by them out of the Apostle to the Hebrewes all these dyed not receiuing the promises but saluted thē a far off The Apostle speaketh there of the posterity of Abrahā Heb 11.13 who liued a long time as Pilgrims in strange countries and did receiue and possesse that land flowing with milke and hony promised vnto Abraham that they might bee thereby taught to seeke a better country in heauen although they had the types and figures of Christ v. 40 yet they had not Christ in their time exhibited in the flesh because as hee saith after God had prouided a better thing for vs that they without vs shold not be made perfect if they had had the flourishing land of Canaan Christ also in their time come in the flesh then should they haue seemed to bee made perfect without vs. But God did prouide better for vs as hee gaue vnto them that glorious figure of our rest in Christ so in our time in this last age of the world hee did exhibite the truth euen the cōming of Christ himselfe to performe the worke of our redemption They say further that if the soules of the departed bee in heauen Act. 9.36.40 then S. Peter should seeme to doe wrong to that good and charitable Tabitha to raise her vp againe from death and so to bring her from a blessed life with God into a sea of all mischiefes but it is euidēt that the mercy of God is shewed not onely in time of glorification Phil. 2.25 but also in time of sanctification S. Paul accounteth that Epaphroditus did obtaine mercy when being sicke he was recouered againe And of himselfe he saith that life was to him a losse Phil. 1 22. ◠21 and death an aduantage yet is he cōtent to remain longer in this life so that Christ may be magnified in his body In that raysing vp of Tabitha God was glorified in the miracle the poore were benefited by the preseruing of so charitable a woman full of almes and good workes Tabitha her selfe had a larger time in this life to set forth the paise of God which was a thing that the saintes of God haue sought for with earnest praier Psal 6.4 psal 30.9 Esay 38.18 psal 88.11 psal 115.17 when the saints of God do pray in the scriptures for the lēgthning of their daies in this world do giue this the reason of their petition because the dead cānot praise God nor magnifie his name we must not imagine that they thought that their soules in death should perish or haue no power to praise God but their meaning was that the deade could not in this world by their good exāple draw others to magnifie God that publike glorifying of God to the edifying of their brethren was the thing which in desiring long life they principally respected but Dauid say they doth plainly affirme psal 146.4 that when mās breath goeth out he returneth to the earth then all his thoughts perish by those thougetes hee meaneth such imaginations deuises as they practised in this life and in an other place he saith The desires of the vngodly shall perish Esay Esay 33. the Lorde doth scatter the counsels of the Gentiles The Prophet Dauid whē he hath shewed the iudgements of God vpon the wicked Psal 49.14 that they lie in the graue death gnaweth vpon them he addeth in the next verse v. 15. but God shall deliuer my soule from the power of the graue for he shall receiue me And let this suffice against the opinion of the Catabaptists CHAP. XI Of the future aestate of the soule against the Romanistes THe Church of Rome is an other way iniurious to the soules of the departed they acknowledge that they liue after death but yet that there is no passage for them into ioy rest vntil such paines haue been suffered as their Purgatory doth require This assertion is so plentifully confuted by so many euident and plaine testimonies of the scripture set down in the beginning of the tenth chapter that I hope I shall not need to stand long vpon it There is none vnlesse hee bee wilfully obstinate but he must needs acknowledge that it is a doctrine wholy iniurious and repugnant to the mercy and iustice of God and doth blasphemously derogate frō the merite of Christ his passion It standeth best with the infinite mercy of God to grant a sound and perfect benefit as to forgiue the guilt of our sinnes so also to remit the punishment It can in no wise agree with the iustice of God to forgiue our debts in Christ yet to exact the penalties thereof And what is there that can more obscure and annihilate the most noble price of our redemption then to make it a ransome from the fault or blame and no ransome from punishment That which Christ bare vppon the Crosse is taken away from vs. Now he bare the punishment of our sins as S. Peter saith 1. Pet. 2.24 He bare our sins in his body vpon the tree and by his stripes we are healed It is therfore the stripe plague due for sin that is remoued frō vs the paines griefes which depend vpon sin for a wounde is not healed vntil the griefe thereof be mittigated or abolished Aug. de verbis domini super Lucam serm 37. very well saith S. August Christus suscipiendo poenā non suscipiendo culpā culpā deleuit poenam Christ by taking vppon him our punishmēt not taking vpō him our fault hath taken away both fault and punishment when sins are forgiuen there may yet some afflictions remain to the children of God as there did to Adam and Dauid 2. Sam. 12.14 and do daily to Gods elect but those afflictions are fatherly instructions corrections and trials of their faith they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as proceede from the loue of God Eph. 1.7 they are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 punishmentes of vengeance nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 punishments of ransom Al those tribulations which we suffer after remission of sinne are like Cicatrices signa vulneris curati non curandi they are as scarres rather signes of a wounde cured then of a wound to bee cured they differ as far frō punishments of vengeance as loue doth differ frō hatred for they proceed of loue Heb. 12.6 whō the Lord loueth hee doth correct and they differ as farre from punishments of ransome as East is from the West There is no ransome able to satisfie the iustice of God against sinne but onely the death and passion of Iesus Christ If any thing in man could haue satisfied for sinne the Sonne of God had not dyed The punishment of corrections and instructions haue their place then only when there is time of repentance and that is onely in this life as Saint Hierom noteth vppon these wordes of Esay seeke the Lord while he may
iudgement sometimes manifest sometimes secret but alwayes iust A weake house must needes incline and also fall when the vnderproppers are remoued darkenesse must needes ensue when the Sunne is departed away Those bright beames of all light which were giuen to our first parentes are remoued and other gifts and excellent graces of God are in his iust iudgement so long withholden from our soules vntill by his holy spirit Act. 26.18 Eph. 1.18 Act. 5 10 Heb. 13.21 as the worker and by his holy worde as the instrument God in his good time doe lighten the eyes of our heartes purifie them by faith and confirme and strengthen vs to euery good worke CHAP. VII Of the immortality of the Soule Marsil Ficinuâ—m Theol. Platonis pag. 361. MArsilius Ficinus sheweth fiue sundry opinions of the Philosophers concerning the soule of man but of Christians which truely hope for immortality he wisheth the fower first assertions to be vtterly reiected and the first onely fit to be receiued and embraced The first sort of Philosophers were they which made the soule to be a certaine thinne body infused into a thicker a more subtle bodily substance infused into a grosser And of these some made it to bee fiery as Democritus Leucippus and Hipparchus Some to bee an ayre or an aeriall body as Anaximenes Diogenes and Critias some to bee a watery substance as Hippias some earthly as Hesiodus some of fire and ayre as Epicurus and some of water and earth as Xenophantes The second sort of Philosophers was of them which thought the soule to bee no bodily substance but some quality thereof dispersed through the body to wit either a heate or a complexion as was defended by Zeno Cleanthes Antipater and Possidonius A third sort iudged the soule to be no whole quality but some bright point of qualitie remaining in some beter part of the body and qualities to wit in the braine or heart and from thence gouerning the body their authors especially were Chrysippus Archelaus Heraclides The fourth sect were they which taught the soule to be a certaine point or pricke or indiuisible thing not fastened to any part but secluded from all set place wholy present to euery part of the body but yet such as it dependeth of the body either because the complection of the body did beget it or because it came of seede or of some proportion of matter and addicted to the matter as to her natural birth-place the chiefe broachers of this opinion were Xenophanes Colophonius Asclepiades Aristoxenus Critolaus To some of them the soule was nothing but a nimble force of mouing to others a harmony of corporall partes Others thought it a perfection of the senses others a conspiring of the Elements others a swarm of atomes The first and best sort of Philosophers Ficinus maketh to be those which defeÌ„d the soule to be a certain diuine indeuisible essence wholy ruling euery part of the body produced of an incorporeal author depending wholy on the vertue power of the worker not vpon the beginning or capacity or vertue of any material thing Thus thought Zoroaster Mercurius Pythagoras Plato and amongst these also he numbreth Aristotle It was a thing that mightily perswaded Plato that the soules both came froÌ„ God and were also immortal wheÌ„ he coÌ„sidered that her functions did not depend so vpon bodily instruments but she could performe all her chiefest actions without theÌ„ as he saith in Phaedo Ratiocinatur optimé quaÌ„do nihil eaÌ„perturbat Plato in Phaedone neque auditus neque visus neque dolor neque voluptas she doth reason and discourse best when neither hearing nor sight nor griefe nor pleasure do hinder her In age when the body groweth weake yet is ofteÌ„ her iudgement ripest though many sicknesses do bereaue the body of streÌ„gth yet the vigor of the soule is not thereby diminished she flieth beyond all the powers of the seÌ„ses more swift then the lightning from the east to the west shee can passe the seas as Plato saith in Axiochus in a moment Sort. in Axiocho Platouis she can calculate the course of Sunne moone stars shee can discourse of things past foresee things to come in ambiguous matters she can first doubt and then chuse and all these without the help of any bodily instrumeÌ„nts in knowledge she doth not only passe through humaine arts by defining deuiding dissoluing coÌ„pounding but she doth eueÌ„ pierce the skies shee coÌ„prehendeth the knowledge of God she conceiueth God his Angels to be essences immortal if brute beasts shold coÌ„ceiue reasoÌ„ they shold be then accounted reasonable Calu. Instit lib. 1. cap. 15. sect 2. This conceiuing of immortality hauing recourse to the fount aine of life is an euident argumeÌ„t that the soule is not a vanishing vapour but a diuine esseÌ„ce How chearefully went Socrates to his death Platonis Apolog when in his conscience he was perswaded that death was nothing els but as he said a flitting vnto another place where he should enioy the coÌ„pany of the Gods where vndoubtedly the dead were in better estate then the liuing Plato in Axiocho Hee made this to bee the definition of the death of theÌ„ that liued wel Discessus é vita est mali cuiusdaÌ„ in bonuÌ„ coÌ„mutatio the departure out of this life is nothing els but the chaÌ„ging of ill into good To the wicked hee confessed it to bee an entrance into some kindes of torments but to the wise and vertuous he thought it to be nothing but a chaÌ„ging of sorrows into all ioy happines what they were he could not define but of this he made no question Plato in Phaedone Socrates to Simmias 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To good soules it was surely better and to ill soules worse Philo. Iudacus It em Bruson lib. 4. cap. 10. When Crito one of Socrates his friendes asked him at the time of his death in what maner he would be buried he cryed out O my frendes I haue spent a great deale of labour in vaine I haue not yet perswaded Crito that I shall flie away leane no parte behind but Crito said he if thou canst ouertake me bury me how thou wilt his meaning was that the minde or soule is the man that the body was but an instrumeÌ„t or cotage or prison Anaxurchus the Philosopher wheÌ„ being taken by Nicocreon tyrant of Cypres Idem lib. 2. cap. 1. ex Plutarcho he was knocked with iron hammers hee said Tunde tunde probé Anaxarchi carnes ossa tunde Anaxarchi folleÌ„ AnaxarchuÌ„ nequaquà m laedes knocke knocke hardly the flesh and bones of Anaxarchus knocke his bellowes the instrument of his winde but Anaxarchus himselfe thou canst not hurt Ibid. Theodorus the Macedonian philosopher when Lysimachus threatned to hang him answered haec aulicis tuis minitare mea enim non refert humine an in cruce putrescam threaten
miseries of this worlde making light to shine in the middest of darkenesse Psal 112 4 Ioh. 16 20. and turning all their pensiuenesse into gladnesse but it conceiueth an assured hope of a better to wit an euerlasting life in the ioyes of heauen and that so soone as the soule is deliuered from the bodie The Apostle Paul did account his loosing from this prison to bee a present beeing with Christ I desire saith hee to bee dissolued and to bee with Christ Phil. 1.23 hee was assured that his remouing from this tabernacle should bee a present dwelling with the Lorde as hee saide wee had rather remoue out of the bodie 2. Cor. 5.8 and dwell with the Lord. Stephen prayed in faith and assurance that his soule should presently bee receiued into the hands of God Lord Iesus receiue my spirit Act 7.59 In the Reuelation of Saint Iohn Aopc 14.13 such a blessing and such a rest is promised to them that dye in the Lorde August in Psa 102. that their good workes may followe after them that is that God may crowne his giftes in them Our Sauiour saith to the repentant thiefe vpon the Crosse Luk. 23.43 This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise The soule of Lazarus beeing departed Luk. 16.22 was carried by Angelles into Abraham his bosome Polycarpus that holy Disciple of the Apostles amongst many excellent speeches at the time of his martyrdome added this Eccl. hist lib. 4 cap. 13. Hodiè representabor coram Deo in spiritu This day I shall be in soule represented before the Lorde The Wise man saith of the death of all the faithfull When earth goeth to earth Eccl 12.7 the spirit goeth to God which gaue it When the Prophet Dauid saith Psal 16 10. that God will not leaue his soule in hell nor suffer his holy one to see corruption No doubt hee prophesieth of the resurrection as it is expounded by Saint Peter Act. 2.29 but hee includeth in that resurrectioÌ„ of Christ the life also of his own soule hee called Christ his soule I liue saith the Apostle yet not I Gal. 2.20 but Christ liueth in me especially in the resurrection of Christ our life is hid with Christ Col. 3 2 therfore Dauid beleeueth that seeing his soule Vido Gen. 42 38. Iob 14.13 de significatione inferni Psal 16.11 and the life of his soule Christ Iesus shall not bee left in the graue he shall vndoubtedly be brought to the preseÌ„ce of God which hee calleth in the next verse a fulnesse of ioy and pleasures for euermore The hope of the Apostle Paul is to be made conformable to the death of Christ Phil. 3.10 vntill he come to the resurrection of the dead now as his death was no extinguishing of the humaine soule Ion. 2.3 Mat 12.39 but like the being â—f Ionas in the Whales belly his soule being stil safe and yeelded vp into the haÌ„ds of God as hee saide Father into thy handes I commend my spirite Luke 23.46 and like the sacrificing of Isaac wherein the soule remained vntouched so also by his quickening power Iohn 4.17 hee giueth to all his elect that well of water that springeth vp to eternall life The Ram which was offered in steed of Isaac may well signifie our body our irrationall part that dieth but the soule though it be a while bouÌ„d to the body as Isaac was bound yet as soone as the bandes are loosed it mounteth vp to the place of al blisse and perpetuall blessednes Our Sauiour saith Quia ego viuo vos viuetis Because I liue Iohn 14.19 Iohn 6.56 you shal liue I liue by the father and hee that feedeth on me shall liue by me Iohn 5.24 Hee that heareth my wordes hath life eternall and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life Eccle. hist lib 6. cap. 26. Aug. lib de heres c. 83 In decret distinct 2. de Iohanne Vide Gerson in sermone paschali Hereby are condemned two grosse heresies the one deuised first by the Arabians and after renewed by Iohn Bishoppe of Rome and of late defended by certain Anabaptistes to wit that the soule doth sleepe or dye with the body and that both are raysed vp againe together in the last day And the other of the Romish Catholikes confessing indeed that the soule liueth after death but yet that the soules of the children of God Their vsuall buls and indulgences goe for thousaÌ„ds of years doe and must remaine so many yeares or so many thousand yeares in Purgatory before they can be admitted to the ioyes of heauen For the former to wit such as defeÌ„d both body and soule to dye together and both at the last day to be raised together they are coÌ„demned as you haue heard by the manifest testimonies of the holy Scriptures you may adde if you please those wordes of our Sauiour Feare not them which kill the body Luke 12.5 and haue no power to kill the soule if the Soule dye as well as the body and together with the body how can it bee said that tyrants doe kill the one and not the other 2. Cor 5.1 4 How can the Apostle Paul desire no longer to be a Pilgrime from the Lord by remaining here in the body but rather to bee absent from the body and to bee present with the Lord vnlesse the soule remaine after death with what is God saide to bee present if both soule and body bee ouercome with death v. 1 or how can the Apostle say in the same place that when this earthly tabernacle is destroyed wee haue a building or house not made with hands but euerlasting in heauen vnlesse the soule do continue to possesse that heauenly habitation Our Sauiour Christ doth promise eternall life resurrection as two distinct things and the one taking place before the other Ioh. 6.39.40 This saith he is the will of the Father that whosoeuer beleeueth in the sonne should not perish but haue euerlasting life and I will rayse him vp in the last day Iohn 6.54 And againe hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath euerlasting life and I will rayse him vp in the last day And afterward Iohn 11.2 I am the resurrection and the life whosoeuer beleeueth in me though hee were dead yet hee shall liue and hee addeth hee that liueth and beleeueth in me shall not dye for euer The Saduces denyed not onely the resurrection but also the immortality of the soule Our Sauiour doth by one argument confute both their heresies Mat. 22 32 Exod. 3.6 God is the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Iacob God is not a God of the dead but of the liuing therefore Abraham Isaack and Iacob doe now liue Rom 14.8.9 and all the Saintes shall liue for euer S. Paul saith whether wee liue wee
bee found call vpon him while he is night that is saith he Dum estis in corpore Hierom. in Esay 55. V. 6. dum datur locus paeniteÌ„tiae et quaerite non loco sed fide while ye be in the bodie while place is granted for repentance and seeke him not in place but in faith The ransome of Christ is so sufficient to all those which with true faith take hold of it that as the Scriptures doe shewe vs plainely Psal 32.2 Rom. 8.33 Rom. 8 â— Esay 4â— 25. Micha there is no imputation of sinne no accusation no condemnation no remembrance and therefore as vpon these foure benefits doth necessarily followe they haue a perfect deliuerance both from fault and punishment The faith of Dauid was Psal 51.7 that when he is washed of the Lord hee is become whiter then snowe And Saint Iohn appointeth this onely purgrtorie for the Church of God 1 Ioh 1 1 the bloud of Iesus Christ to purge vs from all sinne If their purgatorie fire should appertaine to the Church it must needes be either to the Church militant or to the Church triumphant for there are but these two parts of the Church as the Apostle saith Col 1 20 that Christ hath reconciled and set at peace by the bloud of his Crosse both the things in earth and the things in heauen but it appertaineth not to the Church militant for then it should be on earth nor to the Church triumphant for then it should be in heauen therefore indeed it appertaineth to no part of the Church of God There are but two kindes of ioyes and torments the one temporall the other eternall the temperall are al of this life the eternall are those which followe after this life 2. Cor 4 18 as the Apostle saith the things which are seene are temporall the thinges which are not seene are eternall The ordaining of a temperall ioy or a temporall punishment after this life is a thing that the Scriptures doe no where acknowledge Our Sauiour Christ and likewise Iohn the Baptist Luke 24 47 Mark 1 4 did preach repentance for forgiuenesse of sinnes whereby they plainely shewed that where there is no place for repentance there is rhere no place for forgiuenesse of sinnes Math 25 10 1 Cor 9 14 but after this life there is no place of repentance for then the gate is shut and the race of this life is already run Cyp. saith quaÌ„do istinc excessus fuerit nullus paenitentiae totus Cyprian coÌ„tra Demetri c. When man is departed out of this life there is then no place of repentance therefore to them which dye without repentance there is after this life no hope of forgiuenesse of sinnes Bee faithfull saith Christ vnto death Apoc. 2.10 and I will giue to thee the crowne of life Rom. 10 14 Faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word preached where there is no place of hearing there can there not be any place of increase of faith Aug. in Psal 3 It was well aduised by Saint Augustine tuus certè vltimus dies longè abesse non potest ad hunc te praepara qualis enim exieris ex hac vita talis redderis illi vitae thy last day cannot be farre off prepare thy selfe vnto it for in what maner thou shalt depart out of this life in the same estate thou shalt bee restored to the life to come Aug ad Hesy 1 pâ—t 80. Qualis in die isto moritur talis in die illo indicabitur as man dieth in this world so shall he be iudged in the world to come They obiect that which is saide of Saint Peter that Christ going did preach vnto the Spirits which were in prison once disobedient when the mercy of God did waite in the dayes of Noah 1 Pet. 3 12 The purpose of the Apostle is there to shew that Christ did alwayes in all ages shew his diuine power as namely when by Noah he preached to those disobedient spirites which are now in prison that is in hel as likewise in Saint Iohn Apoc. 2 â— 7 the word prison is taken for hell and if they take it for purgatorie they are two wayes condemned by their owne doctrine for first they confesse that not purgatorie but hell is the place for such as are infidels and rebellious and no members of the true Church Nowe Saint Peter sheweth that not the family of Noah which did represent the Church of God but the other disobedient and vnfaithfull people were cast into this prison and therefore by the prison must needes be meant that place which appertaineth not to the Church of God Secondly some of them seeme to teach that the Fathers in the olde Testament were in a Limbo patrum but in no purgatorie and that purgatory only tooke place after the comming of Christ If that be their meaning little reason then haue they to drawe vnto purgatorie those thinges which are spoken of the people in the olde Testament and much lesse to make such contrarie maners of the remitting of sinne The Apostle sheweth euidently 1. Thes 4.17 that in the end of the world at the second comming of Christ they which shall be then found aliue shall bee sodainly catched vp to meete the Lord and remaine euer with the Lord. The tenour of Gods iustice is alwaies one and the same against sinne and therefore it is no wayes likely that in so many seuerall ages of the world there should be such farre differing estates of soules departed They alledge the fact of Iuda 2. Mach. 12.14 who when some of his meÌ„ being slaine in the battell were found to haue vnder their garmeÌ„ts little reliques of Idolatrie did send two thousand groates to Ierusalem to offer for them and this acte is called a holy and godly cogitatioÌ„ because he made an expiation for the dead that they might bee loosed from their sinnes This may be answered with the same answere which Saint Augustine maketh against the Donatists who vrged out of the Machabees that it is lawfull for a man to kill himselfe because when Rhasis killed himselfe Mach. 14.2 42 43. he is there twise commended to dot it generosè or viriliter nobly and manfully Saint Augustine telleth them that that is a Scripture recepta ab ccclesia non inutiliter si sobriè legatur Aug. contra 2. Gaudentii epist cap 23 â— receiued of the Church not vnprofitably if it be soberly read It is then soberly read when no newe doctrine is collected out of it against the lawe and the Prophets The law appointed no such vse of offerings to offer for them which perished in Idolatrie how damnable the sinne was it may well appeare by the grieuous punishment of Achan Iosua 7.24 But wee may answeare rather with the iudgement of that ancient expositio symbols attributed to Cyprian that those bookes of the Machabees are no Canonicall scripture
conceit of Purgatory or temporall punishments endured by the soules departed but as hauing an eye to the resurrection which was yet to ensue and neyther to be hastened nor to be deferred by any prayers and yet they prayed to testifie their hope as S. Paul praied for Onesiphorus 2. Tim. 1.18 that the Lorde would graunt vnto him that hee may find mercy with the Lord in that day meaning as some expound it the day of resurrection hee had a further respect in his praier then eyther to his life or to his death and so had the fathers a further respect then to the present estate of the soules for as for their present estate they did not doubt of their happy rest Augustine when hee prayed for his mother said Credo quodiam feceris quod te rogo Aug. confess lib. 9 cap. 12 sed voluntaria oris mei approbo Domine non respondebit illa se nihil delere sed respondebit demissa debita sua ab eo cui nemo reddet quod pro nobis no debens reddidit I beleeue that thou hast already graunted what I request but good Lord accept the voluntary wordes of my mouth shee shall not say that she oweth nothing but shee will answere that her debtes are forgiuen of him to whome no man can recompence that which hee hath freely done for vs. And so likewise although Ambrose prayed for Theodosius yet hee doubted not but that he was in eternal glory Ambros de obitu Theod. for so he affirmed Absolutus crimine fruitur nunc Theodosius luce perpetua tranquilitate diuturna sanctorumque caetibus gloriatur Theodosius hauing his sinne remitted doth euen now enioy perpetuall light and a lasting rest and doth triumph in the company of the saints by the name of prayers were oftē signified thanksgiuings 2. Tim. 2.22 psal 14.4 as indeed calling vpon the name of God is taken often in the scriptures for the whole seruice of God They had their commemoration of the dead especially at the ministration of the Lords supper which they tooke to bee Eucharistia a sacrament of thanksgiuing and as Chrysostome noteth what was done for the dead was done most in Hymnes doe testifie their ioy and thankfulnesse Quid sibi volunt Hymni nonne glorificamus Deum Chrysost ad popul Antioch hom 70 gratias illi agimus quia iam defunctum coronauit haec omnia sunt gaudentium What meaneth Hymnes or songes doe wee not glorifie God and giue thankes vnto him that hee hath already crowned a soule departed Al these are effectes of hearts reioycing And further in the commemoration of the dead there was especially a rehearsing of the resurrection of our Sauiour by himselfe and all the Saints by him to shew that that was the time which they most respected and if they praied for forgiuenes of the sinnes of the departed the meaning of their petition was that their sinnes should not be imputed vnto them in the resurrection Vide August in Io. tract 49 How lawfully they might make that praier I will not now dispute It sufficeth here to haue shewed that they did not acknowledge any temporall tormentes after this life appertaining to such as haue ended their dayes in the faith of Christ and that the secret rest which they placed in Abrahams bosome did not signifie vnto them a sleepe or idle rest but a place of ioy and happinesse Ioh 8 56 that as it was Abraham his ioy in this world to see the dayes of Christ so it is a farre more infinite felicity to him and his faithfull seede this transitory life being ended to behold and fully to enioy the presence of our Redeemer in the eternall kingdome of heauen S. Augustine sayth that hee doth fully belieue that his sweet friend Nebridius is in Abrahams bosome Aug. confess lib. 9. hee sheweth presently what that is Pomt spirituale os adfontem tuum bibit quantum potest sapientiam pro auiditate sua sine fine foelix He setteth his spirituall mouth to thy fountain O Lord and drinketh wisedome to the full according to his chiefest desire being happy without end This happy estate of the soules of Gods saintes is at large laid open by the manifold testimonies of the holy scriptures in the beginning of my tenth Chapter as likewise in the whole course of that and the chapter following By the word of God as by the touchstone of all truth the ancient fathers doe desire that their writings should bee examined what is agreeable thereto to be receiued and what not to be reiected Augustine sayeth Aug. in psal 57. Auferantur é medio chartae nostrae prodeat in medium codex Dei Let our writings bee laide aside and let place bee giuen to the booke of God Hee also nameth the olde and new Testament Duo vbera Ecclesiae The two breastes of the Church out of which all sound and perfect truth must bee drawne and deriued vnto vs. In them wee finde but onely these two places or habitation for the soules once separated from the bodies to wit for them which dye in carnall security as did the rich glutton hell torments those which are spoken of in Deuteronomie fire is kindled in my wrath Deut. 32.24 and my wrath doth burne to the bottome of hell those which are called by Salomon the Chambers of death by Esay a tophet prepared deepe and large Esay 30.33 the burning whereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord a fire of brimstome to kindle it and by our Sauiour vnquenchable fire where the worme neuer dyeth Mar. 9.44 the flame neuer goeth out And in the Reuelation A lake burning with fire and brimstone which is the second death of those torments Apoc. 21. ◠Abraham said to the rich man Luke 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is such a gulfe and distance placed betwixt them and the ioyes of the godly that there is no hope of passage from one to an other whereby is signified that the paines are vnrecouerable easelesse endlesse and hopelesse But for them which close vppe their eyes in a true faith vnfained repentāce Iohn 16.22 there are prepared eternall ioyes in the kingdome of heauen where the knowledge will integrity and all the powers of the soule Luke 20.36 shall haue such a correspondencie and conformity to the wil of God that they shall bee equall with the blessed Angels and where wee shall haue the fruition of Gods presence wherein doth consist the fulnesse of ioy For as the Apostle doth make this as greatly to augment the vengeance that is shewed on them which shall bee punished with euerlasting perdition 2. Thes 1.9 because it shall bee from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power so on the other side this is named as a high degree in our heauenly felicity that as here we see in a glasse 1. Cor. 13 12.
so there we shall see face to face and as here wee know in part so there we shall know euen as we are knowne It was well saide of an ancient Father In hac vita multa videmus quae non habemus Greg. 1 9. moral 2. in alia idem est videre quod habere In this life wee see many thinges which wee haue not in possession but in the life to come to see and to possesse are both one Aug. in psal 26 Augustine saith Quicquid praeter Deum est dulce non est quicquid mihi vult dare Dominus meus auferat totum se mihi det Whatsoeuer is besides God that cannot bee pleasant whatsoeuer God would bestow on mee let him take it away all and giue himselfe vnto mee In that enioying the presence of God in the life to come there is all sufficiency of delightes as is taught in the Reuelation of S. Iohn Reuel 21.22 That Citty hath no neede of the Sunne nor Moone to shine in it for the glory of God doth lighten it and the Lambe is the light thereof And there is also all continuance and eternity Reuel 21.4 as is saide in the same Prophesie There shall be no more death nor sorrow nor paine but the Lord shal wipe away all teares from our eyes vnto the which glorious and eternall rest 1. Pet. 2.24 the Lord Iesus who bare our sinnes in his body on the tree and is the shepheard and Bishoppe of our Soules bring both our bodies and soules happily and speedily Apoc. 22 20 euen so come Lord Iesus Now vnto the king euerlasting immortall inuisible 1. Tim. 1.17 vnto God onely wise be honor glory for euer and euer FINIS TWO SERMONS OF THE DVties of our thankefulnes towardes GOD Preached at Camerwell in Surrey the xxii of May 1603. BY SIMON HARVVARD And now by him published as not vnfit for this time wherein GOD hath so gratiously visited vs and so plentifully powred down his blessinges vpon vs. LONDON Imprinted by Iohn Windes 1604 TO THE RIGHT worshipfull Sir Edmond Bowyer Knight one of the King his Maiesties Iustices of Peace in the County of Surrey and to the vertuous Lady the Lady Katherine Bowyer his louing wife many ioyfull and happy yeares ALthough Right worshipful at my last being with you the principall cause why I chose that text of thanksgiuing being a part of the Psalm which was read in the church that Sabboth was to stir vp our mindes to render hearty prayse vnto God as well for the peaceable happy and ioyfull entrance of our most Gracious Soueraigne Lord the King his Maiesty into the possession of these his Realmes and dominions as also for the assured hope which wee may euery way conceiue of hauing the truth of the Gospel of Christ by his Graces religious care to bee most firmely established amongst vs and likewise to declare by that text what duties wee owe vnto the Almighty for these and all other his inestimable benefites yet seeing I doe now commit to Presse a little Treatise concerning the Soule and Spirit of Man and that it is for the giftes and graces of the soule for which wee are bound especially to render prayses vnto God I haue therefore thought it not impertinent to adde to the ende of my Description of the Soule those two Sermons which I lately preached at Camerwell as a fit conclusion of the Discourse before penned In setting them downe in writing I haue as neere as I could deliuered the very same which then I spake Onely I haue thought it best for the ease of the reader to place in the margent the places and verses of the textes and authorities which in the vttering of them I did thinke it more conuenient vsually to name that such as were present and stored with the Scriptures might the better make some profitable vse therof In the publishing of these Sermons I haue endeuoured according to the talent graunted to me generally to benefite my Countrey In consecrating them particularly as a small token of my dutifull affection towards your Worships my purpose only is to shewe some thankfull remembrance of your late sauour and kindnesse in affoording me your good assistāce concerning a motion made by my best wel-willers for the benefit of me mine The prayses and thanksgiuings which are due vnto God do nothing disanull that thākfulnes which we owe vnto men as instrumēts appointed of God for our good Nay rather by a humane gratitude as by a hād God doth leade vs to the performance of that which is due to his diuine Maiestie For very well may be framed of it the selfe same argument which the Apostle doth make concerning loue 1. Ioh. 4.20 He which is not thankfull to man whom he seeth how can he be thankfull to God whom he hath not seene It is recorded of Thales the Miletian one of the seuen wise men of Greece Stob. Serm. 78 that when studying Astronomy and looking vp towards the starres by for getting himselfe he fel into a ditch a foolish simple maid could tell him that it was a iust reward for such a one as would so contemplate vpon the heauens that he should in the meane time forget his owne feet To auoid the danger of this reproofe in the middest of these my meditations of our heauenly spiritual thankfulnes towards God I haue endeuoured somewhat to keepe my selfe from falling into the pit of humane ingratitude to present vnto you this little pledge of my dutifull remembrance which although being two Sermons they might well haue borne to either of you a seuerall Dedicatory yet for as much as they were both made at one time when I came to congratulate your worships for the late fauours worthily bestowed vpon your deserts and do both of them containe one matter being parts one of another and as it were not two but one bodie I doe here present them iointly vnto you nothing doubting but that you will yeeld the same approbation to them being Printed as you vouchsafed to giue vnto them when they were first before you vttered or as you haue vsually affoorded to such other Treatises as I haue heretofore published vnder your names God graunt your Worships long to remaine either a happie comfort to the other in this life and in the end accomplish your long felicitie with an eternall blisse in his kingdome From Tanridge this 31. of December 1603. Your Worships to be commaunded SIMON HARWARD THE FIRST SERMON of Thanksgiuing PSALME 107. V. 21. Let them celebrate before the Lord his goodnesse and his wonderfull workes before the children of men Ver 22. And sacrificing the sacrifice of prayse let them tell forth his doings with gladnesse THis most Diuine Psalme Right Worshipful and beloued doth very notably describe vnto vs the prouidence of God in the gouernment of the world and doth on the other side put vs in mind what thankfulnesse is required
in mā for whose benefit and comfort the workes and affaires of this world are in such wonderfull maner managed and ordered The Psalmist deliuereth fiue especiall examples of Gods prouidence V. 4. First of exiles and pilgrims when as they do wander in desertes and are in most extremities hungrie and thirstie and their souls fainting in them the Lord doth often heare them when they cry vnto him bring thē to a city where they may dwel The second example is of captiues who whē for their sinnes V. 10. they lye fast bound in miseries and irons if they earnestly cal for Gods merciful aide the Lord doth bring them out of darknes the shadow of death and breake their bands asunder V. 17. The third proofe of Gods prouident mercy is when foolish men are by some sicknes plagued for their iniquities whē their soule doth refuse all food and sustenance and that they are now at deathes dore if in their miserie they crie vnto the Lord the Lord doth send forth his word heale thē and deliuer them from the pit of corruption The fourth spectacle of Gods goodnesse is in ship-men V. 23. who goe downe into the Seas and occupy their busines in great waters when they are in most perill mounting vp to heauē and falling downe againe to hel when they stagger and be at their wits end if then they cry vnto the Lord in their troubles then sendeth hee a gracious calme and bringeth them to the hauē where they would bee The fift as it were a theater of Gods prouidence is in the altering and changing not onely of dumbe creatures bringing some times riuers into drie deserts V. 33. sometime drie groundes into springes or ponds of water sometimes making a fruitfull land barren for the wickednes of them that dwell therein and sometimes so blessing the land V. 40. that men may sowe and plant to yeeld thē fruites of encrease but also in altering the estates of men somtimes powring out contempt vpon princes and somtimes lifting vp the poor out of his miserie and making him housholds like a flocke of sheepe The Verse which now I haue chosen to intreate of is called versus amaebaeus a verse that doth answere by turnes because in the end of the foure first histories it is added still as a conclusion of the historie to shewe vnto vs what vse we must make of Gods gracious deliuerances not to passe by them as it were with closed eyes but to stirre vp both our selues and others to magnifie the name of God for these his vnspeakable mercies The Psalmist may seeme to direct this his Psalme only to a thankfulnes for corporall benefits but no doubt in the same he doth include also the spirituall blessings of God When he speaketh of the miseries of man hee sheweth the causes to be their sinnes as speaking of captiues lying in miserie and iron V. 11. hee saith it was because they rebelled against the worde of the Lord lightly regarded the counsell of the most high And after of sicknes foolish men are plagued saith he for their wickednes iniquities V. 17. And after of barrennes of soile A fruitfull lād saith he he maketh barrē V. 34. for the wickednes of them that dwell theerin As then hee noteth the cause of all calamities to be sinne So when he celebrateth God his gratious deliuerāce he doth vndoubtedly include the remouing of the cause as well as the effect doth exhort vs to praise God for the remission of our transgressions If the Israelites were bound to prayse God for their deliuerance frō the thraldom of Aegypt and generally all others which are the redeemed of the Lord as it is here said in the secōd verse whome he hath redeemed from the hands of the oppressors how much more ought they to bee thankfull which are deliuered from the tyranny of the diuell Rom. 16 2◠when the God of glorie and peace doth treade downe Satan vnder our feete If they did owe thanks which from wandering in the wildernes were broght to this happines to haue at the last cities to dwel in what thanks is required of vs who frō wandering in the by-pathes of sin and error are by our heauenly Iosua Christ Iesus broght home to be citizens with the Saints Ephe. 2.19 of the houshold of God in this life and heires by hope of the celestial Ierusalē in the world to come Apoc. 21.2 If prisoners giue al humble praise whē they are deliuered from their darkenes misery and irons how much more then ought we to be thankfull when by the glorious triūph of our Sauiour Christ Osea 13.14 1. Cor. 15.55 we are deliuered from the dungeon of the graue hell death damnatiō If they haue great cause of thākfulnes which haue escaped the dāgers of sicknes and infirmities then much more are they to be gratefull who by the heauenly Physitian our Lord Iesus are cleansed and cured of their sinnes which are indeed the originall causes of their diseases and maladies For this deliuerance doth the kingly Prophet Dauid Psal 103.3 first principally praise Gods holy name because hee forgaue all his sins and healed all his infirmities By temporal benefits the weaknes of our nature is taught to rise vp to the consideration of spirituall blessings and if we be not wilfully blind wee may easily and plainely conceiue that if corporall giftes are to be acknowledged to be the free blessings of God as we are taught to pray giue vs our daily bread then much more must wee confesse all spirituall benefits to bee the free gifts of God bestowed vpon vs by the mercy of God in through his sonne Christ Iesus If wee cannot merit things needefull for the body much lesse can we merit the ransoming of the soule If wee are bound to praise God for deliuerances appertaining to the bodie then by good reason as much as the soule is more precious then the bodie so much more ought we to be thankful for the soule then the bodie The Psalmist in this Amaebaean verse so often repeated in this Psalme doth vpon euery particular deliuerance frō either banishment or prison or sicknes or tempest still exhort the partie deliuered that hee will thereby rise vp to a generall consideration of the goodnesse of God of all his wonderfull works which he hath wrought for mankind In these two verses which I haue red vnto you there are two especiall things offered to our consideratiō The diuision of the text First for what we are to celebrate magnifie the name of God to wit for his goodnes for his wonderfull workes Secondly how we must shew our thankfulnes to wit first both before the Lord and before the childrē of men secondly by offering the sacrifice of thāksgiuing and telling forth his works with gladnes The goodnes of God as is taught by our Sauior is the first
sake and will remember thy sinnes no more And againe a litle after Esay 48.9 V. 11. For mine owne sake I will be gracious for mine owne glory I wil refraine mine anger and will not destroy thee Propter me propter me faciam It is for my selfe and mine owne sake that I will do this for thee There was no cause in the Iewes that God should chuse them as elect vessels to cary the treasure of his word and to passe by so many other nations more rich and more populous Neither is there any cause in vs that we should haue the Gospell in peace and quietnesse preached vnto vs which blessing is denied to many mighty nations about vs. The cause is onely in the free goodnesse of God wherewith he embraceth his elect and chosen and therefore we may well say of our nations as Esay sayd of the Iewes of his time Isai 1â— If the Lord had not left vnto vs a remnant we had bene as Sodome and Gomorrha Such is our vnthankfulnesse for Gods manifold blessings such is our carelesnesse and dulnesse in prayer such is our disobedience and contempt of God his holy word that vnlesse there were a remnant of God his elect people amongst vs it could not haue bene but long before this time we should haue had the iudgement of Sodome and the cities adioyning in full measure powred vpon vs. But God hath a remnant of his elect amongst vs and in respect of his free loue towards them he doth still continue his goodnesse towards vs. God be eternally praysed for that remnant of his elect God graunt vs to be of that number God increase them daily God so continue and multiply them that the truth of his holy Gospell may still remaine to vs and to our posterity for euer A good hope we haue in the second property of Gods goodnesse to wit in the continuance and perpetuity thereof Saint Iames doth teach vs Iam. 1.13 that with the Lord there is no change nor shadow of change If we cast off the kindnesse of men we can yet haue no full assurance of the continuance of their benefits because the harts of men are variable Math. 21.8 They which this day doe cut downe bowes to strew in the way may to morow cry away with him and crucifie him But with God with whom there is no change nor shadow of mutability euery experience of Gods goodnesse is a sufficient argument of the perpetuity thereof as the king Prophet saith Psal 61.3 Thou Lord hast bene my refuge and strong tower against the enemy therefore I will dwell in thy tabernacle for euer and seeke my succor vnder the shadow of thy wings Whom God doth loue Iohn 13.2 Rom. 11.27 he doth loue to the end and the gifts and calling of God are without repentance It is his owne voice by the Prophet Isay 54.8 In a moment of time haue I hid my face from thee but in mine euerlasting mercy will I gather thee againe saith the Lord thy redeemer When Dauid doth in thankfulnesse of mind extoll the goodnesse of God Psal 136. he doth principally praise and magnifie the perpetuitie thereof And therefore in his Psalme of thanksgiuing as neuer sufficiently satisfied with the consideration thereof he doth still in euery verse repeate the mercie of God endureth for euer Many causes we giue for the abbridging and with-holding thereof but the Lord being patient long suffering Esay 30.18 doth still waite for our repentance Why will ye die O ye house of Israel Thus sayth the Lord I will not the death of a sinner Ezech. 18.31 but if he repent he shall liue We haue many wayes offended but God his goodnesse doth yet still enlarge it selfe towardes vs We are all as drie stubble yet the Lord doth not burne vs vp we are barren trees yet the Lord doth not cut vs downe we are all vnfruitfull ground yet the Lord doth make his Sunne to shine and raine to fall vpon vs. We haue often deserued Gods louing countenance to be turned from vs but we may thankfully say with the Prophet Misericordia est Domini Ierâ—m Iam. 3.22 quòd non consumimur It is the mercie of the Lord that we are not consumed This perpetuitie of God his goodnesse is our chiefest comfort in all afflictions and distresses For thereby though we be killed all the day long yet with the Apostle we are assured that neither life nor death nor principalitie nor power Rom. 8.38 nor any other thing shall separate vs from the loue of God in Christ Iesus Though God punish vs yet we doe chearefully with Iob blesse the name of God assuring our selues that whom the Lord doth loue he doth correct Hebr. 12. â— and scourgeth euery sonne whom hee doth receiue If we bee thankfull onely in prosperitie we loue not God but we loue the prosperity but herein appeareth the triall of our loue when we say with Iob Iob. 1â— 15 Although God kill me I will put my trust in him And doe with the Apostles reioyce that we bee accounted worthie to suffer any rebuke for the name of Christ Iesus Act. 5.41 It is good for me sayd Dauid that I haue bene afflicted that I might learne thy statutes Before I was afflicted Psal 119.71 67. I went astray but now O Lod I learne thy commaundements Psal 112.4 Vnto the godly saith Dauid there doth arise vp light in darknesse In the middest of all troubles they haue a sweete feeling of Gods goodnesse If sicknesse or any grieuous calamitie doe happen vnto the wicked all their ioy and comfort is vtterly driuen away The candle of the wicked as Salomon doth call it is soone put out Prou. 24.20 But the godly and faithfull though they be often ouer-whelmed with darknesse and misery yet their light doth still arise Ioh. 16.22 the sweete feeling of the mercie of God in Christ doth neuer depart from them They are assured that all things will worke for the best to them that loue God Rom. 8.28 they acknowledge that all their sorowes and sicknesses are nothing so great as their manifold follies and trespasses haue deserued and as the palme-tree the more waight is hanged vppon it the better it is sayd to prosper so the greater calamities they endure the more their faith doth flourish and the more zealous they are in prayer as the Psalmist here affirmeth Psal 107. Ve. 19. They crie vnto the Lord in their trouble and he deliuereth them out of their distresse O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnes and declare his wonderfull workes before the children of men The second thing for which the Prophet doth here exhort vs to praise God is the effect of his goodnesse to wit his wonderfull deliuerances in the midst of all distresses Ve. 20. He sayth in the verse going before that God sendeth forth his word and healeth
for thou hast created al things by thy will they are haue bin created worthy is the Lambe that was killed Apoc. 5.12 to receiue power and riches wisedome and strength and honour and glory and praise Of which celestial thanksgiuing hee make vs al partakers that dyed for vs all euen that Lambe Christ Iesus to whome with the Father and the holy Ghost bee all glory Maiestie honour and praise now for euer Amen The End of the First Sermon THE SECOND SERmon of Thanksgiuing PSALME 107. V. 21. And sacrificing the sacrifice of prayse let them tell forth his doings with gladnesse COncening that which hath already beene spoken in the forenoone as well of the generall argument of the Psalme as also of the particular handling of the former part of my text I purpose not now right Worshipfull and beloued to make any repetition thereof partly because it was so lately vttered and partly because as some of you know I must of necessitie hasten to another place It remaineth onely now that I proceede somewhat further with the fruites and effects of thankfulnesse which then I began to speake of and to enterpret the verse following of our offering the sacrifice of praise and telling forth his workes with gladnesse The sacrifices which here the Psalmist speaketh of are not propitiatory but eucharisticall not for ransome of sinne but for rendering of thankes The propitiatorie sacrifices of the olde Testament Heb. 10.1.8 were types and shadowes of the passion of Christ The truth being come those shadowes are vanished away The last altar was the Crosse the last sacrifice was the bodie and bloud of Christ Heb. 7 17 and the last sacrificing priest was Christ Iesus himselfe a priest for euer after the order of Melchizedeck The order of Aaron had successours which did often offer sacrifices because they were vnperfect But the order of Melchizedeck is to haue no successour Christ offered a perfect sacrifice and therefore without any neede of repeating it he offered himselfe once for all Heb. 10.14 No mortall man nor yet any angel of God was fit to offer this sacrifice but onely Christ Iesus himselfe who was holy pure Heb 7.26 blamelesse and higher then the heauens he offered himselfe once for all Heb. 9.26 He ordained the sacrament of his bodie and bloud not to bee an altar 1 Cor 10.21 but a table not to offer but to receiue not to be a sacrifice 1 Cor 10 16 but a heauenly supper wherein our soules doe feede vpon the bodie and bloud of Christ and doe enioy a communion or common partaking thereof not to bee a propitiatory act but eucharisticall as that sacrament was called in the primitiue Church eucharistia a solemne and publike thankesgiuing vnto God for all the benefits which wee receiue in and through his Son Christ Iesus The sacrifice was offered by Christ himselfe It is sufficient for vs by faith to feede vpon it and thankfully to acknowledge that all is ours 1. Cor 3 â—2 as wee are Christs and Christ is Gods Phil 1 17 Without this faith all our thankesgiuings are but dead sacrifices as were the offerings of Kaine Gen. 4.3 who did offer to God as well as Abel but not with the faith of Abel Luk 1â— 11 And as were the speaches of the Pharisie Lord I thanke thee that I am not as other men when he sought more to exalt himselfe then to giue glorie and prayse vnto God Be there neuer so good a proportion of a body in the outward lineaments yet if the life be absent it is not a bodie but a carkase euen so be there neuer so good words in prayer and thanksgiuing yet if the soule bee absent for the life and soule of God his seruice is faith in the bloud of Christ then is our honouring of God but only a mere shadow ad carkase howsoeuer it do carry an outward shew of holines The good Christians of the primitiue Churches did not thinke it sufficient in God his great deliuerances to testifie their ioy with bonefires ringing of belles reuelings and belly-cheare but they shewed their thankfulnes by a general and solemne receiuing of that sacrament which they called Eucharistia the sacrament of thanksgiuing to wit Cyprian in serm de orat Dom. the Supper of the Lord by the often and zealous receiuing whereof they did both testifie their thankefulnesse vnto God and acknowledge also by whom they hoped that their prayers and prayses should be graciously receaued Apoc. 8.3.4 Christ onely it is that hath the golden censer to offer vp the prayers of the Saintes before the throne of God and with the smoake of the odours that is with the sweete sauour of his oblation the prayers of the Saintes go vp to the presence of God Dauid when hee hath called to mind the manifolde blessings of God Psal 116 13 can finde no other way to bee thankefull but onely by receiuing the cup of saluation and calling vpon the name of the Lorde V. 17 by paying his vowes vnto God and offering vnto God the sacrifice of thankesgiuing True thankefulnes requireth that our heart should loue God our lippes prayse God our bodie and soule obey God and our goods with all that we haue serue for the glorie and honour of God And each of those duties is accounted in the holy Scriptures to as it were a sacrifice offered to God For the hart the Lord saith by the wisedome of Salomon Prou. 23.26 My Sonne giue me thy hart and let thine eyes marke deligently my wayes The sacrifice of the Lord saith Dauid is a contrite spirit a contrite spirit and a broken heart Psal 51.19 â— O Lorde thou wilt not despise In the sacrifices of the olde Testament the Israelites did first behold the wrath of God against sinne that the rewarde of sinne was death for the Ramme Rom 6.23 Heyfer and such like being sacrificed did plainely shewe vnto them what they had deserued and thereby they conceiued a griefe for sinne and a loathing of sinne Secondly it was vnto them a liuely figure of the passion of Christ Ioh. 8.56 whereby they were stirred vp to loue the Lorde for his goodnesse and to reioyce in the beholding of the dayes of Christ And thirdly the sacrifice was as it were a vowe of amendment of life They vowed that as that beast was slaine vpon the altar so they would from thence foorth slay mortifie the wicked corruptions of their sinfull nature In which respect God doth call it a couenant Psal 50.5 when hee saith they make a couenant with mee by their sacrifice If these thinges to wit the griefe for sinne the loue of God and the full purpose to amend were wanting then was the sacrifice before God abhominable To him will I looke saith God euen to him that is poore and of a contrite spirite Isay 66.2 and that trembleth at my wordes