after it is seperated from the body that it vseth not her power and strength How then will they aunswere vnto the psalme of Dauid where he describeth the beginning middest and end of the life of the blessed For there he saith They shal goe frō vertue to vertue and shall see the God of Gods in Sion or according to the Hebrew from aboundaunce to aboundaunce And if they continually beleue vntill the tyme they come to see God and by this beliefe passe to the sight of God how do these men bury thē in a slomber of drunkenesse and deepe idlenesse The very selfe same thing doth S. Paule also more manifestly witnesse so that if they would euen burst yet shall they neuer be able to resist the spirite of God 2. Cor. 5.6 7. Heare what he sayth Surely we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be destroyed we haue a building with God an euerlasting habitation in heauen which is not made with man his hand And therefore we groane desiring to be cloathed with our heauenly mansion that we might be foūd cloathed not naked And in very deede we that are in this tabernacle do groane being burthened because we desire not to be vnclad but to be cladde to the end that this mortality might be swallowed vp of life And a little after wherefore we are alwayes of good cheare and in good hope and do know that so long as we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord for we walke by fayth and not after the outward shewe neuerthelesse we are of good comfort and had a great deale rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Here they finde a starting hole and say that the wordes of the Apostle are to be referred to the day of iudgement wherein we shal be cladde and wherein mortallyty shall be swallowed vp of life Wherfore the Apostle say they concludeth thus that we must all appeare before the iudgement seate of the sonne of God But wherefore referre they this cloathing rather vnto the body thē vnto the blessings which are plentifully bestowed vpon vs after death who forceth thē to take this word life for resurrectiō seing that the meaning of the Apostle is easy and playne to witte we desire to be deliuered out of this prison of the body but not to the end to wander vncertaynely without houseroome For there is a farre better house and a more blessed dwelling which the Lord hath made ready for vs alwayes prouided that he findeth vs clad and not naked Ephe. 6.10 For Iesus Christ is our cloathing Psal 45.12.13.14 and that strong armour wherewith S. Paule armeth vs. And it is written that the king shall desire the beautye of his spouse who is mighty in giftes glorious within his closet Moreouer the Lord hath set a marke vpon his whom he will acknowledge both in death and in the resurrection Wherefore looke they not rather to that which he had before spoken and whereunto he hath adioyned this saying Although our outward man sayth he be corrupted yet is the inward man renued from day to day But that the Apostle addeth this conclusion to appeare before the iudgement seat of the sonne of God bindeth thē more straightly where he had before said that whether we be present or absent we earnestly striue both at home and abroad to doe the thing that might best please him Seing that at home is meant the body what is signified by abroad To the end then that we put nothing to the wordes them selues without any expositor say thus much that we doe our best to please the Lord both within the body and also without the body and besides that we shall feele the presence of the Lord whenas we shal be seperated from this body Then shall we no more walke by fayth but in open sight because that this masse of earth wherewith we be oppressed seperateth vs very farre of from our God But these sleapers babble cleane cōtrary and say we shall be a great deale farther of from God by death then whiles we are here in this life For of whom is this written Psal They shall walke O Lord in the light of thy countenaunce Likewise The spirite it selfe witnesseth vnto our spirite Rom. 8.16 that we are the children of God And many other suche like sayinges They take away from them the light of Goddes countenaunce and the testimony of the Spirit So that if this be true then are we blesseder now then when we be dead For although we liue now vnder the Elementes of this world yet notwithstanding our dwelling and abyding place is in heauen according to the saying of Paule Phil. 3.20 But when that Lethergy and forgetfulnes of all thinges shall by death take away the soules they then lose whatsoeuer sweetnes they haue of spirituall taste Howbeit the holy Scriptures do teach vs a great deale better Wise 9 That the body whiche is corruptible maketh the soule worsse and the earthly tabernacle holdeth downe the sēse thinking many thinges Now then if the body be the prisō of the soule and the earthly habitation a manacle to bind it sure What shal become of the soule when it is deliuered out of this prison and losed from these bands Is she not then set at liberty and as a man would say at her owne choyse In so much that it may well be sayd that looke how much she decreaseth the body so much encreaseth she her self Will they nill they this is out of all doubt that whē we haue cast of this burthen of the body that the fight which is betwixt the spirit the flesh betwixt the flesh and the spirite is at an end And besides the mortifiyng of the flesh is the quickning of the spirite Therefore whenas the soule hath voyded these excrementes she is then in deede spirituall and yeldeth her obedience vnto the will of God neither feeleth shee the tyranny of the flesh resisting her but reposeth her selfe in this quietnes thinking vpon none other thing but vpon God And thus forsooth may a man well say that she sleapeth when as she is able to rayse vp her self without being pressed down with any wayght and that she slombreth whenas she is able to vnderstand many thinges both by feeling and thinking without any let This doth not onely bewray the error of these fātasticall fellowes but also theyr malice agaynst the workes and power of God which the scriptures testifye vnto vs that he worketh in his holy and faythfull ones We acknowledge god to be as it were borne in his chosen and still to grow vp frō day to day Pro. 4.18 which thing Salomon teacheth vs when he sayth The way of the righteous shineth as the light and shineth more and more vntill the perfect day Phil. 2. And S. Paule also affirmeth the same saying he that hath begonne a good worke in
1581. Your Lorships most humble and duetifull to be commaunded in the Lord Iesus Christ Thomas Stocker ⧠The Preface of Iohn Calvin to a very friend of his ALthough in deede it is very true that certen godly honest men were a great while sithence earnestly in hand with me to write somewhat for the confuting and repressing of the foolishe and confused opinion of some who at this day goe about to mainteine the sleape and death of the soules yet could they not hitherto winne me to yelde vnto their petitions and requestes because it is cleane contrary to my nature to thrust my selfe in to deale with matters of controuersie and debate And surely I had at that tyme great reason to excuse me partely because I thought that in short time this fond opinion would finde no companions and therefore be soone forgotten or els that a few Cockbrayned and lightheadded fellowes would onely keepe it in hugger mugger and partely also because I had no lyking to deale agaynst such aduersaries with whose power weapons and Ambushes I was no whit acquainted For as yet I had neuer hard any speach of them saue onely a confused kinde of buzzing of a thing so that if I should haue had to doe with such as were not yet entred into the open playnes I must needes haue played the part of one beating the bush as we say on the blinde side Neuertheles in the end it grewe afterward to another manner of matter then I thought it would haue done For these Ianglers were so busy and carefull to maintayne and encrease their faction as that they had already drawne into their error I know not how many thowsands of people And in deed to say truly so far as I cā se this mischiefe waxeth worse worse For at the first beginning there were but a few that made a confused kinde of prattle of the sleaping of the soules and therewith they would neuer let it be vnderstoode what they meant by this sleape Now sithence that tyme haue stept out these boucherly soule-sleaers who at the first blow cut their throates and yet thankes be to God doe them no hurt at all Notwithstanding I verely thinke that the error of the first sort is not to be borne withall and besides that this second kinde of them is liuely to be repressed For neither of both sortes haue any foundatiō either of reason or yet of Iudgement Howbeit it is no easy matter to perswade others thus except Mauger their beards as we commonly say I openly refute these babling Gallauntes and so discouer their leasings which can no way be perceiued but by their wrytings Now as I heare say they heare and there let flye I know not in what short sceduls and pamfletts their leasings and dolteries vnto which I could neuer as yet once come to the sight of thē Onely I haue receiued frō a friēd of mine certen aduertisements which he by aduenture met withall and set them downe in wryting as they came to his hands or as he could here and there get them And although one of my excuses is as it were halfe taken from me by reason of these aduertisementes yet remaineth the other halfe still to my selfe But forsomuch as they drawe vnto their error great store of people by reason of their troublesome speaches and mighty prattle wherewith they so greatly deale as if they had caused printed bookes to haue bene spread all the world ouer I know not how I can be guiltles of treason agaynst the trueth of God if in so great a necessitie I holde my peace and dissemble the matter And truely because I hope my trauell wil be very profitable euen to the most simple and ignoraunt who may set themselues occupied about this matter and Argument I will not be a feard to render vnto all honest and godly men a reason of my fayth And yet it may be that it is not so well furnished with all kindes of defence able at full to geue the attempt to the enemy neither yet so strongly bulwarked as to keepe them from approching thereto neuertheles I hope not altogether vnarmed and defenceles Howbeit if the importunitie of these dreame sowers would haue geuen me some more leasure I would with all myne hart haue entred into this combate which can no way bring with it so great gayne as payne considering especially because I thinke that the exhortation of the Apostle might if it were at any tyme needefull be sufficient in this behalfe to witt that we should be of discreete Iudgement And although these men will not suffer vs to vse the discretion which we gladly desier yet will I haue as great regard as I can modestly to dispute of the matter Neuerthelesse I would if it had so pleased the Lord our God that some other meane might haue bene found for the soddayne cutting of of this mischiefe which too too much encreaseth least it eate in farther and farther lyke a Cancker Although this be not the first tyme onely of the beginning thereof For we reade that the Arabians were the first Aucthors of this error who sayd that the soule dyed together with the body and that they should both of them rise agayne at the Iudgement day And within a while after Iohn Byshop of Rome defended the same which the Sorbonistes of Paris made him recant Now when this error had long tyme after that bene repressed the Anabaptistes beganne lately to reuiue the same and blow abroad certein sparkes thereof which sparkling farre and wide in the end fell out into hoat fiery flames which I beseech the Lord God to quench euen at the first day with this gladsome raine which he especially reserueth for his Church Now then by the assistaunce of God his holy spirite I entend to dispute hereof without bitternes of minde without tying my selfe to any man particularly and also without desier to scoffe and slaunder so that no man shall be able in trueth to complayne that I haue hurt him or yet by any meanes possible once offended him Though we may in deede at this day see some men very hoatly geuen to reprehend sting and finde fault whome if a man should touch but with the typp of the finger would by and by cry out and say that we breake the vnitie and quietnes of the Church and vtterly violate charitie and Brotherly loue But to these men this is mine aunswere in the first place That we acknowledge no vnitie but such as is founded in and vpon Christ neither yet allow we of any other charitie then of that whereof he is the bond So that the principall poynt and beginning to preserue charitie is this that our fayth remaine holy and sound emongest vs. And ouer and besides this I say that this disputation may very well be decyded with out any breach of charitie if they bring with them such eares as I determine to bring a tongue And as for you right worthy Syr there are many causes
body soule For this generall death wherof as by the common necessitie of nature we all dye is a naturall way for the elect to come to the souereigne degree of Immortalitie Augustine in his 43. Chap. of the difference betwene the lyfe of maÌ„ the lyfe of brute beastes rather then to any euill or punishment And as S. Augustine sayth It is nothing els but a finishing of the fleshe which consumeth not the thinges that are fast ioyned and knit together but maketh a partition of them when as it bringeth both the one and the other to their first originall The third thing which they alleadge Acts. 7. is that which they so often speake of those which are dead Iohn 11.11 2. Thes 4.3 Kings 11 21.43 to witt That they sleape As it is sayd of S. Stephen That he sleapt in the Lord. Lykewise Lazarus our friend sleapeth Also sorrow not for them that sleape And this saying is so often repeated in the bookes of the kinges as that a man shall scarcely finde any phrase of the scripture more familyar and common But chiefely aboue all Iob. 14.7.11 they vrge and make a great reckoning of the saying in the booke of Iob where it is sayd There is hope of a tree if it be cut downe that it will yet sproute and the braunches thereof spring but when a man is dead what is become of him As the waters passe froÌ„ the sea and as the flood decayeth and dryeth vp euen so a man after he be a sleape ryseth not agayne neither shall he wake out of his sleape vntill such tyme as the heauen be not Now if we beleue that the soules sleape because that death is called a sleape In the first place the soule of Iesus Christ was possessed with the very same sleape Psal 3.5 For Dauid so speaketh of him selfe I layd me down and sleapt and rose vp agayne for the Lord susteyned me His enemies also vsed this wicked speach towardes him Psal 41.8 Shall he that sleapeth rise any more agayne Wherefore if it bee not lawfull to thinke so basely and vily of the soule of christ as heretofore hath largely bene handeled we ought not to stand in doubt that the scripture had onely regard vnto the outward shape of the bodye neither yet hath deryued and fetcht this sleape from the consideration of men For these two manner of speaches he sleapt with his fathers and he was layd or buried with his Fathers we take indifferently And yet by the way the soule is not layde or buryed by the soules of the Fathers But the body is caryed to be layd in the graue of the Fathers Samuell lykewise in the story of the Kinges attributeth this sleape vnto the Faythlesse kinges as may be seene in the two last bookes of the kings as also in the bookes of the Cronicles And therefore when thou hearest it sayd that a wicked man sleapeth thinke thou not once of the sleape of the soule which can not haue a worse hangman to torment and vexe it then an ill and guilty conscience what becommeth then of this dreamer or sleaper who is thus vexed and distressed Isyiah 57. ver 20.21 For the wicked are lyke vnto the raging sea which can not calme it selfe when it lusteth whose flowing surges cast vp filth and stinking badgage There is no peace sayth the Lord vnto the wicked Neuerthelesse Dauid meaning to set forth the sharpe pricking sting of the coÌ„science Psal 13. ver 3. sayth O Lord my God lighten mine eyes that I sleape not in death Thus we see that the bottomles depth of hell holdeth wretched man besieged and the streÌ„gth of sinne tormeÌ„teth him and yet he sleapeth yea he doth more then sleape because he abideth all these thinges And therefore these simple and ignoraunt fondlinges must be set agayne to their A. B. C. seing they haue not as yet learned that part is sometymys taken for the whole and sometimes the whole for parte which figure is so oftentimes vsed in the scriptures Neither would I haue any man beleue me except I strst bring forth certaine places which playnely shew that so often as this saying sleaping is taken for death Iob. 7.21 it is spoken by a figure called Synecdoche For when Iob sayth Behold I sleape now in the dust and if thou seekest me in the morning I shall haue no more being Is it to be thought that his soul should be ouercome with sleape Now therefore the soule is not to be turned into dust Iob. 21. v. 2.6 nei is it to sleape in the dust As also it is sayd in another place They shall sleape both in the dust and the wormes shall couer theÌ„ Psal 88. ver 5. And when Dauid sayth Lyke the slayne lying in the graue Art thou of the opinion that Iob and Dauid by these sayings haue put out the soules to be eaten of wormes Isaiah 14. ver 7.8 The prophet likewise teacheth vs eueÌ„ the very selfe same thing who meaning to describe the destruction of Nebuchadnezer saith after this maner Isaiah 14. Verses 18.19 The whole world is at rest and is quiet The firre trees also reioyced of thee and the Cedars of Lybanon saying Since thou sleapst none hath rysen vp to come agaynst vs. And anon after it is sayd All the kings of the nations euen they all sleape in glory euery one in his owne house but thou art cast out of thy graue All which thinges are spoken of a dead body so that to sleape is to be layd down as they are which sleape Horace in his â—des who are layd vpon the earth The very pagane Poets were able to geue instructions of this manner of speaking And therefore haue in the olde tyme called the place which was appoynted to burye the dead a Churchyard which signifieth asmuch as a dorture or a place of sleape and rest Not meaning thereby that the soules were there layd to reast them selues but the dead bodies I trust now by this tyme that the smokes of these our Gallants are already well vanished wherein they haue wrapped the sleapy soules since it hath ben proued that in the whole volume of the scripture there cannot be found that this word Sleape so often as it is set downe for death is attributed vnto the soules and spirites And besides we haue els where more at large handled the reast of the soules For their fourth obiection they take great hold of the saying of Salamon as if thereby they had some great matter to thunder out agaynst vs Where it is sayd in the booke of Ecclesiastes or of the Preacher Ecclesi 3. ver 18. I considered in mine hart vpon the state of the children of men that God had purged them yet to see to they are in themselues lyke vnto beastes For the condition of the children of men and the condition of beastes are euen as one condition vnto them For as the
holy man herein â—…ther theÌ„ strayghtly to binde any much lesse my selfe to the necessity of this distinction For S Augustine himselfe as I thinke wisheth it not but meant to shew as plainly as he could that there is a going on of the soule which it shall neuer fully attayne vnto vntill the day of iudgement Finally for this day of iudgement with which they so greatly deÌ„fend themselues there is an argument come to my minde which may plucke this error cleane vp by the rootes For in our creed which is the very effect of all our beliefe we confesse the resurrection of the flesh and not of the soule Neither is there any place left for their wrangling whenas they will tell vs that by this word flesh is meant the whole man We graunt theÌ„ that it is sometymes so taken but in this place we flatly denye it them whereas wordes which are very playne and easy to bee vnderstood are set forth vnto the rude and ignoraunt people In very deed the pharysies who were stout defenders and and mayntayners of the resurrection and who had alwayes this word resurrection in theyr mouthes did not yet notwithstaÌ„ding many tymes beleue that there was a soule Yet do they still lay hold on vs and force vs to sticke vnto this daungerous rock For they now alleadge the wordes of S. Paul wherein he telleth vs that we 〈◊〉 miserabler then all men if the dead did not rise agayne And thus they frame their Argument what needeth say they any resurrection if we be blessed before the resurrectioÌ„ But that which is more what is that great misery of christians which surpasseth the misery of all men if this be true that they are at rest whiles the residue are so greeuously tormented and after so wonderfull a manner And here I geue them warning that if I meant to dally and shift as they goe about none other thing but to abuse the ignoraunt people I would finde sufficyent passage enough to escape For who shall let me from following of other good men that haue disputed not of the last generall resurrection in which after the corruption of our bodies we shall receiue agayne incorruptible bodyes but of the lyfe which remayneth for vs after this mortall life for it is an ordinary and common maner in the scripture to let vs vnderstaÌ„d by this speach of the resurrection what the blessed and euerlasting life is For when we heare it spoken that the Saduces denyed the resurrection it is not referred to the body but is simply spoken accordyng to theyr opynyon that after a man be dead there is no memory left of hym And hereof is a probable Argument that whatsoeuer wherewith S. Paule helpeth himselfe to streÌ„gthen that which he hath sayde should be ouerthrowen in one word if it were aunswered that it is very true that the soules liue and that the bodyes whiche shall turne to duste can by no meanes ryse agayne Let vs now then come to examples first as touching this saying they which are dead in Iesus Christ are lost this might the philosophers haue easely coÌ„futed who haue mightely and constantly defended the immortality of the soule And as for this saying What shall they doe who are baptised for the dead It is very easely aunswered For the soules liue after death And to this which followeth wherefore are we also continually in danger It may be auÌ„swered that we lose this fraile lyfe to recouer Immortall lyfe wherein we shall lyue a great deale better We haue already bestowed many wordes whereof the teachable haue had no neede For the Apostle himselfe sayth that we are miserable if our hope in Iesus Christ stretched it selfe no farther then vnto this present life which thing Psal 73. ver 2.3 euen by the testimony of the prophet is out of all doubt who confesseth that his feete had almost foultred and his steppes had well nye slipt when he saw the prosperitie of the proud and wicked And to say truely if we looke but downe vnto our feete we wil say those to be blessed which haue all thinges come to passe as they would wishe But if our eyes looke farther of we will call them blessed who haue the Lord for their God in whose hand is the issue of death Howbeit we will bring some thing which shall be a great deale more certaine by which we will not onely repulse their obiections but also declare the true and natural meaning of the Apostle be glad without stryfe of wordes to as many as would meekely and curtisly learne For if there be no resurrection of the body the faythfull may of very right be called accursed yea were there none other reason but this that they are so often vexed hurt beaten and violently handled and doe suffer in their bodies such extreame wantes all which they thinke to be appoynted and ordayned for an euerlasting blessednes because they are disapointed of this hope For is there any thing I say not more miserable but rather more ridiculous theÌ„ to see and beholde the bodies of those who all the lyue long day doe nothing els but sport and laugh in the fulnes of all delightes and pleasures and contrarywise to see the bodies of feeblished Christians dead through hunger and colde and pressed with all kindes of violences if the bodies both of the one and the other pearished alyke For this thing could I very well confirme by the wordes of the Apostle which he setteth downe anone after when he sayth wherefore are we continually in daunger I dayly suffer death for your glory c. Let vs eate and drinke for to morrowe we shall dye It were a great deale better for vs sayth he that this saying should take place in vs as to say Let vs eate and drinke if these tormentes and shames which we suffer in our bodies be not changed into the glory which we hope after which thing should neuer be without it were in the resurrection of the body Furthermore although I should passe ouer this defence yet could I bring in another reason that we are more miserable then all men if there were not a resurrection For although we be very blessed before the resurrection yet is it no blessednes without the resurrection For we say that for the same cause the spirites of the Saintes and of the faythfull are very blessed for so much as they reast in the hope of the blessed resurrection and therefore if there were no such thing all this blessednes should turne to nothing wherefore the saying of the Apostle is most true that we are more miserable then all men if there be no resurrection And this doctrine is not agaynst these wordes that the spirites of the Saintes are more blessed before the resurrectioÌ„ but yet it is by reason of the resurrectioÌ„ They laye before vs also that percell of scripture which is writteÌ„ in the Epistle to the Hebrewes of the aunci Fathers where it is sayd All these
dyed in fayth and receiued not the promises but sawe theÌ„ a farre of and beleued them and receiued them thankefully and confessed that they were straungers and Pilgrims on the earth For they that say such thinges declare playnely that they seeke a Countrey And surely if they had bene mindefull of that Countrey froÌ„ whence they came they were at leasure to haue returned thither But now they desier another much better which is an heauenly one And now let vs se how these our sleapers frame their iolly Argument For say they If they desier the heauenly Countrey Then doe they not inherite it But we frame it after this maner and say If they desier it then haue they a being for there can be no desier without there be some to desier Now I would draw but this out of them That where there is a desier there must also be a feeling of good and euill which desier must either follow the thing that seemeth good or eschew that which seemeth euill Why say they this desier reasteth wholy in God Now tell me I beseech you is it possible to think or deuise a more ridiculous saying And to say truely you shall see that of these two poynts we shall gaine vnto our selues one of them either that God desiereth some better thing then he hath or els that there is something in God which is not of God And this maketh me thinke that these Gallauntes doe buriest at an earnest and wâ—â—ghtie matter But now let vs leaue to speake of all this geare and see what the tyme or space of returning meaneth let them therefore returne with a good minde and heare a better thing then this fantasticall opinion which hitherto they haue held The Apostle speaketh of Abraham and of his posteritye who dwelt out of their Countrey emongest straungers And they differed not greatly as it were from banished men or els as Seaiournes because they had scarsely any Tents or Cabines to couer them withall following the commaundement which the Lord g ue vnto Abraham which was this That he should leaue his parentes and kinsefolkes and get him out of the land For God had promised them a thing which as yet he had not manifested and performed And so they sawe the promises a farr of and dyed in a sure fayth that it would one day come to passe that God would fulfill his promises By which fayth they confessed that they had no certaine and sure abiding or dwelling place on earth but that they had a CouÌ„trey which was not on the earth and which they wished for to witt heauen And in the latter end of the chapiter he sheweth that all they whome he there spake of receiued not the last promise to the end they might not come to perfection without vs. And so if these our sleapers had obserued the proprietie of this saying they had neuer raysed vp so many troubles Now it is a wonder to see how blinde they are in so great light But yet this is a more strange thing that they geue vs bread in stead of stones to witt whiles they goe about to ouerthrow the cause they mainteine and vphold it Now for the matter which is spoken of Thabita in the Acts of the Apostles Acts. 9.40 they thinke they haue by it a suer piller to leane vnto For she being a scholler of Iesus Christ full of good workes and a good Almes woman was raysed agayne by S. Peter And therefore say they Thabita had great wrong If it be true that we say That the soules which are seperated from the bodies doe lyue in God and with God because she was taken away from the company of God and from that blessed lyfe to returne into this sea of wickednes As though we could not returne the selfe and same thing agayne vpon their owne hedds For be it that she sleapt or that she was nothing yet was she blessed because she dyed in the Lord. And therefore it was not expedient that she should returne in that lyfe which she had finished They them selues haue snarled this knot and therefore let theÌ„ first of all loose it agayne if they please For it is good reason that they should be subiect to that law which they make for others Notwithstanding we will easely enough vndoe it For the state and condition which is prepared for vs after death which S. Paule speaketh of himselfe is put ouer to all the faythfull to witt Philip. 1.21 that in death is aduauntage and that the best being is with Christ And yet Saint Paule sayth of Epaphodite who without doubt was one of the number of the faythfull That God hath pitie of him because he had deliuered him from a great sicknes Phil. 2.27 and restored him to his health Now these Gallauntes who deale with the misteries of God so vndiscretely and so vnreuerently might say that this mercy and compassion was cruell dealing But we say and confesse it to be mercy because the mercy of God hath certein degrees For this it is sayd Those whome he hath chosen he hath sanctified Rom. 8. â—0 and whome he hath sanctified them hath he also glorified Doth not the Lord then exercise his mercy when as he more and more sanctifieth vs Let vs then say thus much If it be the good will of God as S. Paule sayth to haue Christ to be magnified in our bodies by lyfe is not this mercy what is it for vs to appoynt God a law to worke miracles And it is sufficient that the glory of the Aucthor shineth in them for what matter were it if we say that God in the doing hereof regarded not the coÌ„modities of Thabita but the poore who wept and shewed the garments which she had made for them at whose prayers she was raysed vp agayne For S. Paul thinketh this to be a reason good enough for him that he lyued although it had bene better for him in deed to haue gone to the Lord. And after he had sayd that God had had compassion of Epaphrodite he addeth and not onely of him but vpon me also to the end I should not be out of measure sorrowfull Now goe your wayes and quarell with God because he hath agayne deliuered vnto the poore a carefull woman for the relieuing of their necessitie For although we see not the reason of this deede yet hath Iesus Christ very well deserued to be glorified both by our lyfe and by our death Seeing that he dyed and role agayne that he might 〈◊〉 Lord both of quick and dead Rom. 14.9 They bring in Dauid also for a mainteiner and defender of their cause who notwithstanding is our very good patrone But they so shamelesly sencelesly alledge him as that I am ashamed and greued to recite many of their ArgumeÌ„ts which they borrow of him Howbeit we will faythfully recite those which we haue heard they doe abuse first they are not ashamed to alledge this place I haue sayd ye are
displeasure of God so that it is sayd of them from whome God estrangeth himselfe and whome he throweth downe by his Iudgemētes and bruseth by his hand that they goe downe into hell or dwell in hell For to speake properly hell signifieth not the pit or graue Isaiah 5.14 but destruction or confusion as in this place Hell hath enlarged it selfe and swallowed vp many It is also sayd in another place Math. 11.25 And thou Capernaum which art lifted vp into heauen I tell thee truely thou shalt be brought downe into hell And although this figuratiue speach be found throughout all the holy scriptures yet is it most chiefly vsed in the psalmes as in this psalme Psal 55.15 Let death seze vpon them let them goe downe quicke into hell or into the graue Lykewise Psal 28.1 O my God be not deafe toward me least if thou aunswere me not I be lyke vnto them that goe downe into the pit Psal 30.3 And agayne O Lord thou hast brought vp my soule out of hell or out of the graue thou hast reuiued me from them that goe downe into the pit Psal 9.17 Also the wicked shall turne into hell and all nations that forget God Lykewise If the Lord had not holpen me I had almost dwelt in hell Psal 94.17 or in silēce Also our bones lye scattered at the graues mouth Psal 141.7 Item He hath smitten my lyfe downe to the earth Psal 143.3 he hath layd me in the darknes as they that haue bene dead long agoe It is also written in S. Luke Luke 16.23 speaking of the wicked rich man And lifting vp his eyes when he was in hell in tormentes c. Lykewise in S Mathew Math. 11.25 And thou Capernaum which art lifted vp into heauen thou shalt be brought downe to hell In all these places by this word Hell the place is not so greatly vnderstoode of as the state of those whome God hath condemned and adiudged to banishment And that is the confession which we make in our Creede That Iesus Christ descended into hell that is to say That his Father plunged him into all the sorrowes of death for our sakes that he suffred all the tormentes of death and all the afflictions terrors and feares thereof and was in very deede afflicted although it is sayd before that he was buried Contrarywise they that feele the mercy and louing kindenes of the Lord are sayd Psal 133.3 That they lyue and shall lyue For there the Lord appoynted the lyfe and blessing for euer Psal 33.19 Lykewise To the end he might deliuer their soules from death and to preserue them in famine Psal 52.5 Also God shall plucke thee out of the tabernacle and roote thee out of the lād of the liuing Lykewise Psal 56.13 That I mighr wallke before god in the light of the liuing Psal 116. Also I will geue thankes vnto the Lord in the land of the liuing But now that we may make an end let vs content our selues with one testimony which so naturally describeth both the one and the other as that although we should say neuer a word yet layeth it forth our meaning very notably The wordes are these Psal 49.6 7.9.10.14 Who trust in their Goods and boast themselues in the multitude of their riches Yet a man can by no meanes redeeme his brother he cannot geue his raunsome to God although he take neuer so great paynes and liue neuer so long Shall not he see the pitt whē as he seeth the wise do dy The foolishe and ignoraunt shal both pearish They are layd into the graue lyke sheepe and death deuoureth them And the righteous shall haue dominion ouer them in the morning their Glory also shall consume and the graue shall be their house But God shall deliuer my soule from the power of the graue when he hath receiued me The somme and effect hereof is this That they which put their trust in riches and in the strength of them in the end doe by and descend into the graue For the rich and the poore the foole and the wise doe all pearish But he which trusteth in the Lord shall be deliuered frō the power of hell Now I say and defend it that these wordes death and hell which they haue layd before vs in the verses of the psalmes aforesayd and in the song of Ezechiah can no otherwise be taken And I further say and affirme that this may very well be proued by certaine and sure Argumentes For be it that Iesus Christ the sonne of God who is the head of all the faythfull and be it that the Church which is the body of Iesus Christ speaketh in these verses wilt thou shewe miracles vnto the dead c. And lykewise what profite is in my bloud c. That death is to be abhorred as a detestable feareful thing she fleeth it as much as is possible and prayeth that it might not be layd vpon her Which thing also Ezechiah desiereth in his song Wherefore then feare they to heare onely the name of death if they are thus certayne that God is mercifull and fauorable vnto them Is it because they should be no more any thing But they would eskape out of this world that is full of troubles full of greuous temptations and of all disquietnes to come vnto a soueraigne and blessed reast And because they should be no more any thing they should feele no more any euill which is neither prolonged by their death nor yet set forward by their lyfe Let vs now turne our selues and looke vpon the examples of the rest of the Saintes and see if the lyke matter hath fallen so out vnto them First when Noah dyed he bewayled not his estate Gene. 49. Nei did Abraham once make any sorrow Iacob also reioyced amidst his last sithes in that he looked for the sauing health of the Lord. Iob wept not Moyses hearing his last houre to be at hand was no whit troubled And for any thing that may be seene they all embrased death very couragiously and willingly we also very oftē heare these aunsweres of the faythfull when the Lord called them Loe here I am Lord. And therefore it cannot be chosen but that there was some other thing which enforced Iesus Christ and his faythfull to make such complayntes Neither must me stand in doubt that when Iesus Christ offred himselfe to suffer punishmēt for vs but that he fought agaynst the power of the Deuill agaynst all the tormentes of hell and the sorrowes of death all which thinges should haue bene ouercome in our fleshe that they might haue lost that right which they had in vs. Seing then it is so that in this conflict he satisfied the rigour and seueritie of the Iustice of God and fought agaynst hell death and the Deuill he besought his Father that he would not forsake him in the middest of so great distresses