him that deserves it for it is neither in Paul that preacheth nor in Apollo that watereth nor in any second cause to open the doore of mens hearts being barred up by the malice of the devill and become infatuate and insensible that a man may beat aswell upon a flint stone as upon the doore of a mans heart till it please God to open it Therefore it must teach us to returne all praise to God Almighty and not to second causes And withall it teacheth us to desire of God which hath the key of David that openeth when no man shuts that it would please him to assist the passage of the gospell with the gracious assistance of his helping hand for indeed the Word is preached in many places where there is no doore open and yet it seemes that all the whole house is open When a man comes to preach the Church is open and the men present and yet there is a certaine occlusion a shutting up in the inward man in the heart that the Lord finds no entertainment there It must be begged at the hand of God therefore that as hee hath given his Word so to open the hearts of men to receive it that the doore of the heart may be open that Christ may be admitted This is that wee reade of in Acts 16. Acts 16. When the Apostles preached God opened the heart of Lidia As if he should say it was never opened till that time and then when the Lord opened her heart shee opened her hand in all liberality to the Apostles If you think me Gods child if you think mee to be Gods owne I beseech you come unto mee doe me that honour as to receive some benefit and favour for your maintenance from me And this is that which Moses saith to the people of Israel You had never your eyes open till this day nor you never had your eares open nor your hearts untill this day meaning that they were still in the middest of Gods miracles as men amazed or astonished and were not sensible they understood not what God did for them It is God that must open it is God that bores the eare as the Psalmist saith Psal 40. Psal 40. Bore my eares oh Lord saith the Prophet It is God that toucheth the heart It is God that moveth the tongue it is he that ordereth the invention it is he that must grace the elocution it is hee that works all in all Opening it comes not of man it is not of the wit of man or of the labour and toile of man but it is God that gives the increase A doore is opened A great doore Now for the quality and condition of this doore hee saith briefly that it is a great one and effectuall A great and mighty entrance makes roome for a great company It is no wicket it is no small posterne it is no little enterie it is no rist or crevice but it is a doore and that a great open doore that is the Lord hath given me such an opportunity meaning at Ierusalem as after I shall prove such a mighty doore is opened to mee at Ierusalem by reason of the concourse and assembly of the people there as that it seemes the Gospell shall be received in at broad gates all the gates and windowes shall be laid open to receive the Lord of life for where the great company of men are and where the great concourse of the world is to be seene there is also the best working for the Gospell of Christ it loves no paucities it loves not handfulls of men there is nothing more base to the Gospell than contemptible companies of people a great doore a great assembly gives incouragement to the speaker when there is a mighty number when there is a great multitude as three thousand men at Peters Sermon converted there is then a mighty doore opened when Christ shall have seaven thousand men follow him up and downe the wildernesse this is a mighty doore as for handfulls of men although God despise them not but where two or three be met together he will be present yet where there should be a doore open and there is but a wicket it is a matter of scorne and disgrace Kings doe not use to come in at wickets but at great gates and the King of Kings bids us not open a wicket but Lift up your heads ye gates Psal 24. and be ye lift up ye everlasting doores that the King of glory may come in even the Lord of Hoasts mighty and strong in battaile he is the King of glory Therefore it concernes us as much as wee may that we labour to make the company of Christ fair and full that wee make the doore large and spacious and wide that there may be roome enough for the Lord to come in Esay 40. Prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight not strait or narrow but straight that is faire and even and there is nothing more disgracefull to the Church of God then when wee shall have the pues as many as the men and women and the walls for their auditors and chiefly that base and most wicked and ungodly fashion that is growne in Gentlemens houses they must have Sermons in their chambers at their fire sides at their boords end where a man must looke upon his auditors and can scarcely call them in the plurall number this is base and unacceptable to the Lord and these men seldome offer to open to the Lord these are they that make the course of the Gospell that it can have no prosperity that there can be no blessing upon it but rather it is turned to a shame and a curse and a meere frustration and yet the fashion is now to bring all our Churches into houses and the Patron must command the word and have it attend upon him like a dog at the table A great doore is opened But it is no matter how great it be if it be not effectuall An effectuall doore therefore saith he it was so too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beza Beza thinks it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so hee saith the meaning is that the gate was set up to the full it was wide open it stood not askance but the word it selfe and the copies hold it as I have read it an effectuall doore Quest Why how could it be great except it were effectuall Answ Yes there may be a great passage to little purpose for the gate where there is a high way lies or a thorow-fare it may be great but men runne along they passe through and make no residence they make no stay and so it is no effectuall way so when mens eares and hearts are open to receive Christ if they have no delight to keepe Christ when he is there but let him goe out again as in a thorow-fare here is no efficacy here is no power here is no foyson here is no profit comes of
single combat and let us end the quarrell so and if hee overcome mee then we will be your servants and if I overcome him then you shall be our servants Behold here are but two men that fight the action of fighting belongs but to two persons but by the power of God David overcame and the effect of that victory redounded to thousands to Saul which was the King and to all his Courtiers and to all Israell to all the people of God the power of Davids victory belonged to them all and so the action of David it was not limited to his owne person because hee was a chosen man a chosen vessell set forth by the Spirit of God to this victory Therefore the power of the victory was beneficiall to all his Countrymen much more is the victory which Christ hath obtained against the powers of darknesse he fought alone and he overcame alone It is true the personall act belongs to him alone and hee deserves onely all the glory for it but the extent of the act he communicates to his friends to every true Christian It is that which is called our victory because the Iew overcame the Philistin Therefore all the Iewes overcame the Philistins because our flesh and nature hath overcome in Christ for hee was flesh of our flesh and bone therefore our nature is advanced and exalted by him that is the Victor and hee being the Conquerour wee that are his friends and kinsmen are Conquerours with him though we have not struck one stroake in the battaile Againe observe in the like Gen. 14.15 16 when Abraham came to destroy those 5. Kings and to rescue Lot and the four Kings that were defeated that Text saith that Abraham alone and his owne people got the victory but when hee had done the glory of the victory was given to all those that had lost in the battaile every man had his owne as far as might be restored and Abraham would not gain so much as the latchet of a shooe lest they should say they had made Abraham rich and so the power and glory of his victory was communicated to those that had any dealing in the warre Therefore I say if this were possible in humane things how shall we doubt of it in the Omnipotencie of the Almighty that the victory of Christ is made common to all that beleeve in him and they have part in that victory that can claime it that can intreat it of him they are made fellow conquerers although they had no hand in it nor made no appearance in the doing of it Againe wee see in 1 Sam. 30. 1 Sam 30. when the people were ready to stone David and he receives an answer from the Lord that if he would follow those robbers hee should rescue the prey and so by the mercy of God he did but there were two great rubs after hee had got the conquest The one was when the souldiers came to divide the spoile whether they that had fought in the warre should have all or no To which David saith no there were 200 men which were not able to follow them being faint and therefore were faine to stay by a brook they could goe no further in regard of their weaknesse and the souldiers that got the battaile after they had the victory they would have had them to have had no part of the spoile because they went not forth with them But David saith no 1 Sam. 30.24 Who will trust you in this thing who will beleeve you in this matter they that stay by the stuffe they shall have as good share as they that fought in the battell because although they went not with us yet their good will was with us therefore they shall have as great share as we Againe when the spoyle came to be divided he sent of it to severall Cities and Townes thereabout to them which never had any hope to have rescued their owne goods hee sent unto them saying Here is a blessing from the Lord to such a towne here is a blessing from the Lord to such a town Behold now how is it possible for us not to beleeve that we have part in the conquest of Christ We see David which was a figure of Christ hee doth thus they that were not able to follow they that could not march along with them they have part of the prey and they that never came out they that did not dare to rescue their goods they have the prey sent home to them Our Lord Iesus Christ is far more rich in mercy then any man can be imagined to be hee sent unto us the spoiles of hell the spoile of death and he made us partakers of his victory although wee were so faint and so fearfull that wee could not march in the battaile nor stand with him because he would have all the glory and praise alone yet hee takes not the victory alone but he gives us part and possession he gives us part of the spoiles of his enemies hee makes us Conquerers of all those that he hath conquered So then to conclude this point there are two wayes how Christ makes us partakers of this victory The one is by way of Application The other is by way of Corroboration The Application of faith is this 1. Application That Christ doth take unto himselfe all his followers to receive their life and nourishment and their being and glory from him and upon this promise faith doth worke and saith Christ is mine and all Christ belongs to me He was incarnate for mee hee was borne for me he lived for me he died for me he rose againe for me he overcame for mee and whatsoever he did it is mine that is the power of faith by way of application which God hath given as a duty or office to the holy Spirit that the holy Spirit must apply the Sonne of God and his merits unto us and by this meanes of application we are made Conquerers The second meanes is Corroboration 2. Corroboration When faith hath applied Christ it receives comfort and power and with that strength that God hath vouchsafed it it works its best against the powers of darknesse That it hates and detests evill wayes that it shuns iniquity it labours to avoid all meanes of apostacie and backsliding from God and seeks every thing that may please the Lord with an upright and perfect heart and though he cannot doe it yet he seeks to doe it and hee wishes perfection when he is in the lowest and basest degrees of imperfection Therefore out of this wee learne that if wee would have comfort to our selves of the victory of Christ to joyne these together application and corroboration Wee are too forward to apply to our selves all the merits of Christ every man saith Christ is mine but when it comes to the push and when temptation the enemy appeares wee are then so base and so cowardly as that we flee almost before we
the corne grows thus because it hath a double end For as you know it is made after a kinde of a long fâ—shion with two ends out of which co es the moysture and juyce which is the life and soule of the seed For if those ends should be cut or bitten off the seed could never rise againe Therefore the Ants and pâ—smires those creatures that hoard up corne against the Winter when they carrie it into their holes where they lay it they are carefull to bite off both ends of the corne to snappe them off For they understand by nature that if they should let them alone the corne would sprout and so they could not live on it God hath given them this instinct to know that out of the two ends comes the soule and life and juyce as being in those ends brought to a point out of which the life worketh This now the husbandman easily understands But the mystery concerning the body he doth not understand so well but yet he must make the argument from his field to Gods field from his hand to Gods hand from the blessing upon the corne to the blessing upon the body and then he shall see that the argument will follow clearly Is it possible that the Lord should have such a care and providence of a poore dead corne that fals into the earth that hee should raise it againe with a new colour and in great abundance and multiply it that it grows from one state to another from a blade to an eare and from thence to full corne in the eare Is it possible the Lord shall thus proportion and suite his power to a graine of corne that fals into the ground and will he neglect the temples of the holy Ghost will he neglect the image of God the body upon which he hath drawne the lineaments of Christ and for which he hath made a promise that hee will conforme it unto his body If God be carefull for the fowls of heaven and for the lillies of the field Mat 6.30 much more will hee be carefull for us oh we of little faith Therefore the bodies of the Saint are so precious in Gods sight that all the corne in the world doth not amount to that summe as one of those bodies For God gave the body of his Sonne to redeeme the body of the meanest of his and shall we doubt but that he that is so rich in glory upon the weake dead body of the corne will be much more glorious and powerfull in raising up these roots of life againe which though they seeme to bee dead are breeding of immortality by the power of him that is able by his mighty power to subdue all things to himselfe Saint Chrysostome askes the question saith he why did not the Apostle rather runne to the same argument that hee alledgeth to the Philippians to the omnipotencie of God Phil. 3.21 rather then to take this argument For when he treats there with the Philosophers Phil. 3. concerning this argument he proves it from that maine point because God can do all things therefore he will do this From whence wee looke for the Saviour who shall change our vile bodies and make them like his glorious body according to his mighty power c. But saith he the Apostle here to these thought this the best teaching Hence we may learne Vse that it is a singular kinde of teaching when a man can instruct his scholler by the trade that he is frequently exercised in which hee is most familiar with That teaching is most operative and working the most impressive teaching that can be So our Lord Iesus teacheth his disciples that were fishermen out of their owne trade Come Mat. 4.19 and I will make you fishers of men So when he speaks to the common people to the multitude hee teacheth the plough-man by a plough-man Matth. 13.3 A sower went forth to sowe seed and some fell on the high way and some fell on thorny ground and some on good ground So Saint Paul Act. 17. he teacheth the Athenians which is a strange doctrine by their owne idols Act. 7.23 Ye men of Athens I see ye are too much given to superstition and idolatrie for as I came by one of your altars I see it written there To the unknowne God So our Saviour Christ teacheth men to make them friends of the unrighteous mammon Luk. 16.9 by the common lucre and gaine which was gotten among the Publicanes And in S. Iohn Baptist every man hath a lesson out of his owne trade he said to the souldiers do thus and to the Publicans Luk. 3. do thus still he teacheth them out of their owne particular calling and actions To teach us to labour and desire in this manner every one to bee taught out of those things that are common and obvious daily to us for therein is the greatest power of perswasion He that is conversant about the fire in fire-works and especially such as worke in glasse-houses where if he cannot see a cleare picture of hell he is a very sencelesse man and very bruitish in his understanding Psal 107.23 He that goes downe to the sea in ships and exerciseth his businesse in great waters if he cannot see a wondrous act of Gods providence in his preservation he understandeth nothing He that is a Student and doth not see in his books and the difficulties of learning and remembring if he do not see the infinite and admirable blessing of the Almighty in saving his wits and memory and in raising him from one degree of learning to another hee understands nothing In our ordinarie meats and drinks he that seeth not God seeth nothing hee hath his feeding and preservation from him and therein hee hath a signe of his everlasting refreshment and preservation Let us therefore scorne no Art nor thinke basely of any kinde of labour and good exercise because there is matter of good doctrine lyeth in the poorest profession that can be That which thou sowest I will prove out of thine owne actions out of thy owne trade this doctrine that I teach Thou that propoundest this question thou art not more simple then a plough-man and I will prove it unto thee from thence by the poorest labour in the earth for the man that tils the ground he is of lesse account then an Artizan yet even the very plough-man shall prove and make good that this doctrine that I teach is probable and possible And why because That which thou sowest is first dead and then it is quickened againe Concerning the dying of the corne the Philosophers make a distinction because they knew not this doctrine of the Resurrection They thought when the habite was gone when the privation had put out the habite that it could never come backe againe Therefore they thought that the corne had ever life in it But the Scripture tels us that it is dead that is it is dead to us
grosse heresies for which he is said to deny the Resurrection notwithstanding hee denyed it not but he had a conceit that the bodies of men and women should rise and then after that they should dye againe and another Resurrection should come after that and another after that and in every Resurrection they should bee lesse and lesse untill they were brought to nothing Thus in effect he denyed it But the truth is by the doctrine of the Scriptures and of the Apostles that the Resurrection shall make our bodies nothing lesser but greater and it is certaine that the stature and proportion of those that shall be raised to glory in the life to come shall bee infinitely more great then that which they have now Numb 13.33 they shall be like gyants in respect of grassehoppers according to their speech that went to spie out the land of Promise We see now in this small stature that we have in this world what a goodly sight it is to see a tall proper man they be as it were the gyants of the earth the glory of the world they be the chiefe copies of Gods great and wondrous power and there is that state and majestie in their bodies which is not to be found in the persons of little men As also we see that those countries which naturally bring forth such tall and mighty men they have great priviledges and presidents of honour given unto them that God hath done by them mighty and marvellous works in the world Therefore the glory of manhood consists now in a strait and tall procerity in a goodly proportion of limbes and bignesse of body In which regard Saul was commended that hee was higher then all the people by the head and shoulders And so in Homer 1. Sam. 9.1 Homer great men have still this commendation they are men that are eminent above their fellows that are of such a proportion I say then if it be the glory of humanity if it be the glory of manhood not to be dwarfish and small but to bee of a goodly stature in this world we must imagine that God will bring us to all perfection in the other world he will bring all his Saints to a goodly bignesse to a comely tallnesse and proportion as a little corne of wheat brings a goodly tall and beautifull eare of corne out of a small graine that is cast into the ground Therefore there is no diminution to bee imagined as if the body should grow lesse and lesse till it come to nothing but there shall bee a great ampliation the Lord extending and driving out the body drawing it to the full lineaments and to the perfect length So the Apostles similitude inferres against Origen and those that maintained his opinion Now these things are very plaine in the open experience of nature but because we see not the things signified by them which we are to beleeve therefore they are held to flesh and bloud incredible to a man that is not acquainted with the field that is not seene and experimented in this kinde he would think it impossible that out of such a poore principle as a graine of corne there should come such a deale of grace and beauty as that verdure of colour and such a flower and leafe of grasse as the flagge of it that there should come so much straw to support it and that there should be such a structure in the knops of it that there should be such abundance in the treasure of it We should thinke these things meerly impossible but that common use and experience makes us cease to wonder And if we could see that which is spirituall as we do this that is outward we should as well be induced to subscribe and consent to it But in the outward thing in the world we see the sowing and the mowing we see the sowing and the reaping the seed time and the harvest Therefore by much experience we are taught to beleeve it without doubting But for that which is spirituall for the Resurrection we see onely the time of sowing but wee cannot live to see the time of mowing in this world For the bodies are sowne and the seed lyes rotting in the ground some five thousand yeares some lesse but all a long time yet it pleaseth God to bring as it were the dew of heaven upon them to raise them from their graves unto the harvest Then that truth which we now beleeve shall appeare as plainly as that which we apprehend by sence The thing which the Apostle would teach us here I will but summarily touch at because all this spâ—ech except it were better uttered is meerly unprofitable * In regard of his extream cold and unpleasant also I will therefore cut off all superfluity and onely touch that which is meerly necessary and elementarily pointed at First the Apostle tels us what is mans part And then what is Gods part in the matter of sowing and so we must apply it to the Resurrection For that is the Apostles purpose as being a parabolicall doctrine from a similitude and therefore he rests not in the outward letter but referres and reduceth us to the purpose and intent of it which is to prove the truth of the Resurrection Now the part that man doth he speaks of it Division into 1. Mans Part. 2. Gods Part. first negatively what he doth not sowe And then affirmatively what is sowne Negatively what he doth not sowe he soweth not that that shall be And then he shews affirmatively what he doth sowe a bare graine a bare corne devoyd of such ornaments as God afterwards gives unto it Then in the next part what God doth he gives it a body to every seed the same body The same body in essence and substance but so changed and bettered and altered that a man would thinke it were impossible to bring out of such a foundation such a kinde of conclusion And because the Lord is wondrous in all his works therefore he gives to every seed it s owne peculiar body although there bee many changes and differences yet it comes to it selfe againe to that it was before and it runnes as it were in a kinde of a circle he gives it its owne body And the way and manner and reason of all this is As he pleaseth For he doth whatsoever it pleaseth him in all the works of nature and in all the works of grace 1. Part. Mans part handled first negatively 2. Affirmatively Concerning the first point it is said the sower soweth not that body that shall be Which wee know to be true for hee soweth neither an eare nor hee soweth not a flagge neither soweth he a hawne nor a straw nor a knot in the straw hee soweth none of these 1 Negatively what man sows not Not that body that shall be yet notwithstanding hee soweth that which hath all these in it potentially in the power of it by the blessing
imagine that those bodies that dyed crooked shall rise crooked nor that those bodies that dyed weake and lame and yong shall rise so but God shall make a great variety there because he hath made a wondrous variety here There is one glory of the Sunne I will not shew my infancie in discoursing of these things but onely give a touch and so passe to the hypothesis where the Apostle saith so is the resurrection The glory of the Sunne is the greatest of all the glories in heaven all the created bodies we see are nothing comparable he is that great Gyant that God hath set in his chamber which is alway ready to runne his course Psal 19.5 The great messenger of the world which searcheth and vieweth and giveth intelligence of all nations and reports of them to God from whose heate there is no nation nor latitude of people can be hid his glory is this That he is both the chiefe of all the heavenly bodies and that this glory is his owne too First he is the chiefe you know as the Philosopher said well if it were not for the sunne whatsoever the Moone and Starres could doe we should have a continuall night For that is that great and mighty lampe of the world wherein God hath recollected and bound up all the body and bulke of light and it is of that unspeakeable beautie and of that rare excellency that all the stars in heaven borrow their light from thence so that it is the chiefest and the greatest And his owne light it is also he doth not take it from other starres as the rest doe derive their light from him but God tooke that light which he made the fourth day before for the light was the first thing that God made for a worke of distinction it was a chaos and confusion before but when the light was made the distinction did appeare and as a man cannot work without light so God describes himself unto us and therfore he made light for himselfe to worke by although indeed he be light it selfe 1 Tim. 6.16 and dwelleth in that light that none can attaine unto The Lord I say gathered that light which was in the creature before and put it into the body of the sunne and so made that light proper and peculiar to the sunne that he should have a power to diffuse and communicate his light to all the starres in heaven There is no starre that shines in his owne light but all the light they have they borrow it from the sunne because that God would bring all the light to one head and principle as all things doe depend and have their being in one God And this very beauty of the sunne which wee know is the greatest and the goodliest yet it is not alway alike but there is a difference in that too The sunne shines not so bright in the winter as hee doth in the summer because his beames in the winter be not so direct as in the summer and in the southerne parts of the world where the sunne is directly over the verticall poynt directly over their heads as they have more heate so they have a far greater light then we that have but an oblique or slant or side way beame their light is farre more For according to the nature of the beame so is the proportion of the light and heate in the winter lesse because the sunne is in a lower circle and though he be nearer the earth by his bodily presence yet he is further off by his power and operation and in summer when he seemes to be neare yet he is furthest off in body but is nearer by his operation because of the directnesse of his beame I say the Lord hath made a difference in the beate and light that is in the body of the sunne that there is one kinde of heate and light in summer and another kinde in winter So wondrous is God in making of difference and planting variety in every thing The second is the glory of the Moone There is another glory of the Moone The glory of the Moone we know how farre it comes short of the first of the glory of the sunne for it is neither a full glory neither is it her owne glory but that which it hath is derived from the body of the sunne and in the day time when the sunne is in his strength the Moone is like a cloud if it be then above our horison and when there is any shadow by the interposition of the earth the shadow of the earth doth so drowne her and so deprive her of the light of the sunne for the time that either totally or in so many parts she is utterly darkened And evermore one side of the Moone is blacke because of the distance of the sunne For that side which is next to the sunne is light and that side which is from the sunne is as a blacke cloud and according as it goeth further from the sunne or comes nearer to him because her motion is swifter than the sunnes for she doth that in a moneth which the sunne doth in a whole yeare because he is further off from the earth accordingly I say as she comes nearer to him or goeth further off so is her light sometimes she appeares to be halfe light sometimes full Moone and sometime againe nothing at all because the beames of our eye cannot discerne her when there is a meeting of the sunne and her body And yet wee may observe what a wondrous variety GOD hath given her that this which is the lowest and the meanest plannet in the heavens the meanest starre and the least of all others although it bee the least and the blackest and most unlightsome of all the rest yet the LORD doth by it as wondrous things as hee doth by all the starres of heaven nay he doth something more by it then he doth by the sunne it selfe For all the rising of waters all the ebbing and flowing of the sea all the motion of the bloud in the creatures all the guydance of the braine of man all the distemper of lunatiques and frantiques and whatsoever thing almost is in the trees in the vegitables or in the sencible things to be guided and governed they are dependent directly upon the regency of the Moone so that although it have a lesser light yet because it is nearer it hath a more wondrous operation Vse It teacheth us this lesson that although God have given lesser gifts to some men that although they be like the Moone in comparison of others that are like the sunne yet because they are nearer home because they looke to their charge because they keepe their flocke because they looke to their families that God hath put unto them even these men that have a weaker light they doe more good then those that are greater men that are further off that are carelesse and negligent therefore the Moone hath a greater operation being nearer
away from him yea and his dearest beloved shall stop their noses at him This should teach us to humble our selves in this disconsolation Vse and to adde this to all the honors we have in the world if we have any or doe yet looke for any This dishonour of death is a cooling card that should make a man moderate in all his proceedings It should make him fearfull in all his doings It should make him understand that he ought not to be puffed up with conceits and pretences of honour but to qualifie himselfe with this comparing his dishonour which the Lord will lay upon sinfull flesh There is nothing so honourable but it shall be covered with shame and dishonour at the hour of death when we shall depart this world It is sowne in dishonour Well! although it be thus yet the Lord hath a help for this againe it shall be raised after another manner It shall be raised in honour in great glory As disgrace and dishonour is the worst of punishments so honour and grace and glory againe is the best of preferments There is nothing so sweet unto us as that to be above others to be beloved of others to be admired of others and to be served of others this is that sweet breath of life and that sweet contentment that shall fill us with marrow and fatnesse And this God purposeth to poure upon these dishonourable bodies that die so beastly and deformed that they are trampled on by the feet of beasts if they lie abroad and if it be in the Church where wee usually bury the poorest and basest of men tread upon them I say the Lord shall raise it at that day in such honour that it shall be like the stars of heaven it shall be like the Sunne in glory it shall be like the Angels of God it shall be like the Sonne of God Phil. 3.21 for he shall change these vile bodies and make them like his glorious body according to his mighty power whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself Phil. 3.21 Now by the contrary dishonour we may see that the honour of the Saints shall consist 1. In a goodly stature 2. In a perfect beauty 3. In a gracious fragrancie In the stature of the body there shall be no uncomelinesse there shall be no crookednesse there shall be nothing wanting that can be required as we use to say of images that are drawne in waxe that they are compleat so likewise God shall so paint his image in the bodies of his Saints when they shall rise that it is not possible to find it so in any thing but in the Exemplar in the master-piece the body of Christ there is nothing else that shall be more glorious As in those happy Countries where the leaves are alwaies greene and the earth is alway budding and bringing forth so the bodies of Gods Saints as St. Austin saith shall have that greennesse and vigorousnesse of incorruption possesse them totally St. Augustine And lastly that it shall be of a gracious fragrancy it is certaine that that also may be opposed to the stench of these carkasses The dead body is dishonoured in nothing more then by a caryon-like smell for thereby it differs nothing from a beast nay it is far worse then a beast for there is nothing so putrifies as the body of a man there is nothing brings forth such ugly things as that For out of the brain comes scorpions and snakes and out of the flesh toads and serpents which is not usuall among the beasts For some of them bring forth bees and some wasps but of Ages and Eumines and divers others it is reported that scorpions and snakes came out of their heads after they were dead and wreathed about their faces And we know by wofull experience of late time of divers gentlemen that were troubled with such a wofull thing that they had wormes in their braines and in their entrailes I say therefore answerable to this as the miserie is great to which the body of man is subject greater then other creatures because he is the onely sinner so at that day God shall make an aboundant recompence by pouring upon it the spring of beauty and sweetnesse and fragrancie that they shall be as a garden of spices in the nostrills of God and of his Saints Every Saint shall also be as a glasse to each other and every one shall see his fellowes beauty and they shall reflect one upon another in the joy and gladnesse of the Holy Ghost to see the wonderous work which God hath wrought upon this piece of frailty And even as Iacob was as the smell of a field when he came near his Father Behold saith Isaack I smell the smell of my sonne as the smell of a field Gen. 27.27 which the Lord hath blessed There being nothing more delightfull to the sense then a blooming field of new corne and of sweet grasse and flowers that rise out of the earth And therefore the holy man compares his sonne to a field which the Lord hath blessed Much more shall these be fragrant fields the Lord blessing them with infinite variety of goodnesse and of grace and sweetnesse that the field of God shall be more pleasant then the fields and gardens of men and then all the paradises in this world And as the head of this company is described Cant. 1. Cant. 1.3 4. Draw me and I will run after thee in the odour of thine anointments noting unto us the sweetnesse that is incorporated in the body of Christ And as we reade also of St. Paul Acts 19.12 that by the blessing of God he had napkins and handkerchiefs brought from his body that were of such sweetnesse that they were able to cure diseases so also we may understand what shall be the variety there from the sweetnesse that is now in the body arising from the mixture of the bloud in the veines which makes a perfect sympathy and harmony The Lord at that day shall make all things much more abundant As the Church also is described by the sweetnesse of her cloathes in the Canticles Cant. 1.14 My Spouse saith Christ is as a garden of myrrh or of spices and her breasts are like the clusters of grapes and like the fruit of Engedi So every man and woman shall be although here they be sickly and subject to never so many infirmities and diseases in this life yet the Lord shall so alter the bodies of those that serve him here in that blessed estate there that they shall be sure to finde a singular proportion of beauty of strength and of fragrancie that all the just shall be termed the field and paradise which God hath blessed FINIS SERMONS On 1 COR. 15. Of the Resurrection 1 COR. 15.43 It is sowne in weaknesse it is raised in power It is sown a naturall body it is raised a spirituall body There is a naturall body and there is
have seene the enemy like men that rather desire to be overcome then to be conquerers like those that have neither will nor strength to stand in the battell Let us therefore call unto God that gives both to give us application and to strengthen our spirits by his powerfull inhabitation that as wee know wherein our strength consists so we may be able to exercise that strength wee have received that our faith bee not in vaine for a dead faith is in vaine saith Bernard S Bern. for hee that overcomes must bee a live man there is no dead man that can overcome and he must not onely be a live man but hee must bee quicke and able for a sicke man cannot fight Let us therefore labour that as God hath given us faith that it may be a living faith that it may be a working faith that it be not a dead faith a vaine imagination and fancy but that it may bee vivere valere vigere that we may bee strong and couragious and quit our selves like men in the battell of the Lord that wee may stand in our strength that wee may hold that tenent of victory and glory and conquest which the Lord Christ hath put over unto us So much of the first point concerning the personality of the action Secondly how can this bee made good when as the children of God by experience find in themselves such weaknesse that they are conquered almost by every temptation Shew me that covetous man twenty yeeres agoe that is a liberall person now and I will say it is a miracle but hee holds his old course still as hee begun and growes rather worse every day Let mee see that man that hath beene a drunkard heretofore and is become a sober and temperate man now and wee will sing a poena a hymne to God for his deliverance And so for the lustfull man if hee begin to follow that course once he followes it and holds on to his dying day except God worke a strange and marvellous deliverance And seeing that every man in the world is tainted with this that according as hee is given and inclined by his corrupt nature doe what hee can he shall hold a tang of it to his death And the Lord doth not this for any harme he wishes them but to exercise their humilitie in the sight of their frailty that they might see their weaknesse and to exercise their faith Therefore seeing that every man is thus inclined as by nature and corruption he is bent how can we be assured of the victory how can we take any glory in this that we are conquerers when we are trod under foot and foiled every where when any passion of anger can put the best and the wisest man out of himselfe that there is no man that can rule himselfe in any passion the least matter of revenge makes a man forget himselfe forget his Christian charity and he boyles in his blood till hee have some recompence for the wrong done him The dearest childe of God that ever was cannot say but that look what temptation he hath beene given to by nature still he hath a sting of it to his death to his dying-day and where is the victory then what conquest is this When a man suffers the least wrong presently to sweare or curse or fall into angry termes as though there were no Spirit of God to rule him when a man is offered a matter of gaine and advantage that hee will set it upon the tenters and wrest his conscience to bring it in although it bee false though it bee against the common good of his brethren What victory can this be But for this wee must understand that the greatest comfort that we have is this that though wee cannot overcome the work of the temptation yet we overcome the evill of that work For our victory consists especially in our faith 1 Iohn 5.14 This is the victory whereby wee overcome the world even our faith and in the next verse after who is hee that overcomes the world but he that believeth that the Sonne of God is come in the flesh and hath reconciled the world to God So that although it bee true indeed that faith must be a living faith and we must prove it by works yet notwithstanding when all comes to all the worth of the conquest shall not rest in the worke of the person of man but in the faith of the man that apprehends the victory of Christ This is the conquest that Christ hath imputed and imparted to us A man that hath no good works hath no testimoniall and hee that hath no letters testimoniall when he travels the Country hee is accounted a runnagate and vagabond and is clapt up every whereas he goes So it is with a Christian man that hath no desire to please God by the testimony and evidence of a good life And yet notwithstanding when the Lord comes to deliver the reward to give the retribution he doth not so much examine the dignity of the work but the dignity and soundnesse of faith whereby wee lay hold on the principall whereby we lay hold of him that is the Captaine of our nature and in him we overcome For wee must consider that the victory is without us and though God give us grace many times within our selves to overcome temptations yet the maine victory is without us in Christ Iesus therefore wee are to flie to him and to desire of him a perfect conquest and that all our imperfections may bee shrowded under his glorious victory This is that that makes us conquerers To conclude this point wee see it in the Father of the faithfull in Abraham hee is commended for his faith but there is no great matter of any works as the Apostle saith concerning workes hee had no great matter to glory before God hee could not glory before God before men he might But what was his righteousnesse then The righteousnesse of faith and beliefe Abraham beleeved God Gal. 3.6 and it was imputed to him for righteousnesse This was his conquest and victory that he beleeved God he hoped against hope that God was able to give him a sonne now hee was an hundred yeares old and that hee was able to raise the dead wombe of Sarah and give them the promised issue that he would give him the land of Canaan where hee was though not for his owne possession yet to his posterity and that this land of Canaan was a figure and embleme of heaven that glorious Kingdome which is above These things which were farre above reason and common sense that God should make them apparent to his sense that hee should make him verily beleeve that they should come to passe this was his righteousnesse Abraham beleeved God Iam. 2.23 and it was accounted to him for righteousnesse he beleeved God that he was omnipotent and true of his promise and that was accounted to him for righteousnesse So in