sown in the Earth without any Ear or Chaff about it God causeth it to grow up out of the Earth in this or that forme with Root and Blades and Ears of Wheat and of all other Seeds proportionably according to their kind Vers 39. And as amongst us here below one sort of flesh differs very much from another so the Bodies of Men here differ in their