wee giue not hands vnto him but he giues them to himselfe yet hee giues them not for himselfe but for vs not to assist himselfe but instruct vs. He makes vs vnderstand his greatest fauours by his lesse fauours and so by this happinesse in their vse makes his lesse fauours greater He teaches vs the parts of Christs triumph by the parts of our bodie and makes it as easie in some measure to distinguish betweene the glory of Christ and of the Angels as betweene our right hand and our left as betweene Gods right hand and ours nay to judge of Gods right hand by ours In the right hand of man is his strength and the Almighty calls his owne strength his right hand The right hand of man nay euery right side limbe of man is by situation and power of that prioritie by nature that as if God had shewed the sacred vnion and distinction of sexes in the same body our left limbes are but female limbes and so our left hand may be a helpe vnto our right but our right is a defence vnto our left And this courteous purpose of nature as it is alwayes promoted by exercise so was it more singularly by wit and courage in those Amazonian warriers who conueighed their right pappe into their arme bringing-vp that as the heire of their strength and prouiding victory for its inheritance And yet these were not monsters but wonders whiles they had not two right armes but a double one But nature it selfe without this supportment of vse and art has built the right arme vpon the foundation of a greater bone then the left that if these bones were brought to the justice of the balance wee should with no lesse admiration then truth confesse the right to exceed the left in weight and mystrie And as Nature has thus honoured our right hand so likewise has Custome It is the hand wherewith wee command as if it claimed to her the scepter of reason and would expresse as well the majestie as the purpose of the will It is the hand wherewith wee direct with courtesie in part performing our owne command whiles with skill we teach it It is the hand wherewith we promise in which forme of couenant the hands of men we so firmely vnited to professe the intended vnion of their word and deed It is the hand wherewith we blesse wishing the strength of our hand to be the Embleme of our blessing It is the hand wherewith we defend and which by the artificiall mercy of protection we can bestow vpon another and yet nere part from it It is the hand wherewith we honour as if he whom wee place at our right hand were as deare vnto vs as our right hand Thus our right hand implies all that we can giue but does Gods right hand imply all that hee can giue Heere let vs with reuerent comparison and delight behold God and Christ Christ with God at the right hand of God the neerenesse presenting them both to the same view the neerenesse expounding them both by the same view It is supreame glorie with God to haue equall glory of Diuinitie with God And Christ had this the supreame part of Christ his Diuinitie which since it did from eternitie enjoy such equalitie this is rather to bee the right hand of God then to be at the right hand of God to be at the right hand of God being a triumph which Christ could not receiue before his hypostaticall vnion a triumph which hee did not receiue till after his ascension Leauing then only vnto wonder such wonders of his right hand we may only behold the pleasures though they are wonders too the pleasures in that hand and not without pleasure consider the difference betwixt his hand and ours since ours venters to be but the Gypsie-prophet of our owne successe but his right hand of truth and bountie does by a Catholike and vnfeigned Palmistrie shew the blessings prouided for other men And O how admirable are the blessings of the man Christ Iesus Blessings that more encompasse him then the cloud hee ascended in Blessings as ineffable as his generation Blessings as immense as his loue Blessings as inseparable as his Diuinitie Blessings as exquisite as his torments O how are those hands those feet that side which vnderstood the point of the naile of the speare and of the Iew made now as impenetrable as the hearts that prepared them made now as glorious as the patience that admitted them The face which receiued spittle as vile almost as the mouth that sent it how does it now shine like the Sun in his strength that now for the brightnesse of it the souldiers could not see how to spit vpon it The head which did no more desire a crowne then a crowne of thornes ought to bee desired how is it now crowned with the merit of that bloud which the thornes did shed with the mercy of that bloud which was readie to forgiue those that shedde it The soule which was so intentiue to its owne sorrowes that it almost forgot to animate the bodie for which also it in part did sorrow how is it now delighted as much with the societie of the soules whom it has deliuered as with its owne righteousnesse by which it deliuer'd them O happy Saints who in peace behold our Sauiour in his triumph of peace A triumph attended by the peacefull Melchizedeck who now insteed of blessing Abram does with Abram blesse the God of Abram and insteed of presenting Bread and Wine the blessings of peace presents himselfe a King and Priest of peace A triumph attended by the peacefull Solomon from which seed of Dauid God would not take away his blessings for euer nay in his mercy hee has for euer giuen him more blessings then hee had women and children and has now requited his Temple with a Temple which more exceeds Solomons in wonder then his exceeded Gods in the leisure of the building his being the worke study of seuen yeeres but Gods being the work but of a day nay but of the first instant of Gods first day a day when yet there was no Sunne wherewith to measure a day a day when yet there was no man for whom to measure a day A triumph attended by the peacefull Ezechias who now is in a Temple safer from Sennacherib then Sennacherib was in his owne temple from his owne children who now is at more rest then the Sun was in his Diall in which though it went not forward yet it stood not still and now his repreeue from death for fifteene yeeres is liberally improued into eternity A triumph attended by the peacefull Iosiah who insteed of celebrating his solemne Passeouer does now feast with the true Lambe himselfe and though that peacefull Iosiah did not end in peace yet by that end he now enjoyes a peace a peace as harmelesse as that Lambe with which he enjoyes it A triumph now attended also by our peacefull Iames who so
sent it to his soule to make-vp a Saint And some haue sent the bodie of the blessed Virgin thither with much reuerence and opinion though as farre from vse as from certaintie And some haue giuen two or three little ascensions to her Temple which is pleased as yet to be honoured at Loretto which is pleased as yet to honour Loretto make that place ascend aboue other places by not ascending from that place Nay the Turkes too boast of an ascension not of a temple but of their Mahomet though had this beene it had beene an ascension without a resurrection an ascension not so much of his carcasse as of his coffin which being of iron has beene reported to ascend to the roofe of his temple or rather to the secret vertue of many Load-stones fixt with as much secrecie in the roofe of his temple Yet euen this ascension also will proue to be the worke rather of Poets then of Load-stones Which can indeed make iron ascend nay make other Load-stones ascend from the cōmon center though they themselues if not violently sustained doe naturally descend and acknowledge the common center Yet since without respect one to another each does attract with an absolute intention and since the application in such attraction is most aptly made from some point in the stone to some point in the iron the defect of such forme in the iron and the number of the stones which was inuented to helpe the inuention does with the honestie of Philosophie quite betray it since the iron by a confused command of its dutie could not apply it selfe to any one and therefore not to any And thus you see that Mahomets presumptuous sinnes did ascend higher then his bodie or then the inuention of his idolaters But if we would see a low ascension and yet a wondrous one we may behold our Sauiour's walking vpon the water which was an ascension in respect of nature though not of our Sauiours person it was an ascension of his power though not of his person nay it was an ascension of his person because it should naturally haue beene a descension of his person And least wee might thinke that this ascension could only bee effected in Christ's person as it could be effected only by his power he did effect it in Peters person And though he needed Christ's hand as much as his inuitation yet was it his vnbeliefe that was heauier then his bodie But Christ's bodie was at last to ascend aboue all the elements except so much of them as composed his bodie which ascended to immortalitie fortie dayes sooner then it ascended to Heauen and now as much required to be placed aboue the place of our bodies as it was aboue the condition of them When therefore he was to ascend he led his Disciples out of Ierusalem it was the first degree of his ascension to separate himselfe from the trouble of the Citie to separate himselfe from the impiety of that Citie whose malice whiles it was increased in procuring his death was admirably deluded in procuring his ascension Hee led his Disciples vnto Mount Oliuet a place from whence his prayers had often ascended as now his person It was not farre from Bethanie a Village not great it seemes either in people or sinnes and so peraduenture as neere to the benefit of the ascension as to the ascension And being now to goe vp to to the Kingdome of God he discourseth to his Disciples of the Kingdome of God as if their eare should prepare their eye whiles he himselfe will make himselfe the illustration and proofe of his owne doctrine Yet to shew the truth of his loue as much as the truth of his words first be lifts-vp his hands at which they lift-vp their eyes and hearts and then hee lift-vp his voice and blesses them See with what kind preuention hee supplyes his future absence by his present blessing hee makes his blessing the Deputie of his person which whiles they behold with eyes as earnestly fixt by loue as they could be by death behold hee ascends and they lose the sight of him sooner by a cloud then by distance Which shortnesse of the the pleasure of their sight was happily supplied before by the intention of their sight His bodie was but a cloud to his Diuinitie and now his body ascends in a cloud which did as eminently shew his power as it concealed his person A cloud full of God is the Chariot of his triumph and the curtaines of his Chariot are the wings of Cherubins Lift vp your heads O yee gates and bee yee lift vp yee euerlasting doores and the King of glory shall come in But whiles the Apostles stedfastly gaze after him as if they would turne their eyes into Perspectiues or attend him as farre with their sight as with their desire behold their passion is not satisfied but changed and heard by them to saue them the labour of gazing they behold insteed of one Christ two Angels and their white apparell insteed of a cloud though their number was not so much for a supply of Christ who was gone into Heauen as for a more ful securitie of his returne from Heauen The expectation whereof if any shall thinke tedious they may ascend after him peraduenture before his returne not by seeking the impression of his footsteps on Mount Oliuet but by finding the ready way in his precepts by which wee may ascend to the vnderstanding of his ascension by which wee may ascend to the height of his ascension Which was aboue all the Heauens that eyther Philosophers or the Starres had beene acquainted with nay into that Heauen of which Copernicus might without errour haue said that it stands still the Heauen in which the Saints rest like the Heauen the Heauen in which Christ rest's like the Saints And yet you shall not only see his ascension into this Heauen but you shall see also his ascension in this Heauen that was the ascension of his person but this of his glory Enoch and Eliah ascended to this Heauen but you shall see Christ Iesus in this Heauen ascend to the right hand of God! Behold this day the humanitie made the favourite of the Diuinitie Behold Christ on the right hand of God! O what a spectacle would this haue beene for Herod and Pilate they would haue cryed out that their worst Hell had beene from Heauen and to haue scaped the horrour of this sight they would haue chosen vtter darknesse But behold Christ on the right hand of God! In whose right hand are pleasures for euermore And yet can wee behold those pleasures which no eye hath seene Nay can we behold the hand in which those pleasures are Nay can the hand be found that wee might behold it Shall vvee dresse the Almightie with shape and by an idolatrous gratitude bestow the figure vpon God which hee has bestowed vpon vs Shall we giue hands to him that were not able to giue them to our selues No
loued peace that hee lost his owne whiles he studied ours who so loued peace that excepting the combates of each Christian with himselfe hee would not haue had the Church to bee Militant heere on Earth making it almost Triumphant heere on Earth who loued peace as much as the Priest ought to doe nay who loued peace as much as he loued his Priest And now hee is ascended thither where only is to bee found a peace equall to his loue of peace and now without going to Spaine wee can find a Saint Iames Saint Iames of Britaine Defender of the Faith and the Cleargie O happy Saints who doe in peace attend our Sauiour in his triumph of peace And O the happinesse of holy Stephen whose eie was as full of wonder as his soule of grace and did so stedfastly looke vp into Heauen as if his eye had imitated the constancie of his soule And hee beheld with that zeale of looke the sonne of man in his triumph of zeale which was so raised against Stephens persecutors that he stood-vp at the right hand of God as if for his seruants sake had it beene possible hee would haue ventured againe among the Iewes his loue making him readie to forsake his glory rather then his Saint Whom yet he deliuered from their crueltie whiles hee seemed not to deliuer him Hee deliuered him from their crueltie by their crueltie and by the speed of death rescued him into Heauen whiles he was as constant in his prayer as in his death And it seemes his prayer was heard for Saint Paul whos 's first zeale did not more delight in Saint Stephens persecution then his second zeale delighted in Saint Stephens zeale and now with joy both doe attend vpon our Sauiour in his triumph of zeale And O the happinesse of diuine Iohn who heere on earth had the honour to see our Sauiour in Heauen in his triumph of honour And he saw the Elders fall downe before the Lambe imitating the humilitie of the Lambe and by the imitation presenting vnto him the remembrance of his owne humilitie and they triumphed more in their dutie then in their age and by fruitfull gratitude gaue honour to themselues whiles they gaue it to the honorable sonne of God! And now Saint Iohn is become a part of that wonder which hee wondred at whiles by his owne ascension hee increases the number and triumph of those Elders hauing put off his own bodie that he might bee neerer to our Sauiours bodie O happie Saints who are neere the right hand of God whiles they are neere him who is at the right hand of God! whose dwelling seate is at the right hand of God a seate which the malice of the Iew cannot reach vnto nay which the prayer of the Iew cannot reach vnto Whose judgement-seate is at the right hand of God nay the judgement-seates of his Saints are at the right hand of God for they also with him shall judge the twelue Tribes of Israel Yet marke the prerogatiue of our Sauiour they shall with him judge the world but only he shall saue it And againe marke the prerogatiue of our Sauiour by which hee is as wonderfully distinguished from them as hee is by his loue vnited to them As then you haue beheld the ascension of his glory so in this ascension now behold a jealous ascension an incommunicable ascension of his power Angels and authorities and powers being made subject vnto him The glory of a Prince is in the multitude of his people the greatnesse of a Prince in the power of his people but the greatest power of God is in himselfe yet hee communicates a great power vnto his angels To know the number of whose angels is as much beyond our abilitie as beyond our vse and it is enough glory vnto God that wee know their number to bee so great that we cannot know it To know the power of the angels is as easie as to know our owne weaknesse of which our bodies are able to instruct our soules But to define the Orders of the angels is not an act of man's knowledge though it has beene of phansie but like some to build the angels nine-storie-high were such a piece of architecture that Virtuoius himselfe would haue thought it to haue no more art in it then safetie and hee would haue beene as much confounded with wonder as the building would bee with its owne height Besides it would exceed the tower and vanitie of Babylon the foundation of this angelicall Tower being higher then the top of that Yet that of Babylon would in one respect exceed this since that had a stronger foundation though not a wiser But peraduenture these Dionysian builders layd their foundation vpon a Dreame and tooke their imitation from Iacobs Ladder vpon which because Iacob did behold angels they haue by finer workmanship reaâ—ed a Ladder of angels And that the inuention might seeme new by the seene as his ascent reacht vnto Heauen so these are made to reach vnto God Whose wisedome has indeed distinguished his angels but rather by their imployment then their nature as he has distinguished the soules of men not by their offence but their endowments Thus some of his Angels are Seraphins whose loue is as hote as fire whose loue is as pure as fire Some are Cherubins the intuitiue expedition and extent of whose knowledge may be named and figured by a wing Some are thrones who are safe from the feare of Gods judgements whiles they are made the seats of his judgements the ministers from whom his judgements are sent forth You may descend to dominions principalities and authorities but this middle Region of the angels is so full of clouds that we can only see the clouds through which wee cannot see You may descend yet lower to Powers arch-angels and angels and yet thus neere we shall be troubled with mists that we can scarce see our hand wherewith to point-out the differences Besides the Almightie can as easily appoint the change of their offices as their offices and by the weight of his message promote an angell into an archangell or hee can send the same angell to Balaam and to his Asse or hee cannot only change their offices but also mixe them making the same angell that killed the first-borne of the Aegyptian preserue the Israelite to confesse the distinction And because this distinction is rather the cause of thankefulnesse then the effect of curiositie let vs more consider their strength then their Heraldrie yet rejoyce more in their obedience then in their strength they being all made subject to our Sauiour all whether they are angels of authoritie to declare his pleasure or angels of power to execute his pleasure And it is his pleasure that as they are subject to him so they shall bee subject for vs. It was for vs that he sent two angels to be a witnesse and an effect of his ascension It was an angell deliuered Peter from the prison and kept him
safer then the jailou◠could It was an angell deliuered Paul from the wrath of the tempest which was not so obedient to the angell as the angell was to Paul And when at the last Day the trumpet shall found the angels shall make as much speed as the voice of the trumpet and bee as officiously obedient as the bones of the dead which they shall raise and attend at that last ascension And then shall they waite for euer after rather vpon the person then the message of their Prince Christ Iesus of our Prince Christ Iesus Who is ascended to rayse vs to an ascension of Faith by which it being of things not seene wee doe not only honour the person in whom wee trust but modestly oblige him And thus the skilfull mercie of our Sauiour vouchsafes to make himselfe beholding to vs by his owne work for his owne worke for our faith in his absence rather then to make vs beholding vnto him for our delight in his presence Hee ascended therefore to rayse vs likewise to an ascension of Hope which has obserued his loue to bee so vnited to his power in his assumption of our nature vnto his nature that by the great act of his ascension it likewise expects the assumption of our persons vnto his person Hee ascended likewise to rayse vs to an ascension of Loue which being like fire ought to ascend and being purer then the fire ought to ascend aboue the fire and since the fire can ascend to Heauen loue ought to exceed it and ascend into Heauen Into which holy place our high Priest is entred not so much to begge pardon as to giue it and by his entring into this holy place that he might make the certaintie of our peace equall to the mysterie of it he has prooued our Priest to be equall to our God Hee had before made man but little lesse then the angels but now the man Christ Iesus is aboue all the angels to whom Enoch's ascension was newes but this amazement And as it was their singular wonder so let it be our singular joy And indeed we may well rejoyce when by ascension we shall bee purged from the melancholy of our humanitie when our faith shall be happily lost into sight when wee shall bee past hope not by despaire but by possession when we shall be more transported by loue then by angels when we shall bee no longer their charge but their company when God shall so delight in vs that if wee could sinne we should be proud that hee so delighted in vs when we shall so delight in God that if there could bee sorrow in that delight we should bee sorrie that wee had not alwayes delighted in him and the eternitie of this delight shall be an ascension of this delight O happy and full Vision when Iacob shall not dreame that hee sees angels goe vp to Heauen but shall goe thither himselfe and now adore the angell whom once he wrestled with and as he then would not part from him till he had a blessing so now he neuer shall part from him because he has this blessing O happy and full vision when Moses shall see the face of God and liue nay when he shall liue because hee sees the face of God! when Moses his face shall shine so bright that now it would shine through his veile and yet his righteousnesse shall bee more glorious then his countenance when now hee shall not need to goe to the top of Mount Nebo to see the land of promise but on the top of this holy hill enjoy the true land of promise and the God that promised it O happy and full Vision when Simeon shall with more joy bee taken vp into Heauen then he tooke-vp the child Iesus into his armes and shall find himselfe more increased in joy then the child his Sauiour increased in stature when hee shall see his Sauiour honoured at the right hand of God who once vouchsafed to honour Simeons armes O happy and full Vision when Peter shall see himselfe as much transfigured as Christ when Peter shall see Christ more then transfigured and now shall with delight behold our Sauiours face when before for feare he fell vpon his owne O happy and full Vision when Paul shall so see Christs bodie in Heauen that he shall know himselfe to bee there in bodie when Iohn shall no more need to see the new Ierusalem come downe from Heauen but shall goe-vp vnto it Vnto which O thou Lambe of God grant that by the imitatiō of thy innocēce we may ascend that we may ascend to that Ierusalem by thy light who art the light of that Ierusalem that the sight of thy triumph may bee our triumph that our petitions may now so ascend that they may make way for the ascension of our soules and bodies that with thy Cherubins and Seraphins continually wee may cry Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbaoth who doest now with victorie rest from thy passion And though wee cannot hope for the glory of thy right hand vouchsafe vs the protection Heare thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father and haue mercie For thou only art holy thou only art the Lord thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most high in the glory of God the Father Heare O thou that sittest at the right hand of God and haue mercy And let thy mercy make our ascension a witnesse and part of the glory of thy ascension The end