had promised was also able to doe it so should we sanctifie the Lord God in our harts Of these figures shadowing the resurrection many more are to bee found in holy scripture As for examples in euery age of the world the Lord hath raised some from the dead to be witnesses of the resurrection of the rest Before the flood hee carryed vp Henoch aliue into heaâ—en and hee saw no death vnder the law Elias was transported in a fierie chariot and in the last age of the world not onely hath our Lord blessed for euer risen from thâ— lead and ascended into heauen as the first fruits of them which rise from the dead but also by his power hee raised Lazarus out of the graue euen after that stinking rottennesse had entred into his flesh and vpon the Crosse when hee seemed to bee most weake hee shewed himselfe most strong hee caused by his power many that were dead to come out of their graues and to enter into the citie Yea his seruant Peter by the power of the Lord Iesus raised the damsell Dorcas from death and in the name of the Lord Iesus made him that was lame of his feete to arise and walke when we see such power in the seruant of Christ working in his name shall we not reserue the praise of a greater power to himselfe And lastly as for the practises of God in nature we are not to neglect them for the Apostle himselfe brings arguments from them to confirme the resurrection Hee first propones the question of the Atheist how are the dead raised vp and with what body come they forth and then subioynes the answere O foole that which thou sowest is not quickned except it dye it is sowen in the earth bare corne and God raises it with another body at his pleasure seeing thou beholdest this daily working of God in nature why wilt not thou beleeue that the Lord is able to doe the like vnto thy selfe Qui illa reparat quae tibi sunt necessaria quanto magis te reparabit propter quem illa reparare dignatus est Seeing the Lord for thy sake repaires those things which are necessary to maintaine thy life will he not much more restore thy selfe and raise thee vp from death vnto eternall life And to insist in these same confirmations which we may haue from the working of God in nature both in our selues and in other creatures if eyther with Iustin Martyr wee consider of how small a beginning or then with Cyrill how of nothing God hath made vp man we shall see how iustly the Apostle calleth them fooles who deny the resurrection of our bodyes The Lord saith Iustin Martyr of a little drop of mans seede which as Iob saith is powred out like water buildeth vp daily this excellent workmanship of mans body who would beleeue that of so small a beginning and without forme so well a proportionate body in all the members thereof could be brought forth nisi aspectus fidem faceret were it not that daily sight and experience confirmeth it why then shall it be thought a thing impossible to the Lord to reedifie the same body after that by death it hath beene dissolued into dust and ashes And againe if with Cyrill wee will search out our beginning and consider what vvee vvere this day hundred yeare wee shall finde that vvee vvere not seeing the Lord of nothing hath brought out so pleasant and beautifull a creature as thou art this day shalt thou thinke it impossible to him an hundred yeares after this or longer or shorter as it pleaseth him to restore thee againe and raise thee from the dead qui potuit id quod non erat producere vt aliquid esset id quod â—am est cum ceciderit restituere non poterit he that could bring out that which was not and make it to be something shall wee thinke that he cannot raise vp againe that which now is after that it hath fallen Which of these two I pray thee is the greatest and most difficult worke in thy iudgement for vnto the Lord euery thing that he will is a like easie whether to make one who neuer was or to restore againe one who hath beene Doubtlesse to make a man in our iudgement is a greater thing then to raise him In the worke of creation the Lord made that to bee which was not in the worke of resurrection the Lord shall make that to bee which was before the one thou honourable manner in this life seeing they are to bee raysed vp as vessels of honour and glory in the life to come Againe when the Apostle saith that the Lord shall raise vp our mortall bodyes wee are to know that so hee calleth them in respect of that which they are now not in respect of that which they shall bee then For in the resurrection the Apostle teacheth vs in another place that our bodies shall bee raised immortall honourable glorious spirituall and impassionable First I say the body shal be raised immortal not subiect any more to death nor diseases nor standing in neede of these ordinary helps of meat drinke and sleepe by which our naturall life is preserued Secondly our body shall bee raised honourable now it is layd downe in dishonour for there is no flesh were it neuer so beautifull or beloued of man but after death it becommeth loathsome to the beholder so that euen Abraham shall desire that the dead body of his beloued Sarah may be buryed out of his sight but in the resurrection they shall be raised more honourable then euer they were they shall bee redeemed from all their infirmities euery blemish in the body that now makes it vnpleasant shall bee made beautifull in the resurrection and euery defectiue member thereof shall be restored to integritie Membri detruncatio vel obtusio nonne mors membri est si vniuersalis mors resurrectione rescinditur quanto magis portionalis for the perishing of the member is no other thing but the death of the member if the benefit of resurrection cut off the vniuersall death of the body shall it not also take away the portionall death of a member in the body if the whole man shall bee changed to glory shall hee not much more bee restored to health Out of all doubt the bodyes of Gods Children shall be raised perfect comely and euery way honourable hoc est enim credere resurrectionem integram credere Thirdly the body shall be raised a glorious body When hee shall appeare hee shall change our vile bodyes and make them like to his glorious body They who conuert many to righteousnesse shall shine like the stars in the firmament yea the iust saith our Sauiour shall shine like the Sun in the firmament A shadow of this glory we haue in Christs transfiguration on mount Tabor his face shined as the Sunne and his clothes were white as the light Moses after fortie dayes talking with God on the Mount came downe with so bright a shining countenance that the Israelites might not behold him what then may we thinke shall be the glory of
15. Theophilact Christs two-fold right to the inheritance and how in the second only we are annexed with him How all these great mercies should prouoke vs to walke worthy of our heauenly vocation Gen. 25. 2 Tim. 4. Phil. 3. 8. 9. For Sathans silly offers are not to be compared to these high mercies whereunto God hath called vs in Christ Ioh. 14. 15. Heb. 2. 11. Mat. 17. 5. Ioh. 20. 17. Mat. 11. 30. The mortification of a Christian consists in two things The first principal argument against the crosse is from the end of our afflictions 2. Tim. 2. 8. Bernard Different courses of the Christian worldling Mat. 10. 38. Mat. 5. Luke 6. 25. The end of the Christian is better than his beginning not so with the worldling The wicked haue crosses but not Christs Crosse. Gâ—â— 3. 19. Barn apol ad Abbat Clun The three persons of the Trinitie are said to suffer with the Godly Acts 9. 4. 1 Pet. 4. 14. Cir. â—atec 16 Cip. lib. 2. epist. 6. Three things required to make our sufferings sufferings with Christ. Comfort against inward Afflictions Comfort against outward Afflictions which wee suffer either in name Ambrose Or in our goods Iob. 1. 21. Or in our persons Heb. 12. 9. In trouble it is expedient to looke vnto the end thereof Amplification of the first principal argument He that tasted both of present sufferings and of glory to come giues his iudgement here of both The one he tasted in his iournie from Ierusalem to Illiricum the other in his iourney from earth to heauen How the certaintie of the glory to come mittigates our present trouble Ber. in Cant. ser. 61. It should make vs despise both the threatnings allurements of men Mat. 10. 28 How our life is but the life of a moment Sacred similitudes by which the holy Ghost shadowes the vanitie of our present life Iob. 7. 6. Iob. 9. Iob. 14. Psal. 90. The pleasures of this life are worme-eaten Iob. 14. 5. Iohn 16. 20. Comfort comes sometime before trouble sometime in trouble but alway after trouble to the godly Our glory is prepared but not reueled Aug. de Sanctis ser. 46. Exod. 33. 18 Exod. 40. 34. Yet by the glory reuealed we may iudge of that glory which is not reuealed Aug. de temp ser. 99. Ber. in Cant. Ser. 47. God is good to them who seeke him much more vnto theÌ„ who finde him Fortie dayes company with God changed the face of Moses how much more c Aug. ad frat in Erem If our bodyes shall shine as the Sunne what shall our soules be All the companions in that glory are firâ—â— borne all noâ—le meÌ„ of sâ—â—ength and dignitie The glorâ— of one of them augments the Glory of another Specially the sight of Iesus Lord of that familie shall encrease our ioy The seeling of our secoÌ„d house is but the pauement of our third house Luk. 1. 14 Iohn 1. 36. Ahashuerus banquet not comparable to our marriaâ—e banquet If the outward court of Gods pallace be so furnished as we see what is the inner Psal. 65. The eternitie of it The claritie perspicuity of it Col. 3. 3. 1. Iohn 3. What taste worldlings haue of the ioyes to come The onely cause why we walke slowly toward that glory is because we know it not The Apostle insists in the amplification of this glory He proues the greatnesse and certaintie of that glory by two arguments From the feruent desire which the creature hath to it by the instinct of Nature From the feruent desire which the godly haue to it by the instinct of Grace The order of his proceeding in the first argument A proposition of the feruent desire of the creature-exprest by foure phrases 1 Pet. 3. The sonnes of God now are not reueiled In regard of their persons which now are not knowne Iohn 15. 20. 21. This learnes vs not to despise other men because we know not what they are in Gods election In regard of their glory which now is obscured Col. 3. 3. The sons of God shold not iudge of themselues by their present state 1 Iohn 3. Comfortable that where the Lord calles the rest of his works his creatures he calleth vs his sonnes And as sin increases so the curse increases The other part of the vanitie is a threefold abuse of the creature Concerning God Concerning the godly Concerning the wicked whom against their will they serue The creatures being restored to the liberty shall all concur to plague the wicked How a will is ascribed to the creature How stands it with iustice that the creature is punished for mans sinne The fall of Angels of man of the creature compared We should blame our selus when we are crossâ—d by the crâ—ature Man and the creature for mans â—â—ke are restored to hope which nâ—ither Apostate Angels nor reprobate men haue The second reason of the feruent desire of the creature taken from their better estate which is to come What creatures shall be restored Iesus the restorer heales euery wound that Sathan hath inflicted vpon man Three obiects of Sathans malice first God secondly man thirdly the creature God ouershooteth Sathan in all his machinations To what vse the creaturs wil serue in the day of restitution we shall know best when we see it How the Apostle saith the creatures shall be deliuered seeing the Psalmist saith they shall perish Reu. 21. Seeing the glory of that kingdome requireth that the creature be changed how much more should we be changed 2. Pet. 3. 11. The same purpose further amplified by groning and sighing of the creature Sometime God complaines to the creature sometime the creature complaines to God vpon man miserable is man if he complaine not on himself Esay 1. Trauailing two manner of wayes ascribed to the wicked in the Scripture Psal. 7. One manner of way ascribed to the Godly Rom. 7. 24. The second argument prouing the greatnesse and certaintie of that glory is the feruent desire the godly haue to it by instinct of Grace The sonnes of God and the creature grone together and shall be restored together The wicked mourne not with them and shall not be pertakers so much as of the deliuerie of the creature A description of the godly Learning vs hum litie thankfulnesse diligence in Prayer No plenitude but first fruits of the Spirit haue we now Therefore are we not to think that we haue no grace because we haue but beginnings This comfort vainly abused by prophane men Why the Lord giues vs not in this life the principall as well as the earnest What comfort we haue now in the earnest and first fruits of the Spirit Two effects which the Spirit workes in the godly first a sense of their miserie for which they sigh Sighing and mourning goe before comfort Psal. 6. 6. Iob. 3. 24. Luke 6. 25. Mâ—t. 5. 4. Gen. 27. 38. Maries teares pleased Christ better than the Pharises delicates Luke 7. 38. verse 44.
the children of God when they shall be transchanged with the light of Gods countenance shining vpon them not fortie dayes onely but for euer and euer And if euery one of their faces shal shine as the Sun in the firmament O how great light and glory shal be among them all if their bodies shal be so glorious what shal be the glory of their soule surely no hart can conceiue it no tongue is able to expresse it Fourthly our body shall bee raysed spirituall which is not so to bee vnderstood as if our bodies should loose a corporall substance and receiue a spirituall substance but then shall our bodies bee spirituall as now our Spirits by nature are carnall which are so called because they are subiect to carnall corruption pressed downe and carryed away after earthly and carnall things so shall our bodies then be spirituall because without contradiction they shall obey the motions of the spirit the body shall be no burthen no prison no impediment to the soule as now it is the soule shall carry the body where it will without resistance where now it is earthly heauie and tends downward it shall then be restored so lightsome and quick that without difficultie it shall mount from the earth to meet our Lord in the aire As our head ascended on the mount of Oliues and went through the cloudes into heauen so shall his members ascend that they may be with the Lord they shall follow the Lambe where euer he goes Let vs beleeue it and giue glory vnto God for hee who is the worker of our resurrection is also the worker of our ascension If the wit of man be able to frame a vessell of sundry mettels that our Resurrection is put betweene the Article of the remission of sinnes and that other Article of eternall life to â—each vs that then onely the Resurrection of the body is a benefite when remission of sinnes goes before it and eternall life followes after it whereof the Lord of his great mercy make vs pertakers through Iesus Christ. Verse 12. Therefore Brethren wee are debters not to the flesh to liue after the flesh AS it is true concerning vs that a necessitie lyeth vpon vs to preach and woe will be to vs if we preach not so it is true concerning you that a necessitie lyeth vpon you to heare and woe will bee to you if you heare not It is commaunded to vs that when wee speake wee should speake as the oracles of God and it is also required of you that ye receiue this word not as the word of man but as it is indeede the word of God therefore take heede how yee heare for as Moses said to the Israelites so say wee vnto you It is no vaine word concerning you it is your life Ye haue heard that maine proposition of Comfort there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ yee haue heard it confirmed explaned and applyed the miserable estate of them who walke after the flesh hath beene shewed vnto you as likewise the happy estate of them who walke after the Spirit and what comforts the godly haue both against the remanents as also against the fruits of sinnes hath beene declared vnto you Examine your selues and see how far forth these comforts belong vnto you If yee bee such as thinke with those scornefull men in Ierusalem that yee haue made a couenant with death and it shall not come neere you then goe on in your securitie and doe that which is good in your owne eyes but if yee finde by experience that death is already entred into your mortall body bee wise in time see that thou haue this onely soueraigne comfort against death the spirit of Christ dwelling in you otherwise flatter your selues in your securitie as you will miserable shall your end be Now the Consolation being ended the Apostle subioynes the Exhortation both these two consolation and exhortation are needefull for vs in the course of this life the one to keepe vs that wee faint not through the remanents of sinne left in vs and beginnings of death which already haue seased vpon vs exhortation againe to stir vs vp when wee linger in the way of godlinesse For it fareth with vs as it did with Lot in Sodome the Angels warned him of the imminent iudgement and exhorted him to escape for his life yet hee delayed and lingred hee could not bee gotten out of Sodome till they as it were violently thrust him out And allbeit the Lord admonish vs earely and late by his messengers of that wrath which is to come vpon the children of disobedience and warne vs in time to flye to the mountaine of his saluation yet alas so loath are wee to forsake our old finnes that the Lord is forced to double his exhortations vnto vs all which yet shall not auaile vs if the Lord lay not the hands of his grace vpon vs and by his holy Spirit make vs obedient to the heauenly vocation Let vs therefore take heede to the exhortations made vs by the Lord and that so much the more because it is most certaine that the sweetnesse of Gods consolation shall not bee felt of them who are not moued with his exhortation Contemplationis enim gustus non debetur nisi obedientiae mandatoruâ— the tast of Gods mercy by contemplation is onely due to them who make conscience of the obedience of his commaundements Therefore This particle is relatiue to the words preceding seeing it is so that by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in vs wee haue such excellent benefits wee are debt bond not to liue after the flesh but after the Spirit Of this wee haue first to learne that euery benefit wee receiued from God is an Obligation binding vs debters of seruice to God Debters Of this it is euident that the doctrine of grace proclaimes not liberty to men to liue as they will but rather bindes them to liue godly there can be no higher contempt done to the Lord than to turne his grace into wantonnesse Certainly the iniquities of Pagans doth not halâ—e so much offend him as the licentiousnesse of bastard Christians who will sinne the more freely because Christ hath suffered for sinne they heare that a man is not iustified by good workes and therefore being deceiued by Sathans sophistrie they cease to doe well not considering that good workes must proue wee are sanctified and sanctification must proue that wee are iustified In the second verse the Apostle said that Christ hath freed vs from the Law of sinne and here he sayth that hee hath made vs debters to righteousnesse these are not contrary they agree very well together hee hath loosed
hell and hath made vs to sit with himselfe in the highest places where wee shall be filled with the ioyes which are at his right hand we shall drinke of the riuers of his pleasures in his light we shall see light and be transchanged by the light of his countenance Moses was fortie dayes with God vpon Mount Sinai and his face shined so brightly that when hee came downe the people of Israell might not behold him if fortie dayes remayning with God did so transchange him how shall we be changed who shall for euer abide with him neuer any more come downe from him Our Sauiour Christ saith that the face of the iust shall shine in that day like the Sunne in the firmament O what glory shall be among them all when the glory of one shall be like the brightnesse of the Sunne et qualis tunc erit splendor animarum quando solis habebit claritatem lux corporum and when the light of their body shall be like vnto the light of the Sunne how great thinke yeâ— shall be the shining light of the soule Those three disciples that were with our Lord vpon Mount Tabor were so filled with ioy at the little glance of his glory which they saw that they wished they might bide therefor euer how then shall we be rauished when we shall see that full manifestation of his glory we shall neuer desire to remoue out of that mountaine of God another hart shall be giuen vs and we shall become other men then we are so that as a little drop of water powred into a great vessell full of wine looseth both the taste and colour of water and becomes wine or as iron put into the fire takes on after a sort the nature of fire and as the ayre illuminated with the bright shining Sunne seemes not so much to be illuminated as to be light it selfe so our soules and bodyes when the glory of God shal shine vpon them shall be so wonderfully transchanged that after a sort wee shall become pertakers of the diuine nature Beside this the excellencie of that glory shall yet better appeare if we consider the companions with whom we shal be glorified there is the congregation of the first borne all of them are men of excellent strength and dignitie not of base linage but noble indeede for by their second birth they are the Sonnes of God and brethren of the Lord Iesus The Citizens of Tyrus are discribed by Esau to haue been companions to Princes but in that heauenly Ierusalem euery Citizen is a crowned King and none but Kings are freemen of that citie knit among themselues by the band of one Spirit into so holy a communion that euery one of them accounts the ioy and glory of his brethren an increase of his owne ioy It is not there as here vpon earth where the ioy of one is the cause of sorrow to another the light of the Sun darkneth the Moone and the light of the Moone obscureth the light of the Stars if the one halfe of the earth be illuminated the other is left in darknesse but there the light of one augments the light of another the glory of one shall be the glory of all euery one of them reioycing not onely because the lightsome countenance of God shines vpon themselues but also because they see their brethren admitted to the fruition of that same glory But among all those with vvhom wee shall be glorified there is one companion of our glory who aboue all the rest shall breede vs exceeding delectation Iesus Christ the man O with what boldnesse and spirituall reioycing shall wee stand in among the holy Angels when wee shall see seest it replenished with varietie of all necessary and pleasant things no sense wanting innumerable obiects that may delight thee and yet all the beautie and pleasure of this earth is as farre inferiour to that which is aboue as it is superiour to that which the infant had in the mothers belly The firmament which is the seeling of our second house beautified with the Sunne Moone and Starres set in it by the hand of God and shining more gloriously than all the pretious stones in the world shall be no other thing but the neather side of the pauement of our Pallace Iohn the Baptist sprung for ioy in the bellie of his mother Elizabeth when the Lord Iesus came into the house in the wombe of his mother Mary but afterward when hee saw the Lord Iesus more clearely face to face and pointed him out with the finger behold the Lambe of God when he stood by him as a friend and heard the voyce of the Bridegroome he reioyced in another manner so in very truth all the reioycing that wee haue in the house of our pilgrimage is but like the springing of Iohn Baptist in his mothers wombe in comparison of those infinite ioyes wherewith wee shall be replenished when wee shall meete with our bridegroome in our Fathers house wherein we shall see him face to face and abide with him for euer It is written of Ahashuerus that he made a great banquet to his Princes and Nobles vvhich lasted for the space of an hundâ—ed and fourescore dayes and when he had done with that hee made another banquet to his Commons for the space of seauen dayes the place vvas the outmost court of the kings Pallace the Tapestry was of all sorts of colours white greene and blew fastned with cords of fine linnen and purple through rings and pillars of siluer and marble the beds were of gold and siluer the pauement of porphire marble alablaster and blew colour the vessels wherein they dranke were all of Gold all this hee did that hee might shew the glory of his kingdome and the honor of his maiestie If a worm of the earth hath done so much for declaring his begged glory as rauished men into admiration thereof how I pray you shall the Lord our God the great King declare his glory when hee shall make his banquet couer his Table and gather his Princes that is his Sonnes therevnto not for a few dayes but for euer not in the outmost Court but in the inner Court of his Pallace Surely no tongue can expresse it for seeing hee hath decked this world wherein wee soiourne and which I haue called the outmost Court of his Pallace in so rich and glorious manner that he hath ordayned lights both by day and night to thine in it and hath prepared a store-house of Fowles in the ayre another of Beastes in the earth and the third of Fishes in the Sea for our necessitie beside innumerable pleasures for delectation what glory and varietie of pleasures may wee looke for when hee shall separate vs fully from the children of wrath and assemble vs all into the inner Court of his owne Pallace into the chamber of his presence wee may well thinke with the Apostle that the heart
who saile in her that how euer they change their action yet goe they on in their course toward their wished hauen so is it with vs doe what wee will whether wee eate or wee sleepe wee are hasting alway toward our ends The Psalmist againe compares our life to a spanne or hand breadth to the grasse which groweth vp in the morning and is cut downe in the euening to a sleepe which slippes away before wee can know what were doing in it to a dreame which of all things is most fickle and vaine to a thought which is not well begunne when it is ended and last of all to a declyning shadow as is the shadow of the Sunne in the setting which a man shall see on the toppe of a mountaine lesse and lesse vanishing till it be no more The Apostle S. Paul compares our life to a race and S. Iames compares it to a smoke or vapour Thus we see how little the spirit of God esteemes of that whereof all the sonnes of Adam accounts so much Our sinne hath shortened our dayes and made them miserable the pleasures of this life are worme-eaten and the glory of flesh is but like the gourd of Ionas which the one day growes vp and the next day is consumed by the wormes If Salomon who proued all the pleasures this life could yeeld after tryall of them cryed out all is vanitie if Iob when his wealth had worne from him looking to his forepassed dayes was compelled to conclude I haue had for inheritance the months of vanitie what shall wee looke to finde more comfort in this wretched life than those men of God before vs haue found let vs not thinke it if wee seeke our comfort in her perishing gaine or glory we shall lament at the last we haue fished all night and haue taken nothing wee haue former seauen yeeres of plenty so shall the endlesse sorrowes of the vvicked make all their former pleasures to be forgotten the dayes shall come vpon them in the vvhich they shall say I haue no pleasure in them Oh that men could consider this double losse they incurre by continuing in their sinnes Esau sold his birth-right for a mease of pottage and Adam lost paradise for an apple and thou more to be lamented that becomes not wise by their example looses like a foole that glory to be reuealed for a floure for what better are the best things of the world than the floure of the Rose vvhich vvanteth not the owne thornes and vermine being plucked in the garden it vvithers in thy hand before thou canst bring it home to thy house and yet for the like of these thou doest forgoe those things which are aboue and more then that redeemes those shadowes by bringing vpon thy selfe that infinit weight of wrath vvhich is to be reuealed vpon all the children of disobedience Of the glory The end of our present sufferings here vve see it is glory Yee shall weepe and lament saith our Sauiour and the world shall reioyce yee shall sorrow but your sorrow shall be turned into ioy Sometime God giues his children notable comfort before trouble as Elias receiued a double portion before his forty dayes fasting Peter Iames and Iohn saw the glory of Christ transfigured on Mount Tabor before they saw his fearefull and bloody sweat in the garden it pleased the Lord by the sight of the one to confirme them that the sight of the other should not confound them Sometime againe the Lord in the middest of trouble giues his children such comfort as deuoures all their present sorrowes to Peter in the prison there appeared an Angell and a light shining round about him and Iacob banished from his fathers house sees a more comfortable vision at Bethel than any that euer he had seene at home but albeit the Lord deales not alway with al his children as he did with these yet are they all sure of this comfort glory shall be the end of their sufferings To be reuealed The Apostle calleth it a glory to be reuealed hee telleth vs in another place that it is prepared already yea it was prepared before the foundation of the world but it is not yet reuealed beatitudo illa comparari hic potest possideri non potest that felicitie may bee obtayned here but cannot be possessed here Ne itaque quaeras in via quod tibi seruatur in patria seeke not therefore that in the way which is keept for thee till thou come to thy country let vs possesse our Soules in patience waiting for that which in this life is neyther reuealed nor can be possessed Moses besought the Lord to shew him his glory and he receiued this answere No man can see it and liue and when that glory filled the Tabernacle it is said that Moses could not enter into it Seeing it is so that our wretched nature can not abide that glory and we cannot liue and see the Lord let vs prepare our selues with ioy and contentment to dye that wee may see him And in the meane time by that glory which God hath reuealed in his works let vs iudge of that which is not reuealed if these workes of God which wee see bee so beautifull what shall we thinke of those wee see not out of all doubt among all the workes of God those which are inuisible are most excellent as the body of man is a beautifull workmanship but not comparable to the soule This glory I account it the highest degree of eternall life the first is Righteousnesse the second Peace the third Ioy the fourth is Glory Righteousnesse breeds Peace and Peace breeds Ioy and our Ioy shall be crowned with glory if the doing of the workes of righteousnesse bring such comfort to the minde as the Godly find in experience how shall our comfort abound when we receiue the reward of righteousnesse which is Glory Si sic bonus es quaerentibus te qualis es assequentibus if thou Lord be so good to them who seeke thee what shalt thou bee to them who finde thee wee may be assured that these first fruites of the Spirit and the earnest of our heauenly inheritance wherin now stands our greatest the Lord face to face and shall in such sort behold his glory that wee shall be transformed into it This change as witnesseth the Apostle is begun by that sight of God which we haue in the Gospell for euen now we beheld as in a mirrour the glory of the Lord with open face and are changed from glory to glory by the same image by the spirit of the Lord but in heauen this change shall be perfected and wee shall be fully transformed into his holy similitude so that nothing shall be left in vs but that which is his owne workmanship O how hath the Lord magnified his mercy towards vs hee hath raised our honour from the dust and deliuered our soules for the lower
brought vpon them To make this yet more cleare wee are to know that there are three obiects of Sathans malice The first is God and his glory the second is man and his saluation the third is the creature made for Gods glory and mans good The principall obiect of Sathans malice is God and his glory he hates the Lord vvith a deadly and irreconcilable hatred so that if it lay in his power he would vndoe that most high and holy maiestie but because rage as he will he cannot impaire his sacred Maiestie he turnes him to the secondarie obiect which is man and troubles him by all meanes not so much for mans owne cause as for the Lords whose glory he seekes to deface that shines in man And if here also he cannot preuaile by reason that the Lord hath made a hedge round about man he turnes him to the third obiect of his malice which is the creature against which he is so insatiable that if he can be licensed to doe no more yet doth he esteeme it some pleasure to him to get leaue to enter into Swine that he may destroy them and this hee doth not that hee accounts a beast his pray for all the beasts of the earth cannot satisfie this roaring Lyon but that destroying the creature he may driue man to impatience and prouoke him to blaspheme the Lord as by these same meanes he made the Gadarens murmure against Iesus Christ and put him out of their land and this hath beene the course of Sathan euer since the beginning But blessed be the Lord our God who ouer-shootes Sathan and all his intentions that same man whom Sathan wounded hath the Lord restored and shall set his image more glorious in him than it was before and those creatures which Sathan defaced for the hatred he carryeth to Gods glory and mans good the Lord shall restore againe the glory of God encreaseth as it is impugned euery new declaration of Sathans malice shall end in a new declaration of Gods glory neyther is that enimie able to giue a wound to any of Gods children but the Lord shall make it whole and shall at the length confound Sathan by his owne meanes And here because it is commonly demaunded vnto what vse can these creatures serue in that day seeing wee shall haue no neede of the Sunne nor of other naturall meanes whereby now our life is preserued To this I answere that if the Lord will haue these workes of his hands to continue and stand as euerlasting monuments of his goodnesse and witnesses in their kinde of his glory who is it that can contradict it It is enough for vs that wee know they shall be deliuered and transchanged into a more glorious estate but for what vse wee shall best know in that day when we shall see it in the meane time reuerencing the Lords dispensation let vs rather endeauour to be pertakers of that glory than curiously to moue thorny and vnprofitable questions concerning it Now as for the manner of their deliuerance Seeing the Apostle saith that the heauens shall passe away with a noise and the elements shall melt with heate and the earth with the workes therein shall be burnt vp with fire and seeing the Psalmist saith that they shall perish how is it that here the Apostle saith they shall be deliuered This doubt shall easily be loosed if Scripture be made interpreter of Scripture The Psalmist in that same place expones the word of perishing by the word of changing what this changing shall be the Apostle here makes it manifest while he cals it the deliuering of them from one estate into another so that wee are not to thinke that they shall perish as concerning their substance but as concerning those qualities of vanitie seruitude and impotencie whereunto they haue beene subiected by the fall of man As siluer and gold is changed by the fire the drosse perisheth but the substance remayneth so shall these creatures be changed in that day for which cause also they are called new heauens and new earth And out of this wee may perceiue the necessitie of that exhortation giuen vnto vs by the holy Apostle Seeing therfore that all these things must be dissolued what manner of persons ought we to be in holy conuersation and godlinesse seeing the simplest seruant who shall haue any place in that kingdome must be changed and receiue a new liuerie how much more ought wee our selues to be changed who are the sonnes and heyres of that kingdome let vs not deceiue our selues no vncleane thing can enter into that heauenly Ierusalem without sanctification wee cannot see the Lord vnlesse wee be purged from our drosse and puâ—ified and fined by the spirit of the Lord wee shall not dwell in those new heauens wherein dwels righteousnesse Verse 22. For wee know that euery creature groneth with vs also and trauaileth in paine together vnto thâ—s present THe Apostle in this Verse concludes this purpurpose with some amplification thereof for hee ascribes to the creature a groning with vs and a trauailing together in paine whereby he doth yet more expresse the vehemencie of their desire for as he that goeth vnder an heauie burthen grones and longs to be eased thereof or as the woman which trauailes with childe hath a most earnest desire to be deliuered thereof so the creature wearie of this seruitude longs to bee eased This groning of the creature is not to be neglected seeing in holy Scripture wee finde that sometime God complaines to his creatures vpon the sinne of man and somtime the creatures complaines to God miserable is man if hee doe not complaine vpon himselfe In the first of Esay there the Lord complaines to his creatures vpon man Heare O Heauens hearken O Earth I haue nourished and brought vp Children but they haue rebelled against me c. and here againe the creature is brought in groning and complaining to God vpon man The first bloud that euer the earth receiued into her bosome sent vp vnto God a crying voyce for vengeance and the Lord heard it and now the earth meruailes in her kinde that hauing receiued so much bloud of the Saints of God into her bosome the Lord should delay to require it shee wonders againe that the hand of the Lord stablisheth her and makes her beare vp such a number of wicked men as are a burthen to her considering that once he caused her to open and swallow vp Corah Dathan and Abiram and hath many a time since shaken her foundations and destroyed by earth-quake notable cities making the houses of the inhabitants therof their buriall place the burden of sinne being now wonderfully encreased shee meruailes that the Lord causeth her to beare it and for this cause she cryes and grones vnto the Lord and this complaining of the creature wee are not to neglect it as I said for seeing they sigh and grone for the vanitie vnder
their workes vnto this one end the good of those who loue him where euer they be in regard of place what euer in regard of persons yea howsoeuer disagreeing among themselues yet are they so ruled by the prouident power of the supreame gouernour our heauenly Father that all of them workes together vnto the good of them that loue him For albeit the Lord rested the seauenth day from the workes of creation so that hee made no new kinde of creature after that day yet did hee not rest from the workes of prouidence or gubernation whereof our Sauiour saith my Father workes hitherto and I worke When man hath finished a vvorke hee resignes it to another to be gouerned as the Wright vvhen he hath builded a ship giues it ouer to the Marriner to rule it neither is man able to preserue the vvorke of his hands neither yet knowes hee what shall be the end thereof It is not so with the Lord as by the worke of creation hee brought them out so by his prouident administration hee preserues them and rules euen the smallest creatures directing them vnto such ends as he hath ordained them for in the counsell of his vvill How euer some Ethnicks haue beene so blinde as to thinke that God did neglect the smaller things vpon earth scilicet is superis labor est and Epicures also whose false conceptions of the diuine prouidence are rehearsed by Eliphaz How should God know how should hee iudge through the darke cloud the cloudes hide him that he cannot see and hee walkes in the circle of heauen yet it is certaine hee rules not a part onely but all hee is not as they thought of him a God onely aboue the Moone No though he dwell on high yet he abases himselfe to behold the things that are on earth hee is not onely a God in the mountaines as the Syrians deemed but a God in the vallies also There is nothing so great nothing so small but it falles vnder his prouidence yea hee numbers our hayres and keepes them not one of them can fall to the ground without his prouidence Si sic custodiuntur superflua tua in quanta securitate est anima tua if hee so keepe thy superfluities how much more will hee keepe thy soule Let it therefore content vs in the most confused estate of things we can see fall out in the world that the Lord hath said All things shall worke for the best vnto vs. Let vs not question with Marie how can this be nor doubt with Sarah how can I conceiue nor with Moses where shall flesh be gotten for all this multitude but let vs sayth Augustine consider the author and such doubts shall cease As he hath manifested his power and wisedome in the tempering of this world making Elements of so contrary qualities agree together in one most pleasant harmonie so doth it appeare much more in gouerning all the contrary courses of men to the good of his own children One notable example whereof wee will set downe for all Iacob sends Ioseph to Dothan to visit his brethren his brethren casts him into the pit Reuben releeues him the Midianites buyes him and sels him to Potiphar his Mistresse accuses him his Maister condemnes him the Butler after long forgetfulnesse recommends him Pharaoh exaltes him O vvhat instruments are here how many hands about this one poore man of God neuer a one of them looking to that end which God had proposed vnto him yet the Lord contrary to their intention makes them all vvorke together for Iosephs aduancement in Aegipt But now to the particulars There is nothing in the world which workes not for our weale all the vvorkes of God all the stratagems of Sathan all the imaginations of men are for the good of Gods children yea out of the most poysonable things such as sinne and death doth the Lord draw wholesome and medicinable preseruatiues vnto them vvho loue him All the wayes of the Lord saith Dauid are mery and truth marke vvhat hee sayth and make not thou an exception vvhere God hath made none All none excepted therefore be thou strengthened in the Faith and giue glory vnto God resoluing with patient Iob albeit the Lord would slay me yet will I trust in him Sometime the Lord seemes to walke in the way of anger against his children which hath moued many of them to poure out the like of these pittifull complaints the arrowes of the almightie are vpon me said Iob the venime whereof doth drincke vp my spirit and the terrours of God fight against me thou settest me vp as a marke against thee and makes me a burthen to my selfe Thy indignation lyes vpon me said Dauid yea from my youth I haue suffered thy terrours doubting of my life For felicitie I haue had bitter griefe said Ezekiah for the Lord like a Lyon brake all my bones so that I did chatter like a Swallow and mourne like a Doue I am troubled on euery side said the Apostle hauing fightings without and terrours within Yet in all this dealing the Lord hath a secret way of mercy in the which he walkes for the comfort of his children it is but to draw vs vnto him that he shewes himselfe to be angry with vs aduersatur tibi deus ad tempus vt te secum habeat in perpetuum the Lord is an aduersarie to thee for a while that hee may for euer reconcile thee to himselfe And this albeâ—t for the present we cannot perceiue and can see no other but that the Lord hath taken vs for his enimies yet in the end we shall be compelled to acknowledge and confesse with Dauid it was good for mee O Lord that euer thou correctedst me for the Lord is mernailous in his saints O the deepenesse of the riches both of the wisedome and knowledge of God how vnsearchable are his iudgements and his wayes past finding out His glory is great when he vvorks by meanes his glory appeares greater when hee vvorkes without meanes but then his glory shines most brightly when he workes by contraries It was a great worke that hee opened the eyes of the blinde man but greater that hee did it by application of spittle and clay meanes meeter to put out the eyes of a seeing man than to restore sight to a blinde man So hee wrought in the first creation causing light to shine out of darknesse so also in the worke of redemption for by cursed death he brought happy life by the crosse he conquered the crowne and through shame hee went to glory And this same order the Lord still keepeth in the worke of our second creation which is our regeneration hee casts downe that hee may raise vp hee kils and hee makes aliue hee accuseth his children for sinne that so hee may chase them to seeke remission of sinness hee troubleth their consciences that so hee may pacifie