proportion betweene the head and the members for wee shall bee carried vp into the highest heauens and wee shall stand before the throne viewing the glorious face of God and hauing the fruition of his blessed presence The greatnesse of this glorie howbeâ—â— it needeth rather meditation then explication yet something shall bee spoken of it that the vaile may bee taken from our eies that wee may sound and faddome in some sort the bottome of Christ his â—ole in his glorie which of our selues we cannot doe no more then the Iewes could into the ministery of Moses This place fitteth with that 2. Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction which is but for a moment bringeth vnto vs an euerlasting excellent weight of glory Where consider two things first that betweene these afflictions and that glory there is no comparison in the greatnesse it shall be a weight excellently excellent as the word signifieth whereas afflictions are but for a an houre Secondly the glory shall be more durable in respect of eternity whereas the other are but in this life onely For the first consider it in two degrees first the particular ioy euery child and man of God shall haue in his death and dissolution secondly the exceeding glory he shall be filled with when all things shall be perfect and God shall be all in all The first of these hath two parts first it containeth an absolute immunity and freedome from all infirmities of body and soule according as it is said All teares shall be wiped away for the body shall be free from labour care and such like and the soule shall be free from the suggestions of Sathan by couetousnesse and other corruptions wherewith the best and choisest of Gods seruants in this life are wonderfully assaulted Secondly the bodie sleeping in the earth the soule shall be absolutly sanctified from sinne and liue in the fauour of God so as there shall be added vnto vs a present entrance into the Lords ioy which none can comprehend but they that feele it Luk. 23.43 This in the Scripture is called the entrance into the Paradise of the Lord and Paul 2. Cor. 5.8 desireth to remoue out of the body that in his soule he might be with the Lord Iesus who resteth in such a place as hath in it whatsoeuer may moue either admiration or may giue contentation and is described Reuel 21.4 to be destitute of sorrow crying and paine and to haue the foundation of the wals thereof garnished with all manner of precious stones and to be lightned onely with the glory of God needing neither Sunne nor Moone It is also called Abrahams bosome Luk. 16.22 Ioh. 14.2 Reuel 19.9 the presence with the Lambe the gathering of vs into the companie of innumerable Angels and the mansion house of our Father The second degree of this glory is at the restitution of all things which the Apostle heere speaking of verf. 21. calleth the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God This standeth in two parts first in the resurrection of our bodies when they shall be made incorruptible and glorions and shall neede no naturall prouision nor maintenance for they shall shine as the Sunne and the Sunne shall then be seauentimes brighter then it is The second is that God shall be all in all that is the whole God-head shall immediatly raigne and the humanity of Christ shall more manifestly be subiected which is to the greater glory of it that his god head shall be so great for then there shall be no more office of Christ Iesus to procure any more good to his children but the benefit of the former shall continue for euer for then his enemies shall be all put downe and then the Sonne she ll resigne vp his kingdome to his Father that is all enemies being vanquished and that one enemy Death being abolished he shall raigne no more not that God raigneth not now for he raigneth in the person of his Sonne as Mediator but then his office shall end and he shall raigne onely as God For these are but the daies that the Lord Iesus doth woo vs and maketh loue to vs Reu. 19.7 but then shall the marriage be solemnized and for the better setting foorth of this with all magnificence and greatest state all creatures shal be restored that they may serue and attend at the celebrating of this feast Now for the second part that is the comparison of the glorie and afflictions in respect of continuance we see that no affliction lasteth but for the present but this glory is eternall Gods loue toward vs eternall before the world to predestinate vs eternall after the world to glorifie vs that as the first had no beginning so the last shall haue no end So as wee may consider of two eternities though to speake properly there is but one the first before the creation thesecond after the worlds dissolution Now betweene these two there is a certaine time for the world and a thousand yeeres in respect of eternity is but as one day nay as Moses saith Psal 90.4 A thousand yeeres are but as yesterday that is past 2. Pet. 3.8 So as counting the world fiue thousand yeeres it is but as the length of fiue daies past and of these fiue thousand yeeres what are fourescore which is a great age for any man to liue to and a farre greater time then euer any man was afflicted in It is not much more then a moment no way an hower and therefore these afflictions are no way comparable to the eternity of that glory wee shall haue heereafter not so much as a drop of water to the whole Sea or one graine to all the sand And yet we speake now as if a man should neuer but be afflicted euen from his cradle to his death liuing the full age of a man which neuer befell any In Esay 54.8 is shewed what seuenty yeeres be and by the accompt of the spirit of God himselfe they be but as the least minute for the Lord there saith For a moment in mine anger I hid my face from thee but with euerlasting mercy haue I had compassion on thee and this moment was seuenty yeeres for so long were the Iewes in captiuity Iâ—â— 25.12 So as affliction by this reckoning during the whole yeeres and life of man is but a moment and a great part of this moment is past before we can be said to suffer affliction for it is but a confused kind of paine that children sustaine and againe there was neuer any affliction so great but there was some either intermission or remission either the tormenter was wearied or the whip was wasted or they that were tormented died Now if the glory after our induring of these afflictions should last but so many millions of yeeres as there be starres in the heauens there might yet be some more and easier and equall comparison betweene them because at the last this glory should haue an end but it farre
sinne proues there is a law which law being broken bringeth death for the wages of sinne is death Rom. 6.23 The second sort is of them who though they be called by the booke of heauen and earth as the Gentiles were Rom. 1.20 who do see the eternall power of God in the creation of the world and other his works and liuing to a more vnderstanding age are euen by the light of nature without all excuse yet are they not inuited by the voice of the Gospell to rise from the dead but die in their sinnes as the Canibales Barbarians and the Iewes since their Apostasie to whom there pertaineth nothing but a fearefull expectation of iudgement Heereof followeth and is to be obserued that it is contrary to the scripture to thinke that it was the will of God from eternity that all should be saued for then it was his will likewise that all should come to the knowledge of their saluation for whom he hath ordained to the end them hath hee also ordained to the meanes whereas to the reprobate the sound of the word if they doe heare it is but as the noise of bels confusedly iarring in their eares and yet many there be that neuer heard it Why but it is said 1. Tim. 2.4 that it is the will of God all should be saued True all men not euery singular particular man but of euery singular condition of men some not all of all kinds but of all kinds some according to that speech of the Euangelist Mat. 4.23 Christ healed euery disease in Iury that is euery kind of disease not euerie particular disease Now if all men come not to the knowledge of the truth of God either it is done by the wil of God or against his will to say that it is against his will were impious and blasphemous for this were to hold that something could offer violence to the will of God and as if he might not otherwise haue purposed which must be far from a Christian heart to imagine If then this be done with his will then it followeth that his will is changeable if hee once meant to saue them for wee see some euen like dogges readie to rend them in peeces that offer them the pearle of the word whom if the Lord had purposed to saue Mat. 7.6 they should not continue persecutors of the truth as Paul saith of himselfe 1. Timoth. 1.12.13 It pleased Christ Iesus to put me in his seruice being before a blasphemer a persecuter an oppressor and I was receiued to mercy And where it is said 1. Iohn 2.2 that Christ is the reconciliation for the sinnes of the whole world it is to be vnderstood for the sinnes of all sorts and degrees of men gathered out of all the parts of the world and this Christ himselfe interpreteth Ioh. 17.9 when he said Father I pray not for the world and vndoubtedly he will neuer saue them he neuer praied for for whom he excluded from his praier them he neuer meant should haue benefit by his death nay hee had beene bound in duty to haue praied for all if all had been elected to saluation Now if it be asked why men are damned the answer is easie It is for their sinne howbeit it was purposed in the Lords vncontrolable decree that they should be damned before they euer sinned and being corrupt in themselues the Lord hardneth them either by withdrawing the meanes or the power of the meanes the first by ignorance the second by denying them vnderstanding hearts So as if it be demanded why the Lord hardned any it is because he found him corrupt in Adam if why hee damneth any it is because he found him a sinner in himselfe Whom he calleth he iustifieth that is doth absolutely pardon him all his sinne and absolutely impute vnto him all his Sonnes righteousnesse that as Christ for vs was made sinne so wee in Christ might bee made righteous so as iustification is the translation and remouing of our sinne to Christ and the translation and remouing of his righteousnesse to vs. To our sinne hee opposeth his obedience to the punishment of our sinne hee opposeth his satisfaction otherwise he had not fully acquitted vs by fulfilling the law vnlesse he had satisfied his Fathers wrath for our breach of the law in our corrupt birth For if a man could now fulfill all the law of God yet should hee not bee saued because he was borne corrupt and could not possibly satisfie for that was past and in performing the law afterward he should doe nothing but his duty But this is our comfort that the Lord seeing our weaknesse hath in his loue passed by it and seeing our thoughts to bee alwaies euill taketh no account nor reckoning of vs but were sembling the image of his Sonne the Lord reckoneth with him and striketh off our debts in setting them on his score who hath paid the Lord his full due euen to the vtmost farthing being in his birth cleane in his life holy and in his death obedient Whom he iustifieth he glorifieth In this life the Lord doth onely call vs and iustifie vs so as no man need say as Rom. 10.7 Who shall ascend into heauen for that were to bring Christ from aboue or Who shall descend into the deepe for that were to raise Christ from the dead for so much vertue and power of Christ as is needfull for vs wee taste of heere but our glorifying is reserued and followeth in the life to come hauing it heere only in spe and not in re in hope but not in hand This glorifying heere spoken of is meant not that wee shall haue at the last day of our separation when the world shutteth her doores vpon vs but of that glory wee shall receiue at the day of iudgement which is plaine and euident by that went before vers 21. namely that wee waite for the restoring of the liberty of the sonnes of God and for the freedome from the bondage of corruption Howbeit in the glorie of our separation two things are to be obserued first Reu. 2â— 4â— that we shall be freed from all feares and teares and shall haue sinne abolished secondly we shall enter into our Lords rest but the glory of the last day is farre greater and resteth in three things first in the resurrection and a waking of the body when it shall be made conformable to the body of Christ when it shall not liue by the soule only nor be maintained by outward and externall instruments of bread such like but it shall liue as the body of Christ liueth and be glorious like the Sunne which shall then exceed it selfe in glory Isay 65.17 2. Pet. 3.13 Secondly there shall be a new heauen and a new earth and in this new heauen shall dwell the soules of the Saints of God and all things else shall bee restored to their first maiesty Thirdly which is the greatest of all we shall then haue
the naturall powers of this life decrease by age and by infirmities but so it must not bee in our spirituall life for in this we must neuer neither stand still nor goe backward nor grow downward but still be stedfast in faith and walking on in loue like men alwaies running a race till wee haue attained the prize which prize is glorie Againe consider for this spirituall life that as the body whiâ—â— it hath the soule is but a naturall bodie spending like oile in the lampe and cannot but in the end die yet after this life shall be called a spirituall bodie not in substance but because in the resurrection it shall be quickned by the spirituall power of the holy Ghost so a man that hath but a soule if hee haue not the soule of the soule that is the spirit of God to quicken it he is but a naturall man and must needs be damned Againe as a bodie raised vp and quickned by another power can neuer die so the soule being a spirituall soule and hauing once receiued the earnest of the spirit and the power of sanctification from the holy Ghost can neuer die And in this respect we are exalted to a greater priuiledge than Adam had in his creation and it fareth better with vs than it did with him for it was aâ—btrarie with him and rested in his will to die or not to die whereas we hauing once drunke of the water of life and once tasted of this spirituall life we may neuer thirst and as S. Iohn saith 1. Iohn 3.6 we cannot sinne Ioh. 6.54 that is not to sinne but that we purge our selues vpon reproose and recouer our selues when we fall Further obserue hence that there is a double death and a double life first there is a death in the present corruption of sinne whereby in this life we deserue damnation Now that there is a death in this life is prooued 1. Tim. 5.6 the widdow that liueth in pleasure is dead while she liueth and Ephes 5.14 Awake thou that sleepest and stand vp from the dead and Reuel 3.1 it is said of the Church of Sardis Thou hast a name that thou linest but thou art dead Secondly there is a death in the perpetuall condemnation for sinne which is first inflicted vpon the soule at the separation from the body and at the last day shal be laid both vpon the soule and body in a fearefull and full measure Answerable to this is life the first kind whereof is the grace of God vouchsafed vs in this our pilgrimage the second is the glory of God giuen vs in the life to come Now the life of the spirit hath three degrees first at the regeneration when we are renewed in our affections and do feele a change of mind within vs secondlie at the separation of the soule from the body when being as in were released out of the setters of this life she takes her flight to heauen for then doth the soule liue more excellently than it did before being freed from the bufferings of Sathan and the allurements of the flesh Thirdly at the generall resurrection when the world with the Iustes thereof shall passe away like a cloud and be wrapped vp like a clout for then both soule and body shall enioy the presence yea more than that shall liue the life of God for euer Euen so death in the reprobate hath three degrees first in the contagion of sinne secondly in the separation at the doore of death as it were when the soule alone goeth to the diuell thirdly at the resurrection when the body is reunited to the soule to receiue the fulnesse of their endlesse torment Againe the reprobate in this life and in the life to come haue a double misery coupled to their double death for first in this life they want the grace and fauour of God and bee euen like Cain Genes 4.14 afraid lest euery man should kill them Secondly they haue resident in them the diuell who being the God of this world hath and doth carrie them away daily in the power of darknesse Then in the life to come Iohn 16.11 they haue first a priuation or losse of the presence of God secondly a suffering and enduring of all torments 2. Thes 1.8.9 where there cries shall neuer bee pitied nor their paines euer bee eased Proportionable to these haue the children of God double comforts which may bee gathered from the contrarie of the former For first they haue the countenance of the Lord alwaies smiling on them and the strength of the Lord alwais supporting them in this life Secondly which is more they haue the true spirit of comfort dwelling in them and the Father the Sonne and the holie Ghost doth continually feast with them while they liue heere And when we fall a sleepe for nothing else is death to the Saints as we may see in Stephen 2. Cor. 3.17.18 Act. 7.60 then doe we first stand alwaies in the sight of God and behold him face to face neither doth his glory then any whit amaze vs as it did when the veile was before our eies but it doth reioice vs and we glory in it Secondly we are filled with ioies vnspeakable and haue the full accesse and fruition of all that the heart can desire or seeke for Now the way to know that this life of God is in vs must be by the amendment of our liues and by the leauing of our sinnes for regeneration beginneth at repentance and repentance at leauing of sinne in which point euerie man must examine himselfe wisely for if thou hast not brideled thy tongue from bitter and blasphemous speech if thou hast not taught thy hands to worke truely without deceit and hast not brought thy heart to pray feruently without hypocrisie then hast thou no part in this regeneration and by consequent no fellowship in the life of God For righteousnesse sake That is as much as if the Apostle had said reformation of life and religion is the badge and euidence of the spirituall life we leade heere The cause of this is the righteousnesse of Christ which resteth in these two things first in satisfying the iustice of his Father for our sinnes as the Prophet Esay speaketh Esay 53.5 Hee was wounded for our transgressions and by his stripes are we healed secondly in fulfilling the law which he performed foure waies first by teaching it precisely secondly by obeying it exactly thirdly by suffering for our breach thereof meritoriously fourthly by sanctifying vs to doe it effectually But this kinde of righteousnesse is onely resident and inherent in the person of Christ howbeit the righteousnesse heere spoken of by the Apostle is a signe onely and a token that we are sanctified by the flesh of Christ and that Christ hath purchased saluation for vs and that we sighing vnder the burden of sinne Rom. 7.25 walking in a reformed life and waiting for the glorie that shall bee seene we shal be as
bloud hath not reuealed this to thee but God and in another place it is said when his Disciples were going to Emaus he opened their hearts And for the ministery which is a meanes to call men 1. Cor. 12.6.8 it is said to be the worke of God and Eph. 4.11.12 it is said Christ gaue some to be Apostles some Pastors c. for the worke of the ministery and the repairing of the Saints Thirdly remission of sinnes and iustification is the worke of God as it is said Esa 40.29 It is that holy one that giueth strength vnto him that fainteth that is it is God that forgiueth sinnes and Mat. 9.6 the some of man as sonne of man hath this power to forgiue sinnes and Stepheâ— Act. 7.60 praieth Lord Iesus lay not this sinne to their charge Fourthly sanctification is onely the worke of God Iohn 1.13 We are not borne of the will of man but of God and vers 12. As many as receiue him he giues prerogatiue to bee the sonnes of God and Mat. 3.11 Christ will baptize you with the holy Ghost and againe himselfe saith Without me you can doe nothing which is true onely of God and Ephes 5.26 Christ gaue himselfe for his Church to sanctifie it and Heb. 10.10 We are sanctified by the offering of the body of Christ Fiftly to giue glory is the worke of God and this doth Christ as appeareth by the speech of the theefe vpon the Crosse Luke 23.42 Lord remember me when thou commest into thy kingdome and Iohn 10.28 I doe giue eternall life vnto my sheepe Now for the fourth that he is knowen to be God by the diuine worship is to be giuen vnto him and worship is due onely to Iehouah Prov. 16.4 the Lord hath made all things for his owne sake And for this worship first it is not lawfull to serue any so much as God now Christ is to bee serued only for as himselfe saith I have the keyes of life and of death Secondly it is not lawfull to beleeue in any but God and Iob. c. 5. c. 6. Christ saith He that beleeueth in we hath eternal life Thirdly â—im whom we ought to loue aboue all things is God Christ Mat. 16. saith Loue me better then thine owne soule Fouthly â—hom we ought to obey in all things is God and Mat. 17.5 〈◊〉 is said This is my beloued Sonne heare him speaking of Christ â—iftly it is not lawfull to sweare by any but by God and S. Paul â—â—m 9.1 sweareth by Christ and saith I say the trueth in Christ 〈◊〉 not Sixthly inuocation or praier is for none but God as Daâ—id saith Psal 50.15 Call vpon me in the day of trouble and I will heaâ— you and Stephen Act. 7.60 when he was stoned praied to Christ Lord Iesus receiue my soule and with praier to Christ end most 〈◊〉 S. Pauls Epistles Seuenthly Iehouah onely must be blessed foâ—euer and S. Paul Rom. 9.5 saith Christ God blessed for euer anâ— in the Reuelation it is said Reuel 19.7 All praise and glorie be to the Lambe and 2. Pet. 3.18 Grow in the grace of Christ to whom be praise fâ—â—euer Eightly God onely is to be bowed vnto and it is said 〈◊〉 Christ Heb. 1.6 Phil. 2.10 Let all the Angels in heauen adore him and by S. Paul Hâ—â— hath a name giuen him whereat euery knee must bow And thus bâ— these many parts of Gods worship it doth appeare that Christâ— God equall with the Eather For the second point which is the reall distinction of theâ—â— two natures wee say they be not confounded against the thiâ—â— heresie of Eutiches who held that the person eternall of the woâ—â— of God was turned into flesh for by this it followeth that â—ther there must bee an abolition of the Godhead or a permiâ—â—â—â—â— of both the natures both which were blasphemous but 〈◊〉 say according to the scripture Phil. 2.6 that Christ became thâ—â— he was not before namely man and retained that he was befoâ—â— namely God and he was man not that it was transfused inâ—â— his Deity or any property of the Deity transfused into his hâ—manity but by assuming the flesh and so by personall vnion bâ—came both and albeit the humanity of Christ be much magnaiâ—â—ed by the Diuinitie yet is the Diuinitie nothing altered by 〈◊〉 humanity For the third point which is the personall vnion of both the natures from hence hath arisen that fourth heresie of Neftâ—â—us who sayd that Filius Maria was not onely Aliuâ— but Aliâ—â— that is that as there were two natures in Christ distinct so 〈◊〉 there also two persons We say that the same person that 〈◊〉 the sonne of Mary was the sonne of God so as the greaâ— matter heere iâ— whether Christ be one person wherin let vs â—â—derstand these two things first what a personal vnion is seconâ—ly what is the fruit and effect of this vnion For the first 〈◊〉 is a person in Christ Is it a thing compounded of Deity 〈◊〉 humanity God forbid Nay Christ by his humane nature â—â—perly considered is not a person but the Diuinity assuming his flesh his humanitie subsisteth and staieth it selfe in his Diuinity for his humanity neuer vpheld it selfe till it was vnited to the Diuinity It was a nature before but no person his Diuinitie was both a nature and a person before so as out of them neither compounded nor confounded doeth arise Christ Iesus out Emanuel And as in the Trinity there be three persons and but one nature so in Christ there is but one person and two natures vnion of nature in the vnity of his Deity For the second which is the fruit and effect of this vnion it is two folde first the exaltation of his humane nature by being ioyned to his Deitie secondly the communication of his properties For the first that the Deity that vnited the flesh did so glorifie the flesh that by vnsearchable degrees it hath made it farre aboue all Angels is proued by three priuiledges which it hath first by the dignity of his personall vnion as he was the sonne of man he was naturally the sonne of God and he that was God was borne of the woman for Christ is one sonne of God in two respects first by generation eternall secondly according to his humane nature not as man nor by adoption for hee was neuer the sonne of wrath but by personall vnion for he was the sonne of God The second priuiledge is that all gifts that can be in any of the creatures Col. 2.9 are powred without measure vpon the flesh of Christ namely all that can be giuen to any creature or to any nature that keepes it a nature still and doth not defie the creature for as hee is man hee knoweth not the day of iudgement Mark 13.32 nor is not in euery place for these bee essentiall to the Godhead but his humane nature was so beautified by the Godhead dwelling in it bodily as that Heb. 1.6
hee shall be hold his destruction Exod. 14.28 in the red sea How oft 〈◊〉 Saul thinke and how sore did he thirst for the life of Dauid 〈◊〉 he misseth of his purpose and slaieth himselfe 1. Sam. 31.4 〈◊〉 make way for Dauid to the kingdome And such shall be the â—â—cesse of all that conspire against the Lord and his Christ to fall 〈◊〉 to the pit which themselues haue digged and to make the wâ—â—ked a ransome for the godly For the maner of Herods death though it be silenced by the Euangelist yet the Ecclesiasticall stories make mention of it as Iosephus and Eusebius which though it command not the conscience to beleeue yet the more to magnifie the Lord it is not vnfit to consider it He had a great swelling in his legs woonderfull rottennesse in his whole flesh his breath did so stinke as he could not be accompanied with he had such a disease in his parts of shame as wormes did crawle about them he was greedie of meat hauing the appetite of a dogge not to be satisfied his whole race was accursed after him hauing eight children within an hundred yeeres there was not any of their loines lest Archilaus heere spoken of was banished to Vienna and there died a beggar Antypas that beheaded Iohn Baptist and whom Christ called Foxe Luke 13.32 was banished to Lions in France and there died a most miserable abiect Agrippa the son of Aristobulus the sonne of this Herod an insolent and proud man was eaten vp with lice most shamefully Act. 12.23 The sonne of this Agrippa that would haue put Peter to death liuing till the destruction of Ierusalem there had his end Thus did the wrath of God rest vpon the familie of this cruell persecutor of Gods Church who was blasted in himselfe and his posteritie And thus did the Lord 1. Kings 14.10 sweepe away the house of Ieroboam as a man sweepeth away dung till it bee all gone and 1. King 21.21 did cut off the posteritie of Ahab for their prouocations wherewith they had prouoked him to teach vs to feare and tremble before his face and if we will be blessed in our selues and in the fruit of our bodie to looke vnto our paths that we lay not our hands to wickednesse Note further that we are not to feare what Princes can doe vnto vs for they liue no longer then they haue some seruice to doe for Gods glorie as it is said Col. 1.16 All things are in Christ and for Christ And Saul could not Acts 9.1 breath out threatnings against the Church of God had not the Lord some speciall purpose in it either for the exercising of his Saints or the waiting for his owne repentance Neither could Pharaoh so long â—â—ie his rodde vpon the Israelites were it not as S. Paul saith Rom. 9.17 that the Lord stirred him vp to shew his power in him For now when Herod had executed the children whereby God is glorified in their innocent death and his owne malice fully manifested then he dieth himselfe which may teach vs patience against the time of trouble knowing that the wicked are but as the weapons of the Lord to set an edge on our affectionâ— which otherwise would creepe vpon the earth and make vs forget our maker whereas by this meanes we oft times cast our 〈◊〉 on our deliuerer which is in heauen Further learne that though tyrants appoint vs as sheepe to the slaughter and in the malice of their hearts doe purpose to fleece vs yet sometime the butcher wanteth his knife and the sheepe in the shambles do escape therefore we need not to be afraid of them that haue not so much power as to kill the bodie vnlesse the Lord giue vs vp into their hands as Dauid saith Psal 7.12 speaking of the wicked hee hath bent his bow and spread his net and hath conceiued mischiefe but shall bring foorth vanitie and the euill intended shall fall vpon his owne hairy scalpe For the diuell that is stronger then man yea that aâ—meth the malice of men cannot stretch foorth his hand vpon the goods of Iob Iob. 1.12 much lesse touch his body without the permission of the Almighty Herod shall die and Christ shall escape if not the worst that flesh and bloud can doe is but 〈◊〉 send vs with the children of Bethlem into heauen for the Lorâ— is our shield and we are as neare deare vnto him as the apple of his eie yea he is our secret place and vnder his shadow we can not but be safe For the second point containing the obedience of Iosepâ— by his example we learne not to runne before Gods promises but patiently to waite vpon them for as hee is alwaies a sure deliuerer of his people so then especially when his mouth haâ—â— spoken it and vpon this Ioseph relied not stirring till he was called Moses was sure to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt Exod. 3.10 yet hee must staie for it fortie yeeres as if the Lord had forgotten to what purpose hee had appointed him Noab 〈◊〉 the Lords commandement entreth into the Arke and commeâ—â— not foorth till by the same commandement Gen. 8.16 he 〈◊〉 called foorth though by the not returning of the Doue he knâ—â— the waters were abated from the earth Dauid was sure to be king after Saul yet he waited so long as in his haste he said Psalm 116.11 All men are liers thinking that Samuel had abused him to tell him hee should be King which we must beware of for the cause why the Lord staieth many times is because his seruants crie not out vnto him nor presse him with importunity as Luk. 18.5 the widow did the Iudge or for that our curst heares will not come downe so as he is faine to vse the wicked as rods to chastise and humble vs. Heere also learne that as Christ commeth out of Egypt so the Lord draweth the Gospell out of the fire and giueth it some Sun-shine out of the darkest persecution yea and that as it is said Act. 12.24 in the time of the most ambitious and Lordly tyrants it shall grow and multiply exceedingly for so it hath pleased God that the hotest persecutors as was S. Paul haue embraced it and that kings haue submitted their scepters to the foolishnesse of preaching Which noteth vnto vs that the ignominy that lighteth vpon the crosse is not nor ought to be any occasion to disswade vs from it for the proceeding of Christs kingdome is aboue nature and the perswading to it is cleaue contrary to the custome of the world For saith Cyrus if a Lacedaemonian will serue mee if hee bee a foot-man I will make him an horseman if a horse-man I will giue him a Chariot if hee haue a Chariot I will giue him a Castle if a Castle a Citie and he shall receiue his gold not by tale but by waite But now in the groweth and age of a Christian it fareth otherwise for this is the condition of
were the nailes that fastned Christ to the Crosse wee must weepe and cry as one mourneth for his onely sonne and first borne and there must be such a compunction of the spirit as to crie with the hearers of Peter Act. 2.37 What shall we doe and with Dauid Psal 6.6 to wash our bed with teares and so to mourne as if we heard the Lord summoning vs to iudgement for our sinnes are not lighter then Dauids that our sorrow should be lesse then his And when we haue attained to this to be pierced to the soule with sorrow not for any discomforts in this life but for that we haue offended God and haue exercised our selues in this not as in a pang that shall perplex vs for the time but that wee haue daily ripped and laied our hearts naked before the Lord then from hence springeth forth the third fruit amendment of our sinnes and repentance for them which standeth in two parts first in the forsaking of the old sinne secondly in inclining to the contrary vertue for the repentance of an vlurer is not restitution only but with Zaccheus Luke 19.8 to restore and to be mercifull to the poore as before he was vnmercifull for drunkards not onely to leaue the combat of their cups but to forsake that company and to obserue all kind of abstinence whereby he may be more fit for his calling and in iudgement to condemne it and in affection to abhor it both in himselfe and others so as briefly to repent is not to be as thou hast bene but to be in Christian duties that thou hast not beene For the second point which is the reason of the exhortation by the word Kingdome of heauen vnderstand the manifestation of the Messias which as a â—â—ately monarch shall rule in the hearts of men such as shall bee gathered by the Gospell with a wonderfull spirituall maiesty by his word and graces first leading them by the Gospell to haue their conuersation in heauen while they liue heere whereupon gather there is a double kingdome first of administratory prouidence which is that wherby the Lord ruleth ouer all euen the diuels secondly of royall preheminence in his church which is threefold first in their beginning by imperfect sanctification when men translated drawen from the power of sin are brought to the obedience of the Lord Iesus the second confirmed by perfect sanctification in the soules of the saints already departed the third fully to be accomplished when wee shall bee crowned of the Lord both in soule and body with perfect and perpetuall glory when God shall raigne in his Sonne his Sonne in his Church and his Church triumph in them both for euer Now this spirituall maiesty of Christ setling and inthronizing himselfe in the hearts of men is far more magnificent then any earthly throne prescribing vs lawes within which we are to bound our selues for in a kingdome there are foure things requisite first a King to gouerne secondly subiects to obey thirdly lawes to keepe in awe fourthly authority to execute them Now in this kingdome of light Christ is the King the faithfull be the subiects the word of God the lawes the power of the spirit the authority to execute them so that if by our subiection to the word the little flocke of Christ be increased the workes of the diuell bee destroied the enemies of God be subuerted and sinne bee subdued in the strength thereof then 〈◊〉 being gathered into this first kingdome which consisteth in the regeneration of the spirit may assuredly waite for the expectation of the other kingdome which standeth in the perfection 〈◊〉 all glory And we may the better vnderstand this by weighing the diuersity of Kingdomes which the diuell hath these being double first on earth secondly in hell On earth the reprobate being his subiects their corrupt affections their lawes 〈◊〉 their being giuen ouer of God to follow those wicked waies being the power to execute them So as in all those places bâ—â— they neuer so well polished to the eye which haue not sufficiâ—â—â— power of the Gospell to saue them â—or which haue it notatâ—â—â— or which haue it in a counterfet manner and measure or whâ—â—â— hauing it sincerely Mat. 7.6 doe flie like dogs to rend them in peeces thâ—â— bring it in these is the kingdome of darknesse set vp and sauing for the elects sake which shall bee taken out of them by the manifestation of Gods grace it were but a cage of filthy birds and the Synagogue of Satan For the second which is in hell it is that wherein vnmercifull Diues now lieth Luk. 16.24 and cannot haue so much refreshing as to coole his tongue and wherein after this life the wicked and impenitent shall bee tormented with endlesse paine The consideration whereof may driue vs to the meditation of the Lords bounty that hath prepared another place for vs if we follow the counsell of Iohn Baptist to amend our liues and to reforme our waies euen such a place wherein we shall behold and enioy the beauty of his glorie for euer Further obserue though Iohn Baptist willeth them to repent and amend yet it proueth no ability or naturall inclination in a man to doe this no more then when Christ saith Mat. 11.28.29 Come vnto me and take vp my yoake it argueth no power of our selues to come for so much himselfe setteth downe in another place where hee saith No man can come vnlesse my Father drawe him But the end of this is Iohn 6.44 not that the commandement is giuen to meet with our power to performe it but as Rom. 3.20 that thereby might come the knowledge of sinne for when wee see our weakenesse that we cannot doe it and our wretchednesse that we haue done the contrary as that where we should haue repented of our sins we haue rather increased them it leads vs to seeke grace in Christ pardon for the sinne and power of his spirit to forsake it So as in the commandement know thou oughtest to doe it in the correction of the Lord know thou hast not done it in not doing it know thy condemnation in praier and faith thou knowest where to haue it in thy conuersion thou knowest where thou hast receiued it and in thy perseuerance know by whom thou doest retaine it And albeit all commandements are of three sorts first such as command our first conuersion secondly that command our obedience to the Lord after our conuersion thirdly that command our perseuerance after wee haue begun obedience yet we shall see the strength of all these commeth from the Lord. For the first Zach. 1.3 there is a commandement giuen to turne to the Lord and Ioel 2.12 this is more particularly set downe that it must be a turning with all the heart But how shall this be wrought Obserue Ephraims speech to the Lord Ier. 31.18 Conuert thou me and I shall be conuerted So Deut. 10.16 Moses commandeth that the people should circumcise the
against the expresse commandement of his maker to haue approched vnto God without the suffering and crucifying of the flesh of man in Christ Iesus neither had this punishment sufficed had not Christ in our flesh by his obedience recompensed our breach of this law of God And yet because this is the anchor of our hope the ground of our faith and the security of our happinesse heereafter the spirit doth more neerely bond it selfe to our capacitie teaching vs this heauenly mystery by seuen earthly comparisons First Rom. 13.14 It is Saint Pauls precept to put on the Lord Iesus Christ wherein he compareth Christ to garment which hath two properties first to couer our nakednesse secondly to keepe vs warme thus as we put on our apparell to couer the shame and to hide the nakednesse of our bodies so wee should put on the robes of Christs righteousnesse to couer the deformity of our sinfull soules and as by our garments our heat is kept within the body whereby our life is preserued so by our putting on of Christ we that otherwise should be frozen in our dregges receiue a spirituall warmth wherby the life of our soules is kept in and maintained and as while our garments are on vs wee are said to bee in our clothes but being cast from vs wee are euen ashamed of our selues and vnquiet till we haue got some other couering of place to hide vs in so while we are couered with Christ we are said to be in Christ but if we lay him aside then are we laid open to the shame of the world to the age of Satan to the tyranny of sinne and to the wrath of God Hence arise many fruitfull meditations for our particular instruction First that we thinke it a matter of more necessitie to be clothed with Christ then with our carthly garments and that we are neuer fully apparelled till wee haue put him on For by how much the soule is of more value then the body so much ought our care to be increased rather for the furnishing of the one then of the other in this respect also that the soule is the defence of the bodie that if we be sound and sincere within and haue spiritual heat at the heart there are no outward discomforts of pouerty reproch or persecution that can at all dismay vs. This Dauid hath taught vs out of his owne experience 1. Sam. 17.38.45 who went against Goliah not in the kings raiment though that was offered him but clothed himselfe with armour of better proofe the name of the Lord of Hosts who closed his enemy in his hand of farre greater strength than himselfe Naie to perswade and prouoke vs vnto this wee haue example euen in the time of Christ Matt. 14.36 that as manie as touched but the hem of his garment were made whole of bodily diseases and if there were such vertue in his apparell how much more strength and power is there in himselfe to cure all spirituall diseases of the soule and to keepe the body from sicknesse also vnlesse by sicknesse and infirmitie we shall thriue and prosper toward God Secondly when thou puttest on Christ be sure thou wearest him as thine vppermost garment both on thy body and on thy minde for that that is aboue the rest is best seene and let the world thinke of thee as it will it shall be thy true glorie to haue Christ seene in thy attire that thou goest comely and not vainely and garishly to haue him seene in thy speech that it be not wanton and blasphemous but such as may giue grace to the hearers and tend to edifying to haue him seene in thy behauiour and in all the actions of thy life that others by thy light may bee drawen out of darknesse that glory may bee giuen to thy father which is in heauen for if thou shalt think to weare Christ as we say next the skinne and shalt put any garments ouer him thou deceiuest thine owne soule and couerest thy selfe but with the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life which will lead thee to destruction for as Paul saith Col. 3.9.10 wee must put off the old man with his works and put on the new which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him Thirdly when thou puttest on Christ thou must take heed thou puttest him not vpon thy head or vpon thy hands or vpon any one part of thy body but he must be so put on as hee couer thy whole body from the head to the foote for if the diuell finde any part vncouered hee will possesse that therefore S. Paul Ephes 6.11 bids vs put on the whole armour of God that wee may be complet souldiers for if we be vnarmed in any part we may receiue a wound in that part which may be dangerous to the whole body so as if wee weare Christ onely in our mouthes that wee can talke religiously and haue him not in our feete to keepe vs from running astraie to wickednesse or haue him onely in our thoughts and not in our actions or in some of our actions and not in all then are wee not couered with Christ at all for saith the Apostle Ephes 4.15 wee must in all things not in some grow vp into him which is the head that is Christ Fourthly when thou hast once put on Christ thou must neuer lay him aside nor put him off againe for he is a garment that neuer weareth he is yesterday to day and the same for euer and his yeares shall not faile Hebr. 1.12 thou hast the same need of him and vse of him in the night as in the day in thy rest as in thy labour in thy health to prosper thee as in thy sicknesse to comfort thee in temptations to strengthen thee as in peace of conscience to secure thee for there being no time free wherin we are not subiect to fal we can at no time want his grace which must be our stay and sufficiencie 2. Cor. 12.9 Peter may well teach vs the vse of this lesson by the danger himselfe was in Matt. 26.70 by shaking off this garment in the high priests hall for he would needs before them all denie double it by an oth that he knew not Christ so as if Christ in mercy had not stucke close to him and kept himselfe on Luk. 22.61 by turning backe and looking on him wee see how euen in a chase and when there was no eminent persecution ouer him Peter had cast him aside as if hee had neuer receiued any former good by him which must make vs feare and tremble to giue such a guest no better enâ—â—â—tainement and such a garment no safer keeping since onely in the robes of Christ wee receiue our blessing and for his sake alone are beloued The second comparison is 2. Cor. 13.5 Know yee not that Christ is in you or dwelleth in you except yee be reprobates Where Christ is compared to our dwelling
vpon earth then doe we seeke Christ on earth when we know hee is gone into heauen But from whence hath he deliuered vs From hell Then must we take heed we doe not the workes of hell and of darknesse And then whither hath he brought vs Where he is that is in heauen Then if we will say we are married to him Ioh. 14.2 and that he was crucified for our sinnes and hath crucified sinne in vs and freed vs from sinne Sathan and condemnation let our conuersation be where his body is for where the dead corse is thither will the Egles resort and where the husband is thither will the wise haste to see him and to liue with him so that as Christ died in body so must we die in spirit that his spirit may haue his full worke in vs to raise vs vp to heauenly meditations Thirdly we must learne that betwixt the corporall and spirituall marriage there is great difference for the woman for certain causes may be diuorced from her husband and he being dead she may as lawfully keepe herselfe a widow as marry againe but in this our spirituall marriage there is neither diuorce nor widowhood for as soone as we are diuorced from the flesh and the lusts thereof we must not stay and remaine a widow but we must presently marry with the spirit of God and the fruites thereof and he shall remaine our husband for euer Howbeit we must know we haue no liberty to marry with our second husband the Lord Iesus vntill we be deliuerd from the whole body of sinne and the powers thereof as lust sensuality and such like and the meanes of this our freedome and deliuerance is in the body of Christ so as vnlesse the body of Christ hath destroied sinne in our naturall bodies we are not conioined vnto him We must then consider what there is in this bodie of ours which is a body of sinne Rom. 6.6 And in this body of ours there are three things First condemnation for sin Secondly disobedience by sinning Thirdly the corruption of nature which causeth this disobedience In the second place we must consider how we are deliuered from these three and how they be taken from vs. The first which is our condemnation is taken away by the satisfaction of Christ for our sinne the second which is our disobedience is taken away by the righteousnesse of Christ free from sinne and these things are without vs but the third which is the corruption of our nature is taken away by the powerfull working of Gods spirit within vs so that except we haue this third thing the spirit to abolish sinne in vs we are not yet flesh of his flesh and so none of his spouse For as for Christs satisfaction for condemnation and his obedience for our rebellion the very Turkes may hope for their saluation as well as we therefore it must be the slaying of sinne by the spirit that must assure vs of our coniunction and marriage with Christ for if corruption remaineth whence springeth disobedience then there remaineth for this disobedience condemnation for euery sinne committed by them that are regenerate is as it were the bringing foorth of a bastard vnto God which we know how much he abhorreth Sixtly this our coniunction with Christ is set foorth Ioh. 15.5 vnder the parable of the vine to which Christ is compared and we to the branches for as the branch cannot beare fruit of it selfe vnlesse it grow vp with the stocke no more can we except we grow vp in Christ and as the branches receiue sap from the root whereby they fructifie so we being ingrasted into Christ receiue life from him whereby we are fruitfull in good workes and as the branches seuered from the body of the tree doe fall away and perish so if we once wither away and the graces of God decay and wax cold in vs drinking in the raine and yet not bringing foorth herbes meet for the dresser then are we neere vnto cursing and our end is to be burned Out of which learne that if thou cariest in thy life onely leaues as it were of thy profession Heb. 6.8 as the figge tree did that seemed greene a farre off and goodly and art not fruitfull in thy conuersation to walke as one redeemed out of darknesse thou art but as a branch broken off and as a blade that withereth before the time of haruest for as Rom. 11.16 If the roote be holy so are the branches and if the ground of thy heart be seasoned with the graces of God it will spring foorth into all thy members The Seuenth comparison is Ioh. 6.56 He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and I in him Where Christ is compared to flesh and bloud which we must not vnderstand of materiall but of spirituall eating which is comprehended by faith wrought in vs by the spirit reuealed to vs by the Sonne of God deliuered to vs by the word of God and sealed vnto vs by the Sacraments Since then our feeding on Christ doth draw such fruit after it bring such efficacy with it let vs labour to meet him in those meanes himselfe hath ordained namely in his word and sacraments the one being the store-house of his promises the other as it were a patent of confirming them to vs vnder the seales left vs by the King of heauen that as these infirme bodies of ours cannot be supported without the stafes of bread and drinke the one to kill the hunger the other to stanch the thirst wherewith our natures are assaulted so we may perswade our selues that our soules for their cherishing and refreshing doe require the like necessity to be sed with the flesh and bloud of Christ that we may grow vp perfect men in him and be freed from the scorching heat of desperation whereinto we may easily fall through that streame and current of sin wherewith we are carried in the whole course of our liues and from which wee cannot be saued but through the sprinkling of that blood which was shed for vs vpon the Crosse Now for the second point which is the profit and benefit we receiue by this Coniunction it is twofold first that Christ hath taken our sinnes and the punishment of our sinnes vpon him for he being without sinne was made sinfull for vs was wounded for our transgressions and as 1. Pet. 2.24 bare our sinnes in his body on the tree that by his stripes we might be healed secondly that by his death we are made partakers of his obedience and the reward of his obedience which is eternall life and of his graces and the glory for his graces which is eternall glory Touching the first profit it is double First he tooke our sinnes vpon him Secondly the satisfaction of our sinnes which is death the first by imputation the second really and sensibly for being clothed with our flesh and appearing in our persons he became the child of wrath subiect to
bee called sanctified but saith he the spirit is in you for if they should deny that they runne into this that they must needs be reprobates and wrapped vp in condemnation Secondly obserue in the raising vp of Christ two parts first that he was raised vp secondly by what power he was raised vp namely by the spirit of his Father That Christ was raised vp the Apostle doth not demonstrate it but assumeth it for if Christ were not risen then all Pauls reasons 1. Cor. 15. to proue our resurrection may easily be eluded for that is the first argument hee there vseth to prooue a resurrection because Christ is risen and all his arguments there following are linked to that and depend on that reasoning from absurdities if Christ be not risen our preaching is in vaine and your faith is in vaine for Christ crucified and his resurrection is the summe of the Gospell and the end of our faith But the matter is by what power Christ was raised vp As he was flesh it profited nothing to raise vp it selfe for 1. Pet. 3.18 it is said he was put to death according to the flesh that is according to his humane nature and was quickned in the spirit which the Apostle there sheweth to be by that spirit wherein he preached in Noahs time And Rom. 1.3 the Apostle speaking of Christ saith he was of the seed of Dauid according to the flesh but declared to be the sonne of God by the resurrection from the dead which sheweth that it was the power of God that raised him vp He that raised vp Christ c. Heere consider three parts first what shall be raised vp our bodies secondly by what power they shall rise by the same power by which Christ was raised vp thirdly after what maner the same spirit that quickned Christ is now communicated to vs and by Christs righteousnesse we are made righteous and so are become fit temples for his spirit to inhabite in vs. The Scripture proposeth two arguments to prooue the resurrection first the conformitie of the bodie with the head that as Christ our head is risen so wee his bodie shall rise againe The secondly is the consideration of Gods omnipotency and out saith in his power that is to beleeue that he can doe all things and therefore can raise vp our putrified bodies The first reason holdeth both waies if Christ be raised vp then shall we be raised vp Christ is not risen therefore we shall not rise We are raised vp therefore Christ is raised vp we are not raised vp therefore Christ is not risen And this doth minister vnto vs great comfort and may euen astonish our hearts with ioie for it is impossible that we who are the body can be drowned as long as Christ our head is aboue the water So then since our head Christ is lifted vp aboue all gulfes hath tasted of all sorrowes and hath ouercome all dangers we need not to feare that we shall be stifled or swallowed vp of the wanes of torments and afflictions though we seeme neuer so much cast downe in the outward man for let the wild beasts of the forrest roare neuer so fiercely or let the raine fall and the waues beat and the windes blow neuer so strongly Mat. 7.27 yet shall their mouthes bee shut that they shall not hurt vs and our house is built vpon a rocke that cannot mooue for our Redeemer liueth and our head is safe and we at the last when he hath sufficiently exercised his graces in vs by the triall of our faith and the experience of our loue of him Ioh. 19.25 shall through him ouercome all troubles and sorrowes For the second reason to proue the resurrection which is the consideration of Gods omnipotency the Apostle Philipp 3.21 ioyneth the raising vp of our bodies to the consideration of that power whereby God is able to subdue all things This also is euident Ezech. 37.5 where the Lord by his power giueth life to a companie of dead bones And Christ Ioh. 5.25 saith his Gospell was able to raise vp dead soules that is such as be dead in profanenesse but by the power of his word shall be reuiued and quickned in the spirit which is the first resurrection and vers 28. The day shall come saith he when yee shall find that to bee true in the second resurrection to your damnation which yee will not now beleeue in the first resurrection â—â—â—our saluation when by the very voice of God the dead shall be raised vp Among many places to proue the resurrection of the bodie that is most excellent Mat. 22.32 vpon the demand of the Sadduces whose wife shee that had had seuen husbands should be in the resurrection I am saith he the God of Abraham c. I am not the God of the dead but of the liuing No place at the first sight may seeme to carry lesse proofe of the matter Christ then had in hand but being dulie weighed it is most substantiall to prooue it It may be said True it is thou art the God of Abraham that is of so much of Abraham as now liueth so as thou art the God of Abrahams soule but it is conuinced out of the place it selfe that thou art not the God of the dead and therefore thou art not the God of Abrahams body for his body is dead But note he doth not say hee is the God of part of Abraham but hee is the God of Abrahams person which person of his standeth vpon soule and body Secondly some say this place prooueth the immortality of the soule onely Nay it is certaine if the body be not immortall the soule cannot be immortall for if Abraham liueth in any part now hee must at the last liue in all and if immortality were onely giuen to one part then all the reasons of Paul 1. Cor. 15. to proue the resurrection of the body might be easily euaded For the Apostle there vers 18. to prooue the resurrection of the bodie saith Vnlesse Christ be risen and we rise we that are a sleepe 〈◊〉 Christ are perished But it may be obiected Nay there may bee an immortality if the blessed soules doe liue and therefore they cannot bee said to be perished And vers 19. If our hope saith Paul bee in this life onely we are of all the most miserable Nay it may be said we are happy in the life to come in the soule so vers 29. hee proueth the resurrection of the body from our baptisme Yea but it may bee said That is not so Paul for though our bodies rise not yet baptisme may profit vs in the spirit and though thy bodie Paul doe not rise yet thou hast not fought with beasts at Ephesus in vaine for thou shalt bee crowned with glorie in thy soule for that thou hast sustained these combats And thus if we stand onely vpon the immortalitie of the soule all Pauls arguments in that place may be soone reiected It is
true that the soules are now blessed as it is in the Reuel 7.9 where the Saints are said to haue their white robes in token â—â—nnocency long in signe of statelinesse and palmes in their hands in signe of victory but it is as true that the soule is not happy sauing in the constant expectation of the last day when it shall bee ioined to the body and it hath not now that fulnesse of happinesse it then shall haue For it standeth with the law of retribution in God that as he receiued most glorie from them both when they were vnited so should he returne them most ioie and fulnesse of glory when by his power they are brought together againe And euen so fareth it now with the reprobate that are departed who feele onely torment in their soules at this time but when their bodies shall bee raked out of the dust then shall their paines be increased So as this is the doctrine we must hold that the soules of the Saints are blessed ante resurrectionem before the resurrection but fine resurrectione without the resurrection they are not blessed Rom. 14.9 God is said to be the Lord of the dead and Mat. 22.32 Christ saith he is not the God of the dead In which places there is no contrariety for Christ meaneth that he is not the God of the dead according to the supposition of the Sadduces for no man is a King without subiects nor a Captaine without souldiers nor God the God of Abraham vnlesse Abraham be but hee is the God of the dead because they by him shall be raised vp Now followeth the first part what shall be raised vp namely this verie body which we now carrie about vs shall bee raised vp Which is prooued first from the proportion and resemblance with the head for the same body of Christ that was buried was raised vp which is signified vnto vs by himselfe Luk. 24.39 who to remooue all doubts of the truth of his resurrection out of his disciples mindes said Behold my hands and my feet and Iohn 20.25 it is said that Thomas put his finger into Iesus side after his resurrection And so much did Christ foreteâ—â—â—â—re his death Ioh. 2.19 Destroy this temple meaning his body and I will build the same not another vp againe Secondly it is prooued from the proportion of Gods iustice toward the elect and the reprobate also for it standeth with his iustice that those lippes which in this life offred vp the calues of thanksgiuing vnto him that that body that hath beene baptized into Christs death that mouth that hath feed vpon Christ by faith that that bodie which hath beene exercised vnder the crosse and sanctified through afflictions which hath testified to the blood the profession of his trueth it standeth I say with the iustice of God that that bodie and no other should bee raised vp to glory And Paul noteth foorth so much in himselfe a member 1. Cor. 15.53 when he saith This mortall shall put on immortalitie as if saith a learned Father he had taken it vp in his hands to haue expressed his meaning Againe the proportion of Gods iustice toward the reprobate is that that knee that hath bowed to the Masse shall also bow to the diuell in hell torment and that that body which hath embrewed it selfe with the blood of Gods saints that hath rent as it were the Lord in peeces by their blasphemy and that haue shut vp their compassion from the poore that that body should bee punished eternally in hell fire and euen denied so much as a drop of cold water to coole their tongues Luk. 16.24 For what iustice were it in God to frame them new bodies and so to punish them in that flesh wherin they neuer sinned Nay it were meere iniustice to punish them in any other parts than those wherein they haue offended Now this bodie of the faithfull that shall be raised vp shall haue three speciall graces giuen vnto it which it had not before to shew the riches of Gods mercy toward them as first it shall be immortall and shall neuer putrifie secondly 〈◊〉 shall be maintained by no naturall power and thirdly it shall haue glory Answerable to these in another kinde shall the bodies of the reprobate be for first they shall wish they might rot but cannot secondly they were happie if they might pine away but the worme shall be continually gnawing yet neuer satisfied nor they weakned Mark 9.48 thirdly they shall haue horror and shame and howling and gnashing of teeth continually For the second point which is by what power our bodies are raised vp namely by the same spirit that Christ was raised vp Now then it may be asked how the reprobate shall rise for they partake not of this spirit nor haue any part in this resurrection It is true that the power of Christ as a Sauiour and the fruite and benefite of his death are inseparable from the elect and belong onely to them The reprobate therefore shall bee raised vp by the same power by which they were at first created and as at the first they were made by the power of God in his Sonne the Father consulting with his wisdome which is Christ euen so shall they bee raised vp againe by the power of God in his Sonne not as a redeemer but by the absolute power of Iesus Christ their Iudge Gen 3.23 And as when Adam fell he was not onely depriued of the tree of life but of all the other fruites of the garden and in the losse of that lost all the rest and was driuen out by violence and kept out by the sword from any more fight of God in Paradise euen so the reprobate deserue not onely to bee secluded from the possession of heauenly glory where growes that life that euer flourisheth but euen vtterly to be extinguished and abolished for they are but vsurpers vpon the Lords heritage and euen the aire which they breath in shall be their damnation for they deserue not so much as their being Yet such is the great bounty of God that he raineth as well vpon the vniust as vpon the iust yea and oftentimes obscureth his goodnesse toward his Saints and hideth as it were his face from them when the wicked flourish as tâ—â— Palme-tree and abound in all earthly prosperity but yet this is our comfort that they passe away as a shaft in the aire and as a ship on the sea so is their place no more seene and indeede they shall finde it were better for them they were not whereas the godly know that in 〈◊〉 earth they haue no abiding citie but that their treasure is in â—â—â—uen where their hearts alwaies be and their bodies heereafâ—â—â— shall be Because that his spirit dwelleth in you This is the third part was noted out vnto vs namely how this power of the spirit is in this life communicated vnto vs. Wherein obserâ—e that whosoeuer is regenerate is made partaker
of the life of God and such a man hath his soule and body taken vp and dressed and dedicated to entertaine the holy Ghost and the holy Ghost abideth in him and Iohn 14.23 Christ saith If any man loue me he will keepe my word and my Father will loue him and we will come vnto him and dwell with him so as the whole blessed Trinity abideth in such a man which is a most princely prerogatiue and royall dignity which the faithfull haue that the King of heauen will stoope so low as to abide in the soule of a poore Christian Further obserue in that the spirit dwels in vs that as Christ before he tooke vpon him and assumed our flesh sent his herbenger before him to seele that house and sanctifie that wombe wherein himselfe would lie Mat. 1.18 that the virgine by that meanes was full of the holy Ghost euen so he still sendeth forth his spirit to take vp his lodging for him in the heart of euery Christian and to sanctifie them in some measure 2. Cor. 13.4.5 though not in that fulnesse he did the virgine And as God in no place on the earth was said to be more then he was in the Arke so is he in no creature so much as in the elect 1. Sam. 4.7 Psal 8.1.5.6.7 yea all the creatures by this meanes are made seruiceable to the elect Now when the spirit commeth vnto vs it findeth our hearts very ruinous like an old house yet such an habitation as by some ancient monuments shewes what stately building it was at first by creation then it falles a tempering and building it vp againe by the loue of God ingrafted in our hearts and it doth sift vs and cleanse vs and whereaâ—â—t findeth nothing but bare walles that is a departure of all the graces of God and a depriuation of them it filleth vs and infuseth vnto vs all heauenly vertues And as the Lord was in the Temple and yet not shut in and inâ—â—uded there but in that he was there it was necessary it should 〈◊〉 kept cleane as appeareth 2. Chron. 23.19 that for this purpose porters were set at the gates of the house of the Lord that none that was vncleane in any thing should enter in so we that are Christians being a type of that Temple that should be built of liuing stones whereof Christ must be the chiefe and corner stone and wherein we must beleeue that God dwelleth farre more spiritually and effectually then he did in the other we I say must be kept far more cleanely then the other Temple was In this respect also that this Temple wherein the Lord now dwelleth is our soules and bodies the Priest our selues to offer vp our selues the sacrifice our selues to be sacrificed in our soules and bodies vpon the altar which is our hearts but yet so as we are still acceptable onely in the sacrifice of Christ and in his priesthood Now this spirit that thus dwelleth in vs is called the spirit of sanctification in respect of the foure properties wherin it resembleth the materiall Temple For first as the Temple might not serue for a dwelling house but was onely consecrated to abide and continue there while they serued God so the temples of our bodies must not be taken vp of the lusts of the world to dwell there but bee dedicated onely to entertaine the spirit of Christ and secondly as the holy garments were onely worne in the Temple so ought wee to looke that wee attire our selues onely as becommeth Christians that stand alwaies in the presence of God thirdly as the holy meate was onely eaten in the Temple and fourthly the vessels onely there to be drunke in so this shewes that our bodies and all the powers affections and actions both of soule and bodie as well in the heart within as in all the vse of Gods blessings without 1 Iohn 2.17 must be separated from all earthly things to be by them estranged from the worship of God and be reserued only to holy vses that God and his glory may be the chiefest end of our life for so the Hebrew word to sanctifie signifieth to be set apart and not prostitute to any profane vse Hereupon it is that if in the Temples of Christians we see idols erected we are grieued and offended and that iustly because we see a great part of Gods seruice shall bee spent in bodily adoration which ought not to be for though it be true that God requireth to be worshipped of euery bone in the body yet principally in this sacrifice of praier and other religious exercises hee looketh at the heart and sets his eye on our affections to be worshipped in spirit and in truth Now if it be vnlawfull to erect and set vp an idoll in any Christian Temple Iohn 4.24 for so much doth the Scripture in expresse words testifie in many places as Pull downe their altars breake their images and burne them in the fire Deut. 7.2 12.3 Iudg. 2.2 with many such like places and speeches how fearefull a thing then is it that wee that are Christians should set vp idols in our soules the most beautified place that God hath on earth as the idols of couetousnesse hypocrisie filthinesse pride and such like which be inuisible and therefore worse then the other and which do secretly like a theefe steale away our hearts from the loue of God and as a moth doe euen feed vpon vs and consume vs till we suddenly fall into the wrath and displeasure of God Heere let vs further consider but how we vse our owne houses wherein we dwell in the tabernacle of this life and which ought to be but as tents to be carried at our backes Gen. 18.1 to put vs in minde of our pilgrimage for if the matter of the Church cannot affect vs nor touch vs at the quicke yet shall it set foorth our wickednesse and enlarge our condemnation that we esteeme more of our owne dwelling places wherein we sleepe to night and to morrow are cast into the graue then of that place wherein the Prince of heauen and earth taketh vp his abode how curious we are in scouring of our pots in sweeping of our parlots in plaiting of our garments and tricking vp our selues nicely and garishly yea no seruants can please vs but such as weare out their knees in rubbing our houses and how fearefull and shamefull a thing it is that we make no account nor reckening of that place where the whole Trinitie should abide that our houses shall be cleane where onely our dirty feet doe treade and out selues the vncleanest part of it and that through our wretchednesse and negligence in purging of our selues and cleansing of our soules we are rather dens fit for the damned spirits then temples meet for the holy Ghost to abide in for if our hearts be once ouergrowne with the weeds of profanenesse idlenesse couetousnesse and such like we may assuredly know that
the vengeance as neuer to be forgotten Tosiphone that tooke vengance vpon murtherers yea almost for euery sinne committed they had a seuerall fury which was thought to punish it Yea by this very light of nature they likewise imagined some of these furies to burne the of fendours with torches some to sting with Adders And what bee these furies saith the Philosopher Nothing else but Suae quemque exagitant furiae that is Euery man is tormented with his owne furie which is his conscience the property whereof is to present thy sinne before thy fâ—ce that out of thine owne mouth thou maiest â—ee iudged yea the heathen had such a deepe impression of these tortures as committing some foule and hainous fact without some expiation or sacrifice they thought they should neuer bee in quiet But the greatest instrument which is the second that the spirit vseth to strike feare into the soule and conscience is the law written which is a dead letter and such a sentence that for desert pronounceth damnation as oft as we read it which we must needs conceiue to bee so if wee consider that the least bad thought is damnation though it bee not coupled with consent to bring forth an actuall fruit of sinne What then Is the preaching of the law the worker of this terror And are some by the booke of nature so exagitate and troubled with furies as they cannot rest when they haue slipt into some sinne and yet shall there be some in these daies that are so frozen in Atheisme and so ouergrowne in the weeds of Popery and so possest with the power of the diuell that they are not once touched or pricked in their hearts for their horrible sins but that liuing as diuels they hope to be saued as Saints Indeed it is not be doubted but that now there is greater Atheisme in some and lesse sorrow and remorse for sinne in others then was in the heathen and yet it was the iust iudgement of God then as Paul saith to giue vp the heathen into a reprobate sense Rom. 1.28 that they might receiue in themselues such recompence of their error as was meete and therefore much more in vengeance doth the Lord deliuer vp these men to be beguiled of their owne fancies and to become senssesse in their owne sins since they profit not by this booke of the written law pronounced by the Lords owne mouth and deliuered by the Lords owne hand the truth whereof ought not to be called in question though these men really confute it by their liues thinking there is no Christ to saue nor God to punish nor conscience to accuse nor diuell to torment but with scurrility do scorne at the wholsome disease of tendernesse and terror of conscience which they themselues at their separation shall finde so great as neither themselues can still neither in truth can it be stilled And howsoeuer many peraduenture haue commanded their conscience to be silent and put away the euill day far from them and think themselues safe inough if they may be let alone till the last day yet we haue seene some of the eldest sons of Sathan after a long and redious hypocrisie wherein they were fallen asleepe to haue beene so fearefully astonished in the end and plunged and cast down into so deepe despaire as they euen seemed to heare the very echo of the damned spirits which is a most hideous and terrible sound in the eares of the most carnall man that is and could by no meanes bee comforted or any whit eased but haue either hanged themselues as Iudas did or otherwise died in a sense of hellish torment in this life For as in a seared peece of flesh there is alwaies left in the toppe some crust but vnder that there is euer some pregnant sense so if the Lord once pare away from the soule that is cauterized and crusted then is the feare and terror of those men greater for they feele the flame of the Lords indignation which the elect neuer doe hauing by a sanctified wisedome preuented this extremity by seeking remedy in Christ who giueth and neuer vpbraideth Now to prooue that the Law is such a dead letter as being rightly vnderstood it is impossible to keepe thy selfe from despaire in respect of any thing which in thine owne person thou canst deserue obserue that this law of God teacheth that lust in thy heart is absolute adulterie Mat. 5.22.28 and that anger in heart is flat murder wherein it goeth beyond and surpasseth all the laws of any earthly Prince which free the heart and extend onely to the act whereas this law bindeth both the outward man from working and the inward man from compassing mischiefe Now if thou come to weigh and examine thy selfe in this ballance and take this law for a touchstone to trie whether thou beest gold or drosse thou shalt find thy selfe too light but refuse for who can say I haue not offended who can say I am not crazed nay whateuer thou art thou canst not clear thy heart of these such like passions of heat betokening wrath and of corrupt thoughts bewraying thy vncleane heart But if thou enter into this consideration that though thou thinke of such things and thy heart reprooues thee yet that in the strict construction of this law if thou hast but a wandring or wanton thought in the precisenesse thereof thou shalt be damned for all and euery particular power both of body and soule ought to bee taken vp for Christ and wholly vsed to his glory so as if thou callest in doubt the truth of the Scripture though thy heart abhorreth it it is damnation If thou examine thy selfe according to this rule and yet escapest from the sight of despaire it is hard nay it is impossible for this is the sharpest edge of the law and the most fretting corasiue that eates out the dead flesh of our sinful hearts that sounds the bottome of mans vast soule and toucheth the sinnes that lie betweene the skinne and the bones Since for our very thoughts alone by the tenth commandement without consent we are culpable of iudgement which S. Paul Rom. 7.7 expresseth by speaking in his own person I had not known lust that is the fountaine and seate whence lust doth spring except the Law had said Thou shalt not lust Heere then we must needs confesse since this ought to bee euery mans examination that if we doe not examine ourselues after this sort formerly set downe it is a signe we haue not this spirit of adoption because we haue not had the spirit of bondage Now this is no examination of our selues to liue morally as to receiue the testimony of men that we are honest in giuing perhaps a groate to the poore and pardoning the forfeiture of an obligation and such like and yet not sticke to prophane Gods sabbath to contemne his messengers to poure out othes by Faith which includeth the whole blessed Trinity and say it is nothing
exceedeth all number and it is not possible for our thoughts to reach or to conceiue any end of it For this glory is like God the giuer of it that must be embraced for the excellency of it and thirsted after for the eternity of it Now as the Apostle heere perswadeth the necessity and yeeldeth the reason for patience in our afflictions Heb. 10.35 by the eternity of the glory which waiteth vpon vs as the iust recompence of our reward so must we learne to disswade from the pleasures of sin by the greatnesse and continuance of the sense of torment that waiteth on them And this standch in two points the first is called sensus poenae the feeling and smart of punishment which is aggrauated and made heauier in three respects first in the vniuersalitie of it that no part shall be free from torment but euery ioynt in thy body and euery power of thy soule shall be pained and vexed which is not so in this life saue onely in a fellow-feeling of one member with another for neuer any man was tormented in all the singular parts of his body at one instant Secondly in the extremity of it that as they shall be tormented in all parts at one time and that continually so one damned spirit shall be vexed more then another for as there be here degrees of sinnes so shall there be heereafter degrees of smart and punishments as Christ speaking of Hierusalem said It shall be easier for Sodme then for this citie and yet Sodome was in hell Thirdly in the necessity of it Mat. 11.23 the greatnesse of this their torment being much increased in that they shall haue no meanes to ease and lift vp or releeue themselues for they shall be bound hand and foote that they cannot stirre as we may see by the vsage of him that came to the Lords feast without his wedding garment And for the eternity of their torment Mat. 22.13 if they should suffer no more yeeres then there bee creatures on earth it were some comfort because they might espie some light of deliuerance but when there shall be no more heauens and when God shall leaue to be God and to lose his glory then the damned ghosts shall be eased The second aggrauation of their punishment is in this damno loci in the losse of heauen for it shall not so much vex them that they be tormented as that they haue lost those ioyes they see the Saints of God enioy This shall make them murmure and gnash their teeth and vpon their apprehension and conceauing of that they haue lost shall follow the remorse and sting of conscience that in their life time they despised to labour in mortification and newnesse of life for there are none damned Reuel 20.12 but their owne hearts shall tell them they are iustly damned Vers 23. And not onely the creature but we also which haue the first fruits of the spirit euen we doe sigh in our selues waiting for the adoption euen the redemption of our body c. to the 26. verse The Apostle still enlargeth the weight of glory spoken of before prouing it to be so great that the very frame of heauen and earth and all other creatures doe waite for the restitution and deliuerance of mankinde at which time they shall receiue their originall excellency Now Paul vseth an argument from the lesse to the greater that if the beasts and other insensible things which be accursed and subiect to this corruption by reason of the bondage whereinto man by his fall was inthralled and cast into do labour as it were in trauell till men be glorified and themselues for our sakes restored then how much more should wee wait for the reuelation of this glory wee that are sealed with the first fruites of the spirit and which in the Gospell may behold as it were in a glasse a great glimce and shew of this glory sigh after and wait for this great and glorious day not that wee should wish simply to be vnclothed but as the Apostle speaketh 2. Cor. 5.2.3 to be clothed vpon with our house from heauen and not so much that our selues might die as that sinne might be extinguished and our sanctification perfected Howbeit in this affection of ours there must be two things the first sighing and groning the second a patient waiting for that we hope for Where consider what that is we wait for and sigh for the Apostle heere calleth it adoption that is the accomplishment of that glory whereto wee are in Christ adopted or as himselfe expounds it the redemption of mankind euen as Dauid was King when he was anointed but he staied long for the reall possession of it and as Abraham had the land of Canaan giuen him which was performed 400. yeeres after In waiting and expecting for this redemption obserue and hold it as a principle and ground that howsoeuer the Philosophers haue dreamed of a simple immortality of the soule alone yet that we know and learne that except the body which we beare about vs be restored also the immortality of the soule is abolished otherwise it were a lame and imperfect restitution and otherwise in vaine had Iob said chap. 19.26 Though after my skinne wormes destroy this body yet shall I see God in my flesh that is body and soule at the last day which is also plainely expressed heere by the Apostle in these words Redemption of the body Further obserue hence the dulnesse blockishnesse of man that is to take example and to be taught his duty euen of the insensible creatures who in their kind by the very instinct of nature can grone for the day of mans redemption and yet man himselfe though spurred on and prouoked can hardly be drawen to that duty which may teach euery one of vs to bee more watchfull in our Christian exercises that wee may learne to know and desire to approch neere the day of our redemption lest the creatures that want the vse of reason rise vp against vs to condemne vs for they faile nothing so much in their duties as man doth Pro. 30.25 nay Salomon sendeth the sluggard to the Ant and Pismire who by his sommer-labour prouideth for a hard and stormy winter Christ will haue vs learne innocency of the Doue and wisdome and prouidence of the Serpent and the Apostle heere will not haue a Christian man short of the creatures who traâ—ell in paine to bee deliuered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God and therefore much more must we sigh for this redemption of our body wherein wee our selues haue the greatest interest Further in that the Apostle saith We doe sigh in our selues we learne that it is the dutie of euery Christian to be touched at the hart and to be prickt in his conscience as generally for the wickednesse of the whole world so particularly and more narowly for his owne sinnes for these be they whereby
hauing described the necessitie of these miseries that shall befall the elect the demand or question is most triumphantly answered when he saith In all these we are more them conquerors For the first which is the demaund it selfe it cannot be made plainer onely in the words To be separate from the loue of Christ we must not vnderstand it actiuely but passiuely not of the loue wherewith we loue Christ but of that loue wherewith wee are beloued of God in Christ For though our loue to Christ is so substantially rooted in our hearts as that it is Cant. 8.6 strong as death which ouercometh all things hard as the graue that swalloweth vp all things like the flame of God that whole flouds of water cannot quench yea such as we will not depart with for any money and such and so great as it is true that nothing thing can separate vs from the loue of Christ yet this is to be taken and vnderstood of the loue of Christ to vs as appeareth by the end of the 37. Luk. 22.60 2. Tim. 4.10 2. Tim. 2.13 and 39. verses So as if it were possible we should forget Christ or renounce him as Peter did or forsake him as Demas did yet he cannot forget vs for he is faithfull that hath promised For the second which is the testimonie out of Psal 44.22 that we that are Christians do as verily looke for these miseries as we do for the rising of the Sunne the Prophet setting it down as an absolute purpose of God not to bee preuented nor auorded and not onely permitting it as a thing which may and may not come In which words consider two points first what is the cause in Gods sight why the world afflicteth the Church secondly in what grieuous sort it is afflicted For the first the cause is set downe in these words for they names sake that is because thou opposest thy selfe against Anrichrist and dost not fall downe nor bow to Baal nor dost not fashion thy selfe after the world in swallowing vp their iolities and delights Wherein obserue that true Christians are not only subiect to common miseries as those that beare the face of fleshly Adam but to some peculiar calamities that neuer disquiet the wicked and this onely as they beare the image of that heauenly Adam Christ Iesus from which the world is exempted euen as the chaffe and the wheate they both feele the flaile but the chaffe is free from the milstone from the fanne and from the ouen for of these onely doth the wheate taste and happy is he that is ground fit for the Lords table for though the chaffe feele not the bitternesse of the mill nor the heare of the ouen yet marke what becommeth of it Hark 9.50 it is like vnsauorie salt good for nothing but to be cast foorth and is either troden vnder feete or caried away with the winde and so vanisheth in the aire Such is the case and estate of the wicked for when they are separated as tares from the corne either the Lord treads vpon them in his wrath or burneth them in his displeasure or bloweth them from his presence like the stubble Secondly obserue where it is said We are killed for thy names sake that though God doth neuer chastise any man vniustly because hee may haue occasion enough to afflict him for his owne corruption whereby he may be humbled yet heerein appeareth his infinite wisedome that hee maketh the cause of our sufferings to be more honorable bearing this title and superscription for the name of God the puritie of religion and because we will not communicate with the world in their superstitious deuotions So as the Lord changeth the nature of the chastisement and imputeth it as borne for none of our wickednesse but for the glorious profession of the Gospell the wicked not punishing in vs our sinnes but Gods graces for if we would partake with them in their lusts we might goe free For if Balaam would curse the people hee might soone rise to promotion Numb 22.37 and if Michaiah would please the king in his Prophesie hee need not befed with the bread of affliction 1. King 22.27 and if the three children would worship Nabuchadnezzars Image they might easily escape the fornace Dan. 3.12 but we must keepe our standing and not shrinke a foorâ— from the foolishnesse of the Gospell what stormes soeuer may arise for it is no more then as if Christ should borrow our lines for a time to do him credit withall which shall bee mightily rewarded Thirdly in that it is said killed for thy names sake there ariseth this consolation that forasmuch as our suffrings are ioyned with Gods glorie and are brought vpon vs for Gods glorie we may be sure they shall haue a good issue and shall end well for as he tendreth his owne glorie so will hee also tender vs. We thinke it strange that the wicked haue such a swinge in their delights and that wee hang downe our heads Yea Danid complaineth that seeing the prosperitie of the wicked he had almost in his haste accused God of partialitie but Paul 2. Thes Psal 73.13 1.5.6 prooueth that it is impossible since we that are thus tossed and vexed as it were in the whirlepoole of sorrowes are better then the world and in higher account with God but that there shall come a day when rest shall be giuen to our soules and vengeance powred into the bosomes of persecutors For there cannot be a truth more certainly to be beleeued then this that since we doe suffer at their hands who are woorse then our selues it is a sure token that there shall come a reuelation of Gods iudgement wherein the iron rod of the Lords wrath shall bruise them soule and bodie when wee shall be caried vp with S. Paul into the third heauen and with Lazarus into Abrahams bosome 2. Cor. 12.4 Luk. 16.23 and when the vengeance of the Lord shall pursue our enemies driuing them from his presence and from the glorie of his power 2. Thes 1.9 Fourthly in that it is said for thy names sake obserue that it is not the suffering of euery phanaticall or phantasticall spirit that shall be taken for the Lords truth for there may be such forcible illusions as men may giue their bodies to the fire or neckes to the halter for the supposed truth of Poperie then their suffering is as a seale set to a wrong instrument but it must bee in a true zeale of a true cause for the death doth not iustifie the cause to be good but the cause iustifieth the death to be holie and religious For Paul 1. Tim. 1.13 was a zealous persecutor when he was a blasphemer and yet though the did God good seruice but when God receiued him to mercie then hee forsooke and disclaimed the righteousnesse of workes So that if our sufferings be for God we must lay our foundation onely in Christ crucified harbouring and maintaining a pure