and feeble looke vpon your colours from top to toe and tell without flattery what it is you bear with the burdeÌ„ of your sinnes but the blase of your death The keepers of the house which are the handes they tremble The strong men which are the legges they bow themselues The grynders which are the teeth they cease because they are but fewe and they that looke out by the windowes which are the eyes they waxe dimme and darke The doores which are the lippes and mouth they are shut with the base sound of the grinders The Almond Tree which is your head it is white as a blossome The Daughters of singing which are your eares they are abased deafe and dull what should I say more sleep is gon from you you rise with the Cocke case you haue none for the Grashoper is a burden you feare the high thing you dare not climbe ye dread the faire way ye dare not goe in it for feare ye fall Thus man goeth to the house of his age once decayed neuer repayred till the time of our changing shall come O remember therefore thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth whiles the euill dayes come not nor the yeares approache wherein thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them And let an experienced Prince so perswade thee from this Iuorye throane yea and more to That without the Soueraigne good all is but vanitie and vexation of the Spirit But happily heere our youth may crowe and say their day shall euer dawne but I say nay for euen your flesh is but grasse and the grace thereof is but as the flower of grasse yea oftentimes for that your sins are the more your danger is the greater I say take heede your blade being greene it is sooner blasted your vessel being new it is sooner tainted and your plant being tender it is sooner supplanted by the violence of sinne which is the fier and fuel of death Seneca saith well Iuuenes mortem habent atergo et senes ante oculos Young men haue death at their backes and olde men before their face like Israels hoste who had the red Sea before Pharoes Armie behinde both ineuitable gulffes and readie to deuoure And so for conclusion of the point bee thou wel assuredly that thouseest without and feelest within both young men may die and old men must die And neuer deeme it a new thing that is so ancient or thinke it strange that is so continuall nor call it an euil properly thine which is so coÌ„mon with al the world The first age had it it may pleade antiquitie the second age felt it it may pleade coÌ„tinuaÌ„ce and this last age hath it it may pleade a propertie in all flesh till sinne and time shall be no more The vse in respect of the doctrine is this that though wee finde in our bones and feele in our flesh a necessitie of dying yet we forget our selues we forget our sins yea the molde matter wherof we are made vn til it come as now the opening of graues the imbalming of bodies the wearing of blackes and the losse of dearest friendes there is no passion of our immortallitie there is no impression of our eternity That this is true for my owne part I neede no better proofe theÌ„ mine owne hart to beare me witnes and for you also it is expedient to â—udge whether the opening of this earth the jmbalming of that body the wearing of these blacks with the sommoning of these solemne funeralles by the Herolds call in a sad winterly season and towards a ioyfull spring be not a resemblance of our pereÌ„ptorie day before the Lord when euerie one shall must render an account of that he hath done in this life bee it good or euill wherof if you haue feeling look for such thinges be diligent that ye may bee found of him in peace without spott blameles in the middest of a naughtie crooked generation suppose that the long suffering of the Lord is saluation who would haue no man lost but all to come to repentance â— Now for the second part I meane of liuing againe when wee are dead it is euident by the text that as there is a necessitie of dying once so is there a necessitie of liuing euer and that wee may terme an expectant estate and indefeazible both to the elect of GOD and the reprobate from GOD for both shall rise againe The just to the resurection of saluation to the which GOD bring vs and the wicked to the resurrection of condemnation from which the Lord deliuer vs. Maruell not at this saith CHRIST For the hourâ— shal come in the which al that are in the graues shall heare his voice vpon which Sommons heauen earth and hel shall be assembled the graues being pregnant shal bring foorth their dead the Sea being called vppon shall picke vpit dead Beastes Foules and Fishes shall yeeld the dead they haue deuoured yea and in spite of all tirannie the blessed Martir shall say it skils not much where I rot for then shall I rise nay I say more The shrill sound of that trumpet shall emptie heauen and shake hell all shall come foorth and appeare before the tribunall seate of God all his saints out of heauen all the damned out of hell all their dead bodies out of the earth out they must attend they must appeare they must receaue they must according to that they haue done in this life be it good or euil not an Angell spared not a Deuill respited not a Saint or sinner rescued but all must bee summoned to giue their attendance and to make their appearance Good Lord what a fearefull day will it then bee and what an exceeding glorie of our Christ will then appeare who shall emptie all vppon his sommons and fill all vpon his sentence emptie heauen emptie earth emptie hell fill heauen fill earth fil hell heauen with his maiestie Angels and Saints attending earth with his presence his fairest creatures abiding Hell with his judgements the deuil and damned euer dreeing the doome of death and deepe dispaire There shall be a new heauen and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousnes but an old diuel an old hel wherin abideth horror Topheth is prepared of old c I say then not I but the Spirit of God for me speaking out of this text and truth That it is Epicurisme Atheisme and the greatest Apostacie from faith that may be to say Let vs eate and drinke tomorrowe we shal die so an end or to say with the wicked miscreants wisd 2. 2. We are borne at al aduentures and we shal bee heareafter as though wee had neuer been our breath in our Nostrils is but a smoke and beeing extinguished the bodie is turned into ashes and the Spirit vanisheth as the soft ayre come therefore let vs jnioy the pleasures that are present and
which we haue heard which wee haue seene with our eyes which we haue looked vpon these handes of ours haue handled declare wee vnto you Hands haue handled what meaneth that Woe is mee to tell doubtfull Thomas demur'd vpon the Doctrine till his itching fingers had fetched it out of the prints of the nailes his sinful hand out of his sore side How bee it vpon the touch his heart resolu'd into sighes his eyes into teares when hee said with an holy resolution my GOD my Lord my God I am thy creature my Lord I am thy redeemed I finde thee risen and I feele I shal be raysed Thy woundes are deepe enough to pleade thy death sufficieÌ„t wide to purchase life for me and all the worlde For conclusion of all let Christ his witnesse bee instar omnium and stand for all who to take away the doubt forbids the wonder of our new repaire saying maruell not at this for the houre shall come in the which all that are in graues shall heare his voice and come forth 5. Fiftly we are well assured that we shal rise againe by double pledge or hostage 1. First of the soules of the Saints now lodgers in Heauen vnder the Altar killed for the word of GOD and testymonye which they maintained whose loud crye is after a deliuerance of their owne bodyes and of vs their long detayned bretheren to whome silence was inioyned for a while that they should rest vntill their fellowe-seruants and bretheren that should bee killed euen as they were were fulfilled 2. Secondly of their bodyes lodged in their graues there to remaine as lodgers for vs likewise vntill the time that all thinges bee restored God prouiding this good for vs that they without vs should not be made perfect 6 A sixt assurance is the pawne of the Spirit of God within vs for as the Apostle saith if the spirit of him that raised vp Iesus from the dead dwel in you he that raised vp Christ froÌ„ the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you And now my bretheren how this spirit hath entred wimbled into your soules to make passage for this Doctrine I know not reade the caracters of your own hearts you are spiritual I feele no spirit but mine own yet I hope well that the cheareful spirit of God mooueth within you lifteth vp your sad peÌ„siue spirits this day from the dead graue to the blessed hope of immortalitie 7. Seauenthly we are secured per Arram when the earnest is giuen it strikes the bargaine part of the debt is paied so was it wheÌ„ vpoÌ„ the resurectioÌ„ of Christ the graues yeelded part of their dead as an earnest of the generall resurrection and full payment to come then contracted betwixt Christ and the graue binding both alike the graue to deliuer the rest of her dead and Christ to receaue all to life and immortalitie 8. The eight and last yet not the least Anchor of our sure hope and hold is our possession of heauen already taken whither our head is gon before and there sits in potioribus Dei at the right hand of the Father in the best place of heauen that the head and the members might be togeather So then I say in the Man Christ we make our claime in the Man Christ hath euerie one flesh blood bone and portion I beleeue I shall liue where my flesh liueth I hope I shall reigne where my head reigneth and I knowe assuredly that I shall bee glorified where my portion is exalted These groundes of faith my bretheren are so many nailes of the sanctuary to fasten vs in hope to the hold where Christ our redeemer is they are so many Chrysolits Saphiers and Emeralds to support the wall of the holy Cittie where wee shall dwel and so many Pearls they are to garnish the gates of the holy Temple for the Saints entrance where the light of the Lambe is the people which are saued shall walke in the light of it and as Iohn saith the glorie and honor of the Gentils whereof you are shall bee brought into it Lord what is man that thou art so mindefull of him or the Sonne of man that thou shouldest thus visite him in mercie and prouide for him in glory And yet my beloued I know not howe but notwithstanding all these proofes and this my text yet hath not the tempter ceased from the beginning of the world vnto this day eyther like a roaring Lyon feircely to assault or like a Serpent by deceite craftily to impugne the same yea it is a woe and a wonder to see how mightily the Diuell hath preuailed in the Children of disobedience to worke their iust condemnation through mis-beleefe euen in this point of the resurrection of our liuing againe whereof I haue thought good to giue you a taste of their different errors the rather to season you in the knowne truth The Saducâ—s say there is no resurection at all erring as Christ tolde them in that they knew not the Scriptures nor the power of God Hymeneus Philetus say yâ— resurectioÌ„ is past alreadie the Heluetian Heretickes say It is dayly in there generation The ArchaÌ„tici that the soule liueth but not the bodye The Hirarchits that the flesh liueth againe but not this flesh The Maniches that we shall be turned into an other substance but into what they knowe not The Marcionits say wee shall bee turned into the nature of Angels and the Ualentinian Heretickes into the nature of Deuils the Appelleits thinke the flesh shal simbolize into the Spirit that the spirit shal vanish into the sostayre the Chiliaste w e are called the Millenarie Heretickes doe dreame of a ciuil gouernmeÌ„t for a thousand yeares heere on earth wherein they thinke the Godly shall liue with Christ in all delights delicacie then goe to heauen in the eight thousand yeare of the world But all these different errors and Heresies are mightily confounded by the alone spirit of God in these words of my text If a man die hee shall liue againe as and if the truth should say that graue that shutteth shall open againe that bodye which falleth shall rise againe that man which dyeth shall liue againe not in part but in whole not another from that it was but the verie same that now it is These my feete shall treade in his Courts these my handes shall bee lift vp to his praise these mine eyes shal behold his glory these mine eares shall be filled with that heauenly melodye yea and this my spirit shal reioyce in God my maker my sauiour my redeemer my glorifier I say this my bodye and this my soule once feuered on earth with a wofull farewell shall meete againe in heauen neuer to part but followe the Lambe whither euer he goeth And thus hauing cleered in some measure the necessitie of our liuing againe with an
the fulnes of thy ioy Thus much of the manner of our change liuing againe Now to the time when I meane when these vile bodies shall be fashioned like vnto his glorious bodie fined from the graue redeemed from the earth and bought from men whereof I hold for the negatiue that there shall bee no full change or restauracioÌ„ of any vntil the generall resurection of all and that before the last day and doome of all the world there shall be silence in the graue no ground stirred no body raised and if raised for a time by diuine dispensation to confirme the glorie of Christ his resurrectioÌ„ at what time Sheol shold be shakeÌ„ yet layed downe againe by like ordination to expect a further refreshing from the Lord when all thinges shall be restored So as I may safely say against our aduersaries presumption in checke of their assumption of the body of the blessed virgin that except the humane bodye of her Son Christ the pawne and pledge of our Inheritance theâ—'s not a glorified body in heauen it 's true it 's true vppon our disclution the dust of our bodies resolueth into earth from whence it came and the spirit returneth to God that gaue it And as the heauens must holde the body of one Christ till hee come againe so the graues shall holde the bodies of al his saints till al things be restored earth to erath ashes to ashes dust to dust is for all flesh vntil our changing shall come for thou Lord turnest man to destruction againe thou sayest come againe ye children of men And that this is true let these Scriptures waigâ— with you Iob in the precedent verses of this my text hath it and you may beleeue him in that as in the rest man sleepeth and riseth not hee shall not awake againe nor be raised from his sleepe till the heauens be no more where I take his meaning to bee generallie of all without exception of any other then as formerly I haue said of Christ his perfect glorification for euer and some of his Saints by dispensation for the time and againe layed downe to sleepe til the heauens be no more that is til all thinges be restored Christ himselfe a witnes omni exceptione maior hath said likewise that no man hath ascended vp to heauen but he that hath descended from heauen that Sonne of man which is in heauen the doctrine is positiue Catholike and absolute without exception of any and exclusion of al speaking by a coinonie for the present as attributing that to the diuinitie which is proper to the humanitye but expressing as de futuro for the time to come that no man should ascend in his humanitie before the Sonne of man who did descend in his diuinitie to fetch it vp And heereunto accordeth Paul when he saith as in Adam all dye euen so in Christ shall all bee made aliue but euerie man in his owne order The first fruites is Christ afterward they that are of Christ at his coÌ„ming shal rise againe whence I reason thus in the first Adam we all fel by sinne to die once In the second Adam we shall all rise by his righteousnesse to liue euer but in sorte different he as the first fruite we as an after crop at his comming shall rise againe euen at his comming shall rise againe so saith the text and not before so say I. The inferrence is good else were the order inuerted wherat principallie the Apostle aymeth which is that Christ might haue the prehemineÌ„ce prime and pride of the resurrection if I may so say Againe it is said by the same Apostle that at the Lords comming such as remaine shall not preuent them that are asleepe noâ— they that are asleepe shall preuent them that are aliue but the Lord shall preuent both and togeather all shall be caught vp in the cloudes to meete the Lord in the ayre and so be euer where he is The diuision is perfect good for at the comming of Christ to iudgement all bodies shall eyther sleepe in their graues dead or bee abiding vppon the earth aliue and for their passage into heauen none shall bee before or after other The time was when that other Disciple did out runne Peter to the Sepulchre and euen now wee see one hasteth to put another in the graue but then when the Trumpet shall blowe and the dead shall rise all shall goe froÌ„ their Sepulchers at once vp together meete together and so for euer be with the Lord. Further for better proofe of this Doctrine there is set downe by the Apostolicke Author a choise register of Gods Saints from Abel the iust downe to the daies of the Machabees by the honorable Patriarches worthy Iudges renowned Kinges inspired Prophets who all through faith obtained good reporte but receiued not the promise God prouiding a better thing for vs that they without vs should not be made perfect I say receiued not the promise at full as inioying their desired Christ not fullie come in the day of grace by his death to purge their soules from sinne nor come in the day of glorie by his life to fine their bodies from corruption God prouiding this good for vs that they without vs neyther in grace or glory should bee fully perfected How be it I deny not but their soules were fullie saued by the vertue of Christ his death and resurrection which they foresawe and felt in their hearts and therefore vpon their dissolution were taken vp in soule into the very heauens where now they are with Abraham Isaac and Iacob Mat. 8. 11. But their flesh doth rest in hope so as I may say of them and of all the dead as Peter did of the Patriarch Dauid Dauid is not ascended into heauen And if not Dauid the roote how may Mary the branch or any other straine of Adam nay nay the possession is there giuen by one God and taken by one Christ in right of al thus Sit thou on my right hand vntill I make thine enemies thy foote-stoole thou alone to pleade their cause thou alone to purchase their place thou alone to keepe possession til al thinges be restored and then make good thy purpose with thy promise I goe to prepare a place for you and if I goe I will come againe and receaue you vnto my selfe that where I am there may yee bee also But if all these Scriptures like nailes of the sanctuarie will not fasten thee to this holde then search the heauens for thy better resolution see into that secret and who be there Hebr. 12. 22. c. Mencion is made of Mount Syon which is the celestiall Ierusalem and the Cittie of the liuing God to which blessed assemblie the elect of God are incited to ioyne themselues as free Denisons to be Infranchised Now who be there tell if thou canst let the Spirit speake and all flesh
bee silent There saith the text are the companie of innumerable Angels and the congregation of the first borne which are written in heauen There is God the Iudge of all and the Spirits of iust and perfect men there is Iesus the meadiator of the new Testament and the blood of sprinckling that speaketh better thinges then the blood of Habel Whence I inferre to passe the rest and to come to that which more neerelie concerneth the matter in question that there are onely the spirits of iust and perfect men but neither bodie blood or bone other then that of Iesus Christ the mediator of the new Testament whose blood speaketh better thinges then that of Habels For the blood of Habel cryed reuenge but the blood of Christ euen there sprinckling as it were in his Fathers face cryeth pardon pardon I might to confirme this Scripture cote that of Iohn and open vnto you the first seale with the Altar of God the soules of the saints lying there vnder I might tel you of their inioyned silence to pray or pleade for any further repaire or perfection in body vntill the number of their fellowe seruants gone before and of their Bretheren to follow after dead as they were were fulfilled but I leaue the Doctrine to your further search and examination because the time hasteth on and for the present onelie content my selfe and I hope you to with the assoyling of some few doubts which happely might incounter the Docttrine deliuered First say some if there bee no bodies in heauen but that of Christs where then are the bodyes of Henocke and Elias the one taken away before the Flood and the other after in a fiery Chariot I answere with the learned whose iudgements I reuereÌ„ce as to inquire where they became is meere curiositie so to say they bee in heauen is ouer bolde presumption and if I should say with Dauid Kimhi not the meanest interpreter of the Hebrues that in the taking vp of Elyas his garments were consum'd with fire except his Mantell which fell from him yea and that himselfe was extinguished so as euerie one of the Elements of his body dissolued and return'd to the Element whereof it was but that his Spirit passed to heauen it were no singular opinion for of the verie same minde Oecolampadius seemeth to bee in his exposition vpon the last of Malachie But for vs it is sufficient that their translation shew there is a better life prepared if wee make it a Sacrament eyther of our resurrection froÌ„ the dead or last taking vp into heauen if we make it a testimonie of the immortallitie of soules bodies I holde it may well stand with the Analogie of faith and be as TertulliaÌ„ sayth documents of our perfection to come for the rule is good multa tribuuntur Symbolis quae tantum sunt rerum significatarum many things are said of figures which are onely true in the thing they signifie Therefore if any man say they are taken vp and glorified in body as in soule it is onely true in that they signifie and not in Symbole Heerein if I be deceiued I dare not say with the Prophet Lord thou hast deceaued me Ieremiah 20. yet may I say ye learned of this age Caluin Fulke Grenam Bale c. ye are deceaued and erre with me It sufficeth vs saith Caluin that their taking away meaning Henocke and Elias was a certaine extraordinarie death nor may we doubt but that they put of corruptible and mortall flesh that with the â—est of Christ his members they might be renewed into a blessed immortalitie might bee renewed saith hee therefore not yet renewed and with the rest of the members of Christ ergo not single by themselues The Rhemistes vpon the same place charge vs Protestants to bee Sectaries for that wee holde this Doctrine their words are these heere it appeareth that Henocke yet liueth and is not dead against the Caluinistes Mr. Fulke answereth the charge and layeth downe his iudgement in these wordes It appeareth not that Henocke yet liueth in bodye more then Moses or Elyas but that he was translated by God out of the world died not after the coÌ„mon maner of men with this marginall note more fully to expresse his minde in the point Enocke not still liuing But as for any passage into heauen that Enocke or Elias had in bodie or locall being there which is the maine point in controversie he is so farre from that opinion as in an other place he is bolde to vouch the contrarie in these verie wordes It is euident indeede that Elias was taken vp aliue but not that hee contynueth aliue yea because it is said expreslye that he was taken vp into heauen it is certaine that his bodye was not carryed into heauen for Christ was the first that in his whole humanity ascended into heauen Ergo say I with Mr. Fulke whose learning iudgement and authoritie I much reuerence and so may the Church of England that yet there is no Bodye in Heauen but that of Iesus christs for hee is the beginning and the first begotten of the dead as the Apostle saith that in all thinges he might haue the preheminence Exiled Bale in his image of both Churches and in his chaste Paraphras vpon the cited place Reuelation 11. inferreth thus against the Popish schoole Doctors who wold haue the two witnesses there mencioned to be Enocke and Elias vnlike it is saith he that God should call witnesses from the dead And what Godlie wise man can giue more to the figure then to the veritie more were they not priuiledged from death then Christ was though God wold not then haue it so to be knowne to declare his wonderfull worke Onely that which may deceaue is the Originall word Lakac which found in other places of Scripture else where doth implye rather a taking away by death then any traÌ„slation from death as in the 4. of Ionah where the prophet prayeth that God wold take away his life and Ezech. 44. 16. where the Lord saith beholde I will take from thee the pleasure of thine eyes meaning his wife the same original in both places is all one with that of Enocke Gen. 5. And therefore I see not yet why it may not inure to the same sense and signification vnlesse we may deeme that Ionah prayed for any such translation or that Ezechiels wife was so translated indeede which may not be for that the Prophet liued longer after and Ezechiels wife was found dead at euen and for the newe testament it is familiar with Christ and his Apostles to call death a translation or taking away to blessednes as Luke 9. 51. Iohn 13. 1. and 17 1. In all which places the Greeke will beare it to be a translation or taking away to a better life yet euer by a true and certaine death And therefore I answere to that of the Hebrues where it is said by faith Enocke
was translated that he shold not see death that though happily his departure out of this life was extraordinary without passion sickenes or greenance yet was it a dissolution and such as left a bodye behinde else why saith the Text that these whereof Enocke was one without vs should not bee made perfect had hee been taken vp and glorified in bodye as in soule hee had been perfect without vs but because the Scripture plainely saith that hee without vs should not bee perfected I holde as yet in bodie he is no more glorified then wee or the rest of that Calender It is recorded by Iude that Michaell th'a arch Angell stroue against the Deuill and dispuâ—ed about the bodye of Moses nor doe I doubt but the contention was anenst the funeralles The Deuil would haue them solemne Michael would haue them secret to auoide idolatrie and loue of religques least the succeeding age mâ—ght commit the sinne in adoring his dead bones of whome whilst hee liued they had so great a reputation of all pietye and holines So may I say of Henocke and Elias in that as the text saith they are gone not seene or found they are taken rom buriall and from all vsage of this world least succeeding ages might adore them dead whom they so honored aliue for not found not seene we say of meÌ„ rather lost on earth then gone to heauen Againe when Christ was transfigured vpon the Mount it is said that Moses and Elyas talked with him and tolde of his departure which hee should accomplish at Ierusalem and shall wee say that the one was more translated then the other more perfect or more glorified then the other pardon mee if I pleade a like perfection in both If Elias then Moses if not Moses then not Elias but it is plaine in the Scripture that Moses dyed and so it is of Enocke and Elias in the generall otherwise how should that sentence of Scripture bee veryfied Hebrues 9. 27. It is appointed to men that they shall once dye if wee shall then conclude and say from the premisses that by diuine dispensation and for the time Moses Elyas tooke vp their bodies to associat Christ in the glorification as did the Saintes who ryse with him to accompany him in the resurrection when hauing performed that which they were appointed to doe they were dissolued againe as before I holde it may well stand with the Anolagie of faith for that the Scripture saith concerning Christ. Act. 13. 34. God raised him vp from the dead no more to returne to corruption as and if others might twise returne where Christ should but once see the graue As for the Fathers doubtfull iudgement there anenst I say as I haue euer said I reuerence their gray haires but I blesse eternitie nor dare I subscribe to all the Fathers in the present point for that they are variable nor to any one of them further then hee hath good warrantie out of the word which is euer like it selfe and stable in al truth The Rhemistes would prooue in their annotations vpon the 11. of the Apocalips two speciall pointes of Doctrine against vs to make good their Antichriste yet to come 1. First that Enocke and Elias yet liue shall preach in the time of Antichrist and suffer martirdome theâ— that they now liue in Paradice and for denying of these two positions they say weâ— Protestants are too contentious and incredulous the matter being cleare as they auer in the opinion of all antiquitie and to that ende they presse vs with the sway oâ— the Fathers both Greeke and Latine T 〈…〉 whose quotations in that place I referr 〈…〉 you as also to the variable iudgement o 〈…〉 antiquitie there anenst whence I resolue and conclude To say with some of the fathers concurring with our aduersaries that Enocke and Elyas be yet in Paradice is idle to say they shall fight against Antichrist in the ende of the world and suffer Martirdome is more idle to say they be yet aliue is dangerous but to say they be dead as all others are is without all danger and whereupon neuer grew schisme in the Church of God neuer greefe to conscience or checke to the Royall dignitie of our Christ whose sole and soueraigne preheminence of being in heauen bodily I holde as an excellencie in him and a blessing to vs yet so as to beleeue or not to beleeue that Enocke Elyas be there may bee no barre to our saluation for that I doubt not but milions of soules shall bee saued who neuer heard or sought into that secret And now that I haue said God will witnesse with mee before whome I stand in the sight of men and Angels that I haue spoken nothing to the touch or preiudice of any contrarie iudgement or out of the pride or singularitie of my owne heart but in right and prerogatiue of my Christ whose peculiar yet I take it to bee alone to pardone our sinnes to pleade our cause and purchase our place whither first he is entred in body to make passage for all and as the Apostle saith Now to appeare in the sight of God for vs and so to conclude with Origen sicut ex mortuis primogenitus christus it a primus carnem euexit in caelum As Christ is the first borne of the dead so hee first caried his flesh into heauen 2. A second doubt encountering this Doctrine riseth from such as make question what became of the bodie of Lazarus after it was raised as also of the bodyes of those saints which at christ his resurection came out of their graues went into the holy citty and appeared vnto many To which I answere that all was done by myracle and diuine dispensation onely for that time to confirme and ascertaine vnto vs the resurection from the dead as in the head so in the members And well it might stand with faith and religion both that as by like dispensation Christ himselfe being yet mortall was transfigured vpon the holy Mount and glorified in body and beeing risen againe and gloryfied tâ—oke an impression of his mortalitie as the print of the Nailes in his hands and wound in his side to confirme the weake faith of Thomas So I say by the verie like dispensation hath he disposed of the bodies of those his Saints for that time to confirm the doctrine of the resurection who hauing performed that which they were appointed to doe by the iudgement of Augustine and diuers others settled in their graues as they did before for Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more as and if the Apostle were resolued that manye raysed to life haue dyed againe of which sorte I take these to be 3. The third and last encounter is with our aduersaries who to aduance the bodye of the blessed virgin vp into heauen haue mightily abased the blessed bodye of Christ on earth pulling downe the one
at their pleasure into the compasse of a cake at Dan and Bethell setting vp the other in conceite aboue the heauen of heauens and to that end haue found out in their deaâ—ne diuinitie and assumption of her bodie into heauen and withall proclaymed her a feriall for the same to bee kept on earth like one of the feasts of Iudah where anenst I say and dare auouch they haue discouered more follie found out more fables vâ—tered more vntruthes and broched more blasphemies against God and his Christ then euer they can answer if the Lord bee not mercifull vpon their repentance Time will not suffer mee to stand vpon their particular impieties for that I must referre you to the reading of Io. Bromiard in his summa predicantium tract de Maria as also to Nicholas Blony and Clictoâ—ius their homilies written for the Assumption day to Anselmus and all the rest who haue plowed in their postils with that Romish heffer I say read without pride of them or preiudice of vs and I doubt not but when you haue done you will pray that the Doctrine and day of the assumption may be cancelled out of the calender and conscience of all good Christians and the rather for that themselues confesse it to bee without the Canon of the word et quod ex scripturiâ— probari non possit expresse which is that thaâ— cannot be prooued out of the scriptures expreslie but from tradition whence saith he it hath authority And for their allegations of Augustâ— and Ierome who they say writ seuerall treatises of the assumption the one ad Paulum et EustochiuÌ„ the other I meane Augustin one booke of the same argument I holde them both adulterate and neither of their stampe for that they are vnable eyther to abide the touch of their stile or tryall of Gods truth I meane his word so are they takeÌ„ to be in the censure of the best learned godliest Diuines wherof Erasmus gaue a taste when he said of Augustine his booke for a title Hic libellus ne pilum quidem habet Augustini This pamphlet hath not so much as an haire of Augustine and of Ierome his Sermon hee saith that it was not his but that one Sophronius a Graecian writ it which he prooueth in the censure therof verie plainely if you please to reade him Pardon mee my Bretheren if I seeme to haue stood ouer-long in the misterye of Christ his sole ascention vp in bodie veritas me coegit The truth and tender of your good hath trayned mee on which if you sound well vnto the bottome you shall feele it a perfume vnto your soules more sweet theÌ„ al the trees of InceÌ„se For say sinner what am I or what is my fathers house that God should so exalt mee in his Christ as to purchase mee a place to giue mee a Kingdome to plead possession in my flesh and to keepe it for me vntill the adoption euen the redemption of our bodyes and perfect changing shall come when Christ shall 〈…〉 end with all his holie Angells and come in the cloudes of heauen with power and great glorie to cal the dead out of their graâ—es and to gather his elect from the foure windes and from the one end of the heauens to the other then then not before to solemnize the great day of the assumption of all flesh and to crowne it with immortalitie But good Lord how long when shall our changing come and when shall thy comming be How long and when ô Lord thou knowest It is not for vs to tell the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his owne power In Caution where of I for warne all Christians of two sinnes ragious in the world and seazing vpon al flesh 1. The one is curiositie concerning the day of doome when it shall bee 2. The other is securitie both of the time and manner of it being That of curiositie is in the excesse and it possesseth the wit that of securitye is in the defect it possesseth the wil â—he 1. first is of men too ingenious and they hasten the iudgement The 2. second is of men too too careles and they put of the iudgement not regarding that there is a God and day of reuenge and that whâ—le wee sinne the score runnes on Now in respect of both beloued I charge you this day that you stand vpon your gard and bee watchfull so are not to hyâ— least the fire vpon the Mount deuoure you in your curiositie nor hoouer too lowe least the foolishnes of a Golden Caâ—fe beguile you in your securitie Mediâ— tutissimus ibis the meane is the best For the first Paul writing to the Saints at Thessâ—lonica saith Of the times and seasons Bretheren yee haue no neede that I write vnto you â— where see a saâ—ctified Church discharged of a dangerous sinne they were not curious to search the Maiestie least they should bee confounded of the glorie and for that hee saith ye haue no neede that I write vnto you As and if hee should say ô yee Thessalonians yee are not curious of the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his owne power yee stand vpon no destinies ye gaze vpon no starres ye respect no coniunctions of fierie or watery Trigon ye prie into no prophesies of derne deceite ye reade no Bookes of Manilius Maternus Albumazaâ— or Halie but the loue of God is your delight wherein you haue learned that the secret thinges belong to the Lord our God but the thinges reuealed belong to vs and our Children for euer But woe is mee to tell my deere Bretheren this Scripture is crosse to all our courses in that great day I feare wil seuerely iudge vs for what belongeth to the Lorde and is secret to himselfe thereof are wee curious but what belongeth vnto vs and to our Children to knowe and is reuealed thereof are we careles being naturallie giuen rather to knowe that wee cannot learne and so dye in error then to search what we should learne and so liue in truth Search the Scriptures is in the commaund of GOD and who doth obey it search traditions is out of the commaund of God and men runne mad vppon them the day of grace is ours wee haue it and oh that we did know in this our day the things that belong to our peace but they are hid from our eyes yet if there bee but a question mooued of the day of doome of the desolation of the land by forraine power if of the death of our dread Soueraigne the breath of our nostrels and vnder whose shadowe we are preserued aliue among the heathen none ours to knowe but all in the counsell of God to determine of in mercie iudgemeÌ„t as it seemeth best to himselfe or yet in all these are we to to peremptorie For we set the Clocke we calculate the yeares wee determine the day we busie our selues
let vs chearefullie vse the creatures as in youth Let vs fill our selues with costly wine oyntments and let not the flower of youth passe by vs Let vs crowne our selues with rose buds before they be withered let al be partakers of our wantonnes let vs leaue some token of our pleasure in euerie greene field as for rigor rage tiranny what 's that to vs when we are dead come let vs oppresse the poore that is righteous let vs not spare the widdow nor reuerence the white haires of the aged but say they haue liued too lōg let our strength bee a law and let the thing that is feeble bee reprooued as vnprofitable Thus did the Atheist speake in the daies of old out of the error of their soules thus did they practise from a graceles resolution the Lord deliuer the land from such a burden his church from such pelfe our Prince from such a people to whome I may say if any there bee that so remaine yet vnreformed after so acceptable a time and free offer of all grace and Godlinesse I may say without repentāce they are a damned crew and depriued of glorie who for that they will not finde out the Lord in his mercies whilst they liue shal be sure to be found out in iudgement by him when they are dead for if a man die he shall liue againe O it shal not be then with the beastlie Epicure whose bellie is his God eate drinke dye and so an end it shall not bee with the wastfull wanton whose lust is his GOD spend sue pursue speede die and so an end it shall not bee with the greedy cormorant whose gold is his God greeue grate grind the poore oppresse the needy then die and so an end it shall not bee with the distemperate Spirits of bloody Tyrants whose reuenge is their God loath kill stabbe murder the Godlie massaker the Saintes then die and so an end it shall not bee with the idle minion whose pride is her God pricke pinne paint frisle the haire then die and so an end it it shall not be with the desperate ruffian whose villanie is his God sweare forsweare teare the heauens and tire the earth with bloodie oathes and blasphemies then die and so an end it shall not be with the grosse Idolater whose image is his God bow bend crosse creepe to the creatures then die and so an end finally it shal not be with the disloyal subiect whose treasons is his God plot complot practise at home and abroad on this side the seas and on that side the subuersion of a blessed state the deposing of a most gracious Prince as they did by their owne confession The best natured and moste heauenly qualified Queene that euer liued in England it shall not be Grieue her curse her depose her and depriue her of life crowne dignity thē die so an end for thē is but the beginning of sorrows after death commeth iudgement when to hide thy selfe with these sinnes it will bee vnpossible and to appeare it will bee vntollerable Lazarus to Heauen Diues to Hell both shal rise againe the one to death euerliuing the other to a life neuer dying for the Godlye shal haue boldenes in that day but the wicked shall crie vnto the mountaines fall vppon vs fall vppon vs. And so to leaue the wicked in their sins and with their brand to close with your religious hearts seeing you looke for better thinges be dilligent that yee may be found of him in peace without spot and blameles at the comming of our Lord Iesus christ to iudgemēt bee wel assured ye that are the elect of God christ his peculiar that though the wicked shal rise to their confusion yet shal ye liue againe as in soule so in bodie to your vnspeakeable ioy and consolation Which heauenlie Doctrine likewise of your liuing againe to beate out hath been the proper workeof all the Godlye from time to time in their succeeding ages Patriarches Prophets Apostles yea Christ himself as the fountaine whose streames if I should follow to the full it would bee tedious for you to passe ouer vnpossible for mee to keepe the current Onely Paules plea for life againe shall stand as a ground for all the rest whose seueral reasons to proue the resurrection layed downe to the Church of Corinth I referre you vnto resting vppon the first as a butteris or binding stone for all the rest which is this Christ is risen againe the first fruites of them that sleepe wherupon I inferre if he be first wee must second him if he be gone before we must follow after if he be risen we may not rest for where the head is of congruence must all the members follow And now that Christ is risen againe from the dead it is apparant by these seuerall proofes First it is promised in Paradice so to be when God said to Sathan hee shall breake thine head and thou shalt bruse his heele bruse he may by death but breake he may not Thine it is ô Christ to breake sathan sinne and death not in the heele but in the head neuer to rise vp in judgement against vs. 2 Secondly his resurection from the dead was prophecied in Iudah by old Iacob Gen. 49. 9. by a Lyon couchant vnder a painefull passion yet passant too by a glorious resurection so said Iacob as a Lyons whelpe shalt thou come vp from the spoile my Sonne Iudah meaning in a misterie from the spoile of Hell sinne and death to the glorie of Heauen life and immortalitie our english Iudah hath this honor in her armes and wee owe her homage our heauenly Iudah hath this honour in his person we owe him adoratiō al ye faithfull of Iudah take this honour to your soules blesse your christ in the scutchin of your hearts carrye him ô carrie him foorth in your Christian marche against all incounters and say terror hic est hominum quique hunc gerit est Agamemnon which I may english thus This Lyon heere of Iudah tribe a terror is to men and Diuils desperat debar'd of blis Who beares him as his Crest more puisant he then Graecian guide with all his chiualrie 3 Thirdly his resurection was figured by Sampson Iudg. 16 who at midnight rose conueyed away the gates of Azzah and bare them vp to Hebron The gates of Azzah are the bands of death which our true Sampson did breake in the night silence of his resurrection and in despite of death bore vp his blessed body to Heauen where now it abides a pledge of our inheritance Haue I not power to lay downe my life haue I not power to take it vp againe 4. Lastly it was signified in the heaue offering shaken vp shakend vne and shaken vp againe so was our Christ in body the substance of this shadow tost to and fro in