mankinde from the paines of hell which hee had deserued to ouerthrow Sathan the prince of hell to dissolue his workes which are sinne and death to deliuer mankinde which are vnder his subiection to purchase for him Gods fauour forgiuenes of sinnes and eternall life Christ on the crosse offered vp his soule and body a sacrifice to saue our soules and bodies On the crosse hee suffered in soule and body to make satisfaction for our sinnes committed in soule and body And the suffering in both was so great that he cried aloude My God my God why hast thou forsaken me In that he said my God with a repetition hee assured himselfe still of his fauour of his protection and of deliuerance by that speech he despaired not but expressed the greatest sorrow the heauiest paine that could be endured for the redemption of mankinde We haue heard what a notable sacrifice Christ offered on the crosse not the bloud of goates or calues but his owne bloud to purge our consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing God This is that sacrifice which was figured by the Paschall Lambe by the brasen serpent lifted vp in the vvildernesse by the whole burnt sacrifice by the peace offering A remembrance of this sacrifice is our cōmunion of bread and wine the one representing Christs bodie rent the other his bloud shed for our sinnes This is that sacrifice whereby Abel Noe Abraham Isaac and Iacob all the faithful Patriarchs and Prophets all the beleeuing persons from the beginning were saued For Christ is the Lambe slaine from the beginning of the world Slaine in the figure in the purpose of God in the vertue of his passion from the beginning of the world Then is Christ slaine to euery one vvhen hee beleeueth him slaine Iesus Christ yesterday and to day the same for euer From the beginning of the world to his ascension that is yesterday from his ascension to the common resurrection that is to day from the common resurrection for euer he is one Therefore one faith one religion one kinde of Sacraments in substance one way to heauen from the beginning one spirituall meate drink Our fathers did all eate the same spirituall meate vvhich vve eate and drinke the same spirituall drink which we drink They dranke of the Rocke which followed them and the rocke was Christ For though they did eate Manna and dranke water out of the rocke yet the faithfull spiritually did feede on Christ because that visible meate they vnderstood spiritually they hungred after it spiritually they did taste it spiritually that vvith it they might be satisfied spiritually And Bertramus saith that our fathers did eate the selfe-same spirituall meate which we eate because one and the same Christ fed the people in the wildernesse with his flesh and refreshed them with his bloud and now feedeth the faithfull in the Church with the bread of his bodie and refresheth them with the vvater of his bloud But what is it to eate the flesh of Christ It is to rest vpon him vvith a sure trust by his grace spirit presence to be fed nourished susteined to eternall life Or as Christ himselfe saith He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud abideth in mee and I in him To eate the flesh of Christ and drinke his blood is to abide in Christ and to haue Christ abiding in vs. And therefore S. Augustine saith hee that abides not in Christ and in whom Christ abideth not eateth not spiritually the flesh of Christ although visibly and carnally he presseth with his teeth the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ but rather eateth the sacrament of so great a thing to his condemnation Whereby it may appeare that we at this day preach the selfe same Gospell which was in the beginning of the vvorld that is vvee preach Christ crucified which was opened to our first father in paradise renewed to Abraham and all the Patriarchs figured by all the sacrifices of the Law witnessed by the Prophets pointed vnto by Iohn Baptist preached by Iesus Christ himselfe and deliuered by his Apostles And therefore it is most true ancient catholike and apostolike Now to the things vvhich hapned about the time of his passion the graues did open the dead bodies which slept arose the vaile of the temple did rent in twaine from the top to the bottome the earth did tremble the stones did cleaue asunder These things declared that a notable person suffered yet the Iewes were not touched These vnsensible creatures were moued yet the Iewes hearts were hardned The Centurion when hee saw what was done glorified God saying Of a suretie this man was iust The souldiers that watched him when they saw the earth quake and the things that were done feared greatly saying Truely this was the Son of God A confession to the glory of God to the comfort of themselues to the prouing of a Sauiour and to the terror of the Iewes This man whom yee haue contemned whom ye haue condemned whom yee haue reuiled whom yee haue scourged whom ye haue crucified truely was the Sonne of God The renting of the Temple the quaking of the earth the cleauing of the stones the opening of the graues the rising of the dead doe proue that truely he was the Sonne of God and without all doubt a iust man A iust man indeed For in his heart was neuer euil thoght out of his mouth neuer proceeded euill word with his body he neuer wrought ill deede but in heart hee was alwaies tender and louing in word gentle and meeke in dealing iust and vpright Yet was he accused condemned and put to a most shamefull death the death of the crosse as a most notorious malefactour And all this was done to worke the worke of mans redemption Here come in certaine questions The first is whether Christ could haue deliuered himselfe from their hands The answere is he could For he is God omnipotent but he did not that the scriptures might be fulfilled that our redemption might be made that our saluation might be accomplished The second question is whether the Iewes were to be excused seeing it was the good will of GOD that CHRIST should die The answere is in no wise Because they did it of ignorance enuie and malice And whereas good came thereby to mankind that was to be ascribed to Gods goodnesse which did turne their sinne to a good end Deus tam bonus est vt ex malis eliciat bona God is so good that he turnes euill to good The third question is whether all they are damned which put Christ to death I dare not so say seeing Christ prayed for them Father forgiue them they know not what they doe But this I say whosoeuer of them died not beleeuing that person to be the Sonne of God the onely Mediator betwixt God and Man the onely redeemer and purchaser of forgiuenes of sinnes the onely high priest of good things to come whosoeuer I say departed out of
timerous Iudge he let goe an arrant Theefe Barrabas and deliuered Iesus to be crucified then before the multitude tooke water and washed his hands saying I am innocent of the bloud of that iust man He confessed him a iust man why then did he giue sentence on him He said he was innocent of his bloud and yet did consent to shed it No no Pilate was guiltie of Christs death and could not shift himselfe of it by taking water and washing his hands What a matter was this Barrabas to be preferred before Christ a murtherer let goe and an innocent person scourged But see enuie they enuied Christs vertues Inuidia est virtutis comes If Pilate had beene a good man finding no cause of death in Christ hee would haue stoode with him to death not for feare or any other carnal respect haue condemned him After the souldiers tooke him in the common hal first they stripped him then they put about him a robe of scarlet on his head they set a crowne of thornes in his right hand they put a reede before him they bowed their knees in mockage saying Auc rex Iudaeorum Afterward they spit on him and with a reed smote him on the head Thus when they had mocked him they tooke the rode from him and put his owne rayment on him and led him away to be crucified What villany was this Christ being God could haue staid their fury yea haue striken them starke dead with a word but hee would not for our sakes If those souldiers had knowne what they did with whom they dealt whose sonne he was from whence he came and whither hee would what power he had they would haue staied themselues but being full of ignorance they did what they did For had they knowne they would not haue crucified the Lord of glory But yet ignorance excused not For ignorance in those which would not vnderstand without doubt is a sinne Ignorance in those which could not vnderstand is a punishment for sin neither is excusable both are damnable We haue heard what Christ suffered before hee came to his crosse that he sweat drops of bloud in mount Oliues that being sorrowfull he prayed earnestly to haue that bitter cuppe passe from him that he was betraied by Iudas with a kisse that hee was forsaken of all his Disciples that he was accused by Caiaphas for a blasphemer that he was denied by Peter thrice that hee was condemned vnder Pontius Pilate It followeth that I speake of his suffering on the crosse Christ being on the crosse suffered reproch of the passers by of the Priestes Scribes and Pharises and of the Theeues The passers by wagging their heades reuiled him saying Thou that destroyedst the temple of God and buildedst it in three dayes if thou be the Son of God come down from the crosse Likewise the Priests Scribes Elders and Pharises mocked him saying He saued others but himselfe can he not saue if hee be the King of Israel let him come downe from the crosse and wee will beleeue him The theeues also doth at the first cast the same thing in his teeth Christ indeede said destroy this Temple and in three dayes I will raise it vp againe The Iewes mistooke him they meant that great temple in Hierusalem which had beene a building fortie and sixe yeeres but he meant the Temple of his body that after they had destroyed mangled and killed it he would raise it from death the third day as in truth he did Now if they had vnderstoode him they would neuer haue mocked him with that saying but seeing him to rise againe haue confessed him to be the Son of God The wicked Priests Scribes and Pharises mocked him saying hee saued others but he cannot saue himselfe If he be the King of Israel let him come downe from the crosse and we will beleeue him Christ indeed saued others all that beleeued in him from the guilt of sinne from eternall death from the tiranny of Sathan from the curse of the law from the wrath of God Himselfe also he saued in that he got the victory and rose againe the third day but these blinde priests Scribes and Pharises vnderstoode not this and therefore they mocked him with it Moreouer Christ could haue come downe from the crosse if he would but he knew it not to be expedient He would not yeeld to their fancies if he had come down they would haue beleeued him neuer a whit the sooner some would haue said he did it for feare of death some to shew what he could doe some for one respect some for an other And therefore CHRIST knowing this yeelded not vnto them but went forward with the worke he had in hand which was by his crosse to appease the wrath of God to satisfie his iustice to make him fauorable vnto sinners by offering a full and perfect sacrifice once for all and therefore he is a priest not according to the order of Aaron which by imperfection did need a successiue but according to the order of Melchisedec and that for euer To proceede from the sixt houre to the ninth there was darknes ouer all the land for the Sunne was darkned About the ninth houre Iesus cried with aloude voice Ely Ely lamasabacthany My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Behold the Passion of Christ He cried with aloude voice he cried vnto heauen he cried as one forlorne he cried My God my God why hast thou forsaken me No tongue can expresse nor heart conceiue the pangs the paines the punishment which he suffered For the time the paines of the damned the torments of hell fell vpon him which wee for our sinnes had deserued and should haue suffered for euer and euer in hell had not he so suffered on the crosse What terror was this to behold man in his fall God in his wrath sinne in his desert the law in his curse the diuell in his tyranny hell in his torments What terrour was this God in his wrath is a consuming fire man in his fall is a lost cast-away sinne in his desert is a damnable thing the law in his curse is a heauy thunderbolt the diuell in his rage is very terrible hell in his torments is intolerable And what a terrour was this These things Christ did behold nay did suffer and the paine did make him crie aloude My God my God why hast thou forsaken me not that God forsooke Christ at any time but this speech declared that conflict that terrour that torment vvhich no creature beside could haue endured For it cost more to redeeme soules so that a man must let that alone for euer Then most true is that article of our Creede He descended into hell for the time he suffered the paines of hell together with the extreame shame as the victory of sorrowes whilest being held in the graue vntill the third day he lay as it were oppressed of death The vertue of his passion reacheth downe to hell to redeeme
Christ Iesus doth with both For hee is God in nature and man in nature and so a friend to both God and man and therefore a most fit person to make peace betweene God and man Thirdly we shal meditate on the passion of Christ aright if after his example we forgiue our enemies when they offend vs if we loue them though they hate vs if we pray for them though they curse vs after the example of Christ which forgaue vs when wee trespassed against him which so loued vs that he died for vs when we were his enemies sinners Fourthly we shall meditate on the passion of Christ aright if we mortifie our members which are vpon the earth if we crucifie the flesh with the affections that is by putting off the old man which is corrupt through deceiueable lusts and putting on the new man which after God is created vnto righteousnes and true holinesse if we walke honestly as in the day time not in gluttony and drunkennes but in sobrietie neither in chambering and wantonnesse but in chastitie neither in strife and enuying but in charitie if wee put on the Lord Iesus and make no prouision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts of it We may haue an honest care of our bodies which is to feed them soberly to cloth them decently to exercise them moderately but so to prouide for the flesh as to fulfill the lusts thereof so to pamper it as to make it ouer-rule the spirit this is to forget Christs passion to seeke to crucifie him againe to serue our enemie from which to redeem vs Christ died to destroy that as much as in him is vvhich Christ so deerely bought Lastly we shal meditate on the passion of Christ aright if wee stedfastly beleeue by it to be saued and liue and die in true repentance for our sinnes which made a diuision betweene God and vs vvhich brought the Sonne of God from heauen into the vaile of misery which caused the death of Iesus Christ The consideration of this ought to make our hearts to bleede to flye from sinne as from a biting serpent to renounce the diuell with his workes as we promised in baptisme to be contrite which is the first branch of true repentance to crie for mercie which is the second to trust in Christ the mediator which is the third to endeuour with a purpose to serue the liuing GOD which is the last Then tho our sins were as crimson they shall be made as vvhite as snow though they were red as scarlet they shall be as wool For the bloud of Iesus Christ the Son of God purgeth the penitent from all sinne Then God will be on our right hand for euer Then shall the Realme flourish as now so for euer with peace plenty the preaching of the Gospell with many other godly blessings to the glorie of God the comfort of vs and terrour of the enemie Let vs be thankefull to Almightie God for preseruing vs hitherto giuing vs peace when others haue had the contrarie plentie when others haue suffered scarsity the preaching of the word which others haue lacked vnder the gouernement of a most gracious King whom we are bound as the Lords annointed to loue sincerely to reuerence dutifully to obey heartily to pray for zealously and continually because God hath vsed his Maiestie as a meane to conuey ouer vnto vs his mercies that he may liue to the comming of Christ to giue vp to him his princely crowne to receiue of him a crown of glory for euer in the kingdom of glorie where is light and no darknes life and no dying peace and no discord where is mirth without mourning fauor without misliking knowledge vvithout ignorance where is holines no sinne vprightnes and no hypocrisie truth and no falsehood perfection and no infirmitie where are ioyes which eye hath not seene neither eare hath heard neither hath entred into the heart of man which the Lord hath prepared for them that loue him in the company of godly Saints in the sight of heauenly Angels in the presence of Iesus the Mediator of the new Testament To vvhom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glorie for euer and euer Amen ⸪ FINIS