Image of his Father and he was so delighted in his Image that he would needs have an Image of his Image and so he made Man after his own Image If any other then God had â—ade Man or if he had not been made after the Image he eternally loved it may be he would not have cared so much for him but being the workemanship of his owne handâ— and made after the Image he so tenderly loved if he had not loved him for his VVorkmanship sake yet he must needs love him for his sake whose Image he bare and loving him could not delight to spoile him Nature God's Nurse had bred in us such a fond desire of our Image that it brought Idolatry into the world and when we cannot have a lively image we will have an Image though it be but of colours and clouts and if we be Kings then none must paint thâ—t Image but Apelles and when it is drawn it must have a Curtaine and if it be the Ingraven Image it must go for currant then who so dishapes or defaces that Image the Prince takes it as done unto himselfe and it is Capitale a matter of Life and Death Tu Domine fecisti saith S. Ierome O Lord we have this love though not this fond love from thee for thou tookest the blotting of â—hine Image in Paradise as a blemish to thy selfe and thou saidst to the blotter Quia fecisti because thou hast don it on thy belly shalt thou creep and dust shalt thou eat all the daies of thy life Gen. 3.14 The H. Fathers are wonderfull in the â—ontemplaâ—ion of mans excellency at the first Cedrus Paradisi Imago Coeli Gloria terrae Dominus mundi Deliciâ— Domini The Cedar of Paradise was too good wood to be cut into Chips for Hell fire The Image of Heaven was not made to bâ— the Vizard of Hell the Glory of the World the Dungeon of Darknesse the Lord of the World the bond-slave of Satan the Darling of the Lord of Heaven the scorne to all the Fiends of Hell When the Holy Ghost had accounted the Genealogy from Christ to Aâ—am Luk. 3. at the last versâ— he brings up Adam to hiâ— Father and calls him by the name of the Son of God Can a man live to delight in the death of his Son David a man after Gods own â—eart denies it 2 Sam. 19. O Absolon my Son would to God I had died for thee â—y Son Absolon my Son my Son And â—f David could have forgotten Absolon his Son yet God could not forget Adam his Son for he saies not to him Would I â—ad died for thee my Son but I die for â—â—ee my Son nay that 's too little I have died for thee before thou wer 't that when thou wert thou mightest not die and so I may safely swear by my Life that I do not delight in the Death of man When Vlysses playd the Mad-man because he would not go with the Grecians to the siege of Troy and getting a plough he ploughed and marred all that came in his way It was Palimedes wise counsel that they should lay his young Son in his way which when â—hey had don and that the plough came to it he tooke it up would not let it hurt his Son and so â—hey discovered that he was but counterfeitly mad but if he had ploughed up his Son they would have accounted him perfectly mad indeed If God had made the world like the man of Crete and put Death in as the Minotaure was put into the Labyrinth there and reserved all creatureâ— as meat for his jaws yet when it had come to the lot of man to be cast in with the rest if he had not spared Man being his Son the Grecians wise account of our Gracious God would have been much like after the account of their Vlysses There is a conceit in the world beloved speakes little better of our gracious God then this and that is That God should designe many thousands of soules to Hâ—ll bâ—fore they were not in eye to tâ—eir faults but to his own absolute will and power and to get him glory in their damnation This opinion is growne huge and monstrous like a Goliah and men doe shake and tremble at it yet never a man reacheth to Davids sling to cast it downe In the name of the Lord of Hosts we will encounter it for it hath reviled not the Host of the living God but the Lord of Hosts First it is directly opposite to this Text of holy Scripture and so turns the Truth of God into a Lye For whereas God in this Text doth say and swear that he doth not delight in the death of man this opinion saith that not one or two but millions of men should fry in Hell and that he made them for no other purpose then to be the children of death and Hell and that for no other cause but his meer pleasure's sake and so saies that God did not only say but swear to a Lye for the Oath should have run thus As I live saith the Lord I do delight in the death of man Secondly it doth not by consequence but directly make God the Author of sin For if God without eye to sin did designe men to Hell then did he say and set downe that he should sin for without sin he cannot come to Hell And indeed doth not his opinion say that the Almighty God in the eye of his Counsell did not only see but say that Adam should fall and so order and decree and set downe his fall that it was no more possible for him not to fall then it was possible for him not to eat and of that which God doth order set down and decree I trust he is the Author unless they will say that when the Right Honorable Lord Keeper doth say in open Court We order he means not to be the Authour of that his order Thirdly It takes a way from Adam in his state of innocency all freedome of will and liberty not to sin For had he had freedome to have altered Gods desigment Adams Liberty had bene above the designment of God And here I remember a little witty Solution is made that is if we respect Adam's will he had power to sin or not to sin but if God's Decree he could not but sin This is a silly solution And indeed it is as much as if you should take a sound strong man that hath power to walke and to lie still and bind him hand and foot as they do in Bedlam and lay him downe and then bid him Rise up and Walke or else you will stir him up with a Whip and he tell you that there be chains upon him so that he is not able to stir and you tell him againe that that is no excuse for if he look upon his healâ—h his strength his legs he hath power to walk or to lie still but if upon his chains indeed in that
homo God put not on the person of a Revengâ—r before man put on the person of an Offendor saith S. Ambrose Neminem coronat antequam vincit neminem punit antequam peccat he crowns nonâ— bâ—fore he overcoms and he punisheth no man before his offence Et qui facit miseros ut misereatur crudelem habet misericordiam He that puts man into misery that he may pitty him hath no kinde but a cruell pity And so I come to the third branch I delight not in the death of a sinfull man God could not delight in the Death of a sinner who parted with his Delight to save a sinner Old Iacob when he should part from his yongest son Benjamine Gâ—n 42. ult. he told Simâ—on that he had as lieve part with his life Ye will bring my gray head with sorrow to the grave yet Iacob had many Sons more alive But to part with a Son an only Son a beloved Son this is more bitter then death it selfe ye shall see it plaine in Gods temptation of Abraham Take thy Son thine only Son thy Son Isaac whom thou lovest and offer him up to me upon the Mount And when as Abraham did but offer to offer him God cried from heaven Sufficit It is enough as if he should have said Thou being Man canst do no more for God But he being God did more for Man and sinfull Man too For he tooke his Son his only Son his beloved Son Math. 3. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and he did not offer to paâ—â— with him but did part with him not in the Mount but in Golgotha the Valley of skuls and that which all the world doth wonder at God himselfe was Pater Sacrificulus The Father the Sacrificer too For he slew him in heaven ere the Iews slew him on Earth Hic â—st Agnus Dei immolatus ab origine mundi This is the Lamb of God slaine from the be beginning of the World And so God brought up Death from Earth into Heaveâ— that iâ— might bring down Life from Heaven into Earth Nolo mortem peccatoris qui moÌ„râ— volui pro peccatoribâ—s saith S. Bernard Well maist thou say thou willest not the death of a sinner who diest thy selfe to save a sinner O mors vulneratus est prâ— me qui morte sua fecit ut vinoamiâ—e saith S. Austin O Death he hath been wounded for me that made me by his death to overcome thee Pastor i'lle magnus vicinis Angelis c. saith S. Gregory That great Shepheard of heaven was so full of joy that he could not keep it in but out it must among his Angels Et quae causa saith he And what was the cause of such a shout in Heaven Drachâ—a inventa est the lost Groat is found Tantum gaudii de re tantilla saith he so great joy for so small a thing How then could he joy to have it lost that so much rejoyced to have it found O Lord the holy Angls in Heaven are thy Witnesses that Thou delightest not in the death of a sinner The fourth branch of Gods protestation is I delight not in the death of a wicked sinner In the 7. of Matth. there are sins that are motes and sinâ— that are beams In the Epistle of Iude there are spots in Feasts in the 64. of Esay there are menstruous cloaths In the Canticles there are Matulae stains And Esay 1. there be sinners of skarlet dye If our sinnes be as moats in our eyes and cause them to water God hath his handkerchiefe wherewith he wipes away all tears from our eyes Apoc. 7. If they be Menstruous he hath his hysop Psal. 51. If they be of skarlet Dye he hath his Fullers Sope Esay 1.18 Shall we then sin saith the Holy Ghost that Grace may abound God forbid Yet if sin chance to abound Grace hath over-abounded it hath the Superlative of sinne and doth superabound Abundat delictum superabundat gratia Sinne doth abound but Grace hath abound above it it doth superabound There is a Sinne so strong that it doth pierce the Heavenâ— and that is the sinne of the men of Sodome that would not stay till God came downe unto it but it came up and rang in the eares of God it peirced the Heavens At Misericordia supra omnia opera manuum ipsius Psal. 145. The Mercy of God is above all his workes And Sinne is mans proper handy-worke it waâ— the reaching of an Apple that first brought sinne into the world When our Saviour Christ sweat bloud in the Garden it was but a preparative to his potâ—on on the Crâ—sse for there he sweat not like unto bloud but Bloud and Water Water to wash away the staines of our dayly infirmities Bloud to wash away our sins in graine and a deeper colour then bloud our sinns cannot beare If God could have delighted in the death of a sinfull wicked man he must needs have delighted in the death of Ahab for he sold himselfe to worke Wickedness and that before the Lord but God was so farre from such delight that he tooke great delight in his feigned humiliation and withdrew his hand from the plague he had devised against him Venit salvare non Baptistam Magdalenam Matrem suam sed peccatores quorum ego sum primus saith S. Basil Our Saviour Christ came into the world to save not Iohn Baptist Mary Magdalen or Mary his Mother but sinners that wore Pauls colours and fought under his banner and he bare in his banner fire sword and persecutions menaces revilings railings blasphmies sins of the upper house borne as high as Lucifer himselfe Perpendo Petrum considero Latronem intueor Zachaeum aspitio Mariam Apostatum Furem Vsurarium Meretricem I think upon Peter I consider the Thiefe I behold Zachaeus I looke upon Mary saith St. Gregory and I see that an Apostate a Theife an Vsurer an Harlot these are Christs favorites and such darlings unto him that some of them must needs sup with him in Paradise at his instalmeâ—t Hac nocte this very night shalt thou be with me in Paradise Fiftly the last branch of Gods protestation is I delight not in the death of any sinfull wicked man Si non impii nullius saith S. Ierome if not in the death of a wicked sinner not in the death of any sinner And therefore lest we should deem God like King Saul that spared the fairest and the fattest of the Amalekites and put the least and worst to the Sword S. Peter makes it plain 2 Epist. 3.9 non vult aliquem perire God would not have any one to perish but to come to the knowledg of the Truth Unnaturall Cain when he had slain his brother Abel and that his conscience so stung him as that he feared every one that met him would have done as much to him God set a marke upon him that he should not die Treacherous Iudas when he had sinned in betraying
of her warfare are â—â—range she is bound to fight with her opposits and yet she must not offend them nay she loseth the field if she destroy her enemies She is to give no scandall neither in unlawfull things nor matters of indifferency neither in sins nor in Cerimonies Innocency must guide her life and Charity her Carriage The end of the war is peace that Christians may agree among themselves and Iewes and â—entiles may be the Church of God You see now a Precedent be ye now followers of it be firme in the faith and then as much as in you is have peace with all men Give no just offence in unlawfull things let not your sinnes make your lives scandalous and in things indifferent let not your scandals make you sinfull let your conversation be still found spotlesse and your whole carriage charitable that they who will needs be without our Church may still be too without an Apology And Thou O Three and yet one God unite our great distractions take the Vaile from the eyes of the Iewes and blindness from the Gentiles Teach the Errors of our Time to submit to the Truth and Factions to thy peace that so there may be one Sheep-fold and one Shepheard that all may be one Church of God under one Son of God and then Come Lord Iesus come quickly Amen Amen {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} A SERMON Preached on EASTER Day The Text S. MATTH. 28.6 Come see the place where the Lord lay THE powers of the Grave are shaken and now Death it self is become Mortall She seemed to take a â—oile from some former assaults as when Eliah restored the Widdows son c. but these againe being led captive in the bonds of corruption were no abatement but luster to her strength for opposition adds glory to a Conqueror Only now she received a fatall overthrow Christ can die no more and in his Resurrection all Mankind becoms victorious She met with an Adam here too one whose goodness was as diffusive as the first mans sin In him we all Died in this we all Live againe He was the Author of her strength this of her destruction And iâ— not all yet finished Christ hath â—vercom Death and remains there any enemy beyond the last yes the strangeness of the Victory hath raised a new war and now mankind is as mortally threatenned by Infidelitie as formerly by Death Olim vitio nunc remedio laborat The Remedy is so admirable that it confounds the patient and maks health it self appear as fabulous Christ is Risen But who knowes who believes it The Disciples remember not what was so often foretold but are as ready to forget their Masters words as before to forsake his Person The Woman more officious then faithfull prepares Spices and sweet Odors complements 〈◊〉 for his Funerall but not his Resurrection Their Ceremonious piety hath brought them to the Sepulchre and there instâ—ad of a Corps they finde an Angâ—ll Heaven had now dispatched a Champion who was to incounter with their unbelieving thoughts and that with such a winged diligence that he makes answer before he be questioned I know ye seek Iesus believe me He is Risen or els believe him He is Risen as he said If your distrust remaines yet unsatisfied behold a further testimony my strength hath removed the stone my countenance the Watchmen Now come and see the place The Grave it selfe is become an Evangelist and seems to speak without an Epitaph Ipsa evidentia vox est saith S. Austin It is so evident a token of Christs rising from the dead that it turns vocall Each circumstance is articulate and seems both to challenge and to constrain beliefe Siste gradum viator and see more in an empty Sâ—pulchre then when the Corps was in it For those things which before were but the Ensignes of Death are now become the Trophies of the Resurrection Come see the Napâ—in that bound his head the Cloaths which inwrapped the sacred body and then smile at the Iewish purchases who as if sinne were the only merchanâ—dise buy Treason of Iudas Forgery of the watchmen They must report â—hat The Disciples have stollen him away But say then what mean these Lâ—nnen cloaths is it possible they would leave them behind In the midst of so many Souldiers dare they now stay to unwind him who before did scarce dare to follow him Thefts are still done in hast and do as much hate delay as light it self Ask your own Barabbas if he purpose to steal a Iewel will he stay to unfold the paper iâ— lieth in The difficulty here was farre greater these Cloathes were spread with Myrrh then which no â—itch is more tenacious it glewes cloathes to the body Suppoâ—e the Disciples should attempt to unwrap him for Nicodemus his cost had made the body much heavier yet they would soon leave that which they found extream difficult and choose rather to undergo the trouble of a greater burthen then to adventure the hazard of a longer delay Look yet with a more curious eye the Napkin is wrapped up by it selfe in â— place {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the Text saith It was wrapped up with diligence Say Iew would the Disciples stay too that they might leave the Grave-cloaths handsome or was this circumstance brought forth by hap only They are both equally credible that either these men should be so grossly simple or that chance it self should become industrious You see the Grave hath filld her mouth with Arguments and is become as apt to Teach as before to devour The Cloathâ— the Myrrh the Nâ—pkin do not more evidently witness that he was once dead then now that He is risen againe Their silent eloquence is able to convince the most spightfull Iew much more these women and the Disciples too My Text thâ—n in generall hath proved a Resurrection A part it affords thus much variety 1 An Action intreated shall I say or injoyned {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Come and see 2. The Object before a spectacle of mortality but now oâ— power {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} The place The Grave you hear is described by a Periphrasis and where the Text is pleased to expatiate each word must needs be Doctrinall Consider then with me 1. The Sepulchre it self {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} The place 2. The Person included {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} The Lord 3. The Timé of his abode {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} The Lord did lie there Comâ— and see There is nothing more injurious to the Power of God then not to know his Power For it is true what Minutius hath observed Non minoris est sceleris Dâ—um ignorare quam laederâ— Because he that knows not the might of his Creator must needs rob him of that glory he deserves by it To prevent so great a sinne God hath shewed himselfe no less ready to manifest then
the Innoceâ—t bloud and had laid his hands his bloudy hands upon himselfe when he had so done the Holy Ghost saith Acts. 2.25 Abiit in locum suum he went to a home not of Gods but of his owne providing The fearfull doome at the last day is Ite non Auferte Goe your waies not Carry them away goe the way your selves have chosen And it is to the sheep Venite benedicti Patris mei Come ye blessed of my Father and to the Goats Ite maledicti in ignem paratum Goe into the fire ye â—ursed but it is not Ite maledicti Patris Goe ye cursed of my Father God intitles himselfe to the blessing only And the fire is prepared but for whom Non nobis sed Diabolo Angelis ejus Not for you but for the Devil and his Angels So that God delighteth to prepare neither Death nor Hell for damned men This last branch of Gods protestation I delight not in the death of any sinner I resolve into six Consequences as Links depending on this Chain 1. God's absolute will is not the cause of Reprobation but sin 2. No man is of an absolute necessity the childe of Hell so as by God's Grace he may not avoid it 3. God simply willeth and wisheth every living Soul to be saved and to come to the Kingdom of Heaven 4. God sent his Sonne to save every Soule and to bring it to the Kingdom of Heaven 5. God's Son offereth Grace effectually to save every one and to direct him to the Kingdom of Heaven 6. The neglect and contempt of his Grace is the cause why every one doth not come to Heaven and not any privative Decree Counsel or determination of God These six I will breifly discuss and so commend you to the Grace of God For the first Almigty God at the Creation when he tooke a view of all his Creatures as men use to do that have newly drawne an Image they view and pry to see what is amisse in it it seemes when he looked upon them he found they were Good and when Man was made behold They were very Good Gen. 1.31 Now if God had cast a way man before he had sinned not in eye to sin but in absolute judgment the malicious would have cried the Kingdome of God is worse then the kingdome of Satan For Satan is not divided against Satan Belzebub the Prince of Devils doth not cast out Devils Matt. 12.26 But by this Device Ipsa bonitas Goodnesse it selfe is divided against goodnesse the Goodnesse of the Creator against the Goodnesse of the Creature God is at defiance with his owne Creature and Image the Fountaine of Goodnesse that God did see in Man what was it but Radius divinae bonitaâ—is a beam of that Goodnesse which issueth from the Fountaine God himselfe Secondly God's Hate does not arise as his Love doth for his Love ariseth of and from himselfe For being all beautifull and glorious which cannot be but all lovely and amiable within and seeing himselfe cannot but love and like himselfe â—o that he hath in him to move him to Love but he hath not in him to move him to Hate but that commeth from without and there is nothing from without which God hateth but sin The man of sin had so much goodnesse as to say Odi quia Inimicus I have hated him because he is my enemy Now sin only is the sworne enemy to God Enemy to his Goodnesse being badnesse it selfe Enemy to his Majesty being baseness it self Eneâ—y to his Glory being Ignominy to his lightnesse being Darkness to his Beauty being Deformity to his Justice being Iniquity to his Pity being Cruelty to his Life being Death to his very Being it selfe having no Being Sin was an intruder into the World and had not where to lay his head So that God cannot hate any thing but sin and what he hates he hates for the sake of sin The second consequence is No man is of absolute necessity the child of Hell so as by God's grace he may not avoid it And this is a sprig of the former Branch For if God cannot hate any man but for sin and himselfe cannot delight in sin then can he not delight that any man should go to Hell but he that delighteth himselfe to die in sin Let us look back to the Garden from whence wee came God planted in the Gardan of 〈◊〉 a Tree of Life and it was 〈…〉 to be found as the Tree of Death Aâ—am with the same ease might have reached out his hand to the Tree of Life and saved all as to the Tree of Death and marred all So that it was not absolutly necessary that any should goe to hell When Adam had erred in making choice of the wrong Tree and had barred himself from the Tree of Life God put him out into the open field of the World and in it planted a Tree of Lifâ— better then the Tree in the Garden of Edâ—n a Tree that came downe from heaven Apocal. 2.7 and caused his Herald to proclaim before it This is the Tree of life that came downe from Heaven whosoever tasteth of this Tree shall not die but have â—verlasting life The Tree which was in the Garden of Eden did never seek men and reach forth fruit unto them but man was to seek and to reach forth his hand unto it and so taste it But this Tree seeketh us and reacheth forth fruit unto us Nay God himselfe plucketh off the fruit and followeth us with it as a Nurse doth follow her child with meat Psal. 81.11 Aperi os tuum late Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it And if wâ— will not be at the 〈…〉 our mouth that we may be 〈…〉 Heaven Death will be at the paines to oâ—en her jawes that we may feed him in hell They lie in hell and Death knaweth upon them Psal 49.14 The third consequence is God simply willeth and wisheth every living soule to be saved and to praise God for his goodness among the Angels in heaven And this Truth the Holy Ghost hath taught us by the mouth of holy Paul 1. Tim. 2 4. Deus vult omnes salvos esse God would have every man living to be saved and none to die eternall Death And here the Genevian conceit hath delt with this gracious bounty of God and this blessed saying God will have all to be saved as Hanan did with the Ambassadors of David he cut off their Garments to the hips and this hath curtailed the grace of God at the stumps for it saith It must not be meant that God would have every living soule to come to Heaven but one or two out of every Order and Occupation to come unto heaven As if our gracious God were fallen out of liking with Christian souls and suddenly fallen in love with Orders and Occupations And yet I feare me beloved it were as easie to bring up all Christian souls unto heaven as it is to
Indeed it once stood as a Book open wherein it pleased Almighty God to impress the visible Characters of his Sons Resurrection but now the chief leaves are perished For as I shewed you this Truth was written in the Linen-cloaths so that now it may almost be said of this testimony as before of Christ himselfe Surrexit non est hic that 's gone too for it is not here VVhence Gregorie Nyssen hath confessed ingeniously that he returned from the Sepulchre the very same man he came without any either abatament or increase of Faith 't is in his Oration Of them that go to see Ierusalem And indeed what needs so painfull so dangerous an Expedition For Faith hath her eyes too and as the case now stands The best way to see the Sepulchre is to believe the Gospel a Truth able to supply what either Art hath altered or Malice defaced VVhat needs that place inflame devotion his heart 's of stone that melts not to think upon the Grave and he is worse then dull who then frames not as many pious thoughts as he here reads circumstances Christian believest thou the Scriptures I know thou belivest Come see the place where thy Lord was layd Consider his dead Corps were there once inclosed and then think they were thy sinns that slew him The nails had no power to pierce nor the Speare to wound him had not they beene sharpened by thy transgressions 'T was the Stoicks meditation upon an Earth-quake only Ingens mortalitatis solatium est Terram quandoque videre mortalem T is a strong comfort against the feare of mortality to think that the Earth it selfe may become mortall But I shew you a more weighty incouragement t is a small thing to have the Earth a Partner behold here he lay dead who was Lord both of Heaven and Earth Remember the Grave lay ordered in a Princely fashion it was the first honour which ere the world did thy Saviour it was to teach thee that Death is the beginning of thy chiefest Glory that thou mightest hence learne to neglect this Conqueror and rather to imbrace thy captivity then to feare it For it is thy advantage to lose and thine onely way to triumph is to be overthrown Dost thou think it disgracefull that this Place shewes thy Saviour was once mortall or seemed he then overcome when he here lay buried my Text informs otherwise He reigned even in the arms of Death and was the Lord though in his Sepulchre which is my third part The Person enclosed {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} he was still the Lord What Dead and yet the Lord too did his power out-live his life or could he then rule others when he had lost himselfe If he yet lived why did they then intombe him if he was vanquished by the Powers of the Grave how was he still the Lord Why thus Because his Corps was then personally conjoyned with his Divinity for so inseperable was the hypostaticall union that Death it selfe could not unloose it She might perhaps have full power upon the Son of Mary but not against the Saviour of the World she might for a time destroy the Man but not the Mediator A Truth founded upon the first Principles of Christianity for so our Creed runs I believe in the Son of God who was crucified dead and buried If it be true a God was buried then still was the Corps joyned to the divinity otherwise the Sepulchre had contayned the Man Iesus perhaps but not Christ the Lord You know to be dead and buried are attributs proper to the body only and yet the Christian Faith hath taught us to say Deus mortuâ—s Deus Sepultus it was a God that died and a God that was buried VVe must confess then that these extremities could not violate the hypostaticall union for it is by vertue of this conjunction that we truly apply those things to the whole person of Christ which indeed do properly belong but to one nature only True if he were not a man how could he then here lye buried And if he were not still the Lord whence had he power to raise himfelfe againe yet so he testifies Destroy this Temple and I will raise it up in three dayes Iohn 2.19 were he not a Man he could not have here layn dead were he not then the Lord too he could not hereby have merited for the person must needs be infiniâ—e who was to give satisfaction for our boundlesâ— offeneâ—s Both Churches have subscrided to this Conclusion For the Greeke Damascen in his third Book of the Orthodox Faith at the 27. chapter {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Although he died indeed and his body was then divided from his soulâ— yet his Divinity remained still insepâ—rable both with his soule and his body S. Austin for the Latine in his 14. chapter Contra Felicianum Sic in Sepulcro carnem suam moriendo non deseruit Sicut in utero Virginis connascendo formavit As Christ made his flesh in the Virgins Womb so he did not forsake it in the Sepulchre he was there said to be born and hâ—re to dye with it But was his Corps still joyned with his Divinity why then moved he not why did he shew no signes of life Is there more power in a Soule then in a Diety Can that quicken a body and cannot this inliven it That he still lived I deny not for my text cals him Lord whilst as yeâ— his Grave inclos'd him He lived Vitam Personae for that must be perpetuall yet not Vitam Naturae as Biel hath it upon the third of the Sentences the 21. Distinct and no doubt his Divinity was able to supply the life of Nature For in him we live and move and have our being Acts 17.18 Notwithstanding where that doth personally reside it doth not streight follow that the actions of a Naturall life must needs be there No there is a great difference between a Soule and a Deity the Soule is a necessary Agent and in what body that is there must be Life the Deity is Voluntary and works nothing but what it pleaseth It might have giveâ— motion to the Corps of our Saviour but it therefore would not lest perhaps the Disciples might have imagined that their Master had rather feigned a death then suffered it And therefore that admirable ejaculation My God my God c. is not so to be understood as if our Saviour had then feared the loss of his Divinity for it would thence follow that the God-head then left him when he was yet a live because his complaint runs in the Praeterâ—â—nse Thou hast forsaken me S. Austin is far more orthodox in his 120. Epistle at the 6. Chapter In eo derelinquitur deprâ—cans in quo non auditur He was therefore only forsaken because he waâ— not heard when in the anguish of his Soule he poured out that sad Petition Father if it be possible let thiâ— Cup passe from
sight it seems a goodly Error and being cloathed in so glorious a title it may be thought impiety to question it for is it not Treason to oppose a Majesty Romani ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant saith he in Tacitus where the Romans make a desolation they call it a Peace And upon just inquiry we shall find our selves no lesse abused by this appellation To be every where this they call the Majesty of Christ's Human Nature when indeed 't is no whit better then its destruction For to devest an Essence of its propper attributes is to dissolve it and so he thâ—t leaves a man no Place lâ—aves him no Body Tell me Is silver of no value except it be changed into Gold Is the Manhood of Christ despiseable except it be made Infinite and so transformed into a Deity He that will needs add Reâ—son to a Beast instead of a Panegyrâ—que frames a Metamorphosis for while he thinks to commend he does quite change his nature so he that ascribes Vbiquity to a perfect man is more injurious then bountifull because hâ— subverts his essence and while he hopes to do him honour hee makes himselfe no lesse then guilty of his overthrow Seems not our Saviour glorious enough except he become All God To please these men must he needs lose his Manhood Tanti non est ut place at vobis perire Nor do we so strictly confine Christ to Heaven as if the Earth might not in some sort pertake of his Humanity He did and he doth lie here but yet in a different manner If you respect a corporeall position my Text is most infallible the Grave is a place where the Lord did lie But if you admit of other Exceptions Christ's Manhood hath an universall presence 't is every where as well by a Virtuall co-operation with his Deity as by an Hipostaticall union His Humane nature makes one person with his Godhead as therefore this is truly every where because it is infinite so may That be said to be because 't is no where severed from that nature which is in it selfe infinite Againe Christ works every where for All power was given to him in the â—8 vâ—rse of this chapter 'T was given saith the Text and therefore to his Manhood Yet is this one Government exercised by both his natures and he rules every where as God by his essentiall presence as Man by the co-operation with that which is essentially present Hence are his actions mixt and the Scepter of his Regency no less pleasing then powerfull â—here is Pitty and strength together that we might in every place as well Love him in his Manhood as Feare him in his Divinity But if you respect his corporall presence it is not here Christ is so like us that he cannot so be with us And in this regard I know not whether his presence be more full of Glory or such absence of Consolation For what is the God of Heaven so very a Man what confined to some one place flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone take courage then thou wounded Soule approach with boldnesse for this thy Brother is become thy Iudge and he sits to heare thee who hath born thy griefs and pittied thy infirmities It is expedient for thee that He is not here he is gon to prepare a place for thee Cease to seek thy Saviour carnally begin to imitate him and thinke it not enough to Die except thou Rise againe We are buried with Christ in baptisme saith S. Paul Rom. 6.4 See! the Font 's a Sepulchre and we are no sooner Borne then Buried but we must now Rise to newness of life 't is enough that we did lie there our future time must be a Resurrection Thus have I led you into Ioseph's Garden where instead of common delights you have seene a Conquest our Enemie the Grave made empty and thereby forced to confesse an overthrow The Resurrection hath now seised upon it and like a mighty Conqueror shews his Vassall in signe of Triumph The Victory must needs lose much honour when an unskilfull Tongue supplies an Angels place What 's therefore wanting in Speech I 'le strive to supply in prayer Belive and so See the place And thou O God of Comfort do unto thy people as thou didst unto these women returning to the Sepulchre Fill their hearts with great joy To God c. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} A FUNERALL SERMON The Text 1. CORINTH: 15.29 If the Dead rise not at all why are they then baptized for the Dead ONe good meanes to armâ— us against the feare of Death is daily to think that we must needs die For Necessity is the Mistress of Patience and by often meditations teacheth us to account those things Easie which we once held insufferable In illis quae morbo finiuntur magnum ex ipsa Necessitate solatium est as Pliny writes to a friend of his where our Losse comes by sickâ—ess the same Necessity doth both wound and releive us when neither strength can resist the stroke of death nor Art avoid it 't were madness to be too solicitous in preventing it folly to fearâ— it Yet were our hopes built only upon this foundation we should be like other men Confidently miserable Seneca might then contend with S. Paule and a Philosopher perhaps grow more resolute then a Christian But our consolation is far more surely founded besids these Sands it hath a Rock too besides the certainty of death the infallibility of a Resurrection Thou errest Stoick Natural Quaest. lib. 6 cap. 1. Non majus est mortalitatis solatium quam ipsa mortalitas yes majus solatium immortalitas 't is indeed a strong encouragment against mortality to think that we must needs die but yet t is a far greater that we should live again that may cause us to neglect the stroak of Death but this to imbrace it So comfortable and therefore fit for this occasion is this Article of our Beliefe That we must rise againe For what discuorse yeilds more content in a painfull seeds-time then to talke of an Harvest what more cumfort at a Funerall then to treat of the Resurrection By the vertue of this faith we triumph though sure to be overcome this fils our hearts with gladness and our tongues with that victorious noise O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory Thus these happy Captives deride their Conqueror for his bonds are their inlargement and their only way to obtaine a Crown is by thiâ— great Captivitie Did this Text then but intimate a Resurrection only S. Austin's Judgment would approve my choice Curatio Funeris vivorum solatium 't is in his 1 de Civ. Dei cap. 12. The dead are to have the last part in their own Funerals for they are then only bâ—st performed when the living are most comforted yet that I may not be thought singular this Scripture is more apposite Here is comfort for the Living and honour for the Dead too
to teach her Son in his ripe years that he should not walke after the Lusts of the Gentiles but according to the Faith of his Father Abraham What made Iudea so rediculous to other Nations but her religious observance of many outwaâ—d Rites which such strangers understood not Durst Iuvenals wit have been so prophane as Sat. 14. to stile the Sabbath Day Lux ignava a day of â—loath had he either known the majesty of the Author or that it selfe was a representation of that Eternall Rest whereof his fellow-Poets had seen a shadow And againe Nec distare putant humana carne Suillam He smiles to see the Iâ—ws abhor Swineâ— flesh But know Satyrist that very Nation was a Sacrament all gestures and Emblems and what she practiz'd on the Body was to teach us to do the like on the Soul The Iews abstain'd from so foule a Creature that the Gentiles might learne purity that their meâ—ts might be the Hieroglyphiques of our conversation for as the Law runs No polluted person may approach the Sanctuary So the Gospel No unclean thing shall enter into the Kingdome of Heaven You see then it 's the morall commends a Cerimony and that in these figurative gestures the act it selfe is not so considerable as the end of it Whâ—t thesâ— Ancients did imply by Washing the Dead Calvin intimateth upon the 9. of the Acts vers. 37. Vt in morte ipsa visibilis aliquâ— Resurrectionis imago piorum animos in bonam spem erigeret For they did undoubtedly hope that that very body should hereafter appeare as unblameable before the Tribunall of Iesus Christ as after Washing it seem'd cleane and spotlesse before the â—yes of men Nam quia mors speciem interitus habet saith that judicious Interpreter nè Resurrectionis fidem extingueret species contrarias opponi utile fuit quae Vitam in Morte representarent When Death seemed to threaten a perpetuall Destruction it behoved them by such Cerimonies to meditate upon their Eternity that in the midst of the Trophees of Death they might also appeare Conquerors by Faith in the Resurrection Thus did their Beliefe obscure mortality and in the midst of their Obsequies they kept a solemne Triumph Tell me saith Saint Austin de Civ. Dei 1. why was Toby registred for burying the Dead Why the Woman for anointing Ioseph for imbalming our Saviour Non quod ullus cadaveribus sensus sed quod ad Dei providentiam Corpora quoque mortua pertinere significantur propter fidem Resurrectionis astruendam Learne here the true use of Funeralls learne to make them serve as nourishment to thy Hope Imitate my Apostles act and set thy Faith on worke in these outward solemnities when thou seest men so readily officious to conveigh the Corps into the Earth think that the Angls were no less serviceable to see his Soul inshrined in Heaven for they are all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be Heirs of salvation Heb. 1. ult. Let these perfumes quicken thy hope and make thee conceive the worth of Christs imputed Righteousnes his Life and Death was accounted a sweet smelling savour in the nostrils of God the Fathâ—r When thou beholdest them interred in the mould of the Earth think him not lost but sowen and as the Harvest restoreth the Seed again with advantage so shall the Resurrection this deceased Brother with an increase of Glory Such thoughts are of all other most Christian obsequies and doe as much tâ—nd to the renown of the Dead as to the incouragement of men alive because he doth more honour to a deceased friend who believes he shall rise againe then he who with out all hope imployes all the Physitians in Egypt to defer his putrefaction For I find Beasts partaking of this respect so you may read Boâ—tius writes of Ptolemy the Son of Lagus that the Egyptians were as pompously Cerimonious in the Funerals of their Apis in English a Bull as if the Obsequies had been performed upon Ptolemy himselfe and where men bury their Gods such stupidity is no wonder Alexander made himselfe a Mourner when he buryed his Bucephalus and I 'me sure in that regard the Horsâ— had far more honor then the Rider Nay if Alexander ab Alexandro faile not in his collections Lacides the Philosopher Anserem elatum in funere c. I will non English it effusis lachrymis sepelivit yet 't was none of thosâ— holy Fowles neither that preserved the Capitol But I leave Lacides to Athens where he may be mocked by Philosophers Stupid madness sure these men first buried their Reason before they became Actors in such hoplesse Funerals and then t was no great marvel to see them do honour to the Beasts their fellowes And yet these very Obsequies may serve to shame some of our dry Dissemblers for out of doubt it must make some true Mourners to see so vast a pomp of empty Lamentation When there is cost without Fâ—ith how contemptible is the Cerimony Dost thou imbalme thy friend only 't is no greater honour Dost thou believe he shall rise againe This is to selebrate a Funerall and this is that wins regard to the Dead Do we noâ— know that expectation getteth respect and maketh us become Obsequious even to them that are but the Heirs of Honour Beliefe then of the Resurrection must needs inforce uâ— to regard these very Bodyes as to whom belongs an Inheritance and eternall glory as a possession VVe thence know that he â—hat is the God of Abraham is the God of these Corps too And shall a man there deny respect where God himselfe vouchsafeth providence If this deceased person hath still the same God with us the case then stands as before his Death we are still his Brethren Thus may a Funerall increase our Faith and our Faith adorn a Funerall Art thou poor and yet desirest to do honour to thy dâ—ceased Friend say only that he shall rise again and thou hast more then imbalmed him Art thou Rich and thereby able to expresse thy regards yet bring Faith too otherwise such Rites are prodigies shadows without a substance nay the Cerimoniâ—s are abused â—nd makâ— thy friend no wayes differ from the Beasts that perish The men of Corinth wash their Dead and hence my Apostle preacheth a Resurrection Funerals you see give ocâ—asions to Sermons nay Death and misery are the best preparatives to Instruction For lowliness is the fore-runner of wisdome he is more then halfe taught who by such meanes is made a fit Auditor VVhen we see by others that we our selves must die how willing are we to talke that we must Rise againe That of the Tragaedian Quod nimis miseri volunt hoc facilâ— credunt shews that these Spectacles facilitate our beliefe for when we thence perceive a necesâ—ity of Death we gladly give entertainment to Faith in the Resurrection These occurrences are yet more Doctrinall {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} c. as Suidas hath
it out of some more ancient the best way to mortifie thy rebellious works is to behold these Spectacles of mortality For what dares flesh and bloud be proud when she considereth her Beauty to be but Rottennesse shâ—ll parentage make that man swel that must say to Corruption thou art my Father and to the Worm thou art my Mother Iob 17.14 These sights may serve to strangle ambitious thoughts for see how little room containes a man to correct thy Covetousnesse for is it not a madnesse to live poore that thou mayest die rich Look wretch Doth this Corps possesse any thing Death affording such variety of Instruction I wonder what moved the Belgiquâ— Fathers to banish these Discourses For so they decreed Can. 5. de Exercitiis Ecclesiasticis Conciones Funebres nunquam intrâ—ducendas ubi in usu sunt commode tollendas censet Synodus Was it therefore because they have been sometimes formerly abused and made to commend those Lives that were as full of Scandall as Vice By this reason they might have forbidden the Lords Supper too For what more gross abuse then when Rome of a Sacrament had made an Idoll If some Luxuriant wits have beene offensive upon these occasions Vitium hoc Hominum non Concionum this Custome should not have been abrogated but such Preachers check'd I dare say they know not the true use of Funerall Sermons who thinke these Discourses must still be Panegyrick Nay the Dead serve to the increase of Faith and must the Sermon needs tend to nothing but vaine glory Yet where there is Desert I hope the Synod intends not to forbid commendations For God himselfe hath spoken it The name of the just shall bâ— had in everlasting remembrance and what fitter place to execute hâ—s Dâ—crâ—e then the Pulpit Nay that little good we find in bad men deserves a Register David himselfe penned Saul an Epicaedium Saul and Ionathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided Ye Daughters of Israel weep over Saul who cloathed you in scarlet with other delights c. as you may read 2. Sam. 1.23 I have a Warrant then to mention and where I see Reason to commend the Dead I may preach these circumstances what we find in the Text it selfe you need not doubt but it may become the Sermon The manner of my Discourse I 'le take from Corinth my Speech shall resemble their Cerimonies it shall be plain and simple meer Water Let more happy inventions Imbalm the Dead it shall suffice me to wash him {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Amen A SERMON Preached at S. PAULS Cross in London the 27. day of October Anno Reginae Elizabethae 26. by Samuel Harsnet then Fellow of Pembroke Hall in Cambridg but afterwards Lord Arch-Bishop of Yorke The Text EZEKIEL 33.11 As I live saith the Lord I delight not in the death of the wicked THere was a conceit among the Iews as appeareth by the verse going before my Text that when they sinned they sinned of necessity so that they could not but sinne and so when Almighty God did send unto them his Prophets early and late calling and inciting them to Repentance they thought he did but dally and mock with them for it was his pleasure they should sinnâ— and die therein Almighty God was much offended with this their conceit it being against his Iustice and fidelity both and therefore bids his Prophet here protest unto them and bind it with an Oath no less then his Life that they did him wrong As I live saith the Lord I do not delight in the death of the wicked The Text then I have in hand Right Honorable Worshipfull and Beloved is a solemn Protestation made by Almighty God in his owne cause to cleare himselfe of Infidelity and Injustice that the Iudg of this world doth not delight to see men sinne and then punish them with Death because of their siâ—ne As I live saith the Lord c. The forme of the Protestation is in the nature of an Oath As I livâ— saith the Lord c. and in it I consider these three things 1. The Oath it selfe that it pleased God to swear 2. The manner of the Oath he swears y his life As I live saith the Lord 3. The Matter of the Protestation is an absolute Negative made unto the Iews avowing that it was all false they charged God withall I do not delight in the death of the wicked And in this Negative God doth avow five simple Negatives every one upon the credit of his Oath as 1. I do not delight in death 2. I delight not in the death of man 3. I delight not in the death of a sinfull man 4. I delight not in the death of wicked sinfull man 5. I delight not in the death of any sinfull man Of these by your patience as God shall assist me For the first that the Phrase of speech As I live is an oath I shew it plainly out of 1. Sam. 28.10 where it is said that Saul did swear and he used no other words then these As the Lord liveth This form then of speech As I live saith the Lord is an Oath By the life of the Lord S. Austin upon the 94. Psalm saith Magnum est loqui Dominum quanto majus jurarâ— Deum It is a great thing that the Lord should speak and so it iâ— indeed for at the first word he spake he made a world Dixit et factum est he spake the word and it was done but he that could make the world with a word could not find câ—edit in the world for his word but he must needs bind it with an Oath so that it cost him more to be believed in the World then it cost him to make the World it selfe Durum est saith Vincentius cum non tantum tribuamus Deo â—uantum viro honesto It 's hard when we will not give so much credit to God as we do to an honest man for we will give credit to him upon his Word but we will not believe God though he swear Sed durum est cum non tantum tribuamus Deo quantum Diabolo It is very hard when we will not trust God so far forth as we trust the Devill for we took his word in Paradice At non moriemini Ye shall not die being the Father of lies and we will noâ— trust God on his word At cupio ne moriaâ—ini I desire you should not die I the God of truth but we must have this Oath As I live c. There are two bonds Hâ—b. 6.18 {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Gods Word and his Oath and the slighter of these two doth hold all things in the world Man only excepted The Sea rageth and roareth terribly saith the Psalmist 95.11 yet Gods word is his band and in his greatest rage he never passed it Prov. 8.29 The Sun riseth
like a Giant and like a mighty man to run his race yet Dâ—us dedit legem God's word is his list and in his greatest swiftness he never passed it God himselfe being infinite and having no bond hath made himselfe finite and put on his list Cinxit se cingulo veritatis Isa 11.5 He hath bound himselfe in the girdle of Truth and in his greatest might he never broke it Only man oâ—t of wantonness broke his bond in Paradise the Garden would not hold him and so he put God to his second bond his Oath and if that will not hold him there is but a third in the Epistle of Iude Vincula tenebrarum Bonds of darkness and they shall surely hold him for they have held stronger then he the Angls of disobedience and do hold them sure against the day of wrath I will then shut up this poin-with the Counsel of S. Ierom Si non obedii mus promittenti Deo at credamus Iurant Deo If we will not believe God when he promiseth us life yet let us believe him when he sweareth by his Life that he wisheth us Life least wee provoking him to anger he sweare in his Wrath wee shall not enter into the Kingdom of Life The second thing in the form of the Protestation was the manner of the Oath that it pleased Almighty God to swear By his Life and this doth teach us the certainty of the truth of the Protestation If he had sworn by his Hâ—linesse as he did to David Psal. 89.34 it was taken exception against Ezek. 18.29 If by his Truth as Psal. 89.48 it was doubted of Numb. 14.11 How long will it be ere ye believe me If by his Omnipotency as he did to Abraham Gen. 17. it was called in question Psal. 78.20 Can God prepare a Table in the Wilderness But his Life was never doubted of as a thing above all challenge and exception and therefore it pleased the Almighty God to choose his Life to confirm his Truth As I live saith the Lord I do not delight in the death of the Wicked When we swear we swear by an higher Heb. 6.16 and man's wit cannot devise a higher or more pretious thing then Life Satan knew it well in the 2. of Iob Skin for skin saith he and all that a man hath will he give for his life health wealth Lands Liberties Honour Possesions Dignities Learning Wit Memory A man will strip himselfe of all to save his Life This was the Egyptian Oath By the life of Pharoah The Heathen's title to their Great God {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} The Liver The first Begetter The first Mover and there they made their stop And so it pleased the Almighty God to stop here and making it his rest as a thing most clear to all Nations of the World that as verily as they did see know and confesse that there was a God in whom they lived moved and had their being so verily should they say and profess that he was a God of the Living and not of the Dead and that he delighted not in Dead but in the Living As I live saith the Lord c. And so much of the form of the Protestation The matter of the Protestation I told you was absolutly Negative and it issueth into five branches to be severally touched The first I delight not in death I will not idle away the time in an empty discourse about the severall Translations of the original word Vatablus translated it Non cupio I wish not the Sepâ—uagint {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} I will not the common Translation Non desidero I desire not Tremelius Non delector I delight not whose conceit I follow So of Death it is taken so many wayâ— a man cannot miss it what way soever he take but there is but one way to the Truth and that is plain Morâ— ad Gehennam not Gods but the Divel 's high way leading to destruction and so God neither likes the Journey noâ— the Journey's end I touch my first branch I delight not in Death If God had spoken no more words but these As I live I delight not and any man of mean wit had been bidden to put to the rest that man by his mean wit would easily have guessed at Death for there are no two things so opposite as Life and Death and it is plain God in his wisdom made choice to swear by his life to let us see how far at ods he is with death Fire and Water Light and Darkness Heaven and Hell God and Satan can stand nearer together then Life and Death and therefore we read in the first of Iob that God would abide Satan standing at his right hand in Heaven but of Death we shall never read of him in Heaven but upon a Horse posting from the presence of God and to shew how little God liketh him his mounting is with the meanest too or like himselfe I saw a pale horse in Heaven saith Saint Iohn and he that sate upon him his namâ— was Death Apocal. 6.8 Now as God is all light and in him is no darknesse at all so he is all Life and in him is no shaddow of Death at all And therefore if King David could truly say of the wicked that he hateth the wicked with a perfect hatred because there was nothing like unto him in them God may trulier say and swear of Deatâ— that he hateth him with a perfect hatred because there is nothing in Death like unto him And indeed how can he but hate him the Father of Lights the Childe of Darkness the Prince of Heaven the Sergeant of Hell the Maker of the world the Marrer of the VVorld Glory Ignominy Beauty Deformity Honor Shame Majesty the Urchin of Hel and companion for worms and rottenness There is a true saying of our Learning Facilius est destruere quam astruere It is â—asier to pull down then to build up againe Yet as easie as it is S. Bernard hath wisely observed That God is quick in making slow in marring Cito struit saith he Tarâ—e destruit He was but six dayes in making the whole world and he was seven dayes in destroying one City Iericho And this marring quality that this age so much glories in as it loves to be called after that name is it that made God so far out with Death as it seems he hates him worse then Hell Hos. 13.14 O Mors ero mors tua O Inferne ero morsus tuus O Death I will be thy death O Hell I will be thy sting The Author of Life cannot become Death if he would but yet he threatens that he will become that he cannot rather then Death should be what he would not And it is clear that God is far enough from delighting in Death The second branch of Gods protestation is I delight not in the death of man God had an Image before all Worlds for he had his Son the ingraven
bring all Orders and Occupations thither But the spirit of Peter a great deale wiser then that of Geneva saith plainly 2. Ep. 3.9 Deus non vultâ— Aliquem perire God would not have any one to perish but to come to the knowledg of the Truth And since it hath Pleased Almighty God there to say it here in my text to swear it that he doth not delight â—n the death of a sinner I trust we shall â—â—ve grace to believe him since himselfe can better tell what himselfe would have then the man of Geneva can Now if any mans mind doth put this doubt How it comes to pass that so many souls are damâ—ed if it be Gods will that every one should be saved for who hath resisted the will of the Lord I will easily resolve and cleare him that case Gods will is plainly revealed in his holy Booke to be of two sorts 1. his absolute Wiâ—l and 2. his will with condition His absolute Will said Let there be light and there was light Lâ—t there be a Firmament and there was a Firmament Sun stâ—nd thou still in Gibeon and it stood still This Will indeed cannot be resisted for it speakes but the word and the thing is done But God hath not this Will in the matter of our salvation for then so should we be saved as the Heavens were made but in the matter of our salvation God useth his will with condition And he hath set us three conditions according to our three states which if wee break wee â—ustly forfeit our estate The first condiâ—â—on was in paradise Ne ede vives 〈◊〉 not and thou shalt live and that we would noâ— keep The second was under the Law Fac hoc vives Do this and thou shalt live and that we could not keep The third is under the Gospel Crede vives Believe and thou shalt live and that we may all keep and if we keep it not we forfeit our estates in Christ and are wilfully guilty of our own damnation The Reason is sweet out of S. Austin Qui creat te sine te non salvat te sine te He that created thee without thee doth not save thee without thee but thou must seeke and thou shalt find aske and thou shalt have knock and it shall be opened unto thee For not one of every Order or Occupation but every Christian Soule that seeketh findeth that asketh receiveth and that knocketh it is opened unto him Fourthly our next consequence is That Almighty God in his infinite love and mercy towards man sent his Son to dye and suffer hellish Torments not for Peter Iames and Iohn and a few of the Elect only but for the sins of every sinfull Soul in the world and this Doctrine is so clear in the Book of God as that the Sun at mid-day shines not more bright The Sun of man is come to seeke and to save that which was lost 19.10 Behold the Lambe of â—od â—hat taketh away the sins of the world Ioh 1.29 who is a propitiation for our sins and not for our sins only but for the sins of the whole world 1. Ioh. 2.2 and here the new Synechdoche chops off at a blow from the death of Christ all the sensible parts in the world and leaves him only the center to carry his wares in For it would teach us thus to say God would have all to be saved that is God would have a few to be saved God would not have any to perish that is God would that almost all should perish so God loved the worldâ—hat is so God loved a smal number in the world this is the Saviour of the world that is a Saviour of an handfull of the world Satans Synechdoche useth to be of the long size and the shortest last Luc. 4.5.6 having there taken our Saviour Christ up into a high mountaine and shewed him all the Kingdoms of the world then he begins to proclaime all â—his is mine and the glory of it all and to whomsoever I will I give it all Nothing â—ut all in the Devils mouth yet if he had beene put to it he would have performâ—d nothing at all or not paâ—t a foot or two in the kingdom of darknesse When they are ashamed of this silly shift they take up another as bad as â—his and that is sufficiienter effiâ—â—enter Christ died say they sufficently for all but not effectually that is he meant not the good of his death to all this device beloved shaddowes the wisdome of our Saviour Christ and therefore they had as good have kept it to themselves For I am sure ye are perswaded in soule that our Saviour Christ by his death and passion made a full satisâ—action for the sins of all the sinfull souls in the whole world Which since he did it stoâ—d as much with his ease and more with his goodnesse to communicate his goodnesse and the benefits of his precious death unto us all as to appropriate them to a few But what an odd delusion were this that a Christian Prince should proclaime himselfe Redeemer of allâ—he poore Christians under the Turk and should send over sufficient ransom for all theâ—r freedomes and all the poore captives hearing the proclamation should verily think they should be redeemed and then the Princâ— should thus interpret himselfe I proâ—laimed indeed sufficiently to All but I meant effectually but to a few this gay interpretation what doth it else but shut up the gates of the Kingdome and will neither suffer the Interpreters themselves nor others that would to enter in The fith consequence is Our Saviour Christ offers saving Grace effectually to all to direct them to the Kingdome of Heaven and all and every one may be saved that doth not despise nor abuse the Grace of God It 's a â—trang doctrine we should see and say that our Saviour Christ calls and invites all to repentance and amendment of life and yet we should also say and teach that he meaneth not as he saith for he would not have every one to repent and amend Is God as a man that he should dissemble The Cripple that lay at the beautifull Gate of the Temple and fastned his eyes upon Peter and Iohn if Peter and Iohn had said unto him up arise and follow us and we will do thee good and yet had neither given him strength to rise nor power to walke would not the Scribes and Pharisees have scoffed at them We are by nature beloved poor and miserable Cripples we have neither hand to lifâ— up to Heaven nor feet to walke in the way of Gods Commandements nor joynts to move towards God Alas poore miserable creatures that we are What meant our Saviour so to say unto us A Noble man invites to his Table the Honourable Lord Mayor and the Aldermen his brethren and for the more grace unto them sendâ— his Son and Heire to meet them and he tels them in his Fathers Name that