qualities from the glorified Bodies in Heaven Vers 40. For it is to be observed that in the Resurrection there shall be 1. An improvement of all Mens estates who have their part in the Resurrection of the just above that which they here enjoy Vers 41. 2. There shall be degrees of glory of one above another as Heavenly Bodies are more glorious than Earthly and one Heavenly Body more glorious than another so shall it be in the Resurrection Vers 42. For it is to be noted which is indeed the chief thing notable in this present Discourse that the Bodies which shall rise differ from those that die and the state of the Resurrection differs from that of this life That which falls into the Grave is a corruptible Body that which shall rise again an incorruptible Vers 43. The Body which we live in here and must put off is subject to many dishonorable deformities weaknesses diseases age but the Body which we shall take up again and put on shall be a Body glorious and strong Vers 44. The Body we carry about with us while we live and lay down in the Grave when we die is nourished and sustained by meats and drinks whereas the Body in our future state will be immortal wanting nothing to sustain it For indeed such Bodies there are of both these sorts Vers 45. For thus we find it written in the Scriptures that we have one nature from Adam such a Body as Adam is mention'd to have had before his fall Gen. 2.7 we derive from him who communicated it to his Posterity But another Nature and another Body we shall receive from Christ who at the Resurrection shall restore us from the Grave and change our vile Bodies that they may be like unto His glorious Body Phil. 3.21 Vers 46. The mortal Body was first formed which needed sustenance without which it must needs perish and when this is put off by death the immortal Body shall be returned to us instead of it at the Resurrection Vers 47. The stock of our animal life was Adam so called as an earthy Man made and taken out of the Earth The stock of the life immortal is Christ the Lord who came down from Heaven Vers 48. Such a Body as Adam had such have all mortal Men and such a Body as Christ now hath shall we have who live according to his Precept and Example at the Resurrection Vers 49. As we have first been made like the mortal Adam here on Earth so we shall be made like the immortal Christ when we come to Heaven Vers 50. I shall add but this one thing more that it is not possible for these earthy corruptible weak ignominious Bodies of ours which are in a state of growing and feeding to come to Heaven but they must first be changed purified and immortaliz'd Vers 51. Therefore concerning those who shall be found alive at the Day of Judgment I shall tell you a Secret not yet discovered to you that though they die not at all yet they shall all be changed before they go to Heaven for these Bodies thus qualified as they now are cannot come thither Vers 52. And this change shall be wrought in a minute at the point of time when all the World shall be summoned to Judgment For God shall make the Angels alarm all the World of Men that ever was or shall be as by the sound of a Trumpet to appear before his Tribunal and when that alarme is given all that were formerly dead shall arise with immortal Bodies and they who shall be then alive shall from their mortal Bodies be changed into such Vers 53. For it is most certain and necessary that our mortal Bodies must be changed into immortal Vers 54. And when this is done then shall that saying of the Prophet be made good Hos 13. Vers 14. that death shall be devoured and destroyed for ever never to recover strength again over any thing nothing from thenceforth shall ever die Vers 55. In contemplation whereof a Christian may look upon death as a hurtless thing the sting or plague or wounding power of it being by Christ taken away and look upon the state of separation of Soul from Body to be such as shall not last for ever Vers 56. The only thing which makes Death sting like a Serpent and puts it in a capacity to hurt us is sin for were it not for sin Death would differ nothing from a calm sleep and that which gives sin any strength to mischief us is the Law which prohibits it and so consequently upon the breach brings guilt upon us Vers 57. But thanks be to God who by what Christ hath done for us hath given us victory over Sin and Death and by Conquest of Sin hath made Death but an Entrance to Immortality Vers 58. These Arguments may suffice to teach any Christian constancy and perseverance in doing Gods will and in suffering Gods will too and may oblige him to the utmost industry and diligence in the service of God knowing that nothing which we thus undergo shall fail of receiving a reward Vid. Dr. Hammond Rubrick When they come to the Grave while the Corps is made ready to be laid into the Earth the Priest shall say or the Priest and Clerks shall sing Note Here follows another very seasonable part of the Funeral Office to mind the standers by and those who are yet alive of the shortness miseries and uncertainty of this life Job 14. vers 1 2. Man that is born of a Woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery he cometh up and is cut down like a flower he fleeth as it were a shadow and never continueth in one stay That is Man is born of a Woman and as he hath received being from her so he hath derived weakness he lives here few Years but in so short a time he suffers many miseries He is born like a flower and passeth away like it he is like the shadow of our Quadrants in a perpetual motion and change is so far passed into his nature that notwithstanding all his endeavours he cannot remain one sole moment in the same condition Note here That the sticking of the Herse with Flowers and the use of Garlands at such a time is a custom which hath some resemblance with the Jews who as they went along by the Corps used to pluck up the Grass 1. To note the shortness of Man's life that Man is but as Grass as the flower of the Field It was said of a great Emperour that he was Parietira a wall-flower and so are we all our time is proclaimed Isay 40.6 withering sooner than the Grass which is short fading sooner than the flower of the Grass which is shorter From April to June the Sith cometh nay the Wind but bloweth and we are gone Hodie in agro cras in clibano Flourishing in the Morning fading cut down and withered before Night 2. To note the certain
ancient custom after Burial to go to the holy Communion unless the Office were performed after Noon for then if Men were not fasting it was done only with Prayers Concil Carthag 3. Can. 29. Vid. Doctor Sparrow Rational pag. 355. and the Book of Canons and Constitutions Ecclesiastical set forth by him 4. Funeral Doles were an ancient custom Chrysost Homil. 32. in Matth. But as concerning them the right use and the abuse Vid. Haman L'estrange in his alliance of Divine Offices in his account given of the Burial Office 5. The custom of Funeral Sermons and Orations may seem to be first derived from the Jews and Heathens For it was a custom amongst the Heathens Laudare defunctum pro rostris Sueton. Jul. Caesar c. 6. And touching the Jews we find it practised by King David 2 Sam. 1. And from both Christians may have derived this custome making it serve for these purposes 1. To make those who are alive more careful how they live when they know their departure shall not be folded up in silence 2. To confirm Mens hopes against the time of their own dissolution and to mind them 1. Of their timely preparation for death 2. Of their estate after death 3. Of the Resurrection but chiefly of the Quatuor Novissima Death Judgment Heaven Hell that so all may bring us if possible to holy living which is the surest preparation to happy dying that by every such occasion we may learn something to better us in our spiritual estate and not only wish with Balaam to die the death of the righteous but according to the Apostles advice strive to live their lives treading so near as we can in the steps of their most holy faith considering the end of their conversation Heb. 13.7 For my part I cannot speak much in the commendation of this among some overmuch magnified custom only it is a good help to mend the Ministers maintenance where it is as it is in too many places very scandalously small I hope those who are now in place to do it will consider of it and by their prudent care enlarge the too penurious proportions for if this course was taken I am very confident it would give abundant satisfaction to the People and undoubtedly be a great incouragement to the inferiour Ministry to lay aside their Placentia and to preach that doctrin which may be less pleasing but more profitable when they receive any assurance from an established Law that their maintenance is legally due and not altogether depending upon the courtesie and uncertain benevolence of the People But indeed in Funeral Sermons there hath been observed too much of the mode and gallantry too much of applause and flattery too much of popularity and vanity Encomiums and Elogies have been given where none due The vile Person hath been called liberal and the Churl bountiful Isay 32.5 By some Parasitical Preachers an absurdity better befitting the Stage than the Pulpit yet neither place well for both Comoedia and Concio should be Vitae Speculum Now in regard Funeral Sermons are so much in fashion indeed preaching for the most part is now but fashionable as it was in Ezekiel's time Chap. 33. Vers 30 31 32 33. Therefore I shall conclude this Treatise with a short Sermon The TEXT Heb. 9.27 And as it is appointed unto Men once to die but after this the Judgment The INTRODUCTION FUneral Sermons are ordinary Discourses made over the dead but intended for the benefit of the living and Funeral Offices that is set forms of Burial to be read over the dead at the Grave have the like holy end design in them Both are to mind us of the last things which we cannot escape and yet are willing to forget till such like ocular demonstrations as these bring them fresh to our remembrance Death Judgment Heaven and Hell He that would make these four his Vade mecum and seriously consider of them all his life time would rarely do amiss Were these as carefully laid up in our hearts as they are customarily by preaching poured into our ears certainly they would have a more reforming influence upon our lives than most what they have How should we be less proud and more humble How should we loath sin and love sanctity How should we prize Heaven and set all below Heaven at nought How evenly should we carry our selves betwixt both the Tables of Piety and Justice of holiness and charity towards God and our Neighbour Superiors Inferiours Equals How careful should we be not to omit any duty How fearful should we be to commit any sin How piously should we live as to God-ward how righteously as to Man-ward how soberly as to our selvs did we seriously resolve to practise what we hear as we customarily come upon such like occasions to hear what we should practise or would we but carry away the Text when perhaps much of the Sermon like the good Seed in the Gospel may be catched up by the Birds of the Air wandring thoughts or choaked by thorns the cares of the World yet did we but carry this Text home with us and seriously meditate upon it when we come at home it might with God's blessing do a great part of the work every Sermon should be designed for and that is not to make us wiser but to make us better not to inform our Judgments but to reform our lives and to settle us upon such a bottom as not to dare to live in that state of life wherein I am sure we should not willingly dare to die a state of sin a state of impenitency a state of hardness of heart Certainly no Man willingly would have death find him in such a state as this especially considering that death is not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the last of the last things but only passeth us over to something still beyond it either to eternal bliss if we live in God's fear and die in God's favour or to a miserable eternity if we live and die otherwise For as it is appointed c. The meaning of the words is so obvious that they need no explication Desiderant potius pium auditorem quam curiosum expositorem They require rather a conscientious application than an explication of curiosity The words are plain It is the condition of all Men to die and to die but once and then to be judged to all Eternity Here 's enough for explication any one may see into the meaning of the Text who will not be wilfully blind I but now for the application if this be the state if this be the condition of all Men first to be under the arrest of death and then to be arraigned at the Bar Luk. 24.32 and brought before the Judge will not this make our hearts burn within us warm our affections and beget in us a zeal to godly living more than ordinary Nay will not this prick us at the heart as
Peter's Sermon did and work compunction upon our Spirits Will it not bring the guilt of our sins to our Remembrance Act. 2.37 2 Cor. 5.19 and make us as the Jews once did passionately sue to those Ministers to whom Christ hath committed the word of reconciliation that they would administer a seasonable word of comfort to us and give us directions what to do in such a case as this I know the Scripture Rule is Is any sick among you let him call for the Elders of the Church Jam. 5.14 That is seek out to some spiritual Person who is over the Congregation that he may contribute his assistance afford the sick man his best directions pray to God with him and for him that God would pardon his sins asswage his pain remove the disease restore him to his former health and the like this being a duty injoyned would not be omitted Better then in time of sickness than not at all but better in time of health I think than in time of sickness In the midst of life we are in death therefore in the midst of life we should prepare for death whether sick or well that message to Hezekiah concerns us all Set thine house in order Isay 38.1 There is a time when all Men will be glad to seek God and that is Cum occiderit when he lays any scourge or sickness upon us when he slew them then they sought him and turned them early and enquired after God Psal 78.34 Even they who kept not the Covenant of God before Vers 10. who forgot his works Vers 11. who siâ—ned provoked him tempted him in their heart and spake against him Vers 17 18 19. who neither believed in him nor trusted in his salvation Vers 22. but spent their Days in vanity and their Years in turmoil in the World Vers 33. never thinking upon God at all in a pinch of danger and extremity when he slew them did all turn seekers to find help from the same hand which hurt and wounded them This is the very Atheists time and the time of the most debauched Person in the World to seek God in this is the time which brought home the Prodigal they who loose him in time of health will be glad to seek and sue to him in time of sickness Therefore let me recommend to you another time when ye will be more certain and sure to find him because it is God's acceptable time and that is in time of health when your Mountain is strong your Hedge and Fence about you safe and untoucht when you have other dependencies yet then to slight them all and to depend upon God that 's the time which pleases him Now now saith Solomon in the days of thy youth in thy prosperity before the evil days come Eccles 12.1 Remember now thy Creatour However our memory is placed in the hinder part of the Head yet we must not defer our remembring to the hindermost part of our Life I know it is the desire of all Men when they are going out of the World to have a secure Passport and to get as much an assurance of their happiness and future estate as can be Now give me leave to be plain with you I can give you no better assurance then what the Scripture affords God's word is the best security If ye look for an assurance of faith Faith is but the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen Heb. 11.1 If ye look for an assurance of hope Heb. 6.11 Hope carries us to that which is within the Vail Heb. 6.19 which we hope for but cannot see if ye look for an assurance in that which we call Election I know the foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal The Lord knoweth who are his Yet have a care Let every one who nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity 2 Tim. 2.19 Make your calling and Election sure How is that by giving all diligence to add to your faith vertue to vertue knowledge to knowledg temperance to temperance patience to patience godliness to godliness brotherly kindness to brotherly kindness charity for if ye do these things ye shall never fall 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7 8 9 10. We can be no further assur'd of our Salvation by Christ than we can be secur'd of our being in Christ and conforming our lives to the Christian Rules The security we can have in this present state of grace may not be imagined to be the same with that we shal have in the state of glory It is only the Saints departed who have enter'd the Ark of Heaven can sing that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Apostle Death is swallowed up in victory 1 Cor. 15.54 We that are below in this Church militant must be ever upon our Watch saying with holy Job All the days of my appointed time or warfare here on earth will I wait till my change come Job 14.14 And our change will come sooner or later The wheel of nature Jam. 3.6 is ever turning and turning some off into the dust every day like Peter and John we are continually running one after another to the Sepulchre The best Antidote I can prescribe unto you I will not say against Death but against the terror of it that Death may loose its sting and the Prince of Terrors may not be terrible is this to look upon your selves all your life time if of the number of the predestinate to be predestinate to be conformed to the Image of Christ Rom. 8.29 To live as he lived to walk as he walked to make his spirit your guide his word your rule his life your example In all Scripture the holy Spirit of God hath revealed unto us but one way of preparing for death and securing our future estate which is by an holy life Faith may shew us Heaven as Moses saw the Land of Canaan at a distance but it is holy life and an habitual sanctity must land us there The Text I have now pitched upon may settle us upon this bottom if we will but seriously weigh and consider of the two Propositions which are indeed two undeniable Doctrines arising out of it 1. That all men must die 2. That all Men after death must come to Judgment As the Tree falls so it lies and as Death leaves us so Judgment will certainly find us 1. All Men must die This is so unquestionable a verity that I never yet heard or read of any that durst offer at a confutation of this Proposition Jews Heathens Turks and Tartars all confess it and have in one kind or other their Justa or Funeral rites their Officia postremi muneris which they perform at the Funerals of their dead This statute of dying was made in Paradise Gen. 3.19 not yet repeal'd Debemur morti nos nostraque to die is as good a debt as any the world knows for the levying of which there is an extent upon all Man-kind Rom. 5.12 This mortal must
that is a Romish error for all that Rome holds is 〈◊〉 â—oneous let them take the Common-pâ—â—â—â—â—â—ook and Book of xxxix Articles and the â—â—eed look no further for a confutation Truly I never had yet the confidence which some Men have to call the Pope Antichrist and the Church of Rome the Whore of Babylon and yet the very same Men have fastned the same titles of disgrace upon the Bishops and Church of England but I could wish the Pope more l ke the Primitive Bishops and Rome more like her Primitive self that so that Church ours may both be reconciled upon such terms of reconciliatâ—on as is consistent with Christian rules and so upon their union it is to be hoped another party would be disappointed of their foul ends who are for the Church of Rome and England one while and and another while call them both Whores only to destroy both and to set up themselvs Farewel The a ORDER for the Burial of the DEAD Rubrick I. Here is to be noted that the Office ensuing is not to be used for any that die b unbaptized or b excommunicate or b have laid violent hands upon themselves II. The c Priest and Clerks méeting the Corps at the entrance of the Church-yard and going before it either into the Church or towards the Grave shall say or sing Annotat. a ALl Offices to be performed to Christians living or dead are to be done according to the custom of the Church which is the rule of decency and according to the order directions and appointment of our lawful Superiours 1 Cor. 14.40 b These Three are denied Christian Burial The First because they were never visibly received into the bosom of the Church for Baptism is Introitus in Ecclesiam The Second because for some notorious crimes they are by just censure cast out of the bosom of the Church The Third and last because guilty of so foul a crime which is directly contradictory to Christian profession yet ought we to judg charitably of the first especially when born of believing Parents and where there was rather the want than the contempt of Baptism The Second we leave to the mercies of God neither are they absolutely denied the external rites of decent Funeral when repentance for the faults of such offenders is before their deaâ—h signified to those who have power to receive them into the Church upon their repentance as they had power to cast them out in a legal way for their crimes But if they die in a state of impenitency then these and the last who in their life and death would be as Pagans are not judged fit to be as Christians in their Burial All that authority can do to such Persons is to put their Carkasses to shame and to deny them the honour of seemly Sepulture For it hath been the practice of very Heathens Aegyptians Athenians and others to deny Burial to those who were notoriously wicked and self-murderers Athenienses decreverunt ne si quis se interfecisset sepeliretur in agro Attico August de civitat dei lib. 1. This difference God himself made in Jezebel 2 King 9.36 The King of Babylon Isay 14.19 Jehojakim Jerem. 22.18 19. And the Church hath frequently done the same by this means if possible to keep others in good courses and to terrify them from committing those horrid acts which have rendred some uncapable of Christian Burial Those Grecian Virgins who feared not death were yet restrained with the fear of shame after Death It hath been a usual practice thus to lay open the faults of Persons notoriously criminal by putting them to exemplary punishments and denying them the solemnity of honest Sepulture So Eusebius calls it Splendidissima Sepultura lib. 7. c. 15. Corah who rebelled against Moses and Aaron died not the common death of Men nor was buried after the manner of Men but went down quick into the ground opening under him Numb 16.32 Baana and Rechab who rose up against their Lord had their quarters set upon Poles 2 Sam. 4.12 Bigthan and Thares were fairly hanged upon a Tree Esth. 2.22 So Absalom came to a strange end 2 Sam. 18.14 So Sheba 2 Sam. 20.22 All the punishments of Rebels and Traytors now in use are collected and drawn together from the several examples we meet with in the Book of God Now these exemplary punishments are inflicted upon some to terrifie many and vengeance is taken in such manner upon such sinners that the just Cum viderit vindictam Psal 58.10 may wash his Feet or Hands in the blood of the wicked And then do the just wash their Hands and Feet when by other Mens punishments they learn to amend their own lives And there is a necessity to make some Persons thus exemplary in their Deaths and Burials 1. For the punishment of the offence for sins not corrected are incouraged 2. For a vindication of the Laws and Authority against which the offence is For such a disrespect unpunish'd would in time breed a contempt of all Law and Authority 3. For a terrour to others that other Mens punishments may be our instruction As David intitles his Psalm wherein he reports Israel's punishments a Psalm to give instruction Psal 78. That Man is desperately a Fool whom other Mens harms cannot make wise The Fox was warned when he saw the tracks of other Beasts leading to the Lyons Den but none returning So the foot-steps of others may be a warning to us to fix us upon firmer and better Principles that we do not fall and perish as they did The Foot-steps of the fallen Angels may check us for our pride The ashes of Sodom admonish us of our filthiness Ex eorum cinere fiat nobis lixivium The Gibbet of Hamman be an allay to our ambition Achans heap of stones in the Vally of Achor give check to our Sacriledge And the fearful examples of Absalom Corah Zimry Sheba Judas and others antidote us against Sedition Rebellion and Treason Miror quorum facta imitamur eorum exitus nos non perhorrescere c By the Priest and Clerks we are to understand the chief Minister of the Congregation and his Assistants who are either Clerici or Ministerialis ordinis candidati These are for the more solemnity to meet the Corps or dead Body at the entrance of the Church-Yard which Church-Yard is the usual and accustomed place of Burial Vid. Mins Diction expressed in the Teutonick German and other Languages by such words which signify Gods Glebe-Land the Churches Orchard or Garden noting unto us that the dead Bodies are there sowne like Seeds in the Furrow of the Grave and shall ripen into a fruitful and joyful Harvest at the Resurrection They are sown in tears but shall be reaped in joy they are sown in dishonour shall be raised in glory sowne in weakness shall be raised in power 1 Cor. 15.43 As Trees and Plants in the Winter they are as dead for a time but shall bud and spring
this pompous manner before the Corps saying or singing these places of Scripture to note the Christians Triumph over Death and to shew that Christ by his Death and Resurrection hath taken away the sting from Death and Victory from the Grave an expression 1 Cor. 15.55 borrowed from the Heathen Romans who used to paint Victory whom they termed a Goddess in their Ensigns and Banners The like custom we read observed by the Ancients Hieron Ep. 30. ad Ocean de Fabiola Chrysost Homil. 4. in Hebraeos What mean saith the last of these Authors the bright burning Torches Do we not follow the dead like Champions These Followers are the Friends of the deceased and the People not the Priest and Clerks for it was the general voice among the ancients of those who followed their friends to the Grave Vale nos te ordine sequemur hence came the word exequiae a sequendo from following after and hence proceeded the custom which we stil retain to have the Corps carried before and they who attend it to go behind thereby figuring and putting them in mind that they must all one day follow the same way Una semel calcanda via lethi Hodie mihi cras tibi now is my turn to morrow thine But the Father goes on What mean the Hymns do we not thereby glorify God for that he hath crowned our departed Brother that he hath freed him from labours that he hath with himself freed him from fear All these are expressions of joy whereby we do in a holy valour laugh at death Chrys Now what is this but to shew our selves truly Christian that we fasten not the anchor of our hopes here below that we build not our felicities here upon a sandy foundation in the dirt and dust Inter pulices culices tineas araneas vermes whereas should we go with dejected and down-cast looks as Men without hope Mortem Christi qua mors superata est calumniamur we should cast a blemish of disgrace upon the death of Christ who hath by his death conquered death for us we should manifest our selves to be so doubtful as to fasten a lie upon Christ's Resurrection and so make his Cross Passion and Triumphant Resurrection of none effect in so much that very Heathens would scoff at us and say as once they did which brought the use of the Cross into Baptism where is the crucified God in whom ye trust if he hath conquer'd death Why do not ye Christians contemn it Why glory ye in his Passion who resent the death of your friends with so much impatience Your sadness confutes the Triumph of his Resurrection certainly he is in the Grave stil he is not risen neither hath he taken the sting from the Prince of Terrors as ye say seeing the death of a friend and relation appears thus terrible to you Now to prevent the Objections of these Heathens we bring the Bodies of Christians to the ground in this Triumphant manner the Priest who is Christs Deputy here on Earth going before saying or singing I am the Resurrection and the Life saith the Lord c. The other Clerks and subordinate Ministers where so many are saying after as representing the dead Party I know that my Redeemer liveth c. Rubrick After they are come into the Church shall be read one or both of these Psalms following Psal 39. Psal 90. Note These Psalms are admirably chosen by the prudent care of our Mother the Church of England to fit and prepare all her Children living in the bosom of her for the time of their dissolution and departure out of this life that they may like the wise Virgins in the Gospel have Lamps always in their hands and Oyl in their Lamps and be in a readiness to go forth to meet Him when ever the Bridegroom of Souls shall come The Psalms set before us the certainty of death and the shortness of life as also many more excellent and seasonable Lessons touching our Mortality which I shall explain in this following Paraphrase Paraphrase Note This Psalm was composed by David upon the scandal he took at the prosperity of the wicked whilst himself was in misery it sets before us the vanity of all worldly things to be as a motive to repress all impatience in us upon any adversity whatsoever which may befall us he commended it to Jeduthun a skilful Musitian and Prefect of his Musick Psal 39. Verse 1. I have stedfastly resolved within my self to set a very strict guard over my self especially over my tongue which in time of affliction and calamity is most provoked to utter things which are not fit to be spoken by Persons who have a tender regard to indear the reputation of their Religion So oft as I see my adversaries and consider in what a prosperous state they are it concerns me to keep my tongue well guarded that I do not break out into intemperate and passionate speeches Vers 2. Therefore I have resolved that when ever I see them or hear others discourse of them I will keep perfect silence neither using words to vindicate mine own innocence or to blame their injurious dealings with me Yet after all when I thus bridled my tongue suppressed my sorrow restrained my passion I did by this Method of mine but increase my sorrow and passion so much the more as the Water-course stopt becomes the more raging and fire pent in is the more violent to make an out burst Vers 3. So that while I was in this condition the fire of my passion was heightned into such a degree of heat that it flamed out and at last found a vent towards Heaven so that in all humility I made my mone to God and thus addressed my self unto him Vers 4. Lord if it be thy will and pleasure that I should live no longer in this world to discharge that Office whereunto thou hast called me if my sins have so far provoked Thee as to think me unfit to be any longer imployed honoured and owned by Thee here yet be pleased to grant me this request which is that thou wouldst reveal unto me what I must expect more in this world and that thou wouldst bestow upon me thy grace to fit and prepare my self for it what ever it is Vers 5. I know my life is very short a meer nothing compared to thy Eternity and this is not my state only but the state of all Men living in the World who are all as frail mortal and almost as short-liv'd as the meanest Creature There is not that frailty and fadingness in any Creature which is not to be found in Man Vers 6. The Life of Man is but as a Picture shadow or dream of Life it vanisheth in a moment and when we are gone hence we have no power over those riches which we have anxiously scraped together here and must leave behind us when we have run through all the labours of acquisition and have nothing visible to interpose betwixt
hopes of a Resurrection Such Ceremonies are used in exprobration to Death and Mortality By them we shew that we are not sorry for our departed friends as Men without hope we look upon them only as Herbs and Flowers cropt off for a time and to spring up again in their season We sow their Bodies in the Earth with as much faith as we do our Seeds and Herbs and equally expect the spring of both In the midst of life we are in death of whom may we seek for succour but of Thee O Lord who for our sins art justly displeased Note Our end borders upon our beginning Finisque ab origine pendet Death and Life like Jacob and Esau take hold on each others â—eel Orimur morimur We bring sin and death into the World with us Haeret lateri lethalis arundo 'T is in vain to hope for long life which is so short that it is at an end whilst we are speaking of it Dum loquimur fugit vita The Man in the Gospel sung a Requiem to his Soul for many Years when the summons came presently Stulte hac nocte Luk. 12.20 Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare longam A Christians hope is not in this life only which is not the only life indeed not to be reckon'd of as life at all Via non vita A midling betwixt life and death Mortalis vita vitalis mors but truly my hope saith David is in Thee O Lord who canst deliver my Soul from sin and my Body from the Grave Psal 39.7 8. Thou killest and thou makest alive thou bringest down to the Grave and bringest up 1 Sam. 2.6 Yet O Lord God most Holy O Lord most Mighty O Holy and most Merciful Saviour deliver Us not into the bitter pains of Eternal Death Note As there is a two-fold Resurrection a Resurrection from sin to the life of grace which is glory begun Rom. 6.4 1 Cor. 15.34 and a Resurrection from the Sepulchre to the life of glory which is grace compleat 1 Cor. 15.54 Philip. 3.21 So there is a two-fold death The first death to which the first nature which we derive from Adam is subjected For upon Adam's sin all that are partakers of his nature are concluded under the sentence of death pronounced against him 1 Cor. 15.22 It was a statute made in Paradise a Decree not to be reversed a Debt not possible to be declined Gen. 3 19. Statutum est omnibus semel mori Heb. 9.27 All Men must die the first Death Wherein the Sepulchre like the Serpent feeds on nothing but dust it is not so much the death of the Body as the Death of the Corruption of the Body Mortalitas magis finita est quam vita And there is a second death to which all regenerate Christians who belong to Christ are not subjected but as they derive another nature from Christ so in that nature they shall be raised again to the life immortal 1 Cor. 15.22 Souls and Bodies both For however there is a death of the Soul not that it ceaseth to be but when it ceaseth to be righteous Habet anima mortem suam cum vita beata caret quae vâ—ra animae vita dicenda est August Perdere animam est non ut non sit sed ut male sit So the glosse upon Matth. 16.26 Yet they who belong to Christ who live according to his Doctrine and Example shall be raised Souls and Bodies to an endless life of endless felicities They who have a part in the Resurrection of grace shall have no part in the Second Death Which first Resurrection is proverbially applied to the flourishing condition of the Church under the Messias after a long time of Persecution Revel 20.5 According to that of the Apostle speaking of the Jews received to favour as Persons raised from the dead again Rom. 11.15 and the Second Death is applied to an â—tter final irreparable excision and cutâ—ing off Revel 20.6 Now against this Second Death the bitter pains of Eternal Death in the burning Lake where the Worm never dies and the Fire is not quenched the Church here teaches us to pray for as to the first Death which is a Debt to be paid to that nature which we derive from Adam there is no avoiding of it Palvis es in pulverem reverteris â—s Man's Epitaph written with Gods own Finger Gen. 3.19 But Libenter mortalis sum qui sim futurus immortalis is the faithful Man's subscription Thou knowest Lord the secrets of our hearts shut not thy merciful Eares to our Prayers but spare us Lord most Holy O God most Mighty O Holy and Merciful Saviour Thou most worthy Judge Eternal suffer us not at our last Hour for any pains of death to fall from Thee Note Here we pray to God who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Maker of hearts and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Knower and Searcher of hearts and of actions as well as of hearts that he would in mercy hear our Prayers and in equal mercy pardon and forgive us our sins that he would sanctifie us by his Holiness imparted to us that he would defend us by his power save us in his infinite mercy and as we must all stand before him at the day of Judgment so he would stand by us at the Hour of Death that so the Devil who assaults us in the heel Gen. 3.15 and is most busie at the end and close of our life may have no advantage of us but that by the Shield of Faith we may put by all his Fiery Darts and never come into those everlasting Burnings but dying as Moses did Ad osculum oris Jehovae At a kiss of the Mouth of God So the Chalde paraphrase in Deut. 34.5 We may depart in the arms of God and so pass by Death temporal to Life Eternal Rubrick Then while the Earth shall be cast upon the Body by some standing by the Priest shall say Note This is left arbitrary for any by-stander to perform by which it is implied that it shall be the state and condition of every One one day He that casts earth upon the dead Body to day may have earth cast upon his tomorrow Hodie mihi cras tibi For as much as it hath pleased Allmighty God of his great mercy to take unto Himself the Soul of our dear here departed Eccles 12.7 we therefore commit _____ Body to the ground earth to earth ashes to ashes dust to dust Eccles 12.7 Eccles 3.20 Gen. 3.19 in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to Eternal Life Psal 16.9 1 Cor. 15.20 21 22. 1 Thes 4.13 14. through our Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile Body that it may be like unto his glorious Body according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to Himself Philip. 3.20 21. Note When we perform these officia postremi muneris as the Fathers call them and decently commit the Bodies
Tertullian is very plain and full Vid. Melanct. in Evangel domin in loc commun And Mr. Calvin is very express That Christ alone is enter'd into the Sanctuary of Heaven and that he presents unto God the Prayers of the People who remain in a remoter Court till the end of the World Instit lib. 3. c. 20. Sect. 20. lib. 3. cap. 25. sect 6. in Luc. cap. 16. vers 22. vid. Marlorat vid. Calvin lib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 1 Pet. 3.19 2 Pet. 2.4 Luc. 23.43 Mat. 8. Genes 5. de raptu Enochi Job 14. Philip. 1.6 2 Cor. 5.1 2 Cor. 12.13 Instit lib. 4. cap. 4. sect 12. in Catechism In all which places he will not define or determine any thing in terminis only holds as we do that they are in bliss but shall not have their perfect consummation and bliss till the Resurrection and Day of Doom The Collect. O merciful God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Resurrection and the Life in whom whosoever believeth shall live though he die and whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall not die eternally Joh. 11.25 26. who also hath taught us by his holy Apostle St. Paul not to be sorry as Men without hope for them that sleep in him 1 Thes 4.13 14. We meekly beseech Thee O Father to raise us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness Rom. 6.3 4. 1 Cor. 15.34 That when we shall depart this life we may rest in him as our hope is this our _____ doth and that at the general Resurrection in the last day we may be found acceptable in thy sight and receive that blessing which thy well beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear Thee saying Come ye blessed Children of my Father receive the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World Mat. 25.34 Grant this we beseech thee O merciful Father through Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer Amen Note This Collect sums up all the remarkableness of the Burial Office in a short devout prayer and brings all home in pious application Herein we declare our hope concerning all who depart this life in the bosom of the Church for so long as we are in the bosome of the Church we are in the state of pardon however if we are sometimes mistaken in our hope as to particulars yet it is ever a testimony of our charity It is Error amoris in case it happen at any time to be an errour 2 Cor. 13.14 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all ever more Amen Viz. The charity of God the Son the love of God the Father and the bounty or liberal effusion of the graces of God's Holy Spirit be in us with us and upon us now and ever Amen POSTSCRIPT Christian Reader IN the first place I am to desire thee to have so much charity for our reviving Mother the Church of England as not to think her any way addicted to an affected singularity in her prescribed Office for the Burial of her dying Children for as in her other Offices so in this she holds exact conformity with her other Sisters the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas so far as they may be permitted to hold conformity with her Vid. Mr. Durel Touching the conformity of other reformed Churches with the Reformed Church of England pag. 34. sect 38. pag. 48. sect 60. Besides take notice of the words of the most judicious Hooker Take away saith he these prayers praises and holy Lessons which were ordained at Burials to shew the peculiar hope of the Church touching the Resurrection of the dead and in the manner of the dumb Funerals what one thing is there whereby the World may perceive that we are Christians Hook Eccles Pol. lib. 5. sect 75. Some few Rites more I shall add observed at Funerals together with their Reasons annexed only to give satisfaction to those better sort of weak Christians who quarrel at their use more out of tenderness of conscience than out of turbulency or any contentious spirit as for such who are contentiously given who are ill-willers to Sion who are enemies to the peace of the Church who delight in nothing but dreadful confusions and make it a great part of their Religion to quarrel the ancient practises of the Church and just Orders of Superiours I leave them to the severest execution of the Laws of the Land and the power of those who are invested with Jurisdiction to punish them as schismatical and seditious Persons and as the nature of their offence shall deserve and truly I think Superiours may be blamed for their indulgence in such cases as well as for their severity Our Church will never be at peace and our State never at quiet from the working of some Mens spirits and intemperate zeal Si vitiis Principum irasci liceat insidiari bonitati But enough of this I proceed now to speak of the few other Rites rather practised at Funerals than by Law or Canon prescribed and to account for them with what brevity and perspicuity I can 1. The ringing of the Passing-bel or Soul-bell as we call it is not intended to help the passage of the Soul when departed out of the Body but only to stir up devout Christians to pray for its happy passage out of its Body and to move those who are living to make reflexions upon their own mortality and seriously to consider of their later end This Bell is like St. Paul's Trumpet 1 Cor. 14.8 which gives such a certain sound that all within the hearing of it may prepare themselves to the Battel which is to be fought in the Field of Death 2. It was an ancient custom and is still practised to bury the Dead with their Faces turning towards the East to shew that they were as sure of an uprise as the Sun that comes forth of his Eastern Chamber and that they lie waiting for that Sun of Righteousness Malach. 4.2 who shall at the last day return with his healing Wings and quicken and revive all the dead Bodies of his Servants by his healing and life-giving influence when he comes with his Prodi Lazare or Surge qui dormis then the Graves shall set open their Marble Doors and restore their deposita When the Arch-Angel shall sound the Trump of Collection then the scattered bones of Gods Saints shall be gathered together with sinews and those sinews incorporated with flesh and that flesh covered over with skin all mortality being purged away and by a new 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Pythagoras never dreamed of the same Soul shall re-enter the same Body These and the like Ceremonies the Church hath practised in her Funerals to be as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so many significant emblems to strengthen and confirm her living Children in the hopes of a joyful resurrection 3. It was an
be put off that immortality may be put on Those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the first Age had this story told of them all they lived so many years and then they dyed Gen. 5. What Man is he that liveth and shall not see death The Prince and the Peasant are elemented of the same earth as Adam was like Nebuchadnezar's Image though we may have Heads of Gold yet we all stand but Lute is pedibus on feet of clay We are but like the Ark of God In medio pellium in the midst of skins living within Paper-walls walls of flesh we dwell in Houses of Clay whose foundation is in the dust and dirt which are crushed before the Moth. Job 4.19 I need say no more for confirmation of the first Proposition Let us see in the next place what use is to be made of it if we must all die and depart hence this being not our rest not our home but our way home Let us make provision in our life time for that time of dying which will most certainly come upon us though it be most uncertain when Let us think every day of dying for indeed we die daily as soon as we are born we begin to die Let us make death familiar by expectation of it by daily apprehension of it Let us at all instants go out to meet it and think our selves always upon our Death-bed He deserves not saith Jerom the name of a Christian who will live in that state of life in which he would not die Indeed it is a very great adventure to be in an evil state of life because we know that every minute of it hath a danger and we know withall that after death there is something else to be looked after which brings me to the next particular That all Men after Death must come to Judgment This is a Proposition carrying in it a very great truth which Pagans Turks and Infidels I mean the most sober and best moraliz'd amongst them have not been ignorant of How Heathens came by this knowledg whether by the light of nature or by some Revelation unknown to us or happily by some light derived from our Scriptures I am not able to say nor curious to enquire for my way hath ever been to sit down contented with my own ignorance in things which are in the dark and wherein I may spend much time in the disquisition and find but little satisfaction at last In secret things which belong to God Ignorance shall be the Mother of my Devotion That God shal judg the World is a clear truth Rom. 3.6 That he shall judg the Jews who sinned in the Law by the Law the Gentiles who sinned without Law without Law and Christians who have sinned against the clear light of the Gospel by the Gospel is a very great truth also Rom. 2.12 13 14 15 16. When this final Judgment shall be I will not determine Let curious heads meddle with these curiosities I dare not I will not so much as desire to know what God was not willing to reveal There is a day God hath appointed in the which he will judg the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained Act. 17.31 even Jesus Christ before whose Tribunal we must all appear and receive according to what we have done in our Bodies be it good or evil 2 Cor. 5 10. God is pleased in wisdom to conceal that day that we may carefully observe every day By way of Application I add but this Knowing therefore this terror of the Lord 2 Cor. 5.11 Consider I pray you and lay it to heart What manner of Persons ye ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness 2 Pet. 3.11 And let this be a comfort to all Christians who have not their hope in this life only nor fix the Anchor of it here below that the same Jesus Christ who is now our Advocate in Heaven shal hereafter be our Judg c. Reader A Funeral Sermon of this nature may not be impertinent although not very necessary neither the Church in her Funeral Office having made such a full provision already But were the Funeral Orations and Encomiums o◠some low spirited Preachers well examin'd there is nothing in Print can appear more unseemly and misbecoming Christian profession wherein great Persons meerly for being great shall be applauded for that goodness which was never apparent in them Certainly these Elogies were intended as things extraordinary for Men of extraordinary sanctity and not else THE END The Thanksgiving of Women after Child-Birth Commonly called The Churching of Women Note 1. OUr Church of England eminent in her Liturgy and publick Offices both for her Charity to Man and Piety to God hath prescribed to Us in Her Service-Book two notable Passages as relating to Child-bearing-Women 1. In the Litany we are taught to pray in a general way for all Women labouring with Child that is for their safe deliverance in so great a danger which is so great that the Spirit of God being to lay out a danger to the full expresseth it thus As travel upon a Woman with Child 1 Thes 5.3 noting both the suddenness and sharpness of the pains Now there was a curse we know inflicted upon Woman-kind for Eve's sin That they should bring forth Children in sorrow or with sore travel at their birth Gen. 3.16 Every Child should be to her a Benoni and Filius Lachrymarum because the Woman was the cause and beginning of sin and ruine on all Man-kind 1 Tim. 2.14 However God is pleased to moderate the curse so that Woman shall be able to pass through her Child-bearing safe though not without some difficulty and danger and this curse no question is not so heavy upon Woman-kind as that sin deserved by means of the seed of the Woman the Messias which should be born from her Posterity For no doubt he would redeem that nature which he was to assume and did assume not only from the danger of Child-bearing but from a greater danger of eternal damnation upon condition that these Child-bearing-Women continue in the Faith and live in that Charity Holiness and Sobriety as they ought to do performing those Duties of Chastity and modest behaviour which Christianity requires of them 1 Tim. 2.15 Yet notwithstanding the curse of Child-bearing is moderated and mitigated it is not taken away it remains stil so as to expose the Woman to very great danger which motive puts the Church upon it constantly to pray for all Women labouring with Child I wonder ever any Women who have been sensible of these dangers should be taken captives by those spirits of errour and seducing Teachers 2 Tim. 3.6 which creep first into their houses and then into their hearts so as to be brought to a loathing and dislike of that most excellent Prayer which the Church hath inserted into her constant Morning-Service for their safe deliverance 2. Here is a peculiar Office for the purpose
Lord be thou pleased to give us this grace so to instruct us and convince us of the shortness of our lives that we may by this consideration be brought to pay that constant reverence and obedience which is due to Thee and wherein the true wisdom consists for there cannot be any greater folly imaginable than to provoke Thee by our sins and to run the adventure of being cut off by Thee in our sins Vers 13. And O Lord if it stand with thy good pleasure reverse the sentence of excision which is gone out against us let it suffice that thy wrath hath swept away so many of us vouchsafe at last to be pacified and reconciled with us Vers 14. We have lain very long under thy wrath delay not now to afford us the full streams of thy mercy which we have so long wanted and impatiently thirsted after that so for the remainder of our time we may have some matter of rejoycing after so much sadness Vers 15. May the days of our rejoyceing hold some proportion with the days of our mourning and let our comforts be answerable to our calamities Vers 16. Magnifie thy glorious work of grace and mercy which is properly thy work to us and our posterity Vers 17. Shew thy loving kindness and light of thy countenance towards us look in mercy upon us give us thy grace to direct us all our days and in all our ways work in us both to will and to do and then by thy good providence prosper our designs and undertakings Vid. Dr. Hammond Note Why Gloria Patri concludes this and the foregoing Psalms I have given my Reasons in another Book upon the Common-Prayer Rubrick Then shall follow the Lesson taken out of the Fiftéenth Chapter os the former Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians Paraphrase Note This Lesson indeed the whole Office sets forth the peculiar hope of the Church touching the Resurrection of the Dead Which is Primarium Evangelii caput The Predominant Article that presupposeth all the rest It is Nexus Articulorum Fidei The tying Knot upon which all other links of holy Faith depend By this hand Religion is held up by the head 1 Cor. 15. vers 20. ad finem Vers 20. All the hope of a Christian is not terminated with this life of his here on Earth for if it were so Christians would be the most unhappy Persons and the most proper objects of compassion in the World But blessed be God for it it is much otherwise for Christ is risen and he by raising himself raiseth all others with him as in the consecration of the first fruits the whole Harvest is also consecrate So that we Christians who are miserable here shall be rewarded hereafter for Christ's Resurrection is a most certain proof of ours As the Head must rise before the Members so the Members are sure to follow the Head Christus est typus Christianorum Christus resurgens non solum est auspex exemplar sed fide-jussor chirographum nostrae resurrectionis Vers 21. As one Man brought death into the World so another Man brought Resurrection into the World Vers 22. For as upon Adam's sin All who are partakers of his nature are concluded under the sentence of his death so all regenerate believers who are like to Christ and belong to him shall be raised to immortal life Vers 23. But yet with some distance of Time shall this be Christ the first fruits shall rise some time before and all regenerate Christians shall rise after Him at his last coming to Judgment Vers 24. And then at the Conclusion of this World and of the spiritual Kingdom of Christ in the Church here below he shall deliver up all his power exercised by Himself and his Commissioners into the hand of God his Father having first destroyed all earthly Dominions pronouncing sentence upon the mightiest as well as the meanest Men subduing all to his Power either by their conversion or their destruction Vers 25. For this was the promise which was made to Christ Psal 110. that his Spiritual Kingdom on Earth should last so long till God had brought all the World to be subject to Him Vers 26. The last Enemy to be subdued by him is death and that must be therefore subdued that Men may be raised again from death to life Vers 27. The evidence is clear that God will subdue all enemies and things without exception under Christ only God is excepted from being so subdued from whom Christ hath received this power Vers 28. And when all things shall thus be brought in subjection to Christ then shall Christ lay down that Office which til then he exerciseth and in which he is conspicuous in his Church And then shal God Father Son Holy Ghost fill all the Elect with endless Bliss and Glory Vers 29. Now if the dead rise not why do Men at their Baptism make profession of the belief of it for the Resurrection of the dead is one of the prime Articles of belief into which Christians are Baptized and to which Baptism refers as a significant emblem first of Christs then of our Resurrection from the Grave The putting in and taking out of the Water being a sign of descending into the state of the dead and ascending from thence To be a Baptized Christian and not to believe the Resurrection is a ridiculous thing an Hypocrisie which will never be answer'd to God or men Note These words of St. Paul which are plain and easie and rational enough in the sense before mentioned are by some diversly rendred and strangely too 1. Stapleton and others prove from hence a Purgatory Vid. Du Moulin in his Confutation of Purgatory pag. 268. 2. Thomas Aquinas by the dead understandeth sins which are dead works 3. Claudius Guiliandus understands it of Martyrdom for the Faith of the Resurrection 4. Some interpret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 over the dead as if it had been the manner of some to Baptize over the Graves of the dead to cherish their hope of the Resurrection but this custome is no where read of 5. Others think it may allude to an ancient custome of the faithful Jews who to strengthen their hopes of a Resurrection used to wash the Bodies of their dead and then embalm them before they buried them 6. Calvin following Epiphanius interprets it to refer to the custome of such Conveâ—ts in Religion who neglected Baptism til their death approached 7. Franciscus Junius interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not super but insuper as if the Apostle had said why is Baptisme still continued in the Church for the comfort of the Living as it was found of comfortable use to those who are now dead if the dead rise not 8. St. Ambrose understands it of a Sacramental washing applied unto some living Man in the name and behalf of his Friend dying without Baptism 9. Du Moulin applies it to the manner of Baptisme used By plunging the Body in Water to
note the state of death and taking it out again to represent the Resurrection 10. But Chrysostom Tom. 3. pag. 514. and Theophylact and others understand Baptizing for the Dead to imply this and no more The being Baptized in the faith and profession of the Resurrection of the dead And so Harmenopulus refuting the Marcionites interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Sect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only the Resurrection of the dead is expressed here by way of abbreviation by this word Dead Vers 30. And why do we Christians run hazards and encounter dangers and difficulties which may certainly bring death upon us if we had no assurance that there was another life wherein all our patience and valour for Christ should be rewarded by Him Vers 31. For my part I protest by my fidelity to Christ which is the greatest thing I joy in in this World that I daily run the hazard of death which sure I should never do if I had not confidence of another life after this Vers 32. Certainly all the hazards which I ran at Ephesus Act. 19. being as far as Mans purposes could go to have me sentenc'd and condemned to have me combat with wild Beasts upon their Theaters however I was by God's good providence snatched out of those dangers can be nothing at all advantageous to me unless there be another life after this Besides if it was so that there is no other life it would excuse and justify that common saying which is used amongst some of you Let us enjoy the good things of this World at present for when Death comes which cannot be far of there is an end of all Note This Place of fighting with Beasts at Ephesus is variously expounded by learned Men. Tertullian Theophylact and others take it to be spoken metaphorically of Men in shape Beasts in condition and Oecumenius saith That these Beasts were the Jews at Ephesus and Demetrius with his faction called Beasts in the same sense as Nero is called a Lyon 2 Tim. 4.17 and Herod is termed a Fox Luk. 13.32 David's Persecutors Bulls of Basan Psal 22.12 The Scribes and Pharisees Vipers Matth. 23.33 The Enemies of the Church wild Boars Psal 80.13 with these did Paul fight by strength of Argument proving them to be no Gods which are made with hands and so cut the throat of that Ephesian Beast Idolatry as that all the Silver-Smiths of Diana could not Hammer out a Reply to his Charge Chrysostom Ambrose and others take it literally as if Paul did actually encounter with Beasts upon their Theatre and Pareus inclines to be of the same judgment For to fight with Beasts was a punishment which Malefactors were condemned to in those days it was used in Asia as appears by the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna about the Martyrdom of Polycarpus Euseb lib. 4. c. 15. For upon their Festivities and Solemnities they performed these barbarous inhumanities as an honour to their gods and they made choice of such times for the punishing of Malefactors not only to make their punishments more exemplary but to be as a piece of sacrifice to their gods Now that there was a Theatre at Ephesus for this purpose we read Act. 19.29 and that Christians as Malefactors were punished after this manner we find in Tertullian that Christianos ad Leones was a common word and of Damnatio ad Bestias Bestiarii we may read at large in the Jewish Antiquities But the most genuine and proper sense of this place is by very learned Men taken to be this that Paul was condemned at least by the Multitude designed to this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or combating with Beasts at Ephesus as appears Act. 19.30 31. 2 Cor. 1.8 9. The Sentence of this kind of death was passed on him but God took him out of their hands and snatched him out of those dangers raising him as it were from the dead by delivering him from so great a death 2 Cor. 1.9 10. whereas Gaius and Aristarchus two of Paul's Companions were hailed to the Theatre Act. 19.29 The devout Christians would not permit Paul to come amongst them vers 30. and the Asiarcha who had some kindness for him which was a work of God's Providence to him sent unto him that he should keep close and not run the hazard by coming out of being carried thither vers 31. By which it is evident that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the manner of Men signifies this that Paul so far as Man's purpose extended concerning him was condemned to this death of fighting with Beasts at Ephesus only God by a wonderful providence delivered him from it Now it had been very strange should the Apostle have exposed himself to so apparent danger of death as Men led on by nothing but that which is humane such as vain glory and some other respect have done had not he by faith looked at a Resurrection and at God the Rewarder of those who suffer for him at that Day Vers 33. But have a care that ye be not seduced by any Philosophical or debauched Discourses to disbelieve the Resurrection Take heed that such Atheistical temptations to sensuality under pretence of no other life after this do not work upon you and the rather because good natures and the most flexible dispositions are the soonest cheated and deceived by such corrupt converse and foolish dispute Vers 34. Ye have all the Reason in the World and now it is more than time that ye should rouse up your selves out of the drouzy condition of sin which ye have been in for a long time in so much that some of you by your behaviour and discourse show your selvs to be very Atheists stil and meer Heathens of whom I am forced to speak only to work shame in you for suffering such Men among you and that ye may not permit your selves to be tempted by them into such Errours and Debaucheries Vers 35. But some perhaps may object that if Men die How can they live again or what kind of Body shall they have seeing that which they had is rotten in the Grave Vers 36. But this is a foolish Objection for even in Corn that is sowed the rotting of the Corn is necessary to the enlivening of it or springing of it up again Vers 37. And it is not the custom to sow that very thing which after comes up the Blade and Ear and Corn in it but only the Corn without the rest as the Corn of Wheat and the like Vers 38. And whensoever such a single Grain is sown in the Earth without any Ear or Chaff about it God causeth it to grow up out of the Earth in this or that forme with Root and Blades and Ears of Wheat and of all other Seeds proportionably according to their kind Vers 39. And as amongst us here below one sort of flesh differs very much from another so the Bodies of Men here differ in their