THE Christians Watch OR An Heauenly Instruction to all Christians to expect with patience the happy day of their change by death or doome Preached at Prestbury Church in Cheshire at the Funerals of the right worshipfull Thomas Leigh of Adlington Esquire the 16. of February Anno 1601. By William Leigh Bacheler of Diuinitye and Pastor of Standish in the Countie of Lancaster Math 24. verse 42. Watch for you knowe not what hower your Master will come LONDON Printed for E. White dwelling neer the little north doore of S. Pauls Church at the Signe of the Gunne 1605. To the Right VVorshipfull Sr. Vrian Leigh Knight grace and peace bee multiplied with increase of all heauenly comforts heere and happines in the world to come IT is with me Right Worshipfull Sr. in this my labour as it was with Phineas wife at the birth of her Ichabod who when they said to comfort her thou hast borne a Sonne she answered not nor regarded it in respect she thought so small a gaine could neuer redeeme so great a losse This poore Posthumus borne at your Fathers funeralls I haue euer since regarded the lesse for that my losse was in it life nor should it euer haue seene more light had not your place ouer-awed me and much instance drawne it on vrging it often as a pledge of my loue towards him that gon is and a Christian kindenes to those that remaine In lieu of both I could not but bring it foorth and lay it in the lappe of your fauourable protection yet accounting it my hard happe I should with the poore Gadaren thus still haunt the graues of the dead and wound my selfe with the stones of their Sepulchres How be it if it be better to goe into the house of mourning then of mirth and that who sowe in teares shal reape in ioy I wil repose my selfe in this that since I could discerne what it was to loose a friend I haue had my part of such dolefull Musicke and therefore may expect a ioyfull croppe of that sowing But to leaue the dead and to come to the liuing your zeale to God good Sir with the loue of his truth in the Religion of his Sonne Christ for which neither your arme hath been wearie to fight abroade nor your tongue to pleade at home ouer and besides your vndelayed prouision of a skilfull Bezaleel to build vp your owne house and neighbors souls about you As these may be much to your comfort so are they greatly to my ioy for that in sorte I may say with the Apostle in Christ Iesus I haue begotten you These blessed buds of religion appearing in Oxford when first I knewe you and had the care of their groth committed vnto mee from your carefull Father that gone is now spreading as Ceders in the readie and ripe practise of pietie and Godlines doe make mee not onely thankefull to God therefore but right ioyfull I may vndergoe any duetie to answere your loue or further your faith and therefore haue made bolde sith so you will haue it to put into your Religious heart bosome this Christian Watch. The watch is Iobes onelie the winding vp is mine as God hath directed the finger so it goeth and as I trust truelie to all such of Gods Saints as expect with patience the blessed day of their change by death or doome And if I haue failed in the compasse of any wheele as it may bee I haue for what am I but dust and ashes to pleade with my God yee which are spiritual reforme it and restore mee with the Spirit of meekenes considering your selues least ye also bee tempted And the Lord of his mercie multiplie his blessings more and more vppon you keepe you euer vnder his holy and helping hand of prouidence and protection with my verie good Lady your Vine and all your O liue branches From Standish the 1. of Ianuarie 1602. Your Worships in all kindenes to commaund W. Leigh The Christians Watch. OR An heauenly Instruction to all Christians Iob. 14. 14. If a man die shal he liue againe then all the dayes of mine appointed time will I watch vntill my changing shall come WEe are heere assembled this day as I trust in the feare of GOD and loue of our CHRIST not to pray for the dead or sorowe euē as other that haue no hope being taught by the Spirit that who dye in the Lord rest from their labours and are fully blessed But we are assembled rather to gaine by the seueritie of death that which for the most parte we loose in the securitie of our life viz A true touch and feeling of our owne frailtye taken from the dailye doomes of this declining worlde whose flower as you heere see is fading beautie but a blossome For surely it is true in the steddie bole of all the worlde which is heere falne out in a tender branch There is an appointed time for all thinges vnder the Sunne a time to plante and a time to plucke vp a time to build and a time to pull downe a time to gather and a time to scatter a time to rent and a time to sowe a time to speake and a time to keep silence a time to laugh and a time to weepe a time to liue and a time to dye yea to dye there is no remedie Uni Deo nunquam senectus atra nec mors imminet sed alia miscet domitor aetas omnia Onelye God neither olde age nor blacke death can ouertake but for al other things deuouring time hath and will turne them topsie turuye In regard whereof holy pacient Iob after much debate many pleadings with the sinnes of his soule and sorowes of his heart doth at last as you may heere see demurre vpon the plea with death doome thereby bringing vnto him selfe in solace of his soule a state of inheritance indefeazible with a Crowne of glorye that withereth not And this is done by a thrreefolde necessitie laid vpon all flesh 1. The first of dying and that 's but once 2. The second of liuing againe and that 's for euer 3. The third and last of watchfulnes and that 's but for a time euen till the day of our changing shall come The necessitye of our dying is the doore of life the necessitye of our liuing againe is the doome of death the necessitye of our watchfulnes is the Calender of our daies to witte how we haue liued how we doe liue and how we purpose to liue vntil our changing shall come Or thus that of death we deeme it the day of miserye That of life againe we holde it the day of glorye That of watchfulnes we reckon it for the day of grace And so as one floud puts on an other these three hale and help vs on to happy dwelling whereof if you loose a linke you break the Chayne and silken thrid should winde you out of the laberinth of this
worlde to the porte and paradice of your God For no blessed life without a blessed death and no blessed death without a blessed life and then are we blessed in both when we stand vpon our guard and are found watchfull 1. Now for the first I say with the Psalmist What man liueth and shall not see death shal he deliuer his soule frō the hand of the graue no no the decree of death is an imperial lawe acted in paradice vpon Gods fayrest Creature where sinne no sooner seizd but death entred and hath euer since like the lawes of the Medes and Persians bene irreuocable And though happily from the first death there lye an appeale to a better life in the prerogatiue Court and high consistorie of our Christ dead for our sinnes but risen againe for our iustification yet is there no repeale of that first lawe by any latter acte I say no parliment to disanull the doome of death No place priuiledged no person exempt no time to interrupt the decree therof but like an omnipotent Queene and regent of al the world where sinne hath kist she euer killeth There is no safetie any where If Angels in heauen sinne downe they must If Adam in Paradice transgresse out he must If Iudas faile at the side of Christ away hee must where is a practise of sinning there is euer a necessitie of dying without either priuiledge of place person or presence for thorow enuie of the Deuill came death into this world they that hold on his part shall prooue it I say then dare avouch that the matter of our sinning is the cause of our dying and that needes must needes shall Must thou needes sinne then surely shalt thou die sinne and death are hereditarie they dwel in one house like Hipocrates twins they laugh togeather they weepe togeather they liue together they die together And so shall till time bee no more for no time of sinning no time of dying In the interim our Fathers haue eaten a sower grape and the Childrens teeth are set on edge the Ceders are fallen how can the shrubbe stand the Patriarches before the Flood the Patriarches since the Flood the holy Priestes and honorable Kings of Iudah and Israel haue all sinned and are all dead And why should we liue Ieremiah cryed and so may I O earth earth earth heare the word of the Lord young earth old earth middle earth faire earth strong earth rich earth heare the cry your moulde is earth your flesh is sinfull and your condition is mortall Ye Kinges of the earth ye are but kinglie earth sinne is your shame death is your due you honorable mē you are but honorable earth you Gentlemen you are but gentle earth you learned men you are but learned earth you meane men you are but meane earth I say of you all sin is your shame and death is your doome and when the graue hath it due then treade out the ground giue me the difference who is Princely who is honorable who is poore base and beggerlie It may be your Tombes Hearses and Sepulchers doe set out your state and shine to your praise but vnder within what 's your rottennes better then others what 's your dignitie aboue the meanest This Augustin sawe with his Mother Monicha standing by Caesars Tombe at Rome whē vpon the view he said I beheld the Corpes of Caesar as he lay in his Sepulchre there and loe they were blackish and fallen to rottennes I looked vpon his belly burst swarmes of wormes issued out In the hollowes of his head where once stood his christal eyes two hungry Toades were feeding The locks of his head were fallē his teeth appeared but his lippes were wasted the gristle of his nose being consumed the very ground thereof was discouered This when I saw I said deare Mother where is now the beautie of Caesar where is the worlde of his wealth where be the troupes of his Nobles Knights Barons where are the armies of his fighting men Where is the prouision of all his delights his hunting dogges his coursing Steeds his chaunting Birds his guilt Palace his Iuorie bed his Princely Throne his royall Wardrobe where where are his goulden Lockes and his faire feature long it is not O Caesar since all men dred thee all Princes feared thee all Citties did honour thee yea all the world did thee homage Ubi nūc quaeso sunthaec omnia quo abijt tua magnificentia Where I pray thee now are all these honors whither is thy puissance gone To which my deere Mother answered with all pietye and reuerence O my sonne all thinges fayled him when life left him And now his possession is heer in a Tomb of three Cubits long with corruption and rottennes in the kingdome of darknes Such my deer bretherē no better is the condicion of all flesh The meanest the mightiest as you see are al of one molde there is no difference in the graue and as of men so may I say of Cityes Kingdomes and Monarchies of this worlde They had their pride and they haue their period for goe ye as saith the Prophet to Calneh and see and from thence goe you to Hamath the great then goe downe to Gath of the Philistims look vpon Ioppa behold Tarsus wonder at Niniuie the pride of Assur gaze vpon Babilon the beautye of all the Chaldees honor and as you passe by cast your eye vpon the ruines of Ierusalem that virgin daughter Syon and when you haue viewed them al tell those renowned places of the worlde tell them that euen they are mortall that sinne hath sackt them and therefore they are fallen likewise in their decayed places yea and withall say that the very best thinges of this worlde so desired of all are but vaine and vile for what 's your golde and siluer other then as one termeth it terrae immundicia the slime filth of the earth what are your rich Furres of Sables Budge or Ermins but the skinnes of sauage beastes what 's your softe veluet silke and sattin but the excrements of vyle wormes what 's your sweete muske and Ciuet but the ordure of vermin what are your perpetuityes of fayre houses Castles Honors cal'd after your names but Nimrods Statues and monuments of former future confusions Of all which when ye haue most then haue ye least and neuer so freed as when you are loosed from them and can say with a perfect heart as did the Apostle I counted all thinges but losse and did iudge them to be doung that I might winne Christ. But leaue we a little these dead carkases of elder times with the cause of their ruines which was their sinne come we neerer home euen to that which wee feele in our bones and finde in our flesh as harbengers of deathes approach and deeper printes of our mortalitye You that are of yeeres olde
assured hope to all Gods Children of a ioy ful resurrection to come it remaines we presse the Doctrine yet further to your comfort and tell you how wee shall bee changed and when For the first rise we shall with these verye bodies of flesh skin blood bone nor shal the least ioynt sinew or Artery bee lost but found and fashioned to the rest of the members to giue the body all feature grace and beautie There shall bee no transubstantiacion from one substance into another but an alteration of quality tending to further perfection and therefore wee say with one who said well Gloria non tollit sed perficit naturam our glorie shall not destroy our nature but perfect it And for distinction of ages there shall be no more there as saith the Prophet a Childe of yeares nor an olde man that hath not fild his daies that is in this wonderfull worke of restauration there shal be no weakenes of youth not infirmities of age but all shall bee fresh and flourishing for as when GOD first created man and woman hee made them not eyther Infants old crooked or deformed but strong ripe and beautifull so in the resurrection which is called a new creation It is not like but shal be conformable to the first if not much more excelleÌ„t nor doe I doubt but as the Apostle saith wee shall all meete together vnto a perfect Man and vnto the measure of the age of the fulnes of Christ so fully blessed with daies glory and immortalitie This so wonderful change and excellent state is shadowed out vnto vs by Christ his transfiguration vppon the holy mounte when the fashion of his countenance was changed and his garments white and glistred splendor infacie splendor in vestimentis sic gloria in capite gloria in membris brightnes in the face of Christ with brightnes in his garments is nothing else but glorie in the head and glorie in the members This sawe the disciple whome the Lord loued when with a feeling soule and spirit he said dearely belooued now are wee the Sonnes of God but it is not yet made manifest what we shall bee for we knowe that when he shall bee made manifest meaning Christ wee shall be like him for wee shall see him as hee is like him see him and see him as hee is ô excellent state of immortallitie and soueraigne dignitie of Gods elect to bee like him is much to see him is more but to see him as he is moste of all Paul saw the like when he longed after a deliuerance and said wee looke for the Sauiour euen the Lord Iesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may bee fashioned like vnto his glorious bodye according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all thinges vnto himselfe whereuppon I may inferre to your further ioy and greater wonder thus That wee shall bee changed is much that our vile bodies shall bee changed is more but that our vile bodye vppon the change shall bee fashioned like vnto the gloryous body of Iesus CHRIST is moste of all Manye fashions there are in this worlde and all weare out of fashion There 's but one suite for the Saints of GOD and for that it 's cut after the best Patterne viz. after CHRISTS it neuer weareth or waxeth olde but is alwayes faire fresh and glorious had wee been apparelled like Aaron in his holyeâ—obes or like Salomon in his Royall array had wee put on the brightnesse of Angells vpon our change wee might haue thought our selues sufficientlye graced but as and if all that were not sufficient The Lord hath changed our vile bodie that it might bee fashioned like vnto his glorious bodye And this will hee doe when our case is most desperate euen finde vs out when we are lost take vs vp when wee are furthest fallen from him when our woundes are deepest then rediest to power in oyle and to binde them vp when no eye pityeth vs I say when by blacke death we shall be made vile base and despicable Then will he fashion vs like vnto himselfe and as the Psalmist saith make vs glorious by deliuerance For it is an excellencie in our Christ and a mercie infallible found true in the practise of his pyetye euen then to shewe mercye when wee are mosse miserable then to feele him nearest when wee deeme him furthest gone his graces to abound when our sinnes doe superabound I say his mercies are preuentions euer meeting with our miseries and then when wee are moste wofull and wanting When the Scepter was gone from Iudah then Shiloh came when the diseased woman had spent all without remedye then came CHRIST and cured without cost when the poore Paralyticke had laine eight and thirtye yeares by the Poole of Bethesda and none would helpe to put him in Then Iesus said rise take vp thy bed and walke when the Disciples said vnkindely send the people away nay saith Christ giue ye them to eate What should I say more The Lord raysed Lazarus when he stunke in the graue and whilst Martha mooued and Mary mourned he grieued in heart and was troubled in Spirit put to his hand tooke him out deliuered him said now loose him and let him goe So wil he doe in the day of our redemption when our sinnes shall bee full and miserie moste abound then mercie shall bee more full and grace superabound and as at his first coÌ„ming of his aboundance we al receaue grace for grace a chereful refreshing to our sinful soules so at his coÌ„ming againe wee that dwel in the dust shal awake sing at the shoute and shower of his glorie as also of the aboundance of his glorie receaue glory for glory Thy dew ô Lord is as the dew of hearbs for euen as hearbes dead in winter florish againe by the raine in the Spring tyme so shall they that liue in the dust arise vp to joy when they feele the dew of Gods grace as the hony droppes that water the earth And then shall wee say with a Godly â—uation now death is swallowed vp in victorie for our drie bones are moistned our forlorne hope is recouered we were cleane cut off but now are wee growne againe our bed is precious and our withered branch is glorious the Lord hath opened our graues wee are come out of the Sepulchres and he hath brought vs into the land of the liuing where wee shall see no sinne nor feele corruption any more Hasten thy iudgements ô Lord bowe the heauens and come downe discharge the graues of their dead the world of it doome our soules from sinne and our bodies from corruption ô hasten the daie of our deliuerie that wee may see in glorie what we feele in grace euen the beholding of thy face in righteousnes that when wee shall awake from death wee may be satisfied with thy likenesse and fild with
and feeble looke vpon your colours from top to toe and tell without flattery what it is you bear with the burdeÌ„ of your sinnes but the blase of your death The keepers of the house which are the handes they tremble The strong men which are the legges they bow themselues The grynders which are the teeth they cease because they are but fewe and they that looke out by the windowes which are the eyes they waxe dimme and darke The doores which are the lippes and mouth they are shut with the base sound of the grinders The Almond Tree which is your head it is white as a blossome The Daughters of singing which are your eares they are abased deafe and dull what should I say more sleep is gon from you you rise with the Cocke case you haue none for the Grashoper is a burden you feare the high thing you dare not climbe ye dread the faire way ye dare not goe in it for feare ye fall Thus man goeth to the house of his age once decayed neuer repayred till the time of our changing shall come O remember therefore thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth whiles the euill dayes come not nor the yeares approache wherein thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them And let an experienced Prince so perswade thee from this Iuorye throane yea and more to That without the Soueraigne good all is but vanitie and vexation of the Spirit But happily heere our youth may crowe and say their day shall euer dawne but I say nay for euen your flesh is but grasse and the grace thereof is but as the flower of grasse yea oftentimes for that your sins are the more your danger is the greater I say take heede your blade being greene it is sooner blasted your vessel being new it is sooner tainted and your plant being tender it is sooner supplanted by the violence of sinne which is the fier and fuel of death Seneca saith well Iuuenes mortem habent atergo et senes ante oculos Young men haue death at their backes and olde men before their face like Israels hoste who had the red Sea before Pharoes Armie behinde both ineuitable gulffes and readie to deuoure And so for conclusion of the point bee thou wel assuredly that thouseest without and feelest within both young men may die and old men must die And neuer deeme it a new thing that is so ancient or thinke it strange that is so continuall nor call it an euil properly thine which is so coÌ„mon with al the world The first age had it it may pleade antiquitie the second age felt it it may pleade coÌ„tinuaÌ„ce and this last age hath it it may pleade a propertie in all flesh till sinne and time shall be no more The vse in respect of the doctrine is this that though wee finde in our bones and feele in our flesh a necessitie of dying yet we forget our selues we forget our sins yea the molde matter wherof we are made vn til it come as now the opening of graues the imbalming of bodies the wearing of blackes and the losse of dearest friendes there is no passion of our immortallitie there is no impression of our eternity That this is true for my owne part I neede no better proofe theÌ„ mine owne hart to beare me witnes and for you also it is expedient to â—udge whether the opening of this earth the jmbalming of that body the wearing of these blacks with the sommoning of these solemne funeralles by the Herolds call in a sad winterly season and towards a ioyfull spring be not a resemblance of our pereÌ„ptorie day before the Lord when euerie one shall must render an account of that he hath done in this life bee it good or euill wherof if you haue feeling look for such thinges be diligent that ye may bee found of him in peace without spott blameles in the middest of a naughtie crooked generation suppose that the long suffering of the Lord is saluation who would haue no man lost but all to come to repentance â— Now for the second part I meane of liuing againe when wee are dead it is euident by the text that as there is a necessitie of dying once so is there a necessitie of liuing euer and that wee may terme an expectant estate and indefeazible both to the elect of GOD and the reprobate from GOD for both shall rise againe The just to the resurection of saluation to the which GOD bring vs and the wicked to the resurrection of condemnation from which the Lord deliuer vs. Maruell not at this saith CHRIST For the hourâ— shal come in the which al that are in the graues shall heare his voice vpon which Sommons heauen earth and hel shall be assembled the graues being pregnant shal bring foorth their dead the Sea being called vppon shall picke vpit dead Beastes Foules and Fishes shall yeeld the dead they haue deuoured yea and in spite of all tirannie the blessed Martir shall say it skils not much where I rot for then shall I rise nay I say more The shrill sound of that trumpet shall emptie heauen and shake hell all shall come foorth and appeare before the tribunall seate of God all his saints out of heauen all the damned out of hell all their dead bodies out of the earth out they must attend they must appeare they must receaue they must according to that they haue done in this life be it good or euil not an Angell spared not a Deuill respited not a Saint or sinner rescued but all must bee summoned to giue their attendance and to make their appearance Good Lord what a fearefull day will it then bee and what an exceeding glorie of our Christ will then appeare who shall emptie all vppon his sommons and fill all vpon his sentence emptie heauen emptie earth emptie hell fill heauen fill earth fil hell heauen with his maiestie Angels and Saints attending earth with his presence his fairest creatures abiding Hell with his judgements the deuil and damned euer dreeing the doome of death and deepe dispaire There shall be a new heauen and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousnes but an old diuel an old hel wherin abideth horror Topheth is prepared of old c I say then not I but the Spirit of God for me speaking out of this text and truth That it is Epicurisme Atheisme and the greatest Apostacie from faith that may be to say Let vs eate and drinke tomorrowe we shal die so an end or to say with the wicked miscreants wisd 2. 2. We are borne at al aduentures and we shal bee heareafter as though wee had neuer been our breath in our Nostrils is but a smoke and beeing extinguished the bodie is turned into ashes and the Spirit vanisheth as the soft ayre come therefore let vs jnioy the pleasures that are present and
let vs chearefullie vse the creatures as in youth Let vs fill our selues with costly wine oyntments and let not the flower of youth passe by vs Let vs crowne our selues with rose buds before they be withered let al be partakers of our wantonnes let vs leaue some token of our pleasure in euerie greene field as for rigor rage tiranny what 's that to vs when we are dead come let vs oppresse the poore that is righteous let vs not spare the widdow nor reuerence the white haires of the aged but say they haue liued too lōg let our strength bee a law and let the thing that is feeble bee reprooued as vnprofitable Thus did the Atheist speake in the daies of old out of the error of their soules thus did they practise from a graceles resolution the Lord deliuer the land from such a burden his church from such pelfe our Prince from such a people to whome I may say if any there bee that so remaine yet vnreformed after so acceptable a time and free offer of all grace and Godlinesse I may say without repentāce they are a damned crew and depriued of glorie who for that they will not finde out the Lord in his mercies whilst they liue shal be sure to be found out in iudgement by him when they are dead for if a man die he shall liue againe O it shal not be then with the beastlie Epicure whose bellie is his God eate drinke dye and so an end it shall not bee with the wastfull wanton whose lust is his GOD spend sue pursue speede die and so an end it shall not bee with the greedy cormorant whose gold is his God greeue grate grind the poore oppresse the needy then die and so an end it shall not bee with the distemperate Spirits of bloody Tyrants whose reuenge is their God loath kill stabbe murder the Godlie massaker the Saintes then die and so an end it shall not bee with the idle minion whose pride is her God pricke pinne paint frisle the haire then die and so an end it it shall not be with the desperate ruffian whose villanie is his God sweare forsweare teare the heauens and tire the earth with bloodie oathes and blasphemies then die and so an end it shall not be with the grosse Idolater whose image is his God bow bend crosse creepe to the creatures then die and so an end finally it shal not be with the disloyal subiect whose treasons is his God plot complot practise at home and abroad on this side the seas and on that side the subuersion of a blessed state the deposing of a most gracious Prince as they did by their owne confession The best natured and moste heauenly qualified Queene that euer liued in England it shall not be Grieue her curse her depose her and depriue her of life crowne dignity thē die so an end for thē is but the beginning of sorrows after death commeth iudgement when to hide thy selfe with these sinnes it will bee vnpossible and to appeare it will bee vntollerable Lazarus to Heauen Diues to Hell both shal rise againe the one to death euerliuing the other to a life neuer dying for the Godlye shal haue boldenes in that day but the wicked shall crie vnto the mountaines fall vppon vs fall vppon vs. And so to leaue the wicked in their sins and with their brand to close with your religious hearts seeing you looke for better thinges be dilligent that yee may be found of him in peace without spot and blameles at the comming of our Lord Iesus christ to iudgemēt bee wel assured ye that are the elect of God christ his peculiar that though the wicked shal rise to their confusion yet shal ye liue againe as in soule so in bodie to your vnspeakeable ioy and consolation Which heauenlie Doctrine likewise of your liuing againe to beate out hath been the proper workeof all the Godlye from time to time in their succeeding ages Patriarches Prophets Apostles yea Christ himself as the fountaine whose streames if I should follow to the full it would bee tedious for you to passe ouer vnpossible for mee to keepe the current Onely Paules plea for life againe shall stand as a ground for all the rest whose seueral reasons to proue the resurrection layed downe to the Church of Corinth I referre you vnto resting vppon the first as a butteris or binding stone for all the rest which is this Christ is risen againe the first fruites of them that sleepe wherupon I inferre if he be first wee must second him if he be gone before we must follow after if he be risen we may not rest for where the head is of congruence must all the members follow And now that Christ is risen againe from the dead it is apparant by these seuerall proofes First it is promised in Paradice so to be when God said to Sathan hee shall breake thine head and thou shalt bruse his heele bruse he may by death but breake he may not Thine it is ô Christ to breake sathan sinne and death not in the heele but in the head neuer to rise vp in judgement against vs. 2 Secondly his resurection from the dead was prophecied in Iudah by old Iacob Gen. 49. 9. by a Lyon couchant vnder a painefull passion yet passant too by a glorious resurection so said Iacob as a Lyons whelpe shalt thou come vp from the spoile my Sonne Iudah meaning in a misterie from the spoile of Hell sinne and death to the glorie of Heauen life and immortalitie our english Iudah hath this honor in her armes and wee owe her homage our heauenly Iudah hath this honour in his person we owe him adoratiō al ye faithfull of Iudah take this honour to your soules blesse your christ in the scutchin of your hearts carrye him ô carrie him foorth in your Christian marche against all incounters and say terror hic est hominum quique hunc gerit est Agamemnon which I may english thus This Lyon heere of Iudah tribe a terror is to men and Diuils desperat debar'd of blis Who beares him as his Crest more puisant he then Graecian guide with all his chiualrie 3 Thirdly his resurection was figured by Sampson Iudg. 16 who at midnight rose conueyed away the gates of Azzah and bare them vp to Hebron The gates of Azzah are the bands of death which our true Sampson did breake in the night silence of his resurrection and in despite of death bore vp his blessed body to Heauen where now it abides a pledge of our inheritance Haue I not power to lay downe my life haue I not power to take it vp againe 4. Lastly it was signified in the heaue offering shaken vp shakend vne and shaken vp againe so was our Christ in body the substance of this shadow tost to and fro in
bee silent There saith the text are the companie of innumerable Angels and the congregation of the first borne which are written in heauen There is God the Iudge of all and the Spirits of iust and perfect men there is Iesus the meadiator of the new Testament and the blood of sprinckling that speaketh better thinges then the blood of Habel Whence I inferre to passe the rest and to come to that which more neerelie concerneth the matter in question that there are onely the spirits of iust and perfect men but neither bodie blood or bone other then that of Iesus Christ the mediator of the new Testament whose blood speaketh better thinges then that of Habels For the blood of Habel cryed reuenge but the blood of Christ euen there sprinckling as it were in his Fathers face cryeth pardon pardon I might to confirme this Scripture cote that of Iohn and open vnto you the first seale with the Altar of God the soules of the saints lying there vnder I might tel you of their inioyned silence to pray or pleade for any further repaire or perfection in body vntill the number of their fellowe seruants gone before and of their Bretheren to follow after dead as they were were fulfilled but I leaue the Doctrine to your further search and examination because the time hasteth on and for the present onelie content my selfe and I hope you to with the assoyling of some few doubts which happely might incounter the Docttrine deliuered First say some if there bee no bodies in heauen but that of Christs where then are the bodyes of Henocke and Elias the one taken away before the Flood and the other after in a fiery Chariot I answere with the learned whose iudgements I reuereÌ„ce as to inquire where they became is meere curiositie so to say they bee in heauen is ouer bolde presumption and if I should say with Dauid Kimhi not the meanest interpreter of the Hebrues that in the taking vp of Elyas his garments were consum'd with fire except his Mantell which fell from him yea and that himselfe was extinguished so as euerie one of the Elements of his body dissolued and return'd to the Element whereof it was but that his Spirit passed to heauen it were no singular opinion for of the verie same minde Oecolampadius seemeth to bee in his exposition vpon the last of Malachie But for vs it is sufficient that their translation shew there is a better life prepared if wee make it a Sacrament eyther of our resurrection froÌ„ the dead or last taking vp into heauen if we make it a testimonie of the immortallitie of soules bodies I holde it may well stand with the Analogie of faith and be as TertulliaÌ„ sayth documents of our perfection to come for the rule is good multa tribuuntur Symbolis quae tantum sunt rerum significatarum many things are said of figures which are onely true in the thing they signifie Therefore if any man say they are taken vp and glorified in body as in soule it is onely true in that they signifie and not in Symbole Heerein if I be deceiued I dare not say with the Prophet Lord thou hast deceaued me Ieremiah 20. yet may I say ye learned of this age Caluin Fulke Grenam Bale c. ye are deceaued and erre with me It sufficeth vs saith Caluin that their taking away meaning Henocke and Elias was a certaine extraordinarie death nor may we doubt but that they put of corruptible and mortall flesh that with the â—est of Christ his members they might be renewed into a blessed immortalitie might bee renewed saith hee therefore not yet renewed and with the rest of the members of Christ ergo not single by themselues The Rhemistes vpon the same place charge vs Protestants to bee Sectaries for that wee holde this Doctrine their words are these heere it appeareth that Henocke yet liueth and is not dead against the Caluinistes Mr. Fulke answereth the charge and layeth downe his iudgement in these wordes It appeareth not that Henocke yet liueth in bodye more then Moses or Elyas but that he was translated by God out of the world died not after the coÌ„mon maner of men with this marginall note more fully to expresse his minde in the point Enocke not still liuing But as for any passage into heauen that Enocke or Elias had in bodie or locall being there which is the maine point in controversie he is so farre from that opinion as in an other place he is bolde to vouch the contrarie in these verie wordes It is euident indeede that Elias was taken vp aliue but not that hee contynueth aliue yea because it is said expreslye that he was taken vp into heauen it is certaine that his bodye was not carryed into heauen for Christ was the first that in his whole humanity ascended into heauen Ergo say I with Mr. Fulke whose learning iudgement and authoritie I much reuerence and so may the Church of England that yet there is no Bodye in Heauen but that of Iesus christs for hee is the beginning and the first begotten of the dead as the Apostle saith that in all thinges he might haue the preheminence Exiled Bale in his image of both Churches and in his chaste Paraphras vpon the cited place Reuelation 11. inferreth thus against the Popish schoole Doctors who wold haue the two witnesses there mencioned to be Enocke and Elias vnlike it is saith he that God should call witnesses from the dead And what Godlie wise man can giue more to the figure then to the veritie more were they not priuiledged from death then Christ was though God wold not then haue it so to be knowne to declare his wonderfull worke Onely that which may deceaue is the Originall word Lakac which found in other places of Scripture else where doth implye rather a taking away by death then any traÌ„slation from death as in the 4. of Ionah where the prophet prayeth that God wold take away his life and Ezech. 44. 16. where the Lord saith beholde I will take from thee the pleasure of thine eyes meaning his wife the same original in both places is all one with that of Enocke Gen. 5. And therefore I see not yet why it may not inure to the same sense and signification vnlesse we may deeme that Ionah prayed for any such translation or that Ezechiels wife was so translated indeede which may not be for that the Prophet liued longer after and Ezechiels wife was found dead at euen and for the newe testament it is familiar with Christ and his Apostles to call death a translation or taking away to blessednes as Luke 9. 51. Iohn 13. 1. and 17 1. In all which places the Greeke will beare it to be a translation or taking away to a better life yet euer by a true and certaine death And therefore I answere to that of the Hebrues where it is said by faith Enocke