finite for his humane nature beeing but a creature and therefore finite could not receiue infinite graces and gifts of glorie And hence it is more then manifest that the opinion of those men is false which hold that Christs bodie glorified is omnipotent and infinite euery way able to doe whatsoeuer he will for this is to make a creature to be the creator Thus much of Christs exaltation in generall Now let vs come to the degrees thereof as they are noted in the Creede which are in number three I. He rose againe the third day II. He ascended vnto heauen III. He sitteth at the right hand of God the father almightie In the handling of Christs resurrection we must consider these points I. why Christ ought to rise againe II. the manner of his rising III. the time when he rose IV. the place where V. the vses thereof For the first it was necessarie that Christ should rise againe and that for three especiall causes First that hereby he might shew to all the people of God that he had fully ouercome death For els if Christ had not risen how should we haue bin perswaded in our coÌ„sciences that he had made a full perfect satisfactioÌ„ for vs nay rather we should haue reasoned thus Christ is not risen therefore he hath not ouercome death but death hath ouercome him Secondly Christ Iesus which died was the sonne of God therefore the author of life it selfe and for this cause it was neither meet nor possible for him to be holdeÌ„ of death but he must needes rise from death to life Thirdly Christs priesthood hath 2. parts one to make satisfaction for sinne by his one onely sacrifice vpon the crosse the other to apply the vertue of this sacrifice vnto euery beleeuer Now he offred the sacrifice for sinne vpon the crosse before his death and therefore beeing deade must needes rise againe to performe the second part of his priesthood namely to applie the vertue thereof vnto all that shall beleeue in him and to make intercession in heauen vnto his father for vs here on earth And thus much of the first point Nowe to come to the manner of Christs resurrection fiue things are to be considered in it The first that Christ rose againe not as euery priuate man doth but as a publike person representing all men that are to come to life eternall For as in his passion so also in his resurrection he stood in our roome and place and therefore when he rose from death we all yea the whole Church rose in him and together with him And this point not considered we doe not conceiue aright of Christs resurrection neither can we reap sound comfort by it The second is that Christ himselfe and no other for him did by his owne power raise himselfe to life This was the thing which he meant when he said Destroy this temple in three daies I will build it vp againe more plainly I haue saith he power to lay down my life and I haue power to take it again FroÌ„ wheÌ„ce we learn diuers instructions First wheras Christ raiseth himselfe from death to life it serueth to proue that he was not only maÌ„ but also true god For the body being dead could not bring again the soule ioyn it self vnto the same make it selfe aliue againe neither yet the soule that is departed from the bodie can returne againe quicken the bodie and therefore there was some other nature in Christ namely his Godhead which did revnite soule and bodie together and thereby quickned the manhoode Secondly if Christ giue life to himselfe being dead in the graue then much more now being aliue and in heauen glorified is he able to raise vp his members from death to life We are all by nature starke dead in sinne as the dead bodie rotten in the graue and therfore our dutie is to come to Christ our Lord by praier intreating him that he would raise vs vp euery day more and more from the graue of our sinnes to newnes of life He can of men dead 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 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 embaulme him and the disciples which came to the sepulchre would not yet beleue that he was risen againe But how came this earthquake Answer Saint Matthew saith there was a great earthquake For the angell 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 Gomorha An angel destroied the first borne of Egypt in one â—ight In the host of Senacherib one angel slue in one night 14500 meÌ„ Of like power is the deuil himself to shake the earth and to destroy vs all but that God of his goodnes limits restrains him of his libertie Well if one angel be able to shake the earth what then wil Christ himselfe do when he shal come to iudgemeÌ„t the secoÌ„d time with many thousand thousaÌ„ds of angels oh how terrible will his comming be Not without cause saith the holy Ghost that the wicked at that day shall cry out wishing the hills to fall vpon them and the mountains to couer them for feare of that great and terrible day of the Lord The 4. thing is that an angel ministred to Christ being to rise again in that he came to the graue rolled away the stone sate vpoÌ„ it Where obserue first how the angels of God minister vnto Christ though dead buried whereby they acknowledge that his power maiestie authoritie is not included within the bondes 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 basesâ— 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 think that the bodie of Christ went through the graue-stone when he rose againe is without warrant For the ende no doubt why the angel rolled away the stone was that Christ might come foorth And indeede it is against the order of nature that one bodie should passe through another without corruption or alteration of either
especially of such as are olde in yeares and yet remaine ignorant without knowledge they must turne to the Lorde by repentance otherwise if they continue still profane and wicked they must knowe this that their damnation comes post hast to meete them and they to it And thus much for the dueties Nowe followe the consolations which Gods Church reape from this that God the father is omnipotent First the wonderfull power of God serueth to strengthen vs in prayer vnto God for he that will pray truly must onely pray for those things for which he hath warrant in Gods word all our prayers must be made in faith and for a man to pray in faith it is harde therefore a speciall meanes to strengthen vs herein is the mightie power of God This was the ground and stay of the leaper whome our Sauiour Christ clensed Lord saith he if thou wilt thou canst make me cleane And in the Lords prayer when our Sauiour Christ hath taught vs to make sixe petitions in the ende he giueth vs a reason or motiue to induce vs to stand vpon and to wait for the benefits before craved in these words Thine is the kingdome thine is the power c. Secondly hence we learne this comfort that all the gates of hell shal neuer be able to preuaile against the least mēber of Christ. I doe not say they shal neuer be able to assault or tempt them for that may be but they shall neuer ouercome them How will some say may we be resolued of this I answer By reason of faith for if a Christian man do beleeue that God the father and in Christ his father is almightie no enemie shall euer be able to preuaile against him So S. Iohn reasoneth Little children yee are of God and haue ouercome them that is all false teachers because greater is he that is in you that is Christ Iesus by his holy spirite who is God and therefore almightie then he that is in the worlde that is the spirit of Sathan therefore you neede not to feare So Dauid compareth him selfe to a sillie sheepe and saith Though I should walke through the valley of the shadow of death that is as it were in the mouth of the lyō yet I will feare none evill why so because the Lord is with him thy rodde saith he and thy staffe comfort me Thus much for the benefits Now whereas it is saide the first person is a father as also almightie ioyne these two together and hence will arise singular benefits and instructions First whereas we are taught to confesse that the first person is a father almightie we and euery man must learne to haue experience in himselfe of the mightie power of this almightie father Why will some say that is nothing for the deuil and all the damned soules feele the power of the Almightie True in deede they feele the power of God namely as he is an almightie Iudge condemning them but they feele not the power of an almightie father this is the point whereof we must learne to haue experience in our selues Paul prayeth that the God of our Lord Iesus Christ the father of glorie would giue vnto the Ephesians the spirite of wisdome to see what is the exceeding greatnes of his power in them which beleeue according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ. Which place must be cōsidered for here the Apostle would haue vs haue such a speciall manifestation of Gods power in our selues like to that which he did once shew forth in Christ. But how did Christ see and find the power of God as he was man Answ. Diuers waies I. On the crosse he died the first death which is the separation of bodie and soule and he suffered the sorrowes of the second death For in his soule he bare the whole wrath of God and all the panges of hell and after was buried and laide in the graue where death triumphed ouer him for the space of three daies Now in this extremitie God did shew his power in that he raised Christ from death to life And looke as his power was manifested in Christ the head so must it be manifested in all his members for euery man hath his graue which is naturall sinne and corruption which we draw from our first parents and looke as a man lies dead in the graue and can mooue neither hand nor foote so euery man by nature lieth dead in sinne Now as God did shewe his power in raising Christ from death so euery one must labour to haue this knowledge and experience in him selfe of the mightie power of God in raising him from the graue of sinne to newnes of life For thus Paul makes a speciall request that he might knowe Christ and the vertue of his resurrection that is that he might feele in him selfe that power whereby Christ was raised from death to life to raise him also from the bondage of his sinnes to a new life more more Furthermore whē Christ was vpon the crosse and all the gates of hell were open against him then did hee vanquish Sathan he bruised the serpents head and as Paul saith he spoiled principalities and powers 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 sathan◠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 cuppe might passe from him and yet he saith Not my will but thy will be fulfilled For it was necessarie 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 manhoode to beare the brunt of his indignation Nowe looke as this power was effectual in Christ Iesus the head to make him able and sufficient to beare the panges of hell so the same power of God is in some measure effectuall in all the members of Christ to make them both patient and 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 ioyfulnes And this is a notable point which euery one ought to learne that wheras they confesse God to be their almightie father they should here withall labour to feele and haue experience in themselues that he is almightie in the beginning and continuing of grace vnto them and in giuing thē 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 hande of God in
therefore the death of Christ doeth make his last will and testament which is his couenant of grace authenticall unto us Fourthly the death of Christ doth serue to abolish the originall corruption of our sinnefull hearts As a strong corasive laide to a sore eates out all the rotten and deade flesh euen so Christs death being applyed to the heart of a penitent sinner by faith weakens and consumes the sinne that cleaues so fast unto our natures and dwelles within us Some will say how can Christes death which now is not because it is long ago past and ended kill sinne in vs now Ansvver Indeed if vvee regard the acte of Christs death it is past but the vertue and power thereof endureth for euer And the power of Christes death is nothing els but the power of his godhead vvhich inabled him in his death to ouercome hell the graue death and condemnation and to disburden him selfe of our sinnes Now when wee haue grace to denie our selves and to put our trust in Christ and by faith are ioyned to him then as Christ himselfe by the power of his godhead ouercame death hell and damnation in himselfe so shall wee by the same power of his godhead kill crucifie sin corruption in our selues Therfore seeing we reape such benefite by the death of Christ if wee will shewe our selues to be Christians let us reioyce in the death of Christ and if the question be what is the chiefest thing wherein we reioyce in this world we may answere the very crosse of Christ and the least droppe of his blood The duties to be learned by the death of Christ are two the first concernes all ignorant and impenitent sinners Such men whatsoeuer they be by the death of Christ upon the crosse must be mooued to turne from their sinnes and if the consideration hereof will not mooue them nothing in the world will By nature euery man is a vassall of sinne and a bondslaue of Sathan the deuill raignes and rules in all men by nature and wee our selues can doe nothing but serue and obey him Nay which is more we lie under the fearefull curse of God for the least sinne Well now see the love of the sonne of God that gaue himselfe willingly to death upon the crosse for thee that he might free thee from this most fearefull bondage Wherefore let all those that liue in sinne and ignorance reason thus with thēselues Hath Christ the Sonne of God done this for us and shall we yet live still in our sinnes hath he set open as it were the very gates of hell and shall we yet lie weitring in out damnable waies and in the shadowe of death In the feare of God let the death of Christ be a means to turne us to Christ if it can not moue us let us be resolued that our case is dangerous To go yet further in this point euery one of us is by nature a sicke man wounded at the very heart by sathan though we feele it not yet we are deadly sicke beholde Christ is the good Phisition of the soule none in heauen or earth neither Saint angell nor man can heale this our spirituall wound but he alone who though he were equall with the father yet he came downe from his bosome and became mā lived here many yeres in miserie contēpt and when no hearb nor plaister could cure this our deadly wound or desperate sicknes he was content to make a plaister with his owne blood the paine hee tooke in making it caused him to sweat water blood nay the making of it for us cost him his life in that he was content by his own death to free us from death which if it be true as it is most true thē wofull wretched is our case if we will still liue in sinne will not use meanes to lay this plaister unto our hearts And after the plaister is applyed to the soule we should doe as a man that hath bene grievously sicke who whē he is on the mending hand gets strength by litle little And so should we become new creatures going on frō grace to grace and shew the same by liuing godlily righteously and soberly that the worlde may see that wee are cured of our spirituall disease O happy yea thrise happy are they that haue grace from God to do this The second duty concernes thē which are repentant sinners Hath Christ giuen himselfe for thee is thy conscience setled in this then thou must answerably beare this minde that if thy life would serue for the glorie of God the good of his Church thou wouldst then giue it most willingly if thou be called thereto Secondly if Christ for thy good hath giuen his life then thou must in like manner be content to die for thy brethren in Christ if need be He saith S. Iohn laid down his life for us therfore we ought to lay down our liues for our brethren Thirdly if Christ was cōtē◠to shed his own hearts blood not for himself but for the sins of euery one of us thē we must be thus affected that rather then by sinning we would willingly offend god we should be content to haue our own blood shed yea if these two things were put to our choise either to doe that vvhich might displease God or els to suffer death we must rather die then do the same Of this mind haue bene all the martyrs of God who rather then they would yeild to Idolatrie were content to suffer most bitter torments cruell death Yea euery good christian is so affected that hee had rather choose to die then to liue not moued by impatience in respect of the miseries of this life but because he would cease to offend so louing a father To sin is meat drinke to the world but to a touched repētāt hart ther is no tormēt so grievous as this is to sinne against God if once hee be perswaded that Christ died for him Thus much for Christs death novv follovv those things vvhich befell Christ when hee was newly dead and they are two especially The first that his legges were not broken as the legges of the tvvo thieves vvere Of the first S. Iohn rendreth a reason namely that the scripture might be fulfilled which saith not a bone of him shall be broken which wordes vvere spoken by Moses of the paschall lambe and are here applyed to Christ as being typically figured therby And hence we obserue these tvvo things First that Christ crucified is the true paschall lambe as S. Paul saieth Christ our passeover is sacrificed and S. Iohn saith Behold the lamb of God distinguishing him thereby from the typicall lambe In this that Christ crucified is the true paschall lamb the childe of God hath vvonderfull matter of comfort The Israelites did eate the passeouer in Egypt and sprinkled the blood of the lambe on the postes of their dores that when
to keepe the sabbath so strictly as the Iewes were yet vvhen we haue any busines or worke to be done of our ordinarie calling vve must not take a part of the Lordes sabbath day to do it in but preuent the time doe it either before as Ioseph did or after the sabbath This is litle practised in the world Mē think if they go to church before after noone to heare Gods worde then all the day after they may doe what they list and spend the rest of the time at their owne pleasure but the vvhole day is the Lordes therefore must be spent wholly in his seruice both by publicke hearing of the word and also by priuate reading and meditation on the same To conclude the doctrine of Christes buriall Here it may be demanded how he was alwaies after his incarnation both god and man considering he was dead buried and therefore bodie and soule were sundred a dead mā seemes to be no man Ansvv. A dead man in his kinde is as true a man as a living man for though bodie and soule be not united by the bond of life yet are they united by a relation which the one hath to the other in the counsell and good pleasure of God and that as truly as man and vvoman remaine coupled into one flesh by a couenant of mariage though afterwarde they be distant a thousand miles asunder and by vertue of this relation euery soule in the day of iudgement shall be reunited to his owne bodie euery bodie to his own soule But there is yet a more straighter bond betweene the body soule of Christ in his death burial For as when he was liuing his soule was a meane or bond to unite his godhead his bodie togither so whē hee was deade his verie godhead was a meane or middle bond to unite the bodie and soule and to say otherwise is to dissolue the hypostaticall union by vertue wherof Christes body and soule though seuered ech frō other yet both were still ioyned to the godhead of the sonne The use and profite which may be made of Christes buriall is two-folde I. It serueth to worke in us the buriall of all our sinnes Knovve yee not saieth Paul that all who haue beene baptised into Christ have beene baptised into his death and are buried vvith him by baptisme into his death If any shall demaund how any man is buried into the death of Christ the answere is this Euery Christian man and woman are by faith mystically united unto Christ and made all members of one body whereof Christ is the head Now therefore as Christ by the power of his godhead when he was dead and buried did ouercome the graue the power of death in his own person So by the very same power by means of this spirituall coniunctiō doth he worke in all his members a spirituall death buriall of sinne and naturall corruption When the Israelites were burying of a mā for feare of the soldiers of the Moabites they cast him for hast into the sepulcher of Elisha Now the dead man so soone as he was down had touched the body of Elisha he revived stood upon his feet So let a man that is dead in sin be cast into the graue of Christ that is let him by faith but touch Christ dead buried it will come to passe by the vertue of Christs death buriall that he shalbe raised frō the death bōdage of sin to become a new mā Secōdly the buriall of Christ serues to be a sweet perfume of all our graues and burials for the graue in it selfe is the house of perditiō but Christ by his burial hath as it were cōsecrated and perfumed all our graues in stead of houses of perdition hath made them chambers of rest sleepe yea beds of downe therfore howsoeuer to the eye of mā the beholding of a funerall is terrible yet if we could then remember the buriall of Christ consider how he thereby hath changed the nature of the graue euen then it woulde make us to reioice Lastly we must imitate Christs buriall in being cōtinually occupied in the spiritual burial of our sins Thus much of the buriall Now followeth the third and last degree of Christes humiliation He descended into hell It seemes very likely that these wordes were not placed in the creed at the first or as some thinke that they crept in by negligence because aboue threescore creeds of the most ancient councels fathers want this clause among the rest the Nicene Creed But if the ancient learned fathers assembled in that councel had bin perswaded or at the least had imagined that these words had bin set down at the first by the Apostles no doubt they would not in any wise haue left them out And an anciēt writer saith directly that these words he descended into hell are not found in the Creede of the Romane Church nor used in the Churches of the East if they be that then they signifie the burial of Christ. And it must not seeme strange to any that a worde or twaine in processe of time should creepe into the Creede considering that the originall copies of the bookes of the old and new Testament haue in them sundry varieties of readings and words otherwhiles which from the margine haue crept into the text Neuerthelesse considering that this clause hath long continued in the creed and that by common consent of the Catholicke Church of God it may carry a fit sense expositiō it is not as some would haue it to be put forth Therfore that we may come to speak of the meaning of it we must know that it hath 4. usual expositiōs which we wil rehearse in order then make choise of that which shal be thought to be the fittest The first is that Christs soule after his passion vpon the crosse did really locally descend into the place of the damned But this seems not to be true The reasons are these I. All the Evangelists and among the rest S. Luke intending to make an exact narration of the life and death of Christ haue set downe at large his passion death buriall resurrection ascension and withall they make rehearsall of small circumstances therefore no doubt they woulde not haue omitted Christes locall descent into the place of the damned if there had bene any such thing And the end why they penned this historie was that we might beleeue that Iesus is Christ the sonne of God beleeuing we might haue life euerlasting Now there could not haue bene a greater matter for the confirmation of our faith thē this that Iesus the sonne of Mary who went downe to the place of the damned returned thence to liue in happinesse for euer II. If Christ did go into the place of the damned then either in soule or in body or in
I let them passe Thus much of the appearances of Christ after his resurrection the witnesses thereof are of three sortes I. angels II. women that came to the graue to embalme him III. Christs owne disciples who did publish and preach the same againe according as they had seene and heard of our Sauiour Christ and of these likewise I omit to speake because there is not any speciaâ—l thing mentioned of them by the Evangelistes Now follow the uses which are twofold some respect Christ and some respect ourselues Vses which concerne Christ are three I. whereas Christ Iesus being starke deade rose againe to life by his owne power it serueth to prooue unto us that he was the sonne of God Thus Paul speaking of Christ saieth that he was declared mightily to be the sonne of God touching the spirit of sanctification by the resurrection from the dead And by the mouth of Dauid God saide Thou art my sonne this day I have begot thee Which place must be understood not so much of the eternall generation of Christ before all worlds as of the manifestation therof in time after this maner This day that is at the time of thine incarnation but especially at the day of thy resurrection have I begotten thee that is I haue made manifest that thou art my sonne so is this place expouÌ„ded by S. Paul in the Acts. Secondly Christs resurrection by his own power prooues unto us euidently that he is Lord ouerall things that are this use S. Paul makes hereof for saith he Christ therefore died that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the quicke And indeed wheras he rose againe thus he did hereby shew himselfe most plainely to be a mightie prince ouer the graue ouer death hell condemnation in that he had power to ouercome them Thirdly it proues unto us that he was a perfit priest that his death and passion was a perfit satisfaction to the iustice of God for the sins of mankind For whereas Christ died he died for our sins now if he had not fully satisfied for them all though there had remained but one sin for which he had made no satisfaction he had not risen againe but death which came into the worlde by sinne and is strengthned by it woulde haue helde him in bondage and therefore whereas hee rose againe it is more then manifest that he hath made so full a satisfaction so as the merite thereof doth and shall countervaile the iustice of God for all our offences To this purpose Paul saith If Christ be not risen againe your faith is vaine and you are yet in your sins that is Christ had not satisfied for your sinnes or at least you could not possibly haue knowen that he had made satisfaction for any of them if he had not risen againe The uses which concerne our selues are of two sortes comforts to the children of God and duties that are to be learned and practised of us all The comforts are especially three First Christs resurrrection serueth for the iustification of all that beleeue in him euen before God the father as Paul saith Christ was given to death for our sinnes and is risen againe for our iustification which wordes haue this meaning when Christ died as we haue shewed before we must not consider him as a priuate man but as one that stood in the stead and roome of all the elect in his death he bare our sinnes and suffered all that we should haue suffered in our own persons for euer the guilt of our offences was laid upon him therfore Esai saith he was nuÌ„bred among the wicked Now in his rising againe he freed disburdened himselfe not from any sinnes of his own because he was without sin but from the guilt punishment of our sins imputed unto him And hence it comes to passe that all those which put their trust affiance in the merit of Christ at the very first instant of their beleeuing haue their owne sins not imputed unto them his righteousnes imputed Secondly the resurrection of Christ serueth as a notable meanes to worke inward sanctification as S. Peter saith We are regenerate to a lively hope by the resurrectioÌ„ of Iesus Christ from the dead And S. Paul Wee are then saith hee buried with him by baptisme into his death that like as Christ vvas raised vp from the dead by the glorie of his father so vvee also should walke in newnesse of life For if we be grafted vvith him to the similitude of his death wee shall be also to the similitude of his resurrection Which wordes import thus much that as Christ by the power of his owne godheade freed his manhood from death and from the guilt of our sinnes so doth he free those that are knit unto him by the bond of one spirite from the corruption of their natures in which they are dead that they may liue unto God In the naturall body the head is the fountaine of all the senses and of motion and therefore by sundry nerves dispersed through the body the power of moouing and of sense is deriued euen to the least partes so as the hands and the feete moue by meanes of that power which comes from the head and so it is in the spirituall body of Christ namely the Church he is the head the fountain of life therfore he coÌ„veieth spirituall life to euery one of his members and that very power of his godhead whereby he raised up himselfe when he was dead he conveieth from himselfe to his members thereby raiseth them up from the death of sinne to newnesse of life And looke as in a perfect body when the head hath sence and motion the hand that is of the same bodie hath also sense and motion conuenient for it So likewise Christ beeing the resurrection and the life as there is spirituall life in him so euery member of his shall feele in it selfe spirituall sence and motion whereby it is raised up froÌ„ sinne and liueth unto God For the better conceiuing of this we must consider two things the outward meanes of this spirituall life and the measure of it For the meanes if we will haue common water vve must goe to the well and if wee vvould haue vvater of life we must goe unto Christ who saith If any man thirst let him come unto me and drinke Now this vvell of the water of life is very deepe we haue nothing to draw with therefore we must haue our pipes conduits to convey the same unto us which are the word of God preached and the administration of the sacrameÌ„ts Christ saith The dead shall heare the voice of the sonne of God they that heare it shall live where by dead is meant not the dead in the graue but those that are dead in sinne And againe Christ saith the wordes which I speake are spirite and life because
the word of God is the pipe whereby he conveieth into our dead hearts spirit and life As Christ when he raised up dead men did onely speake the word they were made aliue and at the day of iudgement at his voice when the trump shall blowe all that are dead shall rise againe So it is in the first resurrectioÌ„ they that are dead in their sinnes at his voice uttered in the ministerie of the worde shall rise againe To goe further Christ raised three from the deade Iairus daughter newly dead the widowes sonne dead and wound up and lying on the hearse Lazarus dead and buried stinking in the graue and all this he did by his very voice so also by the preaching of his word he raiseth all sortes of sinners euen such as haue lien long in their sinnes as rotting and stinking carrion The Sacraments also are the pipes and conduits wherby God conveigheth grace into the heart if they be rightly used that is if they be receiued in unfained repentance for all our sinnes and with a true and liuely faith in Christ for the pardon of the same sinnes and so I take it they are compared to flagons of wine which reuiue the Church being sicke and fallen into a sownd As for the measure of life derived from Christ it is but small in this life and giuen by little and little as Ose saieth The Lorde hath spoiled vs and he will heale us hee hath wounded us and he will bind us up After two daies he will revive us and in the third he will raise us vp and we shall live in his sight The Prophet Ezechiel in a vision is caried into the middest of a field full of dead bones and hee is caused to Prophesie ouer them and say O ye drie bones heare the vvorde of the Lord and at the first there was a shaking and the bones came togither bone to bone and then sinewes and flesh grew upon them and upon the flesh grewe a skinne Then he prophesied vnto the windes the second time and they liued and stood upon their feete for the breath came upon them and they were an exceeding great armie of men Hereby is signified not only the state of the Iewes after their captivitie but in them the state of the whole Church of God For these temporall deliverances signified further a spirituall deliuerance And we may here see most plainely that God worketh in the heartes of his children the giftes and graces of regeneration by little and little First he giueth no more then flesh sinewes and skin then after he giueth them further graces of his spirite which quickeneth them and maketh them aliue unto God The same also wee may see in the vision of the waters that ranne out of the Temple First a man must wade to the ancles then after to the knees and so to the loines then after the waters grovve to a riuer that can not be passed ouer and so the Lord conueieth his graces by little and little till at the last men haue a full measure thereof Thirdly the resurrection of Christ serueth as an argument to proue unto us our resurrection at the day of iudgement Paul saieth If the spirite of Christ that raised up Iesus from the deade dvvell in you hee that raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies Some will say that this is no benefite for all must rise againe as well the wicked as the godly Ansvver True indeede but yet the wicked rise not againe by the same cause that the godly doe They rise againe by the power of Christ not as hee is a saviour but as hee is a iudge to condemne them For God had saide to Adam that at what time he should eate of the forbidden fruite he should die the death meaning a double death both the first and the second death Nowe then the ungodly rise againe that God may inflict upon them the punishment of the second death which is the rewarde of sinne that so Gods iustice may be satisfied but the godly rise againe by the power of Christ their heade and redeemer who raiseth them up that they may bee partakers of the benefite of his death which is to enioy both in bodie and soule the kingdome of heauen which he haâ—h so dearely bought for them Thus much for the comfortes Now follow the duties and they are also three First as Christ Iesus vvhen he was deade rose againe from death to life by his owne power so we by his grace in imitation of Christ must endeauour our selues to rise up from all our sinnes both originall and actuall vnto newenesse of life This is worthily set downe by the Apostle saying We are buried by baptisme into his death that as Christ was raised vp from the dead by the glorie of the father so we also should walke in newnesse of life and therefore vve must endeauour our selues to shevve the same power to be in us euery day by rising up from ouâ— owne personall sinnes to a reformed life This ought to be remembred of us because howsoeuer many heare know it yet very â—ewe doe practise the same For to speake plainly as dead men buried vvould neuer heare though a man shoulde speake neuet so loude so undoubtedly among us there be also many living men which are almost in the same case The ministers of God may cry unto them daily and iterate the same thing a thousand times and tell them that they must rise up from their sinnes and lead a new life but they heare no more then the deade carkasse that lieth in the graue Indeede men heare with their outward eares but they are so farre from practising this dutie that they iudge it to be a matter of reproch and ignominie And those which make any coÌ„science of this duty how they are laden with nicknames taunts who knoweth not I need not to rehearse theÌ„ so odious a thing now a daies is the rising froÌ„ sinne to newnes of life Sound a trumpet in a dead mans eares he stirres not and let us crie for amendment of life till breath goe out of our bodies no man almost saieth what haue I done And for this cause undoubtedly if it were not for conscience of that dutie which men owe unto God we should haue but fewe ministers in England For it is the ioy of a minister to see his people rise from sinne and to lead a new life whereas alas men generally lie snurting in their corruptions and rather goe forwarde in them still then come to any amendment such is the woonderfull hardnes untovvardnes that hath possessed the heartes of most men He which hath but halfe an eie may see this to be true Oh how exceedes atheisme in all places contempt of Gods worshippe profanation of the Sabbath the whordomes and fornications the crueltie and oppression of this age it cryes euen to heauen for vengeance By these such like
and therefore it standeth them in hande not to content themselues with this that they know and teach others Gods wil but they themselues must be the first doers of the same The fourth common gift of the holy Ghost is Abilitie to bridle and restraine some affections so as they shall not breake out into outragious behauiour Haman a wicked man an enemie to Gods Church when he saw Mordecai the Iew sitting in the kings gate that he would not stand vp nor moue for him he was full of indignatioÌ„ neuertheles the text saith that he refrained himselfe And when Abimelech an heathen king had taken Sara Abrahams wife God said vnto him I know that thou diddest this with an vpright heart and the text addeth further I haue kept thee that thou shouldest not sinne against me And thus the Lord giueth to men as yet without the spirit of sanctification this gift to bridle them selues so as in outward action they shall not practise this or that sinne For why did not Abimelech commit adulterie surely because God kept him from it Againe in the histories of the heathen we may read of many that were iust liberall meeke continent c. and that by a generall operation of the holy Ghost that represseth the corruption of nature for the common good Here then if any man aske how it commeth to passe that some men are more modest and ciuill then others seeing all men by nature are equally wicked the answeare may be not as the common saying is because some are of better nature then others for all the sonnes of Adam are equall in regard of nature the childe new borne in that respect is as wicked as the eldest man that euer liued but the reason is because God giueth this common gift of restraining the affections more to some then to others This must be considered of vs all For a man may haue the spirit of God to bridle many sinnes and yet neuer haue the spirit to mortifie the same and to make him a new creature And this beeing so we must take heede that we deceiue not our selues For it is not sufficient for a man to liue in outward ciuilitie to keepe in some of his affections vpon some occasion for that a wicked man may doe but we must further labour to feele in our selues the spirit of God not onely bridling sinne in vs but alâ—o mortifying and killing the same In deede both of them are the good gifts of Gods spirit but yet the mortification of sinne is the chiefest beeing an effectuall signe of grace and proper to the elect The fifth grace and gift of the holy Ghost is to heare and receiue the word of God with ioy In the parable of the sower one kinde of badde grounde are they which when they haue heard receiue the word with ioy And this is that which the author of the Hebrues calls the tasting of the good vvord of God and of the povvers of the vvorld to come We knowe that there is great difference betweene tasting of meate and eating of it They that sit downe at the table doe both tast and eate but they that dresse the meate doe onely see and tast thereof so it is at the Lords table Many there be that haue this gift truly both to tast and eate of the bodie and bloode of Christ offered in the word and sacraments and some againe doe onely tast and feele the sweetenesse of them and reioyce therein but yet are not indeede partakers thereof Now if this be so then all those which heare the worde of God must take heede how they heare and labour to finde these two things in themselues by hearing I. that in heart and conscience they be thoroughly touched and humbled for their sinnes II. that they be certeÌ„ly assured of the fauour and loue of God in Christ and that the sweete promises of the Gospell doe belong to them and in consideration hereof they must make conscience of all sinne both in thought word deede through the whole course of their liues And this kinde of hearing bringeth that ioy which vanisheth not away Thus much of the benefits of the holy Ghost common to all men both good and bad now follow such as are proper to the Elect all which may be reduced vnto one namely the Inhabitation of the spirit whereby the elect are the temples of the H. Ghost who is said to dwell in men not in respect of substance for the whole nature of the H. Ghost cannot be comprised in the bodie or soule of man but in respect of a particular operation and this dwelling stands in two things The first that the holy Ghost doth abide in them not for a time onely but for euer for the worde dwelling noteth perpetuitie Secondly that the holy Ghost hath the full disposition of the heart as when a man commeth to dwell in an house whereof he is lord he hath libertie to gouerne it after his owne will now this disposition of the hearts of the faithfull by the holy Ghost standeth in fiue speciall notable gifts euery one worth our obseruation The first is a certen knowledge of a mans owne reconciliation to God in Christ. As it is said in Isai By his knowledge my righteous seruant shall iustifie many And Christ saith This is life eternall that they knowe thee to be the onely very God and vvhome thou hast sent Jesus Christ. This knowledge is not generall for then the deuils might be saued but it is particular whereby a man knoweth God the father to be his father and Christ the redeemer to be his redeemer and the holy Ghost to be his sanctifier and comforter And it is froÌ„ the speciall worke of the H. Ghost as Paul saith The spirit of God beareth witnes to our spirits that we are the children of God And we haue receiued the spirit which is of God that we might knowe the things that are giuen vnto vs of God The second gift is regeneration whereby a man of a limme of the deuill is made a member of Christ and of a child of satan whome euery one of vs by nature do as liuely resemble as any man doth his owne parent is made the child of God Except a man saith our Sauiour Christ be born againe by water and the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen Iohn Baptist in saying that Christ baptized with the H. Ghost and fire compares the spirit of God to fire and water To fire for two causes I. as it is the nature of fire to warme the bodie that is benummed and frozen with cold so when a man is benummed and frozen in sinne yea when he is euen stark dead in sinne it is the propertie of the holy Ghost to warme and quicken his heart and to reuiue him II. Fire doth purge and eate out the drosse from the good mettall now there is no drosse nor canker that hath
nothing in the worlde so much as for pardon of our sinnes and that day by day without ceasing till the Lorde giue this blessed answere to our consciences that all our sinnes are put out of his remembrance We must not thinke that God putteth grace into mens heartes when they lie snurting upon their elbowes and either not use or despise the meanes but wee must first use the meanes partly by making confession of our sinnes to God and partly by crying to heauen for pardon and then when by his grace wee begin to desire grace hee giues further grace Lastly if we beleeue the pardon of our sinnes then wee must chaunge the tenour and course of our liues and take heede of breaking Gods commaundementes by doing any of those things whereof our consciences doe accuse us and tell us that by them we haue displeased God heretofore A man that for some misdemeanour hath bene cast into prison and lyen there many yeeres winter and sommer in cold irons when he obtaines libertie hee will often bethinke himselfe of his old miserie and take heede for eueâ— least hee fall into the same offence againe and hee which hath seene his owne sinnes and felt the smart of them and withall by Gods goodnes obtained assurance touching the pardon of them will neuer wittingly and willingly commit the like sinnes any more but in all things chaunge the course of his life As for such as say that they haue the pardon of their sinnes and yet liue in them still they deceiue themselues and haue no faith at all Thus much for the second benefite which God bestoweth on his Church namely remission of sinnes now followeth the third in these wordes The resurrection of the body In the handling wherof sundry points must be considered The first whether there be a resurrection or no This question must needs be handled because Epicures and Atheists in all ages and at this day some doe call this article in question Now that there is a resurrection of the body after death it may be prooued by many arguments whereof I will onely touch the principall The first is taken from the worke of redemption Saint Iohn writeth that Christ came to dissolue the workes of the devill which are sinne and by sinne death and hence I reason thus If sinne and death are to be dissolued utterly then the bodies of the faithfull which are dead in the graue must needes be made aliue otherwise death is not abolished but sinne and death must be utterly abolished therefore there shall be a resurrection Secondly God had made a couenaÌ„t with his church the tenor wherof is this I will be thy God thou shalt be my people This couenaÌ„t is not for a day or an age or for a thousande yeeres or ages but it is euerlasting without end so as Gods people may say of God for euer God is our God likewise God will say of his Church for euermore this people is my people Now if Gods couenant be euerlasting then all the faithfull departed from the beginning of the world must be raised again to life And if god should leaue his people in the graue under death for euer how could they be called the people of God for he is a God of mercy and of life it selfe therefore though they abide long in the earth yet they must at length be reuiued againe This argument Christ useth against the Sadduces which denied the resurrection God is not the god of the dead but of the living but god is the god of AbrahaÌ„ Isaac Iacob which are dead and therfore they must rise againe The third argument may be taken from the tenour and order of Gods iustice It is an especiall part of Gods glory to shewe forth his mercie on the godly and his iustice upon the wicked in rewarding them according to their workes as the Apostle saith God will reward every man according to his workes to them that by continuance in vvell doing seeke glorie and honour and immortalitie life eternall but vnto them that disobey the trueth that be contentious and obey vnrighteousnesse shall be indignation and wrath But in this life God rewardeth not men according to their doings and therefore Salomon speaking of the estate of all men in this world saith All things come alike to all and the same condition is to the iust and vniust to the good and bad to the pure and polluted to him that offereth sâ—crifice and to him that offreth none Nay which is more here the wicked flourish and the godly are afflicted The ungodly haue hearts ease and all things at will whereas the godly are oppressed and ouerwhelmed with all kinde of miseries and are as sheepe appointed for the slaughter It remaines therefore that there must needes be a generall resurrection of all men after this life that the righteous may obtaine a reward of Gods free mercie and the wicked utter shame and confusion But some will say It is sufficient that God doe this to the soule of euery man the body needeth not to rise againe I answer that the ungodly man doeth not worke wickednes only in his soule but his body also is an instrument thereof and the godly doe not onely practise righteousnes in their soules but in their bodies also The bodies of the wicked are the instrumentes of sinne and the bodies of the righteous are the weapons of righteousnesse and therefore their bodies must rise againe that both in bodie and soule they may receiue a rewarde according to that which they haue wrought in them The fourth argument which is also used by Paul is this Christ himselfe is risen and therefore all the faithfull shall rise againe for he rose not for himselfe as a priuat man but in our roome and steade and for us If the head be risen then the meÌ„bers also shal rise againe for by the same power whereby Christ raised himselfe he both can will raise all those that be of his mysticall bodie he beeing the first fruits of them that sleepe The fifth argument is taken from expresse testimonie of Scripture Iob hath an excellent place for this purpose I am sure saith he that my Redeemer liueth and he shall stande the last on the earth and though after my skinne wormes destroy this bodie yet J shall see God in my flesh whom I my selfe shall see and mine eies shall behold and none other for me And Saint Paul to the Corinthians auoucheth and prooueth this point at large by sundrie arguments which I will not stand to repeat this one remembered If saith he the dead rise not againe then your faith is vaine our preaching is in vaine and the godly departed are perished The sixth argument may be taken from the order of nature which ministreth certain resemblances of the resurrection which though they be no sufficient proofes yet may they be inducements to the truth Both Philosophers and also Divines haue
vaine for men to busie themselues about such things Ans. But we must know that as God hath appointed all things to come to passe in his eternall and vnchangeable counsell so in the same decree he hath together set downe the means waies whereby he will haue the same things brought to passe for these two must neuer be seuered the thing to be done the means whereby it is done VVe may read in the Acts in Pauls daungerous voyage towards Rome an Angel of the Lord told Paul that God had giuen him all that sayled with him in the ship nowe the souldiers and marriners hearing this might reason thus with theÌ„selues Seeing God hath decreed to saue vs all we may doe what we will there is no danger for we shall all come to land aliue but marke what Paul saith except these abide in the ship ye cannot be safe where we may see as it was the eternall counsell of God to saue Paul all that were with him so he decreed to saue all by this particular meanes of their aboad in the ship King Ezechias was restored to his health receiued from God a promise that he should haue 15. yeares added to his daies the promise was confirmed by signe nowe what doth he cast off all means no but as he was prescribed so he applieth a bunch of drie figges to his sore and vseth still his ordinarie dyet Therefore it is grosse ignorance madnes in men to reason so against Gods decree God in his vnchangeable counsell hath decreed set down all things how they shal be therefore I will vse no means but liue as I list nay rather we must say the contrarie because God hath decreed this thing or that to be done therfore I wil vse the means which God hath appointed to bring the same to passe Now followes the Creation which is nothing else but a worke of the blessed Trinitie forming framing his creatures which were not before that of nothing The points to be knowne concerning the creation are many The first is the thing by which God did begin finish the creatioÌ„ And we must vnderstande that at the first God made all things without any instrument or meanes not as men do which bring to passe their busines by seruants helps but only by his word commandement as the Psalmist saith He commanded and all things were made In the beginning God said Let their be light there was light by the same meanes was the creatioÌ„ of euery creature following The very power of the word and coÌ„mandement of God was such as by it that thing was made had a being which before was not It may be demanded what word this was by which God is said to make all things Ans. The word of God in scripture is taken 3. waies for the substantiall word for the souÌ„ding or written word for the operatiue or powerful word The substaÌ„tial word is the secoÌ„d person begotteÌ„ of the substaÌ„ce of the father Nowe howsoeuer it be true that God the father did create al things by his word that is by his SoÌ„ne yet doth it not seeme to be true that by these words God said let there be this or that that the SoÌ„ne is mâ—nt For that word vvhich God gaue out in the creation vvas in time vvheras the SoÌ„ne is the vvord of the father before all times and againe it is a vvord common to the three persons equally vvhereas the SoÌ„ is the vvord of the father onely Furthermore it is not like that it was any souÌ„ding word staÌ„ding of letters syllables vttered to the creatures after the vsuall maner of meÌ„ that was the cause of theÌ„ it remains therfore that all things were made by the operatiue vvord vvhich is nothing but the pleasure vvil appointmeÌ„t of God is more povverful to bring a thing to passe then all the meanes in the vvorld beside For Gods vvilling of any thing is his effecting doing of it And this is prooued by Dauid vvhen he saith He spake the word and they were made he coÌ„manded and they were created Hence vve must take out a speciall lesson needefull to be learned of euery man Looke vvhat povver God vsed shevved in making the creatures vvhen they vvere not the same povver he both can vvil shevv forth in recreating redeeming sinful meÌ„ by the pretious blood of Christ. By his vvord he created mans heart when it vvas not he can vvill as easily create in any of such a nevv heart specially vvheÌ„ vve vse the good means appointed for that end As vvhen Christ said to dead Lazarus Lazarus come forth he arose came forth of his graue though bouÌ„d haÌ„d foot so vvheÌ„ the Lord speaks to our dead hearts by his vvord spirit vve shal rise forth of the graues of our sinnes corruptions In the creatioÌ„ of the great vvorld God said let there be light presently darknes gaue place the same he caÌ„ do to the little vvorld that is to man We are by nature darknes let God but speake to our blind vnderstaÌ„dings our ignoraÌ„ce shal depart vve shal be inlightned vvith the knovvledge of the true God and of his vvil as Paul saith God that coÌ„maunded the light to shine out of darknes is he which hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knovvledge of the glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ. Secondly God made all creatures without motion labour or defatigation for his very bidding of the worke to be done was the doing of it And this thing no creature can doe but God onely though vnto Adam labour was without paine before the fall Thirdly the matter the first beginning of all creatures was nothing that is all things were made when as there was nothing whereof they might be made as Paul saith God calleth those things vvhich be not as though they were And indeed in the first creation al things must be made either of the essence of God or of nothing but a creature can not be made of the essence of God for it hath no parts it is not divisible and God made all things that were made out of himselfe or his owne essence the conclusion then is that the framing of the creatures in the beginning was not of any matter but of nothing This must teach us to humble our selves Many there be that stande upon their ancestours but let them here looke whence they came first namely as Abraham saith of himselfe of dust and ashes And what was this dust and ashes made of Surely of nothing wherefore every mans first beginning is of nothing Well then such men as are caried away with their pedigree and descent if they looke well into it they shall finde small cause to boast or bragge And this coÌ„sideration of our first beginning must moue vs to true
all that he maketh and deuiseth to be used but yet so as the use thereof must be conformable to the vvill of the maker For this cause Moses that faithfull servant of God saieth that the people of Israel dealt wrongfully vvith the Lord why For he hath created them and proportioned them he is their father and he bought them yet they haue dishonoured him by corrupting themselues towardes him by their vice All creatures in heauen and in earth doe the will of the Creatour except man and the deuill and his angels for the Sunne the Moone and the starres they keepe that course which God hath appointed them but man though he be bound to doe the will of God because god is his Creator yet he rebells against him The potter if in tempering his clay he can not make and frame it according to his minde at length hee will dash it in peeces so God hee createth man not that he should doe his owne vvill but gods vvill and therefore that man vvhosoeuer he be that follovveth the lustes of his ovvne vvicked heart and vvill not be brought to be conformable to gods vvill but continues rebellious still the Lorde in his vvrath vvill confound him eternally Therefore it standes euery man in hand to yeeld himselfe plyable unto gods vvill to indeauour to obey it by keeping a good conscience before god and all men and by vvalking faithfully in his calling othervvise the ende vvill be confusion If a man haue a trade and other men come into his shoppe and use such instruments as be there to a wrong end though they vvere their owne yet it vvould grieue him to see it so god created all things for his ovvne use and for the accomplishing of his vvill but rebellious man conformes himselfe to the deuils vvill and thereby no doubt he grieuously offendeth god And thus much of the duties Novv in the third place follow the consolations unto Gods Church and people First as S. Paul saith God is a creator yea a faithfull creator The properties of a faithfull creatour are two I. he will preserue his creature no man is so tender ouer any worke as hee that made it for he can not abide to see it any way abused Now God being a faithfull creatour tenderly loues all his creature So Iob reasoneth with God that hee will not cast him off because he is the worke of his hands II. God will beare with his creature to see whether it will be brought to any good ende and use before he will destroy it And to use the former comparison The potter will turne and worke the clay euery way to make a vessell unto his minde but if it will frame no way then he will cast it away and dash it against the wall And so God who created man and still preserueth him and useth all meanes to make him conformable to his will before hee cast him away The Lorde did long strive vvith men in the olde worlde to turne them from their wickednesse but when nothing would serue them it is saide It repented the Lorde that hee had made man on the earth Amongst us euery one is the creature of God now if wee shall rebell against this our creator it may be he will beare with us for a time but if we continue therein and do not turne to him by repentāce he will bring upon us a finall destruction both in body and soule Yet I say before he doe this he will trie all meanes to preserue us and turne us unto him and afterwarde if nothing will serue then he will shew forth his power in mens confusion therefore it stands us in hand to looke unto it Secondly looke what power the Lord did manifest in the creation of all things the same power he both can and will make manifest in the redemption of mankind In the beginning God made all things by his worde and so likewise he is able still to make by the power of his word of a wicked man that is dead in sinne a true and liuely member of Christ which the Prophet Isay signifieth when he saith The Lord that created the heavens and spred them abroad hee that stretcheth forth the earth and the body thereof c. I the Lord haue called thee in righteousnesse This must not encourage evill men in their wickednesse but it serueth to comfort the people of God considering that the same God which once created them is also as able to saue them and will shewe himselfe as mightie in their redemption as hee did in creating them of nothing And thus much of the Creation in generall Now it follovveth that vve come to the handling of the partes thereof For it is not said barely that God is a creatour but particularly that he is a creatour of heauen earth of both which we will speake in order and first of the creation of heauen Heaven in Gods vvorde it signifieth all that is aboue the earth for the aire wherein we breath is called Heauen And according to this acception of the worde there are three heauens as Paul saith He was taken up into the third heauen The first of these Heauens is that space which is from the earth upvvard unto the firmament where the starres are Thus we reade often in the Psalmes the birdes which flie in the aire betvveene the earth and the starres are called the foules of the heaven and when God sent the floode to drovvne the olde vvorld Moses saith the windowes of heauen vvere opened meaning that God powred downe raine from the cloudes abundantly for the making of a floode to drowne the worlde The second heauen is that which conteineth the Sunne the Moone and the starres so Moses saith that God in the beginning created the Sunne the Moone and the Starres and placed them in the firmament of heauen Besides these two heauens there is a thirde which is inuisible and yet it is the worke of Gods handes and it is that glorious place where Christ in his manhoode sitteth at the right hande of the father and whether the soules of the faithfull departed are carried and placed and in which at the end of the world shall all the elect both in bodie 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 scanne and consider 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 vvorde For the Scripture saith Abraham looked for a citie meaning the heauenly Ierusalem this thirde heauen having a foundation vvhose builder and maker is God Further if it be eternall it must either be a creatour or a creature but it is no creatour for then it shoulde be God and therefore it must needes be a creature But some will say the
the cause therof being unknown not simply but in respect of man therefore in regarde of meÌ„ which know not the reason of things we may say there is chance so the spirit of God speaketh Time and chance coÌ„meth to them all And againe By chance there came down a priest the same way Now this kind of chaÌ„ce is not against the prouideÌ„ce of god but is ordered by it For things which in regard of men are casuall are certenly known determined by god Mere chance is wheÌ„ things are said or thought to come to passe without any cause at all But that must be abhorred of us as ouerturning the providence of God Thus seeing it is plain that there is a provideÌ„ce let us in the next place see what it is ProuideÌ„ce is a most free powerful actioÌ„ of god wherby he hath care ouer al things that are Prouidence hath 2. partes knowledge gouernment Gods knowledge is whereby all things from the greatest to the least are manifest before him at all times As David saith His eyes vvill consider his eye lâ—ddes vvill trie the children of men And againe Hee abaseth himselfe to beholde the things that are in the heaven and the earth And the Prophet Hanani said to Asa The eyes of the Lorde behold all the earth And S. Iames saith From the beginning of the vvorlde God knoweth all his workes This pointe hath a double use First as S. Peter saieth it must mooue us to eschew evill and doe good why Because saith he the eyes of the Lorde are upon the iust and his covntenance against evill doers Secondly it must comfort all those that labour to keepe a good conscience For the eyes of God beholde all the earth to shew himselfe strong with them that are of perfect heart tovvardes him Gouernment is the seconde parte of Gods providence whereby he ordereth all things and directeth them to good ends And it must be extended to the verie least thing that is in heauen or earth as to the sparrowes and to oxen and the haires of our heads And here we must consider 2. things the maner of gouernment and the meanes The maner 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 morall Naturall which is created by God for the lawfull use of man Morall which is agreeable to the eternall and unchangeable wisdome of God revealed in the morall law Now God gouerneth all good things two waies First by sustaining and preseruing them that they decay not secondly by moouing them that they may attaine to the particular ends for which they were seuerally ordeined for the qualities and vertues which were placed in the Sunne Moone Starres trees plantes seedes c. would be dead in them and be unprofitable unlesse they vvere not only preserued but also stirred up and quickened by the power of God so oft as he imployes them to any use Euill is the destruction of nature and it is taken for sinne or for the punishment of sinne Now sinne is gouerned of God by two actions the first is an operative 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 fourme of sinne the subiect of sinne is a certaine qualitie or action the forme is the anomie or transgression of Gods law 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 authour of it Therefore sinne though it be sufficiently euill to eternall damnatioÌ„ yet can it not be said to be absolutely euill as God is absolutely good because the subiect of it is good and therefore it hath in it respectes and regardes of goodnesse In respect of the second that is the breach of the lawe it selfe God neither willeth nor appointeth nor commaundeth nor causeth nor helpeth sinne but forbiddeth condemneth and punisheth it yet so as by withall he willingly permitteth it to be done by others as men and wicked angels they being the sole authors causes of it And this permission by God is vpon a good ende because thereby he manifesteth his iustice and mercie Thus it appeares that in originall sinne the naturall inclination of the mind will and affections in it selfe considered is froÌ„ God and the ataxie or corruption of the inclination in no wise from him but onely permitted and that in actuall sinne the motion of the bodie or mind is from God but the euilnes disorder of the motion is not froÌ„ him but freely permitted to be done by others As for exaÌ„ple in the act of murder the actions of moouing the whole bodie of stirring the seuerall ioyntes and the fetching of the blowe whereby the man is slaine is from God for in him we liue mooue haue our being but the disposing applying of all these actions to this end that our neighbors life may be taken away we thereby take reuenge upon him is not froÌ„ God but from vvicked men and the deuill Gods second action in the gouernment of sinne is after the iust permission of it partly to restraine it more or lesse according to his good will and pleasure and partly to dispose and turne it against the nature thereof to the glorie of his owne name to the punishment of his enemies to the correcting and chastisement of his elect As for the second kind of evill called the punishment of sinne it is the execution of iustice and hath God to be the authour of it And in this respect Esai saith that God createth evill and Amos that there is no evill in the citie which the Lord hath not done And God as a most iust iudge may punish sinne by sinne himselfe in the meane season free from all sinne And thus the places must be understood in which it is said that God giueth kings in his wrath hardeneth the heart blindeth the eyes mingleth the spirit of errours giueth up men to a reprobate sense sends strange illusions to beleeue lies sends euill spirits giuing them coÌ„mandement to hurt and leaue to deceiue c. Thus hauing seene in what manner God gouerneth all things let vs nowe come to the meanes of gouernment Sometimes God worketh without meanes thus he created all things in the beginning and he made trees plants to grow and florish without the heate of the sunne or raine sometimes he gouernes according to the usuall course order of nature as when he preserues our liues
vvoulde neuer rest nor be quiet but seeke unto him for his helpe and crie vvith Dauid O Lorde say unto my soule that thou art my salvation The woman that was diseased with an issue of bloode came behinde our Sauiour Christ and when shee had but touched him shee was healed In the same maner if wee shall seeke to come to Christ and do but touch his pretious body blood by the hand of faith the issues and the bleeding woundes of our soules shalbe dried up When a man that had bene sicke 38. yeres was come to the poole of Bethesda hee was faine to lie there vncured because when the angell troubled the water euermore some stept before him but if we will seeke to Christ for the saluation of our soules no man shall preuent us or step before us And if wee finde our selues to be so laden with the burden of our sinnes that we can not come to him let us then doe as the palsie man did he got 4. men to carry him on their shoulders to the place where Christ was and when they coulde not by reason of the prease of people enter into the house they opened the roofe and let him downe in his bedde by cordes to Christ that he might be healed And so let vs vse the helpe of such as be godly that by their instructions and consolations they may as it were put too their shoulders by their prayers as with cordes bring us to Christ that wee may receiue eternall saluation being otherwise deade in sinne and subiect to damnation Lastly whereas Ioseph and Mary gaue this name not at their owne pleasure but at the appointment of God himselfe this ministers a good instruction to all parents touching the naming of their children when they are baptised that they are with care and deliberation to giue convenient names vnto them which may put them in mind of duties either to God or men This is worthy of our obseruation for many care not how they name their children yea it is at this day euer hath bene that some giue such names to them as that at the verie rehearsing thereof laughter ensueth But this ought not to be so for the name is giuen unto children at the time of their baptisme in the presence of God of his Church and angels euen then vvhen they are to be entred into the Church of God and that in the name of the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost therefore though we do not place religion in titles or names yet neuerthelesse a vvise and godly choise in this matter is to be had that the names imposed may be in stead of instructions and admonitions to the parties named and for this cause in the old testament names were giuen either by propheticall instinct or according to the euent of things which came to passe about the time of the birth of children or they were borowed from the holy auncetours to put the posteritie in mind to follow their steppes And thus much of the duties Now follow the consolations that Gods Church and people reape from this that the sonne of God is our Saviour When as all mankind was included under sinne condemnation then the Lord had mercy upon us and gaue unto man the couenant of grace in vvhich he promised that his owne sonne should be our redeemer This is a great and unspeakable comfort as may appeare in that the angels so greatly reioyced herein when Christ was borne Behold say they I bring you tidings of great ioy that shall be to all the people that is that unto you is borne iâ— the citie of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. Now if they reioyce thus exceedingly at Christs birth who vvas not their Sauiour because they stand not in neede to be redeemed then much more ought the Church of God to reioyce herein whome it doeth principally concerne and no marvell for if this sauiour had not beene it had bene better to haue beenâ— a bruite beast or any other creature then a man for the death of a beast is the end of his woe but the death of a man without a Sauiour is the beginning of endelesse miserie Satan and his angels are fallen and haue no Sauiour but when man was fallen God of his mercie dealt not so with him but gaue his ovvne sonne to restore him to better estate whereas he might as iustly haue damned all men for the fall of our first parents as hee did the wicked angels for theirs for God is not bound to any creature beholde then a matter of unspeakeable ioy let us therefore receiue and embrace Christ our Saviour flie to him for the pardon of all sinnes Nowe vvee come to the second title of the Sonne of God whereby hee is tearmed Christ vvhich title is as it were the surname of the seconde person as some doe thinke yet according to the opinion of some others it is no name at all but onely a meere appellation as vvhen in the like case a particular man is called a Duke or a King It is all one vvith Messiah in Hebrewe wherwith the redeemer was named in the olde Testament and both signifie annointed Among the Iewes before the comming of Christ three estates or orders of men were annointed with oile First of all kings as Saul Dauid and the rest of the kings of Iuda Secondly the priestes that serued in the tabernacle and temple before rhe Lorde when they were ordained and as it vvere installed into the priesthoode were annointed vvith oyle as first of all Aaron and his sonnes but aftervvard the high priests alone Thirdly prophets were thus annointed as Elisha Now this legall annointing was a tipe and figure of the annointing of Christ which was not with bodily oile but by the spirite and it was more excellent then all other annointings were For David saieth hee was annointed with the oile of gladnesse aboue all his fellowes signifying that neither king priest nor prophet was euer annointed in the same manner as he was Christes annointing is according to both his natures for in what nature hee is a Mediatour in the same hee is annointed but according to both his natures ioyntly hee is a mediatour the godheade is no mediatour without the manhoode nor the manhoode vvithout the godhead and therefore his annointing extendes it selfe both to his godhead and to his manhood Christes annointing hath two partes both of them figured by the annointing of the Iewes The first is his consecration whereby hee was set apart to doe the office of a Mediatour betweene God and man and therefore to be a king a priest a prophet a king to gather and withall to gouerne his Church and people a priest to make satisfaction and intercession for the sinnes of the elect a prophet to reveale and teach his people the will of God his father And though it be true that Christ is set a part to the worke
proper ende of Christes condemnation set dovvne though not in Pilats will yet in Gods eternall counsell was that he might be the cause of absolutiō at the barre of Gods iustice unto all those whosoeuer they are which shall come to life eternall for we must still remember that whē Christ was condemned by mortal Iudges he stood in our place in him were all our sinnes condemned before God Therefore to conclude this point if this were the end in the coūsell of God to haue his owne sonne condēned by Pontius Pilate a mortall iudge that we might not be condemned but absolved before Gods iudgement seat let us all labour to haue this absolution sealed up in our hearts by the testimony of Gods spirit For one day we must come to the bar of Gods iudgement and if we haue not an absolution by Christs condemnation at Pilates earthly barre let us looke for nothing els but the fearefull sentence of condemnation at the celestiall bar of Gods iustice to be uttered at the day of the last iudgement If a man should commit such an heynous offence as that he could no other way escape death but by the princes pardon he neither would nor could be at rest till by one meanes or other hee had obtained the same and had gotten it written and sealed which done hee would carrie it home locke it up safe and sound and many times looke upon it with great ioy gladnes Well this is the case of euerie one of vs by nature we are rebells and traitours against God and haue by our sinnes deserued ten thousand deaths Now our onely stay and refuge is that Christ the sonne of God was condemned for vs and therfore in Christ we must sue for pardon at Gods hands and neuer rest till we haue the assurance thereof sealed up in our hearts and consciences alwaies remembring that euer after we lead a new life and neuer commit the like sinnes against God any more It were a blessed thing if this would enter into our hearts but alas we are as dead in our sinnes as a deade carkasse is in the graue The ministers of God may teach this often unto us and we may also heare the same but Satan doth so possesse mens hearts that they seldome or neuer beginne to beleeue or receiue it till it be too late Euery one can say God is mercifull but that is not enough for Christ being most righteous was condemned that thou being a wretched sinner mightest be saued and therefore thou must labour for thy selfe to haue some testimony of thine absolution by Christs condemnation sealed up in thine owne conscience that thou maist more assuredly say God is and will be mercifull unto thee Hauing spoken of the whole arraignement of Christ and of his passion in generall Now let vs proceede to the partes of the passion which are three Christs Execution his Buriall his Descending into hell This being withall remembred that these three partes are likewise three degrees of Christs humiliation Christes execution is that part of his passion which hee bare upon the crosse expressed in the words of the Creede he was crucified and died In handling of it we must obserue fiue things I. the person that suffered II. the place where he suffered III. the time when he suffered IIII. the manner how he suffered V. the excellencie of his passion For the first the person that suffered was Christ the iust as Peter saieth Christ also hath once suffered for sinnes the iust for the vniust and againe Christ Iesus the iust saith S. Iohn is the reconciliation for our sinnes And in his execution wee shall haue manifest declarations of his righteousnesse and iustice consisting in two most worthie points First when he was upon the crosse and the souldiers were nailing his handes and feete thereunto and racking his bodie most cruelly he prayed Father forgive them they know not what they doe These souldiers were by all likelihood the verie same that apprehended him and brought him before Caiphas and from thence to Pontius Pilate and there platted a crowne of thornes and set it on his heade and buffetted him and spitefully intreated him as we haue heard and yet Christ speaks no word of reuenge unto them but with all patience in the extremitie of their malice and iniurie he prayeth his father to forgive them Hence we are taught that when iniuries are done unto us we ought to abstaine from all affection of reuenge and not so much as manifest the same either in word or deede It is indeed a hard lesson to learne and practise but we must indeauour to doe it not onely so but to be readie for evill to doe good yea even at that instant when other men are doing us wrong euen then I say we must be readie if it be possible to doe them good When as Christes enemies were doing unto him al the trecherie they would euen then he performeth the worke of a Mediatour and prayeth for them unto his father and seeketh their saluation Againe whereas Christ prayeth thus Father forgive them we gather that the most principall thing of all that man ought to seeke after in this life is the forgiuenesse of sinnes Some thinke that happinesse consisteth in honour some in wealth some in pleasure some in this some in that but indeed the thing which we should most labour for is reconciliation with God in Christ that we may haue the free remission of all our sinnes Yea this is blessednesse it selfe as David saith Blessed is hee whose iniquitie is forgiven and whose sinne is covered Here then behold the madnesse of most men in this world that either seeke for this blessing in the last place or not at all The seconde testimony of Christs righteousnesse given in the middest of his passion was that he behelde his mother standing by and commended her to the custodie of Iohn his disciple whereby he gaue an example of most holy obedience unto the fift commaundement which prescribeth honour to father and mother And this his fact sheweth that the obseruing of this commandement standeth not in outwarde shewe and reuerence onely but in a godly recompence in procuring unto parents all the good we can both concerning this and a better life It often falls out that children be as it were Cains to father and mother some raile on them some fight with them others see them pine away and sterue and not relieue them But all dutifull children must here learne that as their parents haue done many duties unto them haue brought them up so they againe must in al reuerence performe obedience vnto them both in worde and deede and when occasion is offered relieve them yea in all that they can do good unto them Againe in this wee may see what a wretched state is that which the Church of Rome calleth the state of perfection namely to liue a part from the companie of men in fasting and
considering that euery bodie occupies a place and two bodies at the same instaÌ„t caÌ„not be in one proper place Furthermore it is said that when the angel sate on the stone his countenance was like lightening and his rayment as white as snow this serued to shew what was the glory of Christ himselfe For if the seruant and minister be so glorious then endlesse is the glorie of the lord and master himselfe Lastly it is said that for feare of the angel the watchmen were astonied and became as dead men which teacheth vs that what God would haue come to passe all the world can neuer hinder For though the Iewes had closed vp the graue with a stone and set a band of souldiours to watch least Christ should by any meanes be taken away yet all this auaileth nothing by an angel from heauen the seale is broken the stone is remooued and the watchmen at their wittes ends And this came to passe by the prouidence of God that after the watchmen had testified these things to the Iewes they might at length be conuicted that Christ whome they crucified was the Messias The fifth last point is that Christ rose not alone but accompanied with others as S. Matthew saith that the graues opened and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose and came out of the graues and went into the holy citie and appeared vnto many after Christs resurrection And this came to passe that the Church of God might know consider that there is a reuiuing and quickening vertue in the resurrection of Christ wherby he is able not only to raise our dead bodies vnto life but also when wee are deade in sinne to raise vs vp to newnes of life And in this very point stands a maine difference between the resurrection of Christ the resurrection of any other man For the resurrection of Peter nothing auailes to the raising of Dauid or Paul but Christs resurrection auailes for all that haue beleeued in him by the very same power whereby he raised himselfe he raiseth all his members therefore he is called a quickening spirit And let vs marke the order obserued in rising First Christ riseth then the saints after him And this came to passe to verifie the Scripture which saith that Christ is the first borne of the dead Now he is the first borne of the dead in that hee hath this dignitie priuiledge to rise to eternal life the first of all men It is true indeede that Lazarus sundrie others in time rose before Christ but yet they rose to liue a mortall life and to die againe Christ he is the first of all that rose to life euerlasting and to glorie neuer any rose before Christ in this maner And the persoÌ„s that rose before with Christ are to be noted they were the Saints of God not wicked men whereby we are put in minde that the elect children of God onely are partakers of Christs resurrection Indeede both good and bad rise againe but there is a great difference in their rising for the godly rise by the vertue of Christs resurrection and that to eternall glorie but the vngodly rise by the vertue of Christ not as he is a redeemer but as he is a terrible iudge and is to execute iustice on them And they rise againe for this ende that besides the first death of the bodie they might suffer the second death which is the powring forth of the wrath of God vpon bodie and soule eternally This difference is prooued vnto vs by that which Paul saith Christ is the first fruits of them that sleep Among the Iewes such as had corne fields gathered some little quantitie therof before they reaped the rest offred the same vnto God signifying therby that they acknowledged him to be the author and giuer of all increase this offering was also an assurance vnto the owner of the blessing of God vpoÌ„ the rest this being but one handful did saÌ„ctify the whol crop Now Christ to the dead is as the first fruits to the rest of the corne because his resurrection is a pledge an assurance of the resurrection of all the faithfulll When a man is cast into the sea and all his bodie is vnder the water there is nothing to be looked for but present death but if he carrie his heade aboue the water there is good hope of a recouery Christ himself is risen as a pledge that all the iust shall rise againe he is the heade vnto his Church therfore all his members must needes followe in there time It may be demaÌ„ded what became of the Saints that rose againe after Christs resurrection Ans. Some think they died againe but seeing they rose for this ende to manifest the quickning vertue of Christs resurrection it is as like that they were also glorified with Christ and ascended with him to heauen Thus much of the manner of Christs resurrection Now follows the time when he rose againe and that is specified in the Creede The third day he rose againe Thus saith our Sauiour Christ vnto the Pharisies As Ionas was three daies and three nights in the whales bellâ—e so shall the sonne of man be three daies and three nights in the heart of the earth And though Christ was but one day and two pieces of two daies in the graue for he was buried in the euening before the sabbath and rose in the morning the next day after the sabbath yet is this sufficient to verifie this saying of Christ. For if the analogie had stoode in three whole daies then Christ should haue risen the fourth day And it was the pleasure of God that he should lie thus long in the graue that it might be knowne that he was thoroughly dead and he continued no longer that he might not in his bodie see corruption Againe it is said Christ rose againe in the ende of the sabbath when the first day of the weeke beganne to dawne And this very time must be considered as the reall beginning of the new spirituall world in which we are made the sonnes of God And as in the first day of the first world light was commaunded to shinâ— out of darknes vpon the deepes so in the first day of this new world the sonne of righteousnes riseth and giues light to them that sit in darknes dispells the darknes that was vnder the old testameÌ„t And here let vs mark the reason why the sabbath day was changed For the first day of the weeke which was the day following the Iewes sabbath is our sabbath day which day we keepe holy in memorie of the glorious resurrection of Christ and therefore it is called the Lords day And it may not vnfitly be tearmed Sunday though the name came first from the heathen because on this day the blessed sonne of righteousnâ—s rose from death to life Let vs now in the next place proceede to
sins the vvorld crucifies Christ againe For look as Pilates souldiours with the wicked Iewes tooke Christ and stripped him of his garments buffetted him and slue him so doe vngodly men by their wicked behauiour strip him of all honour and slay him againe If an infidell should come among vs and yeelde himselfe to be of our religion after hee had seene the behauiour of men hee would peraduenture leaue all religioÌ„ for he might say surely it seemes this god whome these men worship is not the true God but a god of licentious libertie and that which is moâ—e whereas at all times we ought to shew our selues new creatures and to walke worthie of our Sauiour and redeemer and therefore also ought to rise out of our sinnes and to liue in righteousnes and true holines yet we for the most part goe on still forward in sinne and euery day goe deeper then other to hel-ward This hath beene heretofore the coÌ„mon practise but let vs now learne after the example of Christ being quickned and reuiued by his grace to endeauor our selues especially to come out of the graue of sinne and learne to make conscience of euery badde action True it is a Christian man may vse the creatures of God for his delight in a moderate and godly manner but Christ neuer gaue libertie to any to liue licentiously for he that is free is yet seruant vnto Christ as Paul saith and therefore we must doe nothing but thâ—t which may be a worke of some good dutie vnto God to which ende the Apostle saith Awake thou that sleepest and stand vp from the deade and Christ shall giue thee life If this will not mooue vs yet let the iudgements of God draw vs hereunto Blessed is he saith the holy Ghost that hath part in the first resurrection for on such the second death hath no power where mention is made of a double death the first is the separation of soule bodie the second is the eternall condemnation of soule and bodie in hell fire Would we now escape the second death after this life we must then labour in this life to be partakers of the first resurrection that on this manner Looke what sinnes we haue liued in hertofore we must endeauour to come out of them all and leade a better life according to all the commandements of God but if ye will haue no care of your owne soules goe on hardly and so ye shall be sure to enter into the second death which is eternal damnation Secondly we are taught by the example of Saint Paul to labour aboue all things to know Christ and the vertue of his resurrection And this we shall doe when we can say by experience that our hearts are not content with a formall and drowsie profession of religion but that wee feele the same power of Christ whereby he raised vp himselfe from death to life to be effectuall and powerfull in vs to worke in our hearts a conversion from all our sinnes wherein we haue lien deade to newnes of life with care to liue godly in Christ Iesus And that we may further attaine to all this we must come to heare the word of God preached and taught with feare and trembling hauing heard the word we must meditate therein and pray vnto God not onely publikely but priuately also intreating him that he would reach forth his hand and pull vs out of the graue of sinne wherein we haue lien dead so long And in so doing the Lord of his mercie according as he hath promised will send his spirit of grace into our hearts to worke in vs an inward sense and feeling of the vertue of Christs resurrection So dealt he with the two disciples that were going to Emmaus they were occupied in the meditation of Christ his death and passion and whiles they were in hearing of Christ who conferred with them he gaue them such a measure of his spirite as made their hearts to burne within them And Paul praieth for the Ephesians that God would inlighten their eyes that they might see and feele in themselues the exceeding greatnes of the power of God which he wrought in Christ Iesus when he raised him from the dead Thirdly as Saint Paul saith If we be risen with Christ then we must seeke the things that are aboue But how and by what meanes can we rise with Christ seeing we did not die with him Ans. We rise with Christ thus The burgesse of a town in the parliament house beareth the person of the whole towne whatsoeuer he saith that the whole town saith whatsoeuer is done to him is also done to all the towne so Christ vpon the crosse stood in our place bare our person what he suffred we suffred when he died all the faithfull died in him and so likewise as he is risen againe so are all the faithfull risen in him The consideration whereof doth teach vs that we must not haue our hearts wedded to this world VVe may vse the things of this life but yet so as though we vsed them not For all our loue and care must be for things aboue and specially we must seeke the kingdom of God his righteousnes peace of conscience and ioy in the holy Ghost VVe must therefore sue for the pardon of sinne for reconciliation to God in Christ for sanctification These are the pretious pearles which we must seeke and when we haue found them we must sell all that we haue to buie them hauing bought them we must lay them vp in the secret corners of our hearts valuing and esteeming of them as better then all things in the world beside Thus much of Christs resurrection containing the first degree of Christs exaltation Now followeth the second in these words He ascended into heauen in the handling wherof we are to consider these speciall points I. the time of his ascention II. the place III. the manner IV. the witnesses V. the vses thereof For the first the time of Christs ascension was fourtie daies after his resurrection when he had taught his disciples the things which appertain to the kingdome of God And this shews that he is a most faithfull carefull king ouer his Church procuring the good thereof And therfore Esay saith The gouernment is on his shoulder the Apostle saith he was more faithfull in all the house of God then Moses was Hence we gather that whereas the Apostles changed the sabbath from the seuenth day to the eight it was no doubt by the counsell direction of Chist before his ascension likewise in that they planted Churches and appointed teachers and meete ouerseers for the guiding and instruction hereof we may resolue our selues that Christ prescribed the same vnto them before his asceÌ„sion for these such like causes did he ascend no sooner Now look what care Christ at his ascensioÌ„ had ouer his church the same must al
so deepely eaten into any mettall as sinne into the nature of man and therefore the holy Ghost is as fire to purge and eate out the hidden corruptions of sinne out of the rebellious heart of man Againe the holy Ghost is compared to cleare water for two causes I. man by nature is as drie wood without sappe and the propertie of the holy Ghost is as water to supple and to put sappe of grace into the dead and rotten heart of man II. the propertie of water is to clense and purifie the filth of the bodie euen so the holy Ghost doth spiritually wash away our sinnes which are the filth of our nature and this is the second benefite of the H. Ghost By this we are taught that he which would enter into the kingdoÌ„ of God haue the H. Ghost to dwell in him must labour to feele the worke of regeneration by the same holy spirit and if a man would know whether he haue this worke wrought in him or no let him marke what S. Paul saith They that are of the spirit sauour the things that are of the spirit but they that liue after the flesh sauour the things of the flesh If therefore a man haue his heart continually affected with that which is truly good either more or lesse it is a certen token that his wicked nature is changed and he regenerate but contrariwise if his heart be alwaies set on the pleasures of sinne and the things of this world he may iustly suspect himselfe that he is not regenerated As for example if a man haue all his minde set vpon drinking gulling in of wine and strong drink hauing litle delight nor pleasure in any thing els it argues a carnal mind and vngerenerate because it affects the things of the flesh so of the rest And on the coÌ„trary he that hath his minde affected with a desire to do the wil of God in practising the works of charitie religion he I say hath a spirituall and a renewed heart and is regenerate by the holy Ghost The third worke of the holy Ghost is to gouerne the hearts of the elect this may be called spirituall regiment A man that dwelleth in a house of his owne orders gouerns it according to his owne will euen so the holy Ghost gouerns all theÌ„ in whoÌ„ he dwelleth as Paul saith they that are the sonnes of God are ledde by his spirit a most notable benefit for looke where the holy Ghost dwelleth there he wil be Lord gouerning both heart minde will and affections and that two waies I. by repressing all badde motions vnto sinne arising either from the corruption of mans nature from the world or from the deuill II. by stirring vp good affections and motions vpon euery occasion so it is saide The flesh that is the corruption of mans nature lusteth against the spirit and the spirit that is grace in the heart lusteth against the flesh and that after a double sort first by labouring to ouermaster and keepe downe the motions thereof secondly by stirring vp good motions and inclinations to pietie and religion In Esay the holy Ghost hath most excellent titles The spirit of the Lord the spirit of wisdome and vnderstanding the spirit of counsell and of strength the spirit of knowledge and of the feare of the Lord. Now he is so called because he stirreth vp good motions in the godly of wisedome of knowledge of strength of vnderstanding of counsell and of the feare of the Lord. And Saint Paul saith that the fruits of the spirit are ioy peace loue long suffering gentlenes goodnes faith meekenes temperance c. all which are so tearmed because where the H. Ghost ruleth there he ingendreth these good gifts and motions of grace but among all the inward motions of the spirit the most principall are these I. an vtter disliking of sinne because it is sinne And that is when a man hath an eye not so much to another mans sinnes as to his owne and seeing them is truly sorowfull for them and disliketh them and himselfe for them not so much because there is a place of torment or a day of iudgement to come wherin he must answer to God for them all but as if there were no hell or iudgement because God is displeased by them who hath beene vnto him a most louing and merciful father in redeeming him by Christ. The second is an hungring desire aboue all things in this world to be at vnitie with God in Christ for the same sinnes This is a motion of the H. Ghost which no man can haue but he in whom the H. Ghost doth dwell The third the gift of heartie praier For this cause the H. Ghost is called the spirit of supplications because it stirreth vp the heart makes it fit to pray therefore Paul saith that the spirit of God helpeth our infirmities for we knowe not what to pray as we ought but the spirit it selfe maketh request for vs with sighes which cannot be expressed This is an ordinarie worke of the holy Ghost in all that beleeue and he that would know whether he haue the spirit dwelling truly in his heart shall know it by this A mother carrieth hir child in hir armes if it crie for the dugge and suckes the same it is aliue being obserued many daies together if it neither crie nor stirre it is dead In like manner it is an vnfallible note of a true child of God to cry to his father in heauen by praier but he that neuer crieth nor feeleth himselfe stirred vp to make his mone to God is in a miserable case and he may well be thought to be but a dead childe and therefore let vs learne in praier vnfainedly to powre out our soules before God considering it is a speciall gift of the holy Ghost bestowed on the children of God The fourth worke of the holy Ghost in the heart of the elect is comfort in distresse and therefore our Sauiour Christ calleth him the comforter whome he wâ—ll sende and in the Psalme he is called the oyle of gladnes because he maketh glad the heart of man in trouble and distresse There be two things that fill the heart full of endlesse griefe I. outward calamities as when a man is in any daunger of death when he looseth his goods his good name his friends and such like The second thing is a troubled conscience whereof Salomon saith A troubled spirit who can beare it and of all other it is the most heauie and grieuous crosse that can be When as the hand of God was heauie vpon Iob this was the soarest of all his affliction and therefore he crieth out that the arrowes of the almightie did sticke in his soule Now what is the comfort in this case Answer In the middest of all our distresses the holy Ghost is present with vs to make vs reioyce and to fill vs with comforts that no tongue can
expresse And hereupon the vngodly man when afflictions befal him is readie to make away himselfe because he wanteth the comfort of the holy Ghost The last benefit wrought in the hearts of the elect is the strengthening of them to doe the weightiest duties of their callings and hence the holy Ghost is called the spirit of strength There be diuerse things to be done of a Christian man that are farre beyond the reach of his power as first when he seeth his owne sinnes and is truly humbled for them then to lift vp the hand of faith to heauen and thereby to catch hold on the mercie of God in Christ is the hardest thing in the whole world and this doe all those know to be true in some part which know what it is to beleeue Secondly it is as hard a thing in the time of temptation to resist temptation as for drie wood to resist the fire when it begins to burne Thirdly when a man is put to his choice either to loose his life goods friends and all that he hath or else to forsake religion euen then to forsake all and to sticke vnto Christ is a matter of as great difficultie as any of the former Fourthly when a man wanteth the ordinarie meanes of Gods providence as meat drinke and cloathing then at the very same instant to acknowledge Gods prouidence to reioyce in it and to relie thereon is as much as if a man should shake the whole earth It is against our wicked nature to trust God vnlesse he first lay down some pawne of his loue and mercie towards vs. How then will some say shall any one be able to doe these things Answer The holy Ghost is the spirit of strength and by him we doe al things as Paul saith J am able to doe all things through the helpe of Christ which strengtheneth me Concerning these gifts of the holy Ghost two questions may be mooued First what is the measure of grace in this life Answer Small in respect In this world we receiue as Paul saith but the first fruits of Gods spirit and the earnest of the spirit Nowe the first fruits properly are but as an handfull or twaine of corne to a whole corne field containing many acres and furlongs of ground And the earnest in a bargaine it may be is but a pennie laid downe for the paying of twentie thousand pound The second question is whether the graces of the H. Ghost may be wholly lost or not Answer The common gifts of the spirit may be lost and extinquished But the gifts proper to the Elect can not Indeede they may be diminished and couered as coales vnder ashes and as the sappe in the roote of the tree in the winter season not appearing at all in the braunches and the feeling of them may be lost but they cannot either finally or totally be abolished It is true that God doth forsake his children but that is only in part as he left Ezechias to prooue try what was in his heart A mother that loues her child most tenderly sets it downe in the flore lets it stand fall break the face and all this while shee hides her selfe not because her purpose is to leaue her childe quite or to make it hurt it selfe but that when shee taketh it up againe it may loue her the better So dealeth the Holy Ghost with men to make them see their own weakenesse frailtie he hides himselfe as it were in some corner of the heart for a season that they may the more earnestly hunger after grace the want whereof they felte The use of this article whereby we confesse that we beleeue in the Holy Ghost is manifold First considering that all the giftes which any man hath whether they be giftes of knowledge in the worde of God or of humane learning or againe giftes whereby men are inabled to practise their trades or handicraftes doe come not from our selues but from the holy ghost we are taught this dutie Looke what giftes soeuer we for our partes haue receiued of the spirit of God we must use them so as they may euer serue for the glorie of God and good of our brethren and not to the practising setting forth of any maner of sinne and by consequent to the seruice of the deuill For that is as if a man receiuing riches and reuenues of his prince should straight way go to the princes enemie employ them for his benefite which were a point of exceeding trecherie Furthermore in euery place the greater part of men are blind and ignorant persons both young and olde and aged folkes as they are ignorant themselues so they nuzzle up their youth in ignorance Conferre with them you shall find that they can say nothing but that which may be learned by common talke as that there is a God and that this God must bee worshipped but aske them further of the meanes of their saluation and of their duties to God and man and they will answere you that they are not booke-learned tell them further that the ordinarie means to bring men to knowledge is the preaching of the word which if they will not use they shalbe inexcusable they will say alas we are dull of memorie and can not learne Well for all this thou saiest thou beleeuest in the holy ghost and hee is thy schoole-master to teach thee though thy capacitie be dull yet he is able to open thine understāding for as there is outwarde teaching by the minister so the worke of the holy ghost is ioyned withall to enlighten the conceit of the minde that they which heare the worde with reuerence may profite thereby and get knowledge But if for all this men will not learne but remaine ignorant still then let them marke the example of the sonnes of Eli he in some part did rebuke them for their wickednesse but yet they woulde not obey and the reason is there set downe because the Lorde would destroy them In the same manner howsoeuer we may not iudge of any mans person yet this may be said that if men refuse to heare the worde of God when they may or if in hearing they will not obey it is a fearefull signe that God will at length destroy them When a trumpet is sounded in a mans eare and hee lyes still not stirring at all hee is certenly deade And surely when the trumpet of the gospell is sounded in the eares of our hearts if we awake not out of our sinnes to newnesse of life wee are no better then deade men before God Wherefore the case beeing thus dangerous and the punishment so great let us labour in time for the knowledge of Gods will and preuent Gods iudgements before they light upon us Thirdly as the Apostle saith If we live in the spirite vvee must walke in the spirit that is if we be dead unto sinne by the power of the holy ghost and be raised up to
beleeueth in Christ by reason of this union hath an unspeakeable prerogatiue for hereby he is first united to Christ and by reason thereof is also ioyned to the whole trinitie the father the sonne and the holy ghost and shall haue eternall fellowshippe with them Thirdly sundrie men specially Papistes deride the doctrine of iustification by imputed righteousnesse thinking it as absurd that a maÌ„ should be iust by that righteousnesse which is inherent in the person of Christ as if we should say that one man may liue by the soule of another or be learned by the learning of another But here we may see that it hath sufficient foundation For there is a most nere and straite union betweene Christ and all that beleeue in him and in this union Christ with all his benefites according to the tenour of the couenant of grace is made ours really therefore we may stand iust before God by his righteousnes it being indeed his because it is in him as in a subiect yet so as it is also ours because it is giuen unto us of God Now there is no such union betwene man maÌ„ for that cause one man can not liue by the soule of another or be learned by the learning of another Fourthly from this fountaine springs our sanctification whereby wee die to sinne are renewed in righteousnes and holines Wormes and flies that haue lyen dead all winter if they be laid in the sunne in the spring time begin to reuiue by vertue thereof euen so when we are united to Christ are as it were laide in the beames of thiâ— blessed sonne of righteousnesse vertue is deriued thence which warmeth our benummed heartes deade in sinne and reviveth us to newenesse of life whereby we begin to affect and like good things and put in practise all the duties of religion Firstly hence we haue the protection of Gods angels for they alwaies wait and attend on Christ and because wee are made one with him they attend upon us also Lastly by reason of this union with Christ euery beleeuer commeth to haue interest and to recouer his title in the creatures of God and to haue the holy and lawfull use of them all For we must consider that although Adam created in the image of God was made Lord over all things in heauen earth yet when he fell by eaâ—ing the forbidden fruite he and in him all mankinde lost the title and use of them all Now therefore that a man may recover his interest hee must first of all be united and made one with Christ and then by Christ who is Lord and King ouer all shall he recouer that title in the creatures of God which hee had by creation and be made Lorde ouer them againe But some will say if this be so then a Christian man may haue and enioy all creatures at his pleasure and therefore the goods of other men Ans. The reason is not good for in this life we haue no more but right unto the creature right in it that is actuall possession is reserued for the life to come Therefore wee content our selues with our allowed portions giuen unto us by God by his grace using them in holy manner expecting by hope the full fruition of all thinges till after this life Againe if all title to the creatures be recouered by Christ it may be demanded whether infidels haue any interest to their goods or no Ans. Infidels before men are right lordes of all their landes and possessions which they haue obtained by lawfull meanes and in the courtes of men they are not to be depriued of them but before God they are but vsurpers because they hold them not in capite that is in Christ neither haue they any holy and right use of them for to the uncleane all things are vncleane And they must first of all become members of Christ before they can hold enioy them aright use them wel The duties which are to be learned of the doctrine of this vnion are manifolde And first of all wee are taught to purge our handes and heartes of all our sinnes and especially to auoide all those sinnes whereby mens bodies are defiled as drunkennesse uncleannesse fornication for they driue away the spirit of God from his owne house and dissolue the bond of the coniunction betweene Christ and vs. Secondly we must euery one of us which professe our selues to be members of Christ labour to become conformable unto him in holinesse of life and to become new creatures for this union requireth thus much Let a man take the griftes of a crabbe-tree and set them into good stockes yet will they not chaunge their sappe but bring foorth fruite according to their owne nature euen sowre crabbes but it must not be so with us wee are indeed wild oliues and the braunches of wilde vines yet seeing we are perswaded that wee are grafted into Christ and made one with him we must lay aside our wild and soure nature and take upon us the nature of the true vine beare good fruite haue good iuyce in us and render sweete wine Thirdly wee are taught hence to be plentifull in all good workes consideriag wee are ioyned to him that is the fountaine of grace And therefore Christ saieth I am the true vine and my Father is the husbande man every braunch that beareth not fruite in mee hee taketh avvay and everie one that beareth fruite hee purgeth it that it may beare more fruite And the Prophet Esai compares the Church of God to a vineyarde with a tower and a wine-presse in it And God himselfe comes often downe vnto it to see the fruites of the valley to see if the vine budde and the Pomegranates flourish And further wee must bring forth fruite vvith patience For the Lorde of this vineyarde comes with crosses and afflictions as with a pruning knife in his hand to pare and to dresse us that wee may be fit to bring foorth fruite plentifully in duties of pietie to God and in duties of loue to all men yea to our enemies Crhistian men are trees of righteousnes growing by the waters of the sanctuary but what trees not like ours for they are rooted upwarde in heauen in Christ and their graines and branches growe downward that they may beare fruite among men Hitherto we haue heard what the Church is now to beleeue the Church is nothing else but to beleeue that there is a companie of the predestinate made one in Christ and that withall we are in the number of them Before wee proceede any further three rules must be obserued touching the Church in generall The first that Christ alone is the head of the Catholike Church that hee neither hath nor can haue any creature in heauen or earth to be his fellow herein For the Church is his body and none but he can perfourme the duty of an head unto it which dutie
thy transgressions like a cloud and thy sinnes as a myst Now wee know that cloudes and mystes which appeare for a time are afterwarde by the sunne utterly dispersed And king Hezekias when he would shewe that the Lord had forgiuen him his sinnes saith God hath cast them behind his backe alluding to the maner of men who when they will not remember or regard a thing doe turne their backes upon it And Micheas saieth that God doth cast all the sinnes of his people into the bottome of the sea alluding to Pharao whom the Lord drowned in the bottome of the redde sea And Christ hath taught us to pray thus Forgive vs our debtes as wee forgive our debters in which wordes is an allusion to creditours who then forgiue debts when they account that which is debt as no debt and crosse the booke Hence it appeares that damnable vile is the opinioÌ„ of the Church of Rome which holdeth that there is a remission of the fault without a remission of the punishment withall the doctrines of humane satisfactions indulgencies and purgatorie praier for the dead built upon this foundatioÌ„ are of the same kind Moreouer wee must remember to adde too this clause I beleeve and then the meaning is this I do not only beleeue that god doth giue pardon of sinne to his church people for that the verie deuils beleeue but withall I beleeue the forgiuenes of mine owne particular sins Hence it appeares that it was the iudgement of the Primitiue Church that men should beleeue the forgiuenesse of their owne sinnes By this prerogative we reape endlesse comfort for the pardon of sinne is a most wonderfull blessing and without it euery man is more miserable and wretched then the most vile creature that euer was We loathe the serpent or the toade but if a man haue not the pardon of his sinnes procured by the death and passion of Christ hee is a thousand folde worse then they For when they die there is the end of their woe and miserie but when man dieth without this benefite there is the beginning of his For first in soule till the day of iudgement and then both in body and soule for euermore he shall enter into the endlesse paines and tormentes of hell in which if one shoulde continue so many thousand yeres as there are drops in the Ocean sea and then be deliuered it were some â—ase but hauing continued so long which is an unspeakeable length of time he must remaine there as long againe and after that for euer and euer without release and therefore among all the benefits that euer were or can be thought of this is the greatest most pretious Among all the burdens that can befall a man what is the greatest Some wil say sickenesse some ignominie some pouertie some contempt but indeed among all the heauiest and the greatest is the burden of a mans owne sinnes lying upon the conscience and pressing it downe without any assurance of pardon Dauid being a King had no doubt all that heart could wish and yet hee laying aside all the roialties and pleasures of his kingdome saith this one thing aboue all that he is a blessed maÌ„ that is eased of the burdeÌ„ of his sinnes A lazar man full of sores is vgly to the sight and we can not abide to looke upon him but no lazar is so lothsome to us as all sinners are in the sight of God therfore Dauid counted him blessed whose sinnes were câ—vered It may be some will say there is no cause why a man should thus magnifie the pardon of sinne considering it is but a common benefite Thus indeede men may imagine which neuer knewe vvhat sinne meant but let a man onely as it vvere but vvith the tippe of his finger haue a little feeling of the smarte of his sinnes hee shall finde his estate so fearefull that if the vvhole vvorlde were set before him on the one side and the pardon of sins on the other hee would choose the pardon of his sinne before ten thousand worldes Though many drowsie protestants esteeme nothing of it yet to the touched conscience it is a treasure which when a man findes he hides it and goes home and selles all that hee hath and buyes it Therefore this benefit is most excellent and for it the members of Gods Church haue great cause to giue God thankes without ceasing The duties to be learned hence are these And first of all here comes a common fault of men to be rebuked Every one will say that he beleeueth the remission of sins yet no man almost laboureth for a true certen persvvasion hereof in his owne conscience for proofe hereof propound this question to the common Christian Doest thou persvvade thy selfe that God giues remission of sinnes unto his Church The answer will be I know and beleeue it But aske him further Doest thou beleeue the pardon of thine owne sinnes and then comes in a blinde answer I haue a good hope to God ward but I can not tell I thinke no man can say so much for God saieth to no man thy sinnes are pardoned But this is to speake flat contraries to say they beleeue and they can not tell and it bewraies exceeding negligence in matters of saluation But let them that feare God or loue their owne soules health giue all diligence to make sure the remission of their owne sinnes withall avoiding hardnesse of heart and drowsinesse of spirit the most fearefull iudgements of God which euery where take place The foolish virgines went forth to meete the bridegroome with lampes in their handes as well as the wise but they neuer so much as dreamed of the horne of oile till the comming of the bridegrome So many men live in the Church of God as members thereof holding up the lampe of glorious profession but in the meane season they seeke onely for the thinges of this life neuer casting how they may assure them selues in conscience touching their reconciliation with God till the day of death come Secondly if we be here bound to beleeue the pardon of all our sinnes then wee must euerie day humble our selues before God and seeke pardon for our daily offences for he giues grace to the humble or contrite he fâ—â—les the hungrie with good things when the rich are sent empty away When Benhadad the king of Syria was discomfited and ouercome by the king of Israel by the counsell of his seruants who tolde him that the kings of Israel were mercifull men hee sent them cloathed in sackcloath with ropes about their neckes to intreate for peace and fauour Now when the king saw their submission he made couenant of peace with him We by our sinnes must iustly deserue hell death and condemnation euerie day and therefore it standeth us in hand to come into the presence of God and to humble our selues before him in sackcloath and ashes craving and intreating for