which were raised out of the dust Matth. 27.52 53. Afterward that of Tabitha Acts 9.40 And for the third example that of the young man Eutychus Act. 20.9 10 11 12. There are notable resemblances between the three that were raised under the Old Testament and the three which Jesus Christ raised before his death The first raised from the dead in the Old Testament was the onely son of a widow and the first raised â—n the New Testament was the onely son of a widow The one in Sarephta the other in Naim In both the Testaments God began the Resurrection of the dead by the demonstration of his Mercy as well as that of his Power Moreover the last of the three raised before the coming of Christ was already entered into the grave where he touched the bones of the Prophet Elisha and the last of the three raised by Christ to wit Lazarus had already stayed four days within the Sepulchre Why Christ rose not again the day after his death but suffered the whole Sabbath day to passe over before he returned to life I passe by the ordinary reasons which are brought concerning this and will onely observe a Maxime which I finde in this matter to wit That never any dead man was raised again on the Sabbath day The Son of God hath healed many sick on the Sabbath day but ye read not that on that day he raised any dead And in sum none of all those which were returned to life as well under the one as the other Testament and of whom we have considered the catalogue and the order according to which they are ranked hath been raised on the Sabbath day I shall verifie this when I shall come to expound the fourth Commandment of the Decalogue For the present question we may say that Jesus Christ who is the Head of the Resurrection would shew the communion which is between him and others that are raised in whom we have a preludium of the general Resurrection And forasmuch as none of them recovered life on the Sabbath day he also not to seem to disjoyn himself from them would not that his Resurrection should fall on that day This excludeth not the other reasons of the time of his stay among the dead A comparison of the time which God employed in the Creation with that which he employed in the Redemption And of the days of the one and the other The time of the Creation was six Days that of the Redemption was but of three Days which is the lesse by one half But the Wisdom of God hath divided the time of the Creation in two equal parts each of three days the first three being distinguished from the three following by a most evident mark The first three days of the world with their nights had neither Sun nor Moon nor Stars but preceded the being of all these lights in which they have been different from all other days that since have come As therefore the Creation hath had three days extraordinary so the Redemption in the which the world hath been as created anew hath had these three marvellous days in the which Christ continued among the dead It is to be observed that himself speaking of the three days of his stay within the bowels of the earth Matth. 12. which ought not to be understood of three entire days had regard to the history of the Creation which reckoneth the Evening and the Morning for a Day a part for the whole Gen. 1.5 8. The first and neerest cause of the three days detaining of Jonah in the whales belly The intention of God indeed was to present unto men in Jonah a type of the Resurrection of Christ as every one knoweth But there was first another reason for which the Prophet was not delivered before the third day The chastisement of the sinner oftentimes answereth to the fault even to circumstances This happened to Jonah His History telleth us that Nineveh was a City of three days journey chap. 3.3 For having refused to take this walk of three days in Nineveh he was condemned to keep prison three days within the whale The three days which he would not passe over in a great City among men it was necessary for him to passe in the intrails of a fish out of the sight of men and sun From this historical consideration we come to that of this great mystery which is enclosed in the detention and deliverance of Jonah The Resurrection of Christ figured in Hezekiah by a double resemblance It is sufficiently known that this Resurrection as touching the circumstance of the Third Day hath been prefigured in Isaac in Jonah in Hezekiah A Patriarch a Prophet a King have been the types Isaac destined to be offred an whole-burnt-offering and remaining as dead in the brest of his father is as returned to life on the third day Gen. 22. Heb. 11.19 And this for the more ample correspondence happened very neer the same place where Christ afterward was buried and where he rose from the dead Jonah issuing from the depth of the sea giveth the term of fourty days to the Ninevites And this figure which marketh out the Resurrection of Christ on the third day extendeth also all along the fourty days which Christ gave unto the world after his Resurrection before he left the earth The healing also of Hezekiah is considered as a type He was held in the rank of the dead and his bed was to him a grave He was raised up miraculously on the Third Day as it were surviving himself 2 Kings 20.5 But that which I observe concerning this last and which I adde to the observations of those which have gone before me is another correspondence which is found between the wonders that befell in this subject the one in the sicknesse of Hezekiah and the other in the death of Christ In both these there was a Miracle in the Sun For the Eclipse of this Luminary which happened at the death of Christ was supernatural as well as the going back in the sicknesse of Hezekiah So that this type meeteth with Christ dead and raised from the dead by a double resemblance But the shadow which returned ten degrees backward to foreshew the return of Hezekiah to the course of his life was not so miraculous as the return of Christ from among the dead verified by ten Appatitions by which as by so many degrees he shewed himself living again upon the earth before he ascended into heaven Why none ever was raised again the third day after his death but onely Christ Of all those whom God hath caused to return into the world after they were dead there is not one whom the Scripture saith to have been raised on the Third Day If there had been any one this circumstance had not been omitted in History All have been raised either before or after the Third Day after their decease but none on that day The son of the widow of Sarephta the daughter
of God caused himself to be known by his miraculous actions divers notwithstanding took him for John the Baptist whom they imagined to be raised from the dead and to be the authour of those marvels that then were wrought Matth. 14.2 and 16.13 14. This errour had passed further if that Prophet had in effect been raised But it was requisite that that light should give place to a greater Luminary since he came not but onely to bring men unto Christ To conclude Christ is the onely Prophet that made any stay after his death to the end that he might be adored by them All the rest that returned from the dead either have been persons that had nothing extraordinary in their life or have not stayed alive some few moments of time upon the earth but Christ stayed fourty days and conversed with many at several times in several places and in several occurrences Of all those that have been raised from the dead none is introduced in Scripture speaking except Jesus Christ We need not demand whether we would be curious to see a man that had returned from the dead or whether we would desire to speak with him How many questions should we ask him We should demand of him what remembrance he had what being his soul had out of the body in what place it lodged in what condition it found it self what it saw or understood and what it did When Lazarus was raised great troops of the Jews ran to see him Without doubt they had as much curiosity as we have to ask and to hear him discourse And surely they whom God restored to life recovered also their speech yet the Scripture reporteth not any thing which hath been spoken by them And even when Eutychus was raised Acts 20.9 which happened in the presence of many spectatours he put himself again into the assembly to hear Saint Paul nor did they forsake the preaching of the Apostle to ask or hearken to one that was returned from the dead We read indeed that Moses and Elias being returned to the world spake with the Son of God in his Transfiguration and the subject of their discourse was of the decease which the Redeemer was to accomplish in Jerusalem Luke 9. But for the rest all the dead which have been raised keep silence in the History for it reciteth not any one word which they uttered although it observeth other particularities which seem lesse considerable And this is true of all those whose resurrection it hath described there being not one of them who is represented unto us speaking Hereupon it is to be considered why the Scripture never rehearseth what they have said For an omission so notable and universal cannot be without cause We finde therefore that this is an honour reserved to Christ to be the onely man among them that were raised from the dead whose words should be registred the onely one which speaketh in the Scripture the onely one from among the dead whom we can hear Wherefore the holy History expresseth very amply the words which the Son of God uttered after his Resurrection to divers persons upon divers subjects but for the rest which returned from the dead it mentioneth not so much as one word of all that they have spoken Three several Fourties of Days in the time that our Saviour stayed in this world Observations upon this circumstance Fourty days passed after the birth of Christ till the first entry he made into the Temple to be presented according to the Law Levit. 12. Luke 2.22 Fourty days after his Baptism till the day he began to enter upon the functions of his charge having miraculously fasted all that time And fourty days after his Resurrection before he entred into heaven In the first Fourty he appeared as a common man as all the rest of the first-born of Israel which they carried to the Temple to consecrate them to God In the second he appeared as a miraculous man as Moses and Elijah by an abstinence extraordinary In the third he appeared as the Son of God being declared to be so by his Resurrection Rom. 1.4 Many memorable periods have begun and ended by Fourties of days or yeers The Deluge began by a rain of Fourty days and Noah opened the window of the Ark Fourty days after the waters were withdrawn from covering the tops of the highest mountains The slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt and the peregrinations of their Fathers lasted ten times Fourty yeers Gen. 15.13 to wit till their going out of Egypt and were followed by another Fourty yeers of their sojourning in the desert Moreover after their going up out of Egypt to the yeer in which Solomon laid the foundations of the Temple which is a date of a great consideration in the sacred History there passed twelve times Fourty yeers 1 King 6.1 Why the Son of God entered no more into the Temple after his Resurrection And the difference in this regard between Him and those which were his principal types Hezekiah having been menaced with death had a promise that on the third day he should ascend into the house of God as a man newly raised from death Jonah being brought back to the light of the living would see the Temple of God chap. 2.5 And Isaac another figure of the Resurrection of Christ was delivered from death in the same place where the Temple was afterward built Now the Son of God being raised from the dead entered indeed into the City of Jerusalem and revisited divers places which he had frequented before his death but he returned no more into the Temple which at other times he had so often honoured with his presence For it was not convenient that this great and Eternal Priest having consummated the Sacrifice which disannulled all those of the Temple of which he had rent the vail and being to make his entrance into the Sanctuary of heaven should return into that which was none other then a figure of the heavenly Heb. 9.24 Of those which have seen the Son of God being in heaven We know that he hath been seen in all the three degrees of his Exaltation He was seen after his Resurrection by more then five hundred persons at one time He was seen ascending into heaven by the eleven principal disciples And finally he hath been seen at the right hand of God by Saint Steven and by Saint Paul These two witnesses sufficed for the publishing the third degree of his Exaltation the first and the second being attested by so great a number of persons It is a thing considerable that the Wisdom of God hath chosen the first of the Martyrs and the last of the Apostles to be eye-witnesses of the glory of his Son The one being in the hands of the executioners died in this confession That he saw the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God Acts 7.55 56. The other having been a sworn enemy of the Name of Christ and of those
or quality of an Altar in this Oblation Neither doth the Scripture ever call it so although it speaketh so often of the Crosse and of the Sacrifice of Christ Let it not displease so many learned men who have authorized this vulgar phrase That Christ was offered on the Altar of the Crosse The Crosse was not the Altar of this incomparable Sacrifice The name of Altar is of greater importance then many men consider This is an irrefragable Maxime That the Altar is greater then the Offering in as much as it is the Altar which sanctifieth the Offering Matth. 23.19 Whence would follow that which none should dare to think that the Crosse should be more excellent then the Body of Jesus Christ yea that it had sanctified it All that can be said when the name of Altar is given to the Crosse is this that it is not understood so in effect but onely by way of similitude or allusion But such a similitude transferreth to the Crosse a title which appertaineth to none but Christ for on the Crosse himself was the Altar the Sacrifice and the Priest altogether Under the Law these were different things because one of these figures alone could not represent Christ in all these three qualities but in him they are found united and no creature hath had part in this honour Why then should we communicate it to the wood of the Crosse Either this phrase hath helped toward the adoration of the Crosse or it hath proceeded from that Superstition or howsoever it be it hath been unwisely introduced without taking heed to the consequences which it draweth after it Why the Scripture speaketh of what matter the Crosse was made yet expresseth not the form of it It concerneth us to know that it was of wood This particularity should seem little considerable if the Apostle had not opened the mystery shewing that Christ hath delivered us from the curse insomuch as he was hanged on the tree because this kinde of death was cursed by the Law Deut. 20.23 Gal. 3.13 But for the structure of it of how many pieces it was composed how they were placed and in sum what figure it had this is that which the Scripture passeth under silence as not necessary The form which is commonly given to the Crosse is contradicted by the learned which represent it quite another We shall observe from hence that supposing we had the true figure of the Crosse and that it were an object of adoration as the Church of Rome teacheth this honour would not appertain to any but Crosses of wood for Jesus Christ was not crucified on a Crosse of stone or silver Neverthelesse they make Crosses of all things but this is to falsifie that of Christ under pretext to represent it None hath wrought Miracles at his death except the Son of God This is remarkable against the Jews Divers great servants of God have wrought Miracles in their life but never in their death Was there ever man at whose death appeared such wonders as at the death of Christ Whence cometh it that neither Moses nor Joshua nor Samuel nor Prophet nor King nor Patriarch hath wrought any Miracle dying And whence cometh it that this crucified having given up the Ghost rendeth the Veil of the Temple darkeneth the Sun cleaveth the Rocks shaketh the Earth and opened the Sepulchres The exploit of Samson dying howsoever prodigious yet it was not miraculous to speak properly nor doth it approach any thing neer to those great wonders which our Lord wrought in his death Wherefore is Jesus Christ the onely man among all men whose death hath been honoured with visible miracles if not to distinguish him from all other men by a mark so illustrious So as I have observed before as well the Birth as the death of Christ have been signalized by miracles and never any man whatsoever hath had the like honour Three signes from heaven exhibited in three several passages by the which Jesus Christ hath been declared publikely to be the Messiah In the course of the life of Jesus Christ in the days of his humiliation we consider his Nativity his Baptism and his Death His Nativity in which he began to appear in the world His Baptism by which he entered into the functions of his Office And his Death by which he finished the work of the Redemption Every one of these mystries was immediately followed and overtaken by a signe from Heaven and that way shewed unto the world His Birth by the Star which carried the news as far as the East preceded by the acclamation of Angels publishing this happie Nativity His Baptism by the opening of the Heavens and the descent of the holy Ghost in the shape of a dove accompanied by the voice of God His Death by the miraculous darkning of the Sun which filled all the earth with darknesse When the Jews demanded that Jesus Christ should authorize his calling by some signe from Heaven they should have learned that which passed at his Birth and his Baptism and afterward they ought to have considered that which happened at his death They had then seen his calling attested by three signes from Heaven Why the High Priest who represented Jesus Christ never came neer to the dead and yet Jesus Christ did the contrary The Law forbade the High Priest to touch a dead corps yea to enter into any house in which there was one deceased yea to shew any signe of grief were it for his own father or mother Levit. 21.10 11. Whence it appeareth that if he found himself in any place where any person was at the point of death it behoved him to depart from thence immediately his presence being incompatible with that of a dead body But on the contrary Jesus Christ entered into the house where lay the dead body of the daughter of Jairus Himself took her by the hand He touched the Coffin of the young man of Naim that was carrying to the grave He shed tears over Lazarus already putrified These particuiars are more important then they seem to be Certainly the defiling which the Law findeth in dead bodies might bear a reflexion upon the Priest because he was not capable of removing the corruption of death But he which is able to give life unto the dead is above this Law and the reach of this infection Here is seen a notable difference The Mosaical Priesthood abandoneth the dead and leaveth them in their uncleâ—nnesse because it cannot remedy it But the true and eternal Priest because he raiseth the dead hath conversed with them and his touch hath restored their life He cometh to search us yea within our graves yea he guardeth our bones Why the fear of death was more excusable in the Saints of the Old Testament then it is now And why we ought not to imitate them in all that which have spoken concerning this subject We should finde it strange that the apprehension of a natural death should make a Christian to
of Jairus Eutychus were certainly raised again the very day of their death The son of the Shunamite he of Naim Tabitha and the man which was raised from death in the Sepulchre of Elisha most probably had not yet reached to their Third Day among the dead when they returned to life As on the contrary many others have been raised after their third day to wit Lazarus and the Saints that rose from the dust when Christ rose again This circumstance of the Third Day for the Resurrection hath been appropriated to Christ and marked out for him in the Calender of the Prophets to the end that among other signes which distinguish him from all others that were raised he might be known also by this as particular to him to wit that his Resurrection befell on the Third Day according to the Scriptures When Lazarus was dead our Lord let passe the Third Day before he raised him and stayed till the Fourth Joh. 11.39 Among divers reasons of this delay I reckon this The Son of God would not raise Lazarus the same day of his decease nor before he entered into the Sepulchre because he had already raised two dead which had not as yet been put into the earth to wit the young man of Naim and the daughter of Jairus which was deceased but a few hours before Now his intention was to extend his power yet farther to wit as far as within the grave as he did when from thence he fetched Lazarus But this dead man had not his Resurrection on the Third Day our Lord having deferred if till the Fourth and hindering the concurrence of it with his own in regard of this circumstance Three miraculous Sepulchres in the holy History The Scripture mentioneth three famous Sepulchres in the which God hath given life to the dead to wit That of Elisha whose corps served to raise another dead though himself returned not to life That of Lazarus which was raised from the dead but not by himself That of Christ who rose himself and at the same time raised many others whose graves he had opened at his own death Matth. 27.52 53. The two first were preparatories to the wonders of the third The Son of God raised others before he raised himself and again in coming out of the sepulchre he carried his power into the graves of others who were raised after him Four men that raised the dead before and after the coming of Christ The gift of Miracles was conferred upon divers who notwithstanding received not the power to restore life to the dead this kinde of Miracle being reserved to a small number of them The Scripture nameth but four who exercised this power two under the Old Testament and two in the New The two first are Elijah and his successour Elisha The one raised the son of the widow of Sarephta the other the son of the Shunamite The two other are Saint Peter and Saint Paul The one raised Dorcas the other Eutychus So God raised two instruments of the Resurrection before the coming of his Son and after he was gone out of the world Christ appeared between the two first and the two last as the Sun among the Planets spreading his quickning power over the dead of the one and the other Testament The continuation of the Article of the Resurrection of CHRIST His Ascension into Heaven His Sitting at the right hand of God Christ hath verified his Resurrection by all the proofs which could be given BEing come back from the dead he hath made himself known to be living Not to one person alone but to many men and women yea to above five hundred together Not at one onely time but at many and divers times Not for a little time but for the space of fourty days Not in one onely place but in many and divers in the city in the fields within the houses and upon the mountains Not afar off but in the same chamber in a close place Not by one means but by an infinite number of testimonies By the Hearing he causeth his voice to be known By Sight his lineaments and stature By the Touch the wounds of his hands his feet and his side By his Actions going coming and eating with his disciples he shewed that he was truely alive And beside all this by all the Scriptures beginning at Moses and going thorow all the Prophets he proved the necessity and verity of his Resurrection Why God never raised any person of note to converse among men except the Messiah Of all the dead which have returned into the world to sojourn there some space of time and frequent the company of men there hath not been except our Lord any Prophet nor any person otherwise famous Those whom God raised either were children as he of Sarephta and the son of the Shunamite or young people as he of Naim the daughter of Jairus and Eutychus or without any mark of eminent quality in the Church as he that came living out of the grave of Elisha Lazarus and Tabitha For as for the Saints which appeared on the day of the Resurrection of Christ they did no more then passe by and having shewed themselves stayed not at all among mortals neither are their names mentioned in the History Whereupon it may be asked Why being raised from the dead they stayed no longer time in the world that there might have been some time to converse with them And in sum Why none of the Patriarchs or of the Prophets have been called back from the dead to sojourn a while among men as Lazarus or Eutychus But without speaking of the Fathers of the Old Testament I will yet make this question Why did not our Lord raise John the Baptist who had been his forerunner and his contemporary in the days of his flesh Was it not to the purpose that that excellent Prophet so great a light of the Church and who had suffered death for the Truth should be returned unto life as well as the daughter of Jairus or the young man of Naim It is easie to conjecture why this was not done If Abraham or David or any one of the Prophets or any one of them who wrought Miracles in their life time had returned to the world there to make their abode there had never wanted those who would have honoured them excessively If Superstition made Idols of the dead bodies of Saints how much more would it have idoâ—ized the very bodies themselves living after their death This is one of the causes for which God liked better to raise an ordinary man who had touched the bones of Elisha then to raise Elisha himself For such a Prophet that had been so famous in Miracles had been adored by men if he had returned from the grave to be among them There was also another particular reason concerning John the Paptist It is known how high his reputation had been After his death that was ascribed unto him which was not For when the Son
man ever wrought Miracle within the Temple of God except the Son of God An observation upon this subject p. 89. Why Jesus Christ when he was hungry or thirsty or weary with travel never helped himself by his miraculous power to give himself refreshment p. 91. Why the Son of God after he was raised from the dead ceased from healing the sick p. 92. Of the Tears of Christ in the days of his Flesh p. 93. Christ condemned by Pilate AConsideration why the names of diveâ—â— wicked men are set down in the histâ—â— of the Passion of Christ p. 9â— The name of the Romane Empire hath is tervened both in the birth and death of Christ p. 97. The Death and Burial of CHRIST FOur glorious occurrences distant many ages one from the other and coming â—â— passe on the like day p. 98. An advertisement touching the Name of Altar improperly ascribed to the Crosse p. 100. Why the Scripture speaketh of what matter the Crosse was made yet expresseth not the form of it p. 102. None hath wrought Miracles at his death except the Son of God p. 103. Three signes from heaven exhibited in three several passages by the which Jesus Christ hath been declared publikely to be the Messiah p. 104. Why the High Priest who represented Jesus Christ nâ—ver came neer to the dead and yet Jesus Christ did the contrary p. 106. Why the fear of death was more excusable in the Saints of the Old Testament then it is now And why we ought not to imitate them in all that which they have spoken concerning this subject p. 108. The descent of CHRIST into Hell AN observation upon the words of the Apostle Rom. 10.6 7. forbidding to ask who shall ascend into heaven or who shall descend into the abysse p. 110. Why Christ being on the Crosse pronounced the first words of the 22 Psalm p. 112. The fruits of the death of CHRIST VVHy the Son of God deferred so long time to come and expiate the sins of the world p. 114. An admirable concurrence of the time of Redemption with the times of the most famous Ceremonies of the Law An observation upon this subject p. 118. A mysterious reason of the name which the Apostle giveth to the Sacrifice of Christ calling it A Sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour Ephes 5.2 p. 120. The Resurrection of CHRIST NIne examples of the Resurrection of the dead which have gone before or followed the Resurrection of Christ An Harmony between those that were raised under the Old Testament and those that were raised by the Son of God while himself was yet mortal p. 123. Why Christ rose not again the day after his death but suffered the whole Sabbath day to passe over before he returned to life p. 125. A comparison of the time which God employed in the Creation with that which he employed in the Redemption And of the days of the one and the other p. 127. The first and neerest cause of the three days detaining of Jonah in the whales belly p. 128. The Resurrection of Christ figured in Hezekiah by a double resemblance p. 129. Why none ever was raised again the third day after his death but onely Christ p. 131. Three miraculous Sepulchres in the holy History p. 134. Four men that raised the dead before and after the coming of Christ p. 135. The continuation of the Article of the Resurrection of CHRIST His Ascension into Heaven His Sitting at the right hand of God CHrist hath verified his Resurrection by all the proofs which could be given p. 136. Why God never raised any person of note to converse among men except the Messiah p. 137. Of all those that have been raised from the dead none is introduced in Scripture speaking except Jesus Christ p. 141. Three several Fourties of Days in the time that our Saviour stayed in this world Observations upon this circumstance p. 143. Why the Son of God entered no more into the Temple after his Resurrection And the difference in this regard between Him and those which were his principal types p. 145. Of those which have seen the Son of God being in heaven p. 146. All the miraculous prerogatives which have been severally in divers Saints are found united in one onely Christ in a soveraign degree p. 148. Of the last Judgement VVHy doth the holy History never say that God descended but onely where the businesse hath been to do justice or to establish it and protect the innocent p. 150. An observation upon the four general Judgements mentioned in the Scriptures p. 151. A wonderful Mystery which is seen in the several goings out of the three first men which God took out of the world p. 153. Why God who hath foretold and set down the measures of certain particular times hath not revealed how long the world should endure or when the day of Judgement should be p. 156. Of the holy Ghost FOur remarkable productions which the Scripture attributeth to the Spirit of God to wit two in the Creation two in the Redemption p. 159. Why the Scripture representeth the holy Ghost and his effects under the names of Water of Fire of Anointing with Oil and of Sprinkling of Blood The true interpretation of these terms contained in divers passages p. 160. A catalogue of those actions which were celebrated with Aspersion of Blood in the time of the Law p. 163. Blood hath no propriety of making white Why then is it said Apocal. 7.14 that the Saints have made white their robes in the blood of the Lamb p. 166. Of the Church and the Communion of Saints WHy Moses is more prolix and more exact in the description of the Tabernacle then in that of the whole world p. 169. The number of persons that make up the body of the universal Church is not onely prefixed and definite but also regulated by measures and proportions p. 171. Of the small number of believers in the three several comings of the Son of God Resemblances on this subject p. 174. Three several states of the Church in three several times and three several titles of it p. 175. A difference between the Church of the Old Testament and that of the New in regard of the Communion of those things which were ordained to sanctity p. 176. Four several buildings of which God hath been the Architect representing severally the estate of the Church p. 178. Why the most notable periods of the Church and many famous mysteries had their beginning in a Desert p. 180. All the Church was never gathered together in one place except then when it was in the Ark. p. 182. The Remission of Sins A Difference between the Remission which the Law presented of old to sinners and that which is offered unto them by the Gospel p. 184. Which is most injurious and repugnant to God Either Despair or Presumption p. 187. A believer having commited some sin very enormous is it credible although he have repented and obtained pardon that God will love him altogether as much as he loved him before the offence committed Ibid. Examples of divers great sinners reestablished in their first estate p. 190. The Resurrection of the Flesh WHy is Abraham so highly commended for having believed that God could raise the dead Heb. 11.19 p. 192. An admirable gradation in those which have heen raised from the dead p. 193. Why there have been more young people raised from the dead then old p. 195. Of the first Resurrection and of the second death mentioned Revel 20. And from whence those terms are extracted p. 197. Everlasting life THe first and the last of all Miracles p. 203. Why Adam was not carried bodily to heaven as well as Enoch p. 204. Why God hath shewed the glory of heaven to some that were yet upon the earth and yet never shewed hell to any person while he was in this world p. 206. Why Saint Paul being come back from the third heaven speaketh not of having Seen but onely of having Heard 2 Cor. 14.4 p. 207. Of Faith The Conclusion of this Treatise TWo onely things at which Jesus Christ as man wondered p. 208. Of a strange method by which God obligeth men to Believe p. 209. Of those that promise to Believe if the truth be shewn unto them p. 110. FINIS
of his graces hath appeared in the distribution of his judgements For they whom his mercy first visited have been the first that have been visited by his justice and in succession others according to the date of the time of their enlightning Of many kindes of scourges equally dreadful and unavoidable which ought to be chosen if God should leave the choice to us or which is more to be desired I speak not of those three scourges of which God gave the choice to David to wit Plague War and Famine The question is cleared 2 Sam. 24. But there are an infinite number of other scourges general and particular where oft-times we are constrained to chuse the one that we may escape the other or at least we desire the one rather then the other it concerneth us that our desire be lawful We set aside that which dependeth not at all on our choice or of which there can be no dispute but in vain as which is worse to be born deaf or to be born blinde Or which is more grievous Leprosie or perpetual Infamy But for example A man guilty of a capital offence who is permitted to chuse the kinde and fashion of his punishment or a dangerous labour of a woman where the life of the mother cannot be saved with that of the childe and many other occurrences or different afflictions that encounter one another in the front and reduce us to a necessity of chusing one I conceive that it behoveth to chuse that in which God is lesse offended The choice of David was judicious preferring the Pestilence before the other two scourges not onely for the reason by him expressed but also because in War and Famine there are committed more sins and more enormous then in a Pestilence War ordinarily is a torrent of villanies and Famine produceth unnatural horrours so far as to induce a mother to eat her own childe Now concerning other kindes of adversities in which it is requisite that we make a choice we ought to look well upon every one with their circumstances to take notice of that which affordeth the least occasion â—o offend God Whence cometh it that among publike scourges those that passe the hand of men are more frequent more universal and of longer durance then those which come immediately from God For one Famine that you read in Histories you shall finde ten Wars and Famine also it self for the most part cometh from a preceding War Now War proceedeth immediately from man Neither Famine nor Pestilence have ever been so universal nor of so long continuance as divers Wars The Providence of God would make men know that they procure to themselves more mischief then heaven hath sent upon them It maketh for the glory of God that there be more wicked then good men I am not here to shew why it is necessary that there should be wicked men God who hath made nothing in vain hath made all things for himself even the wicked for the day of evil Prov. 16.4 Neither am I to declare how it is necessary that God should suffer them If his Justice should extirpate all the wicked the greater part of the earth would become a desert and in stead of being peopled with men would be peopled with savage beasts and this would redound to the prejudice of them that are good who from thence would receive a thousand discommodities This was the reason why God would not destroy all at one blowe the inhabitants of Canaan for fear left the Countrey should fall to be a wildernesse and should be replenished with cruel beasts which would have given more trouble to the Israelites Exod. 23. But how can it serve to the glory of God that the number of the wicked should surpasse the nuÌ„ber of the good On the contrary doth it not seem that the glory of God would be more illustrious and of a greater extent if the good were in greater number then the wicked If it were so the subsistence of humane society and the policy by which it is maintained would seem rather to depend upon the goodnesse of men then upon the Providence of God But this is a wonder that there being far more wicked men then good neverthelesse there is a Providence which hindereth the wicked from doing all the evil that they might do For whence cometh it that being in a far greater number they do not altogether ruine the good Certainly it is the work of God who maintaineth a handful of men in the midst of a world of wicked The greatest good that God hath done to the world is come to passe by means of the greatest crime that men could commit The greatest sin that men ever committed was to crucifie the Prince of glory It was impossible to perpetrate one more enormous Yet neverthelesse from this crime managed by the wisdom of God hath been brought forth the greatest good which men have received from heaven to wit the benefit of Redemption This is wonderful that God hath taken the advantage of the greatest sin that the world could commit to cause to issue from it the greatest good that the world could receive Nature it self hath restrained the forces and ability of man to the end to bound his desires and the effects of his malice All the cares of man cannot adde one cubit to his stature If this could be brought to passe we should see prodigious bodies every one striving to attain to an unmeasured height The same Providence which hath limited the stature of man hath denied him that which it hath granted to the birds to wit the liberty of going to and fro in the air He seeth those creatures passing swiftly thorow that element over his head while he cannot lift himself above the earth This is to the end that he may not extend his violence so far nor so easily nor so generally For howsoever violence traverseth the sea and climbeth up to the top of the highest mountains it would yet be more formidable and more pernicious if it had the wings of an Eagle and innocence which often findeth refuge in places inaccessible would have no more a sanctuary in the world Of the marvellous Providence of God permitting that the righteous die by the hand of the wicked The first righteous man of the Old Testament to wit Abel and the first righteous of the New to wit John the Baptist were both thrust out of the world by the hand of wicked men God would that the first-fruits of the just in both Testaments should fall down under the hand of wicked men Furthermore the last man that is named in Scripture is a just man to wit Antipas Apol. 2. And this just man was put to death by the wicked So that the first and the last of the righteous lost their lives by the fury of those that were perverse The Scripture beginneth the catalogue of good men in their blood and endeth it in their blood The beginning and the closure teach
with sleep If he give hearing to the deaf it is after having fetched a deep sigh If he cure him that was born blinde it is after having made clay of his spittle If he cause the figtree to be dried up the occasion of it is the hunger that pressed If he raise Lazarus from death it is after having groned and wept Finally if he cause the earth to tremble if he rend the rocks if he open the sepulchres it is after having given up the ghost In the most glorious demonstrations of his Deity and even before he bringeth them forth he would have us to see that he was truely Man Of an admirable harmony which is found between the three periods of the three fourteens numbred in the first chapter of Saint Matthew The Evangelist beginneth at those generations that descended from Abraham to Christ and at first presenteth to our sight a long rank of Patriarchs and Kings which enrich the frontispice of the New Testament as so many speaking statues so many precious stones set in the brestplate or so many stars that went before the coming of the Sun of righteousnesse All these generations are divided into three fourteens every one of which endeth in some remarkable change For we know that Saint Matthew reckoneth from Abraham to David fourteen generations from David to the Captivity fourteen generations from the Captivity unto Christ fourteen generations The first fourteen therefore ended in David in whom began the Kingdom of Judah the Tribe from whence our Lord sprang The second ended at the Captivity of Babylon which overthrew the Throne of David The third and last ended in Jesus Christ himself who reestablished that Kingdom and concludeth the Genealogies So these three periods have three limits which are 1. David 2. The Captivity of Babylon 3. Jesus Christ Now that which I have to note here is that the life of David who endeth the first fourteen was of seventy yeers The Captivity of Babylon in which was accomplished the second fourteen was of seventy yeers And the time current from the nativity of Christ who boundeth the last fourteen and all the Genealogies to the ruine of Jerusalem in which perished the registers and catalogues of the families of the Jews was seventy yeers For the most exact Chronologie placeth the destruction of Jerusalem presently after the seventieth yeer of Jesus Christ So that the divine providence hath measured Seventy yeers for the life of David from whom Christ was to descend Seventy yeers for the Captivity of Babylon Seventy yeers after the birth of Jesus Christ for the verification of his genealogie in the registers of the Jews An admirable conformity which sheweth among so many lights all of them celestial that never other spirit then that of God could have dictated the Scriptures Two notable preludiums of the birth of Jesus Christ and the agreement of the one with the other Two women brought forth children beyond their age of childbearing and beyond likelihood The one in the Old Testament to wit Sarah the other in the New to wit Elizabeth The one the wife of him who first used Circumcision the other the mother of him who first administred Baptism which succeeded Circumcision God would that Isaac and John the Baptist should be born of mothers who were past the yeers of having children This was to prepare the souls of men to attend yet a greater miracle to wit a man born of a Virgin The shadow then of this mystery passed first by the Old Testament in Isaac afterward to the New in the person of John the Baptist whose birth was immediately followed by that of Jesus Christ God hath never published by miracles the birth of any person except that of Jesus Christ Some few to wit Ishmael Isaac Samson John Baptist have had this honour that their birth hath been foretold and promised by the mouth of Angels but when they have been come into the world none Angel hath published their nativity This glory was reserved for the Saviour of the world whose birth being come to passe as it had also been promised by the Angels so beyond that it hath been published and solemnized by them with applause and great expressions of joy Luke 2. This happie birth hath been also followed by another signe from heaven by the apparition of that star which carried the news as far as the East and served as a guide to the wise men Never the nativity of any other hath been proclaimed or celebrated by miracles This also hath been particular to Jesus Christ Wherefore hath not the Scripture set down the day of the Nativity of Jesus Christ It is not mine aim here to report the divers opinions of them who have searched in what season of the yeer in what month and in what day our Saviour was born Some place his birth according to the common opinion at the Winter-Solstice others in the Autumnal Equinoctial others in that of the Spring and all have nothing but conjectures more ingenuous then concluding For the History of the Gospel by its silence hath left this point in question Now this is it which I will at this present consider to wit Why none of the Evangelists nor other of the sacred Writers have set down a day so remarkable the day I say of the Nativity of our Saviour This is so much the more strange because the Scripture sheweth us the days of divers occurrences which are of lesse consideration It marketh the month and the Day on which the Deluge began the Day on which the Ark rested upon the mountains of Armenia the Day on which the waters were dried from the earth the day on which Noah began to set foot again on the earth afterward the Day on which the Israelites went up out of Egypt the Day of the deliverance of the Jews in the Book of Esther the Day on which the Temple was burned by the Babylonians Wherefore hath it not also set down the day on which Jesus Christ was born It might also be asked why the holy History mentioneth the time of the yeer and the Day of the death of Christ that of his resurrection that of his ascension and never mentioneth either the Day or the season of the yeer of his nativity To say that the Evangelists were ignorant of it or that they had forgotten it or that they were silent through inadvertency or that they neglected it as being not at all considerable this would be to run into a thousand absurdities easie to be confuted There must therefore be other reasons of this silence and something that is mysterious Now I vaunt not my self to have found out the depth onely I will touch the superficies We are therefore to note as a Maxime that the Scripture never setteth down the Birth-Day of any Person It speaketh of the Birth of many it rehearseth their genealogies it reckoneth their yeers and other particularities but never speaketh on what Day they were born We finde that
in speaking of some it expresseth the Day of their death as we see in the history of the ten sons of Haman Esth 9. but of whomsoever it speaketh be they Patriarchs or Kings or private men or good or bad it never expresseth the Day of their Nativity though such a date may seem to import greatly the sacred Chronologie Now wherefore the Scripture never nameth the Day of the Birth of the children of Adam no nor one of them there is without doubt some reason though to us it be obscure But whatsoever that reason be the Birth Day of Jesus Christ is clouded in the same silence Wherefore Surely to the end that among other things which are common to him with the other children of Adam he might also be comprised among them in this point not to have his Birth-Day expressed in the holy History But what doth it concern us that this day is not expressed more then that of other men As much as it doth concern us that Jesus Christ hath been reckoned among sinners even from his Birth Neither doth it serve for an Objection that he hath been put into their rank more evidently when he was circumcised and when he underwent that purification which the Law imposed upon the first-born for this truth excludeth not others that second it though they be not founded upon expresse words of Scripture It is enough that they are implied This is out of doubt that the Scripture never said on what day a man was born It is also out of doubt that Jesus Christ is comprised in this universal rule The question is Wherfore If I have not found the true reason I have at the least pointed out a principle upon which it may be searched Adde to this that in stead of the Birth Day of Jesus Christ the Scriptures expresse that of his death That is among divers other reasons because he died on the same day on which Adam was created to wit the sixth day of the week The creation of the first Adam and the death of the second met in the same day The impurity of our birth which we have from the first had not been purged but by the death of the second Of the service which the Angels have done to the Son of God from his manifestation in the flesh until his Ascension Ten times they have served him in this space of time 1. They carried the message of his miraculous conception to the Virgin 2. They advertised Joseph whom the ignorance of this mystery had held perplexed 3. They published his birth unto the shepherds 4. They gave order to carry him into Egypt to avoid the fury of Herod 5. They had care to cause him to be brought back into Judea after the death of the tyrant 6. They accompanied him and ministred unto him after his temptation in the wildernesse 7. They comforted him in his agony in the garden 8. They rolled back the stone from the door of the sepulchre wherein he had been enclosed 9. They declared his resurrection 10. They instructed his disciples who looked up after him ascending into heaven that one day he would return Never did the Angels serve any person so often nor in so great a number of occurrences nor in so high charges nor through such diversity of means as they served the Son of God This also ought to be reckoned among the marks of the preeminence of our Lord. Of the Miracles which our Lord wrought so long as he conversed in the world Of the advantage of the New Testament above the Old in regard of the number of persons which have had the gift of Miracles IN all the extent of the Old Testament there are not above seven men to whom God gave the power of working Miracles Moses and his brother Aaron famous for the wonders wrought by them in Egypt in the Red-sea and in the wildernesse Joshua who stayed the Sun and Moon in their course Samuel who changed the whole face of the air in an instant affrighting Israel by thunders and miraculous rain 1 Sam. 12. A Prophet mentioned 1 King 13. who rent by his word alone the Altar set up against the Ordinance of God and scattered the ashes The same Prophet also healed the hand of Jeroboam which was dried up Elijah who shut and opened heaven caused fire to come down raised from death the son of the widow c. And lastly Elesha famous for divers great Miracles There have been none but these seven men upon whom this power hath been conferred The other Miracles which are recited in the Old Testament or which have gone before the coming of the Son of God have been wrought without the intervention of men There may be to speak this by the way some allusion or reference of the seven Angels of the Revelation working upon the Sun and upon all the elements to these seven men which have heretofore exercised this miraculous power But this matter concerneth not the present subject That which I have here to say is this That the New Testament hath been furnished with a greater number of persons endued with the power of Miraeles then the Old was yea with a very far greater number At one onely time the Lord ordained seventy men with power to heal the sick to cleanse the lepers to raise the dead to cast out devils to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the force of the enemy And this without reckoning the twelve principal disciples who were also provided of the same gift and those which afterward had it as Saint Paul and others I account this point among the advantages of the New Testament that in it the miraculous power of God hath raised so great a number of instruments in comparison of them which it employed for the Old Testament Wherefore till the coming of the Son of God there have passed many ages without that any person hath had the gift of Miracles The last of all those which wrought Miracles before the coming of our Lord was Elisha Now from Elisha till that time when the Son of God began to manifest his glory by Miracles there passed welnigh eight hundred yeers In so long an interval of yeers there was not found a person that had the gift of Miracles although many had that of Prophecie Certainly the wisdom of God would that this great length of time should serve to make them desire that which had not been seen after so many ages to wit Miracles wrought by the hand of man as afterward those that were spectatours glorified God that had done this honour unto men in giving them this power Matth. 9.8 That it should dispose their spirits to the expectation of the Messiah who was to come with miraculous works That it should serve to make them the better to weigh the importance of his Miracles after so long a surcease of the gift of Miracles And lastly that which is the principal that it should serve to distinguish him from other
and satisfied thousands of men But when himself was pressed with hunger and had addressed himself to the fig tree which had no fruit he caused none to be brought forth though he could have done it forthwith So he endured the wearinesse of the way Joh. 4.6 although he might have caused himself to have been carried by Angels or lifted up by the Spirit as Philip afterward was Acts 8.39 40. In sum he never used Miracles for his own refreshment As he came for others so all his Miracles have been for others And this is one part of his annihilation of himself that using his miraculous power for the refreshment of others he never used it for his own Why the Son of God after he was raised from the dead ceased from healing the sick Our Lord being in the world healed corporal maladies so long as he himself was burdened with our infirmities that is to say before his Resurrection After that he was raised from death he remained upon the earth fourty days conversed with men wrought divers Miracles but healed not any that was sick This is not because his power was impaired since it was become more glorious nor that he had lesse charity then afore-time nor that there wanted those that were sick in Israel But that he healed no more was because he had appropriated that kinde of Miracles to the time of his humiliation Wherefore the Scripture Matth. 8.17 rehearsing his curing of divers sick men saith that by such acts was verified that Prophecie that saith that he took our infirmities and bare â—ur sicknesses For that place setteth them down as terms equivalent as far as concerneth bodily infirmities to have undergone them in his person or to have healed them in others for he never wrought these miraculous cures but so long as himself was capable of infirmity Of the Tears of Christ in the days of his Flesh VVE read not that he wept till within a few days before his death and it seemeth that he became every day more sensible of our miseries according as he tried them by experience more and more The Scripture spareth not to say that he learned obedience by those things which he suffered Heb. 5.8 Thrice we read that he wept The first time for one man the second for one nation and the third for all Mankinde For one man when he wept over the Sepulchre of Lazarus for one nation when he wept over Jerusalem foreseeing the ruine of it and the desolation of the whole people of the Jews for all mankinde then when he offered up with strong crying and tears prayers and supplications to him who could save him from death Heb. 5.7 Christ condemned by Pilate A Consideration why the names of divers wicked men are set down in the history of the Passion of Christ SOmetimes the Scripture expresseth the name of a man who seemeth to be of little importance and sometimes it suppresseth the name of another which should be more considerable It tells us the name of the robber whom the Jews preferred before Jesus Christ when Pilate gave them the choice to release to them one of the two Yet it nameth not the thief which was converted although that it should seem that his name ought rather to be mentioned then that of the other Now setting aside the reasons of this silence we will retain this that when the Scripture expresseth the name of a wicked man this is not always onely to set down the circumstances of the History but often for other causes Among all the wicked men which are comprised in the History of the Passion there are seven marked by their names Judas Annas and Caiaphas Malchus Herod Barabbas and Pontius Pilate Now it seemeth that the Scripture which reciteth how all sorts of men contributed to the death of Christ would also name one of every condition One of the houshold of Christ One High Priest and another inferiour One servant One King One Judge yea one thief This doth not exclude the particular reasons for which every one of these men aforesaid hath his name in this History It importeth that Malchus who was none other then a servant was named as well as Caiaphas and Barabbas as well as Pilate though the one be more considerable then the other The name of the Romane Empire hath intervened both in the birth and death of Christ The Edict of Cesar who caused the inrolment mentioned Luke 2 served to prepare the place where Christ ought to be born and the authority of Cesar served to procure the death which Christ ought to die It was requisite that all the mysteries of the Redemption should be fulfilled in that time in which this great Monarchy commanded in Judea yea it was requisite that it should be one of the instruments even in acts quite contrary It lodged Christ coming into the world and afterward caused him to go out of the world It provided a Cradle for his Birth and afterward the Crosse for his Death The Death and Burial of CHRIST Four glorious occurrences distant many ages one from the other and coming to passe on the like day THe calling of Abraham when God drew him from Ur of the Caldeans The going of the Israelites out of Egypt after having kept the Passeover The Decree of the restauration of Jerusalem mentioned by the Angel to Daniel chap. 9.25 And finally the death of Christ are four points of an high consideration and admirable in their correspondencies Now although they are separated the one from the other by divers so long distances in regard of yeers yet they all meet together in the same day The History teacheth us that the Israelites went out of Egypt within that proper day and the same night in which came to be expired the four hundred and thirty yeers which had past after the calling of Abraham That calling then came to passe on the same day Exod. 12. The day also of the death of Christ which is that of the Passeover doth concur with the other and the same day according to the best computation ended the seventy weeks of Daniel whence it followeth that they began on the same day the day on which went forth the Decree to rebuild the holy City This wonderful concurrence presenteth to our eyes Jesus Christ dying on the same day on which Abraham departed out of Caldea that Israel went out of Egypt and that the Decree was pronounced to raise again the walls of Jerusalem Thus the death of Christ extendeth it self as far as those ages that have past long before it and his Day is found also within the fairest days of the Patriarchs An advertisement touching the Name of Altar improperly ascribed to the Crosse I repeat now what I have said in another Treatise There is nothing more ordinary in this subject then to hear named The Alter of the Crosse under the pretext that Jesus Christ was offered on the Crosse But it followeth not that the Crosse had the place
yeeld place unto Christ That the sin of Adam lost those that came after him but the death of Christ hath saved both them that went before and came after it As therefore the first Adam hath caused to die those which were born many ages after him so the second Adam hath quickned them which were dead many ages before him And this hath been one of the causes of the retarding of his coming to wit that he would shew his power working backward to the foregoing ages And finally That it was convenient before Christ died to make it known to the world that the expiation of sins could not be wrought any other way To this effect God proposed first the blood of beasts in Sacrifices afterward the blood of man in Circumcision afterward an infinite number of washings with all the works of the Law as if he would that men should assay all the means which could be imagined for the expiation of sins But this was to the end that they should acknowledge their impotency and should cast their eyes upon the future Sacrifice of Christ Now it was requisite that a good part of the age of the world should passe in the studie of these rudiments before God should send his Son Gal. 4.1 c. An admirable concurrence of the time of Redemption with the times of the most famous Ceremonies of the Law An observation upon this subject It concerneth us that we know the Yeer the Season the Days yea the Hours in the which Christ perfected the work of the Redemption The Law hath marked certain Times as notable among all others Among Yeers that of Jubilee which returned from fifty to fifty yeers in the which servants were set at liberty and lands alienated returned to their first owners Among the annual Feasts that of the Passeover which was the first and principal of all the solemnities of the yeer Among the Days the Sabbath of which the preeminencies are sufficiently notorious Among the Hours of the day that between the two vespers which we reckon the third after noon in which every day was offered the evening Sacrifice which was the conclusion of all daily Ceremonies Exod. 29.39 and in which also was slain the Paschal Lamb when his yeer-day was come Exod. 12.6 Now the Redemption met in all these times in the Yeer of Jubilee in the Passeover in the Hour of the Evening Sacrifice and in the Sabbath In the Yeer of Jubilee according to the most exact Chronologie which reckoning every fiftieth yeer after the division of the Land of promise to the yeer in which Christ died findeth that he suffered in the yeer of Jubilee in the Passeover as it is evident by the History of the Passion in the Hour of the Evening Sacrifice which the Jews called the ninth hour in the which Jesus Christ gave up the Ghost And finally in the Sabbath our Saviour all that day resting in the Sepulchre I know that many long time agone have considered all these particularities but in parcels every one separately That which I here observe is the general concurrence of all the times the most famous in the Law with the time of the Redemption which comprised and determined all To all this I will adde this Observation The yeer of Jubilee began the tenth day after the Equinoctial of September Levit. 15.9 and Jesus Christ died a few days after the Equinoctial of the Spring following Whence it appeareth that he died in the midst of the yeer of Jubilee between the six first months and the six last But the last six months which his death anticipated have been disjoyned from the precedent as appertaining no more to the yeer of Jubilee which hath been cut asunder in the middle that it might be rendered wholly dead A mysterious reason of the name which the Apostle giveth to the Sacrifice of Christ calling it A Sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour Ephes 5.2 Many read these terms of the Apostle without knowing the importance nor seeing at what they aim The common Expositours will be contented to tell us that the Sacrifice of Christ is of a good smell that is to say pleasing to God We know that this is true but to know it well we ought to learn from whence the Apostle fetched this phrase and what it is at which he looketh back It behoveth therefore to observe that there were two kindes of Oblations under the Law One sort was accompanied with a perfume of Incense which was burned with them and for this cause they are called Offerings of a sweet savour Levit. 2.2.9 The others howsoever approved by the Law bare not the name of Oblations of a sweet savour because they were without perfume Levit. 2.12 And particularly it is to be noted that it was forbidden to burn any perfume upon the Oblations which were presented for sins Levit. 5.11 in which the Law-giver gave to understand that the memory of sin yea the Sacrifices which mentioned them were not of a sweet savour Numb 5.15 Upon this we are to consider why the Law declared that that which was offered for sins could not be of a sweet savour seeing that Christ was offered for sins and yet his Oblation was of a sweet savour to God his Father The reason is that the Legal Oblations removed not at all the infection of the sin which they represented rather themselves remained burdened with it But Christ bearing our sins upon him vanquished and carried away this corruption This point furnisheth us with an invincible argument against the Jews By the own sentence of the Law all the Expiatory Offerings which it prescribed failed of a sweet favour and could not content the justice of God From whence it followeth otherwise we are for ever miserable that there is another kinde of Offering another Sacrifice of Expiation quite other then those of the Law which abolisheth the stench of our crimes And this quality cannot appertain but to the body of Christ Isai 53 5 6. The Resurrection of CHRIST Nine examples of the Resurrection of the dead which have gone before or followed the Resurrection of Christ An Harmony between those that were raised under the Old Testament and those that were raised by the Son of God while himself was yet mortal THe Wisdom of God hath shewed the Resurrection of the dead in divers examples which it hath distributed with order and proportion Three before the coming of Jesus Christ Three by Jesus Christ himself before his death And Three after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Before the coming of Christ God raised the son of the widow of Sarephta the son of the Shunamite and one dead man that had been cast into the Sepulchre of Elisha 1 King 17. 2 King 4 and 13. Jesus Christ before his death raised the son of the widow of Naim the daughter of Jairus and Lazarus Luke 7.15 Matth. 9. Joh. 11. After the Resurrection of Christ God hath first caused to be seen that of many Saints
that believed in him hath confessed that he saw him in glory after his Ascension 1 Cor. 9.1 and 15.8 The one is the first that sealed this truth with his blood The other is the last who had charge to publish it as having seen it after he had persecuted it All the other disciples saw Christ conversant on earth but these two onely have seen him raigning in heaven All the miraculous prerogatives which have been severally in divers Saints are found united in one onely Christ iâ— a soveraign degree Among the Saints divers have beet rendered famous Either by their miraculous birth as Isaac and John the Baptist Or by the Miracles which themselves wrought as Moses Elijah Elisha c. Or by the gift of Prophecie as Samuel Daniel c. Or by their Resurrection from the dead as Lazarus c. Or for having ascended into heaven as Enoch and Elijah But never had any man all these prerogatives together except the Son of God Some have had a miraculous birth or else have been Prophets which have not had the gift of Miracles Others have wrought Miracles so far as to raise the dead but themselves have not been raised Others have been raised from the dead but their bodies have not ascended into heaven but were returned once more unto the grave Others are ascended into heaven but they have no power to work upon them that are on the earth On the contrary one alone and the same Christ was conceived miraculously exercised the power of Miracles and that of a Prophet came back from the dead is ascended bodily into heaven and that which appertaineth to none other from above governeth the whole Church The same Christ surpasseth infinitely all the others in every one of those miraculous preeminencies which they have had Some were born of mothers which had passed the age of childbearing but Christ was born of a Virgin Some have been Prophets but Christ received not the Spirit by measure Some have had the gift of Miracles in certain occasions but Christ at all times had that power Some have been raised from death by some other but Christ raised himself Some have been lifted up into heaven but Chriâ—â— was carried thither by his own power And finally as he holdeth the firâ—â— place in all things he alone is set dowâ— at the Right Hand of God Of the last Judgement Why doth the holy History never say the God descended but onely where the bâ—sinesse hath been to do justice or to establish it and protect the innocent WHensoever God hath descended it hath been Either to publish Laws as those which he gave 〈◊〉 old to Israel Exod. 19.18 and 34.5 Or to appoint Judges as were read in Numb 11.17 Or to proceed against the guilty as the builders of Babel and the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah Gen. 11.5 6 7. and 18.21 Or to give protection to Jacob going into Egypt Gen. 46.4 Or to do justice to the Hebrews which were oppressed by the Egyptians Exod. 3.8 Certainly the Scripture intended not to say that God descended locally yet so it is that he will one day really descend in the person of his Son Now forasmuch as he will not descend but to execute judgement all the other Descents which the Scripture attributeth to him meet in the same scope For it never representeth God coming from above but either to do Justice or to preserve it An observation upon the fâ—ur general Judgements mentioned in the Scriptures All the Judgements which God hath shewed or yet doth shew upon any parts of mankinde are but particulars There are four which have concerned or do concern all the generality The three first have already appeared and the fourth is at the door The first Judgement is that which God pronounced against Adam and his wife who represented all their posterity The second is that which caused all the inhabitants of the world except eight to perish by the waters of the Deluge The third is that which divided the society of men by the confusion of Tongues in Babel The fourth is that of the last Day The first Judgement deprived men of immortality and declared them subject to death which by power of it is come upon them successively The second caused all mankinde to die at one time reserving a very small number of persons The third brake off the communion which was among men bereaving them of their universal language and hindering them from understanding one another Now there are divers resemblances and differences between these three first Judgements which are past already and the fourth which is yet to come But we have onely to consider that in the first three God hath judged the living but at the last he shall judge both the living and the dead Upon this subject I am to propound the following Observation A wonderful Mystery which is seen in the several goings out of the three first men which God took out of the world The life of man hath two different issues Some going out of the world by a violent death others by a natural But those which shall be found alive when our Lord shall come to the last Judgement shall passe neither by the one nor the other of these two ways but by a third which shall be a sudden transmutation of their bodies by the which they shall become incorruptible 1 Cor. 15.52 So then there are three several kindes of issues ordained to men to dislodge out of this world some by one some by another to wit Violent death Natural death And the transmutation of them that shall be found alive at the day of Judgement Of these three ways the two first have been open to this day and are the ordinary passage of mortals The third is reserved for the last inhabitants of the world All these three several issues have been visibly marked out in the three first men that have parted out of this life for the first that dislodged was Abel the second was Adam the third was Enoch The first went out of the world by a violent death The second by a natural death The third by a change supernatural and miraculous These three went in this order and the one followed the other immediately among them whose departure is mentioned in the Scripture But they went by different ways which represented all those by which men were to passe after them For all those which shall go out of the world after these three first or who shall go out hereafter by which soever of these three ways go but in the footsteps of some one of these three forerunners who are in this regard an abridgement of all mankinde divided as in three bands And particularly as those who ought to passe by that above-named change to be translated from this life without seeing death shall be the last that dislodge so Enoch who represented them parted from this world the last of the three being preceded by Abel who died a violent death and
by Adam who departed by a natural death We are here to admire the dispensation of this great God and the Wisdom of his Spirit which dictated the Scriptures These three men whom God first withdrew from the world the diversity which is seen in their going out and the order held in it were a sample or epitome of that great piece which he would unfold all along the ages and which was to be extended as far as the last men that shall be found living upon the earth Why God who hath foretold and set down the measures of certain particular times hath not revealed how long the world should endure or when the day of Judgement should be God at other times foretold How many veers space it should be before the Deluge Gen. 6.3 How many yeers the slavery of the Hebrews should endure Gen. 15.13 How many yeers there should be of plenty and famine in the days of Joseph Gen. 41.29.30 How many yeers the Jews should remain in the Captivity of Babylon Jer. 25.12 and 29.10 Dan. 9.2 How many yeers should passe to the death of Christ Dan. 9.24 We know that some of these predictions have been given four hundred yea four hundred and ninety yeers before their time expired Now there might be all the way computed from day to day how many yeers yet remained to the end of the time limited by those oracles Yea God hath not onely given an account of yeers but sometimes hath punctually set down the very day on which a deliverance or other event should come to passe Dan. 12.11 12. But neither the Day of the last Judgement nor the Yeer nor yet the Age which is to make an end of all the rest was ever set down in any Prophecie whatsoever the curious can say against it Now among the causes of this silence we are to consider this When God hath foretold that such or such a notable event where the time could not be foreseen by any humane wisdom should come to passe in such a Yeer or on such a Day the principal scope of these predictions hath been to confirm the faith of them which should see them accomplished Joh. 13.19 For they that lived until that time and saw the Prophecie effected precisely at the day named even against all appearance had so much the more reason to believe in God for the time to come in so manifest an experience of his infallible truth and the same also was a means to convert unbelievers But at the last Day it will not be the work to make provision any more for faith in regard of things to come not will there be any more place for the conversion of miscreants So that a revelation of that Day could not serve for those ends and uses for the which God had revealed divers other Days remarkable The Wisdom of God doth not give us superfluous predictions It is necessary to know that there shall be a last Day but not to know precisely when it shall be Of the holy Ghost Four remarkable productions which the Scripture attributeth to the Spirit of God to wit two in the Creation two in the Redemption AMong so many great and divers effects of the Spirit of God the Scripture mentioneth particularly these four productions 1. That of all the species which were enclosed in the masse of the elements in the beginning of the world for to cause them to bring forth the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters Gen. 1.2 2. That of the Soul For the breath of God which made man a living soul was the Spirit of the Almighty Gen. 2.7 Job 33.4 3. That of the body of Christ which alone among all men was conceived by the holy Ghost Luke 1.35 4. That of the new man For to become such it behoveth to be born again of the Spirit Joh. 3.5 6. Why the Scripture representeth the holy Ghost and his effects under the names of Water of Fire of Anointing with Oil and of Sprinkling of Blood The true interpretation of these terms contained in divers passages The Scripture speaketh of Water and the Spirit by which we are to be born again Of the holy Ghost and of Fire with which we are to be baptized Of the Unction which we have from the holy One which is an effect of the same Spirit Of the Sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ which is wrought also by the holy Ghost Joh. 3.5 Matth. 3.11 1 Joh. 2.20 1 Pet. 1.2 So that the names of Water of Fire of Anointing with Oil and of Sprinkling of Blood are used to denote either the holy Ghost or those acts which he worketh in us Now it is very easie for one of the vulgar to speak to this and to say they are similitudes Many Commentatours and ordinary Preachers content themselves to alleadge to us some resemblances between Water and the holy Ghost and likewise some conformities and analogies between the Fire which purifieth and consumeth and the holy Ghost which produceth the like effects But there are other depths to sound It is requisite therefore to know that all the Purifications of the Law which were figures of that Purification which we have by the holy Ghost were wrought either by Water or by Fire or by Oil or by Blood All things which had need of cleansing were purified by one of these four means 1. By Water as it was practised in divers occasions For we know that washings with Water were very frequent under the Law It is not necessary to produce examples 2. By Fire as when God commanded to purifie the spoil which they had taken from the Midianites he ordained that all that which could endure the Fire to wit Gold Silver Brasse Iron Tinne Lead should be cleansed by Fire Num. 31.22 23. 3. By Oil as it was observed in the Unction of the Priests and that of the leprous Lev. 14.16 17 18. 4. By Blood as it is notorious and we shall see by and by that almost all things according to the Law are purged by Blood Heb. 9.22 Now to shew that all that which is required to a true Purification all that which the Law prescribed to those ends is found universally in the power of the holy Ghost the Scripture representeth it with its effects under the name of the matters and all the acts which served to the Legal Purifications I might speak of other things concerning this subject but they will come better to purpose in the doctrine of Baptism for which I reserve them A catalogue of those actions which were celebrated with Aspersion of Blood in the time of the Law All the Law was written in Blood The Priest the people went not but thorow blood Now to comprehend these so many different actions in which Blood intervened it will be to the purpose to distinguish them and reduce them into ranks or categories We finde therefore that there are seven kindes of actions solemnized by the Aspersion of Blood 1. The first
periods of the Church and many famous mysteries had their beginning in a Desert The first time that Angels spake to men was in a Desert For Hagar the first person to whom Angels spake was in a Desert when the voice of the Angel was directed to her Gen. 16.7 The first time that God spake to Moses was in a Desert in that famous vision of the burning bush Exod. 3. The Law was given in a Desert The Tabernacle was built in a Desert The most illustrious figures of Christ Manna the Rock from whence issued water the miracle of the Brazen Serpent were brought forth in a Desert The miraculous fast of Moses that of Elijah and of Christ passed in a Desert The preaching of the Gospel began in a Desert Matth. 2.1 Baptism the first Sacrament of the New Testament began in a Desert and Jesus Christ himself received it in a Desert The first and the last piece of Scripture to wit the Books of Moses and that of the Revelation were delivered in a Desert The Christian Church gathered from among the Jews after the Ascension of the Son of God withdrew it self into a Desert before the destruction of Jerusalem and sojourned there three yeers and six months Rev. 12.14 Many excellent considerations might be brought upon this subject But principally the Wisdom of God would shew in the most notable beginnings as well of the Israelitish as the Christian Church that his Church is a Body distinguished from all other societies that are in the world formed upon other principles of an original quite different and that it was not founded upon any terrestrial Empire It is worth the noting that as the Church of Israel remained fourty yeers in a Desert before it was established in the land of Canaan so the Christian Church remained after its beginning to wit after that the Son of God was ascended into heaven seven times fourty yeers in a continual persecution which reduced it into solitudes and deserts For after the Ascension of our Lord till the three hundred and fifteenth of his Nativity when Constantine called back the Christians and caused them to build Churches there passed two hundred and eighty yeers seven times as many yeers as the Israelites had passed in the Desert All the Church was never gathered together in one place except then whâ—â— it was in the Ark. After the family of Adam in which for that time was included the Body of the Church it is not found that the believeâ—s which make up the Church Militant have been all gathered together in one place save when they were all enclosed in that Vessel which preserved them from the Deluge The Israelites when they went forth out of Egypt and when they remained in the Desert were all assembled in the same place but yet it could not be said for certain that all the Church was there for we know that God had children among other Nations far distant from that of Israel witnesse Job and his friends who all acknowledged the true-God It is a vanity most vain when Decrees are represented under the name of the Universal Church as if it had been assembled in one place for even the Councels which are called General are not such in effect nor can it be said that they represent the Church Universal For never was there a Convocation made by the suffrages of all the Churches in the world The Remission of Sins A difference between the Remission which the Law presented of old to sinners and that which is offered unto them by the Gospel BEhold a point remarkable against the Jews who believe to finde their salvation in the Sacrifices and other Ceremonies of the Law under pretence that it saith that it shall be pardoned unto him who bringeth such or such an Oblation for his sin I passe by that which is notorious to all Christians that those Legal Expiations had none other quality then that of figures But that which I observe beyond this is that the Law it self never presenteth an universal Remission to the sinner This is a Maxime That the Law had not any Sacrifice which did universally expiate all the sins of a man All the Expiations of which it speaketh were but of certain sins not of all entirely and therefore they promised a plentary Remission but still left the sinner indebted to the Justice of God Against this may be objected the Expiation general which was performed every yeer on the tenth day of the seventh month according to the ordinance contained in Levit. 16. For that beareth expresly that this ceremony did expiate all the iniquities and trespasses of the children of Israel But we must consider that this Expiation was made but once every yeer and onely on one day and it was for sins precedent that is to say which had been committed till then The offences which were committed after that day were not expiated till a yeer after on the same day So that by the space of a whole yeer men remained burdened with an infinite number of crimes which came upon them after the precedent Expiation and there needed another which came not till the yeer was come about Now how many persons died before the revolution of the yeer without being able to attain to the day of Expiation All those therefore which were prevented by death before that day fell departed without having obtained an entire Remission since there remained a number of sins which could not as yet be expiated according to the Law Surely the Law it self shewed the impotency of its Expiations by which there never could be a coming to a total Remission But the Remission which we have by Christ blotteth out universally all the sins of a man that accepteth this pardon Neither yet is it restrained to any circumstance of place or time Therefore whereas the Law presented Remission of sins but one onely time in a whole yeer the Gospel presenteth it unto us every day Which is most injurious and repugnant to God Either â— Despair or Presumption He that despaireth offendeth the Mercy of God But the presumptuous that believeth himself to be capable of giving satisfaction to God offendeth his Justice and his Mercy both together His Justice in requiring that it should approve a payment that is none His Mercy in presuming to content his Justice For whosoever imagineth that he is able to satisfie the Justice of God believeth not that he hath need of his Mercy A believer having commited some sin very enormous is it credible although he have repented and obtained pardon that God will love him altogether as much as he loved him before the offence commited God loveth the righteous but if the righteous happen to commit some great crime it is impossible but God should resent it Neverthelesse the gate of his Mercy is always open to the penitent But is there any likelihood that God having been grievously offended by a man whom he loved will yet love him with so great an affection
nameth the number of young people raised from the dead is greater then that of aged persons of whom we have none but Tobitha and it may be him that was raised in the grave of Elisha Now this also is a short table or patern of the great Resurrection which is to be at the last Day For that shall raise far more young people then old This needeth no demonstration The number of them that die young hath still surpassed the number of them that die old How many human creatures die in their childhood or in their growth or in the flower of their age Those that go beyond all those first seasons of their life and arrive as far as the last are very few in comparison of them whom death intercepteth in the way As therefore the number of the younger sort is the greater among the dead so also it shall be the greater in the Resurrection of the dead And to represent this to us God would by a mysterious Preludium raise more of young people then of old Of the first Resurrection and of the second death mentioned Revel 20. And from whence those terms are extracted THis passage hath divers difficulties For it speaketh of a term of a thousand yeers during which the Saints must raign with Christ It is also said that the rest of the dead are not to rise till those thousand yeers be accomplished and this is the first Resurrection Concerning which the Expositours both ancient and modern have very different opinions And many renewing the opinion of the Millenaries figure to themselves a bodily Resurrection of the faithful which they believe must precede by many ages the Resurrection of other men Now I will not contradict the common exposition which beareth that by the first Resurrection is meant the Regeneration by which we rise again into newnesse of life And by the second Death that which is otherwise called eternal But that which I have to observe here is that these terms the first Resurrection the second death carry with them an excellent allusion which is not considered though it be very visible and that it giveth abundance of light in the obscurity of this text This therefore is to be noted that according to the literal construction of these words there are two Resurrections The one which is or already hath been performed in this world the other which is to be at the last day The one is particular the other is universal Now this is true historically and really For Lazarus Eutychus Tabitha and divers others mentioned in Scripture have been already raised once this is the first Resurrection and shall yet be raised once more to wit in the end of the world with the rest of the dead So that they have two Resurrections having already passed thorow the first This allusion is extended yet farther It is said touching them that have part in this first Resurrection that the second death hath no power over them Upon which it is to be considered that it is never said that Lazarus or any of all them which were raised from the dead died the second time It is very true that they died again for Christ is the first of them that rose to immortality Neverthelesse the Scripture which is so exact to set down all that which is worthy of consideration never relateth the second death of them which have been raised no not of one of them It did import as it should seem to know so much the consequents and the effects of the divine power which restored them to life that we should know whether they lived any long time after they were raised from the dead Yet their second death is not read in the Scripture A silence so constant and universal as well in the one as the other Testament is not without some great ground I think therefore that this omission is mysterious as divers others which are seen in the Scripture There is no doubt but that Melchizedek died as well as other men Yet as every one knoweth he is said to be without end of life Heb. 7.3 That is to say in as much as he is presented as such in the holy History the which reciteth not either the birth or the decease of this person but rather produceth him as a man eternal Accordingly howsoever those that have been raised have been returned to the grave yet this is not expressed The Scripture after having raised them leaveth them as living for ever without ever saying that they died afterward So that their second death is not found Where therefore it is spoken Revel 20. of those which have part in the first Resurrection that the second death hath no power over them it is evident that this expression is drawn from the history of them whom we read to have been raised from the dead which is the first Resurrection but we read not that they died the second time Thus the Spirit of God draweth matters Historical to frame the images of future events which it setteth to view in Prophecies This Book of the Revelation is all composed of such pictures whereof the stuff and colours are borrowed of that which hath come to passe really according to the letter but animated with a spiritual and mystical sense For it doth not follow that that which is literally in History ought to be understood literally in Prophecie On the contrary it representeth one thing by another quite different though there be a resemblance of one to the other These Prophetick terms that the second death hath no power over them which have a part in the first Resurrection expresse formally the history of Lazarus and the rest which already have had one Resurrection which we read not to have been followed by a second death Shall we therefore yet expect that some shall be raised before the last Day yea a thousand yeers before By the same reason it will be requisite that we expect two men which shall have power to shut up heaven to hinder that it rain not to turn waters into blood to smite the earth with all plagues to consume their enemies with fire coming forth of their mouth Revel 11.5 6. But this if we take it literally is as absurd as if we would make Moses and Elias to come again for this Prophecie is moulded upon their history By the same reason we must imagine Jaspers Amethysts Emeralds in the heavenly Jerusalem Rev. 21. where the magnificence of it is represented under the figure of those precious stones which were set in the brestplate of the High-Priest Exod. 28. And by the same reason we must rebuild the Altar and Temple of Jerusalem which represent the Christian Church Revel 11. Everlasting life The first and the last of all Miracles THe first Miracle that came to passe after the Creation is as I have already said the translation of Enoch And the last Miracle which shall be wrought in the world shall be the translation of the faithful which