and for this cause called Sacerdos accedens or superveniens a Priest added to the Priests a mediator of the new Testament consummating the priesthood of the old As there was never Priest before had the love to sacrifice himselfe for the people so never had any the power to revive that sacrifice hee once killed but our high Priest Christ Iesus had love to lay downe his life and power to take it up againe by the first hee shewed himselfe to bee the Sonne of man after the flesh by the second hee was declared mightily to bee the Sonne of God Rom. 1.13 As he could not but dye having taken on him a body of death so hee could not but live againe because that body was Vitae sacrarium the vestry and chappell wherein life was preserved Thirdly as hee was made to be a Prophet like Moses Act. 3.22 a Priest like Melchisedech Psal 110.4 so also a King like David Luke 1.32 God will give him the throne of his Father David and hee shall rule over the house of Israel for ever Hee was a King by birth simul natus simul Caesar so the wisemen testifyed of him Math. 2.2 And hee was a King at his death so Pilate wrote his inscriptioÌ„ though in the narrowest limits Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iewes Ioh 19.22 But to expect the Messias for a temporall Prince was the Iewes perpetuall dotage the Apostles transient errour Math. 20.21 Act. 1.6 Lord wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdome to Israel Of temporall royalty hee had so little a share that his chaire of estate was the Crosse his crowne made of thornes his scepter a reede and for a Vivat Rex the people gave him a Crucifige But Qui subijt subegit hee that did undergoe did overcome and as Saint Bernard sweetly Qui agnus extiterat in passione factus est Leo in resurrectione Hee that stood as Lambe at his Passion to take away the sins of the world became a Lyon at his resurrection to spoile all principalities and powers and to make an open shew of them Coloss 2.15 Then did he manifest himselfe a most victorious conqueror over all his enemies then did hee receive the keyes of death and hell then did hee breake the serpents head and made all knees bow to him in heaven earth and under the earth And now being raised from death hee dyeth no more death hath no more power over him for this is his Epithite as the beholder and pen-man of that revelation which hath as many mysteries Apoc. 1.18 as words hath set it downe He that was dead and is alive and liveth for evermore From hence ariseth naturally matter of Confutation Consolation First this doctrine of our Saviours Resurrection is a sufficient condemnation to all Iewes who as we have formerly noted doe still looke for another Christ for why should they not beleeve their owne Prophet They said the Messias should suffer Christ suffered all things so as they were prophesied Who then can be the Messias but hee in whom all the prophecies are fulfilled Secondly It overthroweth the wicked errour of Corinthus who taught that Christ should not rise till the generall Resurrection But as Iob confuted the blasphemous speech of his wife with a Loqueris ut insana mulier so Epiphanius worthily saith of this hereticke Stolidus est stolidorum magister I will not take up the graves of the Chiliasts or Millenaries in their very name may we reade their errors but their grosse superstitions assertions shall for me bee buryed in sileÌ„ce Thus having melted the drosse from the silver mettall let us see what fruit wee can plucke from these branches Christ saith Saint Paul is become the first fruites of them that slept 1 Cor. 15.20 Hee is the first sheafe of the harvest by from which all the whole crop of the dead Saints receive vertue At the time of our Saviours Resurrection some few eares that were then ripe and hereafter the whole harvest shall bee carried into everlasting barns The EvaÌ„gelist speaking of it saith that many bodies of Saints which slept arose All the dead did not rise but many those Saints too the generall Resurrection is reserved to the last day this was a pledge and earnest of it As many rose with him so some before him but all the ResurrectioÌ„s which we read of in former times were wrought in the figure and vertue hereof Lazarus the widdowes Sonne and Iairus daughter came forth of their graves or were recovered to life Mortui sed morituri But Christ was the first that rose Cum victoria Mortis that rose to eternall life never to visit the grave againe This assureth us of our Resurrection Christus eâ—… typus Christianorum for as the head must rise before the members so the members are sure to follow the head if the head bee above water there is hope for the whole body if the roote hath life the branches shal not long be without the first fruites being restored to life all the rest of the dead are entitled to the same hope for the Resurrection of our Saviour is not only Auspex exeÌ„plar but also fidej iussor yea Chirographum nostrae resurrectionis so that he that did rise will raise These two resurrections are inseparable Thus did that great Champion of the Church who as a Father saith Priusquam natus erat Dominus Redemptorem suum vidit à mortuis resurgentem Thus did Iob excellently argue when from Iob 19.25 Scio quod Redemptor hee inferred Scio quòd ego c. I am sure that my Redeemer liveth and I shall rise againe at the last day for eadem catena revincta est Christi Resurrectio nostra Some divines affirme from the assertion of Bonaventure D. Boys postil pag. 868. that the yeere wherein our blessed Saviour arose from the dead should according to the Law have beene the yeere of Iubile which Feast was appointed by the Lord to be celebrated every fiftieth yeere for these causes First Why the Iubile was celebrated every 50. yeere that they might keepe a right Chronology and reckning of times For as the Grecians did compute their times by the number of Olympiades the Romans by their Lustra so the Iewes by their Iubiles Secondly that a true distinction of their Tribes might be preserved because then LaÌ„ds returned to their owners in their proper Tribe and servants to their owne families hence was it called Iubile from a word which in the originall signifieth deduxit or produxit because it brought men backe againe to their estate Thirdly hee instituted these Iubiles that they might bee a type to them of their full deliverance by Christ for this cause was it called Buccina reductionis because they blew with Rams-hornes at this feast in remembrance of their deliverance out of Aegypt And surely the Iubiles The spirituall Iubile in old time did mystically shaddow forth that Spirituall
Iubile which Christiās enjoy under Christ by whose blood wee have not only a reentry into the Kingdome of heaven which we lost in the transgression of our great Grandfather Adam which wee had formerly morgaged forfeited by our sins And this was happily signified by the Israelits reentry upon their lands which they had formerly sould and againe the found of the Gospell which was in this Feast typed by the noise of the Trumpets is gone throughout the world The Redemption of Christ Easter Day is a yeere of Iubile the Resurrection of Christ is the chiefe day in the yeere yea Regina Dierum as Ignatius stiles it All Christians herein imitating the patterne of the blessed Apostle in honour of Christs Resurrection 1 Cor. 16.2 observe their Sabbath on the eight day which is the first day of the weeke wheras the Iewes hallowed their Sabbath upon the seaventh day which is the last day of the weeke So that Easter day is the Sabbath of Sabbaths an high and holy day from which every other Sunday hath its name being so called because the Sunne of righteousnesse arose from the dead this day Christs appearing on the eight day is not without a mystery wee labour six dayes in this life the seventh is the Sabbath of our death in which wee rest from our labours and then being raised from the dead the eighth day Christ in his owne body yea the very same body that was crucified shall reward every man according to his works Happy then is that man whose whole life is nothing els but a Lent to prepare him against the Sabbath of his death and Easter of his Resurrection CHAP. 4. Arguments drawne from divers Attributes of God as his Power Mercy Iustice c. to confirme us in this Article of the Resurrection AT my first entrance into the schoole of faith in the very first Article of my Creed I no sooner reade that there is a God but I learne withall that hee is Almighty The doctrine of his Omnipotency is the basis and fundamentall Arch on which is built our Christian religion from the knowledge hereof proceeds all faith because wee beleeve with the blessed Virgin Quia potens est that God is able to doe all those things which reason is not able to comprehend Cōtrariwise the ignorance or the not right understanding of this truth is the cause that there bee so many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unbeleevers and misbeleevers Atheists without the knowledge of God Infidels without hope or faith in God It was our Saviours own Argument against the Sadduces you erre not knowing the Scriptures Math. 22.29 nor the power of God i. e. saith the Paraphrase yee Sadduces doe erre grossely dānably in this your miscōceit of the resurrection the ground of your errour is your ignorāce both of the Scriptures which have cleerly revealed the truth thereof and of that Omnipotent power of God wherby is only this otherwise impossible worke If with the men of Berea wee do search the Scriptures wee shall find that before the Sadduces had any being in Israel this heresy of theirs was palpably convinced with an example of the resurrectiō even in Elishaes revived corps Now the power that can raise one man can raise a thousand a milliō a world No power can raise one man but that which is infinite and that which is infinite admits of no limitation In the beginning the Word of the Lord was the seminary of all being his will was his Word and his Word was his deed His Fiat and Fuit met together his Dixit and Benedixit kissed each other All at first was nothing and from that nothing carne all How easy is it then for him to repaire all out of something who could thus fetch all out of nothing How should we distrust him for our resurrection who hath approved his Omnipotency in our creation Our remainder after death can never bee so small as our being was before the world ashes is more than nothing The body wee confesse that is once cold in death hath no more aptitude to a reanimation than that which is mouldred into dust only as it was Gods omnipotēcy to create man out of a substāce that had no ability to produce the matter so likewise it is the Prerogative Royall to revive that dust to forme it into a new Adam to fetch a man a second time from the earth to live with himselfe when time shall bee no more This Resuscitation of the dead is one of those foure keyes which the Hebrewes say are in the hand of him who is the Lord of the whole world The Scripture makes mention of each of them 1. Clavis pluviae the key of raine the Lord will open to thee his good treasure Deut. 28.12 2. Clavis cibationis the key of food Thou openest thy hād and fillest every thing with thy plenteousnesse Psal 145.16 3. Clavis sterilitatis the key of barrenesse God remembred Rachel and opened her Wombe Genes 30.22 4. Clavis sepulchrorum the key of the grave when I shall open your sepulchers Ezek. 37.12 By all which places it is intimated that these foure things God hath reserved in his owne hand and custody Namely Raine Food the procreation of children the raising of our bodies For though at first hee made him ex nihilo out of nothing yet he did not make him ad nihilum to returne to nothing There may be a dissolution of soule and body for a time but there cannot bee an annihilation of either because they must be revnited againe to remaine for ever As we have derived a maine proofe of the Resurrection from the power of God so likewise may wee argue from his other glorious and divine attributes but because I will not enlarge a treatise into a volume I will herein follow the Schoole-men who reduce all communiter ad duo his Mercy Iustice These be the two master Attributes which set all the rest on work these bee the two feete of God whereupon he walketh al his wayes When God makes a covenant with his owne it is an incorruptible everlasting covenant Numb 18.19 therefore it is called a covenant of salt to note the perpepetuity of it In this covenant are all the dead Bodies of the Saints and the Lord forgetteth them not When Iacob wēt down to Aegypt Genes 46.4 the Lord promised to bring him backe againe but how did the Lord bring him backe againe seeing hee died in Aegypt the Lord was with him when hee was brought out of Aegypt So the Lord preserveth all the bodies of the Saints Psal 34.20 and hee keepeth all their bones yea even then when their bed is made in the dust because they are within the covenant It is said of Iosias although hee was slaine in battle yet he was gathered in peace to his Fathers i. e. to the Spirits of his Fathers who enjoy peace for hee was not gathered in peace in
his body for hee was slaine in warre 2. Chro. 35. In 22. of Math. and the 32. Christ saith I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaack and the God of Iacob God is not the God of the dead but the living Hee doth not say I was the God of Abraham and of Isaack and of Iacob or I am the God of Abraham that once was but as implying his owne eternall being and the certaine being of those holy Patriarches hee saith I am the God of Abraham c. Now God is not the God of those that are not and have no existence at all but of those that have a being So that hee will raise their bodies or else he did Dimidium tantummodò Hominem restituere else hee were God but to one part of Abraham But as his mercy is over all his works so his works of mercy are over all his His mercy extends both to soule and body and in the mercy of the most High they shall not miscarry Therefore shall God raise the bodies of dead men But wee must not frame unto our selves a God all of mercy but learne to sing that compounded ditty of the Psalmist of mercy and Iudgement Gods iustice is himselfe as well as his mercy As his mercy which wee have already shewed so likewise his iustice requires that their must bee an universall resurrection If in this life saith the Apostle wee have hope in Christ 1 Cor. 15.15 we are of all men most miserable Paul indeed was at a quotidie morior every houre in danger to bee drawne to the blocke every day dying ready to bee offered up for the name of his Lord and Saviour But to what purpose did hee expose himselfe to such variety of perils if there were no resurrection Miserable is that man that either laboureth or suffereth in vaine Shal Paul beare in his body the markes of Christ Iesus and shall he not beare in the same body the crowne of his glory Shall the labourer endure the heate of the day and shall hee not at length receive this penny his wages Christiani ad metalla was a usuall condemnation but what made them digge so willingly in the mines Surely they had a treasure there which the Emperour knew not of they had infinite more precious wealth from thence then hee For the hope of the gaining a better life is the perswasive Rethoricke against the feare of loosing this Haec vespera est necesse est addi matutinam laetitiam and then shal our birth be consummate when the evening and the morning are made one day These mixt meditations compounded of contrary ingredients as a Crosse and a Crowne Martyrdome and glory Mortality and heaven death and life are strong grapples and ties to hold a Christian and his patience together It were iniurious to cōplaine of the measure when we acknowledge the recompence Afflictiōs are the flowers of eternall felicity and who would not willingly gather the flowers for the fruits sake He that hewed timber out of the rocke Psal 74.6 was knowne to bring it to an excellēt peece of worke so was Ioseph hewed in the stocks and in the prison God brought him to an excellent peece of work to make him Lord of Aegypt Thus was Christ Iesus hewed and squared on the Crosse with hammers nailes and speares of that excellent work see where he sitteth at Gods right Hand Thrones Powers Dominations Angels subjected to him And thus will God deale with the dead bodies of his Saints which though they have bin persecuted here and the iron hath even entred into their soule yet at length they shal come out of their graues like so many Iosephs out of prison for Death like that Aegyptian Mistresse hath only power over their coates their upper garments their bodies and the grave like the serpent is dieted and feedes on nothing but dust It is not so much the death of the body as the corruption of the body Mortalitas magis sinita est quam vita When the Lord brought the Israelites to Canaan he made them goe Southward into the mountaines the South was a dry and barren part Thou hast given me a South land give mee also springs of water Iudg. 1.15 Thus doth God deale with his children in this life hee sheweth them great afflictions and troubles the South part as it were at first but afterward he bringeth them to the land that floweth with milke and hony He that shall build his faith on this rocke hee that doth thus Reponere fidem in sine will supervolare crucen◠triumph o're the Crosse and with Iob comfort himselfe on the dunghill with a videbo Deum and outface death with his Resurrection in hope and expectation of that glory hee shall once enjoy with Christ Benedictus sic Deus saith the Apostle Blessed hee God who hath begotten us againe unto a liuely hope by the Resurrection of Iesus Christ to an inheritance incorruptible c. It hath beene well observed by one of no vulgar Iudgement how the Resurrection is there placed in the midst betweene our hope and our inheritance To hope before it before the Resurrection hope but after to the inheritance it selfe to the full possession and fruition of it So from the state of hope by the Resurrection as by a Bridge passe wee over to the enjoying our inheritance Before I shut up this stage I must cleere a doubt and remove an objection which hangeth on this thinge Some of the Rabbins have conceited that the wicked by corporall death shall utterly bee extinct and that none shall come to Iudgement but they shall bee saved grounding their opiniō on those words of the Psalmist Psal 1.5 The wicked shall not rise in Iudgement But here insteed of the naturall milke of this text they sucke out the blood of misinterpretation And they which shall tenter and wrest the Scriptures which is a fault Saint Peter complaines of with expositions and glosses newly coined to make them speake what they never meant must needs bring forth aut heresim aut phrenesim If wee tread in the steps of the best interpreters we shal find as Hierome others observe that this is not to be understood Quod non furgent sed quod in judicio non resurgent Hee saith not that the wicked shall not rise but in judgement they shall not rise not rise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faith Christ as Felons whose fact being evident are placed at the bar not so much to be convicted as to bee cōdemned Their conscience that like a Blood-hound hunts drie foote shall set before them the sent of their sinnes soe that the Lord Iudge shall not make any great inquisition to find out their faults but proceed to sentence At that great assise shall wee all appeare Nam oportet nos omnes 2 Cor. 5.10 saith the Apostle confusi confisi both Christs confessors his crucifiers but the end