sinnes is a thorne and nayle and speare to him while thou powrest downe thy drunken carowses thou giuest thy Sauiour a potion of gall while thou despisest his poore seruants thou spettest on his face while thou puttest on thy proud dresses and liftest vp thy vaine heart with high conceits thou settest a Crowne of thornes on his head while thou wringest and oppressest his poore children thou whippest him and drawest bloud of his hands and feet Thou hypocrite how darest thou offer to receiue the Sacrament of God with that hand which is thus imbrued with the bloud of him whom thou receiuest In euery Ordinary thy prophane tongue walkes in the disgrace of the religious and conscionable Thou makest no scruple of thine owne sinnes and scornest those that doe Not to be wicked is crime enough Heare him that saith Saul Saul Why persecutest thou me Saul strikes at Damascus Christ suffers in Heauen Thou strikest Christ Iesus smarteth and will reuenge These are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 afterings of Christs sufferings In himselfe it is finished in his members it is not till the world bee finished Wee must toile and groane and bleed that we may raigne if he had not done so It had not beene finished This is our warfare this is the region of our sorrow death Now are wee set vpon the sandy pauement of our Theatre and are marched with all sorts of euils euill men euill spirits euill accidents and which is worst our owne euill hearts temptations crosses persecutions sicknesses wants infamies death all these must in our courses bee encountred by the Law of our profession What should we doe but striue and suffer as our Generall hath done that we may raigne as he doth and once triumph in our Consummatum est God and his Angels sit vpon the scaffolds of heauen and behold vs our Crowne is ready our day of deliuerance shall come yea our redemption is neere when all teares shall be wip't from our eyes and we that haue sowne in teares shall reape in ioy In the meane time let vs possesse our soules not in patience only but in comfort let vs adore and magnifie our Sauiour in his sufferings and imitate him in our owne our sorrowes shall haue an end our ioyes shall not our paines shall soone be finished our glory shall be finished but neuer ended Thus his sufferings are finished now together with them mans saluation Who knowes not that man had made himselfe a deepe debter a bankrupt an outlaw to God Our sinnes are our debts and by sinnes death Now in this word and act our sinnes are discharged death endured and therefore we cleared the debt is paid the score is crossed the Creditor satisfied the debters acquitted and since there was no other quarrell saued we are all sicke and that mortally sinne is the disease of the soule Quot vitia tot febres saith Chrysostome so many sinnes so many feuers and those pestilent What wonder is it that we haue so much plague while wee haue so much sinne Our Sauiour is the Physician The whole need not the Physician but the sicke wherein He healeth all our infirmities hee healeth them after a miraculous manner not by giuing vs receits but by taking our receits for vs. A wonderfull Physician a wonderfull course of cure One while he would cure vs by abstinence our superfluitie by his fortie dayes emptinesse according to that old rule Hunger cures the diseases of gluttony Another while by exercise He went vp and downe from Citie to Citie and in the day was preaching in the Temple in the night praying in the mount Then by diet Take eat this is my body and Let this cup passe After that yet by sweat such a sweat as neuer was a bloudy one yet more by incision they pierced his hands feet side and yet againe by potion a bitter potion of vineger and gall And lastly which is both the strangest and strongest receit of all by dying Which died for vs that whether we wake or sleepe 1 Thâ—ff 5.10 we should liue together with him We need no more we can goe no further there can be no more physicke of this kinde there are cordials after these of his Resurrection and Ascension no more penall receits By this bloud wee haue redemption Ephes 1.7 Iustification Rom. 3.24 Reconciliation Colos 1.20 Sanctification 1 Pet. 1.2 Entrance into glory Heb. 10.19 Is it not now finished Woe were vs if he had left but one mite of satisfaction vpon our score to be discharged by our soules and woe be to them that derogate from Christ that they may charge themselues that botch vp these all-sufficiently meritorious sufferings of Christ as imperfect with the superfluities of flesh and bloud Maledictus homo qui spem ponit in homine We may not with patience see Christ wrong'd by his false friends As that heroicall Luther said in the like Maledictum silentium quod hic conninet Cursed be that silence that here forbeareth To be short here be two iniuries intolerable both giue Christ the lie vpon his Crosse It is finished No somewhat remaines the fault is discharged not the punishment Of punishments the eternall is quit not the temporall It is finished by Christ No there wants yet much the satisfaction of Saints applied by this Vicar adde mens sufferings vnto Christs then the treasure is full till then It is not finished Two qualities striue for the first place in these two opinions impiety and absurdity I know not whether to preferre For impiety here is God taxed of iniustice vnmercifulnesse insufficiency falshood Of iniustice that he forgiues a sinne and yet punishes for that which he hath forgiuen vnmercifulnesse that he forgiues not while he forgiues but doth it by halues insufficiency that his ransome must be supplied by men falshood in that hee saith It is finished when it is not For absurdity how grosse and monstrous are these positions that at once the same sinne should be remitted and retained that there should bee a punishment where there is no fault that what could strike off our eternall punishment did not wipe off the temporall that hee which paid our pounds stickes at our farthings that God will retaine what man may discharge that it is and it is not finished If there be any opinions whose mention confutes them these are they None can be more vaine none had more need of solidity for this prop beares vp alone the weight of all those millions of indulgences which Rom. creates and sels to the world That Strumpet would well-neere go naked if this were not These spirituall Treasures fetcht in the Temporall which yet our reuerend and learned Fulke iustly cals a most blasphemous and beggerly principle It brings in whole chests yea mines of gold like the Popes Indies and hath not so much as a ragge of proofe to couer it whether of Antiquitie of Reason of Scripture Not of Antiquity for these Iubily proclamations beganne but
though not so blessed yet so shalt thou be separated that my very dust shall be vnited to thee still and to my Sauiour in thee Wert thou vnwilling at the command of thy Creator to ioine thy selfe at the first with this body of mine why art thou then loth to part with that which thou hast found The Testimonies though intire yet troublesome Doest thou not heare Salomon say The day of death is better than the day of thy birth dost thou not beleeue him or art thou in loue with the worse and displeased with the better If any man could haue found a life worthy to be preferred vnto death so great a King must needs haue done it now in his very Throne he commends his Coffin Yea what wilt thou say to those Heathens that mourned at the birth and feasted at the death of their children They knew the miseries of liuing as well as thou the happinesse of dying they could not know and if they reioiced out of a conceit of ceasing to be miserable how shouldest thou cheere thy selfe in an expectation yea an assurance of being happy He that is the Lord of life and tried what it was to die hath proclaimed them blessed that die in the Lord. Those are blessed I know that liue in him but they rest not from their labours Toyle and sorrow is betweene them and a perfect enioying of that blessednesse which they now possesse onely in hope and inchoation when death hath added rest their happinesse is finished O death how sweet is that rest The taste of our Meditation wherewith thou refreshest the weary Pilgrims of this vale of mortalitie How pleasant is thy face to those eies that haue acquainted themselues with the sight of it which to strangers is grim and gastly How worthy art thou to be welcome vnto those that know whence thou art and whither thou tendest who that knowes thee can feare thee who that is not all nature would rather hide himselfe amongst the baggage of this vile life than follow thee to a Crowne what indifferent Iudge that should see life painted ouer with vaine semblances of pleasures attended with troupes of sorrowes on the one side and on the other with vncertaintie of continuance and certaintie of dissolution and then should turne his eyes vnto death and see her blacke but comely attended on the one hand with a momentanie paine with eternitie of glorie on the other would not say out of choice that which the Prophet said out of passion It is better for me to die than to liue But O my Soule what ailes thee to bee thus suddenly backward and fearefull The Complaint No heart hath more freely discoursed of death in speculation no tongue hath more extolled it in absence And now that it is come to thy beds-side and hath drawne thy curtaines and takes thee by the hand and offers thee seruice thou shrinkest inward and by the palenesse of thy face and wildnesse of thine eye bewraiest an amazement at the presence of such a ghest That face which was so familiar to thy thoughts is now vnwelcome to thine eies I am ashamed of this weake irresolution Whitherto haue tended all thy serious meditations what hath Christianitie done to thee if thy feares bee still heathenish Is this thine imitation of so many worthy Saints of God whom thou hast seene entertaine the violentest deaths with smiles and songs Is this the fruit of thy long and frequent instruction Didst thou thinke death would haue beene content with words didst thou hope it would suffice thee to talke while all other suffer Where is thy faith Yea where art thou thy selfe O my soule Is heauen worthy of no more thankes no more ioy Shall Heretikes shall Pagans giue death a better welcome than thou Hath thy Maker thy Redemer sent for thee and art thou loth to goe hath hee sent for thee to put thee in possession of that glorious Inheritance which thy wardship hath cheerefully expected and art thou loth to goe Hath God with this Sergeant of his sent his Angels to fetch thee and art thou loth to goe Rouze vp thy selfe for shame O my soule and if euer thou hast truly beleeued shake off this vnchristian diffidence and addresse thy selfe ioyfully for thy glory The Wish Yea O my Lord it is thou that must raise vp this faint and drooping heart of mine thou onely canst rid me of this weake and cowardly distrust Thou that sendest for my soule canst prepare it for thy selfe thou onely canst make thy messenger welcome to me O that I could but see thy face through death Oh that I could see death not as it was but as thou hast made it Oh that I could heartily pledge thee my Sauiour in this cup that so I might drinke new wine with thee in thy Fathers Kingdome The Confession But alas O my God nature is strong and weake in mee at once I cannot wish to welcome death as it is worthy when I looke for most courage I finde strongest temptations I see and confesse that when I am my selfe thou hast no such coward as I Let me alone and I shall shame that name of thine which I haue professed euery secure worldling shall laugh at my feeblenesse O God were thy Martyrs thus haled to their stakes might they not haue beene loosed from their rackes and chose to die in those torments Let it be no shame for thy seruant to take vp that complaint which thou mad'st of thy better Attendants The spirit is willing but the flesh is weake The Petition and enforcement O thou God of spirits that hast coupled these two together vnite them in a desire of their dissolution weaken this flesh to receiue and encourage this spirit either to desire or to contemne death and now as I grow neerer to my home let me increase in the sense of my ioyes I am thine saue me O Lord It was thou that didst put such courage into thine ancient and late witnesses that they either inuited or challenged death and held their persecutors their best friends for letting them loose from these gieues of flesh I know thine hand is not shortned neither any of them hath receiued more proofes of thy former mercies Oh let thy goodnesse inable me to reach them in the comfortable steddinesse of my passage Doe but draw this vaile a little that I may see my glory and I cannot but be inflamed with the desire of it It was not I that either made this body for the earth or this soule for my body or this heauen for my soule or this glorie of heauen or this entrance into glory All is thine owne worke Oh perfect what thou hast begun that thy praise and my happinesse may be consummate at once The assurance or Confidence Yea O my soule what need'st thou wish the God of mercies to be tender of his owne honour Art thou not a member of that body whereof thy Sauiour
of their Teachers be taught to say Let my death be to the remission of all my sinnes and then that he should haue giuen him a boule of mixt wine with a graine of Frankincense to bereaue him both of reason and paine I durst be confident in this latter the rather for that S. Marke calls this draught 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Myrrh-wine mingled as is like with other ingredients And Montanus agrees with me in the end Ad stuporem mentis alienationem A fashion which Galatine obserues out of the Sannedrim to bee grounded vpon Prou. 31.6 Giue strong drinke to him that is ready to perish I leaue it modestly in the middest let the learneder iudge Whatsoeuer it were he would not die till he had complained of thirst and in his thirst tasted it Neither would he haue thirsted for or tasted any but this bitter draught that the Scripture might be fulfilled They gaue mee vineger to drinke And loe now Consummatum est All is finished If there be any Iew amongst you that like one of Iohns vnseasonable Disciples shall aske Art thou he or shall we looke for another hee hath his answer Yee men of Israel why stand you gazing and gaping for another Messias In this alone all the Prophesies are finished and of him alone all was prophesied that was finished Pauls old rule holds still To the Iewes a stumbling blocke and that more ancient curse of Dauid Let their table bee made a snare And Steuens two brands sticke still in the flesh of these wretched men One in their necke stiffe-necked the other in their heart vncircumcised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the one Obstinacie the other Vnbeleefe stiffe necks indeed that will not stoope and relent with the yoke of sixteene hundred yeeres iudgement and seruilitie vncircumcised hearts the filme of whose vnbeleefe would not be cut off with so infinite conuictions Oh mad and miserable Nation let them shew vs one prophesie that is not fulfilled let them shew vs one other in whom all the prophesies can be fulfilled and we will mix pittie with our hate If they cannot and yet resist their doome is past Those mine enemies that would not haue me to reigne ouer them bring them hither and slay them before me So let thine enemies perish O Lord. But what goe I so far Euen amongst vs to our shame this riotous age hath bred a monstrous generation I pray God I be not now in some of your bosomes Aug ad Hit Dâ—m volunt Iudaei esse Christiani nec Iudae sunt nec Christiani that heare me this day compounded much like to the Turkish religion of one part Christian another Iew a third worldling a fourth Atheist a Christians face a Iewes heart a worldlings life and therefore Atheous in the whole that acknowledge a God and know him not that professe a Christ but doubt of him yea beleeue him not The foole hath said in his heart There is no Christ What shall I say of these men They are worse than deuils that yeelding spirit could say Iesus I know and these miscreants are still in the old tune of that tempting deuill Situ es filius Dei If thou bee the Christ Oh God that after so cleare a Gospell so many miraculous confirmations so many thousand martyrdomes so many glorious victories of truth so many open confessions of Angels men deuils friends enemies such conspirations of heauen and earth such vniuersall contestations of all Ages and people there should be left any sparke of this damnable infidelitie in the false hearts of men Behold then yee despisers and wonder and vanish away Whom haue all the Prophets foretold or what haue the prophesies of so many hundreds yea thousands of yeeres foresaid that is not with this word finished who could foretell these things but the Spirit of God who could accomplish them but the Sonne of God Hee spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets saith Zacharie he hath spoken and he hath done one true God in both none other spirit could foresay these things should be done none other power could doe these things thus fore-shewed this word therefore can fit none but the mouth of God our Sauiour It is finished Wee know whom wee haue beleeued Thou art the Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Let him that loues not the Lord Iesus be accursed to the death Thus the prophesies are finished Of the legall obseruations with more breuitie Christ is the end of the Law What Law Ceremoniall Morall Of the Morall it was kept perfectly by himselfe satisfied fully for vs Of the Ceremoniall it was referred to him obserued of him fulfilled in him abolisht by him There were nothing more easie than to shew you how all those Iewish Ceremonies lookt at Christ how Circumcision 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Passeouer the Tabernacle both outer and inner the Temple the Lauer both the Altars the Tables of Shew-bread the Candlesticks the Vaile the Holy of Holies the Arke the Propitiatorie the pot of Manna Aarons Rod the High Priest his Order Line his Habits his Inaugurations his Washings his Anointings his Sprinklings Offerings the sacrifices 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and what-euer Iewish Rite had their vertue from Christ relation to him and their end in him This was then their last gaspe for now straight they died with Christ now the vaile of the Temple rent As Austen well notes out of Matthewes order Ex quo apparet tunc scissiam esse cum Cirillus emisit spiritam It tore then when Christs last breath passed That conceit of Theophilact is wittie that as the Iewes were wont to rend their garments when they heard blasphemie so the Temple not enduring these execrable blasphemies against the Sonne of God tore his vaile in peeces But this is not all the vaile rent is the obligation of the rituall Law canceled the way into the heauenly Sanctuarie opened the shadow giuing roome to the substance in a word it doth that which Christ saith Consummatum est Euen now then the law of Ceremonies died It had a long and solemne buriall Ceremoniae ficut defancta corpora necessariorum efficijs deducenda erant ad sepulturaÌ„ non simulatè sed religiose nec descrenda continuò Augustin Ego è contrario loquaâ— reclamante mundo libâ—râ voce pronunciem ceremonas Iudaeorum perniciâ—saâ— essâ— mortiferas quicunque eas obsâ—ruauâ—râ—t siue ex Iudaeis siuâ— ex Gentibus in barathrum diaboli deuolutum Hier. Quisque is nunc ea celebrare voluerit tanquam sopitos cineres erucus non erit pius c. as Augustine saith well perhaps figured in Moses who died not lingeringly but was thirty dayes mourned for what meanes the Church of Rome to digge them vp now rotten in their graues and that not as they had beeene buried but sowen with a plenteous increase yea with the inuerted vsurie of too many of you Citizens ten for one It is a graue and deepe
censure of that resolute Hierome Ego è contrario loquar c. I say saith he and in spight of all the world dare maintaine that now the Iewish ceremonies are pernitious and deadly and whosoeuer shall obserue them whether hee be Iew or Gentile in barathrum Diaboli deuolutum Shall frie in Hell for it Still Altars still Priest sacrifices still still washings still vnctions sprinkling shauing purifying still all and more than all Let them heare but Augustines censure Quisquis nunc c. Whosoeuer shall now vse them as it were raking them vp out of their dust hee shall not bee Pius deductor corporis sed impius sepulturae violator an impious and sacrilegious wretch that ransacks the quiet tombes of the dead I say not that all Ceremonies are dead but the Law of Ceremonies and of Iewish It is a sound distinction of them that profound Peter Martyr hath in his Epistle to that worthy Martyr Father Bishop Hooper Some are typicall fore-signifying Christ to come some of order and decencie those are abrogated not these the Iewes had a fashion of prophesying in the Churches so the Christians from them as Ambrose the Iewes had an eminent pulpit of wood so wee they gaue names at their Circumcision so wee at Baptisme they sung Psalmes melodiously in Churches so doe we they paid and receiued tithes so doe wee they wrapt their dead in linnen with odors so wee the Iewes had sureties at their admission into the Church so wee these instances might be infinite the Spouse of Christ cannot bee without her laces and chaines and borders Christ came not to dissolue order But thou O Lord how long how long shall thy poore Church finde her ornaments her sorrowes and see the deare sonnes of her wombe bleeding about these apples of strife let mee so name them not for their value euen small things when they are commanded looke for no small respect but for their euent the enemie is at the gates of our Syracuse how long will wee suffer our selues taken vp with angles and circles in the dust yee Men Brethren and Fathers helpe for Gods sake put to your hands to the quenching of this common flame the one side by humilitie and obedience the other by compassion both by prayers and teares who am I that I should reuiue to you the sweet spirit of that diuine Augustine who when hee heard and saw the bitter contentions betwixt two graue and famous Diuines Ierome and Ruffine Heu mihi saith he qui vos alicubi fiâ—al inuenire non possum Alas that I should neuer finde you two together how I would fall at your feet how I would embrace them and weepe vpon them and beseech you either of you for other and each for himselfe both of you for the Church of God but especially for the weake for whom Christ died who not without their owne great danger see you two fighting in this Theatre of the world Yet let me doe what he said he would doe begge for peace as for life by your filiall pietie to the Church of God whose ruines follow vpon our diuisions by your loue of Gods truth by the graces of that one blessed Spirit whereby we are all informed and quickned by the precious bloud of that Sonne of God which this day and this houre was shed for our redemption bee inclined to peace and loue and though our braines be different yet let our hearts be one It was as I heard the dying speech of our late reuerend worthy and gratious Diocesan Modo me moriente viuat ac floreat Ecclesia Oh yet if when I am dead the Church may liue and flourish What a spirit was here what a speech how worthy neuer to die how worthy of a soule so neere to his heauen how worthy of so happy a succession Yee whom God hath made inheritors of this blessed care who doe no lesse long for the prosperitie of Sion liue you to effect what hee did but liue to wish all peace with our selues and warre with none but Rome and Hell And if there bee any wayward Separatist whose soule professeth to hate peace I feare to tell him Pauls message yet I must Si tu pacem sugis ego te ab Ecclesia fugere mando Would to God those were cut off that trouble you How cut off As good Theodosius said to Demophilus a contentious Prelate Si tu pacem fugis c. If thou flie peace I will make thee flie the Church Alas they doe flie it that which should be therir punishment they make their contentment how are they worthy of pittie As Optatus of his Donatists they are Brethren might be companions and will not Oh wilfull men whither doe they runne from one Christ to another Is Christ diuided we haue him thankes be to our good God and we heare him daily and whither shall we goe from thee thou hast the words of eternall life Thus the Ceremonies are finished now heare the end of his sufferings with like patience and deuotion his death is here included it was so neere that he spake of it as done and when it was done all was done How easie is it to lose our selues in this discourse how hard not to be ouerwhelmed with matter of wonder and to finde either beginning or end his sufferings found an end our thoughts cannot Lo with this word he is happily waded out of those deeps of sorrowes whereof our conceits can finde no bottome yet let vs with Peter gird our coat and cast our selues a little into this sea All his life was but a perpetuall Passion In that he became man he suffered more than wee can doe either while we are men or when we cease to be men he humbled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea he emptied himselfe We when we cease to be here are cloathed vpon 2 Cor. 5. Wee both winne by our being and gaine by our losse he lost by taking our more or lesse to himselfe that is manhood For though euer as God I and my Father are one yet as man My Father is greater than I. That man should be turned into a beast into a worme into dust into nothing is not so great a disparagement as that God should become man and yet it is not finished it is but begun But what man If as the absolute Monarch of the world hee had commanded the vassalage of all Emperors and Princes and had trod on nothing but Crownes and Scepters and the necks of Kings and bidden all the Potentates of the earth to attend his traine this had carried some port with it sutable to the heroicall Maiestie of Gods Sonne No such matter here is neither Forme nor Beautie vnlesse perhaps 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the forme of a seruant you haue made me to serue with your sinnes Behold hee is a man to God a seruant to man and be it spoken with holy reuerence a drudge to his seruants Hee is despised and reiected of men yea as
about three hundred yeeres agoe Not of Reason Negotiatores teâ—ae sunt ipsi Sacerdotes qui vendunt orationes missas prodenarijs facientes domum orationis Apotâ—ecam negotiationis In Reue. l. 10. p. 5. how should one meere man pay for another dispense with another to another by another Not of Scripture which hath flatly said The bloud of Iesus Christ his Sonne purgeth vs from all sinne and yet I remember that acute Sadeel hath taught me that this practise is according to Scripture what Scripture Hee cast the money-changers out of the Temple and said Yee haue made my house a denne of theeues Which also Ioachim their propheticall Abbot well applies to this purpose Some modest Doctors of Lonan would faine haue minced this Antichristian blasphemy who began to teach that the passions of the Saints are not so by Indulgences applied that they become true satisfactions but that they only serue to moue God by the sight of them to apply vnto vs Christs satisfaction But these meale-mouth'd Diuines were soone charm'd Bellar. lib. 1. de Indulgent foure seuerall Popes as their Cardinall confesseth fell vpon the necke of them their opinion Leo the tenth Pius the fift Gregory the thirteenth and Clemens the sixt and with their furious Buls bellow out threats against them and tosse them in the aire for Heretickes and teach them vpon paine of a curse to speake home with Bellarmine Passionibus sanctorum expiari delicta and straight Applicari nobis sanctorum passiones ad redimend as poenas quas propeccatis Deo debemus That by the sufferings of Saints our sinnes are expiated and that by them applied wee are redeemed from those punishments which we yet owe to God Blasphemy worthy the tearing of garments How is it finished by Christ if men must supply Oh blessed Sauiour was euery drop of thy bloud enough to redeeme a world and doe we yet need the helpe of men How art thou a perfect Sauiour if our brethren also must be our Redeemers Oh yee blessed Saints how would you abhorre this sacrilegious glorie and with those holy Apostles yea that glorious Angell say Vide ne feceris and with those wise Virgins Lest there will not bee enough for vs and you goe to them that sell and buy for your selues For vs we enuie not their multitude let them haue as many Sauiours as Saints and as many Saints as men wee know with Ambrose Christi passio adiutore non eguit Christs passion needs no helper and therefore with that worthy Martyr dare say None but Christ none but Christ Let our soules die if he cannot saue them let them not feare their death or torment if he haue finished Heare this thou languishing and afflicted soule There is not one of thy sins but it is paid for not one of thy debts in the scroll of God but it is crossed not one farthing of all thine infinite ransome is vnpaid Alas thy sinnes thou sayest are euer before thee and Gods indignation goes still ouer thee and thou goest mourning all the day long and with that patterne of distresse criest out in the bitternes of thy soule I haue sinned what shall I doe to thee O thou preseruer of men What shouldst thou doe Turne and beleeue Now thou art stung in thy conscience with this fiery Serpent looke vp with the eyes of faith to this brazen Serpent Christ Iesus and be healed Behold his head is humbly bowed down in a gracious respect to thee his arms are stretched out louingly to embrace thee yea his precious side is open to receiue thee and his tongue interprets all these to thee for thine endlesse comfort It is finished There is no more accusation iudgment death hel for thee all these are no more to thee than if they were not Who shall condemne It is Christ which is dead I know how ready euery man is to reach forth his hand to this dole of grace and how angry to be beaten from this dore of mercy We are all easily perswaded to hope well because wee loue our selues well Which of all vs in this great congregation takes exceptions to himselfe and thinkes I know there is no want in my Sauiour there is want in me He hath finished but I beleeue not I repent not Euery presumptuous and hard heart so catches at Christ as if he had finisht for all as if he had broken downe the gates of hell and loosed the bands of death and had made forgiuenes as common as life Prosperitas stultorum perdit eos saith wise Salomon Ease slaieth the foolish and the prosperitie of fooles destroyeth them yea the confidence of prosperity Thou saiest God is mercifull thy Sauiour bounteous his passion absolute all these and yet thou maiest be condemned Mercifull not vniust bountifull not lauish absolutely sufficient for all not effectuall to all Whatsoeuer God is what art thou Here is the doubt Thou saiest well Christ is the good Shepheard Wherein He giues his life but for whom for his sheepe What is this to thee While thou art secure prophane impenitent thou art a Wolfe or a Goat My sheepe heare my voyce what is his voice but his precepts Where is thine obedience to his commandements If thou wilt not heare his Law neuer harken to his Gospell Here is no more mercy for thee than if there were no Sauiour He hath finished for those in whom he hath begunne if thou haue no beginnings of grace as yet hope not for euer finishing of saluation Come to me all ye that are heauy laden saith Christ thou shalt get nothing if thou come when he calls thee not Thou art not called and canst not be refreshed vnlesse thou be laden not with sinne this alone keepes thee away from God but with conscience of sinne A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Is thy heart wounded with thy sinne doth griefe and hatred striue within thee whether shall be more Are the desires of thy soule with God Doest thou long for holinesse complaine of thy imperfections struggle against thy corruptions Thou art the man feare not It is finished That Law which thou wouldest haue kept and couldest not thy Sauiour could and did keepe for thee that saluation which thou couldest neuer worke-out alone alas poore impotent creatures what can we doe towards heauen without him which cannot moue on earth but in him hee alone for thee hath finished Looke vp therefore boldly to the throne of God and vpon the truth of thy repentance and faith know that there is no quarrell against thee in heauen nothing but peace and ioy All is finished He would be spitted on that he might wash thee he would be couered with scornefull robes that thy sinnes might be couered he would bee whipped that thy soule might not be scourged eternally he would thirst that thy soule might be satisfied he would beare all his Fathers wrath that thou mightest beare none he would yeeld to death that
thou mightest neuer taste of it hee would bee in sense for a time as forsaken of his Father that thou mightest be receiued for euer Now bid thy soule returne to her rest and enioyne it Dauids taske Praise the Lord O my soule and What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits I will take the cup of saluation and call vpon the Name of the Lord. And as rauisht from thy selfe with the sweet apprehension of this mercy call all the other creatures to the fellowship of this ioy with that diuine Esay Reioyce O yee heauens for the Lord hath done it shout ye lower parts of the earth burst forth into praises yee mountaines for the Lord hath redeemed Iacob and will bee glorified in Israel And euen now begin that heauenly Song which shall neuer end with those glorified Saints Praise and honour and glory and power be to Him that sitteth vpon the Throne and to the Lambe for euermore Thus our speech of Christs last word is finished His last act accompanied his words our speech must follow it Let it not want your deuout and carefull attention He bowed and gaue vp the ghost The Crosse was a slow death and had more paine than speed whence a second violence must dispatch the crucified their bones must be broken that their hearts might breake Our Sauiour stayes not deaths leisure but willingly and couragiously meets him in the way and like a Champion that scornes to be ouercome yea knowes hee cannot be yeeldeth in the middest of his strength that he might by dying vanquish death Hee bowed and gaue vp Not bowing because he had giuen vp but because he would Hee cryed with a loud voyce saith Matthew Nature was strong he might haue liued but he gaue vp the ghost and would die to shew himselfe Lord of life and death Oh wondrous example hee that gaue life to his enemies gaue vp his owne he giues them to liue that persecute and hate him and himselfe will die the whiles for those that hate him Hee bowed and gaue vp not they they might crowne his head they could not bow it they might vex his spirit not take it away they could not doe that without leaue this they could not doe because they had no leaue Hee alone would bow his head and giue vp his ghost I haue power to lay downe my life Man gaue him not his life man could not bereaue it No man takes it from mee Alas who could The High Priests forces when they came against him armed he said but I am he they flee and fall backward How easie a breath disperst his enemies whom hee might as easily haue bidden the earth yea hell to swallow or fire from heauen to deuoure Who commanded the Deuils and they obeyed could not haue beene attached by men he must giue not onely leaue but power to apprehend himselfe else they had not liued to take him hee is laid hold of Peter fights Put vp saith Christ Thinkest thou that I cannot pray to my Father and hee will giue me more than twelue Legions of Angels What an Army were here more then threescore and twelue thousand Angels and euery Angell able to subdue a world of men he could but would not be rescued he is led by his owne power not by his enemies and stands now before Pilate like the scorne of men crowned robbed scourged with an Ecce homo Yet thou couldst haue no power against me vnlesse it were giuen thee from aboue Behold he himselfe must giue Pilate power against himselfe Quod emittitur voluntarium est quod amâ—â—tur aecessarium Ambr. else he could not be condemned he will be condemned lifted vp nailed yet no death without himselfe Hee shall giue his soule an offering for sinne Esay 53.10 No action that sauours of constraint can be meritorious he would deserue therefore he would suffer and die Hee bowed his head and gaue vp the ghost O gracious and bountifull Sauiour hee might haue kept his soule within his teeth in spight of all the world the weaknesse of God is stronger than men and if he had but spoken the word the heauens and earth should haue vanisht away before him but hee would not Behold when hee saw that impotent man could not take away his soule he gaue it vp and would die that we might liue See here a Sauiour that can contemne his owne life for ours and cares not to be dissolued in himselfe that we might be vnited to his Father Skin for skin saith the Deuill and all that hee hath a man will giue for his life Loe here to proue Sathan a lyer skinne and life and all hath Christ Iesus giuen for vs. Wee are besotted with the earth and make base shifts to liue one with a maimed bodie another with a periured soule a third with a rotten name and how many had rather neglect their soule than their life and will rather renounce and curse God than die It is a shame to tell Many of vs Christians doat vpon life and tremble at death and shew our selues fooles in our excesse of loue cowards in our feare Peter denies Christ thrice and forsweares him Marcellinus twice casts graines of incense into the Idols fire Ecebolius turnes thrice Spira reuolts and despaires Oh let mee liue saith the fearefull soule Whither doest thou reserue thy selfe thou weake and timorous creature or what wouldest thou doe with thy selfe Thou hast not thus learned Christ he died voluntarily for thee thou wilt not be forced to die for him he gaue vp the ghost for thee thou wilt not let others take it from thee for him thou wilt not let him take it for himselfe When I looke backe to the first Christians and compare their zealous contempt of death with our backwardnesse I am at once amazed and ashamed I see there euen women the feebler sex running with their little ones in their armes for the preferment of Martyrdome and ambitiously striuing for the next blow I see holy and tender Virgins chusing rather a sore and shamefull death than honourable Espousals I heare the blessed Martyrs Quod si venire nolucrint ego vim faciam vt dâ—â—orer intreating their tyrants and tormentors for the honour of dying Ignatius amongst the rest fearing lest the beasts will not deuoure him and vowing the first violence to them that he might bee dispatched And what lesse courage was there in our memorable and glorious fore-fathers of the last of this age and doe we their cold and feeble off-spring looke pale at the face of a faire and naturall death abhorre the violent though for Christ Alas how haue we gathered rust with our long peace Our vnwillingnesse is from inconsideration from distrust Looke but vp to Christ Iesus vpon his Crosse and see him bowing his head and breathing out his soule and these feares shall vanish he died and wouldest thou liue hee gaue vp the ghost and wouldest thou keepe it whom wouldest thou follow if not thy
not without the interuention of a Sauiour To which claime is laid in two kindes either as imputatiue or as inherent The inherent wrought in vs the imputed wrought for vs. How easie were it to leade you through a thicket of distinctions into a large field of controuersie concerning the nature meanes manner of our Iustification No head in all Diuinity yeelds either more or more important Problems In so much as Cardinall De Monte Vice-President for the time of the Councell of Trent in an Oration made by him in the eleuenth session professes that when they meant to dispatch their Decree concerning Iustification in fifteene daies it cost them seuen moneths to finish without one daies intermission and when all is done they haue left the world which was before as Pighius ingenuously intricated by the thorny questions of Schoolemen rather more vnsatisfied and perplexed than they found it It is the maine care of our liues and deaths what shall giue vs peace and acceptation before the dreadfull Tribunall of God What but righteousnesse What righteousnesse or whose Ours or Christs Ours in the inherent graces wrought in vs in the holy works wrought by vs or Christs in his most perfect obedience and meritorious satisfaction wrought for vs applied to vs The Tridentine faction is for the former wee are for the latter God is as direct on our side as his Word can make him Euery where blazoning the defects of our owne righteousnesse the imperfections of our best Graces the deadly nature of our least sinnes the radicall sinfulnesse of our habituall concupiscence the pollution of our best works Euery where extolling the perfect obedience of our Redeemer the gracious application of that obedience the sweet comfort of that application the assurance and vnfailablenesse of that comfort and lastly our happy rest in that assurance I instance not open the Booke see where your eies can looke beside these Satis apertè saith their Cassander The Scripture is cleare ours So is all antiquity if they beleeue that learned Arbiter So are their more ingenuous Doctors of the last age So would they all be if they had grace to know God themselues grace sinne heauen hell God perfectly iust themselues miserably weake Grace sensibly imperfect sinne vnmeasurably sinfull Lastly if they knew that heauen is for none but the pure that hell is for the presumptuous O Sauiour no man is iust through thee but he that is sanctified by thee What is our inherent justice but sanctity That we aspire towards wee attaine not to Woe were vs if we were not more iust in thee than sanctified in our selues wee are sanctified in part according to the weaknesse of our receit we are iustified thorowly according to the perfection of thine acceptation were we fully sanctified here we should be more than men were we not thorowly iustified we should be no more than sinners before thee whiles wee stand before thee as sinners we can haue no peace Let others trust in the Charets and Horses of their owne strength wee will remember the Name of the Lord our God The worke of thy Iustice shall bee our peace Peace is a sweet word Euery body would be glad of it especially Peace at the last as the Psalmist speakes How haue the politickly religious held out twigs for the drowning soule to catch at Due satisfactions vndue supererogations patronages of Saints bargaines of Indulgences woolward pilgrimages and at last after whips and haire-clothes leaue the dying soule to a feare of Hell doubt of Heauen assurance of Purgatory flames How truly may it now say to these Doctors as Iob to his friends Miserable comforters are yee all Hearken O yee deare Christians to a better voice that sounds from heauen Mat. 11.28 Come to mee all yee that labour and are heauy laden and I will giue you rest Is there any of you whose vnquiet brest boiles continually with the conscience of any foule sin whose heart is daily tyr'd vpon by the vultur of his secret guiltinesse whose bosome is gnawed before-hand with that hellish Worme which can no more giue ouer than die It bootes not to aske thee if thou wouldest haue peace Peace Rather than life Oh wherewithall shall I come before the Lord and bow my selfe before the most high God Micah 6. Shal I come before him with burnt offerings Wil the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rammes or with tenne thousand Riuers of Oyle Shall I giue my first borne for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sinne of my soule Heare O thou distracted heart what talkest thou of giuing to the owner The world is his thou art not thine owne Yea were these things thine and not his yet know it is not giuing but taking that must procure thy peace An infinite Iustice is offended an infinite Iustice hath satisfied an infinite mercy hath applied it Take thou hold by the hand of faith on that infinite mercy and justice of thy Sauiour The worke of his Iustice shall be thy peace Fly about whither thou wilt O thou weary Doue thorow all the wide Regions of the heauen waters thou shalt no where finde rest for the soles of thy feet but in this Arke of Christs perfect righteousnesse In vaine shalt thou seeke it in schooles of morality in learned Libraries in spacious fields and forrests in pleasant gardens in sullen retirednesse in witty conuersation in wanton Theaters in drunken cellers in tables of gluttony in beds of iust chests of Mammon whiffes and draughts of intoxication songs of ribaldry sports of recreation No no the more thou seekest it in most of these the further it flies from thee the further thou art from finding it and if these things may giue some poore truce to thy thoughts it shall soone end in a more direfull warre There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Stray whither thou wilt O thou wounded heart thorow the Lawnds and Woods alas the shaft sticks still in thee or if that bee shaken out the head None but the soueraigne Dittany of thy Sauiours righteousnes can driue it out and till it be out thou canst haue no peace In plaine termes wouldst thou haue peace None but Christ can giue it thee He will giue it to none but the penitent none but the faithfull Oh spend thy selfe into the sighes and teares of true repentance and then raise thy humbled soule to a liuely confidence in thine all-sufficient Redeemer Set thy Lord Iesus betwixt God and thy sins God cannot see thy debt but through thine acquitance By his stripes we are healed by his wounds we are stanched by his death we are quickned by his righteousnesse we are discharged The worke of his righteousnesse is our peace Oh safe and blessed condition of beleeuers Let sinne Satan world death hel doe their worst Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that iustifieth who shall condemne It is Christ that died yea rather that
abound euerywhere and make no difference betwixt Beggers and Princes Though Pharaoh and his Courtiers abhorred to see themselues louzy yet they hoped this miracle would be more easily imitable but now the greater possibility the greater foyle How are the great wonder-mongers of Aegypt abashed that they can neither make Lice of their owne nor deliuer themselues from the Lice that are made Those that could make Serpent and Frogs could not either make or kill Lice to shew them that those Frogs and Serpents were not their own workmanship Now Pharaoh must needs see how impotent a deuil he serued that could not make that vermine which euery day rises voluntarily out of corruption Iannes and Iambres cannot now make those Lice so much as by delusion which at another time they cānot chuse but produce vnknowing which now they cannot auoid That spirit which is powerfull to execute the greatest things when he is bidden is vnable to doe the least when he is restrained Now these corriuals of Moses can say This is the finger of God Ye foolish inchanters was Gods finger in the Lice not in the Frogs not in the Blood not in the Serpent And why was it rather in the lesse then in the greater Because ye did imitate the other not these As if the same finger of God had not beene before in your imitation which was now in your restraint As if yee could haue failed in these if ye had not beene onely permitted the other Whiles wicked minds haue their full scope they neuer look vp aboue themselues but when once God crosses them in their proceedings their want of successe teaches them to giue God his owne All these plagues perhaps had more horror then paine in them The Frogs creep vpon their clothes the Lice vpon their skins but those stinging Hornets which succeed them shall wound and kill The water was anoyed with the first plague the earth with the second and third this fourth fils the ayre and besides corruption brings smart And that they may see this winged army comes from an angry God not either from nature or chance euen the very Flies shal make a difference betwixt Aegypt and Goshen He gaue them their being sets them their stint They can no more sting an Israelite then fauor an Aegyptian The very wings of Flies are directed by a prouidence and doe acknowledge their limits Now Pharaoh finds how impossible it is for him to stand out with God since all his power cannot rescue him from Lice and Flyes And now his heart begins to thaw a little Goe doe sacrifice to your God in this Land or since that will not be accepted Goe into the wildernesse but not far but how soone it knits againe Good thoughts make but a thorow fare of carnall hearts they can neuer settle there yea his very misgiuing hardens him the more that now neither the murren of his cattell nor the botches of his seruants can stir him a whit He saw his cattle strucke dead with a sudden contagion hee saw his Sorcerers after their contestation with Gods messengers strucke with a scab in their very faces and yet his heart is not strucke Who would thinke it possible that any soule could be secure in the middest of such variety and frequence of iudgements These very plagues haue not more wonder in them then their successe hath To what an height of obduration will sin lead a man and of all sins incredulity Amidst all these storms Pharaoh sleepeth till the voice of Gods mighty thunders and hayle mixed with fire rouzed him vp a little Now as betwixt sleeping and waking he starts vp and sayes God is righteous I am wicked Moses pray for vs and presently layes downe his head againe God hath no sooner done thundering then he hath done fearing Al this while you neuer find him carefull to preuent any one euill but desirous still to shift it off when hee feeles it neuer holds constant to any good motion neuer prayes for himselfe but carelesly wils Moses and Aaron to pray for him neuer yeelds God his whole demand but higgleth and dodgeth like some hard chapman that would get a release with the cheapest First They shal not goe then Goe and sacrifice but in Aegypt next Goe sacrifice in the wildernes but not far off after Goe ye that are men then Goe you and your children onely at last Goe all saue your sheepe and cattle Wheresoeuer meere Nature is she is still improuident of future good sensible of present euill inconstant in good purposes vnable through vnacquaintance and vnwilling to speake for her selfe niggardly in her grants and vncheerfull The plague of the Grashoppers startled him a little and the more through the importunity of his seruants for when hee considered the fish destroyed with the first blow the cattle with the fift the corne with the seuenth the fruit and leaues with this eighth and nothing now left him but a bare fruitlesse earth to liue vpon and that couered ouer with Locusts necessity droue him to relent for an aduantage Forgiue me this once take from me this death onely But as constrained repentance is euer short and vnsound the West wind together with the Grashoppers blowes away his remorse now is he ready for another iudgement As the Grashoppers tooke away the sight of the earth from him so now a grosse darknesse takes away the sight of heauen too other darknesses were but priuatiue this was reall and sensible The Aegyptians thought this night long how could they chuse when it was six in one and so much the more for that no man could rise to talk with other but was necessarily confined to his owne thoughts One thinkes the fault in his owne eyes which he rubs oftentimes in vaine Others think that the Sunne is lost out of the Firmament and is now withdrawn for euer Others that all things are returning to their first confusion all think themselues miserable past remedy and wish whatsoeuer had befalne them that they might haue had but light enough to see themselues die Now Pharaoh proues like to some beasts that grow mad with baiting grace often resisted turnes to desperatenesse Get thee from me looke thou see my face no more whensoeuer thou commest in my sight thou shalt dye As if Moses could not plague him as well in absence as if he that could not take away the Lice Flyes Frogs Grashoppers could at his pleasure take away the life of Moses that procured them What is this but to run vpon the iudgements and run away from the remedies Euermore when Gods messengers are abandoned destruction is neere Moses will see him no more till he see him dead vpon the sands but God will now visit him more then euer The fearfullest plagues God still reserues for the vpshot All the former do but make way for the last Pharaoh may exclude Moses and Aaron but Gods Angell hee cannot exclude In sensible messengers are vsed when the visible are