thy sake CHAP. II. How euery sinne slayeth the soule AS sinne brings a curse vpon all creatures How sinne brought on man a treble death so it brings death vpon all men for the reward of sinne is death and we finde this death to bee three fold 1. A spirituall death of the Soule within the Body 2. A corporall death of the Body by continuall castigation of the same throughout all our life and a finall seperation from the soule at the end of our life 3. An eternall death both of Body and Soule in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone foreuermore The first is set downe in the 8. of Matth. 22. Chrysost hom 11. in c. 6. ad rom Where our Sauiour sayth Let the dead bury their dead i. e. Let those that are spiritually dead in trespasses sinnes as the Apostle sayth burie those that are naturally dead to shew that a sinners body is but the breathing Sepulchre of his sinnefull soule and therfore the Prophet Dauid sayth Psal 14.5 Rom. 3.13 that their throat is an open Sepulchre which yeelds a more loathsome sent vnto the nostrils of God from the corrupted putrified soule then any graue can yeeld vnto the nostrils of man from all its rotten carkases The second is set downe in the 11. of Iohn the 39. John 11.39 where Martha sayth her brother Lazarus was dead and stinked i. e. depriued of the fruition of the soule and therefore loathsome to bee seene and more loathsome to bee smell for experience sheweth vs that how sweete soeuer we be in our life and how soft and tender soeuer our flesh bee most amiably complexioned with that fresh and liuely blood which be deckes the same with the fairest colours and glides vp and downe in siluer veynes yet are the best of these sweetest Ladies but most loathsome stinking carrions within a short space after death all flesh being subiect to corruption Luke 16.24 The third is set downe in the 16. of Luke 24. where Diues being in torments prayeth vnto Abraham to shew that he had a soule and desireth a drop of water to coole his tongue to prooue that he had a body But to speake of these three more fully First Wee must vnderstand that the spirituall death of the soule is two-fold 1. Mori peccatis to die to sinne 2. Mori in Peccatis to die in sinne Macrob. c. 1. in som scip 13. For the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole studie and life of the Philosopher was nothing else but a commentary Hieron ad Heliod ex Platone in Phaedone or preparation for death saith Macrobius Nam mori dicimur cum anima adhuc in corpore constituta corporeas illecebras contemnit for he may bee truely sayd to die whose soule still remayning within the body doth notwithstanding contemne and abstaine from all fleshly delights And this was aymed at by the Philosophers but it was onely attained vnto by the true Christians What it is to die to sinne for they that are Christs haue crucified the flesh and haue mortified the lusts of the same sayth the Apostle these haue eares and heare not the Sirenian notes of sinne nor the flattering suggestions of Satan they haue eyes and see not the alluring vanities of this world any wayes worthy to bee desired for I haue made a couenant with mine eyes Job 31. that they should not looke that is vnlawfully or with any lasciuious desire vpon a maide sayth holy Iob and I sayd I would take heed vnto my wayes sayth the Prophet Dauid that I offend not in my tongue Psal 39.1 and therefore as the Apostle sayth they vse the world as though they vsed it not To die to sinne is a punishment for sinne And although this death be good the onely way to bring vs vnto a better life for hee that will not die before he dieth shall neuer liue when hee dieth yet is this the reward of sinne for had it not beene for sinne we had not needed to take this care and payne Cyprian de duplici Martyrio to fight against our selues yea to Martyr and mortifie our own flesh by chastening our owne bodies to bring them to subiection least we should prooue to be cast-awayes as the Apostle speaketh and therefore the chastisements of the Saints are the punishments of their sinnes For the second to die in sinne What it is to die in sinne is when God forsaketh a sinnefull soule and suffereth the same to lye and die in her transgressions for as the soule is the life of the body so is God the life of the soule sayth Saint Augustine Aug. de ciuit dei l. 13. c. 21. Matth. 4.4 And therefore all those that liue by bread onely and not by euery word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God i. e. which liue the life of nature and not the life of grace they are like those wanton widdowes whereof the Apostle sayth 1 Tim. 5.6 that they are dead while they liue for though the soule be truely immortall yet it hath a kind of death sayth Saint Augustine and that is when God forsaketh the same for sinne and what a heauy case is this Plangis corpus quod deserit anima non plangis animam quam deserit Deus We bewaile the body when the soule is parted and shall wee not bewayle the soule which God hath forsaken sayth Saint Chrisostome Saint Augustine being as then a Manichee and reading the Hystorie of Aeneas and Queene Dido A most excellent consideration of Saint Augustine did weepe as himselfe confesseth when hee came to the death of Dido and therefore after that he was conuerted hee most diuinely sayth ô me miserum c. O wretched man that I was that would bewaile the death of Dido forsaken of Aeneas and did not bewaile the death of mine owne soule forsaken of God so we many times doe weepe for the death of our friends but doe neuer weepe for the death of our owne soules They may say vnto vs as Christ sayd to the daughters of Ierusalem weepe not for vs but weepe for your selues Luke 23.28 and for your owne soules that are dead in sinnes for euery one of vs may say with the poet Atque vtinam lugenda tibi non vita Repentance is the onely meanes to reuiue our dying soules sed esset mors mea Our life is a great deale more worthy to bee bewailed then our deâ—th in as much as the death of the soule is a great deale more lamentable then the death of the body But as wee haue no other remedie for the death of our friends but onely teares Est quadam flere voluptas Expletur lachrymis egeriturque dolor for this is a great ease vnto the afflicted heart and a kinde of comfort vnto the sorrowfull soule so we haue none other helpe for the death of our soules but onely teares Saepe per has
therefore many groanes and sighes How hard it is to recouer a sinner accustomed to sinne many teares and prayers and loud cryes must be vsed before such a soule can be raised from her sinnes and because the accustomed sinners are bound with sinnes as with a chaine and haue their faces bound vp with shamelesse impudency and couered with the same as with the Napkin therefore the Ministers of the word their friends their neighâ—ours by reproofes by counsell and by all other meanes must doe their best to loose them and to let them goe that is to withdraw them from their euill wayes and to cause them to walke in the pathes of Righteousnesse Well then seeing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the life of sinne is the death of the soule yea seeing euery sinne slayeth the soule and that it is so hard a thing to reuiue the soule from accustomed sinnes Oh why should we accustome our selues to sinne for it is more dangerous to sleepe with one sinne then with an hundred Scorpions For they can but kill the body but sinne killeth both the body and soule Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore That the loue of goodnesse should moue vs to hate sinne Siscirem deos ignosciturâ—s homines ignorâ—turos Tamen propter peccati turpitudinem peccare dedignarer Seneca We know that good men will not sinne for the very loue they beare to vertue and for the detestation they beare to vice for so we reade that Seneca though a Heathen hated sinne least it should defile his soule and Anselmus that good Christian saith that if hee should see all punishments without sinne on the one hand and finde sinne with all the pleasures of sinne on the other hand and were compelled to make choice of one of them as Origen was either to commit Sodomie with a Blackamoore or to cast Thuâ—ibilum his censer into the fire for to sacrifice vnto the Idols hee would surely imbrace the punishments and forsake the sinne because all the Saints of God doe euer esteeme it better to suffer affliction with the people of GOD Heb. 11.25 then to inioy the pleasures of sinne for a season But if we will not imitate these good men to forsake sinne for the filthinesse of sinne yet as many wicked men are saide to haue done it That wicked men should forsake sinne for feare of punishment so let vs doe it formi ine poenae for feare of the reward of sinne for the wages of sinne is death and that not onely of the soule in sinne but also of the body for sinne And so I come to the second kinde of death CHAP. IIII. How sinne slayeth the body by inflicting on it all the miseries of this life and of the large extent of death ouer all men SEcondly Touching the death of the Body that wee may the more fully take a view thereof and the more orderly proceed in this point I must desire you to consider these three things 1. How it is defined 2. How farre it extendeth Three things to bee considered concerning naturall death 3. How variably it worketh For the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 death is said to bee the dissolution of the body and soule that is the separation of the one from the other and not the destruction of either And wee must note that whatsoeuer worketh or causeth the diuorse and dissolution of these two must needs be a branch of this tree and therefore by death is vnderstood By death is vnderstood all that is contained in the curse of God not onely the last finall stroke and fatall seperation of the body and soule but also all other fore-runners and fore-causers of this dissolution as sicknesse griefe sorrow and all the other miseries that doe happen throughout the whole course of mans life for as I told you before the death of man pronounced here and the curse of God denounced elsewhere are aequiualent the like reward of sinne and therefore whatsoeuer is the curse of God the same must needs be contained vnder the name of death but we know that all the miseries of man doe proceed from the curse of God for sinne and therefore all the miseries and troubles and sorrowes of this life must needs bee vnderstood vnder the name of death for as the last stroke of a tree is not the onely cause that doth throw downe the tree but that with all the rest are properly sayd to hâ—ue cut it downe so the last stroke of death cannot be sayd to be the sole killer of any man but that with all the rest of his precedent miseries So death daily strikes to beate vs downe and the more sorrowes are suffered or the more dayes are passed the more chippes are chopped off from this tree of life Now the whole life of man is nothing else but a mappe of miseries and my life would bee too short to relate it yet seeing all is the wages of sinne for man suffereth all that he suffereth for his sinnes as the Prophet sheweth my text calls mee to speake a little of all and the time bids me to speake but a little of the same and therefore I desire you to consider The manifold miseries of all ages 1. How all ages 2. How all estates 3. How all creatures Doe accumulate heape vpon man heapes of miseries For the first In our infancie wee come crawling into the world without any strength Ouid. Met. l. 15. Editus in lucem iacuit sine viribus infans and as Lucretius sayth Nudus humi iacet Lucret. l. 5. Iob. 1. We come naked out of our mothers wombes and haue not any the least couering to hide vs saue onely the blood of filthinesse and if we had vnderstanding to see it we might perceiue our mothers halfe-dead by giuing vs a little life and that if wee were not helped by others the houre of our birth would be the end of our life and therefore as the Poet saith Lucret Ibid. Vagituque locum lugubri complet vt aequum est Cui tantum in vita restet tranfire laborum The poore infant now begins with dolefull cries and teares within a while as his best orators to expresse his owne miseries Iustin hist l. 1. and you neuer saw neither haue we euer read of any one saue onely of Zoroastres king of the Bactrians that either laughed or smiled at his birth nor yet in forty dayes after sayth Arist except it be sometimes as they sleepe are at rest Arist histor animal l. 7. c. 10 After wee are thus cast into the world weake wailing and miserable Galenus de diffi medicis our whole life is deuided by Galenus into foure parts whereof he maketh the 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iuuenum of children till 15. The age of man is diuided into 4. parts 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vigentium of youths till 30. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mediorum of men till 50.
the world yet there is 1000. wayes How death hath diuers wayes to shorten life Prou 17.22 Act. 5.10 for euery man to goe out of the world And so we finde some haue perished with sudden death as Ananias and Saphira some with Gluttony as Domitius Afer others with drunkennesse as Attila King of Hunnes some by fire from Heauen as the Sodomites Gen. â—9 the two fifties that were sent to fetch Elias and Anastatius the Emperour an Eutychian Hereticke others by waters as Marcus Marcellus Exod. 24.28 King Pharaoh and all his hoast and all the old wicked world excepting those eight persons that were saued in Noahs Arke Gen. 7 21. 1 Pet 2.5 Numb 16.32 Some with hunger as Cleanthes others with thirst as Thales Milesius some were swallowed vp quicke to Hell as Corah Dathan and Abiram and others by earthquakes were stricken dead as Ephrasius Bishop of Antioch Some were stifled with smoake as Catulus others dyed with a fall as Nestorius some were taken in their lasciuious dalliances as Cornelius Gallus others with ouerwatchingâ— as M. Attillius some with poyson as Phocion others choked with flies as Pope Adrian some at the disburdening of Nature as that wicked Arrius others torne in pieces by wilde beasts as Heraclius Lucian 2 King 2 24. and Acteon by dogges Hypolitus by wilde Horses Licus the Emperour and the disobedient Prophet by Lions Ancaeus King of Samos by Bores and Hatto Bishop of Mentz by Rats and so some die with ioy as Chylo the Lacedemonian and Diagoras the Rhodian who seeing his three sonnes crowned Champions in one day he reioyced so much that he dyed for ioy in the very place More die with griefe Quia spirâ—tus tristis exiccat ossa Because a broken spirit dryeth the bones and a heauy heart doth hasten to death and therefore the Prophet Dauid when he found hâ—mselfe so melancholicke and discontented did rouze vp his heart and spirits saying Why art thou so heauy O my soule and why art thou so disquieted within me yet put thy trust in the Lord for he is thy helper and defender and so should wee doe Bosquier de finibus bonorum mal pag. 31. 32. when either cares or crosses doe dismay vs. But most men die with sicknesses and diseases Feauers Fluxes Gouts Plagues and 1000. more they being so many that neither Galenus nor Hypocrates nor all the best Physitians can number them saith Bosquierus the generations of men here on earth being as Homer saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tale quale est foliorum Like vnto the leaues of a tree whereof some doe perish and others spring in their places They spring they flourish they waxe old and soone wither away Et tum quoque cum crescimus Senecal 3. ep 24. vita decrescit and our life then decreaseth as our yeares increaseth Vt rosa mane viget sero mox vespere languet Sic modo qui fuimus cras leuis vmbra sumus We bring our yeares to an end as it were a tale that is told For the second that is the Time when death doth attach vs We see some are taken yong and some are left vntil they be very old Death taketh men of all ages some taste of death before they doe see the light when their mothers wombes are as the tombes for their buriall some die in their Cradles as the babes of Bethelem and some liue so long that they are weary of life And sometimes the good are soonest taken as Enoch sometimes the bad as Onan Et vocantur ante tempus boni Gen. 5.24 Gen. 33. ne diutius vexarentur à noxijs And the good are often taken away that they should be neither vexed nor corrupted by the wicked and the wicked are sometimes taken away that they should not persecute the godly any longer and that they might be an example of Gods vengeance vpon all such as feare not God And sometimes death fore-warneth vs as it did Ezechias by sending his messengers to bid vs to set our houses in order that we may be prepared for death as age sickenesses and such like and sometimes it preuenteth vs and takes vs afore we are aware of it as it did yong Onan and old Ely who were both suddenly met by death when death was looked for by neither of them For the third that is the Place where death will meete vs Death smiteth in euery place we know death is not very scrupulous be it faire or soule wide or narrrow priuate or publike in the field or in the Church or wheresoeuer where hee meetes vs there hee will arrest vs Poet Euâ—ulus and his wife both a bed Vrias in the field and Ioab at the hornes of the altar And all this taking of vs in any Manner at any Time That we shâ—ld be alwayes ready for death and in any Place is to teach vs to be alwayes ready and to looke for death at all times and in all places Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum For seeing thou knowest neither the time nor the place where death meanes to arrest thee it is thy chiefest wisedome to be ready for death at all times and to waite for the same in euery place For the fourth that is the effects of death we must note Death is a comfortable thing to the godly that they are very different both about the time of the dissolution and after the time of the separation of the body and soule for first at the time of their dissolution bona mors iusti right deare in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints And this is the thing they longed for to be losed from the bonds of sinne and to be with their Sauiour Christ in happinesse to be with him which was dead and is aliue and liueth for euermore Reuel 2.8 And therefore to these men Mors vltima poenae est Lucan l. 8. nec metuenda viris Death is the ending of their paine and the beginning of their pleasure nay more as Prudentius saith Tormenta carcer vngulae stridensque flammis lamina atque ipsa poenarum vltima mors Christianis ludus est All the bitternesse of the bitterest death Prudent in hymno de Vincent is ioy and sweetnesse vnto them for that in death they see their life they behold the Angels pitching their tents round about them and ready to receiue their soules to glory before their bodies can be laid in their graues and therefore well might Salomon say that the godly man hath hope in his death Prou. 14.32 for he knoweth not what to feare because he knoweth in whom he beleeued The death of the wicked is most terrible vnto them But mors peccatorum pessima the death of the wicked is most fearefull and therefore the very remembrance of it is most bitter vnto them for now before it shuts the eyes of their bodies it will open the eyes of
sleepe and smote all his enemies vpon the cheeke bone and brought them vnto perpetuall shame and as the Apostle sayth Collos 2.15 hee spoyled principalities and powers and led away captiuitie captiue Ephes 4.8 and receiued gifts for men And therefore as many as lay hold vpon this death of Christ they need not feare their owne death for they may say with the Phenix Moritur me moriente senectus Sinne and misery dieth in vs but wee doe still liue with Christ And therefore Saint Cyprian sayth that Cyprian de mortalitate eius est timere mortem qui ad Christum nolit ire it is enough for them to feare death which will not beleeue in Christ his death John 11.26 for hee that beleeueth in him shall neuer die but they that will not beleeue in him may well feare and tremble at the remembrance of this death because after death comes iudgement and then shall they feele another death which is eternall death for the reward of sinne is death that is indeed eternall death in hell Marke 9.44 where their worme dieth not and their fire is not quenched CHAP. VI. How sinne brings eternall death both of Body and Soule THirdly Touching eternall death wee must vnderstand What eternall death is that this is a separation of man from God which is paena damni the losse of eternall happinesse a losse farre exceeding the losse of all the world and an allegation of a damned soule in a tormented body non viuendâ— sed dolendi causa not to giue any comfort of life or ioy but to giue the true sence and feeling of eternall death and sorrow which is paena sensus the payne of feeling and suffering the greatest paynes that can be conceiued for when the wicked are called by God to be adiudged for sinne they shall bee condemned by Christ Of the intollerable paynes of hell and then caried by the deuils into euerlasting torments into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for euermore and there their musicke shall be horrors and howlings their meate shall be balls of fire and their drinke shall be fountaines of teares alwayes distilling downe from their eyes and yet neuer procuring them any ease there their torments shall be intollerable their times endlesse and their companions deuils for so Saint Augustine sayth August ser 55. de tempore that in inferno nec tortores deficiant nec miseri torti moriantur sed per milia milia annorum cruciandi nec tamen in secula liberandi in hell neither the cruell tormenters shall be wanting nor the miserably tormented shall bee eased but for thousand thousands of yeares bee plagued and neuer thence to bee deliuered Isidorus de summo bono and as Isidorus sayth Ibi erit semper velle quod nunquam erit semper nolle quod nunquam non erit there shall bee a will neuer satisfied and a nille neuer gratified neuer inioying the ease they would and euer suffering the paynes they would not And if we diue into the depth of that dolefull tragedie of miserable Diues wee shall see this trueth fully confirmed for as the Scripture sheweth that here iudgement shall be without mercy and that euery one shall receiue his punishment in waite and measure according to the measure of their sinnes so wee find it true it him who as hee denied the crumbes of bread to poore Lazarus so is he now denied the least drop of water to coole his burning tongue How the least comfort shall be denied vnto the damned and the least dramme of mercy to refresh his poore distressed soule quis talia fando sustinet a lachrymis Who can indure to dwell in deuouring flames and yet behold this is the reward of sinne for the wages of sinne is death Oh then A most earnest perswasion to forsake sinne beloued brethren seeing euery sinne slayeth the soule within the body corrupteth the body in the graue and eternally tormenteth both the body and soule in hell let vs hate and detest all sinnes for though wee reade of many tyrants Nero Phalaris Caligula Heliagabalus and such like that were carniuorants and blood-thirsty men sauage beasts in the shapes of men delighting themselues onely in blood cruelties yet we neuer reade of such a tyrant as Sinne for the blood of death would quench these mens rage but no payne no death but eternall death a death that neuer dieth and a paine that neuer endeth will satisfie this tyrant Sinne. This is the deceit of sinne as the Poet sayd of Venus Laeta venire Venus tristis abire solet To present pleasure or profit vnto our eyes but assoone as ouer the sinne is done to deale with vs 2 Sam. 13.18 as Ammon did by Thamar thrust her out and hate her wound our conscience and destroy our soules And therefore once againe I beseech you let vs forsake our sinnes let vs leaue our drinking our swaggering and our swearing and instead of by God by God and more fearefull oathes which I am afraid to name at euery word which is the most odious yet most carelesse custome both of Court and Countrey let vs say in truth in truth the words are as easie and they will bring more ease vnto our soules for swearing graceth not your speech but disgraceth you and dishonoureth God and therefore one day you must greatly repent you of it or you shall fearefully die for it and I beseech you pardon mee for speaking it for it is my dutie that I owe you and it would bee my destruction if I did conceale it from you Clemens l. 1. recog as S. Clemens sayth in the like case and I desire not so much with Aristotle my God of Heauen is my witnesse that I lie not to bee deemed a great Scholler as with Gregorie Nazianzen to bee indeed an honest man to liue as I teach and to discharge my duety in reprouing sinne rather then to shew my knowledge in any Science and therefore I humbly intreate you all to giue me leaue to beseech you to leaue your sinnes and because wee cannot quite forsake them to confesse them and to bee ashamed of them John 1.19 for if we confesse our sinnes God is mercifull and iust to forgiue vs all our sinnes and to cleanse vs from all vnrighteousnesse But the deuill cannot indure that we should confesse them least God should thereby forgiue them and therefore as he perswadeth vs euer to commit them so he perswadeth vs euer to conceale them and neuer to confesse them For I read that on a time a sinner being at confession That the deuill cannot indure wee should confesse our sinnes the deuill intruded himselfe and came to him and being demaunded by the Priest wherefore he came in he answered to make restitution and being asked what he would restore hee sayd shame for this sayth hee I haue stollen from this sinner to make him shamelesse in sinning and
but it stingeth vs to death And so indeed it is like the Deuill Cyprian l. 1. ep 8. a lyer and the father of lies Quia peccatum mentitur vt fallat vitam pollicetur vt perimat Because euery sinne lies that it may deceiue vs and proposeth pleasure that it may bring vs into paine Venerab Beda l. exhort 4 5. Venerable Bede compareth sinne vnto a Witch which transformeth euery man vnto a Monster as Lust maketh a man like a Syren or an Horse to yeane after his neighbours wife Sloth makes him like an Asse or Ostridge Crueltie like a Wolfe or Hyenna Couetousnesse like the rauening Harpies and so euery other sinne makes the poore Sinner to become Monstrum horrendum ingens cui lumen ademptum The most vgly Monster vpon the face of the earth Why then should we not hate this sinne which speaketh friendly vnto vs and promiseth great felicity but in the end brings vs to the extreamest misery Bern. insentent Quia via peccati ingredientes contaminat progredientes obstinat egredientes exterminat Because as Saint Bernard saith sinne in the first entrance defileth in the progresse hardneth and in its going out destroyeth euery Sinner and as Salomon saith of the Harlot her wayes leade vnto death and her footsteps take hold of Hell so the same is most true of sinne and therefore if any man should be asked what hee doth in sinne hee might iustly answer as an old Courtier did when he wâ—s demanded Euery sinne payeth the same wages though it promiseth seuerall pleasures what he did in Court I doe nothing but vndoe my selfe For the reward of sinne is death And here likewise you may obserue that although euery sinne doth not promise the same thing for some sinnes promise pleasure some profit some honour and some one thing and some another yet euery sinne brings vs to the same end and in the end payeth vs with the same reward for the reward of sinne of any sinne is death But because Thriuerus Apoth 19. as many doe make none account of most deadly diseases by reason that they are ignorant of the dangerous effects of the same Ita multi euidenter peccant quia turpitudinem consequentiam peccati perspectam non habent So many men feare not to sinne but doe as smoothly drinke vp the same as pleasant Wine because they doe not vnderstand the filthinesse and wretched effects of sinne and because as if a man might with his outward eyes behold the beauty of vertue and goodnesse mirabilem amorem excitaret sui It would wonderfully inflame their hearts with the loue thereof So if we did behold the loathsomnesse of sinne and consider well the fearefull euents thereof it would make vs with Iob Iob 42 6. to abhorre our selues in Dust and Ashes Therefore I will search a little further into this Labyrinth of sinne and take a little more paines to vnfold the miserable effects of the same for the reward of Sinne is Death When sinne is first committed it wil presently gall and wound our consciences and it will continually shew vnto vs how good a Law is violated how great a Maiestie is offended and how grieuous a punishment we haue deserued and a the Poet saith Occultum quatiante animo tortore flagellum Juven Satyr 13. When the great Tormentor will shake his hidden whip in the soule of the offender then is he troubled night and day walking in the hands of his executioner and sleeping like the Nightingall which hath alwayes a pricke before her breast Neither is this all for the reward of sinne is death Now by Death By Death are vnderstood all the miseries contayned vnder the curse of God we must vnderstand not onely the separation of the body and soule of man but all other things that are comprehended vnder the curse of God for the curse of God and the Death of Man are Voces aequipollentes equiualent termes and doe signifie the same thing and therefore as Saint Paul saith here The wages of sinne is Death So he saith else-where out of Moses Gal. 3.10 Cursed is euery one that continueth not in all things that are written in the Booke of the Law for to doe them And we find that the curse of God for the sinne of man extendeth it selfe 1. To all those creatures that were created and made for the vse of man 2. To all the properties and faculties of each part of man Rom 8 20. and 22. First The creature was made subiect vnto vanity and groaneth and trauelleth in paine vntill now not of it owne accord but by reason of the transgression of man the earth was accursed for his sake and the very Heauens were subiected vnto vanity and as then hee dealt with Adam so euer since he dealeth in like manner with all the sonnes of Adam Psal 107.34 for he maketh a fruitfull land barren for the iniquity of them that dwell therein that is either such as bringeth forth no fruits at all or else such as where Infaelix lolium steriles dominantur auenae How the earth is accursed and her fruits by reason of our sinnes The good seed is ouergrowen with darnell smothered with thornes or spoyled with cockle for though the earth was made to yeeld vs fruits of increase yet instantly vpon our sinning the grounds denied to pay her tribute vnlesse as the Poet sayth iuncto boue aratra trahuntur we doe rippe vp her bowells to fetch it out of her bellie And yet this is not all for though we manure the ground and plant the seede neuer so fayre yet except the Lord giues the increase all our labour is but in vaine And the Lord tells vs plainely that if we cease to sinne and serue our God Psal 107.35 he will make the Wildernesse a standing water and water springs of a drie ground but if we continue in sinne and sow iniquitie Hosea 8.7 hee tells vs plainely wee shall reape but vanitie and if we sow the wind wee shall reape but whirlewind for our haruest And therefore if God stoppeth the windowes of Heauen and withholdeth the raine from vs 1 Reg. 17.1 as he did in the dayes of Elias and so causeth the Heauens to be as brasse and the earth to be as iron vnder our feete the one yeelding no dew the other bearing no fruit or if God openeth the Cataracts and floodgates of Heauen Gen. 7.11 as hee did in the dayes of Noah and so cause the Heauens to weepe and the floods to cary away our fruits before we can carry them into our barnes then must we know Saluian Massaliâ— de guber dei that all this and whatsoeuer of this kinde happeneth to vs is inflicted vpon vs for our sinnes quia ira diuinitatis est paena peccantis because all the grieuous effects of Gods wrath Gen. 3 17. are the iust deserts of mans sinne for cursed is the Earth for
their consciences and they shall see that they must part from all the things that they haue gathered but that not one of those sinnes will part from them which they haue committed and least they should forget them Satan will now open his booke and set all their sinnes before their eyes and then he will bestirre himselfe because he knoweth his haruest is great and his time is but short and therefore he will tell them Matth. 19.17 that if they would haue entred into life they should haue kept the commandements as our Sauiour Christ himselfe doth testifie Rom. 2.13 he will alleage against them that not the hearers but the doers of the Law shall be iustified and he will inferre that if the iust shall scarce be saued it is intollerable for them being wicked men to appeare How Satan discourageth the wicked at their death and what the Preachers of God now cannot beat into the thoughts of these carelesse men this wicked damned spirit will then irremoueably settle in their deepest considerations 1 Cor. 6.9.10 viz. that neither adulterers nor fornicators nor drunkards nor swearers nor vsurers nor extortioners nor lyers nor enuious men nor haters of men nor any such like shall inherit the Kingdome of God and of Christ O then what agonies and perplexities will inuade and teare the wofull hearts of wicked men In that day saith the Lord I will cause the Sunne to goe downe at noone Amos 8.9.10 and I will darken the earth in the cleare day I will turne their feasts into mournings and their songs into lamentations that is they shall be sure then to haue the greatest griefe and vexation when they haue the greatest need of comfort and consolation for I will make all those things that were wont most sweetly to delight them now most of all to torment them the pleasure of sinne shall now turne to be as bitter as Gall and now they shall see that they must die and liue they can no longer and that Satan whom they would not forsake all their life-time will not forsake them now at their death-time but wil be still sounding in their eares Me you haue serued and from me you must expect your wages We read the Deuil assayled the best-Saints Saint Martin Saint Bernard Eusebius Ignatius and others Luke 23.31 and if these things be done in a greene tree what shall be done in a withered saith our Sauiour If he be so busie about the Saints Pet. 4.17 which haue the Angels of God round about them to preserue them Psal 91.11 What shall he doe to sinners who haue nothing but deuils round about them to confound them This is the state of wicked men at their dying day and therefore mors peccatorum pessima of all terrible things the death of sinnefull men is the most terrible Secondly After the seperation of the body and soule How death aequalizeth the bodies of all men then death indeede makes different effects for though it makes the bodies of all alike their dust is so mingled and their bones are so like one another that we know not Irus from Craesus as Diogenes being demaunded by Alexander what he sought for among the tombes sayd he sought for his father Phillips bones but among so many dead mens soules hee knew not which they were yet in respect of the soules How death sendeth the soules of the good to Heauen and of the wicked to hell it worketh very different consequents for it sends the good soules into Abrahams bosome and the wicked soules to hell to be tormented in fire for euermore Now that the efficiente cause of death which is sinne should be the same in all men and that the fruites and effects or subsequents of death should be so different in the godly from all other men we find a treble reason A three-fold reason of the subsequent different effects of death The 1. Is the practise of a godly life 2. Is the meditation of our owne death 3. Is the application of the death of Christ These things as Sampson sayd in his riddle out of the eater bring meate and out of the strong sucke sweetenesse these things doe translate the sting and curse of death into a sweete and a blessed life Of the first Saint Augustine sayth Mala mors putanda non est Aug. de ciuit dei l. 1. c. 21. That to liue well is a speciall meanes to make vs die well quam bona vita praecessit It is impossible that his death should be ill whose whole life hath beene alwayes good quia nunquam Deus deserit hominem quovsque homo deserat deum because God will neuer forsake that man at his death which hath truely serued God throughout all his life and therefore Seneca sayth Seneca in quad epist Ante senectutem curaui vt bene viuâ—rem vt in senectute bene morerer While I was young all my care was to liue well that when I were old I might die well and so let vs doe if wee would die well let vs liue well let vs learne artem viâ—endi the art to liue the life of the righteous and wee shall bee sure to die the death of the righteous for seeing the wages of sinne is death it must needs be that the lesser and the fewer our sinnes be the better our death will be But if we liue like Baalam which loued the gaine and wages of vnrighteousnesse it is vnpossible that we should die the death of Israel for God beheld there was no iniquitie in Iacob Numb 23 21. nor any peruersenesse in Israel and therefore the Lord his God was with him Godly sorrow for sinne and the meditation of our death is the death of sinne Of the second Bosquierus sayth that à culpa natae sunt duae filiae Tristitia Mors hae duae filiae hanc pessimani matrem destruunt Sinne brought forth two goodly damosells Sorrow and Death and these two daughters like the brood of vipers doe eate through the bowells and destroy that wicked mother For First Paenitudine commissa delentur by repentance wee wash away the sinnes that are past and therefore Iohn Baptist sayth O generation of Vipers if you would kill your cruell wicked mother Matth. 3.7 8. that is Sinne bring foorth fruits meete for repentance for that is the onely way for you to escape death and to flee from the wrath to come And Secondly Meditatione mortis futura cauentur by the frequent meditation of death we come more and more to detest and to beware of sinne Aug l. 1. contra Man for so Saint Augustine sayth that nihil sic reuocat hominem à peccato quam frequens meditatio mortis Nothing is so powerfull to make a man hate sinne as continually to consider of this bitter fruit and reward of sinne which is death and Seneca before him sayth the same thing and therefore he aduiseth euery man
of Christ differ from ours in three respects First In respect of the obiect for we many times feare where there is no feare and we doe loue the things which we should despise but he onely feared the things that are to be feared and loued the things that are to be loued indeed Secondly In respect of the manner for will wee will we these affections will inuade vs and when they haue once taken hold vpon vs we doe many times feare and loue and hate if not against reason yet surely beyond and beside all reason and so that as we cannot guide them so we cannot leaue them when we would but CHRIST is angry reioyceth feareth loueth when and where and so much as iust reason directeth him for these affections master vs but he mastereth them and therefore Saint Augustine saith that Aug. in Johan potestate non infirmitate turbauit seipsum These affections are rather signes of his omnipotency then arguments of his infirmitie because he mastereth their willingnesse to oppresse him when they cannot find any weakenesse in him to be oppressed Thirdly In respect of the effects for our passions and affections blinde vs so that we cannot see the light of truth in whom we loue we see no sinne our loue is blinde and in whom we hate we can see no goodnesse for malitia corum exaecauit eos the malice of the wicked blindeth them saith the wise man and as the Poet saith of wrath Impedit ira animum ne possit cernere verum That it blindeth our eyes and disturbeth our senses so as wee know not what is what So might I say of feare of loue and of euery other vehement passion Non modo memoriam excutit Plutarch in l. de Fortuna Alexand. sed quoduis constitutum quemuis conatum impedit It doth not onely disturbe our memories but it hindereth all our purposes and indeuours so that in respect of these we forget many times and are hindered oftentimes to doe those things which our selues most of all desire to effect Psal 55.5 and therefore the Psalmist according to the vulgar Latine saith Timor hebetudo mentis venerunt super me contexerunt me tenebrae Fearefulnesse and trembling came vpon me and then darkenesse hath inuironed me or an horrible dread hath ouer-whelmed me and the reason hereof is truely rendred by the Philosopher Auicen rer nat lib. 6. c 5. Quia potentiae naturales intensae mutuo se impediunt The naturall powers stretched to the highest straine doe mutually disturbe and hinder each other to discharge their right functions and therefore exceeding ioy swalloweth vp griefe and so of all the rest Arist aethic l. 7. c. 14. the more intentiue we are to see any thing the lesse able wee are to heare any other thing according to that vulgar saying Pluribus intentus minor est ad singula sensus The sense intent to many things To each one truth it neuer brings But in Christ they could neuer diuert him from his desire they could neuer darken his vnderstanding nor any wayes hinder the execution of his Office Neither concourse of many yea of most contrary passions and affections as loue and hatred ioy and griefe and such like any wayes mitigate or stupifie the sharpenesse or liuely-hood each of other but that euen now when he most feareth this deadly Cup he exceedingly reioyceth at the benefits that he seeth shall accrew thereby And therefore though I easily grant that nature it selfe abhorreth death the soule and body being euer loth to part and euery thing desirous of life yet that death should be thus feared thus prayed against thus melt our Sauiour Christ into such a bloudy sweat I cannot willingly yeeld For Iohn 8.20 First Desiderio desiderauit With a longing desire did hee wish this houre and he calleth it his houre as if in that houre he were to inioy his longing and he makes no more account of his death then of his dipping in the water Luke 12 5. for be calleth the same a Baptisme John 2.4 saying I must be baptized with a baptisme and how am I troubled till that be ended i. e. How am I payned and grieued Iohn 11. not because I must vndergoe it for that is my chiefest desire but because I must stay yet a while Mine houre being not yet come before I may doe it and therefore to this end Quasi ambiens mortem as one that would euer keepe himselfe in his enemies sight or as one desirous to be dissolued he goeth vp vnto Ierusalem he raiseth Lazarus from the dead that the wrath of the Iewes Iohn 13.27 being stirred vp by this present miracle he might be the sooner condemned vnto death he biddeth Iudas to doe quickely what he meant to doe not commanding the Act but as desiring the speedinesse of the Act as Caietan saith and knowing that his howre was at hand and his enemies neere hee saith vnto his Disciples Come let vs goe meet them because they were not so desirous to take him Matth. 26.46 as he was to be taken by them And therefore I cannot see how so much feare of death as to cause such an agony and such a greedy desire of death can stand together especially in such a person whose Passions cannot inuade him beyond the limits of his owne Commission but that we must ascribe farre greater matters to be the causes of this great and fearefull agony Seconly We see his Saints and seruants not onely willing to die but also running with Ignatius vnto the beasts and singing with the Salamander in the midst of the fire and therefore shall we thinke that this heauenly Physitian which healed others would not heale himselfe and which strengthened others to call and cry for death would thus vehemently pray and cry onely for feare of death But to this it is answered The Saints at their death were supported by God that the Saints were supported by the power of his grace and they were enabled by the helpe of his Spirit and therefore no wonder though they desired it but Christ though he was both God and Man yet was he now lest destitute of tâ—e helpe both of God and Man for all his friends forsak't him and the God-head himselfe which was himselfe did now sequester and withdraw all his helpe from this poore destitute and distressed man Iesus Christ and therefore no maruell that he being wholly left to himselfe nay not himselfe but the Humanitie it selfe should be thus moued and troubled at the sight of death I confesse that although Martyres non eripuit God did not deliuer his Martyres from death yet nunquam deseruit He did neuer forsake them at their death Whether Christ was wholly destitute of all assistance from the Godhead but distilled still into their hearts abundant comforts of his heauenly Spirit and it is most true that very much of the influence of Gods comfort and of the
miser homo non compatitur pro quo solo deus patitur Hiron in Mat. and therefore how can we behold his head resting vpon a pillow of thornes his hands pierced with iron nayles and his heart bleeding for our sinnes and not to bee moued to a godly sorrow for those our horrible sinnes that caused all his sorrowes It is reported in the Gospell that when our Sauiour suffered the Sun withdrew his light as being ashamed to see so wofull a spectacle the earth quaked and trembled as it were for feare to see her Creator put to death and the stones did cleaue in sunder yea wicked Iudas that betrayed and sold our Sauiour when he saw the indignities that were offered vnto him did repent and grieue that he had betrayed that innocent bloud and therefore what strange hearts haue wee worse then Iudas and harder then stones if we can behold the torments of his Passion and not be touched with compassion The naturalist telleth vs that the Adamant stone is of an impenetrable hardnesse Plinius l. 37. c. 4. and yet he saith that if it be steeped in the warme bloud of a Goate it will be mollified and therefore if the bloud of Christ which is farre more excellent then the bloud of Buls or of Goates cannot intenerate our hard hearts wee are worse then the Adamants and no better then the Diuels That Christ should bleed for vs and we not weepe for our owne sinnes Secondly To make vs thankefull For the second Our Sauiour hauing suffered all this for sin to saue sinfull men and to eternize mortall men He hath broken the head of the Serpent he hath wounded the great Leuiathan and by the merit of his Passion he hath subdued Hell conquered the graue rebated the sting of death taken away the force and guilt of sinne and remoued those Cherubims and that flaming sword which was placed to afright vs and to keepe the way of the tree of life Gen. 2.2 and he hath blotted out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against vs and laid open vnto vs the gates of eternall life and therefore now we should all say with the Psalmist What shall we render vnto the Lord for all his benefits that hee hath done vnto vs Psal 116 11. for we must not thinke it inough to weepe in commiseration of Christ his paine but we must be also thankefull for Christ his suffering The whole world knoweth what great loue hee hath shewed to vs and what bitter Passion he hath suffered for vs and therefore vae tacentibus de te domine Woe be vnto them whose ingratitude hath silenced them from praising thee Sed faelix lingua quae non nouit nisi de te Sermonem texere but most happy is that tongue which can praise thee O Lord though it should be able to speake of nothing else because not onely nothing can be carried better in our mindes nothing can be sweeter in our mouthes nothing more melodious to our eares as Saint Augustine saith then deo gratias to ascribe all praise and to render thankes vnto the Lord our God but especially because as Saint Bernard saith no sacrifice can be more acceptable vnto God for who so offereth me thankes and praise hee honoureth mee and nothing can be more offensiue vnto Satan then to praise the Lord for though thou watchest he careth not because himselfe neuer sleepeth though thou fastest hee regards it not because himselfe neuer eateth any thing but if thou beest thankefull vnto God for his great loue to thee then is Satan grieued because thou being a silly worme on earth dost performe that here in the vally of misery which he being a glorious Angell in Heauen could not performe in that seat of Maiestie and therefore as the Prophet Dauid saith Psal 107.15 that he would rise at midnight to praise the Lord for his righteous iudgements so with the Prophet Dauid I wish to God that men would praise the Lord for his goodnesse especially for this great goodnesse and declare the wonders that he hath done and especially this suffering this great suffering that he vnderwent for the children of men and that they would praise him from the ground of the heart And because virtus nisi cum re vilior alga That we should shew our thankfulnesse to Christ by our workes Luke 2. Matth. 2. thankefulnesse consisteth more in workes then in words therefore let vs not onely with the Angels sing Glory be to God on high but let vs with the wise men present our gifts vnto him gold to clothe the naked and to feede the hungry soule Frankinsence to maintaine the preaching of Gods Word and Myrrhe to be prepared for our death Macrob. Saturnal l. 2. c. 4. that we may liue for euer with him Macrobius tels vs that a certaine souldiour of Augustus Band that had often aduentured his life in Caesars cause being to appeare before those Iudges whom he feared he desired Augustus for to assist him and the Emperour presently wished him to choose whom he would and he would appoint him for his aduocate but the Souldier replyed O Caesar I appointed no Deputy when your life was in danger to be lost but I hazarded mine owne life and receiued all these scarres which he then shewed in his body to preserue you from all hurt and doe you now appoint another to pleade for me what haue I done so much for you and will you refuse to do so small a kindnes for me euen so beloued brethren Christ did not onely hazard his life but gaue himselfe to death and suffered scarres and wounds and the shedding of all his bloud of his dearest bloud for vs and shall wee doe nothing for him Matth. 25 40. O yes beloued let vs euer doe what lyeth in vs for the poore members of Iesus Christ for whatsoeuer you doe to any one of them you doe it vnto me saith our Sauiour Thirdly to teach vs how dearely and how truely we ought to loue our Sauiour Christ For the third as Christ hath so dearely loued vs as to suffer all these things for vs so we should truely loue Christ againe and we should the rather loue him not onely because hee hath done all these things for vs but also because he requireth nothing for all these things but loue he exacts no tribute hee requires no homage he expects no requitall but loue O then let vs not say with the vncleane spirits in the Gospell What haue wee to doe with thee Marke 1.24 O Iesus thou Sonne of God but let vs rather say with the Church Cantic 2.5 in the Canticles Stay me with flagons and comfort mee with apples Bern. in Ser. de pass dom for I am sicke of loue and as thy loue to me Erat talis tantus vt nesciret habere modum was such and so great that it could not containe it selfe within the compasse of any bounds so my
reproue great men 233 Who most subiect to dangers 433 Daughters of sinne are two 82 In the day of Christs natiuitie three things obseruable 435 DE. Death the fruit of sinne 2 Seauen deadly sinnes 40 By death is contained all that is vnder the curse of God 47 67 Death three-fold 49 Death of the soule three-fold 53 Death what it is 67 How largely it extendeth it selfe 75 How vnresistable it is ibid. How expressed by the Egyptians 76 How it shortens life diuers wayes 77 How it taketh men of all ages 78 How it smiteth in euery place 79 How comfortable it is to the godly 79 How terrible to the wicked 80 How it equalizeth the bodies of all men 81 Death of Christ the sole cause that maketh our death happy vnto vs. 84 Death eternall what it is 86 Death of Christ a sufficient satisfaction for the greatest sinnes 164 Death how little Christ respected it 446 Saints at their death supported by God 447 Death of the crosse grieuous in foure respects 479 480 Death of Christ maketh the wicked without excuse 504 Certainty of Christs death shewed in that her rose not til the third day 556 Deceit of sinne how great 44 Deceits no deceits vnlesse cunningly carried 461 Deformitie of sinne greater then we can comprehend 107 Deferring of Christs suffering grieued Christ 451 Wicked men how they deceiue themselues 517 God a debter to no man 531 To defend the truth with the hazard of all that we haue 217 Why God deferreth to giue vs what we desire 723 Delight in sinne maketh vs exceeding sinfull 15 Our deliuerances from punishments to be ascribed to Gods goodnesse 203 God deliuereth not alwaies his deerest Saints from afflictions 206 Christ deliuered from what he feared 448 To derogate from Gods power how great a sinne 161 God denieth his grace vnto the children for their Fathers sinnes 251. Why. 252 Why God denieth what we aske 725 To descend from the crosse easier then to rise from the graue 562 Descention of Christ into hell handled 580. 581 c. proued by Scripture and by the stimonie of antiquitie 484. 618 That Christ descended before hee could ascend 609 Why Christ descended not from the crosse 481 We ought to despaire of no mans conuersion 533 Descending of Christ signifieth the assuming of our flesh 301 Description of God by way of negation affirmation and super eminencie 121 Desire to sinne is an act done 96 Desperate men thinke God cannot forgiue them 139 We ought neuer to despaire of mercie 226 To despaire what a haynous sinne 228 Saints desired nothihg but Christ 264 Demosthenes his Parable vnto the Athenians of the wolues request vnto the sheepe 644 Of the young man that hired an Asse to Megara 678 DI. Christ whether hee died for all men and how 505 To die to sinne what it is 50 a punishment for sinne ibid. To die in sinne what it is 51 Difference betwixt spirituall and eternall punishment 250 How the word God differeth from our Word 309 A great difference betwixt appearing in the forme of man and to be made man 329 Difference betwixt assuming flesh and to bee made flesh 345 Difference betwixt the two-fold generations of Christ and of the Saints 364 Difference betwixt Law and Gospell 3â—4 Difference betwixt the sinnes of the godly and the wicked three-folde 35 Difference betwixt feare and sorrow 449 Philosophers most diligent to attaine to all kinde of knowledge 315 How diligent we ought to be to know Christ 393 Dirt nothing so foule as sinne 52 Diseases of the soule what they be 63 Discontent with God what a heauie sinne 239 Disobedience to God what a haynous sinne 293 Disobedience to parents what a fearefull sinne 240 To distinguish of Gods power reconcileth diuers Authors 150 Dispertion of the Apostles grieued Christ 453 In distresse how wee ought to seeke vnto God 488 Disciples whether they stole Christ from the graue or not 562 Discretion how needfull for Preachers 696 Diuels know God and Christ and the mysterie of the Trinitie 314 Confest Gods power 162 DO Doctrine touching the person of Christ how alwaies opposed by Satan 304 Doctrine of diuinitie how deepe and difficult 392 Whatsoeuer God doth is no sinne 166 Doores being shut how Christ came in 387 Doubting of Gods goodnesse what a fearefull sinne 239 That we should neuer doubt of Gods promises 130 DR To draw neere to vs how God is said 165 M. Drusus desired all men might see what he did 604 EA EArth accursed for the sinne of man 48 EF. The effects that Christs sufferings should worke in vs. 505 EG Egyptians how they expressed death 76 EL. Electionis of some men not of all 203 The elect onely are effectually called 203 Elizabeth the wife of Zacharias of what Tribe she was 397 EN Enemies that besot the godly 177 Enuie of Satan against Christ 493 and why he enuied him 434 Enemies of Christ ascribe to him in mockery what he was in deed 432 433 Enemies of Christ what they testified of him 578 Enemies of man especially three 582 EP. Epicurus confest the world had beginning and shall haue ending 137 EQ Equalitie of sinnes confuted 37 Equitie of eternall punishment for a temporarie sinne shewed in two respects 97 Christ equall with the Father 299 ER. Error of the Philosophers touching the etertie of the world 136 Error of the Vbiquitaries touching the power of God 141 Error of the Iesuites about the power of God 141 Error of Pellagius about the abilitie of mans nature 63 64 Error of Nouatus about sins after Baptisme 112 Errors of the vulgar about the absolute power of God 151 Errors expelled by truth 215 Errors boulstered with lies 175 Error of Saint Gregorie and Saint Bernard confuted 94. 95 Error of Lactantius and Pellagius confuted 63 Error of the Philosophers Stoicks Arist Seleucus Hermias Hermog confuted 136 137 c. Error of the Vbiquitaries shewed 141 Confuted 155. Their Obiect anws 165 Error of Bellarmine and the Iesuites shewed 141. Their Obiections answered 172 c. Error of Saint Hierom. 330 ES. Essence of God in heauen cannot bee seene but in the face of Iesus Christ 118 Essence of God not safe to search too farre into it 124 Essence of God distinguished into three persons 272 The word essence deriued our of Scripture and vsed in Scripture 294 Christ of the same essence with his Father 292. Vnpossible to escape out of the hands of the Angels 337 ET Eternity of Christ proued and the obiections against the same answered 278 279 280 c. Eternall punishment how inflicted for a temporary sinne 94 EV. Eua beleeueth the Deuill 3 The euill that oppresseth euery sinner two-fold 321 Euangelist why hee saith the Word was made flesh rather then man 349 Eutichian heresie what it was 367 c. EX Excuses of sinners to iustifie themselues 24 Excuses of sinners to lessen sinne 110 Examples of wilfull and spitefull sinners 33 Excellency of God cannot be conceiued
writings desired not onely pium Lectorem a courteous Reader of his labours but also liberum Correctorem a free reprouer of his faults but so that they doe it friendly to blame in their iudgement where it is equity but not to blaze my faults vnto the world which is a breach of charity and that they doe as well accept of what is good as except against what is ill herein for I know there be many Momus-like Qui vel non intelligendo reprehendunt Idem contra Faust l. 22. c. 34. vel reprehendendo non intelligunt that doe shew their folly in reprouing others when out of enuy or ignorance they blame that good of others which they haue not or know not themselues And for these there is none other helpe but to be carelesse of their censures and to pray against their wickednesse There be faults escaped in the Printing the most of them be literall as the mistaking of e for ae econtra and such like faults of no great moment especially to him that knowes how hard it is to make things perfect and therefore I hope they shall be either mended with thy pen or pardoned without thy censure for other things I onely desire thy prayers for mee and thou shalt euer finde his paines and prayers for thee which loueth thee and all men in Iesus Christ with all vnfainednesse GR. VVILLIAMS This Treatise cōtaineth 1. The worke done i. e. sin and that is either 1. Originall sinne where is considered 1. What euill it bringeth 2. How it is deriued 2. Actuall sin where is shewed 1. How it is defined 2. How it is increased 1. Inwardly 1. By the suggestion of Satan 2. By the delights of the flesh 3. By the consent of the spirit 2. Outwardly 1. Secretly committed 2 Publiquely aduentured 3. Vsually practised 4. Exceedingly enlarged 3. How it is cōmitted viz. of 1. Ignorance 2. Knowledge 3. Infirmity 4. Malice which is 1. Wilfull 2. Spitefull * And from hence is seene 1. The diuersity of sinners 2. The inequality of sins yet that 1. Euery sinne brings death 2. The sin of any one brings death 3. The least sin of any one brings death 2. The wages to be paid for sin i. e. death which signifieth the curse of God extending it selfe 1. Vpon all creatures 1. Heauenly 2. Earthly 2. Vpon euery man to whom it bringeth a treble death 1. Of the soule whereof it killeth 1. Will. 2. Vnderstanding 3. Memory 2. Of the body where is considered 1. What is meant by death i. e. all miseries 1. In all Ages 2. In all States 3. By all Creatures 2. How farre it extendeth ouer all men 3. How variably it worketh in respect of the 1. Manner 2. Time 3. Place 4. Effects †which are different the cause whereof is 1. The practise of a good life 2. The meditatiō of our death 3. The applic of Christs death 3. Of body and soule in Hell 3. The equity of this wages is seene if we consider 1. That it is iust to punish sinne 2. That God is the iustest Iudg that can bee found to punish sinne 1. Because he loueth righteousnesse 2. Because he iudgeth without respect of persons 3. Because he punisheth euery man according to his desart Where the inequality of Hell punishment is shewed 3. That all the punishment afore-said inflicted for sinne is most iust 1. Not in respect of a sinners will eternally to sinne if he did eternally liue but 2. In a iust proportion of the punishment to the haynousnesse of the sin committed which is seene in respect 1. Of the leuity and easinesse to doe what God commandeth 2. Of the transcendent deformity of sinne which is seene if we consider 1. The Nature of him that is offended 2. The quality of him that doth offend 3. The Nature of the sinne that is committed This Treatise sheweth 1. What God is and how God is knowne what he is two wayes 1. As he is in himselfe so none knoweth God but God himselfe 2. As he hath expressed himselfe to vs and so he may be known 1. By way of negation 2. By way of affirmation 3. By way of superexcellency and so hee is shewed to be 1. An eternall being in himselfe 2. A giuer of being 1. To all creatures 2. To all his promises which should teach vs to labour to be vnited to him to be thankefull and to beleeue all his promises 3. An absolute L. of all things which should teach vs to serue him for 3. especiall reasons 2. What maner of God he is where the nature of God is shewed by three speciall attributes viz. 1. By his Power touching which is handled 1. The number quality of the aduersaries of Gods power which are 1. The Infidels that will not beleeue in him 2. The desperate men that cannot hope in him 3. The vbiquitaries of Germany 4. The pontificialls of Rome 2. How the actiue power of God is to be considered in resp 1. Of his inward operations 2. Of his outward operatiōs and so it must be cōsidered 1. Relatiuely as it respecteth the will and decree of God 2. Absolutely so he can doe all things 1. Which are not contrary to Gods Nature 2. Which imply not contradiction 3. The proofe of Gods omnipotency which is shewed from 1. The Word of God 2. The workes of God 1. In the beginning of the world 2. Throughout the continuance 3. In the end of the world 3. The consent of all Diuines 4. The testimony of many Heathens 5. The confession of the very Diuels 4. The answering to the chiefest obiections 1. Of the Infidels 2. Of the desperate 3. Of the vbiquitaries 4. Of the pontificials 5. The vsefull appl of this do which serueth 1. To confute many heresies 2. To comfort all the Godly 3. To condemne all the wicked 2 By his goodnes and that seauen especial wayes viz. that he is 1. Mercifull which consisteth in 1. Giuing of graces 2. Forgiuing of sinnes 3. Qualifying of punishments 2. Gracious which signifieth 1. Amiable 2. Placable 3. Liberall 3. Slow to anger shewed 1. By Scriptures 2. By examples old and new 4. Abundant in goodnes 1. As he is in himselfe 2. As he is to others 1. Generally to all creatures by 1. Creating all things 1. simp g. 2. rela g. 2. pres thē frō euill 3. enric thē with g. 2. Specially to his elect 1. by dec their elec 2. by their effect cal 3. by the filling of thē with his graces 5. Abundant in truth 1. Essentially truth in himselfe 2. Causally the fountaine of al truth 1. Of things 2. Of the vnderstanding 3. Of expression which is 1. Primar in Scrip. 2 Secondarily from man to man 6. Reseruing mercy for thousands that is 1. Extensiuely 2. Successiuely 7. Forgiuing iniquitie and transgression and sin i. e. all kinds of sin 1. Originall corruption 2. Actuall commission 3. Greatest abhom if we repent * The vsefull applic of Gods
i. e. God for diuers speciall reasons as 1. Because hee onely is omnipresent 2. Because hee onely is omniscient 3. Because hee onely is omnipotent 3. The place whereto pray 1. Generally euerywhere 2. Specially the Church and that for fiue speciall reasons 4. The time when to pray 1. With our heart and affect alwaies 2. With our voyce at the appointed times 1. For our priuate prayers 2. For our publ prayers ‡ Where the neglectors of publique prayers are sharpely reprehended 5. The manner how to pray 1. In humility 2. In faith 3. In zeale 4. With constancy 5. In charity 6. In piety 6. The motiues to perswade vs to pray 1. In respect of God because prayer is an essentiall part of Gods seruice 2. In respect of our selues 1. To obtaine our request 1. Whatsoeuer we aske 2. More then we aske 3. Better then we aske 2. To preuent iudgements 3. To preserue al spiritual graces 4 To weaken finne 5. To sanctifie the creatures 6. To ouercome all creatures 7. To preuaile with God 1. When hee is pleased 2. When hee is angry Where is shewed that the gift to pray is the most excellentest grace that God bestoweth on man 2. The charity of the Apostle in shewing how we should pray one for another where is shewed that we must pray 1. Specially for our selues 2. Generally for al men for three speciall reasons and more particularly †; 1. For Kings and all Magistrates 2. For our ministers and that for three speciall reasons 1. Because we owe this dutie to pray for them 2 For our owne good 3. To helpe them ‖ to discharge that great charge which is laide vpon them where is shewed the dangerous estate of Ministers whatsoeuer they doe An Jntroduction to the whole BOOKE WHen Almighty God had decreed from all eternity to make certaine creatures partakers of his felicity he did in that very period of the decreed time by his eternall Councell create of nothing all the things that are subsistent and thereby he shewed himselfe to be as all Gentiles confest it optimus maximus the very best of all that is good and the very greatest of all that is great and as Pliny saith well especially hauing but the light of nature to enlighten him Plutarch in Panegyrico Traiâ—n dict he did herein shew himselfe to be prius optimus quam maximus because hee which was so eminently good that he could not be bettered did all this for them that were iust nothing but alas behold a relapsed creature from his most indulgent Creator and see how this goodnesse of God abused by the creature became through the iust iudgement of GOD an euitable cause of all miseries vpon all transgressors for wee not contented with that blessed state wherein wee were established did spurne against our God by a most ambitious vsurpation of his very Deity and so aspiring vnto a blessed life as we thought we brought vpon our selues a most accursed death as we all finde yet God still desiring to shew himselfe a God of mercy he promised to send a Sauiour to redeem vs Gal. 4.4 by taking our nature vpon him and suffering in our flesh whatsoeuer we deserued for our sinnes and to this end when the fulnesse of time came God sent his Sonne made of a woman made vnder the Law subiect to the curse of the Law which was death of body buriall in the graue and discention into hell that he might free vs from eternall death and then to rise againe the third day to ascend into heauen and to send his holy Spirit into our hearts to worke in vs faith to apply all this vnto our selues and all other graces whatsoeuer that might fit vs and bring vs vnto euerlasting life And this is the summe of all that is contained in this booke to know our selues to know God to know Iesus Christ borne dead raised ascended and now raigning in eternall glory to guide his Church and to confound his foes for euermore Perhaps this worke may seeme as the water boughs of a fruitlesse tree a superfluous branch vnto the Church of God I willingly submit it to the iudgement of Gods children they must all confesse it is the last houre of the worlds age wherein iniquity is increased impiety is enlarged and all charity is almost abandoned all things growing worse and worse by continuance Et satanas tanto feruentior ad sauitiam quanto se sentit viciniorem ad paenam and Satan hauing the greater rage to driue vs to transgression by how much the neerer he perceiues himselfe to destruction And therefore let men say what they will yet seeing we may truly demaund of them Quid audiam verba cum vidiam contraria facta What booteth all our knowledge seeing we doe nothing that we know nor know nothing indeed as we ought to know I say that it cannot be amisse to do what wee can to expresse those things that may best make for our happinesse and I know these points are necessary to be knowne Aetas parentum peior auis tulit nos nequiores mox daturos progienem visiorem Horat. car 3.6 Greg Moral l. 34. c. 1. and most profitable to be practised by all Christians Reade them then and I will pray to God that he will giue thee grace Faeliciter currere faelicius in Christi pietate cursam tuum consummare to vnderstand what thou readest to beleeue what thou vnderstandest and to practise what thou beleeuest that so thou mayest attaine vnto euerlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen Courteous Reader these errours and the like if you meet them I pray you correct them Pag. Lin. Errata Corrige 5 19 predicatum praedicatum 7 24 as some deleatur 15 21 infelicitas infaelicitas 18 13 predicatum praedicatum 22 30 nay no. 23 36 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 28 21 occulos oculos 29 20 Athenienes Athenienses 31 15 gnostrickes gnostickes  praemit premit 37 1 equalities equalitie 38 2 quaâ—a quantae  at as 44 9 seruat deleatur 45 10 meritrix meretrix 47 23 á as 71 8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 71 6 presentes praesentes 77 12 laethi lethi 81 18 soules sculles 84 16 are is  27 elephat elephante 86 37 it in 93 4 dilicijs delicijs 102 18 diliciae deliciae 128 14 future tens for the present present tens for the future 263 7 conquari conqueri 326 25 impleueâ— impleuit 452 4 faerox ferox 463 1 progeniere progenuere 471 26 eterchangably interchangably 480 25 penae poenae 482 25 manibus maenibus 462 10 Querentis quaerentis 559 35 tum tam 571 12 fugentes fugientes 579 7 eo eos 669 31 honestatatis honestatis 676 34 lepido tepido 692 after effusion of v. their deerest bloud to defend that in the field which they with the diffusion of c. 707 1 propter praeter Marginall faults P. Err. Corrige
grosse ignorance and the memory with sottish forgetfulnesse so that now wee will indirectly wee iudge darkely and wee remember nothing that is heauenly Hence it comes to passe How our soules are fuller of diseases then our bodies that our bodies are not so subiect to diseases as our soules be to sinnes for pride is the soules tympany when it doth turgescerefastu waxe big and swell through the distaine of others enuie is the worme that gnaweth at the heart then which it is most certaine that Siculi non inuenere tyranui tormentum maius The Sicilian Tyrants did neuer feele a more fearefull torment and wrath is a plurisie that will not be appeased without blood for of the raging man it is most truely said Mad that his poyson cannot others kill He drinkes it off himselfe himselfe to spill And therefore of all the men in the world we are aduised to keepe no company with an angry furious man but as the Poet saith Dum furor in cursu currenti cede furori Ouidius lib. 1. de rem amor Difficiles aditus impetus omnis habet To turne aside from euery furious wight Cause fury will haue passage in despight And Lust is the soules feauer the flames thereof are the flames of fire and the waters thereof are aqua 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the waters of folly and madnesse And in this How the sickenesse of the soule is worse then the sickenesse of the body the sicknesse of the soule doth exceed all the sicknesse of the body for the body hath some respite from its sickenesse but the soule hath none from sinne and euery sicknesse of the body kils it not but euery sinne slayeth the soule for the reward of sinne that is of euery sinne is death saith the Apostle And hence likewise in my iudgement that branch of Pellagianisme taught also by Lactantius that the light of Nature if it were well vsed might make way for Diuine instruction may bee sufficiently confuted for though they teach that man by sinne hath not quite killed his soule but wounded the same like the man that fell among theeues and was left halfe aliue and therefore might Lactan diuin iustit c. 5. That Nature though neuer so well vsed cannot procure the gifts of grace Ephes 2.1.5 Coloss 2.13 saith Lactantius come to the same doctrine that we doe follow Si quae natura ducente sanserunt defendissent If they had constantly maintained those things which Nature taught them yet the Apostle saith here that sinne brings death vnto the Sinner and if death then sure there was no life i. e. no life of Grace in him And so in many other places the Apostle sheweth as much for he saith that we were dead in trespasses and sinnes and that God hath quickned vs by Iesus Christ And therefore it is apparently plaine that at the beginning of our conuersion we are altogether passiue and haue no power in the world to releeue our selues vntill grace hath quickened our soules Ob. But against this it may be obiected that the Apostle saith the Gentiles knew God Rom. 1.21 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so much as might be knowne concerning God that is his eternall power and God-head when they considered him in his workes and therefore the light of Nature was not quite extinguished in them Sol. That sinne extinguished all knowledge of God but what God reuealeth to man I answere that this knowledge of God was not from the light of Nature in them but it was reuealed by God vnto these naturall men to make them without excuse as Zanchius well obserueth for so the Apostle sheweth in the 19 verse of the same Chapter where he saith Deus enim illis manifestauit for God reuealed the same vnto them and therefore I say that the sinne of Adam did quite kill the soule of euery man for the reward of sinne is death and therefore we may all of vs cry out with the Apostle Rom. 7.24 O wretched men that we are who shall deliuer vs from this body of death And here-hence we may also see the iudgement of God threatned in Paradise Gen. 1.17 In what day thou eatest of the tree of Knowledge of good and euill thou shalt die the death to be truely and presently inflicted vpon Adam for though his body seemed to liue yet was his soule separated from God and therefore must needs be presently dead Aug. de ser dom in monte habetur de poenitent distinct 2. But as sinne is three manner of wayes committed as I shewed before so is the death of the soule three wayes inflicted and they are prefigured by those three sorts of dead men which our Sauiour raised in the Gospell as S. Augustine sheweth The first was Iayrus his daughter she was a Virgin â—nd was as yet within the doores and therefore our Sauiour went into the house and put out all the people and vouchsafed to take her by the hand and to say Talitha cumi Damosell Mar. 5.41 Of a three-fold death of the soule I say vnto thee arise This signifieth that soule which sinned onely by consent but hath not yet brought forth the sinne into fact and therefore God will be mercifull vnto such and will not require to shame them before the world but hee will goe in himselfe and accept of their inward repentance for such inward sinnes The second was the Widdowes sonne of Naime and hee was caried out to be buried and therefore our Sauiour in the presence of them all Did touch the Beere and said Luk 7.14 Yong man I say vnto thee arise and he sate vp and began to speake And this signifieth the soule that sinneth in fact and therefore as she publikely sinned so she must be publikely restored and as by her sinne she offended many so by her sitting vp They that publikely sinne must publikely testifie their repentance i. e. by her standing and constancy in grace and by her talking i. e. by her confession of her sinnes she must giue satisfaction vnto many Nam qui publice peccat publice corrigendus publice restaurandus est For he that publikely offendeth is publikely to be reprooued publikely to be restored saith the Law The third was Lazaus John 11. and hee was dead and laid in his graue and therefore Iesus was faine to goe a great iourney to raise him and when he came to him he groned in his spirit and was troubled he wept and he groaned againe Ver. 35. he lifted vp his eyes he prayed and he cryed with a loude voyce saying Ver. 43. Lazarus come forth and then he came forth but how bound hand and foot saith the Euangelist with graue clothes and his face bound with a Napkin so that his friends and standers by were faine to loose him and to let him goe Ver 44. And this signifieth the soule that is accustomed to sinne that is dead and buried in sin and
Seneca epist 25. efficere mortem sibi familiarem to make death his companion and as his wife that should euer lye in his bosome that by the continuall sight of death he might be euer kept to abstaine from sinne for the couetous man might be the easier drawne to contemne the trash and trumperies of this vaine and transitorie world if hee did beleeue that hee should presently dye for so prophane Esau sayth Loe I die Facile contem nit omnia qui credit se cito moritâ—rum Hieron in ep ad Paulin Eccles 10. Incert autâ—r and what good will my Birth-right doe vnto me So the proud man would let fall his Peacocks feathers if he could thinke that hee is but dust and ashes and that when he dieth hee shall inherite wormes as the wise man sayth Omnia Caesar habet sed gloria Caesaris esse desinit tumulus vix erit octo pedum And that if he triumphed in his life like Caesar to bee the sole Monarch of the world yet would his glory soone fayle when death should locke him vp in his coffin and so of all other sinnes the frequent meditation of death is the onely preseruatiue against them For as one truely sayth of himselfe Quum recordor quod sum cinis Et quam citâ— venit finis Sine fine pertimesco Et vt cinis refrigesco When I thinke I am but dust And how soon to earth I must Bernard in carm Then incessantly I shake And as dust it doth me make So questionlesse if wee did continually thinke of death and fixe that fearefull day of Gods iust iudgement before our eyes it would bee a maruelous great meanes to deterre vs from all sinnes And as the meditation of death doth preuent sinne Bosq p. 12. de finibus honorum so it sweetneth death and makes it farre the lesse terrible vnto vs for if our eyes be dead and weaned from beholding vanities The frequent meditation of death is a great meanes to preserue vs from the feare of death our eares from hearing the Syrens songs of sinnefull pleasure and our hearts especially from the loue of vaine and worldly things then certainely they will not being thus mortified and accustomed with this death to sinne bee any whit afrayd of the death of the body which is the reward of sinne but as a horse that is to runne a race hauing often walked his way before is the more fearelesse to goe on when hee comes at the day of triall so the man that is acquainted with the wayes of death through the daily meditation of death is not afrayd to die when he seeth the day of his dissolution Palladius reports it that an Eremite being at the point to die his schollers and friends asked him if death did not seeme terrible vnto him hee smilingly answered that death was no stranger but a most familiar acquaintance to him it was his manuall and his vade mecum his table-booke which he alwayes carried about him and therefore dying he did but now repeate that his old lesson which hee had beene long in learning O that it were so with euery one of vs that throughout all our life wee would learne to die The application of Christs death is the onely cause that maketh vs happie after death Osee 13.14 that hauing made death present with vs before it comes it may neuer proue terrible vnto vs when it comes Of the third the Diuine veritie sayth that the chiefest cause the onely cause indeed of this different effect of death is the application of the death of Christ for it is he that saith O death I will be thy death O graue I will bee thy destruction and therefore as when Alexander ouerthrew the walles of Thebes Phryne a harlot promised to build them vp againe if shee might ingraue vpon them this inscription 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Alexander battered downe this Wall but Phryne built it vp againe so we may truely say that Eue threw downe these muddie walles of ours but Christ doth rayse them vp for though the wages of sinne are death Rom. 6.23 yet the grace of God brings eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. And the manner how he doth deliuer vs and metamorphose death to become life vnto vs he himselfe doth shew when hee sayth if I be lift vp I will draw vp all vnto my selfe i. e. if I die I will destroy the power of death for so the Apostle sayth That forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood John 8.28 and C. 12.32 Heb. 2.14 15. he himselfe likewise tooke part of the same that through death hee might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Deuill and deliuer them that through the feare of death were all their life time subiect vnto bondage 1 Machah 6.46 Iudges 16.30 and therefore as Eleazer by his owne death did put the great Elephat to death and Sampson by pulling downe the house vpon his owne head did put to death all the Philistines so Christ by his owne death did put the deuills Origen hom 8. in Iohan and all the powers of darkenesse vnto death and therefore Origen sayth that vpon the crosse of Christ two were crucified that is Christ and the deuill but after a diuers manner for Christ was crucified visibly and most willingly for hee layd downe his life himselfe but the deuill was crucified inuisibly and most vnwillingly Matth. 12.29 for this strong man armed was faine to bee bound before Christ could spoyle his house And the Lord speaking of his enemies and saying that hee would be vnto them as a Lion Ose 13.7 would obserue them as a Libbard in the way of Ashur doth foreshew vnto vs both the destruction and the manner of the destruction of these our spirituall enemies for in being like a Lion he sheweth their destruction and in being like a Libbard he sheweth the manner The manner how Christ by death ouercame death how hee would destroy them for it is obserued of the Libbard that he vseth this pollicie to kill those Apes that doe molest him first he lyeth downe as dead and suffereth the apes to mocke him and trample him and to insult ouer him as much as they will but when he perceiueth them to be wearied with leaping and skipping vpon him he reuines himselfe on a sudden and with his clawes and teeth he teareth them all to pieces euen so our Sauiour Christ suffered the deuill and death and all the wicked Iewes like apes to mocke him to tread him and trample him vnder feete to crucifie him to burie him to seale vp his graue and to haue armed Souldiers to watch him that hee should not rise any more and it may be to knocke him on the head againe if he sought to reuiue but when hee saw they had done their worst and that they could doe no more Psal 78.66.67 Hee waked as a giant out of
truth of God wee can in no wayes beleeue them not because we know no reason how they may be done for so we beleeue many things as all the mysteries of our Faith but because we haue many reasons euen out of the Word of God to assure vs that these things cannot be done And so much for the chiefest obiections that are vsually made against the truth of this Doctrine of Gods Power CHAP. IV. Of the vsefull application of this Doctrine of Gods Power YOu haue seene the truth of this Doctrine of the Power of God it may serue for many especiall ends As first for the confutation of a world of errors and the cutting downe of many infinite heresies especially those whereof I haue already spoken and therefore I neede not say any more of them in this place Secondly this Doctrine of Gods Power A great comfort to the godly that God is able to deliuer them Math. 10.16 Dan. 3.17 may serue for the consolation of the godly for they are inuironed with many enemies they are sent as Sheepe into the middest of Wolues and they are hated of all-men for Christ his sake but as the three Children said We know that God is able to deliuer vs from the burning fiery Furnace and from the hands of all that hate vs and to preserue vs blamelesse vntill the day of the comming of Christ And therefore though we be beset with enemies on euery side Bosquier de incruent victor Christi p. 567. especially the World Tanquam Syrena dulcis Like the alluring Mermaides The flesh Tanquam Dalila blandiens Like a false flattering Dalila and the Diuell Tanquam Leo rugiens Like a roaring Lyon that doe seeke by all meanes to destroy vs Presentemque viris intendunt omnia mortem Virgil. Aeneid l. 1. Reuel 2.10 Yet we neede not feare any of those things that we shall suffer Quia non plus valet ad deijciendum terrena paena quam ad erigendum diuina tutela Because all the power of darkenesse is not so able to suppresse vs as our gracious God is to support vs for otherwise Si Diabolus nocere posset quantum vellet aliquis iustorum non remaneret If either Satans malice or the hatred of wicked men or the furie of bloud-thirsty Tyrants might preuaile against the godly seruants of Christ so much as they would then not a righteous man could remaine vpon the face of the Earth but God can put a hooke in their nostrils and say vnto them as he sayes vnto the Seas Hitherto shalt thou goo and no further Rom. 8.31 And therefore If God be with vs we neede not feare who be against vs Quia maior est qui est in nobis quam qui est in mundo 1 Iohn 4.4 Because as Saint Iohn saith He is greater and stronger which is in vs then he that is in the W rld Euen so we haue the lusts of our owne flesh the messengers of Satan 1 Pet. 2.11 that doe buffet vs and fight against our soules and make vs many times when it compells vs to doe the euill that we would not doe â—nd to leaue vndone the good that we would doe to crie out with the Apostle Rom. 7.19 O wretched men that we are who shall deliuer vs from this body of death or who shall preserue vs vnto eternall life And to say with the Poet O terque quaterque beati queis ante ora patrum contigit oppetere O happy had wee beene had wee died before wee had sinned but if we cast our eyes to looke vpon Gods Power we may be presently comforted because the Saints of God though they be shaken and sifted and winnowed like wheate yet are they kept not by their owne strength for so they should soone faile 1 Pet. 1.5 but by the Power of God saith Saint Peter through faith vnto saluation And this indeed is the sole comfort of all Christians that we shall neuer perish Iohn 10.28.29 because our Father which gaue vs vnto Christ is greater then all and none is able to take vs out of his Fathers hands This is that Foundation which remaineth sure and therefore happy is that man which buildes vpon this Foundation Thirdly this Doctrine of Gods Power may serue for the reprehension of the wicked for he can destroy all the workers of iniquitie Math. 10.28 and cast both body and soule into Hell fire And therefore will ye not feare to offend so great a God Remember I beseech you what he hath done to the old World to Sodome That the wicked should feare to offend thiâ— powerfull God Deut 29.19 and Gomorrah to Cora Dathan and Abiram to Pharaoh Iudas and many more remember that he can doe whatsoeuer hee will doe and remember what he saith Hee will doe vnto them that heare the words of the curse of the Law and yet will blesse themselues in their hearts saying We shall haue peace And let these things moue you to be humbled before the mighty â—and of God and to cause you here to feare his power 1 Pet. 5.6 that hereaâ—ter you may not feele his anger For Heb. 10.31 it is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God and they that now goe on in sinne and make but a sport of iniquitie without either beleeuing his truth that he will punish sinne or fearing his power that he can punish them shall then finde and feele that it had beene better for them neuer to haue beene borne or to haue had a milstone hanged about their neckes and to haue beene cast into the middest of the Sea then to haue broken the least Commandement oâ— this powerfull and Almighty God And so much for the first attribute of God here expressed that is his Power and now followeth the second attribute which is Gods Goodnesse CHAP. V. Of the Mercy of GOD and wherein the same chiefly consisteth YOu haue heard of the Power of God 2. Attribute i. e Gods goodnesse we are now to see how God proclaimeth his Goodnesse according as he had promised before I will make all my goodnesse to passe before thy face Exod. 33.9 A Doctrine farre more comfortable then the former for not hee that can but he that will helpe vs is best vnto vs and hee that is willing to doe what he can though it be but little is farre more deere vnto vs then he that can do much but will do nothing but the power of God sheweth that he is able and this goodnesse of God proueth that he is willing to releeue vs and therefore the goodnesse of God is the anchor of our hope and the foundation of all our comfort and it is well coupled with the former attribute for in vaine were his willingnesse to helpe vs vnlesse he were able and in vaine were his ability to helpe vs vnlesse hee were willing the former being but a fruitlesse wish and the latter but a gracelesse
humane Soule That Christ had a true reasonable humane soule AND further we must consider that as he had a true humane body so he had a perfect reasonable soule for First The testimonies of the Scriptures are most plaine and pregnant herein As My soule is heauy vnto death Math. 26.38 And againe Father into thy hands I commend my spirit Heb. 2.17 Secondly Reason it selfe confirmeth it for He was made in all things like vnto his brethren Sinne onely excepted and he is The Shepheard of our soules 1 Pet. 2. And therefore he must needes consist of body and soule Thirdly The whole Schoole of Diuinity did euer teach the same Truth for Nazianzene saith Quod non assumpsit non salvabit Either he had a soule or he will not saue a soule And Saint Augustine saith Aug de tempore Ser. 145. Totum suscepit vt totum liberaret verbum The Word tooke all vpon him i. e. both body and soule that he might saue both body and soule And so Fulgentius doth most largely and excellently proue this point in his first Booke De Mysterio Mediatoris Fulgentius de myst med ad Tras l. 1. vnto King Trasimund where I referre my Reader to a most elegant and learned discourse of this matter Ob. But against this many of the Arrians and Apollinaris doe obiect as Nazianzene Athanasius and Saint Cyrill doe affirme that Christ had no humane soule Iohn 1.14 but onely a liuing flesh because the Euangelist saith That the Word was made Flesh And Saint Paul saith Rom. 1. That he was made of the seede of Dauid according to the Flesh Sol. To this I answere that it is an vsuall thing in Scripture to speake synechdochically and sometimes totum denominare ex parte praestantiori to put the soule for the whole man as seuenty soules that is seuenty men went downe vnto Egypt and the soule that sinneth Exod. 1.5 that soule shall die and let euery soule be subiect to the higher Powers Ezech. 18.20 and sometimes totum denominare ex parte minus praestantiori Rom. 13.1 to put the body for the whole man as all Flesh i. e. all men had corrupted their wayes before God and Gen. 6.12 all flesh shall see the saluation of God and to thee shall all flesh come that is all men And therefore hee was made Flesh signifieth Athanas in Sym. that hee was made Man of a reasonable soule and humane flesh subsisting And the reason why the Euangelist saith He was made flesh Why the Euangelist saith he was made flesh rather then he was made man rather then He was made man is diuersly rendered by the Fathers For some say it was to shew what part of Christ was made of his Mother that is his Flesh for his Diety was increated and his soule say they was created of nothing and his body onely was made of his Mother And therefore hee saith The Word was made Flesh But this cannot satisfie them which beleeue the Soule to be ex traduce by traduction from the Parents And therefore Secondly others with Theophilact say the Euangelist saith The Word was made Flesh to expresse the greatnesse of Gods loue who for our sakes would be contented to be made the vilest thing for all flesh is grasse Esay 40.6 Thirdly others with Saint Augustine say It was to shew the greatnesse of Christ his humility Ex parte ignobiliori to be named by the meanest name and the basest part of man he was contented to be made flesh for so we finde that in this respect i. e. to shew the greatnesse of his humility though hee was the Sonne of God yet most commonly would hee terme himselfe The Sonne of man to shew vs how hee debased himselfe and was well contented with the meanest and most abiect titles for our sakes and to teach vs by his example not to stand so much vpon our dignities but to humble our selues that we may be exalted Fourthly others with Saint Cyrill say It was for our greater confidence that we should not doubt of Gods loue and fauour towards vs because our flesh which was the part most corrupted is now vnited vnto God and because Christ is now become our brother and our kindred according to that of the Euangelist Behold thy Brethren and thy Kinsmen stand looking for thee Mar. 3.32 for that Consanguinity is in regard of flesh and bloud Fiftly others say It was Vt infimum summo poneret that he might put the highest and the lowest together for he had called Christ the Word which sheweth the highest power of God for thy Word is Almighty Heb. 1. and hee beareth vp all things by his mighty Word And therefore as hee had set downe his Deity by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word which declareth his greatest power so hee would shew his humanity by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Flesh which expresseth our greatest infirmity for as Summa dignitas in verbo the greatest dignity is exprest in the word So Summa infirmitas in carne the greatest infirmity is shewed in the flesh And therefore he saith The Word was made Flesh to declare vnto vs Quantus Deus quantillus factus est homo How great a God was made so meane a man All these reasons are very good and may well stand all of them to shew why he saith The Word was made Flesh rather then He was made man Yet Tertul. l. de carne Christi Jrenaeus l. 3. c. 11. Sixtly I like best of Tertullians reason alledged also by Irenaeus Saint Chrysostome and others that the Spirit of God foreseeing what Heresies would follow after and soone creepe to invade the Church of Christ did therefore purposely here and in many other places set downe most euident and vnanswerable arguments to conuince them whensoeuer they should arise that so the light of Truth might be cleered and the mouth of all wickednesse might be stopped God before heresies came prouided for vs that we might be preserued from them when they came And therefore I say that the Pen of the Euangelist was here directed by Gods Spirit to say The Word was made Flesh not because he had not a soule but to assure vs against Marcion Macidonius Valentinus Manichaeus and others that Christ had a true and a naturall flesh assumed from the very flesh and substance of his Mother and vnited vnto his God-head And so you see that Christ had not Ideam humanae naturae An imaginary patterne of humane nature but the whole nature of man In vno indiuiduo Consisting both of body and soule CHAP. IIII. Of Christ his being subiect to all the humane infirmities that are without sinne SEcondly As Christ had all the parts of a true man That Christ was made subiect to all our humane fraileties which are without sinne that is body and soule so he had all the properties that doe concerne mans nature
vndergone tenne of them and hath suffered the same euen as we doe First Cold Secondly Heat Two infirmities incident to euery man and denyed by no man to bee in Christ else could he not be a man Matth. 21.18 Thirdly Hunger as when he came to the Figge-tree and would haue eaten John 4.7 C. 19.28 Fourthly Thirst as when he asked Drinke of the woman of Samaria and cryed I thirst vpon the Crosse John 4 6. Fiftly Wearinesse as when he sate by the Well to rest him John 19.17 Sixtly Weakenesse and Paine as when he was not able to beare his Crosse any further but was faine to haue Simon of Cyren to helpe him Matth. 27.32 And these sixe were infirmities of his Body the other belonged more properly vnto his soule and must bee warily distinguished if we would truly vnderstand them as they are in him Matth. 26 38. Seauenthly Heauinesse and Sorrow as when his soule was heauy vnto death Luke 19.51 and when hee wept for griefe ouer the Citie of Ierusalem That there is a two-fold sorrow But here we must distinguish and know that this heauinesse and sadnesse of Christ was in him as an affliction and not as a transgression and that it was in his sensuall and not in his rationall will or if in his reasonable will that he was sorrowfull because he would be sorrowfull Iohn 11.33 Et turbatus quia turbauit seipsum And was troubled because he troubled himselfe and therefore his sorrow was Subiacens non praesidens turbans sed non perturbans eum Ruled by reason and not ouer-ruling reason and so onely disturbing Marke 6.6 but no wayes disordering him Eightly Shamefastnesse and admiration as when hee marueiled at the infidelity of the Iewes 1 Kings 18. euen as Elias was ashamed of the iniquity and wondered at the stupiditie of the Israelites But here also we must know that it was externally moued by the sinnes of others and not internally procured by any act of his owne Heb. 5.7 Ninthly Feare as when his Father heard him in that which he feared and in this as through wearinesse he willingly fainted so through feare he was exceedingly astonished But here likewise we must distinguish that his feare was That there is a two-fold feare Filialis non seruilis A filiall feare adioyned with Hope and not a seruile feare proceeding from despaire that is not a sinfull but a pious feare which might moue him in his considerations but no wayes remoue him from his godly intentions Tenthly Anger as when he looked angerly vpon them and so when he droue the buyers and sellers out of the Temple Matth. 21.13 That there is a two-fold anger But yet still we must distinguish that his anger was stirred vp and moued Per zelum non per vitium through a godly zeale and not through any inordinate affection and it was nothing else in him but Voluntas vindicatiua malefacti A desiring will to punish the sinne and not a sinfull passion to be reuenged on the person of the sinner as Bonauenture saith These are the tenne infirmities which Discipulus saith were in our Sauiour Christ thus and after this manner as I haue shewed you The other two which he denyeth to be in him are 1. Sinne. 2. Ignorance For the first that is Sinne we all know that he had none For the second that is Ignorance we must distinguish that it was either 1. Crassa 2. Mera That is either 1. A sinfull ignorance 2. A simple ignorance The first we call Ignorantia prauae dispositionis That there is a two-fold ignorance An ignorance of a wicked disposition as when men know not or will not know the things that they ought or might know and this we say was not in Christ because it is sinfull and the cause of many sinnes The second we call Ignorantia merae priuationis An ignorance of meere priuation Et ignorantia negatiua seu nescientia plurimorum and a negatiue ignorance or the not knowing of many things which are not of absolute necessitie to be knowne and this ignorance we say was in our Sauiour Christ First because Adam had the same in the state of his innocency for he was ignorant of many things that God did know Jgnatius in ep 2. ad Trallian That Christ was ignorant of some things and he knew not that he should be seduced by the Serpent Secondly because he did increase in wisedome and knowledge i. e. in his acquisite and experimentall wisedome and not in his infused or diuine wisedome for he had them perfect from the very first moment of his conception Damasc l. 3. Nazian l. 2. de fil and therefore by his acquisite and experimentall wisedome he learned some things that he knew not before Thirdly because he knew not that there were no Figges on the Fig-tree vntill hee went and saw there was none and hee knew not the houre and the day of iudgement Polanus in Sympho Catholica thesi 7. c. 9. Scotus in sent dist 14. q. 1. 4 Fourthly because all ancient Orthodoxe Fathers doe confirme the same truth as Amandus Polanus sheweth And yet we say that although Christ knew not these things Ex natura humanitatis by the manhood yet he did know them in natura humanitatis in the manhood for the Schoolemen doe well distinguish of a two-fold knowledge in Christ 1. In verbo in the word whereby he seeth all things as in a cleere Chrystall glasse 2. In genere proprio in each proper nature whereby he seeth all things as they are in themselues and from himselfe In the first sense wee say the man Christ Iesus knoweth all things because he is hypostatically vnited vnto that eternall word which made and seeth and knoweth all things And In the second sense we say that the knowledge of Christ is twofold 1. Infused 2. Acquisite First the infused knowledge at the very instant of his conception was granted and powred into his manhood so much as a finite creature could be capable of But In what sense Christ may be said to be ignorant of any thing Secondly the acquisite knowledge did increase daily more and more as his experience acquainted him with many things that practically he knew not before and in this respect we may lawfully say that Christ was ignorant of many things in his youth which afterwards he learned in his age And so you see that as Christ assumed our nature so he assumed all our naturall imperfections that are voide of sinne though they were full of paine But here we must obserue that he assumed them all as Saint Augustine saith Non miseranda necessitate sed miserante voluntate Not by any imposed necessitie but by a voluntary assuming of them to deliuer vs from them because he freely subiected himselfe vnto them when no Law could haue compelled him to vndergoe them And thus I haue shewed you how this word was
is not offended in him Why then O thou incredulous Iew wilt thou not receiue thy Sauiour is it because he came poore without any shew of worldly pompe why that should make all men the rather to imbrace him and the more thankefully to acknowledge him because that he which might haue come in Maiestie Cum caelestibus Attended on by Angels would come in pouerty and haue his bed made cum iumentis among the beasts that perish that so by his comming poore we might be all made rich through him and therefore O Iew I doe aduice thee that as thy Fathers accomplished the decree of God in condemning him so doe thou according to the will of God in beleeuing on him and thou shalt be happy for he that beleeueth in him shall neuer perish To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be ascribed all Honour Thankes and Praise both now and for euermore Amen A Prayer O Eternall God who as in all things else so more especially in giuing thy dearest Sonne co-eternall coequall and co-essentiall vnto thy selfe to be made flesh subiect to our humane frailties and in all things like vnto vs sinne onely excepted hast shewed thy goodnesse and thy loue to man to be like thy selfe infinite and incomprehensible we most humbly beseech thee to giue vs grace to know thee and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ to be the onely true God whom to know is eternall life through the said Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen IEHOVAE LIBERATORI FINIS The Fourth Golden Candlesticke HOLDING The Fourth greatest Light of Christian RELIGION Of the Passion of the MESSIAS LVKE 24.46 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thus it behoued Christ to suffer YOu haue heard dearely beloued how miserably man is distressed by sinne The coherence of this Treatise with the former Treatises how he may be releeued onely by the Mercy of God and how this reliefe is applied vnto vs by the Incarnate Word for he is the true Samaritan that doth helpe the wounded man he is the blessed Angell that doth stirre the poole of Bethesda and giue vertue vnto the water to heale our sores to helpe our soules But alas this Angell as yet is but descended and the waters are not troubled and this Samaritan is but alighted and the poore semi-dead Traueller is not set vp vpon his horse to be carryed towards his Inne that is hee hath not yet entred into the waters of tribulations to saue our soules from drowning in Hell neither hath he put our sinnes vpon his backe that we being freed from the burthen might walke on towards Heauen this resteth yet behind and this Tragedie is yet vnheard and therefore though he much humbled himselfe by his Incarnation yet is that nothing it is but the beginning of sorrowes in respect of his sore and bitter Passion For to redeeme our soules from sinne the deepe waters must enter into his soule and all our sinnes must be laid vpon his backe and for our sinnes It behoueth Christ to suffer Hic labor hoc opus est And this is that which we are now to treat of Thus it behoued Christ to suffer CHAP. I. Of the manifold vse and commodities that we reape by the continuall meditation of the sufferings of Christ Three things that mooue attention THere be three speciall things that doe vse to moue attention 1. An eloquent Author 2. An important matter 3. A compendious breuity And all these three doe here ioyne and meete together in this Text of Scripture For First the Author of these words is Christ Luk. 11.49 First the Author of these words is Iesus Christ the wisedome of God Wisedome it selfe so incomprehensibly wise that all men wondred at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth Secondly the summe of these words is the Tragedy of Iesus Christ Secondly the matter is the Tragedie of himselfe the laborious life and the dolorous death of the Sonne of God the chiefest Tragedy of all Tragedies for the Catastrophe hereof hath the effusion of bloud and the mourning not onely of the Sufferer or Parents and Friends but of Heauen and Earth and all the whole world farre more dolefull then the mourning of Hadadrimmon in Valley of Mâ—gyddo The Actors of this Tragedy are Kings Vice-Royes Dukes Scribes Pharises High-Priests Elders of the people The Actors of this Tragedy the Apostles themselues and others all great Christ the King of Kings Herod the great King Pilate the Vice-Roy Annas and Cayphas high Priests Peter and Iudas great Apostles and those that were mute as the Sun the Earth the Stones the Vaile of the Temple and the very Graues did by apparant signes most dolefully bewayle the nefarious death of the Son of God yea more the Angels mourned and the Diuels trembled to behold the same The Theater on which it was acted was Ierusalem The Theater was Ierusalem the very midst and heart of the earth as some imagine according to that saying of the Psalmist Operatus est deus salutem in medio terrae GOD hath wrought saluation in the midst of the Earth Heere is the place where it was acted Hic hic mors vita duello Conflixere mirando Here life and death did striue for victory and here the beholders were men of all Nations Hebrewes Greekes and Romans and the time was their most solemne feast wherein all did â—eete to eate their Paschall Lambe And therefore if there be any Theame that may challenge our eares to lysten and our hearts to meditate vpon the same it is this for this is one of those things that was once done that it might be thought of for euer that it might be had in euerlasting remembrance And the continuall meditation thereof is 1. Acceptable vnto Christ 2. Profitable for vs. For First The continuall meditation of Christs passion what it doth if the rod of Moses which wrought so many miracles in Aegypt and the Manna which fed the children of Israel 40. yeares in the Wildernesse and the Booke of the Law which was deliuered vnto Moses vpon Mount Sinai were to be preserued in the Arke First It is most acceptable vnto Christ as testimonies of Gods loue throughout all generations how much more should we keepe the remembrance of the Crosse of Christ of the Body and Bloud of Christ and of the glad tidings of saluation which we haue by the death of Christ in the Church of God for euermore Our Sauiour gaue but two Sacraments vnto his Church and one of them is chiefely instituted to this end for a remembrance of his suffering for as often as you eate this Bread and drinke this Cup Luc. 22. you shew the Lords death vntill he come 1 Cor. 11.1 And the remembrance of Christs death saith Saint Chrysostome Est beneficij maximi recordatio Chrys hom 8. in Matth. caputque diuinae erga nos charitatis Is the commemoration of the greatest benefit that euer we receiued
Cantic quem pro nobis bibit nothing in the world makes Christ to be loued of vs more then that Cup which he hath drunke vp for vs. Quia amor amoris magnes durus est qui amorem non rependit Because loue is as a loadstone to draw loue againe and greater loue then this hath no man that a man should giue his life for his friends and therefore the remembrance of this cannot choose but cause vs to loue him againe Euripides in Alceste It is reported subeuntem fata mariti Alcesten that Alcestes was contented to vndergoe the destinies of her husband for when Apollo had obtained of the Fates to spare Admetus life if any one of his friends or kindred would willingly die for him and that all his friends refused the same his wife Alcestes redeemed his life with her owne death So was Pythias ready to die for Damon and Damon likewise for Pythias and so the Codri for the Athenians and the Curtij for the Romans did willingly giue themselues to die Sic fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit And surely these are arguments of great loue yet farre farre short of the loue of Christ For First these did it for them that loued them as much Lactant. institut l. 5. c. 18. and were as ready to doe as much for them againe but Christ did it for vs when we were his enemies Rom. 5.8 Secondly these owed so much vnto their friends and countrey for in that they were they were from these and whatsoeuer they had they had from them and therefore Cicero l. 1 offic Partem ortus nostri patria partem patres sibi vendicant Our Country our friends and our parents doe rightly challenge no small part of euery man saith Cicero and as Lucan saith Haec duri immota Catonis Lucan l. 2. secta fuit Nec sibi sed toti genitum se credere mundo It was Cato's mind that he was not borne for himselfe but to doe what good he could to others but Christ oweth vs nothing he is a debter to no man for who hath first giuen vnto him Rom. 5 8. and it shall be recompenced vnto him againe And therefore seeing the loue of Christ to vs was so great as when we deserued no good at his hands but deserued so much euill as is due to mortall and perfidious enemies to suffer so many things for vs how can it choose but the remembrance therof should exceedingly kindle our loue towards him againe for who can behold and consider the grâ—â— price that was paid for his redemption and not loue his Redeemer or who can thinke of that bitter potion which he drunke for our saluation and not be inflamed with the loue of his Sauiour There be 3. things saith Mirandula that doe moue vs to loue any one First The vertues of the person Mirand de morte Christi li. 1. c. 17. Secondly The benefits that we haue receiued of him Thirdly The good that we doe expect from him But Christ is the vertue of God his Father the chiefest good and all goodnesse and although euery vertue doth challenge loue yet no vertue deserueth the same so much as liberality and what greater bounty or liberality can there be then this to shedde his precious bloud and to offer vp himselfe vpon the Altar of his Crosse to deliuer vs from eternall death and what greater good can be desired then that eternall happinesse which hee hath purchased for vs and which we doe expect from him And therefore who would not loue so good a Sauiour It is reported of Ignatius Bishop of Antioch that he did so continually meditate vpon those great things which Christ had done and suffered for him Jdem quo supra c. 10. that hee was thereby brought so intirely to loue him as when he was demanded why hee would not forsake and forget Christ rather then suffer himselfe to be torne and deuoured of wilde and sauage Beasts He answered That hee could not forget him because the sufferings of Christ were not onely words transient in his mouth or remoueable obiects before his eyes but they were indelible Characters so engrauen in his heart that all the torments of the Earth could neuer race them out And therefore being commanded by that bloudy Tyrant Traiane to be ript and vnbowelled they found Iesus Christ written vpon his heart in Characters of Gold Oh that it might be so with vs that wee would euer set the sufferings of Christ before our face and with Saint Paul desire to know nothing but Iesus Christ and him crucified that so by the continuall consideration of Christ his great loue to vs we might be induced to loue him againe The meditation of Christs suffering supporteth our hope Thirdly As the continuall meditation of Christs suffering suppresseth sinne and kindleth our loue so it supporteth our hope for though I haue sinned grieuously and my conscience is much troubled yet it shall not be ouer-cha◠〈◊〉 despaire Quoniam vulnerum Domini recordabor â—od ex me mihi deest vsurpo ex visceribus Domini Bernard Ser. 61. in Cant. Becaus◠〈◊〉 will remember the wounds of my Lord Iesus and whatsoeuer is wanting in my selfe I will assume from the bowels of my Sauiour for when my wisedome faileth my righteousnesse sufficeth not my holinesse helpeth not the sufferings of Christ shall suffice for all This shall be my last refuge this shall be mine onely remedy saith Saint Bernard Idem Ser. 22. in Cant. And so Saint Paul after hee had shewed how doe he what he could he serued with his flesh many times the Law of sinne and therefore cryeth out O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death He saith I thanke God Rom. 7.24.25 through Christ our Lord As if hee should haue said Seeing I am so prone to sinne and so vnapt to goodnesse I haue none other refuge but onely to flie vnto the sufferings and merits of Iesus Christ and I know that is sufficient for me in stead of all for as Israel sucked honey out of the rocke and oyle out of the flint stone Deut. 32.13 so doe wee sucke all our comforts and refresh our selues with those streames of teares and bloud that gushed out of that stonie Rocke Iesus Christ And as the high hilles are a refuge for the wilde Goates Psal 104.18 and the stony Rockes for the Conies those poore silly fearefull Creatures that haue none other shift to saue their liues but to hide themselues in the holes of the Rockes so the poore silly simple soules of sinnefull men haue none other place to hide themselues in from the wrath of God Cantic 2.14 but onely with the Doue in the Canticles In foraminibus petrae In the clefts of this Rocke in the secret places of his stayres as some translate it that is in the wounds and stripes of Iesus Christ for
life Why Christ would not answere Pilate whence he was Or as others thinke he would not answere least by his eloquence he should haue escaped death insomuch that Pilate who vniustly condemned him iustly admired this that he which was wont to open his mouth in Parables and to teach others the way vnto eternall life would not at this time open his mouth to speake one word for himselfe to saue his life Secondly Pilate being much affraide to be thought an enemie vnto Caesar Marke 15.15 and being most willing to please the people as the Euangelist noteth he determined to deliuer him to be crucified And these were the motiues that caused Pilate to condemne our Sauiour Christ and these cause many a man to sinne when we feare man more then God What moued Pilate to deliuer Christ to be crucified and are desirous rather to please the people then to discharge our consciences from which two fearefull things good Lord deliuer euery faithfull soule Thirdly Because Pilate knew that for enuie the Iewes deliuered him to be crucified and his owne conscience by many arguments testified vnto him how vniustly hee condemned that iust man Math 27.24 The poor shift of Pilate to excuse himselfe therefore that it might happen vnto the Iewes according as they had concluded themselues His bloud be vpon vs and vpon our Children He taketh water and washeth his hands saying I am innocent from the bloud of this iust person See ye to it And then he gaue sentence that it should be as they required that IESVS CHRIST should be presently CRVCIFIED The sentence of Christs condemnation Ah sencelesse sinnefull man a man voide of wisedome to commit such an horrible sinne against thy God and to condemne life to death Alas what auaileth it thee to wash thy hands in water and to defile thy heart with bloud for how shalt thou answere this not onely to condemne an innocent Sed ijsdem labijs illum condemnare quibus pronuntiaueras innocentem But also with the same lippes to condemne him as guilty which euen now had pronounced him guiltlesse Surely God may say to thee as to all those Iudges that follow thy steppes to make a long speech to iustifie themselues Luke 19.22 and in few words to condemne the innocent Out of thine owne mouth will I condemne thee O thou euill seruant and I will iustly condemne thee to eternall death because thou hast vniustly condemned an innocent man to death O consider this ye that forget God and ye that be called Gods on Earth cleanse your hearts from all euill and let not your hands deale with wickednesse so shall you be innocent from the great offence And so you see what the Iudge of all the World suffered before these petty Iudges of this World CHAP. VI. What Christ suffered in Golgotha the place where he was crucified PIlate hauing passed sentence vpon Christ to be crucified the Souldiers take him and laying his Crosse a heauy Crosse vpon his shoulders as Isaac carried the wood wherewith himselfe should be sacrificed Gen. 22.6 2 Sam. 11.14 or as Vrias carried the Letters of his owne death they compelled him to carrie it so long as he was able to stand vnder it then meeting Simon of Cyrene comming from his perambulation in the fields they make him carrie that Crosse of Christ vnto the place of execution and placing the same in Golgotha which was the place where Adam was buried Ambros l. 5. Ep. 1â— as Saint Ambrose thinketh they nayled and fastened Christ vnto it vpon that very day of the weeke that Adam was created Two things considered vpon the Crosse and as is thought he was hanged vpon this Tree vpon the very same houre of the day as Adam did eate of the forbidden Tree And here wee must consider two especiall things 1. The grieuous things that he suffered Tantum distentus sum vt corpore nudo in modum tympanica pellis distento facile possint omnia ossa mea dinumerari Bern. de pass c. 7. 2. The gracious words that he vttered For the first they stretched his body as Saint Bernard saith and then they nayled him to the Crosse which was a grieuous torment vnto any but especially vnto him because his body of all other men was the most tender as being onely shaped of a Virgins substance without any commixture of the male nature and yet the most sensible parts of this tender body must be bored and mangled by his cruell enemies for his feete that afore were washed with Maries teares must now be teared with iron nayles and those blessed hands Bosquier de passione Domini p. 847. in fol. that had wrought so many wonderous workes must now be fastened Vnto this wooden Crosse and there he must hang vntill he die Horrendum dictu A most odious and a most grieuous death and that in foure respects First Because it was an accursed death so esteemed by man 1. An accursed death and so denounced by God himselfe where he saith Cursed is euery one that hangeth vpon a Tree Deut. 21. Gal. 3.13 Tripartit hist l. 1. c. 9. 2. A shamefull death And therefore Constantine the Great and good made a Law that no Christian should be crucified vpon a Crosse Secondly Because it was an ignominious and a shamefull death inflictâ—d chiefly vpon those slaues and seruants that either falsly accused or treacherously conspired their Masters death and it was neuer imposed vpon free men vnlesse it were for some haynous and notorious crimes as robberie murther sedition rebellion or such like 3. A painefull death Thirdly Because it was a most painefull death for that they were fastened to the Crosse not with any little nayles but with bigge purposely made nayles that might hold them sure and fast enough vnto the Crosse so bigge were the nayles that pierced Christ his hands and feete that being found they were found sufficient to make a bridle and a Helmet Socrates Hist l. 1. c. 17. as Socrates saith and then the whole waight of their bodies hanging by these parts made their paine intollerable and killed them at length without any deadly wound And therefore Cicero that most eloquent man which wanted no words to expresse any thing else when hee came to consider of this accursed death was brought to that passe Cicero Orat. 7. in ver to that non-plus as to say Quid dicam in crucem tollere What shall I say of that cruell and most painefull shamefull death of the Crosse 4. A slow and a lingring death Fourthly Because it was a slow and a lingering death for that as the Poet truly saith Morsque minus penae quam mora mortis habet To be long in paine is worse then death a soone dispatched riddance out of paine being a great fauour vnto a languishing life and although in other deaths they should be quickly dispatched and soone rid out of all their paine
yet here they hanged either till their bloud distilled by little and little out of those wounds that were made in their hands and feete or till they died with the extremitie of hunger vnlesse in pittie their tormentors would by violence hasten their much desired death by a butcherly breaking off their legges and so dismembring of their tortured bodies as they did vnto those two theeues that were crucified with our Sauiour And this was the death the accursed base seruile ignominious and most painefull death that our Sauiour Christ was put vnto It is reported of Aristides that he dying by the bite of a Weesell said Aelian de var. Hist lib. 14. c. 4. that his death would haue been more pleasant more acceptable vnto him if he had died more honourably by the clawes of a Lyon or a Libbard and not by the teeth of such a contemptible beast And what a griefe was it vnto the Sonne of God to be put vnto this I know not whether more shamefull or more painefull death And besides it is worth the obseruing All circumstances doe aggrauate the griefe of Christ vpon the Crosse that they crucified him then and at that time when he had deliuered their Fathers out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage In commemoration of which benefit their Passeouer was to be celebrated and a great concourse of people was then euer present at Ierusalem And further they did not onely exclude him out of their Citie and put him to death without their gates as Saint Paul noteth but they did also consort him with the wicked and crucified him betwixt two theeues so cruelly they did deale and so basely they did esteeme of him Secondly After they had thus nayled him vnto the Crosse in stead of the comfort of pittying him which wee vse to shew vnto the vilest Malefactors in such extremities and which is some kinde of satisfaction vnto the sufferer he findes his friends forsaking him not daring to say Alas for him How they scoffed at Christ vpoÌ„ the Crosse and he seeth his enemies deriding him in the middest of his sorrowes and shaking their heads at him and saying O thou dissembling and disloyall wretch thou sauest others but thy selfe thou canst not saue thou canst destroy the Temple and build it againe in three dayes but thou canst not come downe from the Crosse to preserue thy life for if thou beest the Sonne of God come downe from the Crosse Why Christ came not downe from the Crosse and we will beleeue in thee But to this Saint Ambrose answereth O stulte caece grex sacerdotum nunquid impossibile erat ei de paruo stipite ligni descendere qui descendit è caelorum altitudine O foolish blinde and sencelesse Flocke of Priests doe you thinke it vnpossible for him to come downe from a little piece of wood which came downe from the height of Heauen Non venit vt se liberare qui subseruâ—tute non erat sed vt nos de seruitute redimeret Ambros in 27 Math. or doe you thinke that your bonds or nayles or fastening of him to the Crosse were able to detaine him there when as the Heauen anâ— all the Host of Heauen were not able to hold him from descending from this ascending to the Crosse for hee came not to free himselfe from death but to deliuer himselfe to death tâ—at hee might free vs from eternall death And therefore hee patiently suffered all all paine all contempts and all disgraces yet they still went on from one degree of scoffes vnto another for when he in a most disconsolate state cried Eloi Eloi Lamasabachthani They doe in a most barbarous scoffing manner say Stay and see if Elias will come to helpe him And thus was he flouted and derided by all that beheld him by the Souldiers by the High Priests by them that passed by yea by the very Theeues that were hanged with him And what is this but to adde an vnspeakeable sorrow vnto an insufferable paine and so as Salomon saith to grieue him more and more that was already too much afflicted at the heart How they gaue him vinegar to drinke Thirdly When hee most lamentably in the middest of this hotte and grieuous conflict with Satan sinne and the wrath of God cried I thirst they most despightfully giue him vinegar to drinke a sweete drinke for a dying man to augment his griefe but not to quench his thirst How they diuided his garments Fourthly They take those blessed Garments wherewith he had wrought many a Heauenly miracle and before his face they diuide the same among the wicked and most barbarous bloudy Souldiers And How Christ being dead they still raged against him Fiftly When he was quite dead their malice still remained aliue so that he might iustly say Nec mors mihi finiet iras Saeua sed in manes manibus arma dabant They did most furiously rage against his harmelesse Ghost for though they saw that he was already dead yet still they persecute him Et miles validis ingentem viribus hastam In latus contorsit And one of those immane and bloudy Souldiers pierced his side with such a mighty speare that it made so deepe a wound as that Thomas might well put his hand into the same And thus did our Sauiour suffer in Golgotha in the Fields of Caluarie Diuers obseruable things to be considered First Of all sorts of men Iewes Gentiles Princes of the people Priests Souldiers Masters Seruants Friends Strangers Young Old Male and Female Secondly In all the things wherein it was possible for a man to suffer as first in his friends for they all forsooke him and not one of them assisted him when hee was thus persecuted by his foes Secondly In his good name for they loaded him with lies and accused him of blasphemies Thirdly In his outward goods which we call goods of Fortune for though he had nothing but his cloathes yet they stripped him of his garments and left him starke naked but what had beene abscene for themselues to see in the sight of all men Fourthly In all his sences for his holy eares heard nothing but shamefull reuilings his bright eyes saw nothing but cruell enemies his feeling could perceiue nothing but sharpenesse of nayles his smelling but their stincking spittles and his taste but gall and vinegar Fiftly in all the members of his body How Christ suffered in all the members of his body for his head was wounded with a crowne of thornes his face was defiled with their filthy spittings and most shamefully buffeted with their sacrilegious fists his eyes dazeled with blowes and amazed to see their outragious cruelties his hands and feete nayled vnto the Crosse his heart pierced with a speare and in a word his whole body was so pittifully rent and torne with whippings scourgings that we may truly say Totum est pro vulnere corpus That from the
otherwise durst not for feare to approach him and so Christ shewed his power in weakenesse for though it be a great infirmity to die yet so to die is an argument of infinite Maiestie Nazian Bern. Ser. 4. Hebdom paenosae and Saint Hierome doth well obserue that the Centurion hearing his prayer with a loud voice to shew that he was farre inough and free inough from the touch of death and seeing him Statim spiritum sponte demisisse tradidisse saith Saint Iohn emisisse saith Saint Matthew and presently to haue yeelded Et quod emittitur voluntarium est quod amittitur necessarium and most willingly to haue sent forth his Spirit out of his body as Noah sent his Doue out of the Arke Commotus signi magnitudine being troubled with the greatnesse of that wonder hee said forthwith truly this man was the Sonne of God So wonderfully strange was this his yeelding vnto death Hierom. q. 8. ad Hedib Aug tract 119. in Iohn and so Saint Augustine largely expresseth the same to shew vnto vs that the laying downe of his life was no imposed punishment against his will nor any forcible inuasion of death vpon him but a voluntary sacrifycing of himselfe for sinne and a tendering of his death to satisfie Gods wrath for our sake The third is not an absolute not a primatiue not an imposed necessity but a voluntarily assumed necessity of conueniency in respect of the end as armour and weapons are necessary for him that goeth forth to fight or a necessity by consequent presupposing the decree and ordinance of Almighty God and thus it was necessary that Christ should suffer because it was the best and most conuenient way that God in his wisedome saw fittest In what sense it was necessary for Christ to suffer Esay 53. to performe that great worke of mans saluation and because God had promised that the Messiah should suffer should be slain and therefore Christ saith vnto Peter that if he were rescued out of the hands of his enemies How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled which said that thus it must be for God had decreed Dan. 9.26 Matth. 26.54 Esay 53.14 ordained and reueiled in his Scriptures that Christ should die CHAP. II. The instrumentall and efficient causes of the sufferings of Christ BVt because the necessity of euery thing dependeth vpon the causes that doe necessitate the same as euery man must die Of the causes which did necessitate the sufferings of Christ because hee sinned against his God and euery compound body must be corrupted because they are all composed of elementarie substance and indued with repugnant qualities therefore we must vnderstand the causes which did necessitate Christ to suffer if we would truely know how and why it behoued Christ to suffer Now for the causes of Christ his suffering I finde them to bee manifold and especially 1. Instrumentall 2. Efficient 3. Finall First The Instrumentall causes of Christ death I find likewise to be foure-fold 1. The enuy of Satan 2. The malice of the Iewes 3. The couetousnesse of Iudas 4. The desire of the people First First the enuy of Satan Satan whom he had often vanquished and dispossessed of mens soules and bodies was most obstinate in malice against him and thinking now to haue fit opportunity hauing as it were leaue to doe what he would or could doe vnto him hee entreth into the heart of Iudas saith the Euangelist and so Iohn 13.27 no doubt he did into the hearts of many of the rest and together with them he complotted all this most exquisite torments of purpose to be reuenged on him Iob 1. and to see if by this meanes hee could bring him as hee saith of Iob to curse God and die that so hee might haue him as a prey which otherwise he feared would destroy him And this our Sauiour intimateth saying I was daily with you in the Temple Luke 22.53 and ye stretched forth no hands against mee but now this is your houre and the power of darknesse i. e. now is Satan let loose Foure speciall things inraged Satan against Christ now he hath leaue to rage and now I am set as a Butte for him to shoote all his shafts at mee And we find foure speciall reasons that might moue Satan the more infinitely to rage against him As First the goodnesse of the man First the goodnesse of the man for the better any man is the more cruelly is Satan euer bent against him The things that hee possesseth are in peace but the more godly we be the more wee shall be persecuted of him and therefore Christ being without sinne he would doe his best to heape vpon him all sorrowes Secondly the rebukes he had receiued from Christ Secondly The manifold checks and rebukes that he had formerly suffered at the hands of Christ for so the Euangelists tell vs that Christ had often rebuked the vncleane spirits and commanded them to hold their peace and therefore he enuyed him and hated him and would now be reuenged on him such is the nature of the wicked when they are reproued Thirdly the victories of Christ Thirdly The many victories that Christ had formerly ouer Satan as in the Wildernesse in a single combate and when hee dispossessed him out of those miserable creatures whom he tormented Fourthly the losse of his seruants Fourthly The losse of those his slaues which Christ had already freed from his subiection and of all those hee feared Christ would free if hee should not now subdue him Haec secum Nec dum causae irarum saeuique dolores exciderant animo And therefore considering all these things and knowing that sometimes Victis redit in praecordia virtus The conquered haue happened to become conquerors he resolueth with himselfe like a desperate man either to kill or to be killed and in that resolution Vna salus victis nullam sperare salutem hee commeth forth hauing great rage against our Sauiour Christ and therefore as the prouerbe is He must needs goe whom the Diuell driues So he must needs suffer which like Iob hath Sathan for his tormentor especially being as hee was so inraged against our Sauiour Christ and hauing now leaue to impose vpon him the most exquisite torments that he could deuise Secondly The Iewes did maligne him 2. The malice of the Iewes against Christ and euen hated him vnto the death And as the Psalmist saith Astiterunt reges terrae The Kings of the Earth stood vp and the Princes tooke counsell together against the Lord and against his Christ Psal 2. So we finde that the Scribes and Pharisees and the Herodians hunted after him as for a Partridge vpon the Mountaines they watched all his wayes and sought to intrap him in all his words and to take him that they might condemne him Thirdly Iudas for very griefe 3. The couetousnesse of Iudas Marke 14.5
Mary but Saint Marke saith plainely that they were three and that as we may gather for three speciall reasons First For decency because it was not so fit to see a Woman gadding all alone for it is neither customable nor commendable for Matrones like Dina to walke single Secondly For mutuall society Quia vae soli For woe to him that is alone especially at so vnwonted a season as the night so dismall a place as the graue and in so heauy a case as death Thirdly For the better confirmation of the truth for that in the mouth of two or three witnesses euery word shall be established And therefore there went three of them And Secondly They were all three called by the same name Haymo in postil in die resur Mary Et vno nomine censentur quia vna voluntas And they had but one name First Because they had but one will they had the same desire What it signifieth that all the three Women were called by the same name they all desired and all sought but onely Iesus Christ that was crucified And Secondly Because they all signified the same thing i. e. the Church of God in generall or euery Christian soule in particular For the first the Scripture saith Vae duplici corde Woe to him that goeth two manner of wayes that hath two tongues two hearts two affections one to seeke for God and another to seeke the World because such in seeking both doe leese both for the World they cannot keepe though they seeke neuer so much after it and God for seeking the World they shall neuer finde And therefore these three Women hâ—d but one heart one will one desire they all seeke for Iesus that was crucified For the second they all signifie the same thing for Maria in the Syriach Tongue signifieth Dominam a Lady or Mistresse and Mara in Hebrew signifies bitternesse So is the Church of Christ and so is euery Christian soule a Mistresse for her affections and bitter for her afflictions How the Church is to rule her Children First The Church ruleth ouer her Children and the Soule ouer her desires shee makes all her affections yeeld obedience vnto reason and reason it selfe to faith for where humane reason faileth there diuine faith attaineth to the height of many mysteries Math. 8.24 How the Church was euer subiect vnto afflictions Secondly The Church is like that Shippe that was tossed to and fro with the mightie waues and billowes of the raging Seas neuer at rest vntill it arriueth at the Hauen of eternall happinesse The storie of the Church doth make this plaine Sanguine fundata est Ecclesia sanguine creuit Sanguine succreuit sanguine finis erit And so is euery Christian soule full of sorrowes full of bitternesse we may see our selues as in a glasse if wee looke into the state of these three silly soules seeking Christ for they are bereaued of him whom their soules loued And therefore as the Spouse saith in the Canticles Cant. 3.1 In my bed I sought him whom my soule loued I sought him but I found him not So these Women seeke him whom their soules loued and not in their beddes but in the Garden for they range and rage and runne vp and downe like as it were a Lyon or a Beare robbed of her whelpes and yet they finde him not they see the nest but the Eagle is flowne away and the Watchmen can tell no tydings of him And therefore they stand apalled all woe-begone with griefe their hearts are all sobby and swolne like the lower â—allies that drinke vp the droppes of Heauen and for want of teares to expresse their griefes hauing emptied their bottles afore by continuall crying each one of them doth now lamentingly say Quis dabit capiti meo aquam Who will powre water into the Cesterne of our heads that we may powre out our plaints like a Nightingale robbed of her brood and mourne like a Turtle for the loste of our dearest Lord For hee being taken from vs our life is loathsome to vs Sit mihi posse mori It were well for vs if we could â—ie Lament 3.15 for as our names be Marah bitter so he hath filled vs with bitternesse and made our soules drunken with wormewood This is the state of these Women and this is the state of euery Christian soule Teares must be her meate day and night whiles they say vnto her Psal 137.4 Where is now thy God for how shall we sing the Lords song in a strange Land and whiles we are as strangers from the Lord And so you see why all three were called by one and the same name And yet we finde that they were all distinguished for the 1. Was Mary Magdalen 2. Was Mary the Mother of Iames. 3. Was Marie Salome And this sheweth either three speciall properties How the three Maries were distinguished and knowne the one from the other both in the Church and in euery member of the Church or else the different gifts and faculties which God bestoweth vpon his seruants to euery one as pleaseth him For First Mary Magdalen was so called à Castello Magdalo from a Tower which was loftie and strong Marie Iacobi was the Sister of the blessed Virgin and the Mother of Iames an Apostle and follower of Iesus Christ and Mary Salome was so called either of her Husband or of a Village named Salome which signifieth peaceable And therefore by these three Women Three speciall properties signified by the three women these three Maries are signified three speciall properties 1. Fortitude 2. Faecundity 3. Peace So is the Church so were these Women and so is euery Christian soule For First Salomon saith of the fortitude of the Church 1. Fortitude Cantic 4.4 Sicut turris Dauid collum tuum Thy necke is as the Tower of Dauid that is as high as Heauen and so strong as that the gates of Hell can neuer preuaile against it And in these Women here Math. 16.18 we finde a peerelesse patterne of Christian fortitude for though they were the weaker Sexe yet I finde them stronger in affection then Men for the Apostles ranne and out-ranne these Women How fearelesse the Women were in seeking Christ yet was their deuotion sooner spent and themselues sooner out of breath for they stayed not but these Women as they had formerly come vnto the graue so now they stand longer at the graue for so it is said of Mary Magdalen Quod stetit That shee stood still and stood to it And so no doubt they did all not like Peter who fearefully following afarre of Iohn 20.11 and warming his hands in the High Priests Hall benummed his heart for want of faith Math. 26.58 nor yet like Ioseph of Aramathia who secretly for feare of the Iewes begged of Pilate the body of Iesus but like tâ—e stoutest Heroickes steeled with a manly resolution they feare not death it selfe And as the Poet
transgression doe you now and euer hereafter follow Mary Magdalen in your true conuersion for she loued much because much was forgiuen her Luke 7.47 and she liued most strict and religiously in her age because shee had liued so loosly and so dissolutely in her youth for as Dyonisius and Egesippus doe record she betooke her selfe to a most solitary life sequestred from all worldly pleasures in the mountaine Balma full thirty yeares together in all which time shee gaue her selfe to meditation fasting and prayer and as Iosephus writeth could neuer indure any company for now she had giuen a perfect bill of diuorce vnto all wantonnesse and had disrobed her selfe of all her sumptuous weedes and alluring paludaments and chose rather to suffer a short affliction and to endure a hard penance with the Children of God Heb. 11.25 then to enioy the pleasures of sinne for a season Secondly That we should neuer despaire of any mans conuersion That seeing the grace of God to moue and incline our hearts must be the first agent in the conuersion of our soules and that God hath his owne times and houres and moments to call vs into his Vineyard some at the sixth some at the ninth and some at the eleuenth houre we should not despaire of the conuersion of any one for as to commit sinne is the death of the soule so to despaire is the stepping downe to the lowest Hell Isidor de summo bono and therefore seeing God is multus ad misericordiam of much mercy to forgiue many sinnes and of great mercy Esay 55. to forgiue great sinnes let vs neuer despaire of the eternall and omnipotent mercy of God for though thy sinnes were as haynous as Mary Magdalens yet one word of Christs mouth is able to cast out all Diuels though they were as odious as Peters yet one looke of Christs fauour is able to worke grace and repentance in thy soule and though they were as many as Manasses and as red as scarlet yet one drop of the bloud of Christ is able to wash them all away and to make thy crimson soule as white as snow and therefore returne O Shunamite returne and call to God for grace say vnto the Lord that it is time that he haue mercy vpon thy soule yea the time is come And so much for the deuotion of the women Part. 3 PART III. CHAP. I. Of the Angels seruice vnto Christ and how terrible they be to the wicked THirdly The Office of the Angels is here plainely expressed for though Saint Marke saith hee was a young man yet Saint Matthew saith he was an Angell for Angels many times assumed outward formes The Angels often appeared like men but were neuer made men to performe some offices and deposed the same againe after the finishing of their worke and so they vsed those formes as one vseth his garments to put it on and off at his pleasure and not as our Sauiour did for Christ really vnited himselfe to the forme that he assumed and assumed it neuer to depose it and therefore they are said onely to appeare like men but Christ is said to be made many This Angell then being sent to comfort and not to astonish these women he tooke vpon him the forme of a man which is a forme most customable that he might not affright them and hee tooke the forme of a yong man which is a forme most amiable Aug. in Psal 104. that he might delight them and he is called an Angell Ab officio non natura In respect of his office not of his nature Nam ex eo quod est spiritus est ex eo quod agit Angelus est For in that which he is he is a Spirit in that he is sent as a Messenger he is an Angell saith Saint Augustine and therefore hee is a Spirit ab essentia in respect of his being he is a yong man à forma in respect of the forme wherein he appeared and hee is an Angell ab officio in respect of that duty and office which he was now to discharge The office of the Angell here expressed is three-fold And I finde the same here to be three-fold 1. In respect of Christ 2. In respect of the Keepers 3. And principally in respect of the Women First The Angels are excellent in all things but for three things most excellent First Purity of substance Matth. 18.10 for they alwayes behold the face of God into whose presence no impure thing can approach Secondly Readinesse of obedience for the Prophet speaking of their seruice saith He rode vpon Cherub and did flie Psal 18.10 hee came flying vpon the wings of the winde Thirdly Feruentnesse of charity for Heb. 1.7 hee maketh his Angels Spirits and his Ministers a flame of fire whereby they burne in loue not onely one towards another but also towards vs poore miserable men for they reioyce at our conuersion Luke 15.10 and being conuerted they become our Guardians in our conuersation Psal 91.11 to preserue vs in all our wayes that we dash not our foot against a stone And these three things were shadowed in those Cherubims 1 Kings 6.23 made by Salomon to ouer-shadow the mercy seate for they were made of fine gold to note their purity 2 Chron. 3.12 with their wings spread to note their celerity and with their faces looking one towards another to note their charity And yet for all their excellency when God brought his first begotten Sonne into the world he commanded them all to doe him seruice saying Worship him all yee Angels and so they did Heb. 1.6 for when he was to be conceiued the Angell brought tydings vnto that blessed Virgin when he was borne How the Angels alwayes did seruice vnto our Sauiour Christ the Angels told the same vnto the shepheards when his life was sought for by Herod the Angell reuealed the same vnto Ioseph and warned him to flie into Egypt when Herod was dead the Angell bad Ioseph returne into the land of Iury when Satan had left tempting him the Angels came and ministred vnto him when his soule was exceeding sorrowfull vnto death the Angels attended to comfort him and here when his Body was to be raysed from death the Angel descended to rolle away that mighty stone which his aduersaries had laide vpon his graue Non propter impotentiam Christi sed propter obedientiam Angeli Not that Christ was vnable to doe it himselfe for he that is able to shake the earth and of the stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham shall we thinke him vnable to lift vp a stone but to declare his soueraigne authority ouer these creatures of soueraigne dignity he needs but say vnto his Angel Doe this and he doth it And therefore if the Angels which neuer offended him be euer so ready to doe him seruice how much more willing should we be to serue him for to
of feare is euill for we loue and desire the good and we feare onely that which is euill And therefore how can it be that we should feare him which is the chiefest good I answere That it is true that the obiect of feare is euill and that euill to come for what is past we call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heauinesse which is the relique and the effect of that euill which we haue suffered but that which is to come we call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Feare And yet I say that wee may feare that which is good in two respects First We may feare that which is good In what sense we may be said to feare God which is the chiefest good Ne bonum à nobis per malum auferatur Lest that good be taken away from vs by reason of our euill So the body feareth death lest by that death it should be depriued of the fruition of the soule So we feare God thâ—t is good lest that for our euill he will leaue vs and depriue vs of the fruition of his most blessed Societie Secondly We may feare that which is good Ne per bonum propter malum malum nobis inferatur Lest that which is good should inflict some euill vpon vs for our euill So the Malefactor feareth the Iudge lest the vprightnesse of the Iudge should cause punishment to be inflicted vpon him for his euill deedes So we feare the good God lest he should punish vs for our euill And so in very deede the thing that we feare is not his goodnesse but the iust desert of our owne wickednesse For to speake properly God as he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a louer of man and the chiefest good cannot be feared but he is onely to be feared as he is a iust Iudge 2 Thess 1.8 which rendereth vengeance to them that know not God And therefore though the obiect of feare be euill yet in tâ—ese respects we ought while we liue on earth for in Heauen there is no feare 1 Iohn 4.18 because perfect charity expelleth feare to feare God the chiefest good And blessed is he that alwayes feareth for he that feareth the Lord will doe no euill But as the bankes of a Riuer doe bound in the waters from ouer-flowing so doth the feare of God hedge in our affections that it suffereth not our soules to sinne whereas the bankes being broken and troden downe the waters then Velut agmine facto Will rush in heapes and soone couer the whole face of the plaines So the feare of God being once reiected Bloud toucheth bloud Hosea 4.2 as the Prophet saith and all sinnes and wickednesse will be committed euen with greedinesse Secondly The Angell doth herein denotate who ought and who ought not to feare for he saith vnto the Women Feare you not because you seeke Iesus of Nazareth that was crucified which is all one as if he said They that seeke Christ or goe about to doe the will of Christ to honour him to imbalme him with their odoriferous prayers and the sweete swelling flowers of pious and religious workes as you doe they neede not feare no euill can happen vnto them because God is vnto such a most louing Father that will doe them good and not euill all the dayes of their life but they that seeke to presse him downe and to trample him vnder feete like the Tyrants or to suppresse his truth like the Heretickes or seeke him not crucified but to crucifie him againe and to make a mocke of him by their wicked sinnes as the Apostle saith Heb. 6. â— They may well with these cursed Keepers feare and tremble because God will be vnto such a most iust Iudge Rom. 2.6 that will render vnto euery one according to his deedes And so you see who neede not feare those good and godly Saints that seeke for Christ that liue like Christians for the more godly we are the lesse we neede to feare If we had no sinne we had neede of no feare for in Heauen among the Saints there is no feare because there is no sinne Sinne brought feare into the World but there is perfect loue and perfect loue expelleth feare because feare is the defect of loue and the effect of sinne for if Adam had neuer sinned Adam needed neuer to haue feared but when he had once transgressed then assoone as euer he heard the voyce of God Gen. 3.10 he feared For so he saith I heard thy voyce in the Garden and I was afraide But they that goe on in sinne and drinke iniquity like water they may well feare and tremble and the more they sinne the more they should feare Psal 5.5 Heb. 10.31 The more sinfull we are the more we ought to feare because the Lord hateth all them that worke wickednesse and it is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God And therefore Saint Iames saith That the Diuels feare and tremble and no doubt but their feare is exceeding great because their sinnes are great And therefore Feare not O Iacob my seruant saith the Lord but reioyce O ye Righteous and be glad all ye that are true of heart For the more you feare the lesse you neede to feare the more you feare your selues to fall to sinne the lesse you neede to feare my wrath to punish you for your sinnes this blessed feare to sinne expelleth feare of vengeance But goe-to-now you carelesse wicked wretches weepe and howle Iames 5.1 for your miseries that shall come vpon you For seeing you haue no feare to sinne you should feare and tremble at the consideration of that punishment which you must suffer for your sinnes for so our Sauiour saith Luke 12.5 You should feare to haue both body and soule cast into Hell fire As if he said Though you feare not to sinne yet you may and should feare this punishment for sinne Thirdly The Angell perhaps herein How or after what manner we ought to feare God would intimate how we ought to feare for there is too little feare and this proceedeth Ex carentia fidei through want of faith and there is too much feare and this springeth Ex superabundantia spei through too much confidence and excesse of hope and both these sorts of men Tum sperando tum desperando miserè pereunt By hoping vainely or fearing desperately doe miserably perish And therefore the Angell might well disswade these Women from both these kindes of feare and say Feare you not Too little you doe not for I see you affrighted and too much you may not you neede not because you seeke Iesus that was crucified but in a meane and a middle sort you may and you should feare for Blessed is the man that alwayes feareth Because there bee three states of a Christian man 1. Of grace 2. Of laps 3. Of recouerie and Feare must be wanting in none of these For That God ought to be feared in
indeed and therefore vpon that day he did rise that his enemies might be conuicted by the testimony of their owne watchmen and bee brought therefore either to confesse their faults or to remaine without excuse if they knowing the truth would notwithstanding seeke as they did to conceale and suppresse the truth Secondly Secondly of his disciples His friends and disciples vpon the foresaid apprehensions did expect his resurrection vpon this third day for so the two disciples trauelling towards Emaus after they had said many things concerning him Chrysost hom 9. in Matth. and that they trusted it had beene hee which should haue redeemed Israel they adde this as a most speciall obseruation besides all the rest Luk. 24.21 that to day is the third day since these things were done and therefore to confirme their weake faith and to comfort their disconsolate soules hee did rise againe the third day Thirdly of all Christians Thirdly We were all to reape and to receiue the fruits and benefits of his resurrection and therefore chiefly as hee rose so hee rose the third day in respect of vs all i. e. to confirme our faith and that especially in these foure respects The Resurrection of Christ the third day confirmeth our faith in foure respects 1. Touching the quality of his person 2. Touching the certainty of his resurrection 3. Touching the manner of our restauration 4. Touching the manifestation of our state and condition First Our Sauiour Christ consisted both of a Diuine and a Humane nature Humane that he might die and Diuine that he might rise againe and to shew his death it was requisite that he should rise no sooner then the third day because in lesse time then that a man cannot well bee saide to bee dead but may bee suspected to be in a sound or in a fit of an apoplexie How the third day was the fittest time for Christ to rise in respect of the person of Christ or some other fained fit and in respect of the Diuine nature it was vnpossible that he should be held of death any longer then three dayes for it is the opinion of most grounded vpon experience that in all dead carkasses and a wounded body especially putrefaction and corruption beginneth the third day so Martha saith of Lazarus he hath beene dead foure dayes and he stinketh then no doubt but he began to stinke the third day but the humane nature of our Sauiour Christ in respect of its hypostaticall vnion with the Deity euen then when it lay in the graue could not see much lesse feele corruption Psal 16.11 Act. 2.24 as the Prophet Dauid sheweth therefore it was vnpossible saith Saint Peter that he should bee holden of the paines of death i. e. be stayed so long by death vntill putrefaction or other like penalties and consequences of death had seized vpon him and therefore as in respect of his humane nature it was not conuenient he should rise any sooner so in respect of his Diuine nature it was vnpossible hee should be stayd any longer Christ stayed while the third day to shew the verity of his deâ—th â—nd no longer to shew the certainty of his resurrection Secondly Our Sauiour was to shew both the verity of his death and the certainty of his resurrection but if hee had risen sooner then three dayes the verity of his death might be called into question and if he had promised after a long time to haue raised himselfe againe as Mahomet said that after 800. yeares he would reuiue and reuisite his Sarazens againe then might the falshood thereof lurke in the length of time and indeed if he had staid in his graue any whit longer then he did it might be easily obiected and with some probability by his aduersaries that there was no certainty of his resurrection whether it was he that was crucified had raised himselfe or some other that appeared in his name or whether he had raised the same body that was buried or had assumed some other body like vnto the same because the countenance of a dead body is soone changed and our memory and knowledge of such is soone stupified as we see these three dayes time made most of them that they knew him not prima facie vpon the first sight therefore Christ to shew the verity of his death stayed while the third day and he would stay no longer to shew the certaintie of his resurrection Thirdly Christ rose the third day might paralell our creation Christ in our redemption was to paralell our creation and in many things this second Adam was to resemble the first Adam for Saint Paul speaking of Gods oeconomie and dispensation of his grace vnto vs sheweth how Almighty God purposing to redeeme mankinde did so sweetly dispose of the manner of our redemption that as by man came death so by man came the resurrection from the dead and so a due proportion and resemblance should be in many things betwixt the first and second Adam But we finde that the first Adam was formed out of the earth as from a sole mother without any Father by the Word of God and was both created and fallen in the sixt day the day before the Sabbaoth therefore the word God Amb. l. 5 ep 19. in the sixt age of the world was made the second Adam of a sole mother without a father and in the sixt day of the weeke the same day wherein Adam was created and transgressed and about the same hower that the first Adam sinned by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree was this second Adam crucified vpon a tree and in the same place as some doe thinke wherein the first Adam was buried and as the Father after his creation rested vpon the Sabbaoth so Christ after our purchase and redemption rested in his graue all the Sabbaoth and then as his Father â—pon the first day of the weeke had begunne the world so Christ vpon the first day of the weeke did beginne to renue the world and caused as Lactantius saith Omnia cum domino dona redire suo All graces to bee renued all men that beleeued in him to be reuiued and now to beginne againe to liue a new life vnto God with him And this was prefigured in the Law where Moses sheweth that the sheafe of their first fruits was to be brought vnto the Priest Leuit. 23.11 and the Priest was to waue the same before the Lord on the morrow after the Sabbaoth which was the Sabbaoth of the Passeouer Vers 15. to note vnto vs that Christ which is the true first fruites that is offered vnto God for vs all was to be waued and raised vp the immediate morrow after the Passeouer that as Adam was created the last day and then dyed and so begat Ecclesiam morientium a Congregation of sinners all subiect vnto death so Christ the first day of the weeke was raised vp and liues for euer to
possibly suffer As First An outward and inward darkenesse for Christ was Light and in him was no darkenesse at all saith the Euangelist Secondly Destruction of body and soule Thirdly The Lake burning with fire and brimstone Matth. 10. Apoc. 20. Aug de ciuit l. 13. c. 2. which is the second death Et qua sicut nullorum est bonorum ita nulli bona est And which as it is the place of none that is good so it is good to none and therefore either Christ was not good or hee tasted not of this second death or if he did then not vpon the Crosse because the first death must precede the second Fourthly The Worme of conscience continually afflicting them for their sinnes but in Christ there was no sinne and therefore in him there could not be any touch of conscience accusing him for sinne Fiftly Reiection from the presence of God Sixtly Malediction Seauenthly Vengeance of fire Eightly Continuance for euer All set downe in this one sentence Depart from me yee cursed into euerlasting fire Matth. 25. And neither of these can be laid vpon Christ without great blasphemie and therefore he cannot be said to suffer the paines of Hell vpon the Crosse without great Heresie That Hell in this article signifieth not the graue The second exposition is that he descended into Hell signifies Christ his buriall because Sheol commonly signifieth the graue but this cannot stand first because it were an absurd thing in a briefe rehersall of the summe of faith to haue one Article twice repeated and to haue the plainest one hee was buried expounded by a darke and enigmaticall exposition he descended into Hell secondly because it is not said that hee was laid in Sheol but he descended into Hell which signifieth a voluntary motion and therefore cannot signifie his buriall That this article signifieth not the state of the dead The third exposition is that it signifieth the state of the dead but this likewise cannot stand first because this exposition cannot auoide Lymbus Patrum for if Hell signifie the state of the dead the place of the dead can neither be Heauen nor Paradise Iob 11. secondly because wheresoeuer Hell is named as an opposition to Heauen Psal 139. 8.9 it signifieth the place of the damned euen in the Old Testament and in the New Testament but descending is a plaine opposition to ascending Matth. 11.23 as it is said that Lazarus was caried vp to Abrahams bosome and therefore if Sheol should signifie the state of the dead it should haue beene said that hee ascended vp into Sheol which is most ridiculous That the soule of Christ after the seperation from the body descended into the place of the damned The fourth exposition is that hee descended into the place of the damned for the words of the Creede He descended into hell must neither be allegorized nor confounded with the former words but they must be vnderstood as they are spoken Hee descended into hell And that for three speciall reasons 1. Necessity requireth it 2. The Scripture prooueth it 3. All antiquity confirmeth it First Necessity required that he should descend into Hell for man being inuironed with three dreadfull enemies viz. Three dreadfull enemies of man 1. Sinne during life 2. Death shortning life 3. Hell tormenting after death And the Resurrection of Christ being the full conquest of all our enemies he must ouerthrow Sinne Death and Hell or else we doe but vainely boast of releasing vs from sinne or despising death if the right and power of Hell doe still remaine ouer vs and therefore Christ must ouercome Satan and destroy his Pallace before we can be freed from his prison And this Christ hath done three wayes 1. By subduing Satan Christ destroyed Hell three wayes Matth. 12. 2. By tying Satan 3. By spoyling Satan For our Sauiour testifieth saying When a strong man armed keepeth his pallace the things that he possesseth are in peace Luc. â—2 29 but when a stronger then he commeth he taketh his armour from him he bindeth him and then he spoyleth his house And therefore Christ entred into Hâ—ll the pallace of Satan as a conqueror he tyed him as the stronger The conquest of Christ was not only by suffering but also by trampling Satan vnder feet and he spoyled him as the right owner of that which hee vniustly detained from him and this is shewed by the Apostle where he saith that Christ spoyled powers and principallities and made a shew of them openly triumphing ouer them in his owne person for this triumphing cannot be vpon the Crosse though there it was obtained because the conquest ouer Satan was not to bee by resisting much lesse by suffering the paines of Hell but by treading his aduersaries vnder his feete that so he might be truely called a conqueror And therefore we must not thinke that all his conquest was at length to repell them and with mighty feare and strong cries to escape them when the Apostle saith He spoyled them and made an open shew of them but it was a binding of them and a trampling of them vnder feet and the same was manifested to be thus fully accomplished at his Resurrection And this necessity not onely of suffering vpon the Crosse Irenaeus l 3. c. 20 but also of conquering Satan in his owne house Irenaeus sheweth saying Si homo non vicisset inimicum hominis non iuste victus esset inimicus If man had not ouercome the enemy of man That the Scripture proueth the soule of Christ to haue descended into the place of the damned the enemy of man had not beene iustly conquered Secondly The Scripture proueth the same thing for the Prophet Dauid speaking in the person of Christ saith My flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not forsake my soule in Hell nor suffer thine holy one to see corruption but here to take the soule for the body or hell for the graue as some doe I see no reason Quia cum Scriptura diuidit species Tertul. de carne Christi c. 13. carnem animam duo ostendit For when the Scripture speaketh of soule and body it must needs signifie both saith Tertullian and therefore Dauid in his prediction and S in t Peter in his exposition speaking both of the soule and body two names and two natures and naming a distinct place for either of them they must needes signifie two distinct and diuers things and most cleerely shew vnto vs that when his body was laid in his graue his soule descended into Hell That all antiquity teacheth the same truth Luc. 10. Euseb l. 1. c. 23. Ignatius ad Trall Thirdly The whole classie of antiquitie confirmes the same for Thaddaeus one of the seauenty Disciples taught the Citizens of Edessa how Christ was crucified and descended downe into Hell and broke downe that wall that was neuer battered down before Ignatius confessed how he suffered 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and descended alone into Hell and brake downe that Rampier wall which had stood from the beginning of the world Athanasius in that Creede which wee doe professe saith that Christ suffered for our saluation descended into Hell and rose againe the third day from the dead this is the Catholicke faith which except a man beleeue faithfully he cannot be saued Saint Augustine saith Aug. ep 99. that Christ in soule was in Hell the Scripture doth sufficieÌ„tly declare so prophesied by the Prophet so vnderstood by the Apostle and so expounded vnto vs and therefore Quis nisi Infidelis nâ—gauerit fuisse apud infâ—ros Christum Who saith hee but an Infidell will deny Christ to haue beene in Hell Saint Hillary saith Hilarius de trinit l. 2 in Psal 138. that because the Law of humane necessity was such that when our bodies were buried our soules were to descend to Hell Ideo istam descentionem dominus ad consummationem veri hominis non recusauit Christ himselfe did not refuse to descend into the same place Pope Leo saith as much and Fulgentius is as plaine as any of them all Fulgent ad Tras l. 3 â—e resurrect dom I might reckon many more but my purpose is not to say what I could in this point onely I say that he descended into Hell not to suffer for that was finished on the Crosse but for the subiection of Satan and the deliuerance of men not of those that were in Hell but of vs that we should not goe to Hell for how can we be deliuered if Satan be not destroyed how is he destroyed if hell be not vanquished Zach. 9.11 for that is the Pallace of his pleasure and the horrour of our soules the pit wherein there is no water but for as much as this is the condemnation of man and the Law of humane necessity that the body should to the graue and the soule to hell for sinne it remained for the full effecting of our Redemption that Christ should thither descend whither man fell by desart of sinne that is into Hell where the soule of the sinner was wont to be tormented and to the graue where the flesh was wont to be corrupted that by the death of the iust temporally dying Fulgen. quo supra Athanas de incar hath the like saying eternall life might be giuen to our flesh and by the soule of the lust descending into Hell the torments of Hell might be abolished saith Fulgentius And so I beleeue this for mine exceeding comfort that now I need not feare any enemy because Christ suffered for my sins destroyed all mine enemies descended into Hell vanquished the Diuels and rose againe the third day to make an open shew of this his most victorious conquest and blessed bee his name for the same CHAP. IX Of the manner how Christ rose and of the particular application thereof vnto our selues SEcondly we are to consider the manner how our Sauiour rose and many other particulars concerning his resurrection but chiefly we should obserue that his resurrection was 1. in respect of the place from the dead 2. in respect of the time earely 3. in respect of his person it was 1. true 2. perfect 3. glorious I will not stand vpon these particulars The application of the resurrection vnto our selues Rom. 10.9 but to apply all vnto our selues that we may reape some fruit by all I must intreat you to remember what the Apostle saith If thou shalt confâ—sse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt beleeue in thine heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saued for as I told you before that the resurrection of Christ is the only maine vnanswerable argument to proue Christ to be the true Messias and the Sauiour of the world so heere you see the Apostle putteth the true beliefe in our Sauiours resurrection as the onely chiefest point that is necessary and sufficient for our saluation and therefore it is not without cause that the doctrine of the resurrection should be insisted vpon to be preached and manifested by vs and to be learned and beleeued by you That it is not the Theoricke but the applicatiue knowledge of Christs resurrection that will helpe vs. But here wee must know that it is not the bare Theoricke and intellectuall knowledge that Christ is raised from the dead at that time from that place and in that manner as I haue shewed vnto you before is sufficient for our saluation for so the deuils know it and beleeue it too and yet they receiue no fruit nor benefit thereby but it is the practicke experimentall and applicatiue knowledge and beliefe in the resurrection of the sonne of God that is effectuall for the saluation of man Philip. 3.10 11 And therefore Saint Paul prayes that Hee may know Christ and finde in himselfe the vertue and power of the resurrection of Christ for as the rising of the head doth euer cause the rising of all the parts of the body which is vnited vnto the the head so the resurrection of Christ doth euer worke a resurrection of all the members of Christ for so the Apostle teacheth vs Rom. 8 11. If the spirit of him that raised vp Iesus dwell in you he that raised vp Christ from the dead shall also quicken and so raise vp your mortall bodies by that spirit which dwelleth in you That the resurrection of Christians is twofold And we finde this resurrection of vs that are his members to be two fold 1. from sinne and from all the vanities of this world 2. from death and from the corruption of the graue First if wee be the members of Christ then certainely wee are risen with Christ risen I say from the death of sinne vnto the life of righteousnesse and if wee bee risen with Christ then doth our hearts wish and desire those things that are aboue where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Coloss 3. saith the Apostle and therefore whosoeuer walloweth in sinne and delighteth in the things of this world it is certaine that hee hath not as yet any part or portion in the resurrection of Iesus Christ for if wee bee the members of Christ wee must also rise with Christ and wee must rise as Christ hath risen for otherwise we would all rise That the resurrection of Christ is a patterne to teach vs how we should rise from sinne and from the company of sinners and many doe rise but not as Christ rose and therefore such risers tolluntur in altum vt lapsu grauiore ruant the higher they rise the greater is their fall But we must rise as Christ hath risen and that is as I told you before First in respect of the place from the dead First from the society of the wicked so must we rise from the dead workes of sinne and from all those that are dead in sinne Christ left the dead in their
meaner Schollers cannot doe so profoundly as the grauer Diuines can doe and the older men cannot doe it so often as the yonger sort can doe and yet neither must be contemned for if the young men had had the time of the aged no doubt but they would doe as well as the aged Aristotle Et si senex haberet oculum inuenis videret vt iuuenis And if the ancient men had the strength bodies of yong men it is not vnlikely but that they would still take paines as young men Neither doe I say this to vphold sloath or negligence in any Age for to our vttermost ability as I said before we must all continue constant vnto death but to reproue our partiall Age that adoreth the Sunne rising in the East and applaudeth the quicke wits and many Sermons of youth but make none account of aged Paul and the best labours of declining age Philemon v. 9. vnlesse with the Israelites they can make vp the same tale of Brickes as they did in youth though they haue neither Straw nor Stubble neither sight of eyes nor strength of bodies to performe it and to shew how euery man should doe his best Iuxta mensuram Donationis Christi according to that measure of grace which he hath receiued from Christ And so much for the filling of the Apostles with the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost CHAP. V. Of the effects and fruits of their filling with the Holy Ghost and how this Spirit sealeth them and sheweth them to be the true seruants of Iesus Chist THirdly For the effects of their filling it is said The fruits and effects of the holy Ghost that they began to speake with other tongues as the Spirit gaue them vtterance First They began to speake because the Spirit of God is neuer idle but where it sees cause will speake though it should cost the speakers life Secondly They spake with other tongues i. e. not as carnall men talking of fleshly or worldly matters nor as wicked prophane wretches belching forth Blasphemia in deum Blasphemies against God but as regenerate and sanctified men they shew forth magnalia dei the wonderfull workes of God And hereby all men might know whether they were the seruants of Christ by this Spirit of Christ for as our Sauiour saith of the false Apostles the same is true of all Apostles Matth. 7.16 by their fruits you shall know them for as in whomsoeuer the spirit of Satan is you shall see that he will reueale them by their lewd words and by their wicked works which are the workes of darkenesse so in whomsoeuer the Spirit of God is hee will seale them and marke them with a foure-fold marke saith Bonauenture that is signo 1. Veritatis credendorum 2. Honestatatis morum 3. Contemptus mundanorum 4. Charitatis Dei et proximorū 1. With true Religion The holy Ghost sealeth vs with a four-fold seale 2. With an vpright conuersation 3. With contempt of vanity 4. With perfect charity First It worketh Faith in their hearts for this is the fundamentall root of all other graces and therfore the Apostle well obserueth out of the Prophet that a man first beleeueth Faith is the root of all graces and then speaketh for we haue beleeued saith he and therefore haue wee spoken whereas if they had not beleeued they would neuer haue spoken of the wonderfull workes of God and therefore the holy Ghost did first worke faith in their hearts and then it caused the same to speake and to expresse it selfe by this preaching of the works of God And Secondly of good workes which are Secondly because the verity of our faith is euer knowne by the sinceritie of our life therefore these signes shall follow them that beleeue Gregor de 7. pec Magdal First to suppresse sinne First They shall cast out Deuils i. e. vitia voluptatis they shall suppresse all sinnes as Saint Gregory expounds it because euery sinne is as bad as the Deuill Secondly They shall speake with new tongues i. e. vtter forth verba vtilitatis Secondly to praise God holy and heauenly words and because our naturall tongues were like the poison of Aspes these may well be called new tongues when they doe sing a new song Thirdly to bridle their lusts Thirdly They shall take vp serpents i. e. concupiscentias sensualitatis the biting and poisonous concupiscences of our sensuall flesh shall be though not quite taken away from them yet they shall bee taken vp in their hands as Hercules is said to haue held the two serpents which Iuno sent to deuoure him in both his hands while hee was but a childe in his cradle and they shall be so restrayned and held fast that they shall not be able to doe them violence Fourthly to beare all iniuries Fourthly If they drinke any deadly poison it shall not hurt them i. e. iniurias aduersitatis if they must swallow downe lies and slanders yet for all the malice and the mischiefe of the wicked non inflammantur per superbiam non suffocantur per maliciam non disrumpuntur per inuidiam they shall neither swell with enuy nor burst with malice nor any wayes perish through their indignity Luke 21.19 but in their patience they shall possesse their soules And Fiftly to doe good vnto all men Fiftly They shall lay hands on the sicke and they shall recouer them i. e. adiutoria charitatis remedia iniquitatis they shall exercise such deeds of charity that by their good counsels and admonitions they shall recouer many a languishing dying soule Thirdly of contempt of vanities and bring them backe againe to sauing health And Thirdly because these things cannot be practised vnlesse the pompe and pride of worldly vanities be quite contemned and troden vnder feet therefore the Spirit of God worketh in them a minde to forsake all worldly things And Fourthly Fourthly of charity Rom. 5.5 because no worke is good vnlesse it proceedeth from the root of charity therefore the Spirit of God diffuseth this loue into the hearts of his seruants that they wish no euill to any man but are ready to doe good euen to them that hate them And these foure seales and signes of Gods Spirit are expressed in the twelfth chapter of the Reuelation where Saint Iohn saw a woman clothed with the Sunne Apoc. 12.1 and the Moone vnder her feet and vpon her head a crowne of twelue Starres and she being with childe cryed trauelling in birth and paine to be deliuered For this woman signifieth the Church of Christ or euery faithfull Christian soule And first her Sun-like shining is the brightnesse of her good workes and heauenly conuersation which doth so shine before men Matth. 5.16 that they glorifie God which is in heauen Secondly the Moone vnder her feet signifieth her contemning and trampling vnder feet all the vaine and variable things of this sublunary world Thirdly her crowne
737 TI. No time mispent that is spent to know the person of Christ 305 Christ how made in time 400 Of the time when Christ was borne ibid. How time hath his fulnesse 401 The particular time of the words incarnation 402. Titillation and thoughts of sinne is sinne 14 TO Torments of Hell how intollerable 86 Not equall to all the damned 93 Not suffered by Christ 581 TR. That we doe not traduce sinnes from our parents 246 Transubstantiation hath a double contradiction 173 How full of absurdities ibid. Defenders of Transubstantiation how agreeable to the false prophets whereof our Sauiour biddeth vs to beware 548 What the Author thinketh of Transubstantiation 549 Treason of Iudas what it should teach vs. 463 Mysterie of the Trinity why not fully reuealed at the first 272 How darkly shewed in the creatures 273 Trismegistus what he said of the word 312 Morall truth what it is 312 Truth in vs not as it is in God ibid. Physicall truth what it is ibid. God is truth two wayes 213 All truths how they doe proceed 213 Truth of things of vnderstanding of words 213 214 Diuine truth measureth all things 214 Expressed truth is two-fold 215 Truth how excellent it is ibid. How like the light 215 How it expelleth errors ibid. Sheweth what euery thing is ibid. How it begets vs to God 216 God true in himselfe in his workes and in his words 216 The primarie expressed truth contained in the holy Scriptures 215 Truth to be sought whatsoeuer it cost 217 To be defended with the losse of all that we haue 217 How alwayes handled on earth ibid. How at last it will preuaile 218 How euery truth proceedes from God 222 How God loueth it ibid. How it should be alwayes spoken 222 231 How hardly found in these dayes 222 231 Truth makes vs like to God 231 Truth and iustice how they pleaded against man 319 TV. To turne from sinne turnes away all the wrath of God 195 TW Twelue apparitions of Christ after his resurrection 565 Twelue wonders in the Manna of the Israelites 703 Two things further the sinnes of the parents to continue in the children 246 Two-fold will in Christ 296 Two sorts of Mediators 296 Two reasons shewing why Christ was made flesh 320 Two things to be done for man before he could be saued 321 Two things to be considered touching the conception of Christ 333 Two signes of a true Teacher 466 Two reasons moued Pilate to condemne Christ 478 That there is a two fold hope 649 Two kindes of prayer 700 TY. Giuing of Canaan to the Israelites a type of giuing heauen to vs. 127 The three women seeking Christ a type of the Church 519 520 Typicall testimonies that Christ should rise the third day 554 To liue vnder the tyrannie of sinne how lamentable it is 635 VA. VAnities of the world how soone they passe away 129 Christ despised all vanities 260 Vaine-glory how it tainteth many of the Clergy 525 Valentinus his heresie 343 VB Vbiquity cannot be communicated to any creature 156 Vbiquitie of Christ his body ouerthrowne by the assertion of the Angell 543 Obiections of the Vbiquitaries answered 168 388 VE Veniall sinnes or the least sinnes bring death 41 Vertue is of an admirable beauty 47 Christ a patterne of all vertue 260 VJ. Victory of Christ ouer Hell Death Sinne and Satan 634 Villanies of Satan to be shewed and why 392 Villanies done to Christ not paralelled since the world began 474 Vineger how giuen to Christ to drinke 482 Christ why borne of a Virgin 334 The blessed Virgin still continued a Virgin to her death 336 Visitation of God two-fold 243 To visite what it signifieth 243 God visiteth the afflicted ibid. God visiteth the wicked 244 VN Vnderstanding of Adam in Paradise how excellent 57 58. Our Vnderstanding now how darkened through sinne 58 How quicke and sharpe in naturall things 59 How blockish in all Diuine mysteries ibid. Our vnderstanding of God very small 121 Vnion of Christ his natures expressed by a simily of Iustin Martyr 371 Wherin the Nestorian heretickes auouched the same to consist 375 Wherein the Lutherans affirmed it to consist 377 Wherein it doth truely consist 378 Vnion of the two natures inconuertible indiuisible c. 379 Vnion of things three wayes made 380 Vnion of Christ his natures substantiall 381 Ineffable ibid. What benefits it bringeth 282 283 c. We must be vnited to Christ if we will ascend to Heauen 627 Vnity of brethren 689 Want of vnity amongst vs. 691 Vnrepentant sinners shall neuer be absolued 242 VO Voice of the creature three-fold 705 WA WAight of sinne feared by Christ 545 Christ how he walked vpon the waters 388 Warre how lawfull 702 All wants supplied by Christ 262 Way to Heauen how said to be hard 98 And how easie 99 Three wayes of knowing God 120 Three wayes of expressing what God is Wayes of wickednes how hard and difficult 99 121 Best way to teach is to lay a good foundation 392 Way to saue man could neuer haue beene found but onely by the wisdome of God 393 WE Wealth what discommoditie it bringerh 524 WH White clothing of Christ what it signified 473 White an argument of innocency 478 WI. Wicked men delight in committing sinne 36 They are greedy to doe it ibid. And they haue their full content when they haue done it ibid. How they should be afraid to offend Gods power 179 They haue no part in the speciall mercy of God 188 Wicked men not loued of God 189 They are with held from many sinnes by the goodnesse of God 200 To giue vnto the wicked power to serue God God is no waies to doe it 210 The wickednesse of professors of the truth ought no waies to disparage the truth of God 219 220 The wicked how they abuse Gods goodnesse 22â— How punished in their children 245 That they shall be punished 244 Not euery sinne of the wicked is visited vpon their children 247 The wicked how they doe deceiue themselues 517 How it hapneth that they seeke not God 5â—1 How they are terrified and punished by the Angels 536 How they are said to ascend 6â—0 How still captiues vnto Satan 635 Wife of Pilate how she iustified Christ 475 Will of God reuealed in our consciences and in the scriptures 11 Wilfull sinners 33 How fearefull is their state ibid. They can pleade no excuse ibid. The will commandeth all the faculties of the soule 53 Will to sinne deserueth the punishment of sinne 55 Our will cannot be compelled by Sathan nor by any other outward enemie 55 57 Our owne will is the cause of all our woe 55 How our will to doe good is quite killed by sinne 56 It is drawne to sinne by our owne corruption 57 How it is guided by the iudgement 57 How we may be said to haue free-will 57 To will to sinne euer is a temporarie act 97 God cannot will things contrarie to his nature 153 To will a thing we