lyue and are remaining in the comming of the Lord shal not preuent them which sleepe For the Lord himselfe shal descend from heauen with a shout and with the voice of the Archangel with the trump of God the dead in Christ shal rise first Thē shal we which liue and remain be caught vp with them al in the clouds to mete the Lord in the ayre and so shall we euer be with the Lord wherfore comfort your selues one another with these wordes An. I haue oftentimes bene tēpted about our resurrectiō these cogitatiōs greuously vexe me Christ did rise in his owne power strength as true God but how shal we poore wretches rise which cannot remooue or driue away from vs euen the lest sicknes that hapneth to vs wherfore I besech you tell me how Christes resurrection maketh vs to rise Vrb. Whose sinnes were they which Christ did beare An. It is manifest certain that he bare our sinnes Vrb. What maner of nature was it which Christ tooke vpon him An. It was our nature For we beleue that he toke vpon him our very humaine nature Vrb. Wherfore did the son of God take vpon hym our nature in the vniō of his deuine euerlasting person why did he take vpon him our sinnes An. He became true man for our sakes toke vpō him our sins that he might be a true oblation and sacrifice for them on the crosse and wipe them away and reconcile God the father vnto vs. Vrb. I heare you say that our sinnes were the cause of Christes death but what hurt did sinne vnto vs men An. It brought vpon vs an horrible destruction decay of al mans strength as wel of body as soule together with euerlasting death and condemnation Vrb. Seyng then that Christ by his death satisfied for our sinnes and suffered death for them that he might put them away it is not to be doubted but that he also abolished and destroyed death which had rule dominion ouer vs But if he destroyed death in vs as I say he did it followeth well that we shall rise agayne to lyfe For he did not these most worthy workes to wit that he suffred that he dyed that he rose again for himself or for his own cause for he is innocent free frō all sin so that he had no nede to do any of al these for himself nay there was no cause why he should do these things in respect of himself or in his owne behalfe but for vs Yea whatsoeuer he did or suffred he did it suffred it al for our sakes profit he gaue vs that his victory ouer deth This therfore is a good consequēt Christ died for our sins rose again for our iustificatiō Therfore shal we also rise in our flesh otherwise should we deny the vertue operation of Christs passion resurrection in our nature and be worse and more wicked thē Turks or Ethnikes which deny Christ An. Now you bring into my remembrance the 15. cha of the first to the Corrinthians which you do so highly and often commend vnto me wherin you say that Paule hath so coupled and ioyned Christes and our resurrection together that they can in no wise be seperated ☞ Vrb. That chap. hath such and so much sweete and sound comfort in it that I wish all christians in the worlde would wel faithfully remember it Paul in that cha reasoneth thus Christ is risen from the dead therefore shal we also rise againe from the dead because he dyed and rose againe only for our sakes for our saluation If we should stil abide in death then the death and resurrection of Christ had nothing profited vs neyther had they wrought any alteration in our nature but we had still bene should so haue continued in death euen as in our earthly father Adam we were borne to die But god forbid it were so our hope is sure For as it is certaine that Christ rose from death sitteth at the right hand of God so certain is it that we shal rise again because Christ is our head our bridegrome our redeemer our life And therfore wheresoeuer Christ remaineth and is there must nedes we also be abide for euer There is no cause why you should dout left Christ our head should leaue vs his beloued members spirituall body here behynde him in earth Marke what Paul teacheth vs in the 5. to the Eph. Note how he bindeth vs tieth vs to Christ We are saith he the members of his body of his flesh and of his bones ¶ Anna. Blessed be God our louing fauorable and heauenly father for euer euer for these infinite riches of his grace These wordes of Paul do greatly comfort ioy vs for if we be the members of Christ of his flesh surely there is no doubt but as Christ did rise again in his owne body euen so shal we also rise agayne in our bodies vnto euerlasting life by the power of the glorious resurrection of Christ Vrb. This is as certaine as you see now your selfe and heare your selfe speake ¶ Anna. But the condicion state of our bodies shal not then be such as they be now for now our bodies eate drinke slepe are subiect to wearines We eate disgest and waxe hungry and they that do not eate and drink must nedes decay and die But though we do eate and drinke yet can not these earthly meates or drinkes maintayne our lyfe here for euer For when we be olde and sickly and when our stomacks leese their naturall heate and disgesture then can neither meat nor drinke help preserue or prolong our life But when the natural helth strength is gone we end our dayes and die It must nedes therfore be a strange kinde of meate which we shal eate in the world to come which maketh vs liue for euer And the condicion and state of our body which shal be then must nedes be far differing from this and much better more excellent happy and blessed thē either hart can thinke or we desire ☞ Vrb. Paul hath taught this euidently plainly manifestly in his epistle to the Phil. where he saith Christ in the last day shal change our vile body that it may be fashioned like vnto his glorious bodye according to the working wherby he is able euen to subdue al things vnto himself Lo both in this place to the Cor. he saith the our bodies in the last resurrection shal be pure cleare and vnspotted like the stars of the firmament and lyke the sunne moone And among other things he saith that this body of ours is as a graine of corne sowen in the earth in corruption and is raised in incorruption it is sowne in dishonour and raysed in glory it is sowen in weaknes and is raised in power it is sowen a natural body is raised a spiritual body that is to say
shall shew himselfe humble modest gentle louing and lowly vnto all men he shall vse himselfe most friendly and seruisably to euery body and finally he shall draw all men to him he shall not seeke the applausions of the people he shall not desire the prayse of the common sort neither shall he as one puffed vp with the desire of vayne glory do thinges for a brag or shew as worldly potentates do but he shall despise all worldly pōpe yea he shal flie honors euen due vnto him he shall reiect all mans prayse and glory as it plainly appeareth in the 12. of Math. Where when he had wrought many wonderfull miracles had restored many to their former helth had wonderfully shewed forth his great power towards the miserable afflicted he straitely warned them that they should not make hym known A brused reed shall he not breake The maiesty pomp and power of earthly princes doth terrify the poore afflicted miserable wretched people but Christ is such a lord prince such a doctor teacher as maketh no man afraid and sheweth himself in nothing at all cruell or tirantlike Moses doth sore terrify the weake trēbling consciences of mē by his law His worde is a fierce manacing word his doctrine is a hard heuy doctrine For he requireth of vs most pure innocēcy and obedience to the law of God which in deed we haue not do not are not able to do of our selues And therefore he pronounceth a terrible sentence curse against vs makes vs subiect to the eternal curse But there is no such thing heard in Christ all his speech is amiable sweet pleasant delectable yea such as may greatly comfort troubled consciences hartles amased men His word is the gospell that is the most gladsom swete ioifull message which preacheth nothyng els to heuy harts but grace ioy blessing forgiuenes of sinnes He casteth vs not away for our weakenesse which oftentimes staggereth hee forsaketh vs not for our little fayth which somtimes wauereth neither putteth he vs back for our infirmity which yet dwelleth in vs abundantly but he calleth vs of his own good will allureth vs to come to him that he may cōfort vs refresh vs help vs confirme vs and arme vs gainst al tempests of temptations Is not this a sweet and cōfortable saying Come vnto me al ye that are weary and laden I will ease you Take my yoke on you and learne of me that am meke and lowly in hart and you shal find rest vnto your soules for my yoke is easie my burden light And in the same place he compareth himselfe to a phisition For when he eate with Publicans sinners the Pharises repined at it and thought that it became him not was not lawful that he should haue any doings with thē and that they were altogether to be hated abhorred Christ answered said The whole need not a phisition but they which are sicke For I am not come to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance And the whole story of Christes doctrine through the whole history of the gospel is nothing els but a declaration of his meruailous humanity of his vncredible curtesie of his exceding goodnes of his bountifull liberality of his great good will of his fauorable beneuolence toward vs contēned abiected faint harted sorowfull sickly and miserable mē Whom I pray you did he for his weakenes refuse Whom did he for his low estate basenes despise Nay whō did he not if they desired helpe helpe Did he not receiue and most gently intreat Peter although he had forsworne him Did he not shew himself most gently lowly louyng to Zacheus to Magdalen to the Samaritan adultres to the thieues hanging on the crosse with many other though they had most deadly sinned offended him These such like are those brused reeds smoking flaxe which must not be terrified brokē nor quēched but cherished strēgthened comforted repaired And so Christ doth in deede for he vseth all them most tenderly which are weake which are loden with the burden of their sins which are oppressed with pouerty or any kind of calamity And when he hath gently voluntarily drawn thē vnto him he taketh thē vp comforteth thē cureth thē restoreth thē confirmeth them readily helpeth deliuereth thē euen with his own hand And the prophet prophecied long before that he should in dede be such a one saying He shal iudge the poore of the people he shal saue the children of the nedy shal subdue the oppressor he shal deliuer the poore whē he crieth the nedy also and him that hath no helper He shal be mercifull to the poore nedy shal preserue the soule of the poore And this he doth now stil by his ministers which preach the gospel to the poore in spirit as well as he did then He shal bring forth iudgemēt in truth This world also hath his iudgement but it both is deceiued doth deceiue Because it seeth nothing but that which is apparāt to the eie but Christ seeth that inward secrets of the hart iudgeth the very thoughts of man The world for the most part doth not rightly iudge an hypocrite whose hart is spiteful ambitious foule with other vices and vnclean desires but it taketh him to be a holy innocent man one which leadeth a holy life But Christ iudgeth not according to the external shew for his iudgemēt is vnfallible perfit And he teacheth vs to iudge after the same sort that when we iudge either our selues or other men we should not loke to the outward face but behold examine the inward mā and hart it self For in our selues we must first diligently consider that foule vice which is the roote of all vices namely selfe loue We must loke vpō the incredulitie of our harts and we must search our hartes which want all feare faith and trust in god For when these capitall faults diseases and hellish furies are put out choked and quenched then those outward faults are easily reformed He shal not faint or be discouraged or he shal not be pēsiue or careful or wayward or vntractable that is he shal not be troublesom nor fierce he wil not driue mē from him through the austeritie or fiercenes of his coūtenāce he will offend no man with his high hawty words but he shall haue a great and continuall desire to shew himselfe humble lowly gentle and easie to be spoken vnto To be short he wil do euery thing and seeke alwayes how he may set iudgement in the earth that is how he may finish his worke that he may truely execute and performe the office committed vnto him that he may adorne and set vp equity and iudgement in the land That is that he might correct reprehend amend punish
calling for helpe cryeth as one helpeles My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And where as he had sayd that who so beleued in him should not see death for euer yet he himself both suffered death and was buryed in the sepulcher Here if we were led by humayne reason we should with Cleophas and his companion say Wee hoped that he had bene the redemer of Israell whiche should haue saued vs all but now he himself is dead Howe shal a dead man saue vs and how can he which is slain haue an euerlasting kingdom You see howe this name Pele was not without special cause geuen to this child whō it doth by that name of sauiour represēt For so he is in deed the true sauior redemer which deliuereth vs from all our sinnes and miseries And so it pleased him by hys pouerty to blesse vs with spirituall riches by the tauntes and checkes which he suffred to deliuer vs from euerlasting shame by his crosse to bring vs to eternall honour and glory by his weaknesse to giue vs eternall strength and by his death to giue vs a flourishyng lyfe and to abolish our death by dying hymselfe All these he hath done and daily doth in vs when he maketh vs like himself that is to say weake in body but strong in spirite base lowe and contemptible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 very ofscouringes before the world but the vessels and instruments of glory in the sight of god And thus he suffereth vs to dye that the Infidels may thinke there is no difference betwene a Christian and no Christian as Turke or iewe But yet our death is precious in the sight of the lord neither doth he suffer vs to abide in death All these things are great meruelous wonderful and far passing our reason and vnderstāding yea far exceding all the strength power effect working of our nature An other name is Ioetz that is councel For though this Pele doth lead and gouerne vs thus wonderfully by his crosse ignominy maketh vs glorious yet are we ignorant rude fayntharted fearfull and therfore is it necessary that he merueilously prouide for coūsail and help vs For it is not in our power and strēgth to endure and stand in trouble and persecutiō But what counsel geueth he verely cleane contrary to the world The world willeth vs to beware flie and eschue the cros affliction to reuenge our selues But Christ casteth hys seruantes into trouble and vexations and therein trieth them as gold is tryed in the fire furnace But yet so that he comforteth them alwayes most louingly as it appereth in Ioh. where he saith vnto the Apostles Be of good chere I haue ouercome the world And a little before he sayth Ye shall weep and lament the world shall reioyce ye shall sorrow but your sorrow shal be turned to ioy and your ioy shal no man take from you What els I pray you is the whole sacred scripture but a plentifull and rich Pharmacopole whence wee may fetch present help and most fruitfull and sound comfort for all sicknes calamities and euils as Paule witnesseth saying what soeuer things be writtē afore tyme are written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might haue hope For hee whiche speaketh in the scriptures is almighty and both can will help vs alway His word is not spoke in vayne but al things are done which he hath promised Yea the holy ghost himselfe whiche is the spirit of truth is our comfort and help For thus we read in the book of wisdome O Lord neyther herbe nor plaister healed thē but thy word which healeth all things hath made vs safe And Ionathas the high priest saith vnto the Spartanes We Iewes stand no nede of the societie and friendship of the Gentiles hauing the holy bookes which are in our hands for our cōfort And now I pray you what trouble what affliction what calamity or what dāger in al this world cā be so great how great so euer it be against which the word of god that most holesome and holy gospel cannot minister giue most holesom plētiful perfect sound consolation and comfort seeyng that it promiseth not only corporal but heauenly help And the promises therof are by Christ confirmed established and sure yea and Amen If you read better read all the workes of the Heathen philosophers you shal find nothing in them and yet their whole study trauel was to find some comfort against death wherin you may take true cōfort All their arte al their knowledge all their wisdom and all the remedies that euer they found are nothing if thei be compared but with these two comfortable sentences in Mat. The first is Feare not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soule Here you see the immortalitie of the soule of which the Ethnikes speake euen as blynde men of coulors But the words folowing which is the second are not vttred by any philosopher but by Christ himself the euerlasting truth and very true lyfe Euery one sayth he that beleueth in the sonne of God hath euerlastyng lyfe and I wil raise him vp in the last day Here you haue the resurrection or rising againe of the flesh of which the Gentils and the whole world with all their wisdome had no knowledge Go to then if any be in the agony of death or assailed with the tempests of persecution afflictiō either els vexed pinched with the bitter dolors terrors of conscience for his sinnes as soone as he shal lay hold on these two sentences by faith lay them vp in his hart he shall find comfort haue true and plenteous consolation For he hath forgiuenes of his sins sure hope of euerlasting life nay rather he hath life alredy because he is in Christ Christ in hym This in dede is true counsell For all mens counsels consolations are vaine momentany cannot help deliuer vs in extremity peril danger but the counsel of the lord doth abide continue for euer God the father commaunds vs to heare this counsailor saying Heare him The 70. interpreters haue expounded this word Ioetz the angel of the great counsail beautifiyng Christ with the notable and apt epitheton giuing him the proper title For Christ is the legate angel of the great counsail of the triple vnitie and most holy trinity and is also the eternal wisdom of the father The third epitheton or name of the child is El it signifieth strēgth fortitude or God as the 70. interpreters haue translated it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the mighty god This name conteineth a singuler cōfort For it telleth vs that Christ doth not only prouide for vs by the word of his gospel but also is presēt with vs doth mightily help vs faithfully perform to vs those
deadly sicknes of sinne and ouercome the power of darknes thorough the might and power of this signe Christ crucified But it is especially to be marked that the prophet saith All nations shal seke vnto him The 70. translaters haue interpreted these wordes thus Which shall rise again to be the king of the Gentiles that is of all people in the earth in him shal the Gentils trust Like as the patriarke Iacob said according to the exposition of the 70. translaters in these wordes Siloh shall be the hope or expectation of the Gentils Here haue we a plaine euident testimony of the calling of the Gentiles to the grace of the gospell For they shal enquire after Christ or seeke him as their only sauiour put all their hope trust in him What els is this but that they shall acknowledge Christ to bee true GOD and true man of the stocke of Dauid For hope in the first commaundement is the honour due onely and soly vnto the true and liuing god And thus the kingdome of Christ according to this prophesy shall be as wide and large as the whole worlde so that the Iewes shall bee the least and smallest parte of Christes kingdome And euen all the Iewes vnderstande this chapter of Messias who should recouer and restore the kingdome of Israel And where as the Prophet sayth His rest shall be glorious that is his death and buriall shall be glorious for his body is neither corrupt nor rotten He died an innocent whose death brought all vs the childrē of Adam out of eternall death and shame into euerlasting honour and glory For Christ by this his most holy and sacred death entred into his glorious and euerlasting kingdome and so after his death began his raigne in lyfe And when as the Iewes supposed that hee was dead in deede and quite extinguished al those things which he had promised and spoken to be vaine and of none effect as Cleophas also and his companions supposed then beeing risen from death to life came forth and ouercame and quite destroyed and killed death and became glorious and was made kyng both of the Iewes and Gentiles and raigneth for euer throwyng downe his enemies with euerlastyng shame First therfore in these wordes is contained the deth of Christ for the prophet sayth his rest And afterward is noted his glorious victorious resurrection For the prophet saith that his rest shal be glorious but his rest or death could not haue bene glory or glorious or honorable if he had abiden still in death wrought done nothing by it In Exodus it is written that the lord stretched out his hande and by his great miracles declared his power that he might deliuer his captiue afflicted and oppressed people out of Egypt and bring them vnto the promised land of Canaan And here the Prophet doth agayne promise such a deliueraunce but a much more glorious and meruailous deliueraunce then that was when hee drowned Pharao with all his hoste in the red sea and brought his people out of all danger into the land of promise without hurt and harme The deliuerance out of Egypt was but onely a figure of this deliueraunce of which the prophet speaketh here For God wil deliuer the remnant of the Iewes and Gentiles out of the eternall captiuity of Satan by Iesus Christ and gather them all together into the kingdom of heauen where they shall neuer suffer eyther damage detriment or losse And he calleth all nations throughout all the whole worlde For saluation hath extended it selfe to all the world that the dispersed and wandring children of god might be gathered together out of all quarters of the earth as Christ himselfe saith in Iohn And I if I were lift vp from the earth will draw all men vnto me And agayne Christ should dye for the nations not for the nations onely but that he should gather together in one the children of God which were scattred abroade The prophet Esay singeth a notable Psalme of this great and inexplicable benefite of the true and spirituall redemption in Christ wherby we be deliuered from euerlasting damnation And in that Psalme he meruailously setteth forth the goodnes of god in Christ saying Behold God is my saluation I will trust and wil not feare for the lord God is my strength and song he also is become my saluation If Cleophas and his companion had known him to be the sauiour and deliuerer of Israel as well as Esay did they had neuer bene in harte so heauy as they were It followeth in the prophet Esay Therefore with ioye shall ye drawe waters out of the welles of saluation And yee shall say in that daye prayse the Lorde call vppon his name declare his workes among the people make mention of them For hys name is exalted Syng vnto the Lorde for he hath done excellent thinges This is known in all the world Cry out and shoute O inhabitant of Sion for great is the holy one of Israel in the midst of thee Note here how greatly and aboundantly the prophet reioiceth in spirit or the bountiful grace of god offred in Christ our only sauiour and deliuerer When the gospel of God is taught vnto vs then is the holy ghost with all his graces giuen vnto vs to wit remission of sinnes peace of conscience true ioy He is the true fountain spring of the liuing water of which Christ speaketh in Iohn saying The water that I shall giue him shall be in him a well of water springing vp into euerlasting life And againe Christ sayth If any mā thirst let him come to me drinke he that beleueth in me as saith the scripture out of his belly shal flow riuers of water of life He spake this of the spirit which they that beleue in him should receiue For he obtained this holy ghost by his deth for vs and he mightily shewed forth to vs how that by his death the victory of his resurrection he ouercame sinne death and Satan The true Sion that is the catholike church of the faithfull doth in dede and not without good occasion reioice shout for ioy yea she may well and worthily glory For she hath gotten forgiuenes of sinnes righteousnes the holy ghost peace of conscience and euerlasting saluation For Paul sayth to the Corinthiās That God hath giuen vs a glorious victory triumph ouer the law sin death hel through our lord Iesus Christ Esay prophesieth in like maner in his 25. chapter of the victory of Christ saying God Messias will destroy death for euer and the Lord God will wipe away the teares from all faces and the rebuke of his people wil he take away out of all the earth For the lord hath spoken it Now then if Christ hath swallowed vp death then are we surely deliuered from it For death neither hath nor euer had power ouer Christ because he was
pure free frō al sinne All mankind in deed is subiect to it But Christ paied the price of all our sinnes and in his owne person ouercame death and so destroyed it that henceforth it cannot vtterly vndo vs and deuour vs Because all we which beleue in Christ shall rise again by the vertue of Christes resurrectiō This also might haue comforted Cleophas and his companion haue certified them that Christ was a spirituall king which should not restore that corporall kingdome of Israel but redeme the true Israelites to wit the children of promise through the whole world from the kingdome of Satan and bring them into the heauenly and spiritual kingdom of euerlasting lyfe and immortalitie Esay in his 26. chapter hath a notable song of the kingdom of Christ of the church of the faithfull and of the fortitude and security therof where he sayth We haue a strong city saluation shall God set for walles bulwarks That is to say the walles and armour of it are the sauing helth and victory of Christ which are sure and inuincible fortresses Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which kepe the truth may enter in Here are the citizens of this city described to wit the righteous which beleue in Iesus Christ It followeth By assured purpose wilt thou preserue perfect peace because they trusted in thee This is spokē of the king which ruleth this heauenly city because he doth alwayes and in all places giue and maintayne true pleasant and perpetuall peace against Satan the world and the flesh This peace is in consciēce through faith in Iesus Christ A little after Esay doth prophesie of the resurrection of those dead which shal haue beleued in Messias and are citizens of that heauenly Ierusalem saying Thy dead men shall liue euen with my body shall they rise Awake and sing ye that dwell in dust For thy dew is as the dew of herbes and the earth shal cast out the dead Come my people enter thou into my chambers and shut thy dores after thee Hide thy selfe for a very litle while vntill the indignation passe ouer for loe the Lord commeth out of his place to visite the iniquity of the inhabitauntes of the earth vpon them and the earth shall disclose her bloud and shall no more hide her slaine Now if the righteous which yet lye in the earth shall rise in theyr owne bodies then must it needes be that Christ should rise before who is the head kyng by whome they are iustified and deliuered from theyr sinnes and by whom they shall rise agayne The prophet therefore vndoubtedly speaketh here of the resurrection of Christ and christians and calleth the faythfull of Christ the lordes dead that is pertayning vnto the lord or which are the lordes of whome God will take an accompt and whome he will preserue and not leaue them in death but bring them to euerlasting lyfe For if God be theyrs and they Gods then out of all doubt can not they continue in death neither hath death totally swallowed them vp and cōsumed them but it hath for a short tyme separated their body and soule For God is not the God of the dead but of the liuyng The soule is with Christ and the body in the ground But at the last day the lord will purge and purifie theyr bodies and adorne them with infinit and vnspeakable glory Esay teacheth vs what maner of lyfe we shall haue after our death when he sayeth Awake and sing If the godly must sing and vndoubtedly they shall syng that euerlastyng Alleluya that is a thankesgiuyng because death is swalowed vp in the victory of Christ then out of doubt shall our lyfe after this temporall lyfe be a most happy and blessed lyfe and we shall haue continuall ioyes without any tast of payne or sorrowes perpetuall health without sickenesse eternall and true pleasures delightes and comfortes without any wearisomnesse or molestations After that day sicknesses shall trouble our bodies no more neyther shall olde age wither our bodies or decrease our strength but we shal alwayes haue a continual spring euerlasting pleasure and perpetuall beauty Therefore sayth the prophet Thy dewe shall be as the dewe of a greene medowe That is after your resurrection you shall not fade or decay but flourish alwayes and for euer and be as a fayre medow and greene garden which by her sweete dew comfortable buddes and pleasaunt delectation feedeth the eyes of all men But before this most ioyfull day of the resurrection of the faythfull we must suffer much affliction and heauinesse as Christ warneth vs in Iohn saying In the world ye shall haue affliction and bee made conformable vnto hys death This must be suffered paciently and moderately that be suffering we may be made lyke vnto Christ and so according to our portion be partakers of glory And so Paul sayth to the Philippians The thinges which were vauntage to me the same I counted losse for Christes sake that I might winne Christ and that I might knowe hym and the vertue of hys resurrection and the fellowship of his affliction and bee made conformable vnto his death if by any meanes I might attayne vnto the resurrection of the dead In the meane while we sit as it were shut vp vnknowen to the world in our parlor or closset of the holy church beleuing the doctrine of the sacred Gospell and confirmyng our fayth and hartes with the sweete promise of GOD in hys worde euen vnto the last iudgement that the wrath of GOD may passe ouer and that which ought to be iudged receiue iudgement Our afflictions here are not continuall but for a short tyme which compared vnto eternitie is not the twinckling of an eye And this tyme once finished the Lord will come to iudgement and giue vnto euery one accordyng to his workes Then shall the godly and guiltlesse Abel ryse from the dust of the earth and then shall not the earth any longer couer the bodye of the righteous but it shall giue them vp that together with their soules they may be glorified And the Prophet in his 27. chapiter prophesieng of Christes kingdome and the catholike church calleth it a vineyarde saying In that day sing of the vineyarde to wit the church of red wyne I the Lorde do keepe it and will water it euery moment least any assaile it I will keepe it day and night Hereafter Iacob shall take roote Israel shall flourish and growe and the worlde shall bee filled with fruite And in that day also shall the great trumpet be blowen and they shall come which perished in the land of Ashur and they which were chased into the land of Egypt and they shall worship the lord in the holy mount at Ierusalem This vineyarde is the church of the faythfull which is enclosed and hedged about with the worde of God adourned with the holy spirite and moystened and watered with the
herbe and the hand of the Lord shall be knowne among his seruauntes and his indignation against his enimies You heare in this prophesy that Ierusalem grones vnder her crosse because she is so miserably and hotly persecuted and troubled here in the earth But God promiseth that there shall be such plentifull comfort in the heauenly Ierusalem that the faythfull beleeuers shall not remember their former griefes He vseth a figuratiue speach saying lyke as a hungry sucking infant greedely draweth his mothers brestes with pleasure and thinketh nothing sweeter then his mothers milke so shall there be brests of all comfort in the church by which the faythfull shall take most pleasaunt repast and pleasure For the Church in this lyfe hath the most pleasaunt and hony sweete milke of Gods promises which the children of God suck and with which they are nourished and battned in fayth and by which they are vnspeakeably and vncredibly comforted in the spirite which doth inwardly illuminate and teach them the misteries of the gospell And though the Churche here vpon earth be afflicted tormented and tossed with troubles and hath no resting place yet doth god promise it great plenteous and eternall peace which as a flowing riuer whose course is neuer stayed shall neuer be dried For the kingdome of Christ is a kingdome of eternall peace whiche wee haue with God through Christ And as the tender mothers nourishe and beare their young infantes in their laps armes so do the pastors in the kingdome of Christ beare the faythfull Christians and they faythfully minister and truely breake to them the pure and sound foode of the word of God and geue to euery one as well weake as strong according to their neede Neither was there euer yet vpon this earth any parents though they were most pampering and fond of their children that could so sweetly intreate so delicatly nursse or so derely loue so faythfully carefully watchfully looke to their childrē as God doth to vs And therfore though the Church of the faythfull lye opē to euery crosse calamity after her christs exāple yet is the force of these heauēly promises such in the middest of these troubles that doubtedly all the ioyes pleasures cōsolatiōs of this world are nothing in respect of them For as Paule witnesseth to the Cor. As the sufferinges of Christ abound in vs so our consolation aboūdeth through Christ In the psalmes also it is written in the multitude of my thoughtes in my hart thy comforts haue reioysed my soule and Christ tould his desciples vs before hand that they should wepe and morne in this world but the world should laugh and reioyce But immediatly after he greatly comforteth them and vs with a comfortable promise of eternall ioy saying your sorrowe shall be turned into ioy which no man shall be able to take from you for euer Hath not a godly man passing surmounting ioy here vpon earth when hee remembreth this heauenly Ierusalem and beholdeth with spirituall eyes this glorious city of God and when he remembreth that all Gods deere childrē in all the wide world which are innumerable shall haue one father one king one teacher one fayth one minde one hope and one euerlasting inheritaunce together with them that are allready departed in the Lord and which we shall see at the last day in a gloryfied body with these eyes O what an exceeding ioy will it be to behold that Christ the head of all Saints and holy Mary the blessed mother of God with all the Patriarches prophets Apostles virgins martyrs infāts angels in heauē Verely mans hart in this mortall flesh can not thinke or with sence conceaue any part or parcell of this so great excessiue euerlasting treasures and ioyes For it far very far passeth our capacitie as Paule witnesseth out of Esay saying Eye hath not seen neither eare hath hard neither came into mans hart the thinges which god hath prepared in his heauenly Ierusalem for them that loue him Besides this our bones shall florish and bud This is not to be vnderstood onely of the recreation refection and ioy that we haue here by the word of God but as the Church hath hetherto euer expounded it of that glorious resurrection of our bodies in the laste day when our dry bones be they neuer so ill fauored broken and parched wheresoeuer they be either by water or by lande shall bud and florish that is shall be restored and repared at the sound of the archangell and the bodye it selfe shall be indewed with eternall helth and prosperitye by this meanes our bones may bud for euer seing our bodyes though now they be weake feble and fraile shall contrary to Porpherye lyue also for euer For the Lord hath said it Thus then in that heauenly Ierusalem after domes day shal be no sicknes no old age no death but continuall health of body and alwayes a fresh mery flowrishing and liuely youth To be short as Saint Augustine sayth There shal be an euerlasting perpetuity of a most happy blessed merye and ioyfull life The children of God here in their lyfe tyme be but weake feeble dispised and subiect to the mockes and persecutions of the vngodly who kyll them and butcher them euen as Sheepe prepared for the shambles Contrarylye the world florisheth in power honor pleasure and prosperity and florisheth so in all dayntye delicates that there seemes to be no such calamities and miserable man as the true godly beleuer in Christ but at the last day when this heauenly Ierusalem shall be builded for altogether then shall Gods hand or power be knowen with which he will deliuer his seruants the true godly those that beleue in Christ Then shall they not be either weake feble miserable or contemptuous but they shall be strong bewtifull and sit on christes right hand in gloryfied bodyes lyke to Christ and being in hye and infinite glorye and adorned with inestimable ornaments and deliuered frō death and all misery They shall for ioy sing and triumph thē shal they sit in their maiesty and mock and point with the finger at death and Sathan saying death where is now thy sting hell where is now thy victory death is for euer swallowed vp in the victory of Christ And though the children of this world whiche would not beleue the gospell for a tyme here vpon earth haue had some wealth and wallowed in pleasure as if god had most fauored and loued them yet at the last day they shall well finde that they were Gods enemies and thē shall they to their smart feele how hote heuy and horrible the wrath of God is against them that be now agaynst Christ For then shall God without mercy and pitye throw them with Sathan and all his ministers hedlong downe to hell there to be damned for euer Esay in the end of his prophecy foretelleth of the calling of the Gentils to the gospel