to hold correspondencie with the law looke for nothing but imperfections to frustrate the law of her end Put off the old man and put on the new wash away all birdlime of concupiscence crucifie your earthly members tame the flesh bring it into true subiection that the law may say goe and it goeth come and it commeth doe this and it doth so then you shall finde no defect in the law O that all weaknesse were so taken away from this sinfull flesh of mine O that all the sores thereof were in this sort healed Should not I then run the way of the Commandements But this the law cannot doe it rather discouereth them and aggrauateth their sinne and makes it out of measure sinfull not vnprofitable for if the disease were light it would be contemned then remedy would not be sought and so no cure Lex data est vt gratia quaereretur gratia data est vt lex impleretur I remember the story of Elizeus in the booke of the Kings He was a Prophet and prophecied as well by his deeds as in his words The Shunamites son was dead it was told the Prophet he sent his staffe by his seruant Goe lay it vpon the childes face but the dead receiued no life The Prophet knew what hee did that the staffe would not be sufficient and therefore came himselfe The law is like to Elizeus staffe though it were appointed and Elizeus sent it to giue life yet did it not giue life For if there had beene a law that could giue life then righteousnesse should haue come by the law Now wee are all like to the Shunamites childe dead in sinne Come then Elizeus and raise the dead send not thy staffe by any seruant but come thy selfe Come come O pittifull and sweet Samaritane heale this poore hurt creature powre in wine and oile The Priest saw it and passed by the Leuite looked vpon it but no offices of the law had compassion Come therefore come courteous Samaritane for there is mercy with thee Binde vp my sores set mee vpon thine owne beast but leaue me not with any Host or In-keeper For whom haue I in heauen but thee and there is none on earth that I desire in comparison of thee Numquid possunt sanare languores meos Therfore take charge of me thy selfe Say vnto me o thou preseruer of mankinde say vnto my soule I am thy saluation but say it so that I may heare Open mee the gates of righteousnesse and I will enter therein That which the law could not doe because it was made weake through our flesh God sent his sonne to doe He sent Christ to be the end of the law He sent no seruant about it Moses indeed was faithfull in all his house but his tongue was heauy and not eloquent enough to treat of such a cause Esaies lips were vncleane Ieremie was a childe and could not speake all the Prophets were tongue-tied and the Angels themselues were vnable to entertaine the matter for vs. When Angels were fallen could Angels mediate their owne restitution Then can they neuer bee competent for vs that were insufficient for themselues To be vmpeere betweene God and man to make appointment and transaction of their differences to sustaine the wrath of the one and the miseries of the other and that a mediatour must doe is certainlie beyond the capacitie and compasse of euery creature Verily none but God can plead with God the son with the father God mercifull with God iust God pleased with God offended May I craue your honourable leaue and patience to informe you of a sharpe contention and it shall not bee impertinent to this businesse that I treat of Truth and righteousnes contend for the punishment of mankinde with peace and mercy pleading for his deliuerance Whole Adam saith Iustice must die because whole Adam hath offended And if regard be not had of my sister truth and my selfe yet may not the word be infringed that is gone out of the mouth of God In what day soeuer thou shalt eat of this fruit thou shalt die the death Mercy maketh answer that if the matter should go so and no commiseration taken but that whole mankinde must be condemned then why were Peace and I brought into the world to bee cut away so soone againe Reply was made by Truth that Mercy had zeale indeed but not according to knowledge For in pittie towards mankinde shee is cruell to Iustice and mee that are her sisters desiring to haue him spared and vs abolished For it is not possible for vs to consist without this punishment The controuersie is difficult and happily some doe wish for Salomon to decide it But a greater than Salomon was there yet that could not hold them from bitternesse till Peace had reprooued both sides and told them that contention was vnbeseeming vertues and sisters All this while the Iudge was stooping downe and writing vpon the ground The tenour of his writing was this as Peace did read it The one side sayes that all mankinde must die or else Righteousnesse and Truth cannot liue The other side sayes that in case mankind die Mercy and Peace must perish with them This is my sentence Fiat mors bona habet vtraque pars quod petebat All wondered at the wisdome and integritie of the decision But the remedie was as hard as the disease That death should bee made good it was impossible vnlesse such a one should vndertake the businesse that was not indebted to death And where should he be found Verily none can giue aid but he that gaue counsell And so they had recourse vnto the sonne of God who turning to his father said Sacrifice and burnt-offering thou wouldest not haue but hast fitted mee vp a body for this death In the volume of thy booke it is written of mee that I should fulfill thy will O my God I am content to do it So he put his owne decision in practise Then Mercy and Truth met together Righteousnesse and Peace kissed each other Hee was that ladder that Iacob did see joining heauen and earth together Where the law ended in cursing and imprecation because it was not obserued there Christ began and redeemed vs from the curse of the law and was made a curse for vs. He did heerein as in the matter of Tribute when it was demanded although he were free as the sonne of a King yet because wee will leaue none offense Goe Peter take this peece of twenty pence and pay for me and thee O bone Domine Iesu O good Lord Iesus wilt thou indeed pay for thee and me for that which thou saidest vnto Peter thou sayest vnto euery one of thy Church take it and pay it for thee and me And for theâ—e the paiment is soone made because thou wast born free But my sinne is great and is not my redemption plenteous I haue transgressed the whole law and haue not I fulfilled it too a little But
and not in another place or world alter they be dead Neque gubernator postquam nauâ— meâ—sa est neque medicus postquam aegrotus obijt quicquam trâ—dessâ— potest Neither can the gouernour after the ship is suake nor the Physician after the sicke is dead auaile Hic misereri potest poenitentis quia ibi Iudex est non misericâ—rs Heere he may haue pittie on them that repent in the world to come hee is a Iudge not a pardoner Come foolish Virgins and perswade the Catholikes by that which befell vnto your selues that all preparation after death is idle and vnprofitable In the meane time wee will search if you please what allowance the Scripture giueth to fire for purging of sinnes The onely place that is alleged with probabilitie is that which the Apostle writeth The fire shall true euery mans worke of what sort it is That shewes that there is a probatorie but prooues not any Purgatorie fire Thorow this fire of probation all maner of workes and workmen must passe and the masters of Purgatorie you know will not allow that any of their saints or excellent workmen should bee once cinged And therefore this fire of triall makes nothing for their Purgatorie The true Purgatorie of Christians is the blood of Iesus Christ which quencheth euery aduersary fire and purgeth vs from all our sinnes When the Centurion pierced his side there came out water and blood to shew that it was no common and ordinary blood that came from Iesus Christ but such as had a cleansing vertue O Lord purge vs heerewith and wee shall be cleane wash our robes in the blood of this Lambe and we shall be whiter than snow Surely he that is so washed already needs not the mathematicall fire of Purgatorie but is cleane thorowout And he that is not washed with the blood of Christ shall neuer be cleansed but tormented for euer in real fire Seeing then that the fire of Purgatorie is to some men needlesse and to all other helplesse I wish better to this sacred presence than to hold you any longer in the smoake of that which is fruitlesse Abrahams bosome is a place of more contentment And who would not bee with the father of the faithfull But if the Church of Rome will haue it to bee no more than a place discharged of sensible pains where they were neuerthelesse suspended from Gods presence I see no great matter that can be in it to allure vs. But none can speake better to the quality and condition of Abrahams bosome than Abraham himselfe And he bids the rich glutton remember that hee in his life time receiued pleasures and Lazarus likewise paines now therefore he is comforted and thou art tormented In suspension there is anxietie and no comfort especially when the suspension is from the fruition and sight of God Augustine writeth of his friend Nâ—bridius that was dead and in Abrahams bosome I am non ponit aurem ad os meum sed spirituale os ad sontem tuum bibit quantum potest sapientiam pro auiditate sua sine sine foelix If he that is in Abrahams bosome drinketh at the well head puts his mouth to the fountaine of life and hath happinesse for euermore as Augustine writeth then is it not a place of retrait of suspension of an Interim but of present and actuall possession Hierome equalleth the Fathers of the old Testament in reward with vs Quis ignorat sub altera dispensatione Dei omnes sanctos eiusdem juisse meriti cuius nunc Christiani sunt Who knoweth not that all the saints which were vnder the Old Testament had the same reward which Christians haue now And if they had the same reward then that Christians haue now whence comes this difference that the gate of heauen is open to vs and shut vpon them that assoone as wee faile they receiue vs into euerlasting Tabernacles Into Paradise the same day Into blessednesse instantlie and they of the Old Testament are delaied vntill the resurrection of Christ are without any warrant at al so vncourteously sent to Abrahams bosome and that vnto Vtopia It cannot be for that the worke of Christs redemption was not performed at the time of their death For albeit that worke was fixed to the fulnes of time Before his houre was not come Then hee would not admit of any tergiuersation Shall I not drinke of the cup which my father hath giuen me Yet was the power of that worke and the vertue of his redemption extended from the beginning of the world vnto the end thereof He entred but once to the Sanctuarie of heauen but hee found eternall redemption And how can that which is eternall be limited or restrained to future times Doth it not comprehend all times Yes verily and it is a transcendent aboue them all Was not the lambe slaine from the beginning of the world And is it possible that a Sacrifice of such price so offred and so accepted should not bee of present efficacie Prius eius mors profuit quà m fuit It satisfied God redeemed man opened heauen and put the whole kingdome of Satan into combustion presently So Christs Heereafter in this text is no limitation of time as if heauen had not beene penetrable before his death and resurrection But this Hencefoorth implieth the accession that is giuen to out sight by the ministerie of the Gospell Hencefoorth yee shall see That which the Fathers hoped for that wee doe see and the passage vnto heauen is made much more conspicuous by the light of the New Testament We haue Christ borne and ful growen they had him too but hidden in the seed of Abraham in the loines of Dauid in the wombe of a royall Virgin or if a childe were borne vnto them yet was he wrapped vp in the swaâ—ling clouts of the law Velâ—m pendebat in templo ne templi secreta panderentur cruce autem Domini velum consâ—issâ—m est vt paterent The veile did hang in the Temple that the secrets of the temple might not bee published but at the death of Christ this veile was rent that all within might be visible and manifest Thorow this veile Iacob did see a ladder that reached vp to heauen heere is yet obscuritie enough the Angels went vp and downe What is that to vs that be men What shall wee doe with a ladder when the gates of Heauen bee shut against vs when there be Cheâ—ubins and angry Porters and a firie sword to keepe vs out Who shall open vs the gate Who shall remooue the Cherubins Who shall take away the firie sword If you will bee pleased to looke vpon this Heereafter in the New Testament Iacobs veile is rent that you may see all things plaine heauen open the Angels ascending and descending vpon the sonne of man If they goe vp and downe vpon the sonne of man then Christ is the ladder that reacheth vp to heauen he is
Redeemer with a sufficient price in his hand In the daies of his flesh he offred vp praiers and supplications and himselfe too with strong crying teares and was heard because of his reuerence The Holy Ghost neuer offred vp any thing Hee comes only as a Comforter not as a Redeemer as a monitor to vs not as a mediator for vs. He comes to helpe our dulnesse to raise vs vp to giue heat to our affectâ—ons to indite our praiers and that also is the benefit of the Sonne that sâ—nds him Ye haue receiued the Spirit whereby yee crie Abba Father that when our praiers are conceiued by the spirit and offred by the Sonne they may euer bee auaileable and neuer take repulse with the Father O quench not this spirit grieue it not but cherish and entertaine euery motion thereof Is it not a faithfull remembrancer sent vs by the Sonne of God Come holy Spirit and let it bee thy good pleasure to remember vs in this thy fauourable influence take away stumbling blocks out of my soule which is the kingdome of Iesus Christ that he may raigne there alone as hee should doe Couetousnesse comes and challengeth gouernment pride would be a king lust sayes shee will raigne ambition backbiting enuie and wrath striue in mee which of them should haue the greatest sway I dull and heauy creature resist as I am able I withstand as farre as I am aided I claime Iesus to be my Lord I defend my selfe for him because I am his right I hold him for my God him for my Lord Come therefore holy Spirit and scatter these Vsurpers in thy power Draw vs all after him draw vs though wee be vnwilling and make vs willing draw vs that are slothfull and make vs cheerfull Shed out and powre foorth the oile of thy gladnesse vpon vs and we shall run in the sauour of thine ointments We are soone weary and changeable draw vs after him lest wee begin to take our vagaries after other louers After other louers Quem inuenirem qui me reconciâ—aret tiâ—i An â—undum mihi fuit ad Angelos Qua prece Quibus Sacramentis Whom should I finde that should reconcile mee vnto thee Should I make any way to Angels With what praiers With what mysteries Sure Angels are not strong enough to carrie vs to heauen and men are too weake yet there bee Giants now as were after the flood that hauing got such morter and bricke say Come let vs build a tower whose top may reach vp to heauen Videte quas scalas imo quae praecipitia ipsi sibi parauerint ad ruinam Marke what ladders yea rather what downfals they haue gotten themselues for their owne ruine for Angels are creatures not able to stand of themselues without the support and benefit of the sonne of God If their abilitie had beene sufficient the diuels would neuer haue lost their places The rest are called elect Angels and Christ is the ground of all election Verily Paul calleth him the head of principalities and powers in whom they doe all consist Qui dedit â—aâ—so homini vt surgeret dedit stanti Angelo ne caderet Hee gaue man that was fallen power to rise and Angels that stood grace that they should not fall and so he was beneficiall to both raising vp the one and confirming the other And if I should commit my cause to such an aduocate as hath need of a patron himselfe it were a right tower of Babel and no scale of heauen The holiest men in the world are too weake to carry vs to heauen by their intercessions Doth this appertaine vnto man O Lord God Adam was perfect both in body and soule yet of too too base a condition to stand in the presence of God without the interuention of a mediator The tree of life which was giuen him is a cleare testimony heereof What needed he any Sacrament of Christ if hee could haue stood of himselfe And then mee thinkes it is plaine enough that seeing Adam could not mediate his owne cause in his integritie no saint though in heauen is able to vndertake for vs in this common miserie Mary began to be a mediator for wine at the marriage in Cana but assoone as Christ repressed her boldâ—esse she desisted soberly and gaue a wholesome charge to the waiters which may well hold the nature of a rule amongst all posteritie to attend vpon Christ alone When the Saints themselues doe send vs vnto Christ shall wee leaue him and in our superstitious affections hang vpon Saints If you do looke for nothing but that which happened vnto Baals Priests They cried from the morning vntill the euening sacrifice and there was neither voice nor one to make answer not any that regarded Tell vs Paul what you did thinke when you were in such a strait that you knew not what to chuse whether to be dissolued and to be with Christ which was better for your owne particular or to abide in the flesh which was more profitable to the Philippians Were you not then verily perswaded that after your death the Church could make no vse of your praiers What then Is the saints loue diminished in heauen where all their graces be increased No sure loue falâ—eth not away But the loue of the saints in heauen is not alwaies in action It is there rather in Maries contemplation than in Marthaes exercise Or if it be in action it is like to Peters when hee had a taste of it in the transfiguration of Christ The loue of his brethren was not decaied but hee was so rauished and pleased with the sight of that which was present that he thought of nothing but the fruition thereof Bonum est nobis esse hic It is good being heere Hee thought not of his brethren that were absent he desired but three Tabernacles for those that were present Can the Saints that be in heauen heare our praiers from earth Haue they any dispensation of vbiquitie Haue they any indowment of omniâ—cienâ—iâ— Can they search our hearts Doe they see and foresee our wants For who will commit his body to such a Physician that knowes no more of the infirmities thereof than he himselfe doth tell him Can they open the gates of heauen for vs Can they conquer death for vs All this a mediator must doe Ego alium noui â—eminem qui hâ—c potuerit nisi Dominum meum Iesum Qui cerse in morte viuebat qâ—â—pâ—re fractus in cruce in diuinitate stabat â—m â—aâ—r◠〈◊〉 nâ—bisâ—um supplicans in altero cum patre propitiaâ—s homo manifestus Deus absconditus I know not any that can doe this but onely my Lord Iesus that liued in death who being brused vpon the Crosse in bodie stood in his diuinitie with the father suppliant with vs in the one and giuing a largesse to vs with the Father in the other a visible man and a hidden God Will you see how hee did liue in death Consider
then that Satans power was not to continue longer as Paulinus writeth Epist 4. than till he had slaine an innocent person therewith Was not this liâ—ertie enough Did hee not once vrge such a point against poore Adam for eating the fruit that was reserued because â—ee had libertie enough to eat of all the rest And is not his owne cause now like to this Ah thou vngratious and wicked seruant I will iudge thee out of thâ—ne owâ—e mouth Did it not suffice thee to bee the minister of Gods iustice to inuade all that offended If this only were permitted oughtedst not thou to haue forborne this one innocent person that neuer sinned Thou hast shed innocent blood and art now not an executioner of the Law of God but a trespasser against it Art thou able to reinfuse the guiltlesse blood into those sacred veines againe out of which thou hast presumptuously spilt it Is thy power nothing to edification but al to destruction Know then O thou enemie that temeritie is not alwaies fortunate for destruction is now come to a perpetuall end Neque enim lex iustior vlla est quà m necis artifices arte perire sua Thus you see the power of Satan dissolued by the death of Christ not with force but in law and iustice And what doe you thinke of the Godhead of Christ that hitherto was a beholder and no actor a Iudge and no party in this businesse Should not the Iudge of all the world doe right Or can there be any better iustice any greater right than to restore the innocent and to punish the wrong-doer Euen so he did The Godhead of Christ which was glued to his bodie with an inseparable vnion which was with it in the graue that it did not see corruption that same Godhead did breath the breath of life into it againe and then he was inter mortuos liber a free man amongst those that were dead When he had thus reuiued and restored the innocent then he spoiled principalities and powers so much more magnifically because he pursued them into their owne holds and triumphed ouer them in their owne Castles of the graue and hell It fared with them all as it did with the great sea-beast when he had swallowed vp Ionas They had taken such a morsell as they could not hold but were faine to be rid of it againe Then hee tooke the beast euen the great Leuiathan that crooked serpent and cast him aliue into a lake of fire burning with brimstone Non iam Diabolum vt Leonem timemus sed vt pellem conculâ—â—mus We doe not now feare the Diuell as a Lion but wee tread him vnder our feet as a case There is no cause now that you should stand in doubt of any angrie Porters that you should bee afraid of any firie sword Christ see Satan falling downe from heauen as if it had beene lightning Ego alium noui neminem qui hoc potuerit nisi dâ—minum meum Iesum I know not any that could so haue taken him away and remoued his power but only my Lord Iesus When Christ was risen againe hee made not the earth a place of his residence but ascended to heauen as a conquerour It is well seene how thou my King and God goest to thy sanctuarie not climing by ladders not hoised vp by cords or pullies but marching valiantly in the multitude of thine owne strength thou makest the Clouds thy Chariots and walkest vpon the wings of the winde And when hee came neere to the wals of that heauenly Citie hee did not begge or intreat an entrance by fauour but commanded it as one that had authoritie Lift vp your heads O ye gates and be ye lift vp ye euerlasting doores and the King of glory shall come in Securae estote caro sanguis coelum in capite posâ—detis aut si vos in coelo negent negent in coelo Christum Feare not flesh and blood ye are now in your head possessed of heauen or if any denie you to bee in heauen they may as well deny Christ to be there He â—scended whole for there was not one bone of him broken then must his bodie bee there too which we are Hominem portauit ad coelum Deum misit ad terras He hath both taken and giuen a pledge He hath taken flesh of vs and carried it into Heauen that Heauen now knowes what it is to beare man and he hath giuen vs his spirit from thence in testimonie that we shall all bee gathered thither Ego alium noui neminem qui hoc potuerit nisi Dominum meum Iesum He shall be my mediator he shall be my ladder If he did redeeme me with the infirmitie of his death can he not make intercession for me in the maiestie and glorie of his life He liues at the right hand of God not in contemplation of his owne greatnes but for the comfort and sustentation of our wants He liues for euer to make interpellation for vs and if he were heard in the dayes of his flesh because of his reuerence shall he be refused now at the right hand of God because of his glorie Hauing once opened heauen he makes it a thorow fare for our praiers to ascend and for his benefits to descend Amongst other things that he giueth vs from thence one is here specially mentioned in the text The Angels of God ascend and descend vpon the sonne of man that is by his appointment and authoritie to attend to guard to comfort vs poore men Are they not all ministring spirits sent foorth for their sakes that shall bee heires of saluation The Angell of the Lord pitcheth round about the Tents of the godly and deliuereth them They shall beare our soules into Abrahams bosome Let vs vse their ministry that is glorious leaue their mediation that is superfluous There is another sort of Angels that ascend and descend vpon the sonne of man When he led captiuitie captiue he gaue gifts vnto men some Apostles some Prophets some Pastors and Doctors for the gathering together of the Saints These are called in the Reuelation the Angels of the Churches and heere they are said to goe vp and downe They had not need to sit still lest the children should call for bread and there no none to breake it vnto them We haue the keies of the kingdome of heauen committed vnto vs. Tibi â—abo claues regni coelorum Wee are key-bearers to open the kingdome of heauen to you by preaching of the Gospell This power Peter and Paul did exercise faithfully They preached the Gospell and in that remission of sinnes and so opened the kingdome to the beleeuers They neuer practised nor thought of such exorbitant and infinite power as the Church of Rome doth now vsurpe vnder the colour and title of those keies directly or indirectly to sway and to dispose of all the world Paul neuer planted any such power Apollos neuer watered it and God of his