Iewes hallowed their Sabbath vpon the seuenth day which is the last day of the week So that Easter day is the Sabbath of Sabbaths an high and holy day from which euery other Sunday hath his name being so called because the sun of righteousnesse arose from the dead vpon this day This day is the Lords day the day which himselfe made so good a day that all his true seruants euer since haue reioyced in it and sanctified their Sabbath on it u Eoban Hessus Haec est illa Dies toti celebrabilis orbi Quem facit proprio signat honore Deus The reasons why we should this day reioyce so much are manifold but they may be reduced all vnto two principall heads A motion from euill Promotion in good Christ on this day rising from the dead ouercame the diuell which is the authour of death and the graue which is the prison of death and sinne which is the x Cor. 15.56 sting of death and the Law which is the strength of the sting of death and all this he did for vs men and our saluation The diuell which is the Prince of y Ephes 6.12 darknesse had no part in the sunne of righteousnesse Christ therefore being z Luke 11.22 stronger then he came vpon him and ouercame him he tooke from him all his armour wherein he trusted and diuided his spoyles and cast him out of his hold that he might haue no part in vs or power ouer vs. As a Ser. de quadruplici debito Bernard sweetly Fortitudo Diaboli per redemptoris vulnera traducta deducta ad nihilum in the words of Saint Paul The God of peace shall tread downe Sathan vnder your feet Rom. 16.20 So he who was aboue the Law was made b Gal. 4.4 vnder the Law that he might redeeme those which are vnder the Law that hee might put out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against vs and fasten it vpon his Crosse Coloss 2.14 So hee who knew no sinne made himselfe to be sinne for vs that we should be made the righteousnesse of God in him 2. Cor. 5.21 He was wounded 〈◊〉 our transgressions and broken for our iniquities Esa 53.5 If the tormentours of Christ should aske now as they did once Luk. 22.64 Who is he that smote thee we may quickly become Prophets and answere for him our sinnes smote him euery one of vs might ingeniously confesse with c Ionas 1.12 Ionas for my sake this great tempest is vpon thee sweet Iesus He triumphed ouer hell and the graue for vs also for as for himselfe it was impossible that the Lord of d Acts 3.15 life should be holden of death Acts 2.24 Wherefore let vs say with Saint e 1. Cor. 15.55 Paul O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory the sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the Law but thankes bee to God which hath giuen vs victory through our Lord Iesus Christ And let vs heartily sing with our Prophet Easter is the day which the Lord hath made wee will be ioyfull and glad in it f Bonauēt in loc Some Diuines affirme that the yeere wherein our blessed Sauiour arose from the dead should according to the Law haue been the yeere of Iubile wherein g Leuit. 25.10 liberty was proclaimed in the Land to all the inhabitants thereof euery man returned to his possession and family debts were released and oppressions abated And surely the Iubilees in old time were h Dr. Incognit figures of the ioyes in this acceptable time for by the resurrection of Christ euery true beleeuer is set free from the hands of all his enemies his trespasses are forgiuen and he is restored againe to his interest in that heauenly possession and immortall inheritance which he lost in the transgression of his great grandfather Adam The redemption of Christ is a yeere of Iubile the resurrection of Christ is the chiefe day in the yeere Let vs therefore reioyce for it and be glad in it Dauid saith i Psal 41.11 elsewhere By this O Lord I know thou fauourest me that mine enemy doth not triumph against me k 2. Sam. 22.41 Thou hast giuen vnto me the necks of my foes that I might break them as smal as the dust of the earth and tread them flat as the clay in the street That which hee speaketh of his temporall enemies opposing him in obtaining of an earthly kingdome we may well apply to the spirituall hindering vs in our way to the kingdome of heauen O Lord our strength and redeemer thou hast on this day l Gen. 3.15 broken the serpents head and vtterly confounded all such as hate vs. On this day thou diddest laugh them to scorne and haue them in derision Psalm 2.4 and therefore we will in memoriall of this one day sing thy mercies all the dayes of our life sounding foorth vnto the worlds end This is the day this is thy day which thou Lord hast made wee will reioyce and be glad in it Concerning our promotion in good the resurrection of Christ is a proofe of our iustification a meanes of our sanctification a demonstration of our resurrection First it proueth our iustification according to that of Paul Rom. 4.25 He was giuen to death for our sinnes and is risen againe from the dead for our iustification See the Gospell on S. Thomas day Secondly the resurrection of Christ is a notable meanes to worke inward sanctification as Saint Peter teacheth in 1. Epistle 1. Chap. 3. Verse God hath begotten vs againe vnto a liuely hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead And Saint m Rom. 6.4.5 Paul As Christ was raised vp from the dead by the glory of his Father so we should also walke in newnesse of life For if we be grafted with him to the similitude of his death euen so shall we be to the similitude of his resurrection Which words import n Aquin. Aretius Marlorat that as the graft groweth in the stocke and is become one body with it euen so the faithfull haue their liuing and spirituall being in Christ As he by the power of his owne Godhead freed his manhood from death and from the guilt of our sin so doth he likewise free those that are knit vnto him by the bond of one spirit from the corruption of their natures in which they are dead that they may liue vnto God o Raymund de Sabunde Theolog natural tit 277. In the naturall body the head is the fountaine of all motion and sense for the hands and the feet moue by that power which is by sundry nerues deriued from the head and dispersed among the members And so it is in Christs mystical body the Church hee is the head and fountaine of life spirituall and p Perkins exposit Creed art Christ resur that very power of his Godhead whereby he raised vp himselfe when
i Knolles vbi sup fol. 203. Gilderun or lightening k Abraham Bucholcer Iud. Chron. Willegis Archbishop of Mentz was the sonne of a Wheele-wright and therefore that he might alway remember how the Lord had exalted him out of the durt to set him with Princes he caused the walles of his priuie Chamber to be hung with instruments of Carpentry to which hee ioyned this Motto Willegis Willegis recole vnde veneris and from hence the Bishoppes of that Sea giue two wheeles in their armes In England also many Prelates haue been lifted out of the mire to the Miter it is the Lords doing that hath his dwelling on high and yet humbleth himselfe to behold the things in heauen and earth Renowned Sir l Camden in Elizabetha pag. 301 Francis Drake the sonne of a poore Vicar in Kent was in our age both a terror to proude Spaine and the mirrour of England in the most vnknowne and vttermost parts of the world The Scriptures affoord manifolde examples in this kinde Moses a m Exod. 2. cast-away childe was afterward a leader and a god as it were to the children of Israell Exodus 4. So Daniel of a poore Captiue Dan. 1.6 became a chiefe ruler Dan. 2.48 So n Psalm 105.17 Ioseph solde for a bond-seruant whose feete were hurt in the stockes and the iron entred into his soule was afterward Gods high and holy prouidence so disposing set free by Pharao the King he made him also Lord of his house and ruler of all his substance that hee might informe his Princes after his will and teach his Senatours wisdome So the Lord o Psalm 78.71 chose Dauid his seruant and tooke him away from the sheepefold as he was following the Ewes great with young-ones that he might feede Iacob his people and Israel his inheritance the Lord did not onely lift him out of the mire but also preferre him he set him with Princes and p Genebrard those not Princes of other nations as Ioseph was exalted in Aegypt and Daniel in Babell but euen with the Princes of his owne people to wit of his owne countrey where men of eminent parts are most q Iohn 4.44 neglected r Mollerus Or his may be referred vnto God as if the Prophet should haue said hee taketh vp the poore man out of the mire that he may set him in authoritie not among the heathen onely but ouer the Church his owne people the which is the greatest honour of all according to that of Dauid ſ Psal 84 11. I would choose rather to sit at the threshold in the house of my God then to dwell in the tents of vngodlinesse and the good Emperour Theodosius to the fame purpose desired rather to bee membrum ecclesiae quà m caput imperij that is a member of the Church then head ouer all vnbeleeuers Now Dauid was aduanced according to both interpretations in that hee ruled his owne people who were Gods people so the text 2. Sam. 12. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel I annointed thee King ouer Israel and deliuered thee out of the hand of Saul and gaue thee thy Lords house and thy Lords wiues into thy bosome and gaue thee the house of Israel and Iuda c. As God in his holy prouidence taketh vp some poore men out of the mire to set them with Princes euen with Princes of his people so many times he puts downe the mightie from their seate and brings them vnto the very dung-hill t Psal 75.8 hee ruleth as a Iudge he puts downe one and sets vp another Examples hereof in holy Scripture u Ester 3.1 Haman a man exalted aboue all the Princes in Assuerus court was vpon the sudden hanged on the tree that he had prepared for his enemie Ester 7.10 Nabuchadnezzer a proude king was driuen from mens societie to conuerse with beasts x Dan. 4.30 Hee did eate grasse as the Oxen and his bodie was wet with the dew of Heauen till his haires were growne as Eagles feathers and his nailes like birds clawes and all for this end that hee might knowe that the most high ruleth ouer the kingdome of men and giueth it vnto whom soeuer he will y Acts 12.12 Herod in the middest of his glorie when the people hearing his oration in the seate of Iustice gaue a shoute saying The voyce of God and not of man was immediatly smitten by the Lords Angell so that hee was eaten vp of wormes and gaue vp the ghost In prophane historie wee finde that z See Sir Walter Raulegh preface to the worlds hist Darius plaied the part of the greatest Emperour and the part of a most miserable begger a begger begging water of an enemie to quench the great drought of death a Knolles in his life Baiazet the first in the morning was the grand Seignior of the Turkes and in the same day the footestoole of Tamberlaine b Procopius de bello Goth. lib. 1 3. idem Simon Schardius in vita Petri de vineis epist eiusdem praefix vbi multa huiusmodi reperias Bellisarius a most victorious captaine by whose valour and policie the Persians were vanquished the Vandals subdued and Africa recouered to the Empire became before his death a distressed blinde begger in exile begging his bread from dore to dore crauing and crying a peny for poore Bellisarius In our owne Chronicles wee reade that c Holinshead in the life of Rich. the 2. Trisilian chiefe Iustice of England in the dayes of King Richard the second was pulled from the bench aboue to the barre below nay hee which had often iudged other to death in fine was damned himselfe to the gallowes d Holinshead in the life of Edw. the 5. Shores wife the merrie minion of Edward the fourth in her flourishing estate was sued vnto more then all the Peeres in the land but afterward so despoyled of all her goods and so despited by her mercilesse foe then vsurper of the Crowne that none durst giue her so much as a crust of bread or a drop of drinke She who whileom had stretched her selfe on beds of downe and was frolike with Princes in iuorie pallaces ended her dayes in open streete euen in a dirtie ditch nomina fecit aquis as some thinke Shorditch is so called as it were Shores-ditch The Seas of examples in this kinde haue no bottome and therfore we should make no other account of this ridiculous world e Sir Walter Rauleigh vbi sup thē to resolue that the change of fortune on the great theater is but as the change of garments on the lesse for when on the one and the other euery man weares but his owne skinne the players are all one God which is on high and humbleth himselfe to behold the things in heauen and in earth appoynts euery man his part and apparell on the worlds stage lifting vp and pulling downe whome he list He therefore that complaines
z Mat. 28.18 all power in heauen and earth he shall sit vpon the Throne of Dauid for euer and of his kingdome there is no end Luk. 1.33 2. Other Kings haue power onely ouer our bodies and goods but Christs authority reacheth vnto the soule Their sword is materiall able onely to kill the body but his sword is spirituall proceeding out of his a Apoc. 1.16 mouth able to destroy b Mat. 10.28 both soule and body in hell entring thorow euen vnto the diuiding asunder of the spirit and of the ioynts and the marrow a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Heb. 4.12 3. Other Kings deriue their authority from him Prouerb 8.15 By me Kings raigne by me Princes rule and stand accountable to him he standeth in the congregation of Princes and iudgeth among gods Psalm 82.1.2 But who shall say to the Lord of Lords Why doest thou so 4. Other Kings reward their fauourites and followers onely with a few titles of honour or with a few parcels of land which are holden of them in fee-farme frank-almoign Knights-seruice c. They make not their vassals heires apparant to their kingdomes but Christ our Lord maketh all his faithfull seruants no lesse then c Apoc. 1.6 Kings and d Rom. 8.17 heires of God euen heires annexed with himselfe If thy children will keepe my couenant Literally this may be construed of Dauids owne children according to the flesh e Mollerus who succeeded him in his Throne 1072. yeeres vntill the Messias borne of his posterity constituted an euerlasting kingdom without end f Caluin According to this sense the Lord saith Ezech. 21.26 I will take away the Diademe and take off the Crowne this shall be no more the same I will ouerturne ouerturne ouerturne it and it shall be no more vntill he come whose right it is and I will giue it him His promise here concerning Christ is absolute but his promise touching other of Dauids house conditionall If thy Children keepe my couenant and my testimonies that I shall learne them g 1. Chron. 28.9 If thou seeke the Lord said Dauid to his sonne Salomon he will bee found of thee but if thou forsake him hee will cast thee off for euer And therefore because Dauids posterity did not obserue his law but follow their owne inuentions hee made them as we reade in the Bibles history captiues of Captaines and gaue their kingdome to another people first vnto the bloodie Romans and now to the barbarous Turkes and so Hierusalem heretofore h Lament 1.1 great among the Nations and Princesse among the Prouinces is made tributarie shee dwelleth among the Heathen and findeth no rest among all her louers shee hath none to comfort her all her friends haue dealt vnfaithfully with her and are made her enemies Mystically the i Arnobius Cassiodorus Hugo Doctors applie this vnto the Children of Christ according to the spirit I will set vpon thy seate that is ordaine Pastors and teachers who shall sit in thy chaire k So that kind of Speech is vsed Mat. 23.2 that is preach thy word and doctrine for the l Ephes 4.11 gathering together of the Saints and edification of the Church euermore This was verified in the blessed Apostles as being made Princes in all lands Psalm 45.17 In one word m Hierome all true beleeuers in Christ are the sons of God and babes in Christ and hee hath as n Ephes 2.6 Paul speakes raised vs vp together and made vs sit together in heauenly places His Charter is faire Matth. 19.28 Verily I say vnto you that when the sonne of man shall sit in the Throne of his Maiesty ye which haue followed me in the regeneration shall also sit vpon twelue Thrones and iudge the twelue tribes of Israel And Apocal. 3.21 To him that ouercommeth will I grant to sit with mee in my Throne euen as I ouercome and sit with my Father in his Throne The o Luther in loc wicked abuse the promises of God applying them vnto themselues which onely belong to the true Church the seed of Dauid according to the spirit So the Papists abuse Christs promise for establishing of the Popes tyrannie p Matth. 16.18 the gates of hell shall not ouercome it and q Mat. 28.20 I will be with you alway till the worlds end Whence they conclude that Peters boat though it may be somtimes in danger shall neuer bee drowned and that the Pope being the Churches head cannot erre r Dr. Fulke in Matth. 16.18 Whereas these promises concerne onely that Church which is built vpon the Rocke Christ and continueth in Saint Peters faith obseruing all things our blessed Sauiour commanded as it is in our text If thy children will keepe my couenant and testimonies that I shall learne them But if the Bishop and Church of Rome dispense with Gods holy word and despise his truth and testimony teaching in stead of his infallible law ſ Mat. 15.9 precepts of men and doctrines of t 1. Tim. 4.1 diuels how shall this or any the like promise belong to them So the wicked in a reprobate sense who make their bellie their god and commit all vncleannesse euen with greedinesse abuse these sweet texts at what time soeuer a sinner c. and Come to me all ye that are wearie and laden and I will ease you c. For this promise concernes only such as are laden and feele the burthen of their iniquitie hauing both a sight and a sense thereof acknowledging that sinne is a u Euthym. in Matth. 11. labour in accomplishing and a load when it is accomplished It appertaineth onely to such as repent and that of all their sinne and that from the heart and bottome of the heart So the carnall Gospellers in comming irreuerently to the Lords Table without any deuotion or due respect to that holy Sacrament abuse the words of our blessed Sauiour This is my body For as the godly Martyr x In his last exam apud Fox fol. 1463. Iohn Bradford well obserued the clause take eate is a precept and the clause this is my body a promise the bread and wine then are not vnto any the body and blood of Christ except they first eate and take and none can take and eate but by y Confess Anglican art 28. faith A worthie receiuer therefore beggeth of God both a pardon of his faults and an encrease of his faith To conclude this point in the law the condition is do this and liue in the Gospell beleeue this and thou shalt be saued He that neglects the precept and yet will chalenge the promise deceiueth himselfe hee shall not rest on Gods holy hil and sit on his happie seat for euermore PSALM 2. Why doe the Heathen so furiously rage together c. This Ode may be diuided into 2. parts the 1. Describes the wickednesse and weaknes of such as bandie thēselues against the
deuils Empire where he holdeth vp his Scepter and ruleth as a Prince Ephes 2.2 Gods kingdome is taken in the Bible two waies especially Generally For that gouernment which is termed u See Ro. Steph. Concord in dictione regnum Bellarm. Catech. cap. 4. Regnum potentiae by which hee ruleth all men and disposeth of all things euen of the deuils themselues according to his good will and pleasure Specially For his administration of the Church and that is Twofold Regnum gratiae the kingdome of grace Regnum gloriae the kingdome of glorie Of that kingdome which is potentiae Regnum it is said by x 1. Chro. 29.11 Dauid Thine is the kingdome O Lord and thou excellest as head ouer all Of that kingdome y Dan. 4.31 Daniel speaketh His kingdome is from generation to generation and his z Dan. 6.26 dominion euerlasting Of that kingdome Christ in the conclusion of his prayer Thine is the kingdome power and glory For albeit peruerse men do mischiefe and obserue not the laws of God yet he raigneth ouer them as an absolute Lord for that when it pleaseth him hee hindereth their designments and when he permits them sometime to haue their desires hee doth afterward punish them according to their owne misdeeds and so a Psal 135.6 Whatsoeuer the Lord pleaseth he doth in heauen and in earth and in the Sea and in all deepe places By his kingdome of grace he gouernes the soules and hearts of good Christians giuing them his spirit and grace to serue him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of their life Christ is the king of this kingdome vpon whome the Father hath conferred b Mat. 28.18 all authority both in heauen and earth The subiects of this kingdome are such as c Psal 110.3 offer vnto him free-will offrings with an holy worship euer ready to giue cheerefull obedience to the rod of his power The lawes of this kingdome are the Scriptures and word of God in this respect called d Mat. 13.11 the kingdome of heauen the e Marke 1.14 Gospell and f Mat. 13.19 word of the kingdome the g Esay 11.4 rod of Christs mouth and h Rom. 1.16 power of his arme to saluation And so consequently the kingdome of grace is a preparation and entrance to the kingdome of glory which is the blessed estate of all Gods elect in that other life where God is to them all in all And in this respect the kingdome of grace many times is termed in the Gospels History the kingdome of heauen as being the way to the kingdome of glory which is in the heauen of heauens This one verse then expounds and exemplifies two prime petitions in the Lords prayer hallowed be thy name thy kingdome come for Iuda was Gods sanctuary because hallowing his name and Israel his dominion as desiring his kingdome to come Let euery man examine himselfe by this patterne whether he be truely the seruant of Iesus his Sauiour or the vassall of Sathan the destroyer If any submit himselfe willingly to the domineering of the diuell and suffer sinne to i Rom. 6.12 reigne in his mortall members obeying the lusts thereof and k Ephes 4.19 working all vncleannesse euen with greedinesse assuredly that man is yet a Chappell of Sathan and a slaue to sinne On the contrary whosoeuer vnfainedly desires that Gods kingdome may come being euer ready to bee ruled according to his holy word acknowledging it a lanthorne to his feet and a guide to his pathes admitting obediently his lawes and submitting himselfe alway to the same what is he but a Citizen of heauen a subiect of God a Saint a Sanctuary Two questions are moued here the first is what antecedent answeres the relatiue his and the second what is meant by Iuda The relatiue eius hath an antecedent l Mollerus implyed howsoeuer not expressed m Genebrard as Psalme 87.1 Fundamenta eius her foundations are vpon the holy hils And God is that antecedent as I haue partly said and it may likewise be fully shewed both out of the text and title The n Euthym. circumstances of the Text leade vs to this antecedent the Lord is the God of Iacob verse 7. Ergo the house of Iacob is Gods Sanctuary the children of Israel Gods dominion Againe the o Bellarmine Title poynts at this antecedent Alleluia praise the Lord as if the Prophet should haue said ye haue good and great cause to praise the Lord because when Israel went out of Egypt and the house of Iacob from among the strange people then Iuda was his Sanctuary c. Lastly though it should be granted that neither Title nor Text here can affoord vs an antecedent yet we need not runne with p In loc Agellius out of this Hymne to fetch one from the last words of the next going before Hee maketh the barren woman to keepe house c. Because his in this verse may be construed of God Catexochen as being hic ille the most high He who turned the hard rocke into a standing water and the flint stone into a springing Well at whose presence the mountaines skip like Rammes and the little hils like yong sheepe yea the Sea fleeth and the earth trembleth at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of Iacob By Iuda q Placidus Turrecremat Genebrard some vnderstand Iudea for r Psal 76.1 God is knowne in Iurie his name is great in Israel at Salem is his tabernacle and his dwelling in Sion Å¿ Dr. Incognitus Agellius Other haue construed this onely of the tribe of Iuda for that God in Iuda would chuse a Prince 1. Chron. 28.4 or because the Messias of the world which is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings was to be borne of t Gen. 49.10 that tribe Or because the u See Placidus Bucer Genebrard Dr. Incognit in loc Iewes haue a tradition that Iuda was the first tribe that aduentured after Moses and Aaron and entred into the red sea with vndaunted courage So wee finde in the numbring of Israels hoste that the standerd of Iuda was in the first place Numb 10.14 and Nahshon the sonne of Aminadab was their Captaine Numb 2.3 Hence it is said Cant. 6.11 My soule made me like the chariots of Aminadab or my willing people But x Caluine Rob. Stephanus Tremellius Strigellius Bellarmine most Interpretors vnderstand by Iuda not only that tribe but also the rest of the children of Israel It is nothing but a Synecdoche pars pro toto the chiefe tribe for the whole body of Gods people that went out of Egypt into the land of promise called often in holy Scriptures Israel of the fathers name and Iuda of the chiefe sonnes name Bondage was the perill out of which Israel and Iuda were deliuered and that in the y Plautus in Amphit Poets iudgement is worse then any danger or death omni
hee was dead he conuaieth from himselfe to his members and thereby raiseth them vp from the death of sinne to newnes of life For the better vnderstanding of this point let vs examine the meanes and the measure of the spirituall life For the meanes if wee will haue common water we may goe to the common well and if we desire water of Life we must haue recourse vnto Christ who saith q Ioh. 7.37 If any man thirst let him come vnto me and drinke and r Ioh. 4.14 hee shall haue a well of water springing vp into euerlasting life Now this well as the woman of Samaria said of Iacobs well is very deepe and we haue nothing to draw with And therefore wee must haue pipes and conduits to conuay the same vnto vs and these pipes are the sincere preaching of the word and the right administration of the Sacraments As for the preaching of Gods holy Word Christ openly proclaimeth in the fifth of S. Iohns Gospell at the 25 Verse The dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and they that heare it shall liue Å¿ August tract 22. in Ioan. IdeÌ„ Caluin alij in loc Where by dead is meant not the dead in the graue but the dead in sin For so the Scripture speaketh elsewhere t Matth. 8.22 Let the dead bury the dead and Ephes 5.14 Awake thou that sleepest and stand vp from the dead and 1. Tim. 5.6 A widow liuing in pleasure is dead while shee liueth He that hearts the word and abideth in vnbeliefe continueth among the dead but saith our Sauiour u Iohn 5.24 Verily verily I say vnto you he that heareth my word and beleeueth in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death vnto life because the words that I speake vnto you are spirit and life Ioh. 6.63 that is conueying vnto your dead hearts spirit and life As Christ when he raised vp dead men only spake the word and they reuiued and at the last day when the x 1. Thessal 4.16 trumpet of God shall blow the dead shall rise againe so it is in the first resurrection they which are dead in their old sinnes are raised againe to newnes of life by his powerfull voyce vttered in the Gospels ministerie We reade of three that Christ raised from death y Matth. 9.25 Iairus daughter newly dead the z Luke 7.15 widowes sonne dead and wound vp and lying on the hearse and a John 11.44 Lazarus dead and buried and stinking in the graue Now these three sorts of Coarses as b Serm. 44. de verbis dom de hac allegoria vide eundem tract 49. in Ioan. Augustine notes are three sorts of sinners Iairus daughter lying dead in her fathers house resembleth those that sinne by inward consent the widowes sonne being carried out of the gate of the Citie those that sinne by outward act Lazarus hauing been dead and buried foure daies those that sinne by continuall habite The first day saith Augustine hee was dead by conceiuing sinne the second by consenting to sinne the third by committing sinne the fourth by continuing in sinne The young maiden lay in a bed the yong man in a coffin Lazarus in a graue The first was dead but an houre the second but a day the third foure daies After their raising vp Iairus daughter instantly walked because for her that had stept aside but by consenting to sinne it was easie to recouer and to walke foorth-with in the waies of Gods holie Commandements The widowes sonne sat vp began to speake was deliuered to his mother because for him which had actually transgressed it was a matter of greater difficultie to recouer and therefore by little and little hee came to it as c Con. de misericord Domini Erasmus obserueth excellently First sitting vp by raising vp himselfe to a purpose of amendment then beginning to speake by confessing his owne miserie and acknowledging Gods mercie lastly being deliuered to his mother by returning to the bosome of the holie Church and enioying the remission of his sinnes Lazarus came foorth of his graue bound hand and foote with bands because for him that had a d Moles imposita sepulchro ipsa est vis dura consuetudinis August ser 44. de verb. Dom. stone laid vpon him and had made his heart as hard as a graue-stone or as a e Iob. 41.15 nether milstone by making a custome and as it were a trade of sinne it was in the iudgement of man impossible to recouer And yet Christs omnipotent voyce brought him foorth bound hand and foote and brake these bands asunder and restored him againe to the libertie of the sonnes of God The f Confess Anglican art 25. Sacraments are conduit-pipes also whereby God inuisibly conueieth his vitall or sauing graces into the heart if they be rightly vsed that is if they be receiued in vnfained repentance for all our sinnes and with a liuely faith in Christ for the pardon of the same sinnes And in this respect aptly compared vnto g Cant. 2.5 flagons of wine which reuiue the Church being sicke and fallen into a swound As for the measure of spirituall life deriued from our head Christ it is but small in this world and giuen by little and little the which is figured in the h Ezech. 47.3.4.5 vision of water that ranne out of the Temple First a man must wade to the ancles then after to the knees so to the loynes and last of all the waters grow to a riuer that cannot be passed ouer euen so the Lord conueieth his gifts and graces by little and little till his children at the last attaine a large measure thereof and haue full growth in Christ The same wee may likewise see liuely described in the vision of drie bones Ezech. 37. The Prophet in a vision is carried into the middest of a field full of dead bones and the Lord commanded him to prophecie ouer them and to say to them O yee drie bones heare the word of the Lord. At the first there was a shaking and the bones came together bone to bone vers 7. then the sinewes and flesh grew vpon them and vpon the flesh a skinne couered them vers 8. â—â—en hee prophecied vnto the winde and they liued and stood vpon their feete for the breath came vpon them and they were an exceeding great armie of men vers 10. i These bones are the whole house of Israel vers 11. but the faithful are Gods Israel Hereby doubtlesse is signified not only the state of the Iewes after their captiuitie but in them the state of the whole Church in whose heart God almightie worketh his graces of regeneration by little and little First he giueth his children flesh and then a skinne to couer the flesh and afterward hee powreth vpon them further gifts of his spirit to quicken them and to make them aliue vnto God 3. The resurrection of Christ is a k Non modo per seipsum probauit resurrectionem Saducaeis sed in seipso omnibus Tertul. lib. de carnis resur demonstration of our resurrection according to that of S. Paul 1. Cor. 15.12 If it be preached that Christ is risen againe from the dead how say some among you that there is no resurrectioÌ„ of the dead Yea but ye will obiect what promotion is that vnto the godly seeing all men at the last day must of necessitie rise againe Answere is made that the wicked are raised by the power of Christ as a Iudge to condemne them on the contrarie the faithfull are raised by the power of Christ as a Iesus to saue them Almightie God said vnto Adam At what time he should eate of the forbidden fruite he should l Gen. 2.17 dye the death Hereby m August de Ciuitat dei lib. 13. cap. 12. Aquin. Dion Carthus in Gen. 2. meaning a double death as the Scripture speaks n Apoc. 20.6 elsewhere the first and the second death Naturall death is the dissolution of the bodie spirituall death is the destruction of the soule eternall death is both of body and soule Prima constat ex duabus secunda ex omnibus tota saith Augustine Now Christ as a Iudge raiseth againe the reprobate from the first death that hee may inflict vpon them all the punishments of the second death as a reward of sinne but hee raiseth his elect as their head and redeemer that they may bee partakers of the benefit of his death enioying both in bodie and soule the kingdome of glorie which hee hath so dearely bought for them Wherefore seeing on this day wee haue been deliuered from so much 〈…〉 promoted vnto so much good let vs o Chrysost Euthym. Placidus spirituallie reioyce being p Dr. Incognitus glad inwardly ioyfull outwardly q Colos 3.16 singing vnto the Lord with a grace in our hearts This is the day which the Lord hath made FINIS