Dan. â—0 7 Thousand thousands ministred vnto him and ten thousand thousands stood before him Matth. 26.25 Thinkest thou I cannot praie to my father and he will giue me moe then twelue legions of Angels Heb. 12. 22. To the company of innumerable angels Fourthly they are in the highest heauen where they euer atteÌ„d vpon God and haue societie with him Mark 18.10 In heauen their Angels alwaies behold the face of my Father which is in heauen Psal. 68.17 The chariots of God are twentie thousand thousand Angels and the Lord is among them Mark 12.25 But are as Angels in heauen Fiftly their degree That there are degrees of Angels it is most plaine Colos 1.16 By him were all things created which are in heauen and in earth things visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers Rom. 8.38 Neither Angels nor principalities nor powers c. 1. Thes. 4.16 The Lord shall descend with the voice of the Aarchangel and with the trumpet of God But it is not for vs to search who or how many bee of each order neither ought we curiously to enquire howe they are distinguished whether in essence or qualities Coloss. 2. 18. Let no man at his pleasure beare rule ouer you by humblenes of minde and worshipping of Angels advancing himselfe in those things which he neuer saw Sixtly their office Their office is partly to magnify God partly to performe his commandements Psalme 103. vers 20. 21. Praise the Lord ye his Angels that excell in strength that doe his commandement in obeying the voice of his vvorde Praise the Lord all ye his hostes ye his seruants that doe his pleasure Seuenthly The establishing of some Angels in that integritie in which they were created CHAP. 7. Of man and the estate of innocencie MAn after he was created of God was established in an excellent estate of innocencie In this estate seuen things are chiefly to be regarded I. The place The garden of Heden that most pleasant garden Gen. 2. 15. Then the Lord tooke the man and put him into the garden of Heden II. The integritie of mans nature Which was Ephâ— 4.24 Created in righteousnes and true holines This integritie hath two parts The first is wisdome which is true and perfect knoweledge of God and of his will in as much as it is to be performed of man yea and of the counsell of God in all his creatures Coloss. 3. 10. And haue put on the newe man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him Gen. chap. 2.19 When the Lord God had formed on the earth euery beast of the field and euery foule of the heauen he brought them vnto the man to see howe he would call them for howesoeuer the man called the liuing creature so was the name thereof The second is Iustice which is a conformitie of the will affections and powers of the body to the will of God III. Mans dignitie consisting of foure parts First his communion with God by which as God reioiced in his own image so likewise man was incensed to loue God this is apparent by Gods familiar conference with Adam Gen. 1.29 And God said Behold I haue giuen vnto you euery hearb bearing seede c. that shall be to you for meate Secondly his dominion ouer all the creatures of the earth Gen. 2. 19. Psal. 8.6 Thou hast made him Lord ouer the workes of thine hands hast set all things vnder his feet c. Thirdly the decencie dignitie of the bodie in which though naked as nothing was vnseemely so was there in it imprinted a princely maiestie Psal. 8. Thou hast made him little lower then then God and crowned him with glorie and worship Gen. 2.25 They were both naked and neither ashamed 1. Cor. 12.22 Vpon those members of the bodie which we thinke most vnhonest put we more honestie on and our vncomely parts haue more comelines on Fourthly labour of the bodie without paine or griefe Gen. 3. 17,19 Because thou hast obeyed the voice of thy wife c. cursed is the earth for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eate of it all the daies of thy life c. IV. Subiection to God whereby man was bound to performe obedience to the commandements of God which were two The one was concerning the two trees the other the obseruation of the Sabboth Gods commandement concerning the trees was ordained to make examination and triall of mans obedience It consisteth of two parts the first is the giuing of the tree of life that as a signe it might confirme to man his perpetuall abode in the garden of Heden if stil he persisted in his obedience Râ—uel 2. 7. To him that ouercoÌ„meth will I giue to eate of the tree of life which is in the midst of Paradise of God Prov. 3.18 Shee is a tree of life to them which lay hold on her and blessed is he that retaineth her The second is the prohibition to eate of the tree of the knowledge of good and euil togither with a commination of temporall and eternall death after the transgression of this commandement Gen. 2.17 Of the tree of the knowledge of good and euill thou shalt not eate of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death This was a signe of death and had his name of the euent because the obseruation thereof would haue brought perpetuall happines as the violation gaue experience of euill that is of all miserie namely of punishment and of guiltinesse of sinne Gods commandement concerning the obseruation of the Sabboth is that by which God ordained the sanctification of the Sabboth Gen. 2.3 God blessed the seauenth day and sanctified it V. His calling which is his seruice of God in the obseruation of his commandements the dressing of the garden of Heden Prov. 16.4 God made all things for himselfe Gen. 2.15 He placed him in the garden of Heden to dresse and keepe it VI. His diet was the hearbs of the earth and fruit of euery tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and euill Gen. 1.29 And God said Behold I haue giuen vnto you euery hearb bearing seede which is vpon all the earth and euery tree wherein is the fruit of a tree bearing seede that shall be to you for meate and chap. 3.17 But of the tree of knowledge of good and euill thou shalt not eate VII His free choice both to will and performe the commandement concerning the two trees and also to neglect and violate the same Whereby we see that our first parents were indeede created perfect but mutable for so it pleased God to prepare a way to the execution of his decree CHAP. 10. Of sinne and the fall of Angels THe fall is a reuolting of the reasonable creature from obedience to sinne Sinne is the corruption or rather depriuation of the first integritie More plainely it is a falling or turning from God binding the offendour by
wherein we must rest as it were for a night as a straunger doth in an Inne and so away but the second house is eternall in the heauens an euerlasting seate of all felicitie and happinesse And therefore our dutie is aboue al things to seeke the kingdome of God and his righteousnesse as Christ himselfe biddeth vs. And if the Lord haue there prepared such a place for vs theÌ„ we must in this world vse all good meanes whereby we may be made worthie the fruition of it and also fitte and readie at the day of death to enter into it which at the day of iudgement we shall fully possesse both in soule and bodie and there raigne eternally in all happinesse with God Almightie our creatour the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost But some may say how shall a man so prepare himselfe that hee may bee fitte for that place Answere This the holy Ghost teacheth vs for speaking of this heauenly Ierusalem he saith There shall enter into it none vncleane thing neither whatsoeuer worketh abomination or lies The meanes then to make our selues fitte is to seeke to bee reconciled to God in Christ for our sinnes past and withall to endeauour to haue an assurance of the free remission and pardon of them all in the blood of Christ. And as touching that part of life which is to come we must remember what Saint Iohn saith Euery one that hath this hope purifieth himselfe meaning that he which hath hope to raigne with Christ in heauen vseth the meanes whereby he may purifie and keepe himselfe from sinne as also he saith after that he which is borne of God keepeth himselfe and the wicked one toucheth him not Signifying that all such persons as are truely iustified and sanctified carrie such a narrowe and straite watch ouer the whole course of their liues and conuersations that the deuill can neuer giue them deadly woundes and wholly ouercome them Nowe the man that iâ— resolued in his conscience of the pardon of his sinne for the time past and hath a steadfast purpose in his heart to keepe himselfe vpright continually to walke in righteousnesse and true holinesse all the daies of his life this man I say is prepared and made fit to enter into the heauenly Ierusalem come death when it will he is readie And howesoeuer he must not looke for heauen here vpon earth yet he is as it were in the suburbes of this heauenly cittie and at the end of this life the king thereof the Lord Iesus will open the gates and receiue him into his kingdome for he is alreadie entred into the kingdome of grace To conclude this point let euery man in the feare of god be mooued hereby to set his heart to prepare himselfe that when God shall call him hence he may be fitte to enter into that glorie Secondly seeing God hath prepared the third heauen for vs it teacheth euery man in this worlde to be content with the estate wherein God hath placed him whether it bee high or lowe rich or poore why so because here he is but a pilgrime and liues in a cottage of clay and in a tent wherein he must abide but a while as a pilgrime doth oftentimes carrying his house about with him and we shall in better sort accept the afflictions which God sendes vs in this life if we remember that there is prepared for vs a place of ioy which must bee our resting place and perfect felicitie for euermore This was the practise of the chidren of God especially of Abraham for when the Lord called him out of his own country he obeyed and by faith abode in the promised land as in a straunge countrie as one that dwelt in tents with Isaac and Iaakob heires with him in the same promise and the reason followeth for he looked for a cittie hauing a foundation whose builder and maker is God They beleeued that these things which the Lord promised were shaddowes of better things and hereon staied themselues beeing well content with that estate whereto God had called them So Paul was coÌ„tented to beare the afflictions which God had laid vpon him and his reason was Because saith he we looke not on things which are seene but on things which are not seene for the things which are seene are temporall but the things which are not seene are eternall And in the next chapter We knowe saith he that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle be destroyed we haue a dwelling giuen vs of God that is an house not made with hands but eternall in the heauens And for this cause his desire was rather to remooue out of this body and to be with the Lord. And thus much concerning heauen Nowe followeth the second part of Gods creation in these wordes And earth Earth signifieth the huge masse or body standing of sea and land on which we liue and all things that be in or vpon the earth whatsoeuer as Paul saith For by him were created all things that are in heauen or in earth c. In other Creeds which were made since this of the Apostles beeing expositioÌ„s of that there is added maker of all things visible and invisible Here we haue occasion to speake of all creatures but that were infinite therefore I will make choice of these two good Angels and Men. I. That Angels had a beginning it is no question for Paul saith that by God all things were created in heauen and earth things visible and inuisible whether thrones principalities or powers And in respect of the creation angels are called the sonnes of God But the time day of their creatioÌ„ cannot be set down further theÌ„ this that they were created in the coÌ„passe of the sixe daies For Moses saith Thus namely in the compasse of the first sixe daies the heauens and the earth were fashioned and all the hâ—ast of them that is all varietie of creatures in heauen and earth seruing for the beauty and glory thereof whereof no doubt the Angels are the principall II. Touching the nature of Angels some haue thought that they are nothing but qualities and motions in the mindes of men as the Sadduces and the Libertines of this time but the truth is that they are spirits that is spirituall and inuisible substances created by God and really subsisting for the Scripture ascribes vnto them such kinde of actions which can not be performed by the creatures saue onely such as be substances as to stande before the throne of God to behold the face of the Father to carie mens soules to heauen c. yet must we not imagine that they are bodily substances consisting of flesh and bone And though they tooke vpon them visible shapes and formes and did eate and drinke in the companie of men and thereupon are called Men in Scripture yet they did this by diuine dispensation for a time that they might the better performe the actions
He is able perfectly to saue them that come to God by him seeing he euer liueth to make intercession for them Secondly according to his Deitie partly by applying the merit of his death partly by making request by his holy Spirit in the hearts of the Elect with sighes vnspeakable 1. Pet. 1.2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of the Father to the sanctification of the Spirit Rom. 8. â—6 The Spirit helpeth our infirmities for we know not what to pray as we ought but the Spirit it selfe maketh request for vs with sighes which cannot be expressed We are not therefore to imagine or surmise that Christ prostrateth himselfe vpon his knees before his Fathers throne for vs neither is it necessarie seeing his very presence before his father hath in it the force of an humble petition The end of Christs intercession is that such as are iustified by his merits should by this meanes continue in the state of grace Now Christs intercession preserueth the elect in couering their continuall slipps infirmities and imperfect actions by an especiall and continuall application of his merits That by this meanes mans person may remaine iust and mans works acceptable to God 1. Ioh. 2.2 Hee is a reconciliation for our sinnes and not for ours onely but for the sinnes of the whole world 1. Pet. 2.5 Yee as liuely stones be made a spirituall house and holy Priesthood to offer vp spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ. Reuel 8.3,4 And another Angell came and stood before the altar hauing a golden censer and much odours was giuen vnto him that he should offer with the prayers of all Saints vpon the golden altar which is before the throne and tâ—â— smoke of the odors with the prayers of the Saints went vp before God out of the Angels hand Thus farre concerning Christs priesthood nowe follow his Propheticall and Regall offices His Propheticall office is that whereby he immediately from his Father renealeth his word and all the meanes of saluation comprised in the same Ioh. 1.18 The Son which is in the bosome of his father he hath declared vnto you Ioh. 8.26 Those things which I heare of my father I speake to the world Deut. 18.18 I will raise them vp a Prophet c. The word was first reuealed partly by visions by dreames by speech partly by the instinct and motion of the holy ghost Heb. 1.1 At sundry times in diuers manners God spake in old time to our Fathers the Prophets in these last daies he hath spoken to vs by his sonne 2. Pet. 1.21 Prophecie came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were mooued by the holy ghost The like is done ordinarily onely by the preaching of the word where the holy ghost doth inwardly illuminate the vnderstanding Luk. 24.45 Then opened he their vnderstanding that they might vnderstand the Scriptures v. 21.15 I I will giue you a month and wisdome where against all your aduersaries shall not bee able to speake nor resist Act. 16.14 Whose heart the Lord opened that shee attended on the things that Paul spake For this cause Christ is called the Doctor Lawegiuer and Counsellour of his Church Matth. 23.10 Be ye not called Dâ—ctors for one is your Doctor Iesus Christ. Iam. 4.12 There is one Lawgiuer which is able to saue and to destroy Esa. 9.6 He shall call his name Counsellour c. Yea he is the Apostle of our profession Heb. 3.1 The Angell of the couenant Malac. 3.1 And the Mediatour of the new couenant Heb. 9.15 Therefore the soueraigne authoritie of expouÌ„ding the Scripture only belongs to Christ and the Church hath onely the ministerie of iudgement and interpretation committed vnto her Christs Regall office is that whereby he distributeth his gifts and disposeth all things for the benefit of the elect Psal. 2. and 110.31.2 The Lord said vnto my Lord sit tâ—ou on my right hand till I make thine enimies thy footestoole The execution of Christs Regall office comprehendeth his exaltation Christs exaltation is that by which he after his humiliation was by little and little exalted to glorie and that in sundrie respects according to both his natures The exaltation of his diuine nature is an apparant declaration of his diuine properties in his humane nature without the least alteration thereof Rom. 1. 4. Declared mightily to be the sonne of God touching the spirit of sanctification by the resurrection from the dead Act. 2.36 God hath made him both lord Christ whome ye haue crucified The exaltation of his humanitie is the putting off from him his seruile coÌ„dition and all infirmities and the putting on of such habituall gifts which albeit they are created and finite yet they haue so great and so marueilous perfection as possibly can be ascribed to any creature The gifts of his minde are wisdome knowledge ioy and other vnspeakeable vertues of his bodie immortalitie strength agilitie brightnesse Philip. 3.21 Who shall change our vile bodies that it may be fashioned like vnto his glorious body Math. 17.2 He was traÌ„sfigured before them his face did shine as the sunne and his cloathes were as white as the light Heb. 1.9 God euen thy God hath annointed the with the oyle of gladnes aboue thy fellows Eph. 1.20.22 Christs bodie although it be thus glorified yet is it still of a solide substaÌ„ce compassed about visible palpable and shall perpetually remaine in some certaine place Luk. 24.39 Behold my hands and my feete it is euen I touch me and see a spirit hath no flesh and bones as ye se me haue There be three degrees of Christs exaltation I. His resurrection wherein by his diuine power he subdued death and raised vp himselfe to eternall life 2. Cor. 13.4 Though he was crucified concerning his infirmitie yet liueth he through the power of God Matth. 28.6 Hee is not here for he is risen as he said Come see the place where the Lord was laid The ende of Christs resurrection was to shewe that his satisfaction by his passion and death was fully absolute For one onely sinne would haue detaiâ—ed the Mediatour vnder the dominion of death though he had fully satisfied for all the rest 1. Cor. 15.17 If Christ be not raised your faith is in vaine yee are yet in your sinnes Rom. 4.25 Who was deliuered to death for our sinnes and is risen againe for our iustification II. His ascension into heauen which is a true locall and visible translation of Christs humane nature from earth into the highest heauen of the blessed by the vertue power of his Deitie Act. 1.9 When he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken vp for a cloud tooke him vp out of their sight and while they looked stedfastly towards heauen as he went beholde two men stood by theÌ„ in white apparell which also said Ye men of Galile why stand ye gazing into heauen this Iesus which is taken vp from you into heauen
they which speak euill of you as of euill doers may by your good works which they shall see glorifie God in the day of thy visitation II. To exhort Heb. 3. 13. Exhort one another daily while it is called to day least any of you be hardened through the deceitfulnes of sinne Rom. 1.12 That I might be comforted togither with you through our mutuall faith both yours mine III. To comfort 1. Thess. 5.14 Comfort the feeble minded beare with the weake be patient towards all men Iam. 5. 16. Acknowledge your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed 20. He that conuerteth a sinner from going astray out of his way shall saue a soule from death and shall hide a multitude of sinnes 1. Thess. 4. 18. Comfort your selues one another with these words IV. To admonish Rom. 15. 14. I my selfe am perswaded of you brethren that yee also are full of goodnes and filled with all knowledge and are able to admonish one another 1. Thess. 5. 14. We desire you brethren admonish them that are vnruly They shall obserue an holy manner of admonition who in the spirit of meeknes and as it were guiltie of the like infirmitie themselues doe admonish forthwith all their brethren of such faults as they certenly know by them and that out of Gods word Gal. 6.1 Brethren if any man by occasion be fallen into any fault yee which are spirituall restore such an one in the spirit of meeknes considering thy selfe least thou also be tempted Matth. 5. 7. Thou hypocrite cast out first the beame out◠of thine owne eye and then shalt thou see to take the mote out of thy brothers eye 2. Tim. 4.2 Preach the word be instant in season and out of season improoue rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine Math. 18. 15. If thy brother trespasse against thee goe and tell him his fault betweene thee and him alone if he heare thee thou hast wonne thy brother Rom. 15.14.2 Tim. 4.2 Leuit. 19.17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart but thou shalt plainely rebuke thy neighbour and suffer him not to sinne Reliefe peculiar to the godly among themselues is a dutie whereby the rich doe out of their plentie supplie the wants of the poore both according to their abilitie and sometimes beyond their abilitie 2. Cor. 8.3 To their power I beare record yea beyond their power they were willing Act. 2.44,45 All that beleeued were in one place and had all things common and they solde their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as euery one had neede CHAP. 48. Of the fourth degree of the declaration of Gods loue and of the estate of the Elect after this life THe fourth degree of the declaration of Gods loue is Glorification Roman 8.30 Glorification is the perfect transforming of the Saints into the image of the Sonne of God Philip. 3.21 Who shall change our vile bodie that it may be fashioned like vnto his glorious bodie according to the working whereby he is able euen to subdue all things vnto himselfe 1. Cor. 15.44 It is sowne a naturall bodie and is raised a spirituall bodie there is a naturall bodie and there is a spirituall bodie 45. And it is also written The first man Adam was made a liuing soule the last Adam was made a quickning spirit 49. And as we haue borne the image of the earthly so shall we beare the image of the heauenly Psal. 17. 15. I will behold thy face in righteousnes and when I awake I shall be satisfied with thine image The beginning of Glorification is in death but it is not accomplished and made perfect before the last day of iudgement The death of the Elect is but a sleepe in Christ whereby the bodie and soule is seuered The bodie that after corruption it may rise to greater glorie The soule that it being fully sanctified may immediatly after departure frō the bodie be transported into the kingdom of heauen Against the feare of death note these preseruatiues I. Death it freeth the godly from the tyrannie of Satan sinne the world the flesh and eternall damnation yea from infinite both perills and losses and doth place vs both safe and happie vnder the shadow as it were of Christs wings II. Christ by his death hath sanctified vnto vs both death and the graue III. Christ is both in life and death gaine to the godly Phil. 1.12 IV. Those consolations which the spirit of Christ doth suggest to the soules of the faithfull doe by many degrees surmount the dolours of death V. The desire of that most bright and glorious beholding of God and the presence of those Saints which are departed before vs. VI. In stead of our bodies we shall be clothed with glorie 2. Cor. 5.1 VII The stings of death namely sinne is then so taken away as that that serpent can no more hurt vs. 1. Cor. 15.55 O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victorie Heb. 2.15 That he might deliuer all them which for feare of death were all their life time subiect to bondage VIII We should not so much thinke of our death as to take an exact account of our life For that man can not die ill who hath liued well and he seldome dieth well that hath liued badly IX The Angels they stand at our elbowes that so soone as a Saint departeth they may with all speede immediatly transport his soule into heauen Soules being once in heauen remaine there till the last day of iudgement where they partly magnifie the Name of God and partly doe waite and pray for the consummation of the kingdom of glorie and full felicitie in body and soule Reuel 5.8 And when he had taken the booke the foure beasts and the foure and twentie Elders fell downe before the Lambe hauing euery one harpes and golden vials full of odours which are the prayers of the Saints 9. And they sang a new song saying Thou art worthie to take the booke and to open the seales thereof because thou wast killed and hast redeemed vs to God by thy blood out of euery kinred and tongue and people and nation Reuel 14. 2. I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps 3. And they sung as it were a new song before the throne and they cried with a loud voice saying How long Lord holy and true doest not thou iudge and auenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth CHAP. 49. Of the estate of the Elect at the last day of iudgement THe last day of iudgement shall be on this manner I. Immediatly before the comming of Christ the powers of heauen shall be shaken the Sunne and Moone shall be darkned and the starres shall seeme to fall from heauen at which sight the Elect then liuing shall reioyce but the reprobate shall shake euery ioynt of them II. Then the heauens beeing all set on fire shall with a
and made a shew of them openly and hath triumphed ouer them in the crosse he ouercame the deuill and all his angels by the power of his almightie father and by his owne power as he is God And euen so must Christian men labour to finde the same power in themselues of this almightie father by which Christ did triumph ouer Satan that by it they may tread him vnder their feete which men can neuer doe by any power in themselues Againe Christ praieth that that cup might passe from him and yet hee saith Not my will but thy will be fulfilled For it was necessary that Christ should suffer And this request was heard not because he was freed from death but because God his father Almightie gaue him power and strength in his manhood to beare the brunt of his indignation Nowe looke as this power was effectuall in Christ Iesus the head to make him able and sufficient to beare the pangs of hell so the same power of God is in some measure effectuall in al the members of Christ to make them both patient of sufficient strength to beare any affliction as Saint Paul saith beeing strengthened with all might through his glorious power vnto all patience and long suffering with ioifulnesse And this is a notable point which euery one ought to learne that whereas they confesse God to be their Almightie father they should herewithall labour to feele and haue experience in themselues that hee is almightie in the beginning and continuing of grace vnto them and in giuing them power and patience to suffer afflictions Further Christ Iesus when the worke of our redemption was accomplished was lifted vp into heauen and set at the right hand of God in heauenly places farre aboue all principalities and powers c. euen by the power of his father well as this power was made manifest in the head so must it bee in the members thereof Euery childe of God shall hereafter see and feele in himselfe the same power to translate him from this vale of misery in this life to the kingdome of heauen Wherefore to conclude we haue great cause to bee thankefull and to praise God for this priuiledge that hee sheweth his power in his childrē in regenerating thē in making them die vnto sin and to stand against the gates of hel and to suffer afflictions patiently as also that he translates them from death to life And euery one should shew his thankefulnesse in labouring to haue experience of this power in himselfe as Paul exhorteth vs in his Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians yea read all his epistles and we shal find he mentioneth no point so often as this namely the mighty power of God manifested first in Christ and secondly in his members and he accounteth all things losse that he might knowe Christ and the vertue of his resurrection This point is the rather to be marked because his power in the matter of grace is not to be seene with eye and fewe there be in respect that haue felt the vertue thereof in themselues for the diuell doth mightily shewe his contrary power in the greatest part of the world in carrying them to sinne and wickednesse Secondly hence we learne that which Paul teacheth namely to knowe that all thinges worke togither for the best vnto them that loue God God is almightie and therefore able to doe whatsoeuer he will he is also a father and therefore is willing to doe that which is for our good But some will say we are subiect to many crosses yea to sinne what can our sinnes turne to our good Ans. If God almightie be thy father he will turne thine afflictions yea thy sinnes which by nature are euil beyond all expectation vnto thy saluation And thus much God will doe to all such as be obedient vnto him yet no man must hereupon presume to sinne Thirdly whereas we beleeue that God is a mightie father it serues to confirme gods children in the promises of mercy reuealed in his word The chiefest whereof is that if men will turne from their sinnes and beleeue in Christ they shall not perish but haue life euerlasting I knowe some men will make it an easie thing to beleeue especially those which neuer knewe what faith meant But such persons neede no meanes of confirmation of faith therefore let all those which haue tasted of the hardnes of attaining vnto it learne howe to establish their wauering hearts in the promises of God by the consideration of these two points God is a father and therefore he is willing he is also almightie and therefore he is able to performe his promises He that will bee truely resolued of Gods promises must haue both these setled in his heart and build on them as on two foundations It followeth Creatour of heauen earth We haue spoken of the title of the first person and of his attributes nowe we come to speake of his effect namely the creation but before we come to it we are to answer a certaine obiection which may be made At the first it may seeme strange to some that the worke of creation is ascribed to the first person in Trinitie the father whereas in the Scripture it is common to them all three equally And first that the father is Creatour it was neuer doubted as for the second person the Sonne that hee is Creatour it is euident All things are made by it that is by the Sonne who is the substantiall worde of the father and without it was made nothing that was made And againe it is saide that God by his sonne made the worlde As for the holy Ghost the worke of creation is also ascribed vnto him and therefore Moses saith The spirit mooued vpon the waters and Iob saieth His spirit hath garnished the heauens Howe then is this peculiar to the father beeing common to all the three persons in trinitie I answer The actions of God are twofold either inward or outward The inwarde actions are those which one person doth exercise towards another as the father doth beget the sonne and this is an inward action peculiar to the father and all inward actions are proper to the persons from whome they are So the Sonne doth receiue the Godhead by communication from the Father and the holy Ghost from them both and these are inward actions peculiar to these persons So likewise for the father to send his sonne it is an inward action proper to the father and cannot be communicated to the holy ghost and the sonne to bee sent by the father onely is a thing proper to the Sonne and not common to the father or to the holy Ghost Now outward actions are the actions of the persons in the Trinitie to the creatures as the worke of creation the worke of preseruation and of redemption These and all such actions are common to al the three persons the father createth the sonne createth and the holy
and businesses among men to which they were by God appointed And the bodies of men which they assumed were no parts of their natures vnited to them as our bodies are to vs but rather they were as garments are to vs which they might put off and on at their pleasure If any shall aske whence they had these bodies the answer is that either they were created of nothing by the power of God or framed of some other matter subsisting before If againe it be asked what became of these bodies when they laid them downe because they vsed them but for a time the answer may be that if they were made of nothing they were againe resolued into nothing if made of other creatures that then they were resolued into the same bodies of which they were first made though indeede we can define nothing certenly in this point III. Angels are reasonable creatures of excellent knowledge and vnderstanding farre surpassing all men saue Christ. Their knowledge is threefold naturall reuealed experimentall Naturall which they receiued from God in the creation Reuealed which God makes manifest to them in processe of time whereas before they knew it not Thus God reuealed to Gabriel the mysterie of the 70. weekes Dan. 8 and 9. And in the Apocalyps many things are reuealed to the Angels that they might reueale theÌ„ to vs. Experimentall knowledge is that which they get by obseruing the dealings of God in the whole world but specially in the Church And thus Paul saith that to principalities and powers in heauenly places is knowne the manifolde wisedome of God by the Church IV. And as the knowledge so also the power of the good Angels is exceeding great They are able to doe more then all men can Therefore Paul calls them mightie Angels 2. Thess. 1.7 Yea their power is farre superiour to the power of the wicked angels who since the fall are vnder them and can not preuaile against them V. The place of the aboad of Angels is the highest heauen vnlesse they be sent thence by the Lord to doe some thing appointed by him This our Saâ—iour Christ teacheth when he saith that the angels of litle ones doe alreadie behold the face of their father in heauen And the wicked angels before their fall were placed in heauen because they were cast thence VI. That there be certaine distinctions and diuersities of angels it is very likely because they are called thrones and principalities and powers Châ—rubim and Seraphim But what be the distinct degrees and orders of Angels and whether they are to be distinguished by their natures gifts or offices no man by scripture can determine VII The ministerie of angels to which the Lord hath set them apart is threefold and it respecteth either God himselfe or his church or his enemies The ministerie which they performe to God it first of al to adore praise and glorifie him continually Thus the Cherubims in Esaies vision crie one to another Holy holy holy is the Lord God of hosts the world is full of his glory And when they were to publish the birth of the Messias they begin on this maner Glory to God in the highest heauens peace on earth And Iohn in his vision heard the angels about the throne crying with a loud voice Worthy is the Lambe c. to receiue power riches and strength wisdome and honour and glory and praise And indeede the highest ende of the ministerie of Angels is the manifestatioÌ„ of the glory of God The second is to stand in Gods presence euermore readie to doe his commandements as Dauid saith Praise the Lord yee his Angels that excell in strength that doe his commandements in obeying the voice of his word And here is a good lesson for vs. Wee pray daily that we may doe the will of God as the Angels in heauen doe it let vs therefore be followers of the holy Angels in praising God and in doing his commandements as they doe The ministerie of Angels concerning the Church standes in this that they are ministering sprits for the good of them which shall be heires of saluation The good is threefold in this life in the ende of this life and in the last iudgemeÌ„t again the good which they procure to the people of god in this life is either in respect of body or soule In respect of the body in that they doe most carefully performe al maner of duties which do necessarily tend to preserue the temporall life of Gods children euen from the beginning of their daies to the ende Dauid saith that they pitch their tents about them that feare the Lord. When Agar was cast forth of Abrahams family and wandered in the wildernesse an angell comes vnto her and giues her counsell to returne to her mistresse and humble her selfe When Elias fled from Iesabel he was both comforted directed and fed by an angel And an angel bidds the same Eliaâ— be of good courage and without feare to goe to King Achazias reproouâ— him Angels bring Lot and his family out of Sodom and Gomorrha before they burne the citties with fire and brimstone When Iacob feared his brother Esau hee sawe angels comming vnto him and he plainely acknowledgeth that they were sent to be his protectours his guides in his iourney Abraham beeing perswaded of the assistance of Gods angels in al his waies said to his seruant The Lord God of heauen who tooke me from my fathers house c. will send his angels before thee The wise men that came to see Christ are admonished by angels to returne another way and Ioseph by the directioÌ„ of an angel fled into Egypt that he might preserue Christ from the hands of the cruel tyrant The tents of the Israelites was garded by angels The three children are deliuered from the fierie furnace and Daniel out of the Lyons denne by angels When Christ was in heauinesse they ministred vnto him and comforted him and they brought Peter out of prison and set him at libertie Againe the angels procure good vnto the soules of the godly in that they are maintainers and furtherers of the true worshippe of God and of all good meanes whereby we attaine to saluation The lawe was deliuered in Mount Sina by angels and a great part of the Reuelation of Iohn They expound to Daniel the seuenty weekes They instruct the Apostles touching the returne of Christ to the last iudgement An angel forbids Iohn to worship him but to worship God the creatour of heauen and earth They fetch the Apostles out of prison and bidde them teach in the temple An angel bringes Philip to the Eunuch that he may expound the Scriptures to him Lastly they reueale the misteries and the will of God as to Abraham that he should not kill his sonne Isaac to Mary and Elizabeth the natiuity of Iohn Baptist of Christ our Sauiour and all this they
euen in the very heauens is turned vpside downe The fourth signe is the rending of the vaile of the temple from the top to the bottome The temple was deuided into two parts the one more inward into which no man might come but the high priest and that once a yeare and it was called the holy of holies the other was that where the people came and offered sacrifices vnto the Lord. Nowe that which parted the temple into these two parts was called the vaile at the time of Christs passion it was rent from the toppe to the very bottome This hath diuers vses I. The holy of holies signified the third heauen where God sheweth himselfe in glory and maiestie vnto his Saints and the rending of the vaile sigureth vnto vs that by the death of Christ heauen which was otherwise shut by our sinnes is now set open and a way made to enter thereto II. It signifieth that by the death of Christ we haue without impediment free accesse to come vnto God the father by earnest praier in the name of Christ which is a most vnspeakable benefit III. It signifieth that by Christs death an end is put to all ceremonies to ceremoniall worship and the sacrifices of the old testament and that therefore in the newe testament there remaineth one onely reall and outward sacrifice that is Christ crucified on the crosse and the whole seruice and worship of God for outward ceremonies most simple and plaine IV. The temple was the chiefe and one of the most principal prerogatiues that the Iewes had it was their glorie that they had such a place wherein they might worship and doe seruice to the true God and for the temples sake God often spared them and therefore Daniel praieth O Lord heare the praier of thy seruant and his supplication and cause thy face to shine vpon the sanctuarie that lieth wast for the Lords sake Yet for all this when they began to crucifie the Lord of life their prerogatiues helpes them not nay they are depriued thereof and God euen with his owne hand rendes the vaile of the temple in sunder signifying vnto them that if they forsake him he will also forsake them And so may we say of the church of England No doubt for the gospels sake we haue outward peace and safetie and many other blessings and are in account with other nations yet if we make no conscience to obey the word of God if we haue no loue of Christ and his members God wil at length remooue his candlesticke from vs and vtterly depriue vs of this ornament of the Gospell and make our land as odious vnto all the world as the land of the Iewes is at this day Let vs therfore with all care and diligence shewe forth our loue both to Christ himselfe and to his members and adorne the gospell which wee professe by bringing forth fruits worthy of it The fifth signe is the earthquake whereby hard rockes were clouen a sunder And it serues very fitly to signifie further vnto vs that the sinne of the Iewes in putting Christ to death was so heauie a burden that the earth could not beare it but treÌ„bled thereat though the Iewes themselues made no bones of it And it is a thing to be wondred at that the earth doeth not often in these daies tremble and quake at the monstrous blasphemies and feareful othes by the wounds and blood and heart of Christ whereby his members are rent asunder and he traiterously crucified againe Secondly the earthquake shewes vnto vs the exceeding and wonderfull hardnes of the hearts of the Iewes and ours also they crucified Christ and were not touched with any remorse and wee can talke and heare of his death yea we can say hee was crucified for our sinnes and yet are we nothing affected therewith our hearts will not rende when as hard rockes cleaue asunder Thirdly the moouing of the eaâ—th and the rending of the rockes asunder may be a signe vnto vs of the vertue of the doctrine of the gospel of Christ which is nothing els but the publishing of the passion of his death which being preached shall shake heauen and earth sea and land It shall mooue the earthen hard and rockie hearts of men and raise vp of meere stones and rockes children vnto Abraham But the maine vse and ende of this point is to prooue that he that was crucified was the true Messias the sonne of God and therefore had the power of heauen and earth and could mooue all things at his pleasure The sixt signe of the power of Christ is that graues did open many bodies of the Saints which slept arose and came out of their graues after his resurrectioÌ„ and went into the holy citie and appeared vnto many The vse of this signe is this it signifies vnto vs that Christ by his death vpon the crosse did vanquish death in the graue and opened itâ— and thereby testified that hee was the resurrection and the life so that it shall not haue euerlasting dominion ouer vs but that he will raise vs vp from death to life and to euerlasting glorie The seuenth signe is the testimonie of the Centurion with his souldiours which stood by to see Christ executed S. Marke saith when he sawe that Christ thus crying gaue vp the ghost he said truely this was the sonne of God Thus wee see it is an easie matter for Christ to defend his owne cause let Iudas betray him Peter denie him and all the rest forsake him yet he can if it so please him make the Centurion that standeth by to see him executed to testify of his innocency But what was the occasion that mooued him to giue so worthie a testimonie S. Matthew saith it was feare and that feare was caused by hearing the loud crie of Christ and by seeing the earthquake things which were done And this must put vs in minde not to passe by Gods iudgements which daily fall out in the world but take knowledge of them and as it were to fixe both our eyes on them For they are notable meanes to strike and astonish the rebellious heart of man and to bring it in awe and subiection to God After that the two first captaines with their fifties commanding the Prophet Elias to come downe to king Achaziah were consumed with fire from heauen the king sent his third captain ouer fiftie with his fiftie to fetch him down but what doth he it is said he fell on his knee before Eliah and besought him saying O man of God I pray thee let my life and the liues of these fiftie seruants be pretious in thine eyes But what was the cause why he praied thus Surely he obserued what iudgements of God fell vpon his two former fellow captaines Behold saith he there came downe fire from heauen and deuoured the two former captaines with their fifties therefore let my life be pretious now in
this temple and in three daies I will build it vp againe more plainly I haue saith he power to lay downe my life and I haue power to take it againe From whence we learne diuers instructions First whereas Christ raiseth himselfe from death to life it serueth to prooue that he was not onely man but also true God For the bodie beeing dead could not bring againe the soule and ioyne it selfe vnto the same and make it selfe aliue againe neither yet the soule that is departed from the bodie can returne againe and quicken the bodie and therefore there was some other nature in Christ namely his godhead which did revnite soule and bodie togither and thereâ—y quicken the manhood Secondly if Christ giue life to himselfe beeing dead in the graue then much more nowe beeing aliue and in heauen glorified is hee able to raise vp his members from death to life Wee are all by nature euen starke dead in sinne as the deade bodie rotten in the graue and therefore our duty is to come to Christ our Lord by humble prayer earnestly intreating him that he would raise vs vp euery day more and more from the graue of our sinnes to newnesse of life He can of men deade in their sinnes make vs aliue vnto himselfe to liue in righteousnes and true holines all the daies of our life The third thing is that Christ rose againe with an earthquake And this serueth to prooue that he lost nothing of his power by death but still remained the absolute Lord and King of heauen and earth to whome therefore the earth vnder his feete trembling doth him homage This also prooueth vnto vs that Christ which lay dead in the graue did raise himselfe againe by his owne almightie power Lastly it serueth to conuince the keepers of the graue the women which came to embalme him and the disciples which came to the sepulchre and would not yet beleeue that he was risen againe But how came this earthquake Ans. Saint Matthew saith there was a great earthquake For the Angel of the Lord descended from heauen c. This shewes that the power of angels is great in that they can mooue and stirre the earth Three angels destroied Sodom and Gomorrha An angel destroied the first borne of Egypt in one night In the hoast of Senacherib one angel slue in one night an hundreth fourescore and fiue thousand men Of like power is the deuill himselfe to shake the earth and to destroy vs all but that God of his goodnesse limits and restraines him of his libertie Well if one angel be able to shake the earth what then will Christ himselfe doe when he shall come to iudgement the second time with many thousand thousands of angels oh how terrible and fearefull will his comming be Not without cause saith the holy Ghost that the wicked at that day shall crie out wishing the hills to fall vpon them and the mountaines to couer them for feare of that great and terrible day of the Lord. The fourth thing is that an Angel ministred to Christ beeing to rise againe in that he came to the graue and rolled away the stone and sate vpon it Where obserue first how the angels of God minister vnto Christ though dead and buried whereby they acknowledge that his power maiestie and authoritie is not included within the bonds of the earth but extends it selfe euen to the heauens themselues and the hosts thereof and that according to his humanitie Wicked men for their parts laboured to close him vp in the earth as the basest of all creatures but the angels of heauen most readily accept him as their soueraigne Lord and king as in like manner they did in his temptation in the wildernes and in his agonie in the garden Secondly that the opinion of the Papists and others which thinke that the bodie of Christ went through the graue-stone when he rose againe is without warrant For the end no doubt why the angel rolled away the stone was that Christ might come forth And indeed it is against the order of nature that one body should passe through another without corruption or alteration of either considering that euery bodie occupies a place and two bodies at the same instant can not be in one proper place Furthermore it is saide that when the angel sate on the stone his countenance was like lightening and his rayment as white as snow and this serued to shew what was the glorie of Christ himselfe For if the seruant and minister be so glorious then endles is the glorie of the lord and master himselfe Lastly it is saide 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 endes 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 and 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 and consider that there is a reuiuing and quickning vertue in the resurrection of Christ wherby he is able not onely to raise our dead bodies vnto life but also when we are dead in sinne to raise vs vp to newnesse of life And in this very point stands a maine difference betweene the resurrection of Christ and 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 and therfore he is called a quickning spirit And let vs marke the order obserued in rising First Christ riseth and theÌ„ the Saints after him And this came to passe to verefie the Scripture which saith that Christ is the first borne of the dead Now he is the first borne of the deadâ— in that he hath this dignitie and priuiledge to rise to eternall life the first of all men It is true indeed that Lazarus and 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 manner And the persons that
it containeth three points The first that Christ beeing now to ascend lifts vp his hands and blessed his disciples In the Scripture are mentioned diuers kinds of blessings The first when one man praieth to God for a blessing vpon an other and this blessing doe Kings and princes bestow vpon their subiects and parents on their children and for this cause children are well taught to aske their fathers and mothers blessing that they may pray to God to blesse them There is an other kinde of blessing when a man doth not onely pray for a blessing but also pronounceth it This did the priests in the old Testament and thus Melchisedeck when he met Abraham blessed him saying Blessed art thou Abraham of God the most high possessour of heauen earth And this was the ordinarie duty of the priests prescribed by God himselfe therefore the very forme of words which they vsed is set downe after this maner The Lord blesse thee and keepe thee the Lord make his face to shine vpon thee c. The third kind of blessing is when a man doth not onely pray to God pronounce blessing but by the spirit of prophecie doth foretell a particular blessing vpon any Thus Isaac blessed Iaacob and Esau particularly foretelling both their estates And Iaacob blessed the twelue Patriarks by the same spirit foretelling them what should befall them many hundred yeares after Now our Sauiour Christ did not blesse his disciples any of these three waies and therefore there remaineth a fourth kinde of blessing which he vsed that was after this manner Christ in blessing his disciples did not onely pronounce or foretell a blessing that should come to his disciples but did conferre giue the same vnto them For he is the fountaine and author of all blessings And therefore Paul saith that God the father hath blessed vs in all spiritual blessings in Christ. Hence we learne first that al those which denie themselues flie to Christ and put their affiance in him shall be freed from the curse of the law from the wrath of God due vnto them for their sinns whatsoeuer they are Secondly that the curses of men must not discourage vs from doing well For though men curse yet Christ blesseth and for this cause he saith Woe be vnto you when all men speake well of you as if he should say then you want the blessing of God And we must remember that when men shall curse vs for doing our dutie euen then the blessing of God shall be vpon vs the curse causeles shall not hurt And God saith to Abraham he will curse them that curs◠him Thirdly we learne that no witchcraft nor sorcerie which often are done with cursing shall be able to hurt vs. For looke where Christ will blesse there all the deuills in hell can neuer fasten a curse This is found true by experiēce For when Balaam the wizzard should haue cursed the people of Israel had assaied to doe it many waies but could not at length he said there is no sorcerie against Iacob nor soothsaying against Israel This is a notable comfort to the people of God that witches and sorcerers doe what they can shall neuer be able to hurt them It may be that their badde practises may annoy mens bodies and goods yet the Lord will turne all to a blessing vpon his seruants either in this life or the life to come The second point is that Christ went apart from his disciples and ascended vpward toward heauen in their sight For the right vnderstanding of this sundrie speciall points must be obserued The first that the lifting vp of his bodie was principally by the mightie power of his godhead and partly by the supernaturall propertie of a glorified bodie which is to mooue as well vpward as downward without constraint or violence The second that Christ did goe from earth to heauen really and actually and not in appearance onely The third that he went visibly in the sight of his disciples The fourth that he went locally by chaunging his place and going from earth to heauen so as he is no more on earth bodily as we are now on earth It may be obiected that Christ made a promise that hee would bee with his Church to the ende of the world Answ. That promise is to be vnderstood of the presence of his spirit or godhead not of the presence of his manhood Againe it may further be alleadged that if the godhead be on earth then must the manhood be there also because they are both vnited together Answ. It is not true that of two things conioined where the one is there must the other be also For the sunne it selfe and the sunne-beames are both ioyned together yet they are not both in all places together For the bodie of the sunne is onely in the heauens but the sunne-beames are also vpon the earth The argument therefore followes not Christs manhood subsists in that person which is euery where ergo his manhood is euery where And the reason is because the Sonne of God subsists not onely in his diuine nature but also by it whereas he doth not subsist at all by the manhoode but onely in it for he subsisted before all eternitie when the manhood was not Nay rather because the manhood doth subsist by the person of the Sonne therefore the person extends it selfe further then the manhood which is assumed and sustained by it and hath his existing thence For that very thing whereby any other thing either essentially or accidentally is extends it selfe further then the thing whereby it is As the humane nature whereby Peter is a man extends it selfe further then to Peter namely to all other men and the whitenesse whereby the snow is white extends it selfe further then to that snow which a man holds in his hand The third point is that in the ascension a cloud tooke Christ from the fight of his disciples And whereas he caused a cloud to come betweene their sight and himselfe it signified vnto them that they must now be contented with that which they had seene and not seeke to know further what became of him afterward and the same thing is taught vnto vs also we must content our selues with that which God hath reuealed in his word and seeke no further specially in things which concerne God For the like ende in the giuing of the law in Sinai God appeared in a cloud and when he did manifest his glorie in the temple which Salomon made a thicke cloud filled the same The fourth point to be considered is concerning the witnesses of his ascension which were his owne disciples in the mount of Oliues at Bethanie and none but they Now it may be demanded why he would not haue all the whol natiō of the Iewes to see him ascend that so they might know that he was risen againe and beleeue in him
a candlesticke Nowe howe much more carefull ought we to be to entertaine God himselfe who is content to come and dwell with vs and therefore we must adorne our bodies and soules with grace that he may lodge and suppe and dine with vs as hee hath promised but on the contrarie if wee defile our bodies with sinne wee banish the Holy Ghost out of our hearts and inuite the deuill to come and dwell with vs. For the more a man defileth his bodie the fitter and cleaner it is for him And to coÌ„clude this point let vs remeÌ„ber that saying which is vsed of some that Christ when he went hence gaue vs his pawne namely his spirit to assure vs that he would come to vs againe and also hee tooke with him our pawne namely his flesh to assure vs further that we should ascend vp to him Thus much for the benefits of Christs ascension Nowe followe the duties whereunto we are mooued and they are two First we must be here admonished to renounce the vbiquitie and the errour of the reall and essentiall presence of the bodie of Christ in the Sacrament of the Lords supper as flatly oppugning this article of Christs ascensioÌ„ into heauen For it is flat against the nature of a true bodie to subsist in many places at once Secondly as the Apostles then did when they sawe Christ ascending vp into heauen so must wee doe also while hee was present with them they gaue him honour but when they saw him ascending they adored him with farre greater reuerence and so must we now for the same cause bowe the knees of our hearts vnto him Thus much of the second degree of the exaltation of Christ. Now followes the third in these words And sitteth at the right hand of God the father almightie In the handling whereof we are first to shewe the meaning of the wordes secondly the comforts and benefits that redound to Gods Church thirdly the duties that we are mooued vnto For the meaning of the words if we speak properly God hath neither right hand nor left neither can he be said to sit or stand for God is not a bodie but a spirit the words therefore containe a borrowed speech from earthly kings and potentates whose manner and custome hath beene to place such persons at their right handes whome they purposed to aduance to any speciall office or dignitie So King Salomon when his mother came to speake with him rose vp from his throne and met het caused a seate to be set at his owne right hand and set her vpon it in token no doubt of honour which he gaue vnto her To the same purpose Dauid saith Vpon thy right hand did stand the Queene in a vesture of gold And the sonnes of Zebedeus made suit to Christ that one of them might sit at his right hand and the other at his left in his kingdome Now their request was to haue the two speciall and principall dignities of his kingdome Thus we see it is manifest that the sitting at the right hand of an earthly prince signifieth aduancement into authoritie and honour and therfore the same phrase of speech applied to Christ signifieth two things First his full and manifest exaltation in dignitie honour and glorie and in this sense it is saide that to him is giuen a name that is aboue all names that at the name of Iesus euery knee shall bowe Secondly it signifieth his full and manifest exaltation into the authoritie and gouernment of his kingdome which spreadeth it selfe ouer heauen and earth So Dauid saith The Lord said vnto my Lord Sit thou at my right hand vntill I make thine enemies thy footstoole Which place beeing alleadged by S. Paul repeating the words but changing the phrase is thus set downe He shall raigne till he haue put all his enemies vnder his feete And to speake in briefe the scope of the wordes is to shewe that Christ God and man after his ascension is aduanced to such an estate in which he hath fulnesse of glorie power maiestie and authoritie in the presence of his father and all the Saints and holy angels Furthermore in the words three circumstances must be obserued The first is the place where Christ is thus aduanced noted in the former article he ascended into heauen and sits namely in heauen at the right hand of God The place then where Christ Iesus in both his natures as he is God and also man doth rule in full glorie power and maiestie is heauen it selfe To which effect Paul saith God raised Christ from the dead and put him at his right hand in the heauenly places And in the Epistle to the Hebrewes it is saide He sitteth at the right hand of the maiestie in highest places This â—oint well considered serues to discouer the ouersight of sundrie Diuines which hold and teach that to sit at the right hand of God is to be euery where in all places and not in heauen onely that they might hereby lay a foundation for the vbiquitie of Christs manhood which neuerthelesse the heauens must containe till the time that all things be restored The second circumstance is the time when Christ began to sit at the right hand of God the father which is to be gathered by the order of the articles For first Christ died and was buried then he rose againe and ascended into heauen and after his ascension he is said to sit at the right hand of his father This order is also noted vnto vs by S. Paul Who shall condemne saith he it is Christ which is dead yea or rather which is risen againe who is also at the right hand of God And S. Marke saith when Christ was risen againe he appeared to his disciples and after he had spoken vnto them he was receiued into heauen and sate at the right hand of God But it may be demanded how this can stand with truth that Christ should not begin to sit at the right hand of his father before the ascension considering he is one God with the father and therfore an absolute and soueraigne King from all eternitie Answ. As Christ is God or the Word of the father he is coequall and coeternall with him in the regiment of his kingdome and hath neither beginning middle or ending thereof yet as Christ is God incarnate and in one person God-man or Man-god he began after his ascention and not before to sit at the right hand of his father as S. Peter saith was made Lord partly because as he was God he did then manifest himselfe to be that which indeede he was before namely God and Lord of heauen and earth and partly because as he was man he receiued dominion or Lordship from the father which he had not before thereby was euen in his manhood exalted to be king of heauen and earth and in this sense Christ saith of himselfe All power
is giuen to me in heauen and earth The third circumstance is concerning the person at whose right hand Christ sits noted in the words of the article of God the father Almightie whereby is signified that he receiues all the honour power glorie of his kingdome from his father as he that is set at the right hand of a prince receiues the honour authoritie which he hath from the prince Nowe if it be alleadged that by this meanes Christ shall be inferiour to his father because he which receiueth honour of another is inferiour to him of whome he receiueth it the answer is that in Christ we must consider his person and his office in respect of his person as he is the eternall sonne of God he is equall to the father and is not here said to sit at his right hand yet in respect of the oâ—fice which he beares namely as he is mediatour and as he is man he is inferiour to the father and receiues his kingdome from him As he is God he is our king and head and hath no head more then the father as he is mediatour he is also our head yet so as hee is vnder the father as beeing his head And we must not thinke it strange that one and the same thing should bee both equall and inferiour to another diuers respects considered Nowe in that Christs placing at the right hand of his father argues inferioritie betweene the father him hence we learne that they are deceiued which from this article gather that in the glorification of Christ there is a transfusion of the proprieties of the godhead as omnipotencie omniscience omnipresence c. into his manhood For this is to abolish all inferioritie and to make an equalitie betweene the creature and the creatour And whereas againe the word Almightie is repeated it is done vpon special reason because Christs sitting at the right hand of God doth presuppose omnipotencie For in vaine were all power in heauen and earth giuen to him vnlesse he were omnipotent as the father to execute the same And therefore the song of the Elders was on this manner Worthie is the Lamb that was killed to receiue power and riches and wisdome and strength and honour and glory and praise The benefits which redound vnto vs by Christs sitting at the right hand of God are two one concernes his priesthood the other his kingly office The benefit rising from his priesthood is his Intercession for vs for this is one of the endes why Christ is now exalted in glorie and sits at the right hand of his father namely to make request in the behalfe of all that come vnto him as Paul saith Christ is risen againe and sitteth at the right hand of God and maketh request for vs. Nowe that we may rightly vnderstand what his intercession is wee are to consider these points First to whome it is made secondly in what manner thirdly whether it be made by Christ alone or no fourthly what be the fruits and benefits thereof fiftly the duties whereunto wee are mooued thereby For the first Intercession is to make suite request or intreaty in some ones behalfe to another and this is done by Christ for vs vnto God as Paul saith there is one God and one mediatour betweene God and man which is the man Christ Iesus Here at the verie first ariseth a difficultie for in euery intercession there be three parties the person offended the person offending the intercessour distinct from them both Now if Christ the sonne of God make intercession to God for man then hee maketh intercession to himselfe because he is true God which cannot be howe then shall Christ be mediatour Ans. This point hath so troubled the Church of Rome that for the resoluing of it they haue deuised an errour auouching that Christ is mediatour onely as he is man not as he is God which is vntrue For as both natures doe concurre in the worke of satisfaction so likewise they doe both concurre in the worke of intercession and therefore a more meete and conuenient answere is this Christ Iesus God-man in both natures is directly our mediatour to the first person the father as S. Iohn saith If any man sinne we haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ the iust And thus we haue three persons in the worke of intercession really distinguished The partie offended is God the Father the partie offending is man thirdly the intercessour distinct froÌ„ them both is Christ the secoÌ„d person in Trinitie For howsoeuer in Godhead he the Father be one yet in person they are really distinguished and hee is as it were in the middle betweene the father and vs for the father is God and not man wee that beleeue in Christ are men not God Christ himselfe both man and God It may be further replyed that this answere will not stand because not onely the father is offended but also the sonne and the holy Ghost and therefore there must be a mediatour to them also Answer The intercession of Christ is directed to the father the first person immediately nowe the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost haue all one indiuisible essence and by consequent one and the same will whereupon the father beeing appeased by Christs intercession the Sonne and the Holy Ghost are also appeased with him and in him Thus then intercession is made to the whole trinitie but yet immediately and directly to the first person and in him to the rest The second point to be considered is the maner of his intercession vnto his father We must not imagine that Christ nowe in heauen kneeles downe on his knees and vtters wordes and puts vp a supplication for all the faithfull to God the father for that is not beseeming the maiestie of him that sits at the right hand of God But the manner of his intercession is thus to be conceiued When one is to speake to an earthly prince in the behalfe of another first of al he must come into the presence of the king and secondly make his request and both these Christ performeth for vs vnto God For the first after his ascension he entred into heauen where he did present vnto his father first of all his owne person in two natures and secondly the inualuable merits of his death and passion in which he was well pleased And we must further vnderstand that as on the crosse he stood in our roome so in heaueÌ„ he now appears as a publike person in our stead representing all the elect that shal beleeue in him as the holy Ghost saith Christ Iesus ascended vp into heauen to appeare in the sight of God for vs. And for the second Christ makes request for vs in that he willeth according to both his natures and desireth as he is man that the father would accept his satisfaction in the behalfe of al that are giuen vnto him And that he makes request on
we see how Gods word bindes conscience now conscience beeing thus bound againe bindes the man in whome it is The bond of conscience is called guiltines Guiltines is nothing else but a worke of the conscience binding euery sinner to the punishment of euerlasting death before God for this or that sinne Thus much of the proper binder of the conscience now followes the improper The improper binder is that which hath no power at all or vertue in it selfe to binde conscience but doth it onely by the authoritie and vertue of Gods word or some part thereof It is threefold Humane lawes an Oath a Promise Touching humane lawes the speciall point to be considered is In what manner they binde That this may in part be cleared I will stand a while to examine and confute the opinion that the very pillars of the Popish Church at this day maintaine namely that Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction haue a coactiue power in the conscience and that the lawes made thereby doe as truly and properly binde as they speake to mortall and veniall sinne as Gods law it selfe The arguments which they commonly vse are these Argum. 1. Deut. 17. That man that will doe presumptuously and not obey the authoritie of the Priest or Iudge shall die and thou shalt take away euill from Israel Here say they the precepts of the high Priest are Imperia not admonitions or exhortations they bind in conscience otherwise the transgressours therof should not haue bin punished so seuerely Ans. The intent of this law as a very child may perceiue is to establish the authoritie and right of the highest appeales for all matters of controuersie in the Synedrium or great court at Ierusalem Therefore the words alleadged doe not giue vnto the Priest a soueraigne power of making laws but a power of giuing iudgemēt of controuersies that according to laws alreadie made by God himself frō which iudgemēt there might be no appeale Now this power of determining doth not cōstraine conscience but the outward man to maintain order peace For what reason is there that that sentence which might be either a gainsaying of Gods law or a mistaking of it should bind the conscience to a sinne Again not euery one that refused to subiect themselues to the sentence of this court were straightway guiltie of sinne for this did Ieremie the Prophet and Christ our Sauiour when the Iewes condēned them for wicked persons but he that presumptuously despised the sentence and by consequent the authoritie it selfe which was the ordinance of God was guiltie Lastly the seueritie of the punishment which is temporall death doth not argue any power in the iudge of binding conscience this they might haue learned of their owne Doctor Gerson who holdeth that they that bind any man to mortall sinne must be able to punish him with answerable punishment which is eternall death Arg. 2. Matth. 16. Whatsoeuer ye shall bind in earth shall be bound in heaven Here say they to binde is to make lawes constraining conscience according to Matth. 23.4 They binde heauie burdens and lay them on mens shoulders Ans. The soueraigne power of binding and loosing is not belonging to any creature but is proper to Christ who hath the keyes of heauen and hell he openeth and no man shutteth he shutteth and no man openeth Reuel 3.5 As for the power of the Church it is nothing but a ministerie or seruice whereby men publish and pronounce that Christ bindeth or looseth Againe this binding stands not in the power of making lawes but in remitting and retaining of mens sinnes as the words going before declare v. 18. If thy brother sinne against thee c. and Christ sheweth his owne meaning when he saith Whose sinnes ye remit they are remitted and whose sinnes ye retaine they are retained Ioh. 20. 23. hauing before in the person of Peter promised them this honour in this forme of words Math. 16. I will giue vnto thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen whatsoeuer thou shalt binde vpon earth shall be bound in heauen This which I say is approoued by consent of auncient Diuines August Psal. 101. serm 2. Remission of sinne saith he is loosing therefore by the law of contraries binding is to hold sinne vnpardoned Hilar. vpon Matth. cap. 18. Whome they binde on earth that is saith he leaue vntied of the knottes of their sinnes Lumberd the popish master of sentences The Lord saith he hath giuen to Priests power of binding and loosing that is of making manifest that men are bound or loosed Againe both Origen Augustine and Theophylact attribute the power of binding to all Christians and therefore they for their parts neuer dreamed that the power of binding should be an authoritie to make lawes Lastly the place Matth. 23.4 ouerturnes the argument for there the Scribes and Pharises are condemned because they laid vpon mens shoulders the burdens of their traditions as meanes of Gods worship and things binding conscience Argum. 3. Act. 15. It seemes good vnto vs and the holy Ghost to lay no more burden on you then these necessarie things that ye abstaine from things offered to idols and blood and that which is strangled and fornication Here say they the Apostles by the instinct of the holy Ghost make a new law not for this or that respect but simply to bind consciences of the Gentiles that they might be exercised in obedience And this is prooued because the Apostles call this law a burden and call the things prescribed necessarie and S. Luke tearmes them the commandements of the Apostles and Chrysostome calls the Epistle sent to the Church Imperium that is a lordly charge To this they adde the testimonies of Tertullian Origen Augustine Ans. Though all be graunted that the law is a burden imposed a precept of the Apostles a charge againe that things required therein are necessarie yet will it not follow by good consequent that the law simply bindes conscience because it was giuen with a reseruation of Christian libertie so as out of the case of scandall that is if no offence were giuen to the weake Iewes it might freely be omitted And that will appeare by these reasons First of all Peter saith that it is a tempting of God to impose vpon the Gentiles the yoke of Iewish ceremonies he therefore must needs be contrarie to himselfe if he intend to binde mens consciences to abstinence from strangled blood and things offered to idols A replie is made that this abstinence is prescribed not by the auncient law of Moses but by a new Ecclesiasticall or Apostolicall authoritie I answer againe that a Mosaicall ceremonie is still the same thing though it be stablished by a new authoritie And whereas Christ by his death put an ende to the ceremoniall lawe it is absurd to thinke that the Apostles by their authoritie reuiued some part of it againe bound mens consciences thereto Secondly the Church of God in
Act. 1. 13. a Ezech 16.6 When I passed by thee I saw thee polluted in thine owne blood and I said vnto thee when thou wast in thy blood thou shalt liue Esai 55.1 Hâ— euery one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and ye that haue no siluer come buie and eate comeâ— I say and buie wine and milke without siluer and without money Ioh. 1.12 As many as receiued him to them he gaue this priuiledge that they should become the sonnes of God namely to them which beleeued in his name b Rom. 7.7 I knew not sinne but by the Law for I had not knowne lust except the Law had said Thou shalt not lust c 1. Ioh. 2.27 But the annointing which ye receiued of him dwelleth in you and ye neede not that any man teach you but as the same annointing teacheth you of all things and is true and is not lying and as it is taught you ye shall abide in him d Act. 16.14 A certaine woman named Lydia a seller of purple of the citie of the Tâ—yatirians a worshipper of God heard vs whose heart God opened that shee attended to the things that Paul spake Psalâ— 40. v. 6. Thou art not delighted with sacrifice and burnt offerings but mine eares hast thou opened Ioh. 6.44 No man can come vnto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him vp at the last day Esai 54.6 The Lord hath called thee beeing as a woman forsaken and as a young wife when thou wast refused saith the Lord. a 1. Cor. 15.18 If Christ be not raised they which are asleepe in Christ are perished Act. 7.60 When he had thus spoken he slept b 1. Cor. 15 3â— O foole that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die c Reu. 21.27 There shal enter into it none vnclean thing neither whatsoeuer worketh abomination or lies but they which are written in the Lambs book of life Rom. 7.25 I my selfe in my mind serue the law of God but in my flesh the law of sinne d Luk. 23.42 He saide to Iesus Lord remember me when thou commest into thy kingdome 43. Then Iesus said to him This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Reu. 14.13 Then I heard a voice from heauen saying vnto me Write Blessed are the dead which hereafter die in the Lord. Euen so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them a Matth. 24. 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those daies shall the Sunne be darkened and the Moone shall not giue her light the starres shall fall from heauen and the powers of heauen shall be shaken 30. And then shall appeare the signe of the Sonne of man in heauen and then shall all the kinreds of the earth mourne and they shal see the Son of man come in the cloudes of heauen with power and great glorie b Luk. 21. 26. Mens hearts shall faile them for feare and for looking after those things which shall come on the world 28. And when these things beginne to come to passe then looke vp and lift vp your heads for your redemption draweth neare 2. Tim. 4.8 Henceforth is laide vp for me the crowne of righteousnes which the Lord the righteous iudge shall give me at that day and not to me onely but vnto them also that loue his appearing a Matth. chap. 24. vers 31. And he shall sende his Angels with a great sound of a trumpet 1. Thess. chap. 4. vers 16. The Lord himselfe shall descend from heauen with a shout euen with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first b Matth. 24. 30. 1. Thess. 4. 17. Then shall we vvhich liue and remaine be caught vp vvith them also in the cloudes to meete the Lord in the ayre and so shall we euer be with the Lord. a 1. Cor. 15. 52. We shall not all sleepe but we shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet 43. b It is sowne in dishonour it is raised in honour it is sowne in weakenes it is raised in power 44. It is sowne a naturall bodie it is raised â— spirituall bodie c. a Ioh. 14. 23. If any man loue me he will keepe my word and my Father will loue him and we will come vnto him and dwell with him 1. Ioh. 4. 15. Whosoeuer confesseth that Iesus Christ is the Sonne of God God dwelleth in him and he in God Reuel 21.3 And I heard a voyce saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himselfe shall be their God with them 23. And that citie hath no neede of sunne or moone to shine in it for the glorie of God did light it and the Lambe is the light of it Reuel 22.2 In the middes of the streete of it and of either side of the riuer was the tree of life which bare twelue manner of fruits and gaue fruit euery moneth and the leaues of the tree serued to heale the nations with 5. And there shall be no night there and they neede no candle nor light of the sunne for the Lord giueth them light and they shall reigne for euermore 1. Cor. 15.45 Rom. 8.11 If the spirit of him that raised vp Iesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised vp Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies because that his spirit dwelleth in you Tit. 1.15 Act. 15.10 2. Tim. 4.3 1. Sam. â— 22.26 Psal. 2.12 Prov. 3.9,10 Luk. 2.25 a Socrat. hist. eccl l. 5. c. 10. b August de Temp. ser. 119. d Ambr. ser. 38. Heb. 6. â— 2â—â—â— a â—uâ—fâ—n in expos Symb â—â—erony ad â—am a Paciâ—nâ—s epiâ—t 1. ad Symâ—ro â— Tim. 1.13 Hab. 1â—1 â— Tim. 1.13 b Aug. seâ—m 119. de temp Caâ—sian li. 6. de incâ—râ—t domini a Cyril Catec 1. Mystag Tertull. de resurrect Origen hom 5. in Num. Act. 8.38 Hâ—b â—◠◠〈◊〉 â—1 〈…〉 Luk. 8.23 Act. 8.19 Math. 7.22 2. Cor. 13. â— 1 pâ—â— 3.12 Gal. 5.6 Math. 7.7 Math. 16 16â— Math. 8.10 and 16. â— Ioh. 4.33 â— 2 Rom. 10.10 â— Pet. 3.21 Heb. â— 4 â—ides estâ—oâ—a copulatiua Exod. 3â— Exo. 3.6.14 1. Tim. 1.17 a Psal. 82.6 b Exod. 4.16 c â— Cor. 4.4 â— Cor. 8.4 â—oâ— 17.3 Mark 9.24 â—sal 42.12 2. Chr. 16.12 Rom. 10. â—â— â— Tim. 1.12 â— Pet. 4.19 â— Chr. 34.27 â— Chr. 3â— â— Chr. 20.20 Hebr. 5.7 Psal. â—â— Dan. 6 2â— Psal. 78 21,2â— a Hebr. 1.3 Gal. 4.8 b Specie c Numero Math. 3. 16,17 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The meaning Math. 23.9 a Heb. 12.9 b Luk. 3.38 c Esa. 9.6 d Esa. 53.10 e Esa. 8.18 Ier. 3.4,19 Matth. 6.4 Iob 17.14 Ioh. 8.44 Prov. 10.1 Math. 12.50 Mal. 1.6 Math. 5.45 Psal. 68.5 Iob 29 1â— â—6 Math. 6.26 Heb. 12â—â— 2.
is euident 1. by the course of nature 2. by the nature of the soule of man 3. by the distinction of things honest and dishonest 4. by the terrour of conscience 5. by the regiment of ciuill societies 6. the order of all causes hauing euer recourse to some former beginning 7. the determination of all things to their seuerall ends 8. the consent of all men well in their wits God is Iehouah Elohim Exod. 6.2 And Elohim spake vnto Moses and said vnto him I am Iehouah and I appeared vnto Abraham to Isaac and to Iacob by the name of God almightie but by my name Iehouah was I not knowne vnto them Exod 3.13 If they say vnto me What is his name What shall I say vnto them And God answered Moses I am that I am Also he said thus shalt thou say vnto the children of Israel I am hath sent me vnto you And God spake further to Moses Thus shalt thou say vnto the children of Israel Iehouah Elohim c. hath sent me vnto you In these wordes the first title of God declareth his Nature the second his Persons The Nature of God is his most liuely and most perfect essence The perfection of the nature of God is his absolute constitution by the which he is wholly complete within himselfe Exod. 3. 13. I am that I am Act. 17.24 God that made the world and all things that are therein seeing that he is the Lord of heauen and earth dwelleth not in temples made with hands neither is worshipped with mens hands as though he needed any thing seeing he giueth to all life and breath and all things The perfection of his Nature is either Simplenes or the Infinitenes therof The Simplenesse of his nature is that by which he is void of all Logical relation He hath not in him subiect or adiunct Ioh. 5.26 As the Father hath life in himselfe so hath he giuen to the Sonne to haue life in himselfe conferred with Ioh. 14.6 I am the way the truth and the life 1. Ioh. 1.7 But if we walke in light as he is in light conferred with v. 5. God is light and in him is no darkenesse Hence it is manifest that to haue Life and to be Life to be in Light and to be Light in God are all one Neither is God subiect to generalitie or specialtie whole or parts matter or that which is made of matter for so there should be in God diuers things and one more perfect then another Therefore whatsoeuer is in God is his essence and all that he is he is by essence The saying of Augustine in his 6. booke and 4. chap. of the Trinitie is fit to prooue this In God saith he to be and to be iust or mightie are all one but in the minde of man it is not all one to be and to be mightie or iust for the minde may be destitute of these vertues and yet a minde Hence it is manifest that the Nature of God is immutable and Spirituall Gods immutabilitie of nature is that by which he is void of all composition diuision and change Iam. 1. 17. With God there is no variablenesse nor shadowe of changing Mal. 3.6 I am the Lord and am not changed Where it is saide that God repenteth c. Gen. 6.6 the meaning is that God changeth the action as men doe that repent therefore repentance it signifieth not any mutation in God but in his actions and such things as are made and chaunged by him Gods Nature is spirituall in that it is incorporall and therefore inuisible Ioh. 4.24 God is a spirit 2. Cor. 3. 17. The Lord is the spirit 1. Tim. 1.17 To the King eternall immortall inuisible onely wise God be glorie and honour for euer and euer Col. 1.15 Who is the image of the inuisible God The infinitenesse of GOD is twofolde his Eternitie and Exceeding greatnesse Gods eternitie is that by which he is without beginning and ending Psal. 90. 2. Before the mountaines were made and before thou hadst formed the earth and the round world euen from euerlasting to euerlasting thou art our God Revel â— 8. I am Alpha and Omega that is the beginning and ending saith the Lord Which is Which was and Which is to come Gods exceeding greatnes is that by which his incomprehensible nature is euery where present both within and without the world Psal. 145.3 Great is the Lord and worthie to be praised and his greatnes is incomprehensible 1. King 8.27 Is it true indeede that God will dwell on the earth behold the heauens and the heauens of heauens are not able to containe thee how much lesse is this house that I haue built Ier. 23. 24. Doe not I fill the heauen and earth saith the Lord Hence it is plaine First that he is onely one and that indiuisible not many Eph. 4.5 One Lord one faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all Deut. 4. 35. Vnto thee it was shewed that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God and that there is none but he alone 1. Cor. 8.4 We know that an idoll is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one And there can be but one thing infinite in nature Secondly that God is the knower of the heart For nothing is hidden from that nature which is within all things and without all things which is included in nothing nor excluded from any thing Because 1. King 8. 39. the Lord searcheth all hearts and vnderstandeth euery worke of the minde Psal. 139.1,2 Thou knowest my sitting downe and my rising vp thou vnderstandest my cogitation a farre off CHAP. 3. Of the life of God HItherto we haue spoken of the perfection of Gods nature Now followeth the life of God by which the Diuine Nature is in perpetuall action liuing and moouing in it selfe Psal. 42. 2. My soule thirsteth for God euen for the liuing God when shall I come and appeare before the presence of God Hebr. 3. 12. See that there be not at any time in any of you an euill heart to depart from the liuing God The diuine Nature is especially in perpetual operation by three attributes the which doe manifest the operation of God towards his creatures These are his Wisdome Will and Omnipotencie The wisdome or knowledge of God is that by the which God doth not by certaine notions abstracted from the things themselues but by his owne essence nor successiuely and by discourse of reason but by one eternall and immutable act of vnderstanding distinctly and perfectly know himselfe and all other things though infinite whether they haue beene or not Matth. 11.27 No man knoweth the Sonne but the Father nor the Father but the Sonne and he to whome the Sonne will reueale him Hebr. 4. 13. There is nothing created which is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and open to his eyes with whome we haue to doe Psal. 147.5 His wisdome is infinite Gods wisdome hath these
by which he onely permitteth one and the same worke to be done of others as it is euill but as it is good he effectually worketh the same Gen. 50.20 You indeede had purposed euill against me but God decreed that for good that he might as he hath done this day preserue his people aliue And Gen. 45.7 God hath sent me before you to preserue your posteritie in this land Esai 10. 5 6 7. Woe vnto Asshur the rod of my wrath and the staffe in their hands is mine indignation I will send him to a dissembling nation and I will giue him a charge against the people of my wrath to take the spoile to take the praie and to tread them vnder feete like the myre in the streete But he thinketh not so neither doth his heart esteeme it so but he imagineth to destroy and to cut off not a few nations God permitteth euill by a certaine volunâ—arie permission in that he forsaketh the second cause in working euill And he forâ—aketh his creature either by detracting the grace it had or not bestowing that which it wanteth Rom. 1.26 For this cause God gaue them vp vnto vile affections 2. Tim. 2.25 26. Instructing them with meekenes that are contrarie minded proouing if God at any time will giue them repentance that they may know the trueth and that they may come to amendment out of the snare of the diuell which are taken of him at his will Neither must we thinke God vniust who is indebted to none Rom. 9.15 I will haue mercy on him to whome I will shew mercie Yea it is in Gods pleasure to bestowe how much grace and vpon whome he will Matth. 20.15 Is it not lawfull for me to doe as I will with mine owne That which is euill hath some respect of goodnes with God first in that it is the punishment of sinne and punishment is accounted a morall good in that it is the part of a iust Iudge to punish sinne Secondly as it is a meere action or act Thirdly as it iâ— a chastisement a triall of ones faith martyrdome propitiation for sinne as the death and passion of Christ. Act. 2.23 and 4.24 And if we obserue these caueats God is not onely a bare permissiue agent in an euill worke but a powerfull effectour of the same yet so as he neither instilleth an aberration into the action nor yet supporteth or inteÌ„deth thesame but that he most freely suffereth euill and best disposeth of it to his own glorie The like we may see in this similitude Let a man spurre forward a lame horse in that he mooueth forward the rider is the cause but that he halteth he himselfe is the canse And againe wee see the sunne beames gathering themselues into a sunne glasse they burne such things as they light vpon now that they burne the cause is not in the sunne but in the glasse The like may bee said of Gods action in an euill subiect CHAP. 7. Of Predestination and Creation GOds decree in as much as it concerneth man is called Predestination which is the decree of God by the which he hath ordained all men to a certaine and euerlasting estate that is either to saluation or condemnation for his owne glorie 1. Thes. 5.9 For God hath not appointed vs vnto wrath but to obtaine saluation by the meanes of our Lord Iesus Christ. Rom. 9.13 As it is written I haue loved Iacob and hated Esau. and vers 22. What and if God would to â—hewe his wrath and to make his power knowne suffer with long patience the vessels of wrath prepared to destruction and that he might declare the riches of his glorie vpon the vessells of mercie which he hath prepared vnto glorie The meanes of accomplishing Gods Predestination are two fold The creation and the fall The creation is that by which God made all things very good of nothing that is of no matter which was before the creation Gen. 1.1 In the beginning God created the heauen c. to the end of the chapter Gods manner of creating as also of gouerning is such as that by his word alone he without any instruments meanes assistance or motion produced al sorts of things For to will any thing with God is both to be ableâ— and to performe it Heb. 11.3 By faith we vnderstand that the world was ordained by the word of God so that the things which wee see are not made of things which did appeare Psal. 148.5 Let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created The goodnes of the creature is a kind of excellencie by which it was void of all sinne that is free from punishment and transgression The creation is of the world or inhabitants in the world The world is a most beutifull palace framed out of a deformed substance and fit to be inhabited The parts of the world are the heauens and earth The heauens are threefold the first is the aire the second the skie the third an inuisible and incorporall essence created to bee the seate of all the blessed both men and Angels This third heauen is called Paradise 2. Cor. 13.4 The inhabitours of the world are reasonable creatures made according to Gods owne image they are either Angels or men Gen. 1. 26. Furthermore God said Let vs make man in our owne image according to our likenes Iob. 1.6 When the children of God came and stood before the Lord Satan came also among them The image of God is the integritie of the reasonable creature resembling God in holines Eph. 4. 24. And put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse CHAP. 8. Of Angels THe Angels each of them beeing created in the beginning were setled in an vpright estate In whome these things are to be noted First their nature Angels are spirituall and incorporall essences Heb. 2. 16. For he in no sort tooke the Angels but he tooke the seede of Abraham Heb. 1.7 And of the Angels he saith he maketh the spirits his messengers and his ministers a flame of fire Secondly their qualities First they are wise 2 Sam. 14.18 My lord the king is euen as an Angel of God in hearing good and badde 2. They are of great might 2. Thes. 1.7 When the Lord Iesus shall shew himselfe from heauen with his mighty Angels 2. Sam. 24. Dauid sawe the Angel that smote the people 2. King 19.35 The same night the Angel of the Lord went out and smote in the campe of Ashur an hundreth fourescore and fiue thousand 3. They are swift and of great agilitie Esay 6,6 Then flewâ— one of the Seraphims vnto me with an hotte cole in his hand Dan. 9 21â— The man Gabriel whome I had seene before in a vision came flying and touched me This is the reason why the Cherubins in the Tabernacle were painted with winges Thirdly they are innumerable Gen. 3.2 Now Iacob weÌ„t forth on his iourney and the angel of God met him
beare them and when you shall stretch forth your handes I will hide mine eies from you and though you make many praiers I will not heare for your handes are full of blood 2. Tim. 3.5 Which haue a shew of godlines but denie the force thereof such therefore auoyd VII The manifest prophanation of the Sabboth in pampering the belly surfeting adulterie and other like prophanenesse which is nothing els but to celebrate a Sabboth to the diuell and not to God CHAP. 24. Of the fifth commandement HItherto we haue spoken of the commandements of the first table nowe followeth the secōd table which concerneth the loue of our neighbour Rom. 13.9 Thou shalt not commit adulterie thou shalt not kill thou shalt not steale thou shalt not beare false witnes thou shalt not couet and if there be any other commandement it is briefly comprehēded in this saying namely thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe Our neighbour is euery one which is of our owne flesh Esa. 58.7 When thou seest the naked couer him and hide not thy selfe from thine owne flesh The manner of louing is so to loue our neighbour as our selues to witte truly and sincerely when as contrarily the true manner of louiug God is to loue God without measure The second table containeth sixe Commandements whereof the first in the order of the ten commandements the fift concerneth the preseruation of dignity and excellencie of our neighbour The words are these Honour thy Father and thy mother that they may prolong thy daies in the lande which the Lord thy God giueth thee The Resolution Honour This Word by the figure signifieth all that dutie whereby our neighbours dignitie is preserued but especially our Superious This dignitie proceedeth of this that euery man beareth in him some part of the image of God if we respect the outward order and decency which is obserued in the Church and common wealth In the Magistrate there is a certaine image of the power and glory of God Dan. 2.37 O King thou art a King of Kings for the God of heauen hath giuen thee a kingdome power and strength glorie Hence is it that Magistrates are called Gods Psal. 82. 1. In an olde man is the similitude of the eternity of God in a father the likenesse of his fatherhood Math. 2◠9 And call no man your father vpon the earth for there is but one your Father which is in heauen In a man is the image of Gods prouidence and authoritie 1 Cor. 11.7 For a man ought not to couer his head because he is the image of the glory of God but the woman is the glory of her husband Finally in a learned man is the likenesse of the knowledge and wisdome of God Nowe therefore that person in whome euen the least title of the image of God appeareth is to be be honoured and reuerenced Thy father By a figure we must here vnderstand all those that are our superiours as Parents and such like of our kindred or aliance which are to vs in stead of Parents Magistrates Ministers our Elders and those that doe excell vs in any gifts whatsoeuer The kings of Gerar were called Abimelech my father the king Gen. 20.2 Gen. 45.8 God hath made me a father vnto Pharaoh and Lord ouer all his house 1. Cor. 4.15 For though ye haue ten thousand instructers in Christ yet haue ye not many Fathers for in Christ Iesus I haue begotten you 2. King 5.13 But his seruants came and spake vnto him and said Father if the Prophet had commanded thee a great thing◠wouldest thou not haue done it 2. King ◠12 And Elisha sawe it and he cried My Father my Father my Father the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof And thy mother This is added least we should despise our mothers because of their infirmities Prou. 23.22 Obey thy father which hath begotten thee and despise not thy mother when shee is olde Here we are put in mind to performe due honour to our stepmothers and fathers in law as if they were our proper and naturall parents Ruth 3. 1. and 5. Afterward Naomi her mother in lawe said vnto her My daughter shall not I seeke rest for thee that thou maiest prosper And shee answered her All that thou biddest me I will do Exod. 18.17 But Moses father in law said vnto him The thing which thou doest is not well 19. Heare nowe my voice I will giue thee counsell and God shall be with thee 24. So Moses obeied the voice of his father in law and did all that he had said Mich. 7.6 For the sonne reuileth the Father the daughter riseth vp against her mother the daughter in law against her mother in lawe That they may prolong Parents are said to prolong the liues of their children because they are Gods instruments whereby their childrens liues are prolonged for oftentimes the name of the action is attributed to the instrument wherewith the action is wrought Luk. 16.9 Make you friendes with the riches of iniquitie that when ye shall want they may receiue you into euerlasting habitations 1. Tim. 4.16 For in doing so tho◠shalt both saue thy selfe and them that heare thee But Parents doe prolong the liues of their children in commanding them to walke in the waies of the Lord by exercising iustice and iudgement Gen. 18.19 For beeing become godly they haue the promise both of this life and the life to come 1. Tim. 4.8 Further they effect the same thing by their praiers made in the behalfe of their children Hereby it plainely appeareth that the vsuall custome of children saluting their parents to aske them their blessing is no light or vaine thing Moreouer in these words the reason to mooue vs to the obedience of this commandement is drawne from the ende which reason is also a promise yet a speciall promise Eph. 6. 2. Honour thy father and thy mother which is the first commandement with promise I say speciall because the promise of the second commandement is generall and belongeth to all the rest of the commandements And God promiseth long life not absolutely but so farre as it is a blessing Eph. 6.3 That it may be well with thee and that thou maiest liue long on earth For wee must thinke that long life is not alwaie a blessing but that sometime it is better to die then to liue Esay 57.1 The righteous perisheth and no man considereth it in heart and mercifull men are taken away and no man vnderstandeth that the righteous is taken away from the euill to come But if at any time the Lord giueth a short life to obedient children hee rewardeth them againe with eternall life in heauen and so the promise faileth not but changeth for the better The affirmative part Preserue the dignitie of thy neighbour Vnder this part is commaunded First reuerence towards all our superiours the actions whereof are reuerently to rise vp before any man which passeth by vs. Leu. 19.32 Rise vp
noise like to that of charriot wheeles suddenly passe away and the elements with the earth and all therein shall be dissolued with fire 2. Pet. 3. 12. Lâ—â—king for and hâ—â—sting vnto the comming of the day of God by which the heauens beeing 〈◊〉 shall be dissolued and the elements shall melt with heate 13. 〈…〉 new heauens and a new earth according to his promise wherein d 〈…〉 ousness At the same time when as all these things shall come to passe 〈◊〉 sound of the last trumpet shall be heard sounded by the Archangâ—â—â— And Christ shall come suddenly in the cloudes with power and glorie and a great traine of Angels III. Now at the sound of the trumpet the Elect which were dead shal arise with their bodies and those very bodies which were turned to dust and one part rent from another shall by the omnipotent power of God be restored and the soules of them shall descend from heauen and be brought againe into those bodies As for them which then shall be aliue they shall be changed in the twinckling of an eye and this mutation shall be in stead of death And at that time the bodies shall receiue their full redemption and all the bodies of the Elect shall be made like the glorious bodie of Christ Iesus and therefore shall be spirituall immortall glorious and free from all infirmitie IV. Last of all when they are all conuented before the tribunall seate of Christ he will forthwith place the Elect seuered from the reprobate and taken vp into the aire at his right hand and to them being written in the booke of life will he pronounce this sentence Come ye blessed of my father possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the foundations of the world Matth. 25.33 He shall set the sheepe on his right hand and the goates on the left 1. Thess. 4. 17. Reu. 20. 12. whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the lake of fire CHAP. 50. Of the estate of the Elect after iudgement THe last iudgement beeing once finished the Elect shall enioy immediatly blessednes in the kingdome of heauen Blessednes is that whereby God himselfe is all in all his Elect. 1. Cor. 15. 28. When all things shall be subdued to him then shall the Sonne also himselfe be subiect vnto him that did subdue all things vnder him that God may be all in all And it is the reward of good workes not because workes can merit but by reason of Gods fauour who thus accepteth workes and that in respect of the merit of Christs righteousnes imputed to the Elect. Rom. 6.23 The wages of sinne is death but eternall life is the gift of God through Iesus Christ our Lord. 2. Tim. 4. 8. Reu. 22. 12. Behold I come shortly and my reward is with me to giue euery man according as his worke shall be Blessednesse hath two parts Eternall life and perfect glorie Eternall life is that fellowship with God whereby God himselfe is thorough the Lambe Christ life vnto the Elect. For in the kingdome of heauen the Elect shall not neede meat drinke sleepe aire heat cold phisicke apparell or the light of the Sunne and moone b but in place of all these shall they haue in them Gods spirit by which immediatly they shall be quickned for euer Perfect glorie is that wonderfull excellencie of the Elect wherby they shal be in a farre better estate then any heart can wish This glorie consisteth in three points I. In that they shall still behold the face of God which is his glory and maiestie Reuel 22.4 And they shall see his face and his name shall be in their forheads Psal. 17.15 I will behold thy face in righteousnes and when I awake I shall be satisfied with thine anger II. In that they shall be most like to Christ namely iust holy incorruptible glorious honorable excellent beautifull strong mightie and nimble 1. Ioh. 3.2 Dearely beloued now are we the sonnes of God but yet it doth not appeare what we shall be and we knowe that when he shall appeare we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Phil. 3.21 Who shall change our vile bodie that it may be fashioned like vnto his glorious bodie according to the working whereby he is able euen to subdue all things to himselfe III. They shall inherit the kingdome of heauen yea the newe heauens and newe earth shal be their inheritance 1. Pet. 1.4 God hath begotten you to an inheritance immortall vndefiled and that fadeth not away reserued in heauen for you Mat. 25.34 Then shall the king say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father possesse a kingdome prepared for you before the foundations of the world were laid Reu. 5.10 Thou hast made vs vnto our God kings and priests and we shall raigne on the earth Reuel 21.7 Hee that ouercommeth shall inherite all things and I will be his God he shall be my sonne The fruit that commeth from both these parts of blessednes is of two sorts Eternall ioy and the perfect seruice of God Psal. 16.11 Thou wilt shewe me the path of life in thy presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for euermore Psal. 36.8 They shall be satisfied with the fatnes of thine house and thou shalt giue them drinke out of the riuer of thy pleasures 9. For with thee is the well of life and in thy light shall we see light The parts of Gods seruice are Praise and Thanksgiuing Reuel 21.3 And I heard a great voice out of heauen saying behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himselfe shall be their God with them Chap. 5.12 Saying with a loud voice Worthy is the Lambe that was killed to receiue power and riches and wisdome and strength and honour and glory and praise c. 13. Chap. 11.17 The foure and twentie Elders which sate before God on their seates fell vpon their faces and worshipped God saying Wee giue thee thanks Lord God Almightie which art and Which wa st and Which art to come for thou hast receiued thy great might and hast obtained thy kingdome The manner of performing this seruice is to worship God by God himselfe immediately In heauen there shall neither be temple ceremonie nor Sacrament but all these wants shal God himselfe supply togither with the LaÌ„be that is Christ. Reuel 21.22 I sawe no temple therein for the Lord God Almightie and the Lambe are the Temple of it This seruice shall be daily and without intermission Reuel 7.15 They are in the presence of the throne of God and serue him day and night in his temple A Corollarie or the last conclusion THus God in sauing the Elect doeth clearely set forth his iustice and mercy His iustice in that he punished the sinnes of the elect in his Sonnes owne person His
Ghost yea and more then this we must hold and beleeue that God the father is our father the Sonne our redeemer the holy Ghost our sanctifier and comforter Well then if we must in this manner beleeue in God then we must also know him for we can haue no faith in the thing which is vtterly vnknowne Wherefore if we would beleeue in the father sonne or holy Ghost we must know them in part Ioh. 17. This is life eternall to know thee the onely God and whome thou hast sent Iesus Christ. Ioh. 14. 17. The world can not receiue the spirit of truth because it hath neither seene him nor knowne him 1. Ioh. 2.23 Whosoeuer denieth the sonne hath not the father Thirdly this doctrine directs vs in worshipping God aright for vnitie in trinitie and trinitie in vnitie is to be worshipped one God must be worshipped in the Father in the Sonne and in the holy Ghost and if wee worship God the father without the Sonne and the holy Ghost or if we worship the Sonne without the father and the holy Ghost and the holy Ghost without the father and the Sonne we worship nothing but an Idol Againe if we worship the three persons not as one God but as three Gods then likewise we make three Idols Note further that of all the three persons the first person the Father is set in the first place and described to vs by three things I. by his title that hee is a Father II. by his attribute that he is Almightie III. by his effect that he is maker of heauen and earth of these in order as they lie in the Creed And first of the title Father It may seeme that he hath some prerogatiue ouer the Sonne and the holy Ghost because he is set before them but wee must knowe that hee is set before them neither in regard of timeâ— nor of dignitie for therein all three are equall but in regard of order onely The Father is the first the Sonne the second and the holy Ghost the third as may appeare by this similitude If three Emperours equall in dignitie should meete all in one place beeing equall also in power and maiestie if all three should sit downe though one be no better then an other yet one of them must needes sit downe the first and an other in the second place and then the third but yet we cannot say that he which sate downe first is the chiefest And so it is in the Trinitie though none be greater or aboue another yet the Father is in the first place not because he is before the Sonne or the holy Ghost in dignitie or honour but because he is the fountaine of the Deitie the Sonne beeing from him and the holy Ghost from them both Now let vs come to the title of the first person The name Father in Scriptures is ascribed either to God taken indefinitely and so by consequent to all the three persons in Trinitie or particularly to the first person alone For the first God is a father properly and principally according to the saying of Christ Call no man father vpon earth for there is but one your father which is in heauen that is principally whereas earthly parents whome we are commaunded to worship and honour are but certaine images or resemblances of our heauenly Father hauing this blessing that they are fathers from him And hereupon this title agrees to men not simply but so farre forth as God honoureth them with fatherhoode in calling them to be fathers whereas God himselfe receiues this honour from none God is tearmed a Father in respect both of nature and grace He is a father in regarde of natureâ— because he created and gouerneth all things In this regard he is called the father of spirits and Adam is called the Sonne of God He is a father in respect of grace because we are regenerate by him and accepted to be his sonnâ—s by adoption thorough the merite of Christ. And in this respect the second person as well as the first is called a Father and saide to haue an offspring or seede and children But when the name of Father is giuen to the first person it is done vpon a speciall consideration because he is a father by nature to the fe 〈◊〉 â—erson begetting him of his owne substance before all worldes By thâ—◠〈◊〉 â—â—peares that out of the title of the first person we may fetch a â—â—â—cription thereof on this manner The Father is the first person in Trinitie begetting the sonne Nowe to beget is the personall proprietie whereby he is distinguished from the other two If it be saide that creatures doe beget and that therefore to beget is not proper to the father the answer is that in this point there are many differences betweene God the father and all creatures First the father begets the sonne before all eternitie and therefore God the father begetting and the sonne begotten are equall in tâ—me whereas in earthly generation the father is before the sonne in time Secondly God the father begets his Sonne by communicating to him his whole essence or godhead which can not be in earthly parents vnlesse they should be abolished and come to nothing Whereas neuerthelesse God the Father giuing his whole nature to his sonne retaines the same still because it is infinite Thirdly the father begets the sonne in himselfe and not forth of himselfe but in earthly generation the father begetting is forth of the child and the child forth of the father And that must not trouble vs which heretiques alleadge against this doctrine namely that if the father who is of one nature with the sonne did beget the sonne then he did beget himselfe for the godhead of the father doth not beget either the godhead or the person of the sonne but the person of the father begets the person of the sonne both which in one godhead are really distinct Thus we see what the Father is Now to beleeue in the father is to be perswaded that the first person in Trinitie is the father of Christ and in him my father particularly that for this cause I intend and desire for euer to put my truâ—t in him The duties which we may learne hence are manifold And here we haue occasion offered first of all to consider who is our father by nature I shall say to corruption saith Iob thou art my father and to the worme thou art my mother seeing God vouchsafeth this great prerogatiue to them that loue him that he will be their father therefore Iob in consideration hereof would haue euery man to haue recourse to his owne naturall condition to see who is his father by natureâ— Iob saith corruption is his father but if we marke well the condition of our nature we shall further see euery man to be the childe of wrath and that Sathan is his father for so long as a man walkes in his sinnes which euery
is a creatour of heauen and earth of both which wee will speake in order and first of the creation of heauen Heauen in Gods worde signifieth all that is aboue the earth for the ayre wherein we breath is called heauen And according to this acceptation of the word there are three heauens as Paul saith He was taken vp into the third heauen The first of these heauens is that space which is from the earth vpwarde vnto the firmament where the starrs are Thus the birds which flie in the aire betweene the earth and the starres are called the foules of the heauen and when God sent the flood to drowne the olde world Moses saith the windows of heauen were opened meaning that God powred downe raine from the cloudes aboundantly for the making of a flood to drowne the world The second heauen is that which containeth the Sunne the Moone and the starres so Moses saith that God in the beginning created the Sunne the Moone and the starrs and placed them in the firmament of heauen Besides these two heauens there is a third which is inuisible and yet it is the worke of Gods handes and it is that glorious place where Christ euen in his manhoode sitteth at the right hand of the father and whither the soules of the faithfull departed are carried and placed and in which at the ende of the world shall all the elect both in body and soule haue perfect ioy and blisse in the glorious sight and presence of God for euer But for the better conceiuing the trueth wee are to skanne and consider diligently three questions First whether this third heauen be a creature for many haue thought it was neuer created but was eternall with God himselfe but it is a grosse errour contrarie to Gods word For the Scripture saith Abraham looked for a cittie meaning the heauenly Ierusalem this third heauen hauing a foundation whose builder and maker is God Further if it be eternall it must either be Creator or a creature but it is no creator for then it should be God and therefore it must needs be a creature But some will say the Lord is eternall and this third heauen hath alwaies beene the place of the Lordes aboade and therefore it is also eternall Answer True it is indeede that God doth shewe his glorie and maiestie in the third heauen but yet that cannot possibly containe his Godhead as Salomon saith Beholde the heauens and the heauens of heauens are not able to containe thee Wherefore though God doth manifest his eternall glorie in this third heauen yet doth it not followe that therefore this place should bee eternall for hee needes no habitation to dwell in hee is euery where filling all things with his presence excluded from no place The second question is where this third heauen is Aâ—â—were There are some protestants say it is euery where and they holde this opinion to maintaine the reall presence of the Lordes bodie in or about the Sacrament But if it were euery where then hell should be in heauen which no man will say but heauen indeede is aboue these visible heauens which wee see with our eies so the Apostle saith Christ ascended on high farre aboue all heauens c. And againe it is said of Steuen that beeing full of the holy Ghost Hee looked vp steadfastly into the heauens and sawe them open and the sonne of man standing at the right hand of God Thirdly it may bee demaunded why God created this third heauen Answer God made it for this cause that there might bee a certaine place wherein he might make manifest his glorie and maiestie to his elect angels and men for the which cause it was created a thousand fold more glorious then the two former heauens are and in this respect it is called Paradise by reason of the ioy and pleasure arising from Gods glorious presence And our Sauiour Christ calleth it the house of God his father because into it must be gathered all gods children It is called the kingdome of heauen because God is the king thereof and ruleth there in perfect glorie True it is God hath his kingdome here on earth but he ruleth not so fully and gloriouslie here as he â—hall in heauen for this is the kingdome of grace but that is the kingdome of his glorie where he so raigneth that he will be all in all first in Christ then in the elect both angels and men Nowe followe the duties whereunto we are mooued principally in consideration of the making of the third heauen First if God created it especially for the manifestion of his glory vnto men that at the ende of this worlde by the fruition of Gods most glorious presence there they might haue perfect ioy and felicitie we haue occasion here to consider the wonderfull madnesse and forgetfulnesse that raigneth euery where among men which onely haue regard to the estate of this life and cast all their care on this worlde and neuer so much as once dreame of the ioyfull and blessed estate which is prepared for Gods children in the highest heauen If a man hauing two housesâ— one but a homely cottage and the other a princely pallace should leaue the better and take all the care and paines for the dressing vp of the first would not euery man say he were a madde man yes vndoubtedly And yet this is the spirituall madnesse that takes place euery where among men for God hath prepared for vs two houses one is this our bodie which we beare about vs which is an house of clay as Iob saith We dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is dust which shal be destroyed before the moth as Peter saith a tabernacle or tent which we must shortly take downe and wherein we abide but as pilgrimes and straungers Againe the same God of his wonderfull goodnesse hath prouided for vs a second house in the third heauen wherein wee must not abide for a time and so depart but for euermore enioy the blessed felicitie of his glorious presence For all this marke a spirituall phrensie possessing the mindes of men for they imploy all their care and industrie for the maintaining of this house of clay whose foundation is but dust but for the blessed estate of the second house which is prepared for them in the kingdom of heauen they haue little regard or care They will both runne and ride from place to place day and night both by sea and land but for what Is it for the preparing of a mansion place in the heauenly Ierusalem Nothing lesse for they will scarse goe forth of the doore to vse any meanes whereby they may come vnto it but all their studie is to patch vp the ruines and breaches of their earthly cabbine Now let all men iudge in their owne consciences whether as I haue said this be not more then senselesse madnesse Againe the bodie is but a tabernacle
so we may become bone of his bone flesh of his flesh beeing iustified and sanctified by his obedience death and passion Fifthly man was created that there might be a way prepared wherby God might shew his grace and mercie in the saluation of some and his iustice in the deserued damnation of others for their sinnes and in the creation of man Gods eternall counsell beginnes to come into execution Hereupon it stands vs in hand to make conscience of euery euill way beeing repentant for all our sinnes past and hauing a constant purpose neuer to sinne more as we haue done that by our good conuersation here in this life we may haue assurance that we be eternally chosen to saluation by the Lord himselfe Lastly whereas we haue learned that the soule of man is immortall we are hereby taught to take more care for the soule then for the bodie For it can not be extinguished When it is condemned euen then it is alwaies in dying and can neuer die But alas in this point the case is flat contrarie in the woâ—ld for men labour all their liues long to get for the bodie but for the soule they care little or nothing at all whether it sinke or swimme goe to heauen or to hell they respect not This doth appeare to be true by the practise and behauiour of men on the Lords day for if the number of those which come to heare Gods word were compared with those which runne about their worldly wealth and pleasure I feare me the better sort would be found to be but a little handfull to a huge heape or as a droppe to the Ocean sea in respect of the other But wilt thou goe an hundred myle for the encrease of thy wealth and delight of thy bodie then thinke it not much to goe ten thousand myles if neede were to take any paines for the good of thy soule and to get foode for the same it beeing euerlasting And thus much for the duties Now follow the consolationâ— Although by reason of the fall of man we can haue but little comfort now yet the creation doth confirme the vnspeakable prouidence of God ouer his creatures but especially ouer man in that the Lord created him the sixth day and so before he was made prepared for him a Paradise for his dwelling place and all creatures for his vse and comfort And if he were thus carefull for vs when we were not then no doubt he will be much more carefull for vs at this present in which we liue and haue beeing Nay marke further since the fall man eates and drinkes in quantitie a great deale which in common reason should rather kill him then turne to the strength and nourishment of his bodie yet herein doth the wonderfull power of the Creatour most notably appeare who hath made mans stomacke as a lymbecke or still to digest all meates that are hole-some for his nourishment and preseruation And thus much for the Creation Now in these words maker of heauen and earth is more to be vnderstood then the worke of creation namly Gods prouidence in gouerning all things created as he appointed in his eternall decreeâ— and therefore Saint Peter saith God is a faithfull creatour that is God did not onely make heauen and earth and so leaue them as masons and carpenters leaue houses when they are built but by his prouidence doth most wisely gouerne the same Now therefore let vs come to speake of Gods prouidence And first of all the question offers it selfe to be considered whether there be any prouidence of God or no for the mindes of men are troubled with many doubtings hereof And to make the question out of all doubt I will vse foure arguments to confirme the prouidence of God The first is the testimonie of the Scripture which ascribeth the euent of all particular actions euen such as are in themselues casuall as the casting of lots and such like to the disposition of God which very thing also teacheth that euen men themselues indued with reason and vnderstanding haue neede to be guided in all things and gouerned by God and it serueth to confute those that denie Gods prouidence Why saiest thou O Iacob and speakest O Israel my way is hid from the Lord and my iudgement is past ouer by my God The second argument may be taken from the order which appeareth in the whole course of nature First to begin with families there is to be seene and eutaxie or seemely order in which some rule and some obey and the like is to be found in townes cities countries and kingdomes yea euen in the whole world in which all things are so disposed that one serueth for the good of another Trees and hearbs and grasse of the field serue for beasts and cattell beasts and cattell serue for men the heauens aboue serue for them which are beneath and all the creatures which are aboue and beneath serue for God This argueth that God is most wise and prouident in ordering and disposing all things whatsoeuer The third argument is taken from the conscience specially of malefactours Suppose a man that coÌ„mits a murder so closely that no man knowes thereof and that the partie himselfe is free from all the daunger of law yet shall he haue his owne conscience to accuse vpbraid and condemne him yea euen to fright him out of his witte and to giue him no more rest then he can find vpon the racke or gibbet Now this accusation and terrour of conscience is nothing els but the forerunner of an other most terrible iudgement of God who is Lord of all creatures and iudge of all men And this also prooues the prouidence of God For if the conscience can finde a man out and lay his faults to his charge how much more shall God himselfe the creator of the conscience see and consider all his doings The fourth and last argument is this The prophesies of things to come should be vncerten or false if God gouerned not the world But now â—â—â—sidering things many yeares agoe foretold come to passe in the same maner as they were foretold by the Prophets and Apostles hereby we must certenly conclude that there is a prouidence of God whereby all and euerything is gouerned Against the prouidence of God sundrie things be alleadged The first and speciall is that prouidence and disorder confusion and order can not stande together Now in the world there is nothing but disorder and confusion in seditions treasons conspiracies and subuersions of kingdomes where also sinne and wickednesse preuailes Ans. It is true indeede there hath bin confusion in the world euer since the fall of man and angels and it ariseth not from God but from them alone who as they did at the first transgresse the will of God so they doe what they can to turne all vpside downe Now then coufusion disorder is onely in respect of the deuill and his instruments but in regard of God
in the very middest of all confusion there is order to be founde because he can and doth despose it to the glorie of his owne name and to the good and saluation of his chosen as also to the confusion of his enemies Againe it may be obiected that with vngodly and wicked men all thinges goe well and contrariwise with the godly all things goe hardly For through the world none are more molested and more vnder outward miserie then they but if there were any prouidence of God then it should be otherwise the godly should flourish and the wicked perish Ans. The consideration of the outward estate of men in the world was to Dauid an occasion of a sore temptation For when he sawe the wicked to prosper alwaie and their riches to increase he brake forth and said Certenly I haue clensed my heart in vaine and washed mine hands in innocencie Now if we would repell this temptation as Dauid afterward did then wee must goe into the Lords sanctuarie with him and learne to be resolued in these points I. Though the godly bee laden with miseries yet euen that by the especiall prouidence of God turnes to their great good For euery man since the fall of Adam is stained with the loathsome contagion of sinne Now the child of God that is truly regenerate and must be fellow heire with Christ after this life in the kingdome of glory must in this life be cast into the Lords furnace that in the fire of afflliction he may more and more be skoured and purified from the corruption of his nature and be estranged from the wickednes of the worlde II. The prosperous successe of the wicked their spoiles their reuenewes and all their honour turnes to their greater woe in the ende as doth appeare in Iobs historie in the examples of the Chaldeans of Dauids enimies and of Diues and Lazarus Thirdly it may be obiected that many things came to passe by chance and therefore not by Gods prouidence because chaunce and prouidence cannot stand togither Ans. We must distinguish betweene chance and meere chance Chaunce is when any thing comes to passe the cause thereof beeing vnknowne not simply but in respect of man aad therefore in regard of men which knowe not the reason of things we may say there is chaunce and so the spirit of God speaketh Time and chaunce commeth to them all And againe By chaunce there came downe a priest the same way Now this kind of chance is not against the prouidence of God but is ordered by it For things which in regard of men are casuall are certainely knowne and determined by God Meere chaunce is when things are said or thought to come to passe without any cause at all But that must be abhorred of vs as ouerturning the prouidence of God Thus seeing it is plaine that there is a prouideÌ„ce let vs in the next place see what it is Prouidence is a most free and powerfull action of God whereby he hath care ouer all things that are Prouidence hath two parts knowledge and gouernment Gods knowledge is whereby all things from the greatest to the least are manifest before him at al times As Dauid saith His eies will consider his eie lids will trie the children of meÌ„ And againe He abaseth himselfe to beholde the things that are in the heauen and the earth And the Prophet Hanani said to Asa The eies of the Lord behold all the earth And Saint Iames saith From the beginning of the world God knoweth all his workes This point hath a double vse First as Saint Peter saith it must mooue vs to eschewe euill and doe good why Because saith he the eies of the Lord are vpon the iust and his countenance against euill doers Secondly it must comfort all those that labour to keepe a good conscience For the eies of God behole all the earth to shewe himselfe strong with them that are of perfect heart towards him Gouernment is the â—econd part of Gods prouidence whereby he ordereth all things and directeth them to good endes And it must be extended to the very least thing that is in heauen or earth as to the sparrowes and to oxen and the haires of our heades And here we must consider two things the manner of gouernment and the meanes The manner of gouernment is diuers according as things are good or euill A good thing is that which is approoued of God As first of all the substances of all creatures euen of the deuils themselues in whome whatsoeuer is remaining since their creation is in it selfe good Secondly the quantities qualities motions actions and inclinations of the creatures in themselues considered with all their euents are good Againe good is either naturall or moral Naturall which is created by God for the lawefull vse of man Morall which is agreeable to the eternall and vnchangeable wisdome of God reuealed in the morall lawe Now God gouerneth all good things two waies First by sustaining preseruing them that they decay not secondly by moouing them that they may attaine to the particular endes for which they were seuerally ordained For the qualities and vertues which were placed in the Sunne Moone starres trees plants seedes c. would lie dead in them and be vnprofitable vnlesse they were not onely preserued but also stirred vp and quickened by the power of God so oft as he imploies them to any vse Euill is the destruction of nature and it is taken for sinne or for the punishment of sinne Nowe sinne is gouerned of God by two actions the first is an operatiue permission I so call it because God partly permitteth sinne and partly worketh in it For sinne as it is commonly taken hath two parts the subiect or matter and the forme of sinne the subiect of sinne is a certaine qualitie or action the forme is the anomie or transgression of Gods lawe The first is good in it selfe and euery qualitie or action so farre forth as it is a qualitie or action is existing in nature and hath God to be the author of it Therefore sinne though it be sufficiently euil to eternall damnationâ— yet can it not be said to be absolutely euill as God is absolutely good because the subiect of it is good therfore it hath in it respects regards of goodnes In respect of the second that is the breach of the lawe it selfe God neither willeth nor appointeth nor commandeth nor causeth nor helpeth sin but forbiddeth condemneth and punisheth it yet so as withall he willingly permitteth it to be done by others as men and wicked angells they beeing the sole authors and causes of it And this permission by God is vpon a good ende because thereby heâ— manifesteth his iustice and mercie Thus it appeares that in originall sinne the naturall inclination of the minde will and affections in it selfe considered is from God and the ataxie or corruption of the inclination in no
all men can not be charged with vnbeleefe and contempt in respect of the Euangelicall couenant but onely such persons as haue knowne it or at the least heard of it And therefore sundrie heads of the nations may be charged with vnbeleefe as Cain Cham Iaphet Ammon Moab Ismael Esau Madian for they beeing neere to the fathers heard the promises concerning Christ offered sacrifices and obserued externall rites of the Church but afterward fell away from the sincere worship of the true God to idolatrie and all manner of wickednesse and became enemies of God and his people But we plainely denie that there was or could be the like vnbeleefe and contempt of Gods grace in their posteritie which for the most part neuer so much as heard of any couenant their ancetours indeauouring alwaies to burie and extinguish the memorie of that which they hated It is obiected againe that the couenant was made with Abraham and with all mankind after him Because saith the Lord thou hast obeyed my voice in thy seede shall all the nations of the earth be blessed Ans. Paul giues a double answer first that the place must be vnderstood of many nations secondly that it must bee vnderstood not of all nations in all ages but of all nations of the last age of the world For saith he the scripture foreseeing that God would iustifie the Gentiles through faith preached before the gospell vnto Abraham saying in the shall all thee nations be blessed Well to conclude this point in the making of the couenant there must be a mutual consent of the parties on both sides and beside the promise on Gods part there mâ—st be also a restipulation on mans part otherwise the couenant is not made Noâ—e then it must needes followe that all vnbeleeuers contemning grace offered in Christ are out of the couenaÌ„t as also such as neuer heard of it for where there is no knowledge there is no consent and before the comming of Câ—â—istâ— the greatest part of the world neuer knewe the Messias nor heard of the couenant as Paul saith to the learned Athenians the time of this ignorance God regarded not but nowe he admonisheth all men euery where to repent The foundation and ground worke of the couenant is Christ Iesus the Mediatour in whome all the promises of God are yea and amen and therefore he is called the angel of the conenant and the couenant of the people to bee made with all nations in the last age Now then that we may proceede at large to open the substance of the couenaÌ„t we are in the next place to come to that part of the creede which concernes the second person in Trinitie set downe in these wordes And in Iesus Christ his onely sonne c. from which wordes to the very ende of the Creede such points onely are laid downe as doe notably vnfolde the benefits and the matter of the couenant Nowe the second person is described to vs by three things first his titles secondly his incarnation thirdly his twofold estate His titles are in number foure I. Iesus II. Christ. III. his onely sonne IIII. our Lord. His incarnation and his twofolde estate are set downe afterward To come to his titles the first is Iesus to which if we adde the clause I beleeue on this manner I beleeue in Iesus c. the article which wee nowe haue in hand will appeare to be most excellent because it hath most notable promises annexed to it When Peter confessed Christ to be the sonne of the liuing God he answered vpon this rocke will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it And againe He that confesseth that Christ is the sonne of God God dwelleth in him and he in God And againe To him giue all the prophets witnesse that through his name all that beleeue in him shall receiue remission of sinnes Paul saith Beleeue in the Lord Iesus and thou shalt be saued and all thy houshold Thus then the confession in which we acknowledge that we beleeue in Iesus Christ hath a promise of fellowship with God and of life euerlasting But it may be obiected that euery spirit as S. Iohn saith which confesseth that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God Nowe the deuil and all his angels and vnbeleeuers doe thus much therefore why may not they also haue the benefit of this confession Ans. By spirit in that place is neither meant angels nor meÌ„ nor any creature but the doctrine which teacheth that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh it is of God because it is holy and diuine and hath God to be the author of it As for the deuill and his angels they can indeede confesse that Christ the sonne of God was made man and a wicked man may teach the same but vnto the confession whereunto is annexed a promise of eternall life is required true faith whereby wee doe not onely knowe and acknowledge this or that to be true in Christ but also rest vpon him which neither Satan nor wicked men can doe And therefore by this confession the Church of God is distinguished from all other companies of men in the worlde which beleeueth not as Panyms hereticks Atheists turks Iewes al other infidels This name Iesus was giuen to the sonne of God by the father and brought from heauen by an angel vnto Ioseph and Marie and on the day when hee was to be circumcised as the manner was this name was giuen vnto him by his parentâ—â— as they were commanded from the Lord by the Angel Gabriel And therefore the name was not giuen by chance or by the alone will of the parents but by the most wise appointment of God himselfe The name in Hebrew is Iehosoua and it is changed by the Grecians into Iesus which signifieth a Sauiour And it may be called the proper name of Christ signifying his office and both his natures because he is both a perfect and absolute Sauiour as also the alone Sauiour of man because the worke of saluation is wholly and onely wrought by him and no part thereof is reserued to any creature in heauen or in earth As Peter saith For among men there is no other name giuen vnder heauen whereby we may be saued but by the name of Iesus And the author to the Hebrues saith That he is able perfectly to saue them that come vnto God by him seeing he euer liueth to make intercession for them If any shall obiect that the promises of saluation are made to them which keepe the commandements the answer is that the lawe of God doth exact most absolute and perfect obedience which can be found in no man but in Christ who neuer sinned and therefore it is not giuen vnto vs nowe that we might by our selues fulfil it and worke out our owne saluation but that beeing condemned by it wee might wholly depende on Christ for eternall life
nothing regarded A blinde man neuer seeing the sunne is not brought to wonder at it and earthly minded men neither seeing nor feeling what an excellent thing it is to bee the childe of God cannot bee brought to seeke after it But let all such as feare God enter into a serious consideration of the vnspeakeable goodnesse of God comforting themselues in this that God the father hath vouchsafed by his owne sonne to make them of the vassals of satan to be his owne deere children Nowe followe the duties which are two First we beleeue that Iesus Christ who was to be the Sauiour of mankinde must needs be God what is the reason hereof surely because no creature no not all the creatures in heauen and earth were able to saue one man so vile wretched and miserable is our estate by Adams fall And therefore the sonne of God himselfe pitied our estate and beeing king of heauen and earth was faine to come from heauen and lay downe his crowne and become a seruant and taking vpon him our nature was also faine to take vpon him our case and condition and suffer death for our sinnes which otherwise euery one of vs should haue suffered both in bodie and soule world without ende To make this more plaine let vs suppose that some one hath committed an offence against a prince and the trespasse to be so grieuous that no man can appease the kings wrath saue only the kings onely sonne and which is more the kings sonne himselfe cannot release him vnlesse hee suffer the punishment for him in his owne person which is due vnto the malefactour Nowe what is to be thought of this mans estate surely all men will say that he is in a most miserable taking and that his trespasse is notorious and so it is with euery one of vs by nature whatsoeuer we are No man could saue our soules no not all the angels in heauen vnlesse the king of heauen and earth the onely sonne of God had come down from heauen and suffered for vs bearing our punishment Nowe the consideration of this must humble vs and make vs to cast downe our selues vnder the hand of God for our sinnes and pray continually that the Lord would send some Moses or other which might smite the rockes of our hearts that some teares of sorrowe and repentance might gush out for this our wofull miserie Secondly whereas God the Father of Christ gaue his onley sonne to be our Sauiour as we must be thankefull to God for all things so especially for this great and vnspeakable benefit Common blessings of God as meat drinke health wealth and libertie must at all times mooue vs to be thankeful but this that Christ Iesus the onely sonne of God redeemed vs beeing vtterly lost this I say must be the maine point of all our thankfulnes but alas mens hearts are so frozen in the dreggs of their sinnes that this dutie comes little in practise nowe adaies When our Sauiour Christ clensed ten lepers there was but one of them that returned to giue him thankes and this is as true in the leprosie of the soule for though saluation by Christ be offered vnto vs daily by Gods ministers yet not one of tenne nay scarse one of a thousand giues praise and thankes to God for it because men take no delight in things which concerne the kingdome of heauen they thinke not that they haue neede of saluation neither do they feele any want of a Sauiour But we for our parts must learne to say with Dauid What shall I render vnto the Lord for all his benefits yea we are to practise that which Salomon saith My sonne giue me thy heart for we should giue vnto God both bodie and soule in token of our thankefulnesse for this wonderful blessing that he hath giuen his onely sonne to bee our Sauiour and we are to hold this for trueth that they which are not thankfull for it let them say what they will they haue no soundnes of grace or power of religion at the heart And thus much of the third title The fourth and last title is in these wordes our Lord. Christ Iesus the onely sonne of God is our Lord three waies first by creation in that he made vs of nothing when we were not secondly he is our Lord in the right of redemption In former times the custome hath bin when one is taken prisoner in the field he that paies his raunsome shall becom alwaies after his Lord so Christ when we were bondslaues vnder hell death and condemnation paide the ransome of our redemption and freed vs from the bondage of sinne and satan and therfore in that respect he is our Lord. Thirdly he is the head of the Church as the husband is the wiues head to rule and gouerne the same by his word and spirit And therefore in that respect also Christ is our Lord. And thus much for the meaning Nowe followe the duties And first of al if Christ be our Soueraigne Lord we must performe absolute obedience vnto him that is whatsoeuer he commandes vs that must we doe And I say absolute obedience because Magistrates Masters Rulers and fathers may command and must bee obeyed yet not simply but so farre foorth as that which they command doth agree with the word and commandement of God but Christs will and word is righteousnesse it selfe and therfore it is a rule and direction of all our actions whatsoeuer and for this cause he must be absolutely obeyed Thus he requires the obedience of the morall lawe but why because he is the Lord our god And in Malachie he saith If I be your Lord where is my feare And againe we must resigne both bodie and soule heart mind wil affections and the course of our whole liues to be ruled by the will of Christ. He is Lord not onely of the bodie but of the spirit and soule of man he must therefore haue homage of both As wee adore him by the knee of the bodie so must the thoughts and the affections of our hearts haue their knees also to worship him and to shewe their subiection to his commandements As for such as doe hold him for their Lord in word but in the meane season will not indeauour to shewe their loyaltie in all manner of obedience they are indeede no better then starke rebels Secondly when by the hande of Christ straunge iudgements shall come to passe as it is vsuall in all places continually we must stay ourselues without murmuring or finding fault because he is an absolute Lorde ouer all his creatures all things are in his handes and hee may doe with his owne whatsoeuer he will and therefore wee must rather feare and tremble whensoeuer we see or heare of them so Dauid saith I was dumbe and opened not my mouth because thou didst it And againe My flesh trembleth for feare of thee and I am afraid of thy iudgements Thirdly before wee vse
our nature tooke our infirmities also it is a wonderfull comfort vnto Gods Church for it shewes that he is not only a Sauiour but also a very compassionate and pitiful Sauiour As the holy Ghost saith In all thinges it became Christ to be like vnto his brethren that hee might be mercifull and a faithfull high priest in things concerning God Let a man be sicke of a grieuous disease and let a friend come that hath beene troubled with the very same disease he will presently shewe more compassion then twentie others and so Christ hauing felt in his owne soule and bodie the anguish and the manifold perplexities that we feele in our temptations and afflictiōs hath his bowels as it were yearning towards vs euermore being prest and readie to releeue vs in all our miseries In the daies of his flesh he wept ouer Ierusalem when he sawe it a farre off because shee continued in her olde sinnes and did not knowe the time of her visitation and no doubt though now he be exalted in glorie in heauen yet his compassion to his poore members vpon earth is no whit diminished Now we come to speake of the Incarnation more particularly the creed yet further expresseth it by two parts the first is the conception of Christ in these words Conceiued by the holy ghost the second is his birth in the words following Borne of the virgine Marie The conception of Christ is set downe with his efficient cause the Holy Ghost as the angel said to Ioseph Feare not to take Marie for thy wife for that which is conceiued in her is of the holy ghost Here it may be demanded why the conception of Christ should be ascribed to the Holy Ghost alone which is common to all the persons in Trinitie as all other such actions are Ans. It is not done to exclude the Father or the Sonne himselfe from this worke but to signifie that it comes of the free gift and grace of God which commonly is tearmed by the holy ghost that the manhood of Christ beeing but a creature should be aduanced to this dignitie that it should become a part of the Sonne of God And againe the Holy Ghost is the author of this conception in a speciall manner for the father and the sonne did cause it by the holy Ghost from them both immediately In the conception of Christ we must obserue and consider three thinges The framing of the manhood the sanctifying of it and the personall vnion of the manhood with the Godhead And howsoeuer I distinguish these three for orders sake yet must we know and remember that they are all wrought at one and the same instant of time For when the holy Ghost frames and sanctifies the manhood in the wombe of the Virgin at the very same moment it is receiued into the vnitie of the second person In the framing of Christs manhood two things must be considered the matter and the maner The matter of his bodie was the very flesh and blood of the virgin Marie otherwise he could not haue beene the sonne of Dauid of Abraham and Adam according to the flesh As for his soule it was not deriued from the soule of the virgin Marie as a part thereof but it was made as the soules of all other men be that is of nothing by the very power of God and placed in the bodie both of them from the first moment of their beeing hauing their subsistance in the person of the sonne And here we must take heed of two opinions the first is of the Anabaptists which holde that the flesh of Christ came downe from heauen and passed through the virgin Marie as through a pipe without taking any substance from her the places which they alleadge for the purpose are manifestly abused For whereas Christ saith of himselfe that he descended from heauen his speech must be vnderstoode in respect of his Godhead which may be said in some sort to descend in that it was made manifest in the manhood here vpon earth And whereas Paul calleth him heauenly and the Lord from heauen it is not in respect of the substance of his bodie but in respect of the glorious qualities which he receiued after this resurrection The other opinion is of the Papists that hold the bread in the sacrament to be turned substantially into the bodie of Christ which thing if it be true then the bodie of Christ is made of bread kneaded and tempered by the hand of the baker and not of the substance of the virgin Marie As for the manner of the making and framing of the humane nature of Christ it was miraculous not by generation according to the ordinarie course of nature but by an extraordinary operation of the holy Ghost aboue nature and for this cause it is not within the compasse of mans reason either to conceiue or to expresse the manner and order of this conception The Angel ascribes two actions to the holy Ghost in this great worke the one to come vpon the virgin Marie the other to ouershadow her by the first is signified the extraordinarie worke of the holy Ghost in fashioning the humane nature of Christ for so much the phrase elsewhere importeth The second signifieth that the holy Ghost did as it were cast a cloud ouer her to teach vs that we should not search ouer much into the mysterie of the Incarnation It may be obiected against this which hath bin said that if Christ be in this manner conceiued by the holy Ghost then the holy Ghost shall be father to Christ and Christ his sonne Answ. The reason is not good For he that is a father is not a bare efficient cause but one which in the effecting of any thing conferres the matter vnto it from himselfe whereof it shall be made Now the holy Ghost did not minister any matter vnto Christ from his own substance but did onely as it were take the masse and lumpe of mans nature from the bodie of the virgin Marie and without ordinarie generation made it the bodie of Christ as Basil saith Christ was conceiued not of the substance but of the power not by any generation but by the appointment and benediction of the holy Ghost The second point in the conception is the sanctifying of that masse or lumpe which was to be the manhood of Christ. And that was done vpon speciall cause first that it might be ioyned to the person of the Sonne which could not haue beene if it had beene defiled with sinne Secondly Christ was a Sauiour as he is both God and man now then beeing man if he had beene sinnefull himselfe he could not haue saued others but should haue stoode in neede of a Sauiour for himselfe This sanctification hath two parts the first is the stay and stoppage of the propagation of originall sinne and of the guilt of Adams sinne which was on this manner God in the beginning set downe
this order touching man that what euill or defect soeuer he brought vpon himselfe he should deriue the same to euery one of his posteritie begotten of him and hereupon when any father begets his childe he is in the roome of Adam and conueies vnto it beside the nature of man the very guilt and corruption of nature Now for the preuenting of this euill in Christ God in great wisdome appointed that he should be conceiued by the holy Ghost without any manner of generation by man And by this meanes he takes substance from the Virgin without the guilt and corruption of the substance But it may further be obiected thus All that be in Adam haue sinned in him but Christ was in Adam as he is man therefore he sinned in him Ans. The proposition is false vnlesse it be expounded on this manner All that were in Adam haue sinned in him so be it they come of him by generation Paul saith not out of one man but by one man sinne entred into the world to shew that man propagates his corruption to no more then he begets Againe Christ is in Adam not simply as other men are but in some part namely in respect of substance which he took from him and not in respect of the propagation of the substance by ordinarie generation other men are both from Adam and by Adam but Christ is from him alone and not by him as a begetter or procreant cause The second part of sanctification is the infusion of all purenesse and holinesse into the manhoode of Christ so farre forth as was meete for the nature of a redeemer The duties to be learned hence are these First whereas Christ was sanctified in the wombe of the virgin Marie we likewise must labour to be sanctified in our selues following the commandement of God Be ye holy as I am holy S. Iohn saith that he which hath hope to be with Christ in glorie in heauen purifieth himselfe euen as he is pure no doubt setting before himselfe the example of Christ as a patterne to follow in all his waies And because our hearts are as it were seas of corruptions we must daily cleanse our selues of them by little little following the practise of the poore begger that is alwaies peecing and mending and day by day pulls away some ragges and puts better cloath in the roome And if we shall continually indeauour our selues to cast off the remnants of corruption that hang so fast on and make a supplie thereof by some new portions of Gods heauenly grace we shall be vessells of honour sanctified and meete for the Lord and prepared vnto euery good worke Christ could not haue beene a fit Sauiour for vs vnlesse he had first of all bin sanctified neither can we be fit members vnto him vnlesse we be purged of our sinnes and in some measure truly sanctified The comfort which Gods people may reape of the sanctification of Christs manhood is great For why was he sanctified Surely if we marke it well we shall finde it was for the good and benefit of his Elect. For Adam and Christ be two rootes as hath beene shewed Adam by creation first receiued Gods image and after lost the same for himselfe and his posteritie Now Christ to remooue the sinne of man is made the second Adam and the roote and very head of all the Elect. His manhood was filled with holinesse aboue measure that from thence as from a storehouse it might be deriued to all his members And therefore by his most holy conception our sinnefull birth and conception is sanctified and his holinesse serues as a couer to hide our manifolde corruptions from the eyes of God Yea it serues as a buckler to award the temptations of the deuill for when he shall say to our hearts on this manner no vncleane thing can enter into the kingdome of heauen but thou by reason of the remnants of originall sinne art vncleane therefore thou canst not enter into the kingdome of heauen we returne our answer saying that Christs righteousnesse is our righteousnesse seruing to make vs stand without blame or spot before God And as Iacob put on Esaus garments that he might get his fathers blessing so if by faith we doe put on the white garment of righteousnes of our elder brother Christ Iesus and present our selues in it vnto our heauenly father we shall obtaine his blessing which is eternall happines Now remaines the third and last part of the conception which is the Vnion of the godhead and the manhood cōcerning which many points are particularly to be handled The first is what kinde of Vnion this is Ans. In the Trinitie there be two sorts of vnions vnion in nature and vnion in person Vnion in nature is when two or moe things are ioyned and vnited into one nature as the Father the Sonne the holy Ghost beeing and remaining three distinct persons are one and the same in nature or Godhead Vnion in person is when two things are in that maner vnited that they make but one person or subsistance as a bodie created by God and a reasonable soule ioyned both togither make one particular man as Peter Paul Iohn c. And this second is the vnion whereof we intreat in this place by which the second person in Trinitie the sonne of God did vnite vnto himselfe the humane nature that is the bodie and soule of man so as the Godhead of the Sonne and the manhood concurring togither made but one person The second point is in what thing this vnion doth consist Answ. It consists in this that the second person the Sonne of God doth assume vnto it a manhood in such order that it beeing voide of all personall being in it selfe doth wholly and onely subsist in the same person As the plant called Missell or Misselto hauing no roote of his owne both growes and liues in the stocke or bodie of the Oke or some other tree so the humane nature hauing no proper substance is as it were ingrafted into the person of the sonne and is wholly supported and sustained by it so as it should not be at all if it were not sustained in that manner And for the better vnderstanding of this point we must consider that there be foure degrees of the presence of God in his creatures The first is his generall presence and it may be called the presence of his prouidence whereby he preserueth the substances of all creatures and giueth vnto them to liue mooue and haue beeing and this extendeth it selfe to all creatures good and bad The second degree is the presence of grace wherby he doth not onely preserue the substāces of all his creatures but also giueth grace vnto it this agreeth to the Church people of God vpon earth The third degree is the presence of glorie peculiar to the Saints and angels in heauen and this stands in three things for God not onely preserues their substances and giues
the Iewes and all nations vnder his dominions to signifie that Christ was borne at the very time foretold by Iaacob when the crowne and scepter was taken from Iuda and withall to shew that his kingdome was not of this world And it was the good pleasure of God that Christ should not be borne either later or sooner but so many ages from the beginning of the world And this consideration of the very time it selfe serues greatly for the confirmation of our faith For thus may we reason with our selues If God who in the beginning made a promise to our first parents concerning the seede of the woman deferred it almost 4000 yeares and yet at length accomplished the same to the very full then no doubt God hauing promised the resurrection of the dead and life euerlasting will in his good time bring them to passe though as yet we see them not And thus by the accomplishment of all things past should we confirme our hope concerning things to come The place was not at Ierusalem nor Nazareth nor any other citie but onely a village of Iuda called Bethleem that the prophesie of Micheas might be fulfilled Thou Bethleem Ephrata art little to be among the thousands of Iuda yet out of thee shall he come forth vnto me that shal be the ruler in Israel And here we may obserue a memorable example of Gods prouidence which ouerruleth the proceedings of cruell tyrants to the accomplishing of his owne will they themselues for their parts intending nothing lesse Augustus not so much as dreaming of the birth of the Messias gaue commandement that euery man should goe to his owne citie to be taxed and hereupon Ioseph and Marie take their iourney from Nazareth to Bethleem which iourney God himselfe appointed and disposed to this ende that the Messias might be borne in the place which he preordained and foretold by his Prophet The manner of Christs birth was very base and poore for the place where he was borne was a stable and the cradle where he lay was a cratch And he willingly tooke vpon him this pouertie for sundrie causes I. That the Scripture might be fulfilled which saith that he should be the shame and contempt of the people and that he shall grow vp as a roote out of a drie ground and haue neither forme nor beautie II. That he might afterward from this base condition be exalted euen in his manhoode to that rich and glorious estate in which he should manifest himselfe to be Lord of heauen and earth III. He was borne in exceeding pouertie that he might shame the wise men of this world who exceedingly esteeme of their riches power and glorie perswading themselues that without such meanes no good thing can be done And yet for all this they can not so much as reconcile one man to God by all their might wealth wheras Christ himselfe hath done the same both in pouertie and weaknesse and can enlarge and preserue his kingdome without earthly helps When he hung vpon the crosse the souldiers stript him of his garments and beeing naked he brought that to passe which all the Monarchs of the earth in all their royalties could neuer haue performed And whether Christ lie in the manger betweene the Oxe and the Asse or in the pallace of the King it matters not in regard of our saluation IV. He came in this maner that there might be a difference betweene his first comming in the flesh and his last oomming to iudgement In the first he came onely for this ende not to make any outward alterations in the world but to chaunge the conscience and to put in execution the worke of our spirituall redemption and therefore he hath reserued the ouerturning of all earthly estates with the manifestation of his owne glorie to the latter V. Lastly he was borne in a poore estate that he might procure true riches for vs in heauen and withall sanctifie vnto vs our pouertie vpon earth As Paul saith Ye know the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ that he beeing rich for your sakes became poore that ye thorough his pouertie might be made rich He was content to lie in the manger that we might rest in heauen This serues to teach vs to be content to beare any meane condition that the Lord shall send vpon vs for this is the very estate of the sonne of God himselfe And if for our cause he did not refuse the basest condition that euer was why should we murmure at the same for what is the best of vs but miserable sinners and therfore vtterly vnworthie either to go or lie vpon the bare earth and though we fare and lie better then our Lord himselfe yet such is our daintinesse we are not pleased therewith whereas he for his part disdained not the manger of the Oxe And if the Lord of heauen and earth comming into the world finde so little entertainment or fauour we for our parts beeing his members should willingly prepare our selues to take as hard measure at the hands of men The last point is the manifestation of Christs birth that it might be known to the world Where consider two circumstances the first to whome namely to poore shepheards tending their flockes by night and not to great or mightie men louers of this world nor to the priests at Ierusalem contemners of Gods grace and that for two causes one because the shepheards were the fittest persons to publish the same at Bethlehem the other it was Gods pleasure to manifest that in the birth of Christ which Paul saith Not many wise men after the flesh not many mightie not many noble are called but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise The second is by whome by the angels of the Lord appearing in great glorie vnto the shepheards For the priests of Ierusalem and the rulers of the Synagogues to whome this oâ—fice did belong held their peace beeing blinded in their manifold errours wicked waies The duties to be learned of the birth of Christ are these First we are admonished hereby to magnifie and praise the name of God saying with Mary My soule doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit reioyceth in God my Sauiour And with Zacharie Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people And with the Angels of heauen Glorie to God in the highest heauens For in this birth is made manifest the wisdome the truth the iustice and mercy and goodnesse of God towards vs more then euer it was before yea as Christ God and man is more excellent then the first Adam created according to Gods owne image and as the spirituall life is better then the naturall life and as the eternall and most holy marriage of Christ the husband and his spouse the Church arising as it were out of the bloode that trickled out of his side is more wonderfull then the creation of Eve of the rib of
And though Christ be called her first born yet doth it not followe that shee had any child after him for as that is called last after which there is none so that is called the first before which there was none And as for Ioseph when he was espoused to Marie he was a man of eightie yeares old And here we haue occasion to praise the wisdome of God in the forming of man The first man Adam was borne of no man but immediately created of God the second that is Eve is formed not of a woman but of a man alone the third all after begotten both of womā man the fourth that is Christ God and man not of no man as Adam not of no woman as Eve not of man and woman as we but after a newe manner of a woman without a man hee is conceiued and borne And hereupon our dutie is not to despise but highly to reuerence the virgin Marie as being the mother of the sonne God a prophetisse vpon earth a Saint in heauen And we do willingly condescend to giue her honour three waies first by thanksgiuing to God for her secondly by a reuerent estimation of her thirdly by imitation of her excellent vertues yet farre be it from vs to adore her with diuine honour by praier to cal vpon her as though shee knew our hearts and heard our requests and to place her in heauen as a queene aboue the sonne of God The name of the mother of Christ is added to shewe that he came of the linage of Dauid and that therefore he was the true Messias before spoken of It may be obiected that both Mathew and Luke sets downe the genealogie of Ioseph of whom Christ was not Ans. Mathew sets downe indeede in Christs genealogie the natural descent of Ioseph the husband of Marie hauing Iaacob for his naturall father but Luke taking another course propounds the natural descent of Marie the mother of Christ and when he saith that Ioseph was the sonne of Eli he meanes of a legall sonne For sonnes and daughters in law are called sonnes and daughters to their fathers and mothers in law Mary her selfe and not Ioseph being the naturall daughter of Eli. And whereas Luke doth not plainely say that Marie was the daughter of Eli but puts Ioseph the sonne in lawe in her roome the reason hereof may bee because it was the maner of the Iewes to account and continue their genealogies in the male and not in the female sexe the man beeing the head of the familie and not the woman And though Ruth and Rahab and other women be mentioned by Matthew yet that is onely by the way for they make no degrees herein Againe it may be further demanded howe Christ could come of Dauid by Salomon as Mathew saith and by Nathan as Luke saith they twaine being two distinct sonnes of Dauid Ans. By vertue of the lawe whereby the brother was bound to raise vp seed to his brother there was a double descent in vse among the Iewes the one was naturall the other legall Naturall when one man descended of another by generation as the child from the naturall father Legall when a man not begotten of another yet did succeede him in his inheritance and thus Salathiel is the naturall sonne of Neri and the legall sonne of Iechonias Nowe Saint Luke setts downe the naturall descent of Christ from Dauid by Nathan and Saint Mathewe the other descent which is legall by Salomon whome Christ succeeded in the right of the kingdome beeing borne the King of the Iewes none that could possibly be named hauing more right to it then he By this descent of Christ wee haue occasion to consider that Christ was euen in his birth the most excellent and noble man that euer was descending o◠the eternall father as he is the sonne of God and as he is man descending of the Patriarks and of the renowmed kings of Iudah And this his nobilitie hee conuaies in part to his members in that he makes them the sonnes of God a royall priesthood and a peculiar people to himselfe inriching them also with the reuenewes of the whole worlde and with title and right to the kingdome of glorie in heauen as their inheritance And withall Christ beeing the liuely patterne of true nobilitie by his example men of blood are taught not to stand so much on their pedigree and their ancetours as though nobilitie stood in this that man descends of man but to labour with all that they may be the sonnes and daughters of God by regeneration in Christ. This indeede is the ornament of the blood the best part in the noble mans skutchin and the finest flowre in his garland And though a man bee neuer so noble or great an estate yet if he be not a repentant sinner he is base and vile and his nobilitie stinkes in the nosthrils of god Christ in his genealogie doth not so much as vouchsafe to name those his ancetours that ruled wickedly and hereupon Saint Mathewe omitteth three kings of Iudah Achaziah Ioas and Amaziah whereas neuerthelesse hainous offendours that repented are mentioned as Ruth Thamar and Bathshabe Thus much of the incarnation of Christ nowe followeth the third and last point which is to be considered in the description of Christ namely the estate of Christ after his birth which is two-fold the estate of humiliation and the estate of exaltation The estate of humiliation is the condition of Christ the Mediatour in which he abased himselfe euen to the death of the crosse that by that meanes he might performe the office of a priest in making satisfaction to the iustice of his father This estate agrees to the whole person of Christ according to both natures For first of al his manhood was abased and humbled in that it was made subiect to the infirmities of mans nature as also to the miseries and punishments which were due vnto man for sinne Secondly his Godhead was abased not as it is considered in it selfe For so it admits no alteration or chaunge But in respect of the flesh or manhood assumed vnder the which as vnder a vaile the Godhead lay hid from the first moment of the incarnation to the time of his resurrection without any great manifestation of his power maiestie therein The order of these two estates must be marked First is the estate of humiliation and then in the second place followes the estate of exaltatiō As Christ saith of himselfe O fooles slow of heart to beleeue c. ought not Christ to haue suffered these things and to enter into his glorie And here we for our parts must learne a lesson The same which was true in Christ the head must be verified in all his members they must all haue their two-fold estate first in this life the estate of humiliation secondly after this life the estate of glorie And as Christ first entred into the state of his
which is done by giuing all the members of our bodies to be instruments of the seruice of God in righteosnesse and holinesse Secondly we must indeauour to keepe in the corruption of nature as it were choking and smothering it in the heart that by it neither the world nor the deuill preuaile against vs. And this must be done by hauing a narrowe regard vnto all the powers and faculties of bodie and soule setting a watch before our eies eares lippes and all other parts of the bodie that are in any action the instrumentes of the soule and aboue all as Salomon saith by countergarding the heart with all diligence By the outward senses of the bodie as through open windowes the deuill creeps into the heart and therefore our dutie is to stoppe all such waies of entrance Thirdly when original corruption begins to rebel either in the minde will or any of the affections then must we drawe out the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and incounter with that hydeous gyant laying loade vpon him by the iudgements and threatnings of the lawe and as it were beating him downe with clubbes as Paul speaketh And if it fall out that concupiscence begin to conceiue and bring forth any sinne we must cruise it in the head and dash it against the ground as a bird in the shell least it grow vp to our vtter confusion These are the duties which wee should learne by the passion of Christ. But lamentable are our daies in which all for the most part goes contrarie for commonly men are so farre from killing and subduing the rebellion of the naturall concupiscence that all their studie and care is howe they may feede and cherish it and make it stronger then the mightie Goliah But let vs for our parts be conformable to Christ in his passion suffering in our flesh as he suffered in bodie and soule for And let vs daily more and more by the hand of faith apprehend and apply to our hearts and consciences the passion of Christ that it may as a fretting corasiue eate out the poison of our sinfull natures and consume it Nowe followeth the second point concerning the passion of Christ which is vnder whome he suffered namely vnder Pontius Pilate And Christ may be saide to suffer vnder him in two respects First because he was then the president of Iurie For a little before the birth of Christ the kingdome of the Iewes was taken away by the Romane Emperour and reduced into a Prouince and Pontius Pilate was placed ouer the Iewes not as king but as the Romane Emperours deputie And this circumstance is noted in the history of the Gospell and here specified in the Creed to shewe that the Messias was exhibited in the time foretold by the Prophets Iacob foretold that Shilo must be borne after the scepter is remooued from Iudah Isaiah saith that the family of Ishai shall be worne as it were to the roote before Christ as a braunch shall spring out of it Againe Christ suffered vnder Pontius Pilate as he was a iudge whereby we are giuen to vnderstand of a wonder namely that Christ the sonne of God King of heauen and earth was arraigned at the barre of an earthly iudge and there condemned For thus much the words in meaning import that Pontius Pilate sate as iudge vpon Christ to examine him to arraigne him and giue sentence against him Wherefore before wee come to speake of the degrees of the passion of Christ we must needs intreat of his arraignment vpon earth In handling whereof we must generally consider these points First that when he was arraigned before Pilate he was not as a priuate man but as a pledge and surety that stood in the place and stead of vs miserable sinners as the Prophet Isaiah saith He bare our infirmities and carried our sorrowes and withall in him was mankind arraigned before God Secondly this arraignment was made not priuately in a corner but openly in the publike court and that in a great feast of the Iewes as it were in the hearing of the whole world Thirdly though Pilate in citing examining and condemning Christ intended not to worke any part of mans redemption yet was this wholly set downe in the counsell and good pleasure of God in whose roome Pilate sate and whose iudgement he exercised The generall vse of Christs arraignment is two-fold First it is a terrour to all impenitent sinners for there is no freedome or protection from the iudgement of God but by the arraignment of Christ and therefore such as in this life receiue him not by faith must at the ende of this world be brought out to the most terrible barre of the last iudgement there to be arraigned before the King of heauen and earth And marke the equitie hereof Christ himselfe could not haue beene our Sauiour and redeemer vnlesse he had bin brought out to the barre of an earthly iudge and arraigned as a guilty malefactour and therefore there is no man vpon earth that liues and dies out of Christ but he must whether he will or no hold vp his hand at the barre of the great iudge of all mankind where he shall see hell vnderneath him burning redde hotte and opening it selfe wide to swallow him vp and on the right hand of God standing all the Prophets Apostles and Saints of God giuing iudgement against him on the left hand the deuill and all his angels accusing him and within him a guilty conscience condemning him And thus one day shal the arraignment of those persons be that with full purpose of heart cleaue not to Christ and yet alas huge and infinite is the number of those which make more account of transitorie and earthly matters euen of their pigges with the Gaderens then of him and his benefits and such persons should rather be pitied then despised of vs all considering their estate is such that euery day they are going as traytours pinnioned to their owne iudgement that they may goe thence to eternall execution Secondly Christs arraignment is a comfort to the godly For he was arraigned before Pilate that all such as truly beleeue in him might not be arraigned before God at the day of the last iudgement he was accused before an earthly iudge that they might be cleared and excused before the heauenly iudge lastly he was here condemned on earth that we might receiue the sentence of absolution and be eternally saued in heauen The arraignment of Christ hath three parts his apprehension his accusation his condemnation In the apprehension we must consider two things the dealing of Christ and the dealing of Iudas and the Iewes The dealing and proceeding of Christ was this when he saw that the time of his apprehension and death was neere he solemnly prepared himselfe thereto And his example must teach euery one of vs who know not the shortnesse of our daies euery houre to prepare our selues against the day
Christ and we are stewards of them a while for the good of others The more the Lord giueth to a man the more he requireth at his hands and as for such as hauing good gifts abuse the same their sinne is the more grieuous and their daunger the greater Men of great gifts vnlesse they vse them aright with humbled hearts shall want Gods blessing vpon them For he giueth grace to the humble The high hills after much tillage are often barren whereas the low vallies by the streames of waters passing through them are very fruitfull and the gifts of God ioyned with a swelling heart are fruitlesse but ioyned with loue and the grace of humilitie they edifie Secondly if Christ ascend vp to heauen to giue gifts vnto men here we may see how many a man and woman in these our daies are ouerseene in that they plead ignorance and say that they hope God will haue them excused for it seeing they are not learned they haue dull wittes and it is not possible to teach them now they are past learning and hereupon they presume they may liue in grosse ignorance as blinde almost in religion as when they were first borne But marke I pray you who it is that is ascended vp to heauen namely Christ Iesus our Lord who made thee of nothing Now was he able to giue thee a beeing when thou was not and is he not likewise able to put knowledge into thy soule if so be thou wilt vse the meanes which he hath appointed and the rather seeing he is ascended for that end but if thou wilt not vse the meanes to come to knowledge thy case is desperate and thou art the cause of thine owne condemnation and thou bringest confusion vpon thine owne head Therfore let ignorant men labour for knowledge of Gods word Ignorance shall excuse none it will not stand for paiment at the day of iudgement Christ is ascended to this ende to teach the ignorant to giue knowledge and wisdome vnto the simple to giue gifts of prophecie vnto his ministers that they may teach his people Therefore I say againe let such as be ignorant vse the meanes diligently and God will giue the blessing Thirdly whereas it is thought to be a thing not possible to furnish a whole Church with preaching ministers it seemes to be otherwise For wherefore did Christ ascend to heauen was it not to giue gifts vnto his Church what is Christs hand now shortned vndoubtedly we may resolue our selues that Christ bestowed gifts sufficient vpon men in the Church but it is for our sinnes that they are not imploied The fountaines of learning the Vniuersities though they are not dammed vp yet they streame not abroad as they might Many there be in them indued with worthie gifts for the building of the Church but the couetousnes of men hindereth the comfortable entrance which otherwise might be Lastly seeing Christ ascended to giue gifts needefull for his Church as the gift of teaching the gift of prophecie the gift of tongues of wisdome and knowledge the dutie of euery man is especially of those which liue in the schooles of learning to labour by all meanes to increase cherish and preserue their gifts and as Paul exhorteth Timothie to stirre vp the gift of God that is as men preserue the fire by blowing it so by our diligence we must kindle and reuiue the gifts and graces of God bestowed on vs. Christ hath done his part and there is nothing required but our paines and fidelitie The third benefit that comes by Christs ascension is that he ascended to prepare a place for all that should beleeue in him In my fathers house saith Christ are many dwelling places if it were not so I would haue told you I goe to prepare a place for you For by the sinne of Adam our entrance into heauen was taken away If Adam by his fall did exclude himselfe from the earthly paradise then how much more did he exclude himselfe from heauen And theâ—efore all mankind sinning in him was likewise depriued of heauen The people of Israel beeing in woe and miserie cried out that they had sinned and therefore the Lord had couered himselfe with a cloud that their praiers could not passe through And Esai saith that our sinnes are a wall betwixt God and vs. And S. Iohn that no vncleane thing must enter into the heauenly Ierusalem Now seeing we haue shut our selues out of heauen by our sinnes it was requiâ—ite that Christ Iesus our Sauiour should goe before vs to prepare a place and to make readie a way for vs. For he is king ouer all he hath the keies of heauen he openeth and no man shutteth therfore it is in his power to lâ—t vs in though we haue shut our selues out But some may say if this be the ende of his ascension to prepare a place in heauen then belike such as died before the comming of Christ were not in heauen Ans. As there are two degrees of glorie one incomplete and the other complete or perfect for the faithfull departed are in glorie but in part and there remaineth fulnesse of glory for them at the day of iudgement when soule and bodie shall be both glorified together so answerably there are two degrees of preparation of places in heauen The places of glorie were in part prepared for the faithfull from the beginning of the world but the full preparation is made by Christs ascension And of this last preparation is the place of Iohn to be vnderstood The vse of this doctrine is very profitable First it ouerthroweth the fond doctrine of the church of Rome which teacheth that Christ by his death did merit our iustification and that we beeing once iustified doe further merit saluation and purchase for our selues a place in heauen But this is as it were to make a partition betweene Christ and vs in the worke of our redemption whereas in truth not onely the beginning and continuance of our saluation but also the accomplishment thereof in our vocation iustification sanctification glorification is wholly and onely to be ascribed to the meere merit of Christ and therefore hauing redeemed vs on earth he also ascends to prepare a place in heauen for vs. Secondly this serueth to condemne the fearefull lamentable and desperate securitie of these our daies Great is the loue of Christ in that he was content to suffer the pangs of hell to bring vs out of hell and withall to goe to heauen to prepare a place for vs there and yet who is it that careth for this place or maketh any account therof who forsaketh this world seekes vnto Christ for it And further least any maÌ„ should say alas I know not the way therfore Christ before he ascended made a new liuing way with his own blood as the Apostle speaketh And to take away all excuses froÌ„ men he hath set markes and bounds in this way and hath placed guides in it
namely his ministers to shew all the passengers a straight and readie course into the kingdome of heauen And though Christ haue done all this for vs yet the blindnes and securitie of men is such that none almost walketh in this way nor careth to come into this mansion place but in stead of this they walke in by waies according to the lusts of their owne flesh When they are commanded to goe eastward to Ierusalem they turne westward an other way when they are commanded to goe on forward to heauen they turne againe backeward and goe straight to hell Men runne on all the daies of their liues in the broad way that leadeth to destruction and neuer so much as once make inquirie for a resting place in heauen but when the houre of death commeth then they call for the guide whereas all their liues before they haue runne out of the way many thousand miles but then alas it is too late vnlesse it be the vnspeakable mercie of God For they haue wandered so farre astray that in so short a space they cannot be able to come into the right way againe Yet generally this is the state of most among vs whose securitie is so much the more grieuous and fearefull because Christ hath done all that heart can wish There is nothing else required but onely that by his grace we should walke in the way There was neuer any that knew the state of the people in these daies but he will graunt that this is most true which I say Besides as by this we are brought to a sight of the desperate securitie of this age so we may further learne our owne duties Is Christ gone to heauen before hand to prepare a place for thee then practise that which Paul teacheth Haue thy conuersation in heauen The words which he vseth are verie significant and the meaning of them is Ye are free-denizens of the citie of God and therefore as freemen in Gods house let all your cares and studies all your affaires and doings bee in heauen In the world if a man make purchase of an house his heart is alwaies there there he pulls down and builds againe there he makes him orchards gardens there he meanes to liue and die Christ Iesus hath bought the kingdome of heauen for vs the most blessed purchasse that euer was and hath paid the dearest price for it that euer was paide euen his own pretious blood and in this citie he hath prepared for vs a dwelling place and made vs free-denizens of it therefore all our ioy and all our affaires ought to be there It will be said howe shall a man vpon earth haue his conuersation in heauen Ans. We must conuerse in heauen not in bodie but in heart and therfore though our bodies be on earth yet our hearts ioy and comfort and all our meditation must be in heauen Thus must wee behaue our selues like good freemen in Gods house It must be far from vs to haue our ioy and our hearts set on the things of this world Thirdly the consideration of this that Christ Iesus hath prepared a place for vs in heauen also hath trained the way with his owne blood must make euerie one of vs to striue to enter in at the straight gate as our Sauiour Christ counselleth vs and that as wrastlers doe which striue for life and death Within this gate is a dwelling place of happines readie for vs. If a man were assured that there were made for him a great purchasse in Spaine or Turkie so as if he would but come thither hee might inioy it would he not aduenture the daungers of the sea and of his enemies also if neede were that he might come to his owne Wel behold Christ Iesus hath made a purchase for vs in heauen there is nothing required of vs but that we wil come enioy it Why then should men refuse any paines or feare in the way nay we must striue to get in It may be we shall be pinched in the entrance for the gate is both strait and lowe and we must be faine to leaue our wealth behind vs and the pleasures of this life enter we must though we should be constrained to leaue our flesh behinde vs. For the purchase that is made is worth tenne thousand worldes And besides if we loose it by fainting in the way our purchase shall be the blacknesse of darkenes for euer with the deuill and all his angels who therefore would not striue though he lost his life in the gate The vrging of this point is needefull in these daies There is striuing enough for worldly preferment but a man almost may go alone in the straight way that leadeth to heauen he shall haue none to beare him company And where are they that striue to enter in where is the violence offered to the kingdome of heauen where bee the violent which should take it to themselues as in the daies of Iohn Baptist. Fourthly if Christ haue prepared a place for vs in heauen then we are in this world as pilgrimes and straungers and therefore must learne the counsell of Saint Peter As straungers and pilstrimes abstaine from fleshly lusts which fight against the soule He that doth esteeme himselfe as pilgrime is not to intangle himselfe with the affaires of this worlde nor put in practise the behauiour thereof but to behaue himselfe as a freeman of heauen as straungers vse to liue in forraine countries according to the fashion of their owne And therefore in thought word and deede in life and conuersation hee must so carrie himselfe as thereby he may appeare to al the world of what countrie he is An ancient diuine speaking of such as had curled and embrodered haire biddeth them consider whether they must goe to heauen with such haire or no and wheras they adorned themselues with winckles made of other womens haire he askes them whether it may not be the haire of a damned person or no. If it may be he further demandeth howe it may beseeme them to weare it which professe themselues to be the sonnes and daughters of God The like may be said of all other sinnes they that be of Gods house must behaue themselues as freemen there And when God hath made vs free it doth not beseeme vs to make our selues bondmen of sinne and Satan and of this world Fifthly seeing Christ went to heauen to prepare a place for all that beleeue in him here is a good dutie for parents Many of them are very carefull to preferre their children to great places and noble mens houses and they are not to be blamed therefore but if they would indeede be good parents to their children they should first endeauour themselues to get roomes for them in heauen they that doe this are good parents indeede Some will say howe shall we get this preferment for them Ans. God hath two houses his Church and the kingdome of heauen The church
this manner I prooue it thus Looke what was his request in our behalfe when he was here vpon earth the same for substance it continues still in heauen but here on earth the substance of his request was that he willed and desired that his father would be well pleased with vs for his merits as appeares by his praier in S. Iohn Father I will that those which thou hast giuen me be with me euen where I am that they may beholde my glorie which thou hast giuen me for thou louedst me before the fouÌ„datioÌ„ of the world Therefore he still continues to make request for vs by willing and desiring that his father would accept his merits in our behalfe If it be alleadged that Christ in this solemne praier vsed speech and prostration of his bodie the answer is that these actions were no essentiall parts of his praier The prostrating of his bodie serued onely as a token of submission to God as Christ was a creature and the speech which he vsed serued onely to vtter and expresse his request Furthermore a difference here must be marked between Christs passion and his intercession The passion serues for the working and causing of a satisfaction to Gods iustice for vs and it is as it were the tempering of the plaister the intercession goes further for it applies the satisfaction made and laies the salue to the very sore And therefore Christ makes request not onely for the elect generally but for particular men as Paul Iames Iohn and that particularly as he testifieth of himselfe saying I haue praied for thee Peter that thy faith faile not If any shall say that Christs willing and desiring of a thing can not be a request or intercession the answer is that in vertue and efficacie it couâ—teruailes all the praiers in the word For whatsoeuer Christ willeth the same also the father beeing well pleased with him willeth and therefore whatsoeuer Christ as a mediatour willeth for vs at the handes of his father in effect or substance is a request or praier The third point is that Christ alone and none with him makes intercession for vs. And this I prooue by induction of particulars First of al this office appertaines not to the angels They are indeede ministring spirits for the good of Gods chosen they reioice when a sinner is conuerted and when he dieth they are readie to carrie his soule into Abrahams bosome and God otherwhiles vseth them as messengers to reueale his will thus the Angel Gabriel brings a message to Zacharie the priest that God had heard his praier but it is not once said in all the scriptures that they make intercession to God for vs. As for the Saints departed they can not make intercession for vs because they know not our particular estates here on earth neither can they heare our requests And therefore if we should pray to them to pray for vs wee should substitute them into the roome of God because we ascribe that to them which is proper to him namely the searching of the heart and the knowledge of all things done vpon earth though withall we should say that they doe this not by themselues but of God As for the faithful here on earth indeed they haue warrant yea commandement to pray one for another yet can they not make intercession for vs. For first he that makes intercâ—ssion must bring something of his owne that may be of value and price with God to procure the graunt of his request secondly he must doe it in his owne name but the faithfull on earth make request to God one for another not in their owne names nor for their owne merits but in the name and for the merits of Christ. It is a prerogatiue belonging to Christ alone to make a request in his own name and for his owne merits wee therefore conclude that the worke of intercession is the sole worke of Christ God and man not belonging to any creature beside in heauen or in earth And whereas the Papists can not content themselues with his intercession alone as beeing most sufficient it argues plainely that they doubt either of his power or of his will whereupon their praiers turne to sinne The fruits and benefits of Christs intercession are these First by meanes of it wee are assured that those which are repentant sinners shall stand and appeare righteous before God for euer at what time soeuer Christ beeing now in heauen and there presenting himselfe and his merits before his father shewes himselfe desirous and willing and they whosoeuer they are being sinners should be accepted of God for the same euen then immediately at that very instant this his wil is done and they are accepted as righteous before god indeede When a man lookes vpon things directly through the aire they appeare in their proper formes and colours as they are but if they bee looked vpon through a greene glasse they all appeare greene so likewise if God behold vs as we are in our selues we appeare as vile and damnable sinners but if he looke vpon vs as we are presented before his throne in heauen in the person of our Mediatour Christ Iesus willing that we should be approoued for his merits then we appeare without all spot and wrinkle before him And this is the vse Paul makes hereof It is God saith he that iustifieth and the reason is rendred For it is Christ that is dead yea or rather which is risen againe who is also at the right hand of God and makes request for vs. Secondly Christs intercession serues to preserue al repentant sinners in the estate of grace that being once iustified and sanctified they may so continue to the ende For when any seruant of God is ouertaken by the corruption of his owne nature and falls into any particular sinne then Christs intercession is made as a blessed hand to apply the salue of his death to that particular sore For he continually appeares before God and shewes himselfe to be willing that God the father should accept his one only sacrifice for the daily and particular sinnes of this or that particular man and this is done that a man beeing iustified before God may not fall away quite from grace but for euery particular sinne may be humbled and receiue pardon If this were not so our estate should be most miserable considering that for euery sinne committed by vs after our repentance we deserue to be cast out of the fauour of God Thirdly Christs intercession serueth to make our good works acceptable to God For euen in the best workes that a man can doe there are two wants First they are good onely in part secondly they are mingled with sinne For as a man is partly spirit or grace and partly flesh so are his works partly gratious and partly fleshly And because grace is onely begun in this life therefore all the workes of grace in this life are sinfull and imperfit Now by Christs
intercession his satisfaction is applied to our persons and by consequent the defect of our workes is couered and remooued and they are approued of God the father In a vision Saint Iohn saw an angel standing before the altar with a golden censer full of sweete odours to offer vp with the praiers of the Saints vpon the same And this signifies that Christ presents our workes before the throne of God and by his intercession sanctifies them that they may be acceptable to God And therefore we must remember that when we doe any thing that is accepted of God it is not for our sakes but by reason of the value and vigour of Christ his merit Fourthly the intercession of Christ made in heauen breedeth and causeth in the hearts of men vpon earth that beleeue another intercession of the spirit as Paul saith He giueth vs his spirit which helpeth our infirmities and maketh request for vs with sighes which can not be expressed but he which searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the meaning of the spirit for he maketh request for the Saints according to the will of God Now the spirit is said to make request in that it stirres and mooues euery contrite heart to pray with sighes and grones vnspeakable to God for things needfull and this grace is a fruit deriued from the intercession of Christ in heauen by the operation of the spirit For as the Sunne though the bodie of it abide in the heauens yet the beames of it descend to vs that are on earth So the intercession of Christ made in heauen is tied as it were to his person alone yet the grones and desires of the touched heart as the beames thereof are here on earth among the faithfull And therefore if we desire to know whether Christ make intercession for vs or no we neede not to ascend vp into the heauens to learne the truth but we must descend into our owne hearts and looke whether Christ haue giuen vs his spirit which makes vs crie vnto God make request to him with grones sighes that can not be expressed and if we finde this in our hearts it is an euident and infallible signe that Christ continually makes intercession for vs in heauen He that would know whether the Sunne shine in the firmament must not clime vp into the cloudes to looke but search for the beames thereof vpon the earth which when he sees he may conclude that the sunne shines in the firmament And if we would know whether Christ in heauen makes intercession for vs let vs ransacke our owne consciences and there make search whether we feele the spirit of Christ crying in vs Abba Father As for those that neuer feele this worke of Gods spirit in them their case is miserable whatsoeuer they be For Christ as yet makes no intercession for them considering these two alwaies go togither his intercession in heauen and the worke of his spirit in the hearts of men moouing them to bewaile their owne sinnes with sighes and grones that cannot be expressed and to crie and to pray vnto God for grace and therfore all such whether they be yong or old that neuer could pray but mumble vp a few words for fashions sake can not assure themselues to haue any part in Christs intercession in heauen The duties to be learned hence are these First whereas Christ makes intercession for vs it teacheth all men to be most carefull to loue and like this blessed Mediatour and to be readie and willing to become his seruants and disciples and that not for forme and fashion sake onely but in all truth and sinceritie of heart For he ascended to heauen and there sits at the right hand of his father to make request for vs that we might be deliuered from hell and come to eternall life Wicked Haman procured letters from king Ahashuerosh for the destruction of all the Iewes men women and children in his dominions this done Hester the Queene makes request to the king that her people might be saued and the letters of Haman reuoked shee obtaines her request and freedome was giuen and contrarie letters of ioyfull deliuerance were sent in post hast to all prouinces where the Iewes were Whereupon arose a wonderfull ioy and gladnes among the Iewes and it is saide that thereupon many of the people of the land became Iewes Well now behold a greater matter among vs then this for there is the hand-writing of condemnation the law and therein the sentence of a double death of bodie and soule and Satan as wicked Haman accuseth vs and seekes by all meanes our condemnation but yet behold not any earthly Hester but Christ Iesus the sonne of God is come downe from heauen and hath taken away this hand-writing of condemnation and cancelled it vpon the crosse and is now ascended into heauen and there sits at the right hand of his father and makes request for vs and in him his father is well pleased and yeeldeth to his request in our behalfe Now then what must we doe in this case Surely looke as the Persians became Iewes when they heard of their safetie so we in life and conuersation must become Christians turne to Christ imbrace his doctrine and practise the same vnfainedly And we must not content our selues with a formall profession of religion but search our owne hearts and flie vnto Christ for the pardon of our sinnes and that earnestly as for life and death as the thiefe doth at the barre when the iudge is giuing sentence against him When we shall thus humble our selues then Christ Iesus that sit at the right hand of God will plead our cause and be our atturney vnto his father and his father againe will accept of his request in our behalfe Then shall we of Persians become Iewes and of the children of this world become the sonnes of God Secondly when we pray to God we must not doe as the blinde man doth as it were rush vpon God in praying to him without consideration had to the Mediatonr between vs and him but we alwaies must direct our prayers to God in the name of Christ for he is aduanced to power and glorie in heauen that he might be a fit patrone for vs who might preferre and present our praiers to God the father that thereby they might be accepted and we might obtaine our request So likewise we must giue thanks to God in the name of Christ for in him and for his sake God doth bestow on vs his blessings Thus much of Christs intercession the other benefit which concernes Christ kingly office is that he sits at the right hand of his father for the administration of that speciall kingdome which is committed to him I say speciall because he is our king not onely by the right creation gouerning all things created togither with the father and the holy Ghost but also more specially by the right of redemption in respect of another kingdome not
is manifest in Pharao for though God sent most grieuous plagues both vpon him and all the land of Egypt yet would he not submit himselfe saue onely for a fit while the hand of God was vpon him for after he returned to the former obstinacie in which he continued till he was drowned in the sea And this iudgement of God is the more fearefull because when a man is in the midst of all his miserie he feeles no miserie And as in some kinde of sicknes a man may die languishing so where hardnes of heart raignes wholly finally a man may descend to the pit of hell triumphing reâ—oycing And to come neere to our selues it is to be feared least this iudgement of all iudgements be among vs in these our daies For where is any â—uâ—ning to God by repentance Still men goe forward in sinne without remorse We haue had the word preached among vs a long time but it taketh no place in mens hearts They are not softned with the hammer of Gods word nay they are like the smiths stithy or anuil which the more it is beat with the haÌ„nmar the harder it is But in the feare of God let vs seeke to be changed and take heede the deceitfulnes of sinne is wonderfull Let vs not be caried away with an ouerweening of our selues a man may haue good gifts of God as the gift of knowledge the gift of prophecie the gift of conceiuing a prayer I say not of praying truly and hereupon thinke himselfe in good case and yet for all this haue nothing but an impenitent and flintie heart For this cause it standeth euery man vpon to looke vnto it least this iudgement of God take hold on him And that we may auoid the same we must labour for two things I. to feele the heauy burden of our sinnes and be touched in conscience for them euen as we are troubled in our bodies with the aches and paines thereof this is a token of grace II. We must labour to feele in our owne soules the want of Christ we say indeede that we feele it but it is a very great matter to haue an heart that doth open it selfe and as it were gape after Christ as the drie and thirstie land where no water is Though we haue knowledge and learning neuer so much and many other gifts of God yet if we haue not broken hearts that feele the burden of our sinnes and the want of Christ and that we stand in neede of euery droppe of his bloode for the washing away of all these our sinnes our case is miserable And the rather we must preuent this hardnesse of heart because Christ Iesus in heauen sits at the right hand of his father in full power and authoritie to kill and confound all those that be his enemies and will not submit themselues to beare his yoke The second way is by finall desperation I say finall because all kind of desperation is not euill For when a man despaireth of himselfe and of his owne power in the matter of his saluation it tends to his eternall comfort But finall desperation is when a man vtterly despaires of the pardon of his owne sinnes and of life euerlasting Examples hereof we haue in Saul that slue himselfe and in Achitophel and Iudas that hanged themselues This sinne is caused thus So many sinnes as a man committeth without repentance so many most bloodie wounds he giueth vnto his owne soule and either in death or life God makes him feele the smart and the huge waight of them all whereby the soule sinkes downe into the gulfe of despaire without recouerie God said to Cain If thou doe amisse sinne lyeth at â—hy doore Where he vseth a borrowed speech from wild beasts who so long as they are sleeping stirre not but beeing awaked they flie in a mans face and rend out his throat In like maner the sinnes which thou committest lie at the doore of thine heart though thou feele them not and if thou doe not preuent the danger by speedy repentance God will make thee to feele them once before thou die and raise vp such terrours in thy conscience that thou shalt thinke thy selfe to be in hell before thou art in hell and therefore it is good for euery man to take heede how he continues an enemie to Christ. The best course is to turne betime from our â—innes and become the friends of Christ that so we may escape these fearefull iudgements And whereas Christ in this manner gouernes all things in heauen earth we are bound to performe vnto him three duties reuerence obedience thankfulnes For the first Paul saith God hath exalted him and giuen him a name aboue all names that at the name of Iesus which name is his exaltation in heauen in full power and glorie should euery knee bowe We dare not so much as speake of an earthly king vnreuerently what reuerence then do we owe vnto Christ the king of heauen and earth Dauids heart was touched in that he had cut off but the lap of Sauls garment when he might haue slaine him because he was the Lords annointed On then howe much more ought our hearts to be touched if we shall in the least measure dishonour Christ Iesus our Lord and king SecoÌ„dly we are here taught to performe obedience to him to do him all the homage we can The master of the family in all his lawefull commandements must be obeyed nowe the Church of Christ is a family and we are members thereof therefore we must yeeld obedience to him in all things for all his commandements are iust When Saul was chosen king ouer Israel certaine men which feared God whose hearts God had touched followed him to Gibea and brought him presents but the wicked despised him the same is much more to be verified in vs toward Christ our Lord. Wee must haue our hearts touched with desire to performe obedience vnto him if not we are men of Belial that despise him If this obedience were put in practise the Gospel would haue better successe in the hearts of the people and the Lords sabbath would be better kept and men would beare greater loue both to God and to their neighbours then nowe they doe The third dutie which we owe vnto him is thankfulnesse for the endlesse care which he sheweth in the gouerning and preseruing of vs. When Dauid waxed olde and had made Salomon his sonne king in his stead al the people shouted and cried God saue king Salomon God saue king Salomon so as the earth rang againe Shall the people of Israel thus reioice at the crowning of Salomon and shall not we much more reioice when as Christ Iesus is placed in heauen at the right hand of his father and hath the euerlasting scepter of his kingdome put into his hand And we are to shewe this thankfulnesse vnto him by doing any thing in this world that may tend to his honour and glorie though
it be with the aduenture of our liues When Dauid desired to drinke of the water of the well of Bâ—thlem three of his mightie men went and brake into the hoast of the Philistâ—ms and brought him water Thus they ventured their liues for Dauids sake and shall not we much more willingly venture our liues to doe Christ seruice in token of thankefulnesse for his continuall preseruing of vs Thus much of the highest degree of Christs exaltation in his kingeome nowe followeth the last point to be beleeued concerning Christ in these wordes From thence he shall come to iudge the quicke and the deade And they containe a proofe or a particular declaration of the former article For as on earth those that are set at the right hand of kings doe execute iustice in courts or assises â—or the maintenance of the state peace of the kingdome so Christ Iesus sitting at the right hand of his father that is being made soueraigne Lord of all things both in heauen and earth is to hold a court or assise in which hee shall come to iudge both the quicke and the dead Nowe in handling the last iudgement we are to consider these points I. whether there shall be a iudgement or not II. the time of it III. the signes thereof IV. the manner of it V. the vse which is to be made thereof Of these in order For the first point whether there shall be a iudgement or not the question is needefull for as Saint Peter saith There shall come in the last daies mockers which shall walke after their lusts and say Where is the promise of his comming which daies are nowe The answer to this question is set downe in this article in which we professe that the comming of Christ to the last iudgement is a point of religion specially to be helde and auouched The reasons to prooue it are principally two first the testimonie of God himselfe in the bookes of the olde and newe testament which affoard vnto vs plentifull proofes touching the last iudgement so as he which will but lightly read the same shall not neede to doubt thereof The second reason is taken froÌ„ the iustice and goodnes of God the propertie wherof is to punish wicked and vngodly men and to honour and reward the godly but in this world the godly man is most of all in miserie for iudgement beginneth at Gods house and the vngodly haue their hearts ease Wâ—cked Diues hath the world at will but poore Lazarus is hunger bitten full of sores and miserable euery way This beeing so it remaineth that after this life therâ— must needes be a iudgement and a second comming of Christ when the godly must receiue fulnesse of ioy and glorie and the vngodly fulnesse of woe miserie This second reason may stoppe the mouthes of all gainesayers in the world whatsoeuer But it may be obiected that the whole world stands either of beleeuers or vnbeleeuers and that there is no last iudgement for either of these for the beleeuer as Christ saith hath euerlasting life and shall not come into iudgement and the vnbeleeuer is condemned alreadie and therefore needeth no further iudgement Ans. Where it is said he that beleeueth shall not come into iudgement it must bee vnderstood of the iudgement of condemnation and not the iudgement of absolution and he that beleeueth not is condemned alreadie in effect and substance three waies I. in the counsell of God who did foresee and appoint his condemnation as it is a punishment of sinne and an execution of his iustice II. in the word of God where he hath his condemnation set downe III. he is condemned in his own conscience for euery vngodly mans conscience is a iudge vnto himselfe which doth euery houre condemne him and it is a forerunner of the last iudgement And notwithstanding all this there may remaine a second iudgement which is a manifestation and finishing of that which was begunne in this worlde and therefore the meaning of that place is this hee that beleeueth not is alreadie iudged in part but so as the full manifestation thereof shall be at the second comming of Christ. The second circumstance is the time of his iudgement in handling whereof first let vs see what is the iudgement of men secondly what is the trueth For the first two opinions touching this time take place The first is that the second comming of Christ shall be about sixe thousand yeares from the beginning of the worlde and that for the Elects sake some of these daies must be shortned and nowe since the beginning of the worlde are passed fiue thousand almost sixe hundred yeares so as there remaines but foure hundred The groundes of this opinion are these First the testimonie of Elias two thousand yeares before the lawe two thousand yeares vnder the lawe and two thousand yeares vnder Christ. And for the elects sake some of these yeares shall be shortened Answer This was not the sentence of Elias the Thisbite but of another Elias which was a Iewe no prophet And wheras he saith two thousand yeres before the lawe and two thousand yeares vnder the lawe he faileth From the giuing of the law to the comming of Christ was about one thousand and fiue hundred yearesâ— and from the lawe to the creation aboue two thousand Now if Elias cannot set downe a iust number for the time past which a meane man many do what shal we think that he can do for the time to come And if he deceiue vs in that which is more easie to find how shal we trust him in things that be harder The secoÌ„d reason is this How long god was in creating the world so long he shall be in gouerning the same but he was sixe daies in creating the worlde and in the seuenth he rested and so proportionally hee shall bee sixe thousand yeares in gouerning the world euery daie answering to a thousand yeares as Peter saith A thousand yeares are but as one day with God and then shall the end bee Ans. This reason likewise hath no ground in Gods word as for that place of Peter the meaning is that innumerable yeares are but as a short time with God and we may as well say two thousand or tenne thousand yeares are but as one daie with God For Peter meant not to speake any thing distinctly of a thousand yeares but of a long time Thirdly it is alleadged that within sixe thousand yeares from the creation of the world shall appeare in the heauens straunge coniunctions and positions of the starres which signifie nothing els but the subuersion of the state of the world nay some haue noted that the ende thereof should haue beene in the yeare of our Lord a thousand fiue hundred eightie eight their writings are manifest but we finde by experience that this opinion is false and friuolous and their groundes be as friuolous For no man can gather by the ordinarie course of the
fruit that the word of God bringeth forth in the liues of men shewes this to be most true The seauenth and last signe set downe by the Apostle Paul is that there shall be a calling of the Iewes before the Lord come to iudgement but of the time when this calling shall be of the manner how or the number of them that shall be called there is no mention made of in the word of God Now it is likely that this signe is yet to come These are the signes that goe before the comming of Christ all which are almost past and therefore the end can not be farre off Now follows the signe that is ioyned with the comming of Christ called the signe of the sonne of man What this signe is we finde not in the Scriptures Some thinke it to be the signe of the crosse but that is friuolous some the glorie and maiestie of Christ which shall be made manifest in his appearance which seemes to be otherwise by the very words of Christ. Then saith he shall appeare the signe of the sonne of man c. and then they shall see him come in the clouds of heauen with power and great glorie where he distinguisheth the one from the other But I rather coniecture it to be the burning of heauen and earth with fire at the very instant of Christs comming mentioned by Peter We must not here dispute whence this fire shall come or how it shall be kindled for that the word of God hath concealed and where God hath not a mouth to speake there we must not haue an eare to heare The vses to be made hereof are these When S. Peter had set downe the change that shall be at the comming of Christ and that heauen and earth must be purged with fire he makes this vse thereof Seeing all things must be dissolued what manner of men ought we to be in holy conuersation and godlines and the reason is good For if heauen and earth must be changed and purged at Christs comming then much more ought we to be chaunged and to put off the old man of sinne and to become newe creatures created after the image of God in righteousnesse and true holinesse If the bruit creatures must be renued by fire then much more are wee to labour that the heat of Gods spirit may burne vp sinne corruption in vs so change vs that we may be ready for him against his comming els heauen and earth it selfe shall stand in iudgement against vs to our condemnation Secondly the consideration of this that the world shall be consumed with fire teacheth vs moderation and sobrietie in the vse of Gods creatures as in costly buildings gorgeous attire and such like What madnes is this to bestow all that we haue on such things as at the day of iudgement shal be consumed with fire For looke whatsoeuer abuse shall come to Gods creatures by our follie the same shall then be abolished Thirdly we must consider that the cause why heauen and earth must be consumed with fire is mans sin by means wherof they are made subiect to vanity corruption Here then we haue iust occasion to acknowledge the greatnes wretchednes of our sinnes If any of vs had but seene the Iewes leprosie it would haue made vs to wonder for the contagion thereof did infect not onely the whole man but his garments also that were about him and sometime the walls of his house but howesoeuer wee cannot see that leprosie among vs yet we may see a worse For the leprosie of our sinnes doth not onely infect our garments and the things about vs with our bodies but euen the high heauens and the earth are stained with the contagion thereof and are made subiect to vanitie and corruption yea by sinne in vs the most glorious creatures in them as the Sunne Moone and starres are become subiect to vanitie Oh then howe wretched is the heart of man that makes no bones of sinne which is the most noisome thing in all the world the stinke whereof hath infected both heauen and earth If we could consider this wee would not be so slacke in humbling our selues for the same as we are We can not abide to looke on a poore lazar full of blanes and sores but if wee could see our sinns in their right colours they would make vs seeme vnto our selues tenne thousand times more ougly then any lazar man can be the contagion thereof is so great and noisome that the very heauens which are many thousand miles distant from vs are infected therewith Yet here we are to knowe that this fire shall not consume the substance of heauen and earth but onely change the qualitie abolish the corruption which our sinnes haue brought vpon them The fourth point to be considered is the manner of the last iudgement in which we may obeserue two things I. who shall be iudge II. the proceeding of this iudge The first is expressed in this article From thence he shall come to iudge He that is Christ Iesus the second person in Trinitie For the father hath committed all iudgement vnto him It is indeede an action common to all the three persons in trinitie but yet the execution thereof appertaines vnto the sonne The father indeed doth iudge the world but yet by the sonne But some may obiect that the Apostles shall sit on twelue thrones and iudge the twelue tribes of Israel And S. Paul saith The Saints shall iudge the world Howe then is this true that â—hrist is the onely iudge of the worlde Ans. The authoritie of iudgement and giuing sentence at the last day is proper to Christ alone and doth not belong either to the Apostles or to the Saints and they shall iudge at the last day onely as witnesses and approouers of Christs iudgement At the great day of assise beside the iudge the iustices on the bench are also in a manner iudges not that they giue sentence but because by their presence they approoue and witnesse the equitie of the sentence of the iudge so the definitiue sentence doth belong to Christ and the Apostles and Saints doe nothing but approoueâ— and beeing present giue assent to his righteous sentence The whole proceeding of the last iudgement may bee reduced to seuen points or heads The first is the comming of the iudge in the cloudes Here at the first may be demanded why Christ holdes the last iudgement rather on earth then in heauen Ans. He doth it for two causes One the creature to bee iudged hath sinned here vpon earth and hee proceedes after the manner of earthly iudges who holde their sessions and assises there where trespasses are commonly committed The second because the deuill his angels are to be iudged it is a part of their punishment to be cast out of heauen For no vnclean thing may come into this heaueÌ„ly IerusaleÌ„ therfore they now remain in the lower parts of the world
we pollute our soules and bodies with any manner of sinne we make them euen stables and styes for our wretched enemie the deuill to harbour in For when Satan is once cast out if afterward we fall againe to our old sinnes loosenes of life and so defile our bodies they are then most cleane and neat for them to dwell in whereupon he will come and bring seuen other deuills worse then himselfe so a mans last end shall be worse then his beginning Now what a fearefull thing is this that the bodie which should be a temple for the holy Ghost by our sins should be made a stable for the deuil Furthermore S. Paul biddeth vs not to quench the spirit The graces of the holy spirit in this life are like sparkes of fire which may soone be quenched with a little water Now so oft as we sinne we cast water vpon the grace of God and as much as we can put out the same therefore it stands vs in hand to make conscience of euery thing wherein we may offend and displease God And we may assure our selues that so long as we liue and lie in our corruptions and sinnes the holy Ghost will neuer come and dwell with vs. He is a spirit most pure and chast and therefore must haue an vndefiled temple to dwell in Thus we haue heard what is to be beleeued concerning the Father Sonne and holy Ghost Now looke as we beleeue in God distinguished into three persons so we must remember that when we performe diuine worship to him we may distinguish the persons but we are not to seuer them when we pray to the Father we must not omit the Sonne or the holy Ghost but make our prayers to them all for as in nature they are one and in person not deuided but distinguished so in all worship we must neuer confound or seuer the persons but distinguish them and worship the Trinitie in vnitie and vnitie in trinitie one God in three persons and three persons in one God Hitherto we haue intreated of the first part of the Creede concerning God now followes the second part thereof concerning the Church and â—t was added to the former vpon speciall consideration For the right order of a confession did require that after the Trinitie the Church should be mentioned as the house after the owner the temple after God and the citie after the builder Againe the Creede is concluded with points of doctrine concerning the Church because whosoeuer is out of it is also forth of the number of gods children and he can not haue God for his father which hath not the Church for his mother Question is made what the words are which are to be supplied in this article the holy Catholike Church whether I beleeue or I beleeue in and ancient expositours haue sufficiently determined the matter One saith In these words in which is set forth our faith of the godhead it is saide In God the father in the Sonne and in the holy Ghost but in the rest where the speech is not of the Godhead but of creatures aud mysteries the preposition In is not added that it should be in the holy Church but that we should beleeue there is an holy Church not as God but as a companie gathered to God And men should beleeue that there is remission of sinnes not in the remission of sinnes and they should beleeue the resurrection of the bodie not in the resurrection of the bodie therefore by this preposition the Creatour is distinguished from the creatures and things pertaining to God from things pertaining to men Another vpon these words This is the worke of God that ye beleeue in him saith If ye beleeue in him ye beleeue him not if ye beleeue him ye beleeue in him for the deuills beleeued God but did not beleeue in him Againe of the Apostles we may say we beleeue Paul but we doe not beleeue in Paul we beleeue Peter but we beleeue not in Peter For his faith that beleeueth in him which iustifieth the vngodly is imputed to him for righteousnes What is it therefore to beleeue in him by beleeuing to loue and like and as it were to passe into him and to be incorporated into his members Now the reasons which some Papists bring to the contrarie to prooue that we may beleeue in the creatures in the church are of no moment First they alleadge the phrase of Scripture Exod. 14.31 They beleeued in God and in Moses 1. Sam. 27. 12. And Achis beleeued in Dauid 2. Chron. 20.20 Beleeue in the Prophets and prosper Ans. The Hebrewe phrase in which the seruile letter Beth is vsed must not bee translated with a preposition that ruleth an accusatiue or ablatiue case but with a datiue case on this manner Beleeue Moses Dauid the Prophets and it doth not impart any affiance in the creature but onely a giuing of credance by one man to another Secondly they alleadge that ancient fathers read the article on this manner I beleeue in the holy Catholike Church Answ. Indeede some haue done so but by this kind of speech they signified no more but thus much that they beleeued that there was a Catholike Church Thus hauing found what words are to be supplied let vs come to the meaning of the article And that we may proceede in order let vs first of all see what the Church is The Church is a peculiar companie of men predestinate to life euerlasting and made one in Christ. First I say it is a peculiar company of men for Saint Peter saith Ye are a chosen generation a royall priesthood an holy nation and a peculiar people He speakes indeede of the Church of God on earth but his saying may be also extended to the whole Church of God as well in heauen as in earth Nowe because there can be no companie vnlesse it haue a beginning and a cause whereby it is gathered therefore I adde further in the definition predestinate to life euerlasting Noting thereby the ground and cause of the Catholike Church namely Gods eternall predestination to life euerlasting and to this purpose our Sauiour Christ saith Feare not little flocke for it is your fathers will to giue you the kingdome signifying thereby that the first and principall cause of the Church is the good pleasure of God whereby he hath before all workes purposed to aduance his elect to eternall saluation Therefore one saith well onely the elect are the Church of God And further because no companie can continue and abide for euer vnlesse the members thereof be ioyned and coupled together by some bond therefore I adde in the last place made one with Christ. This vnion maketh the Church to be the Church and by it the members thereof whether they be in heauen or in earth are distinguished from all other companies whatsoeuer Now this coniunction betweene Christ and the Church is auouched by Saint Paul when
how shall he not with him giue vs all things also And touching it sundrie points must be considered The first is what is meant by this giuing Ans. It is an action or worke of God the Father by the holy ghost whereby Christ as redeemer in the appointed time is really communicated to al ordained to saluation in such manner that they may truely say that Christ himselfe withall his benefits is theirs both in respect of right thereto and in respect of all fruit redounding thence and that as truely as any man may say that house and land giuen him of his ancetours is his owne both to possesse and to vse The second point is what is the very thing giuen Answ. Whole Christ God and man is giuen because his humanitie without his godhead or the godhead without the humanitie doth not reconcile vs to God Yet in this giuing there must be a diuers consideration had of the two natures of Christâ— for the communication of the godhead is merely energeticall that is onely in respect of operation in that it doth make the manhood personally vnited vnto it to be propitiatorie for our sinnes and meritorious of life eternall And to auouch any communication of the godhead in respect of essence were to bring in the heresie of the Maniches and to maintaine a composition and a commixtion of our natures with the nature of God Againe in the manhood of Christ wee must distinguish betweene the subiect it selfe the substance of body and soule and the blessings in the subiect which tend to our saluation And the communication of the aforsaid manhood is in respect of both without separation for no man can receiue sauing vertue from Christ vnlesse first of all he receiue Christ himselfe as no man can haue the treasure hid in the fielde vnlesse first of all he haue the fielde and no man can be nourished by meate and drinke vnlesse first of all he receiue the substance of both And this is the cause why not onely in the preaching of the worde but also in the institution of the Lords supper expresse mention is made not onely of Christs merit but also of his verie bodie and blood whereby the whole humanitie is signified as appeares by that place where it is said that the Word was made flesh And though the flesh of it selfe profit nothing as S. Iohn saith yet as it is ioyned to the godhead of the sonne and doth subsist in his person it receiueth thence quickening vertue to reuiue and renue all those to whome it shall be giuen Lastly among the blessings that are stored vp in the manhood of Christ for our saluation some are giuen vnto vs by imputation as when wee are iustified by the righteousnesse indeede inherent in his manhoode but imputed vnto vs some by infusion as when holinesse is wrought in our heartes by the spirit as a fruite of that holinesse which is in the manhood of Christ and deriued from it as the light of one candle from another The third point is in what manner Christ is giuen vnto vs. Ans. God the father giueth Christ vnto his Church not in any earthly or bodily manner as when a king bestoweth a gift with his owne hand and putteth it into the hand of his subiect but the manner is altogether celestiall and spirituall partly because it is brought to passe by the meere diuine operation of the holy Ghost partly because in respect of vs this gift is receiued by an instrument which is supernaturall namely faith whereby we lay hold on and applie vnto our selues the Euangelicall promises And this manner of giuing may be conceiued thus A man that neuer stirred foote out of England holds and enioyes land in Turkie but how comes it to be his Thus the Emperour was willing and content to bestow it and the man for his part as willing to accept and receiue it and by this meanes that which at the first was the Emperours by mutuall consent becomes the mans In the same manner God the Father hath made an Euangelicall couenant with his Church in which of his mercie he hath made a graunt of his owne sonne vnto vs with righteousnesse and life euerlasting in him and we againe by his grace accept of this graunt and receiue the same by faith thus by mutuall consent according to the tenour of the couenant any repentant sinner may truly say though I now haue mine aboad vpon earth and Christ in respect of his manhood be locally in heauen yet is he truly mine to haue and to enioy his bodie is mine his blood is mine As for the giuing receiuing of the bodie blood of Christ in bodily manner which the Papists maintaine in auouching the reall transubstantiation of bread and wine in the sacrament into the bodie and blood of Christ and the Lutherans also in teaching that his bodie and blood is substantially either in or with or vnder the bread and wine is an erroneous conceit flat opposite to sundrie points of the Cbristian faith For Christ to this very houre retaineth still the essence and essentiall properties of a true bodie and we beleeue that really and visibly he ascended into heauen and there abides till his second comming to the last iudgement who then hauing but common reason would imagine a communication of the bodie of Christ pent vp in the element of bread and conueyed into our bodies by the mouth and stomacke The third point is whether we are not lords of Christ he being thus giuen vnto vs. Ans. No for this donation is not single but mutuall As Christ is giuen to vs so we againe are giuen to Christ as he himselfe saith Those whome thou hast giuen me Father I haue kept And we are giuen vnto 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 and the punishment thereof is wholly laid vpon him This is all the dowrie which the Church beeing the spouse of Christ hath brought vnto him The fifth point is how any man in particular may know that Christ is giuen vnto 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 we vtterly renounce our selues this world and all things therein bewaile our sinnes past resting on the death of Christ for the pardon of them al and as it were with both the armes of faith catching holde vpon him in all estates both in life and death When the heart of any man is truely disposed and inclined to doe these and the like things wee may truely say that God hath giuen him grace to receiue Christ. The second thing required to make vs one with Christ is the Mysticall vnion which is a Coniunction wherby Christ his Church are actually coupled
the Church he hath part in all the praiers of the Saints through the world of the blessings of god that come thereby The third part of this communion is in temporall things as goods and riches whereby I meane no anabaptisticall communion but that which was vsed in the primitiue Church when they had all things common in respect of vse and some solde their goods and possessions and parted them to all men as euery one had neede And by their example wee are taught to be content to imploy those goods which God hath bestowed on vs for the good of our fellowe members within the compasse of our callings and to our abilitie and beyond our abilitie if neede require Paul saith Doe good to all but specially to them which are of the houshold of faith The communion of the liuing with the dead stands in two things the one is that the Saints departed in the Church Triumphant doe in generall pray for the Church militant vpon earth desiring the finall deliuerance of all their fellowe members from all their miseries And therefore in the Apocalyps they crie on this manner Howe long Lord holy and true doest not thou iudge and auenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth I say in generall because they praie not for the particular conditions and persons of men vpon earth considering they neither knowe nor see nor heare vs neither can they tell what things are done vpon earth The second is that the godly on earth do in heart and affection conuerse with them in heauen desiring continually to be dissolued and to be with Christ. Nowe whereas the Papists do further inlarge this communion auouching that the Saints in heauen make intercession to Christ for vs and impart their merits vnto vs and that we againe for that cause are to inuocate them and to doe vnto them religious worship we dissent from theÌ„ beeing resolued that these things are but inuentions of mans braine wanting warrant of the word Lastly to conclude a question may be demanded how any one of vs may particularly know and be assured in our selues that we haue part in this communion of Saints Ans. Saint Iohn opens this point to the full when he saith If we say that we haue fellowship with him and yet walke in darknes we lie but if we walke in the light as he is light then we haue fellowship one with another and the blood of Christ purgeth vs from all our sinnes In which wordes he makes knowledge of Gods will ioyned with obedience to be an infallible marke of one that is in the communion as on the contrarie ignorance of Gods will or disobedience or both to be tokens of one that hath neither fellowshippe with Christ or with the true members of Christ. And therefore to ende this point if we would haue fellowship with Christ let vs learne to know what sinne is and to â—he from the same as from the bane of our soules and to make conscience of euery euill way The duties to be learned by the communion of the Saints are manifold And first of all if we doe beleeue the fellowship which all the faithfull haue with Christ and with themselues and be resolued that we haue part therein then must we separate and withdraw our selues from all vngodly and vnlawfull societies of men in the world whatsoeuer they be Vnlawfull societies are manifold but I will onely touch one which euery where annoyeth religion and hindreth greatly this communion of Saints and that is when men ioyne themselues in companie to passe away the time in drinking gaming c. Behold a large fellowship which beareth sway in all places there is almost no towne but there is at the least one knot of such companions and he that will not be combined with such loose mates he is thought to be a man of no good nature he is foisted forth of euery companie he is no bodie and if a man will yeelde to runne riot with them in the mispending of his time and goods he is thought to be the best fellow in the world But what is done in this societie and how doe these cup-companions spend their time surely the greatest part of day and night is vsually spent in swearing gaming drinking surfetting reuelling and railing on the ministers of the word and such as professe religion to omit the enormities which they procure to themselues hereby and this behauiour spreads it selfe like a canker ouer euery place it defiles both towne and countrey But we that looke for comfort by the communion of Saints must not cast in our lot with such a wicked generation but separate our selues from them For vndoubtedly their societie is not of God but of the deuill and they that are of this societie can not be of the holy communion of Saints and surely except the Magistrate by the sword or the Church by the power of the keyes doe pull downe such fellowship the holy societie of Gods Church and people must decay Excommunication is a censure ordained of God for this end to banish them from this heauenly communion of the members of Christ that liue inordinately and haue communion with men in the works of darknesse Secondly by this we are taught that men professing the same religion must be linked in â—ocietie and conuerse togither in Christian loue meeknes gentlenesse and patience as Saint Paul taught the Philippians If there be any fellowship of the spirit if there be any compassion and mercie fulfill my ioy that we may be like minded hauing the same loue beeing of one accord and of like iudgement And againe Keepe saith he the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace Why marke how his reason is fetched from this communion Because there is one bodie one spirit euen as you are called into the hope of your vocation one Lord one â—aith one hope one baptisme one God and father of all which is aboue all and in all And no doubt the same reason made Dauid say All my delight is in the Saints which be vpon earth Thirdly euery Christian man that acknowledgeth this communion must carrie about with him a fellow-feeling that is an heart touched with compassion in regard of all the miseries that befall either the whole Church or any member thereof as Christ our head teacheth vs by his owne example when he called to Saul and said Saul Saul why persecutest thou me giuing him to vnderstand that he is touched with the abuses done to his Church as if they had directly beene done to his owne person The Prophet Amos reprooueth the people because they dranke wine in bowles and annointed themselues with the chiefe oyntments but why was it not lawfull for them to doe so yes but the cause for which they are reprooued followeth No man saith he is sorie for the affliction of Ioseph In the middest of their delights and pleasures they had no regard or compassion
as it were swallowed vp with a sea of his loue and wholly rauished therewith for which cause as farre as creatures can they shall loue him againe Againe the loue of a thing is according to the knowledge thereof but in this life God is knowne of man onely in part and therefore is loued onely but in part but after this life when the Elect shall knowe God fully they shall loue him without measure in this respect loue hath a prerogatiue aboue faith or hope howesoeuer in some respects againe they goe beyond loue The fourth prerogatiue is that the Saints of God keepe a perpetuall Sabbath in heauen In this life it is kept but euery seuenth daie and when it is best of all sanctified it is done but in part but in heauen euery day is a Sabbath as the Lord saith by the Prophet Esay From moneth to moneth and from Sabbath to Sabbath all flesh shall come and worship before me therefore the life to come shall be spent in the perpetuall seruice of God Fifthly the bodies of the elect after this life in the kingdome of heauen shal be like the glorious bodie of Christ so Paul saith Christ Iesus our Lord shall chaÌ„ge our vile bodies that they may be like his glorious bodie Now the resemblaÌ„ce betweene Christs bodie and ours standeth in these things as Christs bodie is incorruptible so shall our bodies be void of all corruption as Christs bodie is immortal so ours in the kingdom of heauen shal neuer die as Christs bodie is spirituall so shall ours be made spirituall as the Apostle saith It is sowen a naturall bodie it is raised a spirituall bodie not because the bodie shall be changed into a spirit for it shall remaine the same in substance and that for euer but because it shall be preserued by a spirituall and diuine manner For in this life it is preserued by meate drinke cloathing sleepe physicke rest and diet but afterwarde without all these meanes the life of the bodie shall be continued and bodie and soule keepe togither by the immediate power of Gods spirit for euer and euer Thus the bodie of Christ is nowe preserued in heauen and so shall the bodies of all the elect be after the day of iudgement Furthermore as Christs bodie is nowe a shining bodie as doth appeare by his transfiguration in the mount so in all likelihood after the resurrection the bodies of the elect shall be shining and bright alwaies remaining the same for substance Lastly as Christs bodie after it rose againe from the graue had this propertie of agilitie beside swiftnes to passe from the earth to the third heauen beeing in distance many thousand miles froÌ„ vs and that without violence so shall the bodies of the Saints For beeing glorified they shall be able as well to ascend vpwarde as to goe downewarde and to mooue without violence and that very swiftly The sixth and last prerogatiue is an vnspeakable and eternall ioy â—â— Dauid saith In thy presence is fulnesse of ioy at thy right hand there are pâ—â—â—ares for euermore It is said that when Salomon was crowned king the people reioiced exceedingly If there were such great ioy at his coronation whiâ—h was but an earthly prince what ioy then shall there be when the Elect shall see the true Salomon crowned with glorie in the kingdome of heauen It is said that the wise men which came from the East to worship Christ when they sawe the starre standing ouer the place where the babe was were exceedingly glad howe much more shall the elect reioice when they shall see Christ not lying in a manger but crowned with immortall glorie in the kingdome of heauen Wherefore this ioy of the elect after this life is most wonderfull and cannot be vttered The propertie of life eternall is to be an inheritance which God bestoweth on them which are made his sonnes in Christ who is the only begotten sonne of the father Hence it followes necessarily that in the Scriptures it is called a reward not because it is deserued by our workes as the Church of Rome erroniously teacheth but for two other causes First because life eternall is due to all that beleeue by vertue of Christs merit For his righteousnesse is made ours by imputation so conâ—equently the merit thereof is also ours and by it all personall merits in our selues vtterly excluded we deserue or merit eternall happines as a reward which neuerthelesse in respect of our selues is the free and meere gift of God The second is because there is a resemblance betweene eternall life and a reward For as a reward is giuen to a workeman after his worke is done so euerlasting life is giuen vnto men after the trauailes and miseries of this life are ended The degrees of life are three The first is in this life when men beeing iustified and sanctified haue peace with God Many imagine that there is no eternall life till after death but they are deceiued for it beginnes in this world as our Sauiour Christ testifieth saying Verily verily I say vnto you he that heareth my wordes and beleeueth him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life This being so we are hence to learne a good lesson Considering we looke for life euerlasting after this life we must not deceiue our selues lingring and deferring the time till the last gaspe but we must lay the foundation of life eternall in our selues in this world and haue the earnest thereof laide vp in our hearts against the day of death But how is that done we must repent vs heartily of all our sinnes and seeke to be assured in conscience that God the father of Christ is our father God the sonne our redeemer and God the holy Ghost our comforter For as Christ saith this is life eternall to know thee the onely God and whome thou hast sent Iesus Christ. And we must goe further yet endeauouring to say with Paul that we liue not but that Christ liueth in vs which when we can say we haue in vs the very seede of eternall life The second degree is in the ende of this life when the bodie freed from all diseases paines and miseries is laid to rest in the earth and the soule is receiued into heauen The third is after the day of iudgement when bodie and soule reunited shall both be aduanced to eternall glorie Againe in this third degree of life there be in all likelihood sundrie degrees of glory Daniel speaking of the estate of the elect after this life saith They that be wise shall shine as the brightnesse of the firmament and they that turne many to righteousnes shall shine as the starres for euermore Now we know there is difference betweene the brightnesse of the firmament and the brightnesse of the starres Againe there be degrees of torments in hell as appeares by the saying
to passe Ans. As God determines what things shall come to passe so hee doeth with all determine the meanes whereby the same things are effected Before all worlds God decreed that men should liue vpon earth and he decreed likewise that meate drinke and cloathing should be vsed that life might be preserued Now prayer is one of the most excellent meanes whereby sundry things are brought to passe therefore Gods eternall counsell touching things to come doth not exclude praier and like meanes but rather include and implie the same The second question is what kind of actioÌ„ praier is Ans. It is no lip-labour it is the putting vp of a suite vnto God and this action is peculiar to the very heart of a man Rom. 8.26 The spirit makes request for vs. But how with grones in the heart Exod. â—4 15 The Lord saith to Moses Why criest thou yet there is no mention made that Moses spake any word at all the Lord no doubt accepted the inward mourning and desire of his heart for a crie Psal. 38.10 and 11.4 The third question is what is the forme or rule according to which wee are to pray Ans. It is the reuealed will and word of God A man in humbling his soule before God is not to pray as his affections carrie him and for what he list but all is to be done according to the expresse word So as those things which God hath commanded vs to aske we are to aske those things which he hath not commanded vs to aske we are in no wise to pray for 1. Iohn 5.14 This is the assurance which we haue of him that if wee aske any thing according to his will he heareth vs. This then is a speciall clause to be marked that men must pray in knowledge not in ignorance Here weigh the case of poore ignorant people they talke much of praying for themselues and others they imagine that they pray very deuoutly to God but alas they doe nothing lesse because they know not what to aske according to gods will They therfore must learn Gods word and pray according to the same els it will prooue in the end that all their praying was nothing but as mocking and flat dishonouring of God The fourth question is with what affection a man must praie Ans. Praier must proceede from a broken and contrite heart This is the sacrifice which God accepteth Psal. 51. 17. When Ahab abased himselfe though hee did â—â— in hypocrisie yet God had some respect vnto it 1. King 21.29 saith the Lord to Eliah seest thou how Ahab is huÌ„bled before me This contrition of heart stands in two things The first of them is a liuely feeling of our owne sinne miserie and wretched estate how that we are compassed about with innumerable enemies euen with the deuill and his angels and within abound euen with huge seas of wants and rebellious corruptions whereby we most grieuously displease God and are vile in our owne eyes Beeing therefore thus beset on euery side we are to be touched with the sense of this our great miserie And he that will pray aright must put on the person and the very affection of a poore wretched begger and certenly not beeing grieued with the rufull condition in which we are in our selues it is not possible for vs to pray effectually Psal. 130.1 Out of the deepest called vpon thee O Lord that is when I was in my greatest miserie and as it were not farre from the gulfes of hell then I cried to God Esay 26.16 Lord in trouble haue they visited thee they powred out a prayer when thy chastening was vpon them 1. Sam. 1.15 I am a woman saith Anna of an hard spirit that is a trouble soule and haue powred my soule before the Lord. Hence it appeareth that the ordinarie praiers of most men grieuously displease God seeing they are made for fashion onely without any sense and feeling of their miseries commonly men come with the Pharise in ostentation of their integritie and they take great paines with their lippes but their hearts wander from the Lord. The second thing required in a contrite heart is a longing desire and hungring after Gods graces and benefits whereof we stand in neede It is not sufficient for a man to buckle as it were and to goe crooked vnder his sinnes and miseries but also he must haue a desire to be eased of them and to be enriched with graces needfull Thus Hezekias the King and the Prophet Isaiah the sonne of Amos prayed against Senacharib and cried vnto heauen 2. Chr. 32.10 Where we may see what a marueilous desire they had to obtaine their request So also Rom. 8.16 The spirit maketh request with grones so great that they can not be vttered as they are felt Dauid Psal. â—43 6 saith that he desireth after the Lord as the thirstie land Now we know that the ground parched with heate opens it selfe in riâ—ts and cranies and gapes towards heauen as though it would deuoure the clouds for want of moysture and thus must the heart be disposed to Gods grace till it obtaine it The people of Israel beeing in grieuous aâ—fliction how doe they pray They powre out their soules like water before the face of the Lord. Lament 2. 1â— The fift question is in whose name prayer must be made Ans. It must not be made in the name of any creature but onely in the name and mediation of Christ. Ioh. 14.14 If yee aske any thing in my name I will doe it A man is not to present his prayers to God in any worthines of his owne merits For what is he to make the best of himselfe what can he make of himselfe by nature he is no better then the very firebrand of hell and of all Gods creatures on earth the most outragious rebell to God and therefore can not be heard for his owne sake As for Saints they can be no mediatours seeing euen they themselues in heauen are accepted of God not for themselues but onely for the blessed merits of Christ. If any man sinne saith Saint Iohn 1. epist. chap. 2.1 we hâ—â—e an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ. But howe prooues he this It followes then And he is the reconciliation for our sinnes His reason stands thus hee which must be an advocate must first of al be a reconciliation for vs no saints can be a reconciliation for vs therefore no Saints can be aduocates Therefore in this place is manifest an other fault of ignorant people They crie often Lord helpe me Lord haue mercie vpon me But in whose name pray they poore soules like blind bayards they rush vpon the Lord they knowe no mediatour in whose name they should present their praiers to him Litle do they consider with themselues that God is as well a most terrible Iudge as a mercifull father The sixt question is Whether faith be requisite to praier or not Ans. Prayer is to be made with faith whereby a man must
enemies the flesh the deuill and his angels and the world 2. Furthermore whereas we are taught to say Our father this serues to put vs in minde that in praying to God we must bring loue to men with vs. We must all be the children of one father louingly disposed one to another For how should he call God his father who will not take the child of God for his brother Math. 5 2â— When thou art to offer thy gift vnto God if thou haue ought against thy brother first be reconciled and then come and offer thy gift So also Esa. â— 15 the Lord saith that when they pray vnto him he will not heare Why because their hanâ—s are full of bloode In these times many men can be content formâ—lly to pray but yet they will not leaue bâ—ibing oppression deceit vsurie c. The common song of the world is Euery man for himselfe and God for vs all this is the common loue and care that men haue each to other The praiers of such are abominable euen as the sacrifice of a dogge as Esay saith For how can they call God their father that haue no loue to their brethren 3. Thirdly hence we may learne that God is no accepter of persons For this prayer is giuen to all men of what state or degree soeuer All then as well poore as rich vnlearned as learned subiects as rulers may say Our father It is not with the Lord as it is with the world but all are his children that doe beleeue The poore man hath as good interest in Gods kingdome and may call God father as well as the king Therfore the weaker sort are to comfort themselues hereby knowing that God is a father to them as well as to Abraham Dauid Peter And such as are indued with more grace must not therefore swell in pride because they haue not God to be their father more then their inferiours haue Which art in heauen 1. The meaning Quest. HOw may God be said to be in heauen seeing hee is infinite and therefore must needes be euery where 1. King 8.27 The heauens of heauens are not able to containe him Ans. God is said to be in heauen first because his maiestie that is his power wisdome iustice mercie is made manifest from thence vnto vs. Psal. 115.3 Our God is in heauen and doth whatsoeuer he will Psal. 2.4 He that dwelleth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne and the Lord shall haue theÌ„ in derision Esai saith 66.2 Thus saith the Lord Heauen is my throne and the earth is my footstoole Secondly after this life he will manifest and exhibite the fulnes of his glorie to his Angels and Saints in the highest heauens and that immediately and visibly 2. The vse 1. HEreby first we learne that Romish pilgrimages whereby men went from place to place to worship God are vaine and foolish The God to whome we must pray is in heauen Now let men trauell to what placeâ— or countrey they will they shall not come the nearer to heauen or nearer to God by trauelling seeing the earth is in euery part alike distant from heauen 2. Secondly this ouerthrowes popish idolatrie as worshipping of crosses cruciâ—ixes roodes c. vsed to put men in minde of God and Christ. We are taught to lift vp our eyes to heauen seeing God is there and how can we doe this as long as our minds and eyes are poaring vpon an image made by mans arte 3. Again we are here admonished to vse the action of prayer with as great reuerence as possible may be and not to think of God in any earthly manner Well reasons Salomon Eccles. 5.1 Be not rash with thy mouth to speake a word before God Why He is in heauen thou art in earth therefore let thy words be few This reuerence must appeare in holinesse of all our thoughts and affections and in all comelines of gesture And for this cause all wandring by-thoughts all vaine babbling is to be auoided but how goes the case with vs that on the times appointed come to the assemblies to pray Many by reason of their blindnes pray without vnderstanding Many when they are present at praier yet haue their hearts occupied about other matters about their goods and worldly busines such men haue no ioy or gladnes in praying it is a burthen to them Many come to the assembly for custome onely or for feare of punishment if they might be left free they could find in their hearts not to pray at all But let all such men know that this maner of praying is a very grieuous sinne nay greater then mocking of father or mother killing or stealing for it is directly against God the other against men This sinne because it is against the first table and therefore more hard to be discerned it is lightly esteemed and it lesse troubles the consciences of ignorant men yea as it is in deede so it is to be esteemed as a disgrace and plaine mockerie of Gods maiestie Wherefore seeing God is in heauen away with all drowsie and dead praying let vs come with reuerence in our hearts before the Lord. 4. Againe we are here to consider that our hearts in praier must mount vp into heauen and there be present with the Lord. Psal. 25.1 â— Vnto thee O Lord lift I vp my soule The little childe is neuer well but when it is in the fathers lap or vnder the mothers wing and the children of God are neuer in better case then when in affection and spirit they can come into the presence of their heauenly Father and by praier as it were to creepe into his bosome 5. And here we must further learne specially to seeke for heauenly things and to aske earthly things so farre forth as they serue to bring vs to an euerlasting and immortall inheritance in heauen to which we are called 1. Pet. 1.3 6. Lastly whereas our father is in heauen we are to learne that our life on earth is but a pilgrimage that our desire must be to attaine to a better countrey namely heauen it selfe and that we must vse all meanes continually to come vnto it In a word to make an end of the preface in it is contained a double stay or prop of all our prayers The one is to beleeue that God can graunt our requests because he is almightie thus much is signified when he is said to be in heauen The second is to beleeue that God is ready and willing to grant the same and this we are tâ—ught in the title Father which serues to put vs in â—ind that God accepts our prayers Ioh. 16.32 and hath a care of vs in all our miseries and necessities Matth. 6.32 and pitieth vs as much as any earthly father can pitie his child Psal. 103.13 Yet must we not imagin that God will indeed giue vnto vs whatsoeuer we doe vpon our owne heads fancie and desire but we must in our praiers haue recourse to the promise
giue his disciples that they must denie themselues and follow him 2. The second thing is the knowledge of Gods will for otherwise howe shall we doe it How can that seruant please his master which cannot tel what he would haue done of him Most men will haue bookes of statutes in their houses and if they be to deale in any great matter they will doe nothing before they haue looked on the statute In like manner men should haue the bible that is the booke of Gods statutes in their houses the lawes of God must be the men of our counsell before euery action we are to search what is the will of God and then to doe it Here then we are taught to vse the meanes and to pray for knowledge 3. Againe wee are here taught to haue a desire in our hearts and an indeauour in our liues in all things to performe obedience to Gods worde in our liues and conuersations and in our particular callings 4. Lastly we desire patience and strength when it shall please God at any time to exercise vs with the crosse as Paul praies for the Colossians That God would strengthen them by the power of his might vnto all patience and long suffering with ioyfulnesse Coloss. 1.12 5. Error confuted THE Church of Rome teacheth that men by nature haue free will to doe good and that men being stirred vp by the holy ghost can of themselues will that which is good But if this were so why might wee not pray Let my will be done So farre forth as the will of man shall agree with Gods will but this cannot be as wee see in the tenour of this petition In earth as it is in heauen 1. The meaning HAuing shewed the meaning of this petition Thy will be done nowe we are to speake of the condition which shewes in what manner we should doe it For the question might be howe we would doe Gods will and the answer is that his will must be done in earth as it is in heauen Heauen By heauen here is meant the soules of faithfull men departed and the elect Angels Psal. 103.20 Praise the Lord ye his angels that excel in streÌ„gth that doe his commandements in obeying the voice of his word Earth By earth is vnderstood nothing but men on earth because all other creatures in their kind obey God onely man he is rebellious and disobedient Then the meaning is Let thy will be done by vs men on earth as the Angels and Saints departed doe thy will in heauen Question Doe wee here desire to doe the will of God in that perfection it is done by Angels must we be as perfect as they Ans. The words here vsed in earth as it c. doe not signifie an equalitie as though our obedience could in this life bee in the same degree of perfection with Angels but a similitude standing in the like manner of obedience Now it may be asked in what manner do the angels obey God Ans. They do the will of God willingly speedily and faithfully and this is signified in that they are said in the scriptures to be winged and to stand continually beholding the face of our heauenly father And this is the manner in which wee desire to performe Gods will 2. The wants to be bewailed VVE are here admonished to bee displeased with our selues for our slacke and imperfect obedience to God for our hypocrisie priuie prid presumption deadnes of spirit and many other wants which breake out when we are in doing Gods will There is no seruant of God but hath wants in his best workes so we must vnderstand Paul when he saith To will is present with me but I finde no meanes to performe that which is good Rom. 7.18 Where he signifies thus much in effect that hee could beginne good things but not perfect them and goe through-stitch as we say When the godly doe good workes as heare speake gods word pray praise God c. they perform things acceptable to God but in these actions they finde matter of mourning namely the imperfection of the worke therefore Dauid praieth Psal. 143.2 Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant And here we may see how farre wide the Church of Rome is that holdeth good works to be any way meritorious that be euery way imperfect If the men of that church had grace they might see that the corruptions of the flesh were as gyues and fetters about their legges that when they would faine runne the waies of Gods commandements they are constrained to halt downe right and to traile their loynes after them 3. Grace to be desired THe grace here to be desired is sinceritie of heart or a readie and constant purpose and indeauour not to sinne in any thing but to doe Gods wil so as we may keepe a good conscience before God men Act. 24. 16. And for this cause I endeuour alwaies to haue a cleare conscience towards God and towards men This must we hunger after and pray for seeing it is not sufficient to abstaine from euill but also to doe good and in doing good striue to come to perfection A conformitie with Angels in this dutie is to be sought for and to be begun in this life that in the life to come we may be like them in glorie Giue vs this day our daily bread 1. The Goberence THus much of the three first petitions which concerne God now follow the other three which concerne our selues In which order we learne to pray for those things which concerne God absolutely and for those things which concerne our selues not absolutely but so farre forth as they shall make for Gods glorie the building of his kingdome and the doing of his will But how depends this petition on the former In the first we were taught to pray that Gods name might be hallowed which is done when God raignes in our hearts his wil is done Now further his will is obeied in three things first by depending on his prouidence for the things of this life secondly by depending on his mercie for the pardon of sinneâ— thirdly by depending on his power and might in resisting temptations And thus Gods will is obeied 2. The meaning BRâ—ad By bread in this place many of the ancient fathers as also the Papists at this day vnderstand the element of bread in the Sacrament the bodie of Christ which is the bread of life But that cannot be for S. Luke calls it bread for the day that is bread sufficient to preserue vs for the present day and by this he makes it manifest that the words of this petition must be vnderstood not of spirituall but of bodily foode and the bread of life is more directly asked in the second or fourth petition As for the opinion of Erasmus who thinkes that in this so heauenly a prayer made to God the Father there should be no mention made of bread that is of earthly things which euen the Gentiles bestow
he is neuer saued according to that of Saint Iames sinne beeing perfited bringeth forth death The fift reason Eternall life is a thing desired of all men yet none shall be made partakers of it but the true christian and the glorious estate of this life would mooue any man to be a christian First of all they which haue eternall life are freed from all paines sicknesses infirmities hunger thirst cold wearines from all sinne as anger forgetfulnes ignorance from hell death damnation Sathan and from euery thing that causeth miserie according to that of Saint Iohn And God wil wipe away al teares from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow neither crying neither shall there be any more paine for the first things are passed Secondly the faithfull shall be in the presence of Gods maiesâ—ie in heauen there to behold his face that is his glorie as our Sauiour Christ saith Father I will that they which thou hast giuen me be with me euen where I am that they may behold my glorie which thou hast giuen me And Dauid saith In thy presence is fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for euermore Thirdly they shall haue such an excellent communion with God that he shall be vnto them all in all For in the ende of the world when the whole number of the elect is accomplished Christ shall present them to his father and as he is Mediatour he shall cease to be a King a Priest a Prophet for though the efficacie of his offices be euerlasting yet the execution of them shall cease as Paul saith Then shall be the ende when he hath deliuered vp the kingdome to God euen the father when he hath put downe all rule all authoritie and power Againe among the elect there shall not be king subiect father mother child master seruaÌ„t noble ignoble rich poore liuing dead Some will say what then shall be I answer one glorious and euerlasting God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost shall be in all the elect all that heart can wish and desire Men shall not be in darknes neither shall they need the light of the Sunne Moone or Starres God himselfe immediatly shall be their light as Iohn saith And the citie hath no neede of the Sunne neither of the Moone to shine in it for the glorie of God doth light it and the Lambe is the light of it Men shall not then neede meate drinke cloathing sleepe recreation fire shade respiration or any other such like but God himselfe immediately shall be their life and all things concerning life by Christ. Which Iohn signifieth when he saith that he saw a pure riuer of water of life cleere as chrystall proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lambe there beeing by either side of it the tree of life which bare two manner of fruits and gaue fruit euery moneth And whereas God is continually to be worshipped in heauen they neede no other tabernacle or temple thereunto but God himselfe shall be their temple as Iohn saith I sawe no temple therein for the Lord God almightie and the Lambe are the temple of it Fourthly from this glorious communion which is between God and Christ as he is man and all the Saints which are his members there ariseth an vnspeakable ioy and gladnes wherewith they are filled Dauid saith that Gods children shall be satisfied with the fatnes of his house and that he shal giue them drinke out of the riuers of his pleasures This ioy vndoubtedly is infinite and the saints are not onely replenished with it but they are also swallowed vp of it as with an huge and infinite sea of waters as may appeare in Peter who at the transfiguration of Christ was so rauished out of measure with ioy at the sight of it that he quite forgot himselfe saying to Christ Master it is good beeing here let vs make three Tabernacles one for thee one for Moses and another for Elias Lastly out of this communion ariseth a perfect loue of God whereby the Saints loue God with all their hearts with all their soules and strength and this loue sheweth it selfe in that they are eternally occupied in worshipping God by singing of songs of praise thanksgiuing vnto him Now then seeing the kingdome of heauen is so glorious and none can haue it but the true Christian let all men account the best things in this world as drosse and dung so that they may obtaine Christ and his righteousnes The last reason is the endlesse loue of Iesus Christ shewed in his death and passion Thou art by nature the childe of wrath and vengeance Sathan hath wounded thee with many a deadly wound of sinne thou liest bleeding at the heart and art like to die eternally Thou beeing in this estate there is no man on earth no Saint in heauen no Angel no creature at all is able to helpe thee Christ onely was able he therefore came downe from heauen and became man for this cause to work thy deliuerance Furthermore in the curing of the wound of sinne no hearb no water no plaister no physicke can doe thee any good onely the bodie and blood of Christ is soueraigne for this matter being stieped in the wrath of God He therefore subiected himselfe to the death euen the death of the crosse vpon which he suffered the wrath of God due to the sin of manâ—ind of his owne heart blood he tempered for them a soueraigne medicine to heale all thy woundes and sores Nowe therefore despise not this mercie seeke vnto Christ lay open all thy sores pray him that hee would vouchsafe thee if it be but one drop of his blood theÌ„ he wil come vnto thee by his holy spirit he will wash and supple thy woundes in his blood and bind them vp He is the tree of life the leaues whereof heale the nations If thou get but one leafe of him thou art well it will heale thee and restore thy dead soule that thou maist liue eternally in the kingdome of heauen If this reason will not mooue thee to be a Christian thy case is desperate It is the best reason that Peter could vse to this purpose As obedient children saith hee fashion not your selues vnto the former lusts of your ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all maner of conuersation His reason followeth Knowing that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as siluer and gold from your vaine conuersation receiued by the tradition of the Fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as a Lambe vndefiled and without spot Thus much haue I spoken to the worldling who in his heart makes no more account of Christ then of his old shooes and who had rather bee without Christ then be without his pigges with the Gaderens Nowe for the true Christians I haue
euill Feelest thou that thy rebellious flesh carrieth thee captiue vnto sinne Looke now onely vpon the lawe of God applie it to thy selfe examine thy thoughts thy words thy deeds by it pray vnto God that he would giue thee the spirit of feare that the lawe may in some measure humble and terrifie thee for as Salomon saith blessed is the man that feareth alwaies but cursed is he that hardneth his heart IV. In the Law these are most effectuall meditations to humble and bridle the flesh which follow First meditate on the greatnes of thy sinnes and of their infinite number and if it may be gather them into a catalogue set it before thee and looke vnto it that thou thinke no sinne to be a small sinne no not the bare thoughts and motions of thy heart Often with diligence consider the strange iudgements of God vpon men for their sinnes which thou shalt find partly in the Scriptures partly by daily experience Doubtlesse thou must thinke that euery iudgement of God is a sermon of repentance Thinke oft on the fearefull curse of the law due vnto thee if thou shouldest sinne neuer but once in all thy life and that neuer so little Remember that whensoeuer thou committest a sinne God is present and his holy Angels and that he is an eye-witnes that he taketh a note of thy sinne and registreth it in a booke Thinke daily of thy ende and know that God may strike thee with sodaine death euery moment and that if then thou haue not repented before that time there is no hope of saluation Thinke on the sodaine comming of our Sauiour Christ to iudgement let it mooue thee continually to watch pray If these will not mooue thee thinke on this that no creature in heauen or in earth was able to pacifie the wrath of God for thy sinnes but his owne Sonne must come downe from heauen out of his Fathers bosome and must beare the curse of the law euen the full wrath of his Father for thee V. When by these meanes thou art feared and thy minde is disquieted in respect of Gods iudgement for thy sinne haue recourse to the promises of mercie contained in the olde and new Testament Is thy conscience stung with sinne And doth the law make thee feele it With all speede runne to the brasen serpent Christ Iesus looke on him with the eie of faith and presently thou shalt be healed of thy sting or wound VI. When thou doest meditate on the promises of the Gospel diligently consider these benefits which thou enioyest by Christ. Through Adam thou art condemned to hel by Christ thou art deliuered from it Through Adam thou hast transgressed the whole law in Christ thou hast fulfilled it Through Adam thou art before God a vile and a lothsome sinner through Christ thou doest appeare glorious in his eyes By Adam euery little crosse is the punishment of thy sinne and a token of Gods wrath by Christ the greatest crosses are easie profitable and tokens of Gods mercie By Adam thou diddest leese all things in Christ all things are restored to thee againe By Adam thou art dead by Christ thou art quickned and made aliue again By Adam thou art a slaue of the deuill and the child of wrath but by Christ thou art the child of God In Adam thou art worse then a toad and more detestable before God but by Christ thou art aboue the Angels For thou art ioyned vnto him and made bone of his bone mystically Through Adam sinne and Sathan haue ruled in thee and led thee captiue by Christ the spirit of god dwelleth in thee plenteouslie By Adam came death to thee and it is an entrance to hell by Christ though death remaine yet it is only a passage vnto life Lastly in Adā thou art poore and blind and miserable in Christ thou art rich and glorious thou art a king of heauen an earth fellow heire with him and shalt as sure bee partaker of it as he is euen now Adam when hee must needs tast of the fruit which God had forbidden him he hath made vs all to rue it euen til this daie but here thou seest the fruits that grow not in the earthly paradise but on the tree of life which is within the heauenly Ierusalem Feare no danger be bolde in Christ to eate of the fruite as God hath commaunded thee it will quicken thee and reuiue thee beeing dead thou canst not doe Satan a worse displeasure then to feede on the godly fruite of this tree and to smell on the sweete leaues which it beareth continually that giue such a refreshing sauour VII Most men now a daies are secure and cold in the profession of the gospell though they haue the plentifull preaching of it And the reason is because they feele not in themselues the vertue and mightie operation of Gods word to renue them and they can not feele it because they doe not applie the word aright vnto their owne soules Plaisters except they be applied in order and time and be laid vpon the wound though they be neuer so good yet they can not heale and so it is with the worde of God and the parts of it which except they be vsed in order and time conuenient will not humble and reuiue vs as their vertue is VIII The common Christian euery where is faultie in this thing Whereas he loueth himselfe and wisheth all good that may bee to himselfe hee doth vsually apply vnto his owne soule the gospel alone neuer regarding the law or searching out his sinnes by it Tell him what ye will his song is this God is mercifull God is mercifull By this meanes it commeth to passe that he leadeth a secure life and maketh no conscience of couetousnes of vsurie of deceit in his trade of lying of swearing of fornication wantonnesse intemperancie in bibbing and quaffing c. But he plaieth the vnskilfull Chirurgian he vseth healing plaisters before his poisoned and cankered nature haue felt the power and paine of a Corasiue And it will neuer be well with him vntil hee take a newe course IX On the contrarie part many good Christians leaue to apply the comfort of the gospel to themselues and onely haue regard to their owne sinnes and Gods infinite vengeance And euen when Satan accuseth them they will not sticke to giue eare to Sathan also accuse themselues so they are brought into fearefull terrors and often draw neere to desperation X. There is a third sort called Sectaries who addict themselues to the opinion of some man These commonly neuer apply the law or the Gospell to themselues but their whole meditation is chiefly in the opinions of him whome they followe As they that followe Luther fewe of them followe his Christian life they regard not that but about consubstantiation and vbiquitie about Images and such like trumperie they infinitely trouble themselues and all Europe too And in England there is a schismatical
and vndiscret companie that would seeme to crie out for discipline their whole talke is of it and yet they neither knowe it nor will be reformed by it and yet they are enemies to it as for the lawe of God and the promises of the Gospell they little regard they maintain vile sinnes in refusing to heare the reading or the preaching of the word and this is great contempt of Gods benefits and vnthankefulnesse to him They are full of pride thinking themselues to be full when they are emptie to haue all knowledge when they are ignorant and had neede to bee catechized the poyson of Aspes is vnder their lippes they refuse not to speake euill of the blessed seruants of God Well doe they aboue all things seeke the kingdome of GOD then let them be sincere seekers of it which they shall doe if in seeking Christs kingdome they seeke the righteousnesse thereof vnto which they can neuer come but by the applying of the threatnings of the lawe and the comforts of the gospel to their own consciences But whereas they seeke the one and not the other they giue all men to vnderstand with what spirit they speake CONSOLATIONS FOR THE TROVBLED consciences of repentant Sinners Sinner GOod sir I know the Lord hath giuen you the tongue of the learned to be able to minister a word in time to him that is wearie therefore I pray you helpe me in my miserie Minister Ah my good brother what is the matter with you and what aile you Sinner I liued a long time the Lord he knoweth it after the manner of the world in all the lusts of my filthie flesh then I was neuer troubled but it hath plesed GOD of his mercie to touch my heart and to send his owne sonne that good sheapheard Iesus Christ to fetch me home to his owne fold euen vpon his own necke and since that time it is a wonder to see howe my poore heart hath beene troubled my corruption so boyles in me and Sathan will neuer let me alone Minister Your case is a blessed case for not to be troubled of Satan is to be possessed of him that is to be held captiue vnder the power of darkenes and to be a slaue and vassall of Sathan for as long as the strong man keepes the hold all things are is peace Contrariwise hee that hath receiued any sparkle of true faith shall see the gates of hell that is the deuill and his angels in their full strengthâ— to stand vp against him and to fight with an endles hatred for his finall confusion Sinner But this my trouble of mind hath made me oftentimes feare least God would reiect me and vtterly depriue me of the kingdome of heauen Minister But there is no cause why it should so doe For how should heauen bee your resting place if on earth you were not troubled how could god wipe away your teares from your eies in heauen if on earth you shead them not You would be freâ— from miseries you looke for heauen vpon earth But if you will go to heauen the right waie is to saile by hel If you wil sit at Christs table in his kingdome you must bee with him in his temptations You are as Gods corne you must therefore goe vnder the fâ—aile the fanne the milstone and the ouen before you can be Gods bread You are one of Christs Lambes looke therefore to be fleeced and to haue the bloodie knife at your throat all the daie long If you were a market sheepe bought to be solde you should be stalled and kept in a fat pasture but you are for Gods owne occupying therfore you must pasture on the bare common abiding stormes tempests Sathans snatches the worlds woundes contempt of conscience and frettes of the flesh But in this your miserie I will be a Simon vnto you to helpe you to carrie your crosse so be it you will reueale your mind vnto me Christian. I will doe it willingly my temptations are either against my faith in Christ or against repentance for my sinnes Minister What is your temptation as touching faith Christian. Ah woe is me I am much afraid least I haue no faith in Christ my Sauiour Minister What causeth this feare Christian. Diuers things Minister What is one Christian. I am troubled with many doubtings of my saluation and so it comes into my minde to thinke that by my incredulitie I should quite cut off my selfe from the fauour of God Minister But you must knowe this one thing that he that neuer doubted of his saluation neuer beleeued and that hee which beleeueth in trueth feeleth many doubtings and wauerings euen as the sound man feels many grudgings of diseases which if he had not health he could not feele Christian. But you neuer knewe any that hauing true faith doubted of their saluation Minister What will you then say of the man that said Lord I beleeue Lord helpe mine vnbeleefe And of Dauid who made his moane after this manner Is his mercy cleane gone for euer Doth his promise faile for euermore Hath God forgotten to be mercifull Hath he shut vp his tender mercie in displeasure Yea hee goeth on further as a man in despaire And I said this is my death Hereby it is manifest that a man indued with true faith may haue not onely assaults of doubting but of desperation This further appeareth in that he saith in an other place Why art thou cast downe my soule Why art thou disquieted within me Waite on God for I will yet giue thankes he is my present helpe and my God And in very truth you may perswade your selfe that they are but vnreasonable men that say they haue long beleeued in Christ without any doubting of their saluation Christian. But Dauid had more in him then I haue for me thinkes there is nothing in this wicked heart of mine but rebellion against GOD nothing but doubting of his mercie Minister Let me know but one thing of you these doubtings which you feele doe you like them or doe you take any pleasure in them and doe you cherish them Christian. Nay nay they appeare very vile in mine eies and I do abhorre them from my heart and I would faine beleeue Minister In man we must consider his estate by nature and his estate by grace In the first hee and his flesh are all one for they are as man wife therfore one is accessarie to the doings of the other When the flesh sinneth the man also sinneth that is in subiection to the flesh yea when the flesh perisheth the man likewise perisheth beeing in this estate with the flesh a louing couple they are they liue and die together But in the estate of grace though a man haue the flesh in him yet hee and his flesh are diuorced asunder This diuorcement is made when a man begins to dislike and to hate his flesh and the euil fruits of it this separation
art wont for a little season in thine anger to hide thy face from them whom thou louest but surely O Redeemer in eternall mercies thou wilt shew thy compassions For when thou leauest vs O Lord thou doest not leaue vs very long neither doest thou leaue vs to our losse but to our lucre and aduantage euen that thy holy spirit with bigger portion of thy power and vertue may lighten and cheere vs that the want of feeling of our sorrow may be recompenced plentifully with the liuely sent of hauing thee to our eternall ioy and therefore thou swearest that in thine euerlasting mercie thou wilt haue compassion on vs. Of which thing to the end we might be most assured thine oath is to be marked for thou saiest as I haue sworne that I will neuer bring any more the waters to drowne the world so haue I sworne that I wil neuer more be angrie with thee nor reprooue thee The mountaines shall remooue and the hills shall fall downe but thy louing kindnes shall not mooue and the bond of thy peace shal not faile thee thus saiest thou the Lord our mercifull redeemer Deare father therefore I pray thee remember euen for thine owne truth mercies sake the promise euerlasting couenant which in thy good time I pray thee to write in my heart that I may know thee to be the only true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent that I may loue thee with all my heart for euer that I may loue thy people for thy sake that I may be holy in thy sight through Christ that I may alwaies not onely striue against sinne but also ouercome the same daily more and more as thy children doe aboue all things desiring the sanctification of thy name the comming of thy kingdome the doing of thy will on earth as it is in heauen c. through Iesus Christ our Redeemer Mediatour and Aduocate Amen A DECLARATION OF CERTAINE SPIRItuall Desertions seruing to terrifie all drowsie Protestants and to comfort them which mourne for their sinnes AMong all the works of Gods eternal counsel there is none more wonderfull then is Desertion which is nothing els but an action of God forsaking his creature Furthermore God forsakes his creature not by withdrawing his essence or beeing from it for that cannot be considering God is infinite and therefore must needes at all times be euery where but by taking away the grace and operation of his Spirit from his creature Neither must any thinke it to be crueltie in God to forsake his creature which he hath made for he is soueraigne Lord ouer all his works and for that cause he is not bound to any and he may doe with his owne whatsoeuer he will And this his will is not to be blamed for men are not to imagine that a thing must first be iust and then afterward that God doth will it but contrariwise first God wills a thing and thereupon it becomes iust Againe sinne is so wretched a thing in the eyes of God that he vtterly forsakes his creature for a punishment thereof Now euery thing so farre forth as it is a chastisment or punishment is good considering that the inflicting therof is the execution of iustice And God neuer forsakes the creature against the will thereof but in the very time of Desertion it voluntarily forsaketh and refuseth grace and chooseth to be forsaken wherefore if any hurt or miserie insue thereof let the creature blame it selfe and praise the Lord. Desertions thus described are of two sorts eternall and temporarie Eternal desertions are those wherby God vpon iust causes known to himselfe forsakes his creature wholly and for euer Thus the deuill with his angels and that part of mankinde which is prepared to destruction is forsaken For first God before all worlds did decree according to the purpose of his owne will to refuse them without the graunt of any mercie Secondly after they are created and liue in the world he giueth them no Sauiour For Christ is onely the redeemer of the Elect and of no more which may thus appeare For whoÌ„ Christ makes no Intercession for theÌ„ he hath wrought no Redemption But for them onely which are elected shall beleeue in him he makes intercession I pray saith he not for the world but for them which thou hast giuen me And againe I pray not for these alone but for them also which shal beleeue in me through their word Wherefore Christ is a redeemer to none but to the Elect. Thirdly he reserueth them to eternall damnation for their sinnes which is a totall separation from God and the accomplishment of all other Deseâ—tions For the effecting of this God exerciseth wicked men and reprobates in this life with diuers particular desertions and that after this maner He bestoweth all sorts of benefits on them as on his owne seruants but yet so as that he withdraweth that part of his benefit which hath the promise of life eternal annexed to it in the word And in this matter he dealeth as a maÌ„ that sets many trees in his orchard but so as he takes away the heart or the pith thereof And this the Lord doth either in temporall or spirituall benefits I. For temporall benefits as wealth honour libertie outward peace the Lord dealeth very bountifully with them He makes his sunne to shine vpon the iust and vniust he fills their bellies with his hid treasures and as Dauid saith I fretted at the foolish when I saw the prosperitie of the wicked for there is no bondes in their death but they are lustie and strong they are not in trouble as other meÌ„ neither are they plagued as other men But yet he holdes backe that which is the principall thing and the very glorie of these benefits that is the right vse of them For that a man may purely vse Gods creatures two things are required First his person must stand iust and sanctifieed before God by faith in Christ. For vntill a mans person please God his worke shall neuer please him Secondly he must vse the same creatures purely which is done partly by inuocation of Gods name and partly by referring them to their set and appointed endeâ— which are Gods glorie a mans owne and his neighbours good But all this is flat contrarie in the vngodly man For first he is forth of Christ so that his person standes vniust before God And therefore all his actions euen those which otherwise are lawfull and good in him are meere sinnes Secondly he vseth Gods gifts and blessings with an euill conscience For by reason of his want of grace to beleeue he cannot resolue himselfe that God as his father doth bestow his blessings on him as his beloued child in Christ yet as a theefe and an vsurper against his conscience he vseth them Adde further the creatures are vsed of him without inuocation for such an one can not pray and therefore he doth but as the swine
trueth which wee affirme or denie be doubtfull or contingent then such clauses as these It is so or it is not so as I thinke as I remember as I take it are to be added If one shall say It is so and afterwards it prooue otherwise he receiueth discredit because he spake an vntruth But if he shall say I thinke it is so though it fall out otherwise yet he saueth his credit because he deceiueth not but onely is deceiued An asseueration is a forme of speech wherby one doth vehemently affirme or denie any thing as when a man shall say Verily in truth in very truth without all doubt c. These and such like are not to be vsed at euery word but then onely when a truth of greater importance is to be confirmed When the false prophets among the Iewes and the Priests would not beleeue that Ieremie was sent of God what saith he not simply The Lord hath sent me but In truth the Lord hath sent me Our Sauiour Christ when he vsed to speake any weightie matter vsed to say Amen Amen Verily verily which is a plain asseueration for Amen is more then a simple affirmation and it is lesse then an oath as the very sense of the word doth import which is no more but truly certenly The third is an oath which must not be made by any thing in heauen or earth but onely by the Name of God alone It must be vsed as the last refuge and remedie of all For when any truth of great importance is to be confirmed and all signes euidences proofes witnesses faile among men on earth then we may lawfully fetch the Lord as a witnesse from heauen who is the knower of all truth And in this case an oath may be taken either publikely before a Magistrate or priuately among priuate persons if it bee done with reuerence and consideration as it was betweene Iacob and Laban CHAP. IX What is to be done when we haue spoken AFter a man hath spoken his minde very few words more are to be added He that hath knowledge spareth his wordes In many wordes there can not want iniquitie but he that refraineth his lips is wise He that speaketh many wordes speaketh either false things or superfluous or both as when a riuer ouerflowes the water gathereth much slime so many wordes many faults When a vessell being smitten makes a great noise it is a token that it is emptie and so the sound of many wordes shewes a vaine heart The Gentiles haue said that God gaue a man one tongue and two eares that he might heare more and speake lesse Valerius Maximus reporteth of Xenocrates that beeing in the company of some that vsed railing speeches helde his tongue and beeing asked why hee did so answered That it had repented him that he had spoken but it neuer repented him that he had held his peace And the prouerb is He that will speake what he will shall heare what hee would not To the framing of our speech Ambrose requireth three things a yoke a ballance and a metwand a yoke to keepe it in staied grauitie a ballance to giue it weight of reason a metwand to keepe it in measure and moderation This rule must be practised carefully for the auoiding of chiding brawling and contention Let nothing be done by contention Phil. 2.3 Let students schollers learne to practise this for what shall an other mans opinioÌ„ hurt thee though in reasoning he be not of thy minde in euery point Here take heed of the spirit of Contradiction whereby some by thwarting and contradicting euery man at length prooue either obstinate heretickes or lewd Atheists and make no bones to contradict the holy Ghost and to call the scriptures in question and dispute that there is no God Nowe if a man speake necessarie things though he continue his speech till midnight as Paul did it can not be called immoderate or superfluous talke CHAP. X. Of writing ALL this which is set downe concerning speech must as wel be practised in writing as in speaking Whereby are condemned ballads bookes of loue all idle discourses and histories beeing nothing els but enticements and baites vnto manifold sinnes fitter for Sodome and Gomorrah then for Gods Church And it must be followed as well in speaking of latine or any other tongue as English which students haue not marked for whereas they wil not sweare in English yet in Latine they make no bones of it saying Mehercuse mediùs fidiùs aedipol per deos immortales And whereas they hold but one God in iudgement yet in their Latine exercises they speake of Iupiter and of the Godsâ— after the manner of the heathen What a shame is this that a Christian and that in Christian schooles should either be ashamed or not vse to speake as a Christian but as Atheists doe If thou haue many tongues and knowest not how to vse them well he which hath but his mother tongue ordering it aright is a better linguist then thou CHAP. XI Of silence VVIse and godly silence is as excellent a vertue as holy speech for hee knoweth not howe to speake which knoweth not howe to hold his tongue The rule of our silence must be the law of God By meanes of which wise consideration must be had whether the thing which wee haue in minde be for Gods glorie and our neighbours good which done we are answerably to speake or to be silent Here must be considered the things of which â—ilence must be vsed and the persons before whome The things are many First if any truth be to the hinderance of Gods glorie or of the good of our neighbour it must be coÌ„cealed The concealing of the truth is either in whole or in part In whole when the speaking of the least word is hurtfull As for example the father and the sonne are both sicke at once the sonne dieth first the father asketh whether his sonne be dead or not if it be said no an vntrueth is tolde if yea then the fathers griefe is increased and his death hastened therefore silence is the best In daies of persecution holy Martyrs haue chosen rather to suffer death then to reueale their brethren that haue beene of their priuate assemblies with them The concealing of a thing in part is when a man speaketh a little of the trueth and concealeth the rest Which is warranted in all good and lawefull proceedings which manifestly tend to the glory of god WheÌ„ Samuel is sent to annoint Dauid he answereth the Lord and saith Howe can I goe for if Saul heare of it he will kill me Then the Lord answered Take an heyfer with thee say I am come to doe sacrifice to the Lord and call for Ishai to sacrifice and I will shewe thee what thou shalt doe and thou shalt annoint vnto me him whome I shal name vn-thee When Ieremie had shewed king Zedekiah howe he might escape death then the king said vnto
conscience with other gifts of Gods spirit which are the earnest of their saluation The second degree is in this life when the bodie goes to the earth and the soule is carried by the Angels into heauen The third is in the ende of the world at the last iudgement when bodie and soule reunited doe ioyntly enter into eternall happines in heauen Now of these three degrees death it selfe being ioyned with the feare of God is the second which also containeth in it two worthie steppes to life The first is a freedome from all miseries which haue their ende in death For though men in this life are subiect to manifold daungers by sea and land as also to sundrie aches paines and diseases as feauers and consumptions c. yet when death comes there is an ende of all Againe so long as men liue in this world whatsoeuer they be they doe in some part lie in bondage vnder originall corruption and the reâ—nants thereof which are doubtings of Gods prouidence vnbeleefe pride of heart ignorance couetousnesse ambition enuie hatred lust and such like sinnes which bring forth fruits vnto death And to be in subiection to sinne on this manner is a miserie of all miseries Therefore Paul when he was tempted vnto sinne by his corruption calls the very temptation the buffets of Sathan and as it were a pricke or thorne wounding his flesh and paining him at the very heart Againe in another place wearied with his owne corruptions he complaines that he is sold vnder sinne and he cries out O miserable man that I am who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death Dauid saith that his eyes gushed out with riuers of teares when other men sinned against God how much more then was he grieued for the sinnes wherewith he himselfe was ouertaken in this life And indeede it is a very hell for a man that hath but a sparke of grace to be exercised turmoiled and tempted with the inborne corruptions and rebellions of his owne heart and if a man would deuise a torment for such as feare God and desire to walke in newnesse of life he can not deuise a greater then this For this cause blessed is the day of death which brings with it a freedome from all sinne whatsoeuer For when we die the corruption of nature is quite abolished and sanctification is accomplished Lastly it is a great miserie that the people of God are constrained in this world to liue and conuerse in the companie of the wicked as sheepe are mingled with goates which strike them annoy their pasture and muddie their water Hereupon Dauid cried out Woe is me that I râ—maine in Meshech and dwell in the tents of Keâ—ar When Elias saw that Ahab and Iesabel had planted idolatrie in Israel and that they sought his life also he went apart into the wildernes and desired to die But this miserie also is ended in the day of death in as much as death is as it were the hand of God to sort and single out those that be the seruants of God from all vngodly men in this most wretched world Furthermore this exceeding benefit comes by death that it doth not onely abolish the miseries which presently are vpon vs but also pâ—euent those which are to come The righteous saith the Prophet Esay perisheth and no man considereth it in his heart and mercifull men are taken away and no man vnderstandeth that the righteous is taken away for the euill to come Example of this we haue in Iosias Because saith the Lord thine heart did melt and thou hast humbled thy selfe before the Lord when thou heardest what I spake against this place c. behold therefore I will gather thee to thy fathers and thou shalt be put in thy graue in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the euill whiâ—h I will bring vpon this place And Paul saith that among the Corinthians some were asleepe that is dead that they might not be condemned with the world Thus much of freedome from miserie which is the first benefit that comes by death and the first steppe to life now followes the second which is that death giues an entrance to the soule that it may come into the presence of the euerliuing God of Christ and of all the Angels and Saints in heauen The worthines of this benefit makes the death of the righteous to be no death but rather a blessing to be wished of all men The consideration of this made Paul to say I desire to be dissolued but what is the cause of this desire that followes in the next wordes namely that by this dissolution he might come to be with Christ. When the Queene of Sheba saw all Salomons wisdome and the house that he had built and the meate of his table and the sitting of his seruants and the order of his ministers and their apparrell c. shee saide Happie are thy men happie are these thy seruants which stand euer before thee and heare thy wisdome much more then may we say that they are ten thousand folde happie which stand not in the presence of an earthly King but before the King of kings the Lord of heauen and earth and at his right hand inioy pleasures for euermore Moses hath beene renowmed in all ages for this that God vouchsafed him but so much fauour as to see his hinder parts at his request O then what happinesse is this to see the glorie and maiestie of God face to face and to haue eternall fellowship with God our father Christ our Redeemer and the holy Ghost our comforter and to liue with the blessed Saints and Angels in heauen for euer Thus now the third point is manifest namely in what respects death is more excellent then life It may be here the mind of man vnsatisfied will yet further replie and say that howsoeuer in death the soules of men enter into heauen yet their bodies though they haue bin tenderly kept for meate drink and apparrell and haue slept many a night in beddes of doune must lie in darke and loathsome graues and there be wasted and consumed by wormes Answ. All this is true indeede but all is nothing if so be it we will but consider aright of our graues as we ought We must not iudge of our graues as they appeare to the bodily eye but we must looke vpon them by the eie of faith and consider them as they are altered and changed by the death and buriall of Christ who hauing vanquished death vpon the crosse pursued him afterward to his own den and foyled him there and depriued him of his power And by this means Christ in his owne death hath buried our death and by the vertue of his buriall as sweete incense hath sweetned and perfumed our graues and made them of stinking and loathsome cabbines to become princely pallaces and beddes of most sweete and happie rest farre more excellent then beddes of doune And
For the life of a Christian is nothing else but a meditation of death A notable practise hereof we haue in the example of Ioseph of Arimathea who made his tombe in his life time in the midst of his garden no doubt for this ende to put himselfe in minde of death and that in the midst of his delight and pleasures Heathen Philosophers that neuer knew Christ had many excellent meditations of death though not comfortable in regard of life euerlasting Now we that haue knowne and beleeued in Christ must goe beyond them in this point considering with our selues such things as they neuer thought of namely the cause of death our sinne the remedie thereof the cursed death of Christ cursed I say in regard of the kind of death and punishment laid vpon him but blessed in regard of vs. Thirdly we must often meditate on the presence of death which we do when by Gods grace we make an account of euery present day as if it were the present day of our death and recken with our selues when we goe to bedde as though we should neuer rise againe and when we rise as though we should neuer lie downe againe This meditation of death is of speciall vse and brings forth many fruits in the life of man And first of all it serues to humble vs vnder the hand of God Example we haue of Abraham who said Behold I haue begunne now to speake to my Lord and I am but dust and ashes Marke here how the consideration of his mortalitie made him to abase and cast downe himselfe in the sight of God and thus if we could recken of euery day as of the last day it would straightway pull downe our peacocks feathers and make vs with Iob to abhorre our selues in dust and ashes Secondly this meditation is a meanes to further repentance When Ionas came to Ninive and cried Yet fourtie daies and Ninive shall be destroyed the whole citie repented in sackâ—loath and ashes When Elias came to Ahab and told him that the dogges should eate Iesabel by the wall of Iesreel and him also of Ahabs stocke that died in the citie c. it made him to humble himselfe so as the Lord saith to Elias Seest thou how Ahab is humbled before me Now if the remembrance of death was of such force in him that was but an hypocrite how excellent a meanes of grace will it be in them that truly repent Thirdly this meditation seemes to stirre vp contentation in euery estate and condition of life that shall befall vs. Righteous Iob in the very midst of his afflictions comforts himselfe with this consideration Naked saith he came I forth of my mothers wombe and naked shal I returne againe c. blessed be the name of the Lord. And surely the often meditation of this that a man of all his abundance can carrie nothing with him but either a coffin or a winding sheete or both should be a forcible means to represse the vnsatiable desire of riches and the loue of this world Thus we see what an effectuall meanes this meditation is to encrease and further the grace of God in the hearts of men Now I commend this first dutie to your Christian considerations desiring the practise of it in your liues which practise that it may take place two things must be performed First labour to plucke out of your hearts a wicked and erronious imagination wherby euery man naturally blesseth himselfe and thinkes highly of himselfe and though he had one foote in the graue yet he perswades himselfe that hee shall not die yet There is no man almost so olde but by the corruption of his heart he thinks that he shall liue one yeare longer Cruell and vnmercifull death makes league with no man yet the Prophet Esay saith that the wicked maÌ„ makes a league with death How can this be there is no league made indeed but onely in the wicked imagination of man who falsly thinkes that death will not come neare him though al the world should be destroyed See an example in the parable of the rich man that hauing stored vp aboundance of wealth for many yeres said vnto his own soule Soule thou hast much goods laid vp for many yeres liue at ease eat drink take thy pastime wheras his soule was fetched away presently And seeing this naturall corruption is in euerie mans heart we must daily fight against it and labour by all might and maine that it take no place in vs for so long as it shall preuaile we shall bee vtterly vnfit to make any preparation to death Wee ought rather to endeauour to attaine to the minde and meditation of S. Hierome who testifieth of himselfe on this manner Whether I wake or sleepe or whatsoeuer I doe me thinks I heare the sound of the trumpet Rise ye dead and come to iudgement The second thing which we are to practise that we may come to a serious meditation of our owne endes is to make praier vnto God that we might bee inabled to resolue our selues of death continually Thus Dauid praied Lord make me to know mine ende and the measure of my daies let me knowe howe long I haue to liue And Moses Lord teach me to number my daies that I may apply mine heart vnto wisdome I may bee said What neede men pray to God that they might be able to number their daies cannot they of themselues recken a fewe yeares and daies that are able by art to measure the globe of the earth and the spheres of heauen and the quantities of the starres with their longitudes latitudes altitudes motions and distances from the earth No verely For howsoeuer by a generall speculation we thinke something of our endes yet vnles the spirit of God be our schoolemaster to teach vs our dutie we shall neuer be able soundly to resolue our selues of the presence and speedines of death And therefore let vs pray with Dauid and Moses that God would inlighten our minds with knowledge and fil our hearts with his grace that we might rightly consider of death and esteeme of it euerie daie and houre as if it were the day and houre of death The second dutie in this generall preparation is that euery man must daily indeauour to take away from his owne death the power and strength therof And I pray you marke this point The Philistims sawe by experience that Sampson was of great strength and therefore they vsed meanes to knowe in what part of his bodie it laie and when they found it to bee in the haire of his head they ceased not vntill it was cutte off In like manner the time will come when we must encounter hand to hand with tyranous and cruell death the best therefore is before hand nowe while wee haue time to search where the strength of death lies which beeing once knowne we must with speede cutte off his Sampsons lockes and bereaue him of his power
offering saith he thou wouldest not but eares thou hast pierced vnto men then said loe I come I desire to doe thy will O God yea thy lawe is within my heart Psal. 40. 7. The second is conformitie in the crosse two waies For first as he bare his own crosse to the place of exequution so must we as good disciples of Christ denie our selues take vp all the crosses and afflictions that the hand of God shall lay vpon vs. Againe we must become like vnto him in the crucifying and mortifying the masse and bodie of sinne which wee carrie about vs Gal. 5.24 They which are Christs haue crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof Wee must doe as the Iewes did wee must set vp the crosses and gybbets whereon we are to fasten and hang this flesh of ours that is the sinne and corruption that cleaues and stickes vnto vs and by the sword of the spirit wound it euen to death This beeing done wee must yet goe further and labour by experience to see and feele the very death of it and to lay it as it were in a graue neuer to rise againe and therefore we should daiely cast newe moulds vpon it The third is a spirituall resurrection whereby we should by Gods grace vse meanes that we may euery daie more and more come out of our sinnes as out of a loathfome graue to liue vnto God in newenes of life as Christ rose from his graue And because it is an hard matter for a man to come out of the graue or rather dungeon of his sinnes this worke can not be done at once but by degrees as God shall giue grace Considering we lie by nature dead in our sinnes and stinke in them as loathsome carrion first wee must begin to stirre our selues as a man that comes out of a swowne awakened by the worde and voice of Christ founding in our deafe eares secondly we must raise vp our mindes to a better state and condition as we vse to raise vp our bodies after this we must put out of the graue first one hand then the other This done we must doe our indeauour as it were vpon our knees at the least to put one foote out of this sepulchre of sinne the rather when wee see our selues to haue one foote of the bodie in the graue of the earth that in the day of iudgement we may be wholly deliuered from all bonds of corruption The fourth part is a spirituall ascention into heauen by a continuall eleuation of the heart and mind to Christ sitting at the right hand of the father as Paul saith Haue your conuersation in heauen and If ye be risenwith Christ seekè things that are aboue Conformitie in morall duties is either generall or speciall Generall is to be holy as he is holy Rom. 8.29 Those whome he knewe before he hath predestinate to be like the image of his sonne that is not only in the crosse but also in holines and glorie 1. Ioh. 3. He which hath this hope purifieth himself euen as he is pure Speciall conformitie is chiefly in foure vertues Faith Loue Meekenes Humilitie We must be like him in faith For as he when he apprehended the wrath of God and the very pangs of hell were vpon him wholly staied himselfe vpon the ayde helpe protection and good pleasure of his father euen to the last so must we by a true liuely faith depend wholly on Gods mercie in Christ as it were with both our hands in peace in trouble in life in the very pang of death and we must not in any wise let our hold goe no though we should feele our selues descend to hell We must be like him in meekenesse Matth. 11. v. 28. Learne of me that I am meeke and lowly His meekenesse shewed it selfe in the patient bearing of all iniuries and abuses offered by the hands of sinnefull and wretched men and in the suffering of the curse of the law without grudging or repining and with submission to his fathers will in all things Now the more we follow him herein the more shall we be conformable to him in his death and passion Philip 3. 10. Thirdly he must be our example in Loue he loued his enemies more then himselfe Eph. 5.4 Walke in loue euen as Christ loued vs and hath giuen himselfe for vs an oblation and sacrifice of sweete smelling sauour vnto God The like loue ought we to shew by doing seruice to all men in the compasse of our callings and by beeing all things to all men as Paul was that we might doe them all the good we can both for bodie and soule 1. Cor. 9.19 Lastly we must follow Christ in humilitie whereof he is a wonderfull spectacle in that beeing God he became man for vs of a man became a worme that is troden vnder foote that he might saue man Phil. 2.5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Iesus Christ who beeing in the forme of God humbled himselfe and became obedient to the death euen to the death of the crosse And here we must obserue that the example of Christ hath something more in it then any other example hath or can haue for it doth not onely shew vs what we ought to doe as the examples of other men doe but it is a remedie against many vices and a motiue to many good duties First of all the serious consideration of this that the very sonne of God himselfe suffered all the paines and torments of hell on the crosse for our sinnes is the proper most effectuall meanes to stirre vp our hearts to a godly sorrow for them And that this thing may come to passe euery man must be setled without doubt that he was the man that crucified Christ that he is to be blamed as well as Iudas Herod Pontius Pilate and the Iewes and that his sinnes should be the nailes the speares and the thornes that pearced him When this meditation beginnes to take place bitternesse of spirit with wayling and mourning takes place in like manner Zach. 12. 10. And they shall looke vpon him whome they haue pearced and they shall lamem for him as one lamenteth for his onely sonne Peter in his first sermon strooke the Iewes as with a thunder clappe from heauen when he said vnto them Ye haue crucified the Lord of glorie so as the same time three thousand men were pricked in their hearts and said Men and brethren what shall we doe to be saued Againe if Christ for our sinnes shedde his heart blood and if our sinnes mad◠him sweat water and blood oh then why should not we our selues shedde bitter teares why would not our hearts bleede for thē He that findes himselfe so dull aud hardened that the passion of Christ doeth not humble him is in a lamentable case for there is no faith in the death of Christ effectuall in him as yet Secondly the meditation of the passion of Christ is a
in the Lord. When thou readest that in the garden he praied lying groueling on his face sweating water and blood beginne to thinke seriously what an vnspeakable measure of Gods wrath was vpon thy blessed Sauiour that did prostrate his bodie vpon the earth and cause the blood to follow and thinke that thy sinnes must needes be most heynous that brought such bloodie and grieuous paines vpon him Also thinke it a very shame for thee to carrie thy head to heauen with haughtie lookes to wallow in thy pleasures and to draw the innocent blood of thy poore brethren by oppression and deceit for whome Christ sweat water and blood and take an occasion from Christs agonie to lay aside the pride of thy heart to be ashamed of thy selfe to grieue in heart yea euen to bleede for thine owne offences casting downe and humbling thy selfe with Ezra saying O my God I am confounded and ashamed to lift vp mine eyes vnto thee my God for mine iniquities are increased and my trespasse is growne vp into heauen When thou readest that Christ was taken and bound thinke that thy very sinnes brought him into the power of his enemies and were the very bondes wherewith he was tyed thinke that thou shouldest haue beene bound in the very same manner vnlesse he had beene a suretie and pledge for thee thinke also that thou in the selfe â—ame manner art bound and tied with the chaynes of thine owne sinnes and that by nature thy will affections and whole spirit is tied and chained to the will of the deuill so as thou canst doe nothing but that which he willeth lastly thinke and beleeue that the bondes of Christ serue to purchase thy libertie from hell death and damnation When thou hearest that he was brought before Annas and Caiaphas thinke it was meete that thy suretie and pledge who was to suffer the condemnation due vnto thee should by the high Priest as by the mouth of God be condemned and woonder at this that the very coessentiall and eternall Sonne of God euen the very soueraigne Iudge of the world stands to be iudged and that by wicked men perswading thy selfe that this so great confusion comes of thy sinnes Whereupon beeing further amazed at thy fearefull estate humble thy selfe in dust and ashes and pray God so to soften thy stonie heart that thou maiest turne to him and by true faith lay hold on Christ who hath thus exceedingly abased himselfe that his ignominie may be thy glorie and his arraignment thy perfect absolution When thou readest that Barrabas the murderer was preferred before Christ though he exceeded both men and Angels in holinesse thinke it was to manifest his innocencie and that thy very sinnes pulled vpon him this shamefull reproch and in that for thy cause he was esteemed worse then Barrabas thinke of thy selfe as a most heynous and wretched sinner and as Paul saith the head of all sinners When thou readest that he was openly and iudicially condemned to the cursed death of the crosse consider what is the wrath and furie of God against sinne and what is his great and infinite mercie to sinners and in this spectacle looke vpon thy selfe and with grones of heart crie out and say O good God what settest thou heare before mine eyes I euen I haue sinned I am guiltie and worthie of damnation Whence comes this chaunge that thy blessed sonne is in my roome but of thy vnspeakable mercie Wretch that I am how haue I forgotten my selfe and thee also my God O sonne of God how long hast thou abased thy selfe for me Therefore giue me grace O God that beholding mine owne estate in the person of my Sauiour thus condemned I may detest and loath my sinnes that are the cause thereof and by a liuely faith imbrace that absolution which thou offerest me in him who was condemned in my stead and roome O Iesu Christ Sauiour of the world giue me thy holy and blessed Spirit that I may iudge my selfe and be as vile and base in mine owne eyes as thou wast vile before the Iewes also vnite me vnto thee by the same spirit that in thee I may be as worthie to be accepted before God as I am worthie in my selfe to be detested for my sinnes When thou readest that he was clad in purple and crowned with thornes mocked and spit vpon behold the euerlasting shame that is due vnto thee and be ashamed of thy selfe in this point conforme thy self to Christ be content as he was to be reproched abused and despised so it be for a good cause When thou readest that before his crucifying he was stript of al his cloathes thinke it was that he beeing naked might beare thy shame on the crosse and with his most pretious and rich nakednesse couer thy deformitie When thou readest the complaint of Christ that he was forsaken of his father consider how he suffered the pangs and torments of hell as thy pledge and surety Learne by his vnspeakable torments what a fearefull thing it is to sinne against God and begin to renounce thy selfe and detest thy sinnes and to walke as a child of light according to the measure of grace receiued When thou commest to die set before thine eyes Christ in the midst of all his torments on the crosse in beholding of which spectacle to thy endlesse comfort thou shalt see a paradise in the middest of hell God the father reconciled vnto thee thy Sauiour reaching out his hands vnto thee to receiue thy soule vnto him and his crosse as a ladder to aduance it to eternall glorie Wheras he cried aloud with a strong voice at the point of death it was to shew that he died willingly without violence or constraint from any creature and that if it had so pleased him he could haue freed himselfe from death and haue cast his very enemies to the very bottom of hell When thou readest that he commended his soule into the handes of his Father consider that thy soule also so be it thou wilt beleeue in him is deliuered vp into the hands of God and shall be preserued against the rage and malice of all thine enemies and hereupon thou maist be bolde to commend thy spirit into the hands of God the father When thou readest of his death consider that thy sinnes were the cause of it and that thou shouldest haue suffered the same eternally vnlesse the sonne of God had come in thy roome againe consider his death as a ransome and apprehend the same by faith as the meanes of thy life for by death Christ hath wounded both the first and second death and hath made his crosse to be a throne or tribunall seate of iudgement against all his and thine enemies When thou readest of the trembling of the earth at the death of Christ thinke with thy selfe it did in his kind as it were grone vnder the burden of the sinnes of men in the world and by his motion then it signified that euen
of faith For we beleeue that the bodie of Christ was made of the pure substance of the Virgin Marie and that but once namely when he was conceiued by the holy Ghost and borne But this cannot stand if the bodie of Christ be made of bread and his blood of wine as they must needs be if there be no succession or annihilation but a reall conuersion of substances in the sacrament vnlesse we must beleeue contrarieties that his bodie was made of the substance of the Virgin not of the Virgin made once and not once but often Againe if his bodie and blood be vnder the formes of bread and wine then is he not as yet ascended into heauen but remaines still among vs. Neither can hee be said to come frō heauen at the day of iudgement for hee that must come thence to iudge the quicke and dead must be absent from the earth And this was the auncient faith Augustine saith that Christ according to his maiestie and prouidence and grace is present with vs to the ende of the world but according to his assumed flesh he is not alwaies with vs. Cyril saith He is absent in bodie and present in vertue whereby all things are gouerned Vigilius saith That he is gone from vs according to his humanitie he hath left vs in his humanitie in the forme of a seruant absent from vs when his flesh was on earth it was not in heauen being on earth hee was not in heauen and being now in heauen he is not on earth Fulgentius saith One and the same Christ according to his humane substance was absent from heauen whē he was on earth and left the earth when he ascended into heauen Reason II. This bodily presence ouerturnes the nature of a true bodie whose common nature or essentiall propertie it is to haue length breadth thicknes which beeing taken away a bodie is no more a bodie And by reason of these three dimensions a bodie can occupie but one place at once as Aristotle said the propertie of a bodie is to be seated in some place so as a mā may say where it is They therefore that hold the bodie of Christ to be in many places at once doe make it no bodie at all but rather a spirit and that infinit They alleadge that God is almightie that is true indeede but in this and like matters we must not dispute what God can do but what he wil doe And I say further because god is omnipotent therfore there be some things which he cannot do as for him to denie himselfe to lie to make the parts of a contradiction to be both true at the same time To come to the point if God should make the very body of Christ to be in many places at once he should make it to be no bodie while it remaines a bodie and to be circumscribed in some one place and not circumscribed because it is in many places at the same time to be visible in heauen and inuisible in the sacrament and thus should he make contradictions to be true which to doe is against his nature and argues rather impotēcie then power Augustine saith to this purpose If he could lie deceiue he deceiued deale vniustly he should not be omnipotent And Therefore hee is omnipotent because he can not doe these things Againe He is called omnipotent◠by doing that which he will and not by doing that which he will not which if it should befall him he should not be omnipotent Reason III. Transubstantiation ouerturnes the very supper of the Lord. For in euery sacrament there must be a signe a thing signified and a proportion or relation betweene them both But popish reall presence takes al away for when the bread is really turned into Christs bodie and the wine into his bloode then the signe is abolished and there remaines nothing but the outwarde formes or appearance of breade and wine Againe it abolisheth the endes of the sacrament whereof one is to remember Christ till his comming againe who beeing present in the sacrament bodily needes not to bee remembred because helpes of remembrance are of things absent Another ende is to nourish the soule vnto eternall life but by transubstantiation the principall feeding is of the bodie and not of the soule which is onely fed with spirituall foode for though the bodie may be bettered by the food of the soule yet can not the soule be fedde with bodily foode Reason IV. In the sacrament the bodie of Christ is receiued as it was crucified his blood as it was shed vpon the crosse but now at this time Christs bodie crucified remaines still as a bodie but not as a bodie crucified because the act of crucifying is ceased Therefore it is faith alone that makes Christ crucified to be present vnto vs in the sacrament Againe that blood which ran out of the feete and hands and side of Christ vpon the crosse was not gathered vp againe and put into the veines nay the collection was needles because after the resurrection he liued no more a naturall but a spirituall life none knowes what is become of this blood The Papist therefore can not say it is present vnder the forme of wine locally and we may better say it is receiued spiritually by faith whose propertie is to giue a being to things which are not Reason V. 1. Cor. 10.3 The fathers of the old testament did eate the same spirituall meate and drinke the same spirituall drinke for they dranke of the rocke which was Christ. Now they could not eate his bodie which was crucified or drinke his blood shedde bodily but by faith because then his bodie and blood were not in nature The Papists make answer that the fathers did eate the same meate and drinke the same spirituall drinke with themselues not with vs. But their answer is against the text For the Apostles intent is to prooue that the Iewes were euery way equall to the Corinthians because they did eate the same spirituall meate and dranke the same spirituall drinke with the Corinthians otherwise his reason prooues not the point which he hath in hand namely that the Israelites were nothing inferiour to the Corinthians Reason VI. And it is said the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath so it may be saide that the sacrament of the Lords supper was made for man and not man for it and therefore man is more excellent then the sacrament But if the signes of bread and wine be really turned into the bodie and blood of Christ then is the sacrament infinitely better then man who in his best estate is onely ioyned to Christ and made a member of his mysticall bodie whereas the bread and wine are made very Christ. But the sacrament or outward elements indeede are not better then man the end beeing alwaies better then the thing ordained to the ende It remaines therefore that Christs presence is not corporall
receiuing The fifth that the bodie of Christ is vnder many consecrated hosts The sixt that when the host is deuided the body of Christ is not deuided but vnder euery part thereof is whole Christ. The seuenth that when the priest holds the host in his hand the bodie of Christ is not felt by it selfe nor seene but the formes of bread and wine The eight that when the formes of bread and wine cease the body and blood of Christ ceaseth also to be there The ninth that the accidents of bread and wine haue the same effects with the bread and wine it selfe which are to nourish and filâ— On this manner it shall be easie for any man to defend the most absurd opinion that is or can be if he may haue libertie to answer the arguments alleadged to the contrarie by wonders To conclude seeing there is a reall communion in the sacrament between Christ and euery beleeuing heart our dutie therefore is to bestowe our hearts on Christ endeauouring to loue him and to reioyce in him and to long after him aboue all things all our affiance must be in him with him wee beeing now on earth must haue our conuersation in heauen And this is the true reall presence which the auncient Church of God hath commended vnto vs for in all these liturgies these wordes are vsed and are yet extant in the Popish masse Lift vp your hearts we lift them vp vnto the lord By which words the communicants were admonished to direct their mindes and their faith to Christ sitting at the right hand of God Thus said Augustine If we celebrate the ascension of the Lord with deuotion let vs ascend with him lift vp our hearts Againe they which are alreadie risen with Christ in faith and hope are inuited to the great table of heauen to the table of Angels where is the bread The eleuenth point Of the sacrifice in the Lords Supper which the Papists call the sacrifice of the Masse Touching this point first I will set downe what must bee vnderstood by the name Sacrifice A sacrifice is taken properly or improperly Properly it is a sacred or solemne action in which man offereth and consecrateth some outward bodily thing vnto God for this end to please and honour him thereby Thus all the sacrifices of the old testament and the oblation of Christ vpon the crosse in the new testament are sacrifices Improperly that is onely by the way of resemblance the duties of the morall lawe are called sacrifices And in handling this question I vnderstand a sacrifice both properly and improperly by way of resemblance Our Consent Our consent I propound in two conclusions Conclus I. That the supper of the Lord is a sacrifice and may truly be so called as it hath beene in former ages and that in three respects I. Because it is a memoriall of the reall sacrifice of Christ vpon the crosse and containes withall a thanksgiuing to God for the same which thanksgiuing is the sacrifice and calues of our lips Heb. 13.15 II. Because euery communicant doth there present himselfe bodie and soule a liuing holy and acceptable sacrifice vnto God For as in this sacrament god giues vnto vs Christ with his benefits so we answerable giue vp our selues vnto God as seruants to walke in the practise of all dutifull obedience III. It is called a sacrifice in respect of that which was ioyned with the sacrament namely the almes giuen to the poore as a testimonie of our thankefulnes vnto God And in this regard also the ancient fathers haue called the sacrament an vnbloodie sacrifice the table an altar the ministers priests the whole action an oblation not to God but to the congregation and not by the priest alone but by the people A canon of a certaine Councell saith Wee decree that euery Lords daie the oblation of the altar be offered of euery man and woman both for bread and wine And Augustine saith that women offer a sacrifice at the altar of the Lord that it might be offered by the priest to God And vsually in auncient writers the communion of the whole bodie of the congregation is called the sacrifice or oblation Conclus II. That the very bodie of Christ is offered in the Lords supper For as wee take the bread to be the body of Christ sacramentally by resemblance and no otherwise so the breaking of bread is sacramentally the sacrificing or offering of Christ vpon the crosse And thus the fathers haue termed the Eucharist an immolation of Chrtst because it is a commemoration of his sacrifice vpon the crosse Aug. Epist. 23. Neither doeth he he which saith Christ was offered For if sacraments had not the resemblance of things whereof they are sacraments they should in no wise be sacraments but from a resemblance they often take their names Againe Christ is sacrificed in the last supper in regard of the faith of the communicants which makes a thing past and done as present Augustine saith When we beleeue in Christ he is offered for vs daily And Christ is then slaine for euery one when hee beleeues that he is slaine for him Ambrose saith Christ is sacrificed daily in the mindes of beleeuers as vpon an altar Hierome saith He is alwaies offered to the beleeuers II. The difference They make the Eucharist to be a reall externall or bodily sacrifice offered vnto God holding and teaching that the minister is a priest properly that in this sacrament he offers Christs bodie and blood to God the father really and properly vnder the formes of bread and wine We acknowledge no real outward or bodily sacrifice for the remission of sinnes but onely Christs oblation on the crosse once offered Here is the maine difference between vs touching this point and it is of that waight and moment that they stifly maintaining their opinion as they doe can be no Church of God For this point raseth the foundation to the very bottom And that it may the better appeare that we auouch the trueth first I will confirme our doctrine by scripture and secondly confute the reasons which they bring for themselues III. Our reasons Reason I. Heb. 9,15 and 26. and c. 10.10 The holy Ghost saith Christ offered himselfe but once Therefore not often and thus there can be no reall or bodily offering of his bodie and blood in the sacrament of his supper the text is plaine The Papists answer thus The sacrifice of Christ say they is one for substance yet in regard of the manner of offering it is either bloody or vnbloodie and the holy ghost speakes onely of the bloodie sacrifice of Christ which was indeede offered but once Ans. But the author of this epistle takes it for graunted that the sacrifice of Christ is onely one and that bloodie sacrifice For he saith Heb. 9.25 Christ did not offer himselfe often as the high priests did and v. 26. For then he must haue often suffered since
daies lastly in pilgrimages vnto their reliques and images We likewise distinguish adoration or worship for it is either religious or ciuill Religious worship is that which is done to him that is Lord of all things the searcher and trier of the heart omnipotent euery where present able to heare and helpe them that call vpon him euery where the author and first cause of euery good thing and that simply for himselfe because he is absolute goodnes it selfe And this worship is due to God alone beeing also commanded in the first and second commandement of the fist table Ciuill worship is the honour done to men set aboue vs by God himselfe either in respect of their excellent gifts or in respect of their offices authoritie whereby they gouerne others The right ende of this worship is to testifie and declare that we reuerence the gifts of God and that power which hee hath placed in those that be his instruments And this kind of worship is commanded onely in the second table and in the first commandement thereof Honour thy father and mother Vpon this distinction wee may iudge what honour is due to euery one Honour is to bee giuen to God and to whome hee commandeth He commandeth that inferiours should honour or worshippe their betters Therefore the vnreasonable creatures and among the rest images are not to be worshipped either with ciuill or religious worship being indeede far baser then man himselfe is Againe vncleane spirits the enemies of God must not be worshipped yea to honour them at all is to dishonour god Good angels because they excell men both in nature and gifts when they appeared were lawfully honoured yet so as when the least signification of honour was giuen that was proper to god they refused it And because they appeare not now as in former times not so much as ciuil adoration in any bodily gesture is to be done vnto them Lastly gouernours and Magistrates haue ciuill adoration as their due and it can not be omitted without offence Thus Abraham worshipped the Hittites Gen. 23. and Ioseph his brethren Gen. 50. To come to the very point vpon the former distinction we denie against the Papists that any ciuil worship in the bending of the knee or prostrating of the bodie is to be giuen to the Saints they being absent from vs much lesse any religious worship as namely inuocation signified by any bodily adoratiō For it is the very honour of God himselfe let them call it latria or doulia or by what name they will Our reasons Reason I. All true inuocation and praier made according to the will of God must haue a double foundation a commandement and a promise A commandement to mooue vs to pray and a promise to assure vs that we shall be heard For all and euery praier must be made in faith and without a commandement or promise there is no faith Vpon this vnfallible ground I conclude that we may not pray to Saints departed for in the scripture there is no word either commanding vs to pray vnto them or assuring vs that wee shall be heard when we praie Nay we are commanded only to cal vpon God him only shalt thou serue Mat. 4.10 And How shall we call vpon him in whom we haue not beleeued Ro. 10.14 And we haue no promise to be heard but for Christs sake Therefore praiers made to Saints departed are vnlawefull Answere is made that inuocation of Saints is warranted by miracles and reuelations which are answerable to commandements and promises Ans. But miracles reuelations had an end before this kind of inuocation tooke any place in the Church of God and that was about three hundred yeares after Christ. Again to iudge of any point of doctrine by miracles is deceitfull vnlesse three things concur the first is doctrine of faith and pietie to be confirmed the second is praier vnto God that some thing may be done for the ratifying of the said doctrine the third is the manifest edification of the Church by the two former Where any of these three are wanting miracles may be suspected because otherwhiles false prophets haue their miracles to trie men whether they will cleaue vnto God or no Deut. 13.1,3 Againe miracles are not done or to bee done for them that beleeue but for infidels that beleeue not as Paul saith 1. Cor. 14.22 Tongues are a signe not to thē that beleeue but to vnbeleeuers And to this agree Chrysostom Ambrose Isidore who saith Behold a signe is not necessarie to beleeuers which haue alreadie beleeued but to infidels that they may bee conuerted Lastly our faith is to be confirmed not by reuelations and apparitions of dead mē but by the writings of the Apostles prophets Luk. 16.29 Reason II. To pray vnto Saints departed to bowe the knee vnto them while they are in heauen is to ascribe that vnto them which is proper to God himselfe namely to knowe the heart with the inward desires and motions thereof and to know the speeches and behauiours of all men in all places vpon earth at all times The Papists answer that Saints in heauen see and heare all things vpon earth not by themselues for that were to make them Gods but in God and in the glasse of the Trinitie in which they see mens praiers reuealed vnto them I answer first that the Saints are still made more thē creatures because they are said to knowe the thoughts and all the doings of all mē at all times which no created power can well comprehend at once Secondly I answer that this glasse in which all things are said to be seene is but a forgerie of mans braine and I prooue it thus The angels themselues who see further into God then men can do neuer knewe all things in God which I confirme on this manner In the temple vnder the lawe vpon the arke were placed two Cherubins signifying the good angels of god they looked downward vpon the mercieseat couering the arke which was a figure of Christ their looking downward figured their desire to see into the mystery of Christs incarnation and our redemption by him as Peter alluding no doubt to this type in the olde Testament saith 1 Pet. 1.12 which things the angels desired to beholde and Paul saith Eph. 3.10 The manifold wisdome of God is reuealed by the Church vnto principalities and powers in heauenly places that is to the angels but howe and by what meanes by the Church and that two waies first by the Church as by an example in which the angels saw the endlesse wisdome and mercie of God in the calling of the Gentiles Secondly by the Church as it was founded and honoured by the preaching of the Apostles For it seemes that the Apostolicall ministerie in the new testament reuealed things touching Christ which the angels neuer knewe before that time Thus Chrysostome vpon occasion of this text of Paul saith that the angels learned some things by the preaching
of Iohn Baptist. Againe Christ saith that they know not the houre of the last iudgement Math. 24. 23. much lesse doe the Saints knowe al things in God And hence it is that they are said to be vnder the altar where they crie How long Lord holy and true wilt thou not reuenge our blood as being ignorant of the daie of their full deliuerance And the Iewes in affliction confesse Abraham was ignorant of them and their estate Isa 63.16 Reason III. Math. 4.10 Christ refused so much as to bowe the knee to Sathan vpon this ground because it was written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue Hence it was that Peter would not suffer Cornelius so much as to kneele vnto him though Cornelius intended not to honour him as God Therefore neither Saint nor angel is to be honoured so much as with the bowing of the knee if it carrie but the least signification of diuine or religious honour Reason IV. The iudgement of the auncient Church August Wee honour the Saints with charitie and not by seruitude neither doe we erect Churches to them And Let it not be religion for vs to worship dead men And They are to be honoured for imitation and not to be adored for religion Epiphan Neither Tecla nor any Saint is to be adored for that auncient errour may not ouerrule vs that we should leaue the liuing God and adore things made by him Againe Let Marie bee in honour let the Father Sonne and holy ghost be adored let none adore Marie I meane neither woman nor man Againe Marie is beutifull holy and honoured yet not to adoration When Iulian obiected to the Christians that they worshipped their Martyrs as God Cyrill graunts the memorie and honour of them but denies their adoration and of inuocation he makes no mention at all Ambrose on Ro. 1. Is any so mad that hee will giue to the Earle the honour of the King yet these men doe not thinke themselues guiltie who giue the honour of Gods name to a creature and leauing the Lord adore their fellowe seruants as though there were any thing more reserued for God Obiections of Papists I. Gen. 48.16 Let the angel that kept me blesse thy children Here say they it is a praier made to angels Ans. By the angel is meant Christ who is called the angel of the couenant Malac. 3.1 and the angel that guided Israel in the wildernes 1. Cor. 10.9 compared with Exod. 23.20 Obiect 11. Exod. 23.13 Moses praieth that God would respect his people for Abrahams sake and for Isaac and Israel his seruants which were not then liuing Ans. Moses praieth God to bee mercifull to the people not for the intercession of Abraham Isaac and Iacob but for his couenants sake which he had made with them Psal. 123.10,11 Againe by popish doctrine the fathers departed knew not the estate of men vpon earth neither did they pray for them because then they were not in heauen but in Limbo Patrum III. Obiect One liuing man makes intercession to God for another therefore much more doe the Saints in glorie that are filled with loue pray to god for vs and we pray to them no otherwise then we desire liuing men to pray for vs. Ans. The reason is naught for we haue a commandement one liuing man to pray for another and to desire others to pray for vs but there is no warrant in the word of God for vs to desire the praiers of men departed Secondly there is great difference betweene these two To request our friend either by word of mouth or by letter to praie for vs and by Inuocation to request them that are absent from vs departed this life to pray for vs for this is indeede a worship in which is giuen vnto them a power to heare and helpe all that call vpon them at what place or time soeuer yea though they be not present in the place in which they are worshipped and consequently the seeing of the heart presence in all places and infinit power to helpe all that pray vnto them which things agree to no creature but God alone Thirdly when one liuing man requests an other to pray from him hee onely makes him his companion and fellow member in his praier made in the name of our mediatour Christ but when men inuocate Saints in heauen they being then absent they make them more then fellow members euen mediators between Christ and them The XV. point Of intercession of Saints Our Consent Our consent with thē I will set down in two conclusions Conclus I. The saints departed pray vnto God by giuing thanks vnto him for their owne redēption for the redēption of the whole church of God vpon earth Rev. 5. 8. The foure beasts and the foure and twentie elders fell downe before the Lambe 9. and they song a newe song Thou art worthie to take the booke and to open the seales thereof because thou wast killed and hast redeemed vs to God .13 And all the creatures which are in heauen heard I saying Praise and honour and glorie and power be vnto him that sitteth vpon the throne and vnto the Lambe for euermore II. Conclus The Saints departed pray generally for the state of the whole church Reu. 6.9 And I saw vnder the altar the soules of them that were killed for the word of God and they cried 10. How long Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and aueuge our blood on them that dwell on the earth whereby we see they desire a finall deliuerance of the church and a destruction of the enemies thereof that they themselues with all the people of God might be aduanced to fulnesse of glorie in bodie and soule yea the dumbe creatures Rom. 8. 23. are said to grone and sigh waiting for the adoption euen the redemption of our bodies much more then doe the Saints in heauen desire the same And thus farre we consent The dissent or difference They hold and teach that the Saints in heauen as the virgin Marie Peter Paul c. doe make intercession to God for particular men according to their seuerall wants and that hauing receiued particular mens praiers they present them vnto God But this doctrine we flatly renounce vpon these grounds and reasons I. Isa. 63.16 The Church saith to God doubtles thou art our father though Abraham be ignorant of vs and Israel knowe vs not Nowe if Abraham knewe not his posteritie neither Marie nor Peter nor any other of the Saints departed knowe vs and our estate and consequently they cannot make any particular intercession for vs. If they say that Abraham Iacob were then in Limbo which they will haue to be a part of hell what ioy could Lazarus haue in Abrahams bosome Luk. 16.25 with what comfort could Iacob say on his death bed O Lord I haue waited for thy saluation Gen. 46.18 II. Reason 2. King 22.20 Huldah the prophetesse telleth Iosias he
must be gathered to his fathers and put in his graue in peace that his eies may not not see all the euill which God would bring on this place Therefore the Saints departed see not the state of the Church on earth much lesse doe they know the thoughts and praiers of men This conclusion Augustine confirmeth at large III. Reason No creature Saint or Angel can be a mediatour for vs to God sauing Christ alone who is indeede the onely Aduocate of his church For in a true and sufficient Mediatour there must be three properties First of all the word of God must reueale and propound him vnto the Church that we may in conscience be assâ—red that praying to him to God in his name we shall be heard Now there is no Scripture that mentioneth either Saints or Angels as mediatour in our behalfe saue Christ alone Secondly a mediatour must be perfectly iust so as no sinne be found in him at all 1. Ioh. 2.1 If any man â—inne we haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ the righâ—eous Now the Saints in heauen howsoeuer they be fully sanctified by Christ yet in themselues they were conceiued and borne in sinne and therefore must needes eternally stand before God by the mediation and merit of an other Thirdly a mediatour must be a propitiatour that is bring something to God that may appease and satisfie the wrath and iustice of God for our sinnes therfore Iohn addeth and he is a propitiation for our sinnes But neither Saint nor Angel can satisfie for the least of our sinnes Christ onely is the propitiation for them all The virgin Marie and the rest of the Saints beeing sinners could not satisfie so much as for themselues IV. Reason The iudgement of the Church Augustine All Christian men commend each other in their prayers to God And who praies for all and for whom none praies he is that one and true mediatour And This saith thy Sauiour thou hast no whither to goe but to me thou hast no way to goe but by me Chrysostome Thou hast no neede of Patrons to God or much discourse that thou shouldest sooth others but though thou be alone and want a Patron and by thy selfe pray vnto God thou shalt obtaine thy desire And on the saying of Iohn If any sinne c. Thy praiers haue no effect vnlesse they be such as the Lord commends vnto thy father And Augustine on the same place hath these words He beeing such a man said not ye haue an Aduocate but if any sinne we haue he saide not ye haue neither saide he ye haue me Obiections of Papists I. Reu. 5.8,9 The foure and twentie Elders fall downe before the lambe hauing euery one harpes and golden vyals full of odours which are the praiers of the Saints Hence the Papists gather that the Saints in heauen receiue the praiers of men on earth and offer them vnto the Father Ans. There by praiers of the Saints are meant their owne praiers in which they sing praises to God and to the Lambe as the verses following plainely declare And these praiers are also presented vnto God onely from the hand of the Angel which is Christ himselfe II. Obiect Luk. 16.27 Diues in hell praieth for his brethren vpon earth much more doe the Saints in heauen pray for vs. Ans. Out of a parable nothing can be gathered but that which is agreeable to the intent and scope thereof for by the same reason it may as well be gathered that the soule of Diâ—es beeing in hell had a tongue Againe if it were true which they gather we may gather also that the wicked in hell haue compassion and loue to their brethren on earth and a zeale to Gods glorie all which are false III. Obiect The angels in heauen know euery mans estate they know when any sinner repenteth and reioyceth thereat pray for particular men therefore the Saints in heauen doe the like for they are equall to the good angels Luk. 20.36 Ans. The place in Luke is to be vnderstood of the estate of holy men at the day of the last iudgement as appeares Math. 22.30 where it is saide that the seruants of God in the resurrection are as the angels in heauen Secondly they are like the angels not in office and ministerie by which they are ministring spirits for the good of men but they are like them in glorie Secondly we diâ—â—ent from the Papists because they are not content to say that the Saints departed pray for vs in particular but they adde further that they make intercession for vs by their merits in heauen New Iesuits denie this but let them here Lumbard I thinke saith he speaking of one that is but of meane goodnes that he as it were passing by the fire shall be saued by the merits and intercessions of the heauenly Church which doth alwaies make intercession for the faithfull by request and merit till Christ shall be compleate in his members And the Romane Catechisme saith as much Saints are so much the more to be worshipped and called vpon because they make praiers daily for the saluation of men and God for their merit and fauour bestowes many benefits vpon vs. We denie not that men vpon earth haue helpe and benefit by the faith and pietie which the Saints departed shewed when they were in this life For God shewes mercie on them that keepe his commandements to a thousand generations And Augustine saith it was good for the Iewes that they were loued of Moses whome God loued But we vtterly denie that we are helped by merits of Saints either liuing or departed For Saints in glorie haue receiued the full reward of all their merits if they could merit and therefore there is nothing further that they can merit The 16. point Of implicite or infolded faith Our consent We hold that there is a kind of implicite or vnexpressed faith yea that the faith of euery man in some part of his life as in the time of his first conuersion and in the time of fome grieuous temptation or distresse is implicite or infolded The Samaritans are saide to beleeue Ioh. 4. 14. beâ—ause they tooke Christ for the Messias and thereupon were content to learne and obey the glad tidings of saluation And in the same place v. 51 the Ruler with his familie is said to beleeue who did no mâ—â—e but generally acknowledge that Christ was the Messias and yeelded himselfe to beleeue and obey his holy doctrine beeing mooued thereunto by a miracle wrought vpon his yong sonne And Rahab Heb. 11.13 is said to beleeue yea shee is commended for faith euen at the time when shee receiued the spies Now in the word of God we cannot finde that shee had any more but a confused generall or infolded faith wherby shee beleeued that the God of the Hebrewes was the true God and his word to be obeied And this faith as it seemes was wrought in her by the
said they speake contraries for quantitie by all learning is the essence of a bodie without which a bodie cannot be 4. In the Creede wee confesse that Christ is ascended into heauen and there after his ascension sits at the right hand of his father and that according to his manhood Hence I conclude that Christs bodie is not really and locally in the sacrament and in euery Host which the priest consecrateth This argument was good when Vigilius against Eutiches said When it the flesh was on earth it was not in heauen and because it is nowe in heauen it is not on earth and he addes afterward that this is the Catholike faith and confession And it was good when Fulgentius said According to his humane substance hee was absent from earth when he was in heauen and he left the earth when he ascended into heauen And The same inseparable Christ according to his whole manhood leauing the earth locally ascended into heauen and sits at the right hand and according to the same whole manhood he is to come to iudgement And it was good when Cyril said No man doubts but that when hee ascended into heauen though hee be alwaies present by the power of his spirit he was absent in respect of the presence of his flesh And it was good when Augustine said According to the flesh which the Word assumed he ascended into heauen he is not here there he sits at the right haÌ„d of the father and he is here according to the presence of his maiestie And Hee went as hee was man and he aboad as he was God he went by that whereby he was in one place he aboad by that whereby he was euery where 5. Againe in that we beleeue the Catholike church it followes that the Catholike church is inuisible because things seene are not beleeued And the answer commonly vsed that we beleeue the holinesse of the Church will not serue the turne For the wordes are plaine and in them we make confession that we beleeue not onely the holinesse of the Church but also the Church it selfe 6. Lastly the articles Remission of sinnes Resurrection of the bodie and Life euerlasting containe a confession of speciall faith For the meaning of them is thus much I beleeue the remission of mine own sins the resurrection of mine own body to life euerlasting that by the iudgement of learned antiquitie August saith If thou also beleeue that thou shalt rise again ascend into heauen because thou art sure of so great a patrone thou art certen of so great a gift And Make not Christ lesse who brings thee to the kingdoÌ„e of heauen for remission of sins Without this faith if any come to baptisme he shuts the gate of mercie against himselfe And Whosoeuer faithfully beleeueth holds this profession of his faith in which all his sins are forgiueÌ„ him let him prepare his wil to the will of god not feare his passage by death And The whole Sacrament of baptisme standes in this that we beleeue the resurrectioÌ„ of the body remission of sins to be giuen vs of God And He gaue these keies to the Church that whosoeuer in his church should not beleeue his sins to be forgiuen they should not be forgiuen vnto him and whosoeuer beleeued turned froÌ„ theÌ„ abiding in the lap of the said church at length shal be healed by faith amendment of life And That which thou hast heard to be fulfilled in the glorious resurrection of Christ beleeue that the very same shall bee fulfilled in thee in the last iudgement and the resurrection of thy flesh shall restore thee for all eternitie For vnlesse thou shalt beleeue that thou art to bee repaired by death thou canst not come to the reward of life eternall And in ancient time the article of the resurrection hath beene rehearsed on this manner The resurrection of this flesh and the last applyed vnto it To euerlasting life Hence then two maine opinions of the Church of Rome are quite ouerthrowen one that we cannot by speciall faith be certaine of the remission of our sinnes and the saluation of our soules the other that a man truly iustified may fall away and be damned Nowe this cannot bee if the practise of the auncient Church bee good which hath taught vs to beleeue euerlasting life ioyntly without remission of sinnes To come vnto the Decalogue first of all it is a rule in expounding the seuerall commandements that where any vice is forbidden there the contrarie vertue is commanded and all vertues of the same kinde with all their causes occasions furtherances This rule is graunted of all and hence it followes that counsels of perfection if they haue in them any furtherance of vertue are inioyned in and by the law and therefore prescribe no state of perfection beyond the scope of the lawe Secondly the commandement Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen image c. hath two seuerall parts The first forbids the making of carued or graued images the second forbids the adoratioÌ„ of them Now the first part is notably expounded by Moses Deut. 4.16 Take good heed vnto your selues that ye corrupt not your selues and make you a grauen image or representation of any figure in the likenesse of male or female Marke the reason of this prohibition in the same place for saith he ye saw no image in the day the Lord spake vnto you in Horeb and v. 15. Yee heard the voice of the wordes but sawe no similitude saue a voice Nowe the reason beeing vnderstood of the image of God himselfe the prohibition must needes be so vnderstood Againe there is no question that God directs his commandement against a â—inne in speculation but against some common and wicked practise of the Iewes and that was to represent God himselfe in likenesses and bodily formes Esai 40. 1â— And that was also the practise of the Gentiles that were farre more grosse in this kinde then the Iewes Rom. 1.23 This then is plaine to any indifferent man that the first part of the commandement forbiddes the making of grauen images or likenesses of the true Iehoua and thus the Romane Catechisme vnderstands tâ—â— wordes As for the second part it must be vnderstood according to them eaning of the first and therefore it forbids vs to bow downe to any image of God Hence then it followes that to worship God or Saints in or at images and to worship images with religious worship is abominable idolatrie And common reason might teach vs thus much For they that adore and worship the true God in images doe binde the presence of God his operation grace and his hearing of vs to certen things places signes to which he hath not bound himselfe either by commandement or promise and that is otherwise to worship God and to seeke for his blessings then he hath commaunded himselfe to be worshipped or promised to heare vs. Vpon this ground
his woe A. It were so indeede if there were no meanes of deliuerance but GOD hath shewed his mercie in giuing a Sauiour to mankind Q. Howe is this Sauiour called A. Iesus Christ. Q. What is Iesus Christ A. The eternall sonne of God made man in all things euen in his infirmities like other men saue onely in sinne Q. Howe was he made man void of sinne A He was conceiued in the womb of a Virgine and sanctified by the holy Ghost at his conception Q. Why must our Sauiour be both God and man A He must be a man because man hath sinned and therfore a man must die for sinne to appease Gods wrath he must be God to sustaine and vphold the manhood to ouercome and vanquish death Q What be the offices of Christ to make him an al-sufficient Sauiour A He is a priest a prophet a King Q VVhy is he a priest A To worke the meanes of saluation in the behalfe of mankind Q Howe doth he worke the meanes of saluation A First by making satisfaction to his father for the sinne of man Secondly by making intercession Q How doth he make satisfaction A By two meanes and the first is by offering a sacrifice Q VVhat is this sacrifice A Christ himselfe as he is man consisting of body and soule Q VVhat is the Altar A Christ as he is God is the Altar on which he sacrificed himselfe Q VVho was the priest None but Christ and that as he is both God and man Q How oft did he sacrifice himselfe A Neuer but once Q VVhat death did he suffer when he sacrificed himselfe A A death vpon the crosse peculiar to him alone for besides the separation of bodie and soule he felt also the pangâ—s of hell in that the whole wrath of God due to the sinne of man was powred forth vpon him Q. What profit commeth by his Sacrifice A. Gods wrath is appeased by it Q. Could the suffering of Christ which was but for a short time counteruaile euerlasting damnation and so appease Gods wrath A. Yea for seeing Christ suffered God suffered though not in his godhead that is more thaÌ„ if all men in the world had suffered for euer euer Q. Now tell me the other meanes of satisfaction A. It is the perfect fulfilling of the lawe Q. Howe did he fulfill the lawe A. By his perfect righteousnes which consisteth of two parts the first the integritie and purenesse of his humaine nature the other his obedience in performing all that the lawe required Q. You haue shewed how Christ doth make satisfaction tell mee likewise howe he doth make intercession A. He alone doth continually appeare before his father in heauen making the faithfull and all their praiers acceptable vnto him by applying of the merits of his owne perfect satisfaction to them Q. Why is Christ a prophet A. To reueale vnto his Church the waie and meanes of saluation this he doth outwardly by the ministerie of his word and inwardly by the teaching of his holy spirit Q. Why is he also a King A. That he might bountifully bestowe vpon vs and conuey vnto vs all the aforesaid meanes of saluation Q. How doth he shewe himselfe to be a King A. In that beeing dead and buried hee rose from the graue quickened his dead bodie ascended into heauen and nowe sitteth at the right hand of his father with full full power and glory in heauen Q. How else A. In that he doeth continually inspire and direct his seruants by the diuine power of his holy spirit according to his holy word Q. But to whome will this blessed King communicate all these meanes of saluation A. He offereth them to many and they are sufficient to saue all mankind but all shall not be saued thereby because by faith they will not receiue them The fourth principle expounded Q. What is faith A. Faith is a wonderfull grace of God by which a man doth apprehend and apply Christ and all his benefits vnto himselfe Q. Howe doth a man apply Christ vnto himselfe seeing we are on earth and Christ in heauen A. This applying is done by assurance when a man is verely perswaded by the holy spirit of Gods fauour towards himselfe particularly and of the forgiuenes of his owne sinnes Q. How doth God bring men truely to beleeue in Christ A. First he prepareth their hearts that they might bee capable of faith and then he worketh faith in them Q. Howe doth God prepare mens heartes A. By bruising them as if one would breake an hard stone to powder and this is done by hambling them Q. How doth God humble a man A. By working in him a sight of his sinnes and a sorrowe for them Q. How is this sight of sinne wrought A. By the morall lawe the summe whereof is the ten commandements Q. What sinnes may I finde in my selfe by them A. Ten. Q. What is the first A. To make something thy God which is not God by fearing it louing it so trusting in it more then in the true God Q. What is the second A. To worship false Gods or the true God in a false manner Q. What is the third A. To dishonour God in abusing his titles wordes and workes Q. What is the fourth A. To breake the Sabboth in doing the works of their calling and of the flesh and in leauing vndone the workes of the spirit Q. What be the sixe latter A. To doe any thing that may hinder thy neighbours dignitie life chastitie wealth good name though it be but in the secret thoughts and motions of the heart vnto which thou giuest no liking nor consent Q. What is sorrowe for sinne A. It is when a mans conscience is touched with a liuely feeling of Gods displeasure for any of these sinnes in such wise that hee vtterly despaires of saluation in regard of any thing in himselfe acknowledging that he hath deserued shame and confusion eternally Q. Howe doth God worke this sorrowe A. By the terrible curse of the Lawe Q. What is that A. He which breakes but one of the commandements of God though it be but once in all his life time and that onely in one thought is subiect to and in danger of eternall damnation thereby Q. When mens hearts are thus prepared howe doth God ingraft faith in them A. By working certaine inward motions in the heart which are the seedes of faith out of which it breedeth Q. What is the first of them A. When a man humbled vnder the burden of his sinnes doth acknoweledge and feele that he standes in great neede of Christ. Q. What is the second A. An hungring desire and a longing to be made partaker of Christ all his merits Q. What is the third A. A flying to the throne of
in them which are chosen to saluation but vnto them that perish it is by reason of their corruption an occasion of their further damnation Q. How must we heare Gods word that it may be effectuall to saluation A. We must come vnto it with hunger-bitten hearts hauing an appetite to the word we must marke it with attention receiue it by faith submit our selues vnto it with feare and trembling euen then when our faults are reprooued lastly we must hide it in the corners of our hearts that we may frame our liues and conuersations by it Q. What is a Sacrament A. A signe to represent a seale to confirme an instrument to conuey Christ and all his benefits to them that doe beleeue in him Q. Why must a Sacrament represent the mercies of God before our eies A. Because we are dull to conceiue and to remember them Q. Why doth the Sacrament seale vnto vs the mercies of God A. Because we are full of vnbeleefe and doubting of them Q. Why is the Sacrament the instrument of the Spirit to conuey the mercies of God into our hearts A. Because we are like Thomas we will not beleeue till we feele them in some measure in our hearts Q. How many Sacraments are there A. Two and no more Baptisme by which we haue our admission into the true Church of God and the Lords Supper by which we are nourished and preserued in the Church after our admission Q. What is done in Baptisme A. In the assemblie of the Church the couenant of grace betweene God and the partie baptized is solemnly confirmed and sealed Q. In this couenant what doth God promise to the partie baptized A. Christ with all blessings that come by him Q. To what condition is the partie baptized bound A. To receiue Christ and to repent of his sinne Q. What meaneth the sprinkling or dipping in water A. It seales vnto vs remission of sinnes and sanctification by the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. Q. How commeth it to passe that many after their Baptisme for a long time feele not the effect and fruit of it and some neuer A. The fault is not in God who keepes his couenants but the fault is in themselues in that they doe not keepe the condition of the couenant to receiue Christ by faith and to repent of all their sinnes Q. When shall a man then see the effect of his baptisme A. At what time soeuer he doth receiue Christ by faith though it be many yeares after he shall then feele the power of God to regenerate him and to worke all things in him which he offered in baptisme Q. How if a man neuer keepe the condition to which he bound himselfe in baptisme A. His damnation shall be the greater because he breaketh his vowe made to God Q. What is done in the Lords Supper A. The former couenant solemnly ratified in Baptisme is renued in the Lords supper betweene the Lord himselfe and the receiuer Q. What is the receiuer A. Euery one that hath beene baptized and after his baptisme hath truly beleeued in Christ and repented of his sinnes from his heart Q. What meaneth the bread and wine the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine A. These outward actions are a second seale set by the Lords owne hand vnto his couenant And they doe giue euery receiuer to vnderstand that as God doth blesse the bread and wine to preserue and strengthen the bodie of the receiuer so Christ apprehended and receiued by faith shall nourish him and preserue both bodie and soule vnto eternall life Q. What shall a true receiuer feele in himselfe after the receiuing of the Sacrament A. The increase of his faith in Christ the increase of sanctification a greater measure of dying to sinne a greater care to liue in newnesse of life Q. What if a man after the receiuing of the Sacrament neuer finde any such thing in himselfe A. He may well suspect himselfe whether he did euer repent or not and thereupon to vse meanes to come to sound faith and repentance Q. VVhat is an other meaues of increasing faith A. Prayer Q. What is praier A. A familiar speech with God in the name of Christ in which either we craue things needfull or giue thankes for things receiued Q. In asking things needfull what is required A. Two things an earnest desire and faith Q. What things must a Christian mans heart desire A. Sixe things especially Q. What are they A. 1. That he may glorifie God 2. That God may raigne in his heart and not sinne 3. That he may doe Gods will and not his lusts of the flesh 4. That he may relie himselfe on Gods prouidence for all the meanes of this temporall life 5. That he may be iustified and be at peace with God 6. That by the power of God he may be strengthened against all temptations Q. What is faith A. A perswasion that these things which we truly desire God will grant them for Christs sake The sixth Principle expounded Q. After that a man hath led a short life in this world what followeth thē A. Death which is the parting asunder of bodie and soule Q. Why doe wicked men and vnbeleeuers die A. That their bodies may goe to the earth and their soules may be cast into hell fire Q. Why doe the godly die seeing Christ by death hath ouercome death A. They die for this ende that their bodies may rest for a while in the earth and their soules may enter into heauen immediatly Q. What followeth after death A. The day of iudgement Q. What signe is there to know this day from other daies A. Heauen and earth shall be consumed with fire immediatly before the comming of the iudge Q. Who shall be the iudge A. Iesus Christ the Sonne of God Q. What shall be the comming to iudgement A. He shall come in the cloudes in great maiestie and glorie with infinite companie of Angels Q. How shall all men be cited to iudgement A. At the sound of a trumpet the liuing shall be changed in the twinckling of an eye and the dead shall rise againe euery one with his owne bodie and all shall be gathered together before Christ and after this the good shall be seuered from the bad these standing on the left hand of Christ the other on the right Q. How will Christ trie and examine euery mans cause A. The bookes of all mens doings shall be laide open mens consciences shall be made either to accuse them or excuse them and euery man shall be tried by the workes which he did in his life time because they are open and manifest signes of faith or vnbeleefe Q. What sentence will he giue A. He will giue sentence of saluation to the elect and godly but he will pronounce