beleeue that really and visibly he ascended into heauen and there abides till his seconde comming to the last iudgement who then hauing but common reason would imagine a communication of the bodie of Christ pent up in the element of bread and conveyed into our bodies by the mouth and stomacke The third point is whether we are not Lordes of Christ he being thus giuen unto us Ans. No for this donation is not single but mutuall As Christ is giuen to us so wee againe are giuen to Christ as he himselfe saith Those whome thou hast given me Father I have kept And wee are giuen unto him in that our bodies and soules are made his not onely as he is God but also as he is our redeemer and our sinnes with the guilt thereof are made his by imputation the punishment thereof is wholly laide upon him This is all the dowrie which the Church being the spouse of Christ hath brought unto him The fift point is how any man in particular may know that Christ is giuen unto him of the Father Ans. When God giues Christ to man he withall giues man grace and power to receiue Christ and to apprehend him with all his benefits and this we doe when wee utterly renounce our selues this world and all things therein bewaile our sinnes past resting on the death of Christ for the pardon of them all and as it were with both the armes of faith catching hold vpon him in all estaâ—es both in life and death When the heart of any man is truly disposed and inclined to doe these and the like things we may truly say that God hath giuen him grace to receiue Christ. The second thing required to make us one with Christ is the Mysticall vnion which is a Coniunction whereby Christ and his Church are actually coupled into one whol Mysticall bodie Now that we may the better conceiue the nature of it sundrie questions are to be mooued The first what kinde of Coniunction this is Ansvver In the scripture we meete with three kind of Coniunctions The first is coniunction in nature when sundry things are coupled all by one and the same nature As the Father the Sonne and the holy ghost being three distinct subsistances are all one and therefore ioyned in one godhead or diuine nature Now Christ and the beleeuer are not ioyned in nature for then they twaine should haue one body soule The second coniunction is in person when things in nature different so concurre togither that they make but one person as body and soule make one man and the godhead of the sonne with his manhood make but one Christ in whome there is an union of distinct natures with unitie of person Now Christ and a Christian are not ioyned in person for Christ is one person Peter a second and Paul a third distinct from them both and so many men as there be so many seuerall persons The third coniunction is in spirit and this is the coniunction meant in this place wherby Christ and his Church are ioyned togither for the very same spirit of God that dwelleth in the manhood of Christ and filleth it with all graces aboue measure is deriued thence and dwelleth in all the true members of the church and filleth them with the like graces in measure and therefore S. Iohn saith Hereby wee know that wee dwell in him and hee in us because he hath given vs of his spirit Hence it followes that the bond of this coniunction is one the same spirit descending from Christ the head to all his members creating also in them the instrument of faith whereby they apprehend Christ and make him their owne The second is what are the things united Ansvv. Not the bodie of the beleeuer to the body of Christ or the soule to his soule but the whole person of the man to the whole person of Christ yet in this order wee are first of all immediatly ioyned to the manhoode of Christ and by the manhood to the godhead The thirde question is what is the manner of this coniunction Answ. Wee must not thinke that Christ and his Church are ioyned by imagination as the mind of man and the thing whereof he thinkes or by consent of heart as one friend is ioyned with another and as the Iewes conuerted were all of one heart and soule or by any abode in one place or by touching as sea and land are both ioyned togither and make one globe or by any composition or commixtion of substances as when many ingredients are put togither to make one medecine But this coniunction is altogither spirituall as the former giuing was and incomprehensible to mans reason and therefore we must rather labour to feele it by experience in the heart then to conceiue it in the braine Yet neuerthelesse it shall not be amisse to consider a semblance of it in this comparison Suppose a man hauing the partes of his bodie disioyned farre asunder his head lying in Italy one arme in Germanie the other in Spaine and his legges with us in England suppose further all these partes or quarters haue all one soule extending it selfe unto them all and quickening ech of them seuerally as though they were nearely ioyned togither and though the partes be seuered many hundred miles asunder yet the distance of place doeth not hinder the coniunction considering one and the same soule doth inlarge it selfe and giue life vnto them all In the same maner the head of the Mysticall bodie Christ our Sauiour is now in heauen and some of his members in heauen with him and some in earth and of these some in England some in Germanie some in Italie some in Spaine distant many thousand miles asunder and the spirit of God is as it were the soule of this body which giueth spirituall life to all the members distance of place doth not hinder this coniunction because the Holy ghost which linketh all the partes togither is infinite The benefites which we receiue by this Mysticall union are manifold For it is the ground of the conveiance of all grace The first that by meanes hereof every Christian as he is a Christian or a man regenerate hath his beginning and being in Christ howsoeuer as he is a maÌ„ he hath his being subsisting in himselfe as Paul saith Ye are of God in Christ. And Wee are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones How will some say can this be After this maner The comparison is taken from our first parentes Eve was made of a rib taken out of Adams side he being cast into a slumber this being done Adam awaked said This now is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh Christ was nailed on the crosse and his most pretious blood was shedde and out of it arise and spring all true Christians that is out of the merite of Christes death and passion whereby they become newe creatures Secondly euerie one that
nothing in the worlde so much as for pardon of our sinnes and that day by day without ceasing till the Lorde giue this blessed answere to our consciences that all our sinnes are put out of his remembrance We must not thinke that God putteth grace into mens heartes when they lie snurting upon their elbowes and either not use or despise the meanes but wee must first use the meanes partly by making confession of our sinnes to God and partly by crying to heauen for pardon and then when by his grace wee begin to desire grace hee giues further grace Lastly if we beleeue the pardon of our sinnes then wee must chaunge the tenour and course of our liues and take heede of breaking Gods commaundementes by doing any of those things whereof our consciences doe accuse us and tell us that by them we haue displeased God heretofore A man that for some misdemeanour hath bene cast into prison and lyen there many yeeres winter and sommer in cold irons when he obtaines libertie hee will often bethinke himselfe of his old miserie and take heede for eueâ— least hee fall into the same offence againe and hee which hath seene his owne sinnes and felt the smart of them and withall by Gods goodnes obtained assurance touching the pardon of them will neuer wittingly and willingly commit the like sinnes any more but in all things chaunge the course of his life As for such as say that they haue the pardon of their sinnes and yet liue in them still they deceiue themselues and haue no faith at all Thus much for the second benefite which God bestoweth on his Church namely remission of sinnes now followeth the third in these wordes The resurrection of the body In the handling wherof sundry points must be considered The first whether there be a resurrection or no This question must needs be handled because Epicures and Atheists in all ages and at this day some doe call this article in question Now that there is a resurrection of the body after death it may be prooued by many arguments whereof I will onely touch the principall The first is taken from the worke of redemption Saint Iohn writeth that Christ came to dissolue the workes of the devill which are sinne and by sinne death and hence I reason thus If sinne and death are to be dissolued utterly then the bodies of the faithfull which are dead in the graue must needes be made aliue otherwise death is not abolished but sinne and death must be utterly abolished therefore there shall be a resurrection Secondly God had made a couenaÌ„t with his church the tenor wherof is this I will be thy God thou shalt be my people This couenaÌ„t is not for a day or an age or for a thousande yeeres or ages but it is euerlasting without end so as Gods people may say of God for euer God is our God likewise God will say of his Church for euermore this people is my people Now if Gods couenant be euerlasting then all the faithfull departed from the beginning of the world must be raised again to life And if god should leaue his people in the graue under death for euer how could they be called the people of God for he is a God of mercy and of life it selfe therefore though they abide long in the earth yet they must at length be reuiued againe This argument Christ useth against the Sadduces which denied the resurrection God is not the god of the dead but of the living but god is the god of AbrahaÌ„ Isaac Iacob which are dead and therfore they must rise againe The third argument may be taken from the tenour and order of Gods iustice It is an especiall part of Gods glory to shewe forth his mercie on the godly and his iustice upon the wicked in rewarding them according to their workes as the Apostle saith God will reward every man according to his workes to them that by continuance in vvell doing seeke glorie and honour and immortalitie life eternall but vnto them that disobey the trueth that be contentious and obey vnrighteousnesse shall be indignation and wrath But in this life God rewardeth not men according to their doings and therefore Salomon speaking of the estate of all men in this world saith All things come alike to all and the same condition is to the iust and vniust to the good and bad to the pure and polluted to him that offereth sâ—crifice and to him that offreth none Nay which is more here the wicked flourish and the godly are afflicted The ungodly haue hearts ease and all things at will whereas the godly are oppressed and ouerwhelmed with all kinde of miseries and are as sheepe appointed for the slaughter It remaines therefore that there must needes be a generall resurrection of all men after this life that the righteous may obtaine a reward of Gods free mercie and the wicked utter shame and confusion But some will say It is sufficient that God doe this to the soule of euery man the body needeth not to rise againe I answer that the ungodly man doeth not worke wickednes only in his soule but his body also is an instrument thereof and the godly doe not onely practise righteousnes in their soules but in their bodies also The bodies of the wicked are the instrumentes of sinne and the bodies of the righteous are the weapons of righteousnesse and therefore their bodies must rise againe that both in bodie and soule they may receiue a rewarde according to that which they haue wrought in them The fourth argument which is also used by Paul is this Christ himselfe is risen and therefore all the faithfull shall rise againe for he rose not for himselfe as a priuat man but in our roome and steade and for us If the head be risen then the meÌ„bers also shal rise againe for by the same power whereby Christ raised himselfe he both can will raise all those that be of his mysticall bodie he beeing the first fruits of them that sleepe The fifth argument is taken from expresse testimonie of Scripture Iob hath an excellent place for this purpose I am sure saith he that my Redeemer liueth and he shall stande the last on the earth and though after my skinne wormes destroy this bodie yet J shall see God in my flesh whom I my selfe shall see and mine eies shall behold and none other for me And Saint Paul to the Corinthians auoucheth and prooueth this point at large by sundrie arguments which I will not stand to repeat this one remembered If saith he the dead rise not againe then your faith is vaine our preaching is in vaine and the godly departed are perished The sixth argument may be taken from the order of nature which ministreth certain resemblances of the resurrection which though they be no sufficient proofes yet may they be inducements to the truth Both Philosophers and also Divines haue
to keepe the sabbath so strictly as the Iewes were yet vvhen we haue any busines or worke to be done of our ordinarie calling vve must not take a part of the Lordes sabbath day to do it in but preuent the time doe it either before as Ioseph did or after the sabbath This is litle practised in the world Mē think if they go to church before after noone to heare Gods worde then all the day after they may doe what they list and spend the rest of the time at their owne pleasure but the vvhole day is the Lordes therefore must be spent wholly in his seruice both by publicke hearing of the word and also by priuate reading and meditation on the same To conclude the doctrine of Christes buriall Here it may be demanded how he was alwaies after his incarnation both god and man considering he was dead buried and therefore bodie and soule were sundred a dead mā seemes to be no man Ansvv. A dead man in his kinde is as true a man as a living man for though bodie and soule be not united by the bond of life yet are they united by a relation which the one hath to the other in the counsell and good pleasure of God and that as truly as man and vvoman remaine coupled into one flesh by a couenant of mariage though afterwarde they be distant a thousand miles asunder and by vertue of this relation euery soule in the day of iudgement shall be reunited to his owne bodie euery bodie to his own soule But there is yet a more straighter bond betweene the body soule of Christ in his death burial For as when he was liuing his soule was a meane or bond to unite his godhead his bodie togither so whē hee was deade his verie godhead was a meane or middle bond to unite the bodie and soule and to say otherwise is to dissolue the hypostaticall union by vertue wherof Christes body and soule though seuered ech frō other yet both were still ioyned to the godhead of the sonne The use and profite which may be made of Christes buriall is two-folde I. It serueth to worke in us the buriall of all our sinnes Knovve yee not saieth Paul that all who haue beene baptised into Christ have beene baptised into his death and are buried vvith him by baptisme into his death If any shall demaund how any man is buried into the death of Christ the answere is this Euery Christian man and woman are by faith mystically united unto Christ and made all members of one body whereof Christ is the head Now therefore as Christ by the power of his godhead when he was dead and buried did ouercome the graue the power of death in his own person So by the very same power by means of this spirituall coniunctiō doth he worke in all his members a spirituall death buriall of sinne and naturall corruption When the Israelites were burying of a mā for feare of the soldiers of the Moabites they cast him for hast into the sepulcher of Elisha Now the dead man so soone as he was down had touched the body of Elisha he revived stood upon his feet So let a man that is dead in sin be cast into the graue of Christ that is let him by faith but touch Christ dead buried it will come to passe by the vertue of Christs death buriall that he shalbe raised frō the death bōdage of sin to become a new mā Secōdly the buriall of Christ serues to be a sweet perfume of all our graues and burials for the graue in it selfe is the house of perditiō but Christ by his burial hath as it were cōsecrated and perfumed all our graues in stead of houses of perdition hath made them chambers of rest sleepe yea beds of downe therfore howsoeuer to the eye of mā the beholding of a funerall is terrible yet if we could then remember the buriall of Christ consider how he thereby hath changed the nature of the graue euen then it woulde make us to reioice Lastly we must imitate Christs buriall in being cōtinually occupied in the spiritual burial of our sins Thus much of the buriall Now followeth the third and last degree of Christes humiliation He descended into hell It seemes very likely that these wordes were not placed in the creed at the first or as some thinke that they crept in by negligence because aboue threescore creeds of the most ancient councels fathers want this clause among the rest the Nicene Creed But if the ancient learned fathers assembled in that councel had bin perswaded or at the least had imagined that these words had bin set down at the first by the Apostles no doubt they would not in any wise haue left them out And an anciēt writer saith directly that these words he descended into hell are not found in the Creede of the Romane Church nor used in the Churches of the East if they be that then they signifie the burial of Christ. And it must not seeme strange to any that a worde or twaine in processe of time should creepe into the Creede considering that the originall copies of the bookes of the old and new Testament haue in them sundry varieties of readings and words otherwhiles which from the margine haue crept into the text Neuerthelesse considering that this clause hath long continued in the creed and that by common consent of the Catholicke Church of God it may carry a fit sense expositiō it is not as some would haue it to be put forth Therfore that we may come to speak of the meaning of it we must know that it hath 4. usual expositiōs which we wil rehearse in order then make choise of that which shal be thought to be the fittest The first is that Christs soule after his passion vpon the crosse did really locally descend into the place of the damned But this seems not to be true The reasons are these I. All the Evangelists and among the rest S. Luke intending to make an exact narration of the life and death of Christ haue set downe at large his passion death buriall resurrection ascension and withall they make rehearsall of small circumstances therefore no doubt they woulde not haue omitted Christes locall descent into the place of the damned if there had bene any such thing And the end why they penned this historie was that we might beleeue that Iesus is Christ the sonne of God beleeuing we might haue life euerlasting Now there could not haue bene a greater matter for the confirmation of our faith thē this that Iesus the sonne of Mary who went downe to the place of the damned returned thence to liue in happinesse for euer II. If Christ did go into the place of the damned then either in soule or in body or in
I let them passe Thus much of the appearances of Christ after his resurrection the witnesses thereof are of three sortes I. angels II. women that came to the graue to embalme him III. Christs owne disciples who did publish and preach the same againe according as they had seene and heard of our Sauiour Christ and of these likewise I omit to speake because there is not any speciaâ—l thing mentioned of them by the Evangelistes Now follow the uses which are twofold some respect Christ and some respect ourselues Vses which concerne Christ are three I. whereas Christ Iesus being starke deade rose againe to life by his owne power it serueth to prooue unto us that he was the sonne of God Thus Paul speaking of Christ saieth that he was declared mightily to be the sonne of God touching the spirit of sanctification by the resurrection from the dead And by the mouth of Dauid God saide Thou art my sonne this day I have begot thee Which place must be understood not so much of the eternall generation of Christ before all worlds as of the manifestation therof in time after this maner This day that is at the time of thine incarnation but especially at the day of thy resurrection have I begotten thee that is I haue made manifest that thou art my sonne so is this place expouÌ„ded by S. Paul in the Acts. Secondly Christs resurrection by his own power prooues unto us euidently that he is Lord ouerall things that are this use S. Paul makes hereof for saith he Christ therefore died that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the quicke And indeed wheras he rose againe thus he did hereby shew himselfe most plainely to be a mightie prince ouer the graue ouer death hell condemnation in that he had power to ouercome them Thirdly it proues unto us that he was a perfit priest that his death and passion was a perfit satisfaction to the iustice of God for the sins of mankind For whereas Christ died he died for our sins now if he had not fully satisfied for them all though there had remained but one sin for which he had made no satisfaction he had not risen againe but death which came into the worlde by sinne and is strengthned by it woulde haue helde him in bondage and therefore whereas hee rose againe it is more then manifest that he hath made so full a satisfaction so as the merite thereof doth and shall countervaile the iustice of God for all our offences To this purpose Paul saith If Christ be not risen againe your faith is vaine and you are yet in your sins that is Christ had not satisfied for your sinnes or at least you could not possibly haue knowen that he had made satisfaction for any of them if he had not risen againe The uses which concerne our selues are of two sortes comforts to the children of God and duties that are to be learned and practised of us all The comforts are especially three First Christs resurrrection serueth for the iustification of all that beleeue in him euen before God the father as Paul saith Christ was given to death for our sinnes and is risen againe for our iustification which wordes haue this meaning when Christ died as we haue shewed before we must not consider him as a priuate man but as one that stood in the stead and roome of all the elect in his death he bare our sinnes and suffered all that we should haue suffered in our own persons for euer the guilt of our offences was laid upon him therfore Esai saith he was nuÌ„bred among the wicked Now in his rising againe he freed disburdened himselfe not from any sinnes of his own because he was without sin but from the guilt punishment of our sins imputed unto him And hence it comes to passe that all those which put their trust affiance in the merit of Christ at the very first instant of their beleeuing haue their owne sins not imputed unto them his righteousnes imputed Secondly the resurrection of Christ serueth as a notable meanes to worke inward sanctification as S. Peter saith We are regenerate to a lively hope by the resurrectioÌ„ of Iesus Christ from the dead And S. Paul Wee are then saith hee buried with him by baptisme into his death that like as Christ vvas raised vp from the dead by the glorie of his father so vvee also should walke in newnesse of life For if we be grafted vvith him to the similitude of his death wee shall be also to the similitude of his resurrection Which wordes import thus much that as Christ by the power of his owne godheade freed his manhood from death and from the guilt of our sinnes so doth he free those that are knit unto him by the bond of one spirite from the corruption of their natures in which they are dead that they may liue unto God In the naturall body the head is the fountaine of all the senses and of motion and therefore by sundry nerves dispersed through the body the power of moouing and of sense is deriued euen to the least partes so as the hands and the feete moue by meanes of that power which comes from the head and so it is in the spirituall body of Christ namely the Church he is the head the fountain of life therfore he coÌ„veieth spirituall life to euery one of his members and that very power of his godhead whereby he raised up himselfe when he was dead he conveieth from himselfe to his members thereby raiseth them up from the death of sinne to newnesse of life And looke as in a perfect body when the head hath sence and motion the hand that is of the same bodie hath also sense and motion conuenient for it So likewise Christ beeing the resurrection and the life as there is spirituall life in him so euery member of his shall feele in it selfe spirituall sence and motion whereby it is raised up froÌ„ sinne and liueth unto God For the better conceiuing of this we must consider two things the outward meanes of this spirituall life and the measure of it For the meanes if we will haue common water vve must goe to the well and if wee vvould haue vvater of life we must goe unto Christ who saith If any man thirst let him come unto me and drinke Now this vvell of the water of life is very deepe we haue nothing to draw with therefore we must haue our pipes conduits to convey the same unto us which are the word of God preached and the administration of the sacrameÌ„ts Christ saith The dead shall heare the voice of the sonne of God they that heare it shall live where by dead is meant not the dead in the graue but those that are dead in sinne And againe Christ saith the wordes which I speake are spirite and life because
saluation by this meanes was nothing in man for all mankinde was shut vp vnder vnbeleefe and therefore vnable to procure the least fauour at Gods hād but the will and good pleasure of God within himselfe The instruments which the Lord vsed in this busines were the wicked Iewes and Gentiles the deuill himselfe by whō he brought to passe the most admirable worke of redemption euen then when they according to their kind did nothing els but practise wickednes and malice against Christ. II. The matter of the passion is the whole malediction or curse of the Law containing in it all manner of aduersities and miseries both of bodie and minde All which may be reduced to three heads the temptations of Christ his ignominies and slaunders his manifold sorrows and griefes especially those which stande in the apprehension of the vnsupportable wrath of God III. The forme of the passion is that excellent and meritorious satisfaction which in suffering Christ made vnto his father for mans sinne We doe not rightly consider of the passion if we conceiue it to be a bare and naked suffering of punishment but withall wee must conceiue it as a propitiation or a meanes satisfactorie to Gods iustice The passion considered as a passion ministers no comfort but all our ioy and reioycing stands in this that by faith we apprehend it as it is a satisfaction or a meanes of reconciliation for our offences In this very point stands the dignitie of the passion whereby it differs from all other sufferings of men whatsoeuer Therefore most damnable and wicked is the opinion of the Papists who besides the alone passion of Christ maintaine workes of satisfaction partly of their owne and partly of the Saints departed which they adde to the passion as an appendance thereof IV. The ende of the passion is that God might bring to passe a worke in which hee might more fully manifest his iustice and mercie then he did in the creation and that is the reconciliation betweene God and man And here remember with the passion to ioyne the obedience of Christ in fulfilling the lawe for Christ in suffering obeyed and in obeying suffered And they must be ioyntly conceiued together for this cause In reconciliation with God two things are required the remoouing of sinne in regard of the guilt of the fault and the punishment and the conferring or giuing of righteousnes Now the passion of Christ considered apart from his legall obedience onely takes away the guilt and punishment frees man from death and makes him of a sinner to be no sinner and that he may be fully reconciled to God and accepted as righteous to life euerlasting the legall obedience of Christ must be imputed And therefore in the Scriptures where all obedience is ascribed to the death and passion of Christ this very obedience which stands in the perfect loue of God and man must be included and not excluded V. The time of the passion was from the very byrth of Christ to his resurrection yet so as the beginnings onely of his sufferings were in the course of his life and the accomplishment thereof to the very full vpon the crosse VI. The person that suffered was the sonne of God himselfe concerning whome in this case two questions must be resolued The first how it can stand with Gods iustice to lay punishment vpon the most righteous man that euer was and that for grieuous sinners considering that tyrants themselues will not doe so Answer In the passion Christ must not be considered as a priuate person for then it could not stande with equitie that he should be plagued and punished for our offences but as one in the eternall counsell of God set apart to be a publike suretie or pledge for vs to suffer and performe those things which we in our owne persons should haue suffered and performed For this cause God the father is said to giue his sonne vnto vs and the sonne again to giue his life for his friends The second question is how by the short temporary death of the sonne of God any man can possibly be freed from eternal death damnation which is due vnto him for the least sinne Answer When wee say that the sonne of God suffered it must be vnderstood with distinction of the natures of Christ not in respect of the Godhead but in respect of the assumed manhood yet neuerthelesse the passion is to be ascribed to the whole person of Christ God and man and from the dignitie of the person which suffered ariseth the dignitie and excellencie of the passion whereby it is made in value and price to coūteruaile euerlasting damnation For when as the sonne of God suffered the curse for a short time it is more then if all men and angels had suffered the same for euer VII The difference of the passion of Christ and the sufferings of Martyrs and that stands in two things First Christs passion was a curse or punishment the sufferings of the Martyrs are no curses but either chastisments or trials Secondly the passion of Christ is meritorious for vs euen before God because he became our Mediatour and suretie in the couenant of grace but the sufferings of martyrs or not of value to merit for vs at Gods hand because in suffering they were but priuate men and therefore they nothing appertaine to vs. By this it appeares that the Treasurie of the Church of Rome which is as it were a common chest containing the ouerplus of the merits of Saints mingled with the merits of Christ kept and disposed by the Pope himselfe is nothing else but a sensles dotage of mans braine And whereas they say that Christ by his death did merit that Saints might merit both for themselues and others it is as much as if they should say the sonne of God became Iesus to make euery one of vs Iesus And it is a manifest vntruth which they say For the very manhood of Christ considered apart from the Godhead cannot merit properly considering whatsoeuer it is hath or doth it is hath and doth the same wholly and onely by grace whereas therefore Christ meriteth for vs it is by reason he is both God and man in one person For this cause it is not possible that one meere man should merit for an other The vse of the passion followeth It is the manner of Friers and Iesuits in the Church of Rome to vse the consideration of the passion of Christ as a meanes to stirre vp compassion in themselues partly towards Christ who suffered grieuous torments and partly towards the virgin Marie who for the torments of her deere sonne was exceedingly troubled and withall to kindle in their hearts an indignation towards the Iewes that put Christ to death But indeede this kinde of vse is meere humane and may in like manner be made by reading of any humane historie But the proper and the speciall vse of the passion in deede is
Paul saith If we suffer with Christ we shall also raigne with him and that which was fully verified in Christ the head must in some part be verified in euery true member of Christ. Pilats third pollicie was this when he saw that neither of the two former would preuaile he comes forth vnto the Iewes and makes an oration to this effect that now vvas the feast of the Passeouer and that they had a custome that the Gouernour should then deliuer vnto the people a prisoner whome they would therefore he asked them whether he should let loose to them Barrabas or Iesus which is called Christ this Barrabas was a notable malefactour that with insurrection had committed murther And thus Pilate cunningly matcheth Christ vvith Barrabas thinking that the Iewes would rather chuse him then Barrabas beeing a notorious malefactour not worthie to liue on the face of the earth and by this meanes he thought to haue deliuered Christ froÌ„ death though otherwise he accounted him also as a malefactour The ground of this pollicie as we see is an old custome of the Iewes that a prisoner should be let loose at Easter And it may be the ende of this custome was to increase the solemnitie of the feast But whatsoeuer in truth the end was the fact it selfe was but a prophanation of the time and an abomination before the Lord for Salomon saith He that iustifieth the wicked and condemneth the iust euen they both are abhomination before the Lord. The like practise takes place with many in these daies who thinke the Loâ—ds day neuer well spent vnlesse they may adde solemnitie thereunto by reuel and riot by frequenting of taverns and alehouses And furthermore where Pilate matcheth Christ beeing innocent with Barrabas and the people preferre him before Christ hauing libertie to chuse eyther it shewes that God in his prouidence had appointed that Christ should not stand in his owne roome before Pilate but in our roome and stead as a Mediatour betweene God and us And in this fact of the people we see how sinne by degrees takes hold of men that speedily Who would haue thought that these Iewes which a little before cryed Hosanna and spread their garmentes before Christ in the way woulde euer haue preferred a murtherer before him But it was the doing of the high priests the Scribes Phases who did animate and stirre them up to this wickednes and hereupon when they had yeelded first to attach him and then to accuse him they are caried to an higher degree of impietie namely to seeke his blood and least he should escape their handes they plunge themselues deeper yet preferring a wretched murtherer euen seditious Barabbas before him This must teach euery one of vs to take heede of the beginnings euen of the least sinnes for the deuill is cunning he will not plunge a man into the greatest sinnes at the first but his manner is by little and little to creepe into the heart and hauing once possession thereof by steppes to bring men to the height of sinne and that with speed We must therefore in the feare of God preuent sinne betimes and at the first motion cut off all occasions hereof that which Paul saith of heresie comparing it to a canker or gangreene may be saide of all sinne The nature of the gangren is to runne from one ioynt to another from rhe toe to the foote from the foote to the legge from the legge to the thigh till it haue wasted and destroyed the life of rhe bodie So giue any sinne but an entrance and it will soone ouerspread the whole man and if the deuill may be suffered but to put one talent into thy heart he will presently wind himselfe into thee his head his bodie and all The Psalmist saith that he is blessed that taketh the children of the Babylonians and dasheth them against the stones and as truly may it be saide blessed is the man that dasheth the head of his sinnes against the ground while they are yong before they get strength to ouer master him Thus haue wee seene the pollicies of Pilate Now followeth the absolution of Christ for when Pilate had used many meanes to deliuer him none would prevaile then hee absolues him by giuing diuers testimonies of his innocencie for he came foorth three times and bare witnesse thereof and last of all hee testified the same by washing of his hands which rite signifieth properly the defiling of the handes before but as yet Pilate had not defiled his handes and therefore he used it as a token to shewe that Christ vvas innocent and that hee would not defile his owne hands with innocent blood There vvere three causes that mooued Pilate to absolue Christ. First hee sawe that hee vvas a iust man as Saint Matthew noteth and that the high priests and people had deliuered him vp of envie as S. Marke saith By this it is plaine that a very Pagan or infidell may in some things goe beyond such as be in Gods Church hauing better conscience and dealing more iustly then they Pontius Pilate was a heathen man and a Gentile the Iewes vvere the Church and people of the liuing God yet he sees plainely that Christ was a iust man and thereupon absolues him whereas the Iewes which should be men of conscience and religion seeke his death And thus a verie Pagan may otherwhiles see more into a matter theÌ„ those that be reputed of the church And this must admonish all such as professe the gospell to looke unto their proceedings that they doe all things with upright conscience for if wee deale uniustly in our proceedings wee may haue neighbours men of no religion that will looke through us and see the grosse hypocrisie of our profession that would be loth to doe those things which wee doe The second cause that mooued Pilate to absolue Christ was his wiues dreame for when he was set dovvne upon the iudgement seate shee sent unto him saying Have thou nothing to doe vvith that iust man for I have suffered many things in a dreame by reason of him Dreames are of three sortes naturall rising from the constitution of the bodie diabolicall such as come by the suggestion of the deuill divine which are from God Some haue thought that this dreame was of the deuill as though hee had laboured thereby to hinder the death of Christ and consequently our saluation but I rather thinke that it vvas occasioned by the thinges vvhich shee had heard before of Christ or that it was immediatly from God as the dreames of Pharao Nabuchodonoser and serued for a further manifestation of Christs innocencie Here it may be asked whether we may regard our dreams now as Pilates wife did or no Answer Wee haue the bookes of the olde and new Testament to be our direction as Esai saith to the law and to the testimonie they must be our rule and guide In these daies we
proper ende of Christes condemnation set dovvne though not in Pilats will yet in Gods eternall counsell was that he might be the cause of absolutiō at the barre of Gods iustice unto all those whosoeuer they are which shall come to life eternall for we must still remember that whē Christ was condemned by mortal Iudges he stood in our place in him were all our sinnes condemned before God Therefore to conclude this point if this were the end in the coūsell of God to haue his owne sonne condēned by Pontius Pilate a mortall iudge that we might not be condemned but absolved before Gods iudgement seat let us all labour to haue this absolution sealed up in our hearts by the testimony of Gods spirit For one day we must come to the bar of Gods iudgement and if we haue not an absolution by Christs condemnation at Pilates earthly barre let us looke for nothing els but the fearefull sentence of condemnation at the celestiall bar of Gods iustice to be uttered at the day of the last iudgement If a man should commit such an heynous offence as that he could no other way escape death but by the princes pardon he neither would nor could be at rest till by one meanes or other hee had obtained the same and had gotten it written and sealed which done hee would carrie it home locke it up safe and sound and many times looke upon it with great ioy gladnes Well this is the case of euerie one of vs by nature we are rebells and traitours against God and haue by our sinnes deserued ten thousand deaths Now our onely stay and refuge is that Christ the sonne of God was condemned for vs and therfore in Christ we must sue for pardon at Gods hands and neuer rest till we haue the assurance thereof sealed up in our hearts and consciences alwaies remembring that euer after we lead a new life and neuer commit the like sinnes against God any more It were a blessed thing if this would enter into our hearts but alas we are as dead in our sinnes as a deade carkasse is in the graue The ministers of God may teach this often unto us and we may also heare the same but Satan doth so possesse mens hearts that they seldome or neuer beginne to beleeue or receiue it till it be too late Euery one can say God is mercifull but that is not enough for Christ being most righteous was condemned that thou being a wretched sinner mightest be saued and therefore thou must labour for thy selfe to haue some testimony of thine absolution by Christs condemnation sealed up in thine owne conscience that thou maist more assuredly say God is and will be mercifull unto thee Hauing spoken of the whole arraignement of Christ and of his passion in generall Now let vs proceede to the partes of the passion which are three Christs Execution his Buriall his Descending into hell This being withall remembred that these three partes are likewise three degrees of Christs humiliation Christes execution is that part of his passion which hee bare upon the crosse expressed in the words of the Creede he was crucified and died In handling of it we must obserue fiue things I. the person that suffered II. the place where he suffered III. the time when he suffered IIII. the manner how he suffered V. the excellencie of his passion For the first the person that suffered was Christ the iust as Peter saieth Christ also hath once suffered for sinnes the iust for the vniust and againe Christ Iesus the iust saith S. Iohn is the reconciliation for our sinnes And in his execution wee shall haue manifest declarations of his righteousnesse and iustice consisting in two most worthie points First when he was upon the crosse and the souldiers were nailing his handes and feete thereunto and racking his bodie most cruelly he prayed Father forgive them they know not what they doe These souldiers were by all likelihood the verie same that apprehended him and brought him before Caiphas and from thence to Pontius Pilate and there platted a crowne of thornes and set it on his heade and buffetted him and spitefully intreated him as we haue heard and yet Christ speaks no word of reuenge unto them but with all patience in the extremitie of their malice and iniurie he prayeth his father to forgive them Hence we are taught that when iniuries are done unto us we ought to abstaine from all affection of reuenge and not so much as manifest the same either in word or deede It is indeed a hard lesson to learne and practise but we must indeauour to doe it not onely so but to be readie for evill to doe good yea even at that instant when other men are doing us wrong euen then I say we must be readie if it be possible to doe them good When as Christes enemies were doing unto him al the trecherie they would euen then he performeth the worke of a Mediatour and prayeth for them unto his father and seeketh their saluation Againe whereas Christ prayeth thus Father forgive them we gather that the most principall thing of all that man ought to seeke after in this life is the forgiuenesse of sinnes Some thinke that happinesse consisteth in honour some in wealth some in pleasure some in this some in that but indeed the thing which we should most labour for is reconciliation with God in Christ that we may haue the free remission of all our sinnes Yea this is blessednesse it selfe as David saith Blessed is hee whose iniquitie is forgiven and whose sinne is covered Here then behold the madnesse of most men in this world that either seeke for this blessing in the last place or not at all The seconde testimony of Christs righteousnesse given in the middest of his passion was that he behelde his mother standing by and commended her to the custodie of Iohn his disciple whereby he gaue an example of most holy obedience unto the fift commaundement which prescribeth honour to father and mother And this his fact sheweth that the obseruing of this commandement standeth not in outwarde shewe and reuerence onely but in a godly recompence in procuring unto parents all the good we can both concerning this and a better life It often falls out that children be as it were Cains to father and mother some raile on them some fight with them others see them pine away and sterue and not relieue them But all dutifull children must here learne that as their parents haue done many duties unto them haue brought them up so they againe must in al reuerence performe obedience vnto them both in worde and deede and when occasion is offered relieve them yea in all that they can do good unto them Againe in this wee may see what a wretched state is that which the Church of Rome calleth the state of perfection namely to liue a part from the companie of men in fasting and
praying all the daies of a mans life for hereby the bond of nature is broken and a man can not doe the duty vnto his parents which Gods law requireth and Christ here himselfe practiseth nor the duties of a meÌ„ber of Christ which are to be done to the whole Church and to the rest of the members thereof The place where Christ suffered is called Calvary or Golgotha that is the place of dead meÌ„s skulls without the walls of Ierusalem Concerning the reason of this name men be of divers opinions Some say it was so called because Adam was buried there that his skull beeing there found gaue the name to the place And this is the very opinion of some ancient divines that Christ was there crucified where AdaÌ„ was buried but because it hath no certen ground I leaue it as uncerten Others thinke it was called Calvary because the Iewes were wont to cary out the bones of dead men there to heape them togither as in times past the manner was in the vauts of sundry Churches in this land And some others thinke it was called Golgotha or Calvary because theeues and murtherers and malefactours were there executed stoned burned whereby it came to passe that many skulles and bones of dead men were found there The time vvhen Christ was executed was at the Iewes passeover when not onely the Iewes but also many Proselytes of many countries and nations were assembled and therefore this execution was not in a private corner but openly in the viewe of the worlde For as he was a Sauiour not to the Iewes onely but also to the Gentiles so it was verie requisite that his death shoulde be publicke before all men both Iewes and Gentiles As for the houre of the day in which he suffered there is some difficultie in the Euangelists for S. Iohn saith that hee was condemned about the sixt houre of the day and S. Marke saieth he was crucified the third houre Hence it may be demaunded how both these can stand togither Answer Howsoeuer the Iewes naturall day began at evening yet the artificiall day began at sunne-rising and ended at sunne-setting and it was divided two waies First into twelue partes called twelue houres whether the daies were longer or shorter Secondly into foure partes or quarters and euery part contained three houres as from the first houre to the third was one part called morning from the third houre to the sixt an other part called the sixt houre from the sixt houre to the ninth the third part called the ninth houre and from the ninth houre to the twelfth the fourth part called euening Nowe when S. Iohn saieth Christ was condemned about the sixt houre it must be understood of the second quarter of the day called the sixt houre and whereas S. Marke saith he was crucified the thirde houre of the day he speakes of the lesser houres twelue whereof made the vvhole day and thus they both agree for the third houre of the day and the beginning of the 2. quarter followe ech other immediatly Againe it may be answered that Christ was condeÌ„ned at six of the clock after the Roman account which begins the day at midnight crucified at 3. which is 9. of the clock in the morning with us aftet the Iewes accouÌ„t who begin their artificiall day as I said at the sunne-rising The fourth last point is the order whole proceeding of Christs executioÌ„ vvhich may be reduced to 4. heads the first his going to execution the 2. his crucifying the 3. his death the 4. the consequents of his death Againe in his going to execution we may consider many pointes The first that he is brought out of Hierusalem as a malefactour For the olde and ancient custome of the Ievves was to put those whome they iudged to be notorious offenders to death without â—heir tentes when they wandred in the wildernesse and without the walles of Hierusalem lest they should any way be defiled with their blood And this fell out by the speciall providence of God that that might be fulfilled in Christ which was prefigured in the sacrifices of the old testament when the bodies of beasts were not eaten of the priests but burnt without the campe therfore saith the H. ghost even Iesus that he might sanctifie the people with his owne blood suffered without the gates Hence may all Christians learne to know their owne estate and condition first in this world they must looke to be accounted the offscouring of the earth and the filth of the worlde as the Apostle saith and vvee must all prepare our selues to beare this estate They that vvill be Gods children must not looke to be better accepted of in the vvorld then Christ vvas Secondly by this every one of us must learne to be content to use this vvorld as straungers pilgrimes being every day and houre readie to leave the same for if Christ the sonne of God himselfe vvas brought out of Ierusalem as not beeing vvorthy to haue his abode there then must euery Christian man looke much more for the like extremitie And therefore it is not good for us to haue our hearts tyed to the vvorlde to seeke alvvaies to be approoued of the same for that argueth that vve are not like to Christ but vve must rather do as poore pilgrimes in strange cuntries that is only to look for safe conduct through the miseries in this vvorlde hauing in the meane season our hearts vvills affections set on the kingdome vvhich is in heauen The second thing is that Christ vvas made to beare his ovvne crosse for so it seemes the maner of the Romanes was to deale vvith malefactours And this must put vs in mind of that notable lesson vvhich Chtist himselfe taught his disciples namely that if any man vvill be his disciple he must denie himselfe take up his ovvne crosse daily and follow him where by the crosse we must vnderstand that portion of affliction which God hath alotted to euery one of his children for there is no child of God to whome hee hath not measured out as it were some bitter cup of misery in this life And therfore Paul saith Now reioyce I in my suffering for you fulfill the rest of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh By Christes sufferings he meaneth not the passion of Christ but the sufferings of the bodie of Christ that is the Church whereof Christ is the head Moreouer wee must suffer as he did that daily because as one day followeth another so one crosse comes in the necke of another And whereas Christ beares the crosse that was laide on him by the hands of the soldiers it must teach us not to pull crosses upon ouâ— selues but waite till God lay them on vs and then we must willingly bend our shoulders stoope downe and take them up whether they be in body or in soule and that every day if it
he came to Iesus by night Many men build upon this example that it is lawfull to be present at the Masse so be it in the mean seasoÌ„ we keepe our heartes to God and indeede such men are like Nichodemus in that they labour to burie Christ as much as they caÌ„ though now after his resurrectioÌ„ he should not be buried againe But though Nichodemus durst not openly at the first professe the name of Christ yet after his death vvhen there is most daunger hee doeth and by this meanes reformeth his former doing Thus much of the persons that buried Christ The third thing to be obserued is the maner of Christs buriall which standeth in these 4. points First they take downe his body from the crosse secondly they winde it thirdly they lay it in a tombe fourthly the tombe is made sure Of these in order First Ioseph taketh downe the body of Christ from the crosse whereon hee was executed but marke in what maner he doth it not on his owne head without leaue but he goeth to Pilate and beggeth the body of Christ asketh leaue to take it downe because the disposing of dead bodies was in Pilates hand hee being deputie at that time wherby we learn that in all our dealings actioÌ„s though they haue neuer so good an ende our dutie is to proceede as peaceably with all men as may be as S. Iames saith The wisdom that is from aboue is first pure then peaceable geÌ„tle c. Againe this â—eacheth us that in all things which concerne the authoritie of the Magistrate and belong unto him by the rule of Gods worde wee must attempt or doe whatsoeuer we doe by leaue And here we may see of what courses they take that beeing priuate men in this our Church will notwithstanding take upon them to plante Churches without the leaue of the Magistrate being a christian prince Hauing thus taken the body of Christ downe they go on to wind it And Ioseph for his part brought linnen clothes and Nichodemus a mixture of myrâ—he aloes to the quantitie of an hundred poundes for the honourable buriall of Christ. His winding was on this manner they wrapped his bodie hastily in linnen clothes sweete odours put thereto Besides all this in the Iewes burials there was embalming washing of the body but Christs body was not embalmed or washed because they had no time to do it for the preparatioÌ„ to the passeouer drew nere And wheras these 2. meÌ„ burie Christ at their own cost charges we are taught to be like affected to the liuing meÌ„bers of Christ when they want we must relieue comfort them liberally and freely It may here be demanded whether men may not be at cost in making funerals considering euen Christ himselfe is with much cost buried Ans. The bodies of all deade men are to be buried in seemely honest maner if they be honorable they may be buried honorably yet now ther is no cause why mens bodies should be washed annointed embalmed as the vse was amoÌ„g the Iewes for they used embalming as a pledge signe of the resurrectioÌ„ but now since Christs comming we haue a more certen pledge therof euen the resurrection of Christ himself therfore there is no cause why we should use embaulming and washing as the Iewes did And the clause which is specified in Saint Matthew is not to be omitted that Ioseph wrapped Christs body in a cleane linnen cloth whereby we learne that howsoeuer the strange fashions fetched from Spaine and Italy are moÌ„strous to be abhoâ—red yet seing the body of a maÌ„ is the creature of God therefore it must be arayed in cleanly maner in holy comelines Paul requires that the minister of the Gospell in all things be seemely or comely herein he ought to be a patterne of sobriety unto all men Thirdly after they haue wouÌ„d the body of Christ they lay it in a toÌ„b lastly they make it sure closing it up with a stone rolled ouer the mouth of it Also the Iewes request Pilat to seale it that none might presume to open it besides they set a band of soldiers to watch the tomb to keepe it that his bodie be not stolleÌ„ away Many reasons might be alledged of this their dealing but principally it came to passe by the providence of God that hereby he might confirme the resurrection of Christ. For whereas the Iewes would neither be mooued by his doctrine nor by his workes miracles to beleeue he causeth this to be done that by the certenty of his resurrection hee might conuince them of hardnesse of heart and prooue that he was the sonne of God Thus much of the maner of his buriall Now followes the place where Christ was buried In the place we are to mark 3. things I. that Christ was laid in Iosephs tomb wherby we may gather the greatnes of Christs pouertie in that he had not so much grouÌ„d as to make himself a graue in this must be a comfort to the members of Christ that are in pouertie And it teacheth them if they haue no more but foode and raiment to be there with content knowing that Christ their head and king hath coÌ„secrated this very estate unto them Secondly the tombe wherein Christ was laide was a newe tomb wherein neuer any man lay before And it was the speciall appointment of Gods prouidence that it should be so because if any man had bene buried there aforetime the malitious Iewes would haue pleaded that it was not Christ that rose againe but some other Thirdly we must obserue that this tombe was in a garden as the fall of man was in a garden as the apprehension of Christ in a gardeÌ„ beyond the brooke Cedron And here we must note the practise of a good man This garden vvas the place of Iosephs delight holy recreation wherin he used to solace himselfe in beholding the good creatures of God yet in the same place doth he make his owne graue long before he dyed whereby it appeares that his recreation was ioyned with a meditatioÌ„ of his end and his example must be followed of us True it is God hath giuen us his creatures not only for necessity but also for our lawfull delight but yet our duty is to mingle therewith serious meditation and consideration of our last end It is a brutish part to vse the blessings and creatures of God and not at all to be bettered in regard of our last end by a further vse thereof The time when Christ was buried vvas the euening wherein the Sabbath vvas to begin according to the maner of the Iewes which beganne their daies at sunne-setting from euening to euening according to that in Genesis the evening and the morning was the first day Now Ioseph commeth a litle before euening beggeth the body of Christ and burieth it where note that howsoeuer vve are not bound
by God and therfore sufficiently convicted what neede the iudge himselfe come to the place of executiō to conuict him And it is flat against the text For the preaching that is spoken of here is that which is performed by men in the ministerie of the word as Peter expounds himselfe 1. Pet. 4.6 To this purpose was the Gospell also preached vnto the deade that they might be condemned according to men in the flesh that they might liue according to God in the spirit Lastly there is no reason why Christ should rather preach and shew himselfe in hell to them that were disobedient in the daies of Noe then to the rest of the damned And this is the first exposition the second follows He descended into hell that is Christ descended into the graue or was buried This exposition is agreeable to the truth yet is it not mee◠or conuenient For the clause next before he was buried cōtained this point therfore if the next words following yeelde the same sense there must be a vaine and needelesse repetition of one and the same thing twise which is not in any-wise to be allowed in so short a Creede as this If it be said that these wordes are an exposition of the former the answeare is that then they should be more plaine then the former For when one sentence expoundeth an other the latter must alwaies be the plainer but of these two sentences He was buried he descended into hell the first is very plaine and easie but the latter very obscure and hard and therefore it can be no exposition thereof and therefore this exposition also is not to be receiued Thirdly others there be which expound it thus He descended into hell that is Christ Iesus when he was dying vpon the crosse felt and suffered the pangs of hell and the full wrath of God seazing vpon his soule This exposition hath his warrant in Gods worde where hell often signifieth the sorrowes and paines of hell as Hanna in her song vnto the Lord saith The Lorde killeth and maketh aliue he bringeth downe to hell and raiseth vp that is he maketh men feele woe and miserie in their soules euen the pangs of hell and after restoreth them And Dauid saith The sorrowes of death compassed me and the terrours of hell laide holde on mee This is an vsuall exposition receiued of the Church and they which expounde this article thus giues this reason thereof The former wordes was crucified deade and buried doe containe say they the outward sufferings of Christ nowe because he suffered not onely outwardly in bodie but also inwardly in soule therefore these words he descended into hell doe set forth vnto vs his inwarde sufferings in soule when he felt vpon the crosse the ful wrath of God vpō him This exposition is good and true and whosoeuer will may receiue it But yet neuerthelesse it seemes not so fitly to agree with the order of the former articles For these words was crucified dead and buried must not be vnderstood of any ordinarie death but of a cursed death in which Christ suffered the full wrath of God euen the pangs of hell both in soule and bodie seeing then this exposition is contained in the former words it cannot fitly stand with the order of this short Creede vnlesse there should be a distinct article of things repeated before But let vs come to the fourth exposition He descended into hell that is when he was dead and buried he was held captiue in the graue and lay in bondage vnder death for the space of three daies This exposition also may be gathered forth of the Scriptures Saint Peter saith God hath raised him vp speaking of Christ and loosed the sorows of death because it was vnpossible that he should be holden of it Where we may see that betweene the death and resurrection of Christ there is placed a third matter which is not mentioned in any clause of the Apostles Creede saue in this and that is his bondage vnder death which commeth in betweene his death and rising againe And the words themselues doe most fitly beare this sence as the speach of Iacob sheweth I will goe downe into hell vnto my sonne mourning And this exposition doth also best agree with the order of the Creed first he was crucified died secōdly he was buried thirdly laid in the graue and was therein held in captiuitie and bondage vnder death And these three degrees of Christs humiliation are most fitly correspondent to the three degrees of his exaltation The first degree of his exhaltation he rose againe the third day answearing to the first degree of his humiliatiō he died the second degree of his exhaltatiō he ascended into heauen answering to his going downe into the graue was buried and thirdly his sitting at the right hand of God which is the highest degree of his exhaltation answearing to the lowest degree of his humiliation he descended into hell These two last expositions are commonly receiued and we may indifferently make choice of either but the last as I take it is most agreeable to the order and words of the Creede Thus much for the meaning of the words Now follow the vses And first of all Christs descending into hell teacheth euery one of vs that professe the name of Christ that if it shall please God to afflict vs either in bodie or in minde or in both though it be in most grieuous and tedious manner yet must we not thinke it strange For Christ vpon the crosse not onely suffered the pangs of hell but after he was dead death takes him and as it were carries him into his denne or cabbin and there triumpheth ouer him holding him in captiuitie and bondage and yet for all this was he the sonne of God and therefore when Gods hande is heauie vpon vs any way we are not to despaire but rather thinke it is the good pleasure of God to frame and fashion vs that we may become like vnto Christ Iesus as good children of God Dauid a man after Gods owne heart was by Samuel annointed king ouer Israel but withall God raised vp Saul to persecute him as the fowler hunteth the partridge in the mountaine in so much that Dauid said there was but one step betweene him death So likewise Iob a iust man and one that feared God with all his heart yet how heauily did God lay his hand vpon him his goods and cattell were all taken away and his owne children slaine and his owne bodie striken by satan with loathsome biles from the sole of his foote vnto the crowne of his head so as he was faine to take a potsheard and scrape himselfe sitting amōg the ashes And Ionah the seruant and Prophet of the most high God when he was called to preach to Ninivie because he refused for feare of that great citie God mette with him and he must be cast into the sea and there be swallowed vp
considering that euery bodie occupies a place and two bodies at the same instaÌ„t caÌ„not be in one proper place Furthermore it is said that when the angel sate on the stone his countenance was like lightening and his rayment as white as snow this serued to shew what was the glory of Christ himselfe For if the seruant and minister be so glorious then endlesse is the glorie of the lord and master himselfe Lastly it is said that for feare of the angel the watchmen were astonied and became as dead men which teacheth vs that what God would haue come to passe all the world can neuer hinder For though the Iewes had closed vp the graue with a stone and set a band of souldiours to watch least Christ should by any meanes be taken away yet all this auaileth nothing by an angel from heauen the seale is broken the stone is remooued and the watchmen at their wittes ends And this came to passe by the prouidence of God that after the watchmen had testified these things to the Iewes they might at length be conuicted that Christ whome they crucified was the Messias The fifth last point is that Christ rose not alone but accompanied with others as S. Matthew saith that the graues opened and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose and came out of the graues and went into the holy citie and appeared vnto many after Christs resurrection And this came to passe that the Church of God might know consider that there is a reuiuing and quickening vertue in the resurrection of Christ wherby he is able not only to raise our dead bodies vnto life but also when wee are deade in sinne to raise vs vp to newnes of life And in this very point stands a maine difference between the resurrection of Christ the resurrection of any other man For the resurrection of Peter nothing auailes to the raising of Dauid or Paul but Christs resurrection auailes for all that haue beleeued in him by the very same power whereby he raised himselfe he raiseth all his members therefore he is called a quickening spirit And let vs marke the order obserued in rising First Christ riseth then the saints after him And this came to passe to verifie the Scripture which saith that Christ is the first borne of the dead Now he is the first borne of the dead in that hee hath this dignitie priuiledge to rise to eternal life the first of all men It is true indeede that Lazarus sundrie others in time rose before Christ but yet they rose to liue a mortall life and to die againe Christ he is the first of all that rose to life euerlasting and to glorie neuer any rose before Christ in this maner And the persoÌ„s that rose before with Christ are to be noted they were the Saints of God not wicked men whereby we are put in minde that the elect children of God onely are partakers of Christs resurrection Indeede both good and bad rise againe but there is a great difference in their rising for the godly rise by the vertue of Christs resurrection and that to eternall glorie but the vngodly rise by the vertue of Christ not as he is a redeemer but as he is a terrible iudge and is to execute iustice on them And they rise againe for this ende that besides the first death of the bodie they might suffer the second death which is the powring forth of the wrath of God vpon bodie and soule eternally This difference is prooued vnto vs by that which Paul saith Christ is the first fruits of them that sleep Among the Iewes such as had corne fields gathered some little quantitie therof before they reaped the rest offred the same vnto God signifying therby that they acknowledged him to be the author and giuer of all increase this offering was also an assurance vnto the owner of the blessing of God vpoÌ„ the rest this being but one handful did saÌ„ctify the whol crop Now Christ to the dead is as the first fruits to the rest of the corne because his resurrection is a pledge an assurance of the resurrection of all the faithfulll When a man is cast into the sea and all his bodie is vnder the water there is nothing to be looked for but present death but if he carrie his heade aboue the water there is good hope of a recouery Christ himself is risen as a pledge that all the iust shall rise againe he is the heade vnto his Church therfore all his members must needes followe in there time It may be demaÌ„ded what became of the Saints that rose againe after Christs resurrection Ans. Some think they died againe but seeing they rose for this ende to manifest the quickning vertue of Christs resurrection it is as like that they were also glorified with Christ and ascended with him to heauen Thus much of the manner of Christs resurrection Now follows the time when he rose againe and that is specified in the Creede The third day he rose againe Thus saith our Sauiour Christ vnto the Pharisies As Ionas was three daies and three nights in the whales bellâ—e so shall the sonne of man be three daies and three nights in the heart of the earth And though Christ was but one day and two pieces of two daies in the graue for he was buried in the euening before the sabbath and rose in the morning the next day after the sabbath yet is this sufficient to verifie this saying of Christ. For if the analogie had stoode in three whole daies then Christ should haue risen the fourth day And it was the pleasure of God that he should lie thus long in the graue that it might be knowne that he was thoroughly dead and he continued no longer that he might not in his bodie see corruption Againe it is said Christ rose againe in the ende of the sabbath when the first day of the weeke beganne to dawne And this very time must be considered as the reall beginning of the new spirituall world in which we are made the sonnes of God And as in the first day of the first world light was commaunded to shinâ— out of darknes vpon the deepes so in the first day of this new world the sonne of righteousnes riseth and giues light to them that sit in darknes dispells the darknes that was vnder the old testameÌ„t And here let vs mark the reason why the sabbath day was changed For the first day of the weeke which was the day following the Iewes sabbath is our sabbath day which day we keepe holy in memorie of the glorious resurrection of Christ and therefore it is called the Lords day And it may not vnfitly be tearmed Sunday though the name came first from the heathen because on this day the blessed sonne of righteousnâ—s rose from death to life Let vs now in the next place proceede to
beleeueth in Christ by reason of this union hath an unspeakeable prerogatiue for hereby he is first united to Christ and by reason thereof is also ioyned to the whole trinitie the father the sonne and the holy ghost and shall haue eternall fellowshippe with them Thirdly sundrie men specially Papistes deride the doctrine of iustification by imputed righteousnesse thinking it as absurd that a maÌ„ should be iust by that righteousnesse which is inherent in the person of Christ as if we should say that one man may liue by the soule of another or be learned by the learning of another But here we may see that it hath sufficient foundation For there is a most nere and straite union betweene Christ and all that beleeue in him and in this union Christ with all his benefites according to the tenour of the couenant of grace is made ours really therefore we may stand iust before God by his righteousnes it being indeed his because it is in him as in a subiect yet so as it is also ours because it is giuen unto us of God Now there is no such union betwene man maÌ„ for that cause one man can not liue by the soule of another or be learned by the learning of another Fourthly from this fountaine springs our sanctification whereby wee die to sinne are renewed in righteousnes and holines Wormes and flies that haue lyen dead all winter if they be laid in the sunne in the spring time begin to reuiue by vertue thereof euen so when we are united to Christ are as it were laide in the beames of thiâ— blessed sonne of righteousnesse vertue is deriued thence which warmeth our benummed heartes deade in sinne and reviveth us to newenesse of life whereby we begin to affect and like good things and put in practise all the duties of religion Firstly hence we haue the protection of Gods angels for they alwaies wait and attend on Christ and because wee are made one with him they attend upon us also Lastly by reason of this union with Christ euery beleeuer commeth to haue interest and to recouer his title in the creatures of God and to haue the holy and lawfull use of them all For we must consider that although Adam created in the image of God was made Lord over all things in heauen earth yet when he fell by eaâ—ing the forbidden fruite he and in him all mankinde lost the title and use of them all Now therefore that a man may recover his interest hee must first of all be united and made one with Christ and then by Christ who is Lord and King ouer all shall he recouer that title in the creatures of God which hee had by creation and be made Lorde ouer them againe But some will say if this be so then a Christian man may haue and enioy all creatures at his pleasure and therefore the goods of other men Ans. The reason is not good for in this life we haue no more but right unto the creature right in it that is actuall possession is reserued for the life to come Therefore wee content our selues with our allowed portions giuen unto us by God by his grace using them in holy manner expecting by hope the full fruition of all thinges till after this life Againe if all title to the creatures be recouered by Christ it may be demanded whether infidels haue any interest to their goods or no Ans. Infidels before men are right lordes of all their landes and possessions which they haue obtained by lawfull meanes and in the courtes of men they are not to be depriued of them but before God they are but vsurpers because they hold them not in capite that is in Christ neither haue they any holy and right use of them for to the uncleane all things are vncleane And they must first of all become members of Christ before they can hold enioy them aright use them wel The duties which are to be learned of the doctrine of this vnion are manifolde And first of all wee are taught to purge our handes and heartes of all our sinnes and especially to auoide all those sinnes whereby mens bodies are defiled as drunkennesse uncleannesse fornication for they driue away the spirit of God from his owne house and dissolue the bond of the coniunction betweene Christ and vs. Secondly we must euery one of us which professe our selues to be members of Christ labour to become conformable unto him in holinesse of life and to become new creatures for this union requireth thus much Let a man take the griftes of a crabbe-tree and set them into good stockes yet will they not chaunge their sappe but bring foorth fruite according to their owne nature euen sowre crabbes but it must not be so with us wee are indeed wild oliues and the braunches of wilde vines yet seeing we are perswaded that wee are grafted into Christ and made one with him we must lay aside our wild and soure nature and take upon us the nature of the true vine beare good fruite haue good iuyce in us and render sweete wine Thirdly wee are taught hence to be plentifull in all good workes consideriag wee are ioyned to him that is the fountaine of grace And therefore Christ saieth I am the true vine and my Father is the husbande man every braunch that beareth not fruite in mee hee taketh avvay and everie one that beareth fruite hee purgeth it that it may beare more fruite And the Prophet Esai compares the Church of God to a vineyarde with a tower and a wine-presse in it And God himselfe comes often downe vnto it to see the fruites of the valley to see if the vine budde and the Pomegranates flourish And further wee must bring forth fruite vvith patience For the Lorde of this vineyarde comes with crosses and afflictions as with a pruning knife in his hand to pare and to dresse us that wee may be fit to bring foorth fruite plentifully in duties of pietie to God and in duties of loue to all men yea to our enemies Crhistian men are trees of righteousnes growing by the waters of the sanctuary but what trees not like ours for they are rooted upwarde in heauen in Christ and their graines and branches growe downward that they may beare fruite among men Hitherto we haue heard what the Church is now to beleeue the Church is nothing else but to beleeue that there is a companie of the predestinate made one in Christ and that withall we are in the number of them Before wee proceede any further three rules must be obserued touching the Church in generall The first that Christ alone is the head of the Catholike Church that hee neither hath nor can haue any creature in heauen or earth to be his fellow herein For the Church is his body and none but he can perfourme the duty of an head unto it which dutie
penned by the Prophets and Apostles the answear is that they doe it with adding to the Canon and by corrupting the natiue sense of the Scriptures in the very foundation and therefore they are but as a lanthorne that shews light to others and none to it selfe Fourthly it is further said that they hold the Creede of the Apostles and make the same confession of faith that we doe I answeare that in shew of wordes they doe so indeede but by necessarie consequents in the rest of their doctrine they ouerturne one of the natures and all the offices of Christ and therewithall most of the articles of the Creede And herein they deale as a father that in outward shew tenders the bodie of his child and will not abide the least blemish vpon it and yet by secret conveiances inwardly annoies the heart the braine or the liuer and so in truth destroies the same Fifthly it is alledged that Antichrist must sit in the Temple of God that is the Church therefore say some that desire an vnion between vs and the Papists popish assemblies are true Churches but the argument is not good For it is one thing to be in the Church an other thing to be of it And Antichrist is said to sit in the Church not as a member thereof but as an vsurper or as the pyrate in the ship of the marchant heÌ„ce it cannot be prooued that assemblies of Papists are Churches but that in them and with them there is mingled an other hidden Church in the midst whereof Antichrist the Pope ruleth though himselfe hath no part therein Lastly whereas some being no Papists think their Churches to be like a bodie diseased and full of soares and wounds froÌ„ the head to the foot the throat also cut yet so as life is still remaining we may better thinke their foule errours considered their worship of God which is nothing els but a mixture of Iudaisme and Paganisme that it is a rotten and dead corps void of spirituall life And therefore we haue seuered our selues from the Church of Rome vpon iust cause neither are we schismaticks in so doing but they rather because the grouÌ„d the proper cause of the schisme is in theÌ„ As for the Assemblies of Anabaptists Libertines Antinomies Tritâ—eits Arrians Samosaâ—eniaÌ„s they are no churches of God but conspiracies of monstrous heretikes iudicially condemned in the primitiue Church and againe by the malice of Satan renewed and revived in this age The same we are to thinke and say of the Familie of loue As for the Churches of Germanie commonly called the Churches of the Lutheranes they are to be reputed of vs as the true Churches of God Though their Augustane Confession haue not satisfied the expectation of other Reformed Churches yet haue they all the same enemies in matter of religion and doe alike confesse the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost and of the office of the Mediatour of faith and good works of the Word the Church and the Magistrate are all of one iudgement They differ indeede from vs in the question of the Sacrament but it is no sufficient cause to induce vs to hold theÌ„ as no Church for that there is a true or reall receiuing of the bodie and blood of Christ in the Lordes supper wee all agree and wee ioyntly confesse that Christ is there present so farre forth that hee doth truly feede vs with his very bodie and blood to eternall life and all the controuersie lies in the manner of receiuing we contenting our selues with that spirituall receiuing which is by the hande of faith they adding therto the corporall whereby they imagine themselues to receiue Christ with the hand and mouth of the bodie And though to maintaine this their opinion they be constrained to turne the ascension of Christ into a dispaâ—ition whereby his bodie being visible becomes invisible yet in the maine points we agree that Christ ascended into heauen that he entred into his kingdome in our name and for vs that we are gouerned and preserued by his power and might and that whatsoeuer good thing we haue or doe proceeds wholly from the grace of his spirit Indeede the opinion of the Vbiquitie of the bodie of Christ reviveth the condemned heresies of Eutiches and Nestorius and it ouerturneth by necessarie consequent most of the articles of faith but that was priuate to some men as Brentius and others and was not receiued of whole Churches and whereas the men were godly and learned and we are vncerten with what affection and how long they held this errour we rest our selues in condemning it leauing the persons to God Againe Popish Transubstantiation and Lutherian Consubstantiation are both against the truth of the manhoode of Christ yet with great difference Transubstantiation is flat against an article of faith for if Christs bodie be made of bread and his blood of wine which must needes be if there be a conuersion of the one into the other then was not he conceiued and borne of the Virgin Marie for it can not both be made of bakers breade and of the substance of the Virgin Againe it abolisheth the outwarde signe in the Lordes supper and the analogie betweene the signe and the thing signified but Consubstantiation doth not so neither doeth it ouerturne the substance of any article of Religion but onely a maine point in Philosophie which is that A body doth occupy only one place at once Furthermore the Churches of Heluetia Savoie the free cities of France the low Countries Scotland are to be reuereÌ„ced as the true churches of God as their ConfessioÌ„s make manifest And no lesse must we thinke of our owne Churches in England and Ireland For we hold beleeue and maintaine and preach the true faith that is the auncient doctrine of saluation by Christ taught and published by the Prophets and Apostles as the Booke of the articles of faith agreed vpon in open Parliament doe fully shewe withal now we are and haue bin ready to testifie this our faith by venturing our liues euen in the cause of religion against forraigne power and especially the Spainard and hereupon all the Churches in Europe giue vnto vs the hand of fellowship And whereas sundrie among vs that separate and indeed excommunicate themselues giue out that there is no Church in England no Ministers no Sacraments their peremptorie asseuerations wanting sufficient grounde are but as paper-shot They alleadge that our assemblies are full of grieuous blottes and enormities Ansvv. The defects and corruptions of Churches must be distinguished and they be either in doctrine or manners Againe corruptions in doctrine must be further distinguished some of them are errours indeed but beside the foundation some errors directly against the foundation and these ouerturne all religion wheras the former do not Now it can not be shewed that in our Churches is taught any one errour that raceth the foundation and consequently annihillateth the