at the Assizes in Bury Maurice Barrow Esquire then high Sheriffe of Suffolk The end of the second Sermon THE THIRD SERMOEN ON COLOS. 3. 1. COL 3. 1. If ye be risen with Christ seeke the things that are above IN Repentance are two things Aversio a malo Conversio ad bonum the loathing of what is evill by sorrow for it the pursuit of that which is good by longing after it Or to speake the same thing in other words Mortification whereby the world is crucified to the penitent and he unto the world and Vivification whereby his dead and beâ—ummed limbs are warmed in righteousnesle to live the life of God and bring forth the fruits of the spirit the former commeth unto him by vertue of Christs death we are buried with him into his death that the body of sinne might be destroyed the second by vertue of Christs Resurrection we are ingrafted with him into the similitude of his resurrection that like as Christ was raised from death by the glory of the father so we also should walke in newnesse of life Rom. 6. 4. This present Chapter presenteth unto our view both these Vivification in this first verfe If yee be risew with Christ Mortification in the 3. and 5 verseâ— You are dead mortifie therefore your members In the words read of which alone I am to intreat we have a double vivification one substantiall the o ther accidentall one of Christs body his resurrection from the grave wherein hee lay three dayes the other of our whole man his resurrection from the grave of sinne wherein nature hath buried us all Here is Christs rising and here is our rising both in their causality Christs rising is the cause that wee rise ye are risen with Christ our rising is the cause of our seeking heavenly things If yee be rison seeke the things that are above A Text which beside the generall doctrine of rising from sinne and seeking heaven matter necessary to be taught at all times is fitted likewise to the season one part pointing at Easter a feast not long since past 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you are risen with Christ another part pointing at the Ascension the feast wee now solemnize 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things above among which Christ is the chiefe who having conversed with his Disciples by the space of forty dayes as on this day was taken up on high and exalted with great glory into his kingdome in heaven In the words I purpose to speake of three things 1. That glorious worke performed by our Saviour his resurrection this the Text neceslarily implyeth The Elect are risen with Christ therefore Christ is risen 2. The vertue of his resurrection in his members they are risen with him 3. The effect or fruit of their rising they seeke the things that are above for this conditionall conjunction if maketh this seeking a note of rising if you be risen you will seeke things above if you seeke not things above it is a plaine argument that you are not risen And first of Christs Resurrection of which while wee speake it is necessary that wee cast backe our eyes a little to that which was done but as two dayes before namely his buriall and intombing in the earth Quis enim ascendit idem qui descendit faith the Apostle Ephes 4. 9. Resurrection presupposeth falling and it is Tertullians Lib. de resur car note Cum audio Resurrectionem homini imminere quaeram necesse est quid eius cadere sortiâ—um sit None can know that Christ hath rose to life but hee that knoweth hee once fell by death See then after he had breathed forth his so blessed soule and committed it into the hands of his father how carefull just Ioseph was to interre his body wrapping it decently in linnen clothes with sweet odours as the Iewes used to bury thinking good soule that as he now was dead so he was to goe in statum mortuorum and that the same condition should befall him as did other men See now the amazed hearts of all his Disciples cast downe and doubting what was become of the hope of Israell they looked indeed that he should have beene a Savior but now because he would not they thought he could not save himselfe they looked that hee should have restored the kingdome to Israel but behold they now they wot well all hope of a kingdome to bee cleane gone from him having lost both kingdome and life and being conquered of the all-devouring grave Which of them all had not now his heart resolved into teares and his eyes full fountaines to send them foorth Which of them now hanged not downe his head for shame and thought himselfe mocked in following him But stay a while O yee afflicted soules expect but the dawning of the third day and your eyes shall well perceive that hee whom you thought to have beene among the dead is among the living your selves shall witnesse that he was not holden long of the sorrowes of death but hath loosed them breaking like a victorious Conquerour the gates of brasle and smiting the barres of Iron a sunder untying the bands of darknesse and of death and carrying them away with him as Sampson his type did the gates and bars of the City Azzah wherein he was inclosed the first day of the weeke is come et ecce non est hic looke for him no longer among the graves for he is risen He is risen the Iewes count this a fable for so it is noysed among them to this day That all his rising was but his Apostles theft their stealing away his body while the Watch-men slept and the Gentiles thinke it a meere imposture Habakâ—k so foretold Hab. 1. 5. and the event sheweth how truly Acts 1. 3. 41. that God wrought a worke in these latter dayes a worke which men would not beleeve no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let them be told it never so plainly But let Iew and Gentile be as incredulous as they will the Scriptures testifie and we must beleeve that Christ is risen What though all the world beside make this signe of Christs Divinity his Resurrection as a thing worthy to be spoken against yet amplectatur et gandeat Christianus the Christian must embrace it with joy and joyfully acknowledge that Christ is risen But not to stand upon this point which I would have but an Introduction to that which followeth observe in it onely three things briefly Suscitatum suscitans suscitati statum the thing raised the vertue raising it the estate of it being risen 1. The thing raised was his body which alone catched the fall and was layd low in the dust yet doe we referre this resurrection to the whole person when wee say Christ is risen because the soule was returned tothe body whose mansion hard entreaties e're-while made itleave and the Deity though in abstracto in it selfe uncapable of either falling or rising yet in concreto in his person because of that
willeth us when we are reviled not to revile again when we suffer not to threaten because Christ himselfe also did so 1 Pet. 2. 23. In the latter we are to imitate him by similitude translating that unto our spirituall life which he did as Mediator thus his dying teacheth us not to die the death of the body but of sinne to crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof and his rising againe teacheth us not to come out of the graves when we are buried alas it passeth the strength of all humanity but to arise from sinne the death of the soule Behold then apish man who art ready to follow every fashion a patterne worthy the looking upon an example worthy the following even thy Saviour rising Oh be thou a Saint and rise with him Dye he might but could not be overcome of death and therefore loosed the sorrowes of it So howsoever thou hast sinned yet bee not over-ruled by sinne suffer it not to reigne in thy mortall body Voluntarily went hee once into the darke bowels of the earth and there remained three dayes necessarily through the corruption of thy nature and voluntarily also through the depravation of thy will hast thou fallen into the depths of sinne and there hast laid three daies the day of thy conception for thou wert shapen in wickednesse the day of thy birth for thou wert polluted in thine owne blood the day of thy life hitherto for thou hast beene a stranger from the womb from the wombe hast thou erred as therefore thy death of sinne hath beene like unto Christs being in the grave so let thy rising from sinne bee comformed to the similitude of his Resurrection now the third day breake forth into the light throw away thy grave-clothes the workes of darkenesse and put on the apparell of a man the armour of light It was that they say which made Alexanders souldiers so willing to attempt desperate matters that what he would have them doe himselfe first beganne and therefore was wont to say Eamus faciamus what you see mee doe doe you the same likewise Wee have here the same encouragement which they had Christ our head is risen before us to lead the way and shew us how wee should rise Et nos ideo surgamus de tumulo terrae saith Saint Ambrose having so good a President for our direction let us also rise 2. Christ is the cause of our rising by way of efficacy for by vertue of his Resurrection hath hee derived grace and strength to us all Mr. Calvins note is good upon this place That wee are not here invited onely by the example of Christ risen to follow newnesse of life sed eius fieri virtute docemur ut regeneremur in iustitiam this Text teacheth us that our regeneration is from the vertue of his Resurrection To small purpose had it beene for Christ to have gone before us in that which we could not doe unlesse he had enabled us also that we might doe it To teach a cripple how to goe or a dumbe man how to speake is a fruitlesse thing but to strengthen the feet and ankle-bones of the one to untye the strings of the others tongue this is the way to make them goe and speake So fareth it with us all my beloved wee were like that man possessed with Divels who abode among the graves sinne had so wounded us that we were cut off from the land of the living being dead in trespasses Ephe. 2. 1. what could it then have benefited us if one whose life was within him should walke and stirre that Christ who was quickened by the Spirit could come out of the grave surely nothing unlesse he that raised up Christ from the dead had also quickened our benummed soules then and not otherwise could wee arise it was therefore requisite that to his example set before us Christ should adde the communication of vertue to us that we might rise with him And this is that which the Apostle Paul speaketh Ephesians 2. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God hath quickned us together with Christ giving him the Spirit of life whereby he was raised from the dead and withall to us the life of the Spirit that we might rise from sinne And this is that medicinalis convenientia of Saint Austins wherby the Example of Christs rising is made effectuall namely the applying of medicines to out infirmities purging out all humours whereby we might be stayed in our corruptions and strengthening the vitall faculties for the exercise of spirituall things for as Christ dyed to take away from sinne the guilt the punishment and dominion which it got over man so that man might be said to be dead to sinne because hee no longer lived therein so did he rise againe to furnish man with all gifts and graces necessary for his soules salvation and every faithfull man is partaker as of Mortification by vertue of Christs death so of Vivification by vertue of his Resurrection For fuller perceiving wherof we must know that Christ is as the head his Saints the members Christ the root his Saints the branches as therefore the motion of the members and governing them in their actions proceedeth from the head where is the motive faculty in greatest vigour so doe the members of Christ his mysticall body derive from him the influence of grace whereby they are enabled to performe their functions de plenitudine eius Ioh. 1. 16. from him we draw of him we receive Now Christ is the head of his Church as Mediator and by his workes of Mediation most of all diffuseth life and motion and that sweetly in an analogy to the worke so his death giveth a motion to corruption the corrupting of the old man and his Resurrection a motion to quickening the quickening of the new man these two like maine channels convey whole streames of graces from him into the Church neither doth the disproportion of soule and body hinder this conveyance at all Christ rising in his body onely the soule of man being the proper subject of grace for it is not the vertue of the body raised that maketh this diffusion but the Divine vertue raysing the body scattereth abroad his graces per actionem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by this wonderfull act of God-man his resurrection and thus as Augustine Ser. 181. de temp observes Resurrectio simplex format resurrectionem duplicem Christs rising in his body causeth in his Saints a double resurrection the one of their bodies at the last day because his flesh is of the same masse with theirs the other of their soules continually because hee is the head of the whole man Behold then the vertue of Christs resurrection as Saint Paul calleth it Phil. 3. 10. the raysing vertue giving to him that was downe through infidelity saith to beleeve and stand up aright to him that was fettered in malice and could not stirre charity to walk in good workes because Christ lives therefore shall his
live also because he is risen they shall rise together with him And are they risen together with him Then is here a lesson of humility for every Christian If thou findest life in thy selfe that thou art not benummed nor the spirit of drowsinesse is upon thee but that as a living member of Christs body thou art laden with fruit and doest those workes which become one that is alive see here the root upon which thou growest the fountaine from whence all this goodnesse of thine proceedeth even Christ by vertue of whose resurrection from the grave thou which before wert dead art now alive thou which before hadst sinned mortally art now raised eternally Sacrifice not therefore with proud Pelagius to thine owne net nor burne incense to thine owne yarne as if by them thy portion were fat and thy meat plenteous thinke not these good workes of thine to come from thine owne strength thine owne free will rightly used by thee but goe a little higher than thy selfe and know thy will to bee but a lower spheare quae non nisi mota movet which cannot of it selfe doe anything but in him who by his resurrection hath quickened and raised thee up into the estate of grace Dost thou beleeve that thou art risen with Christ Thou must so beleeve if thou beleevest the Scriptures I demand then Who separated thee And what hast thou that thou hast not received And if thou hast received it why boastest thou as if thou hadst not received it 1. Cor. 4. 7. Boast not then thy selfe either against thy fellow-branches for that thou art better than they or against the root as if thou grewest of thy selfe but know that the root beareth thee Rom. 11. 18. and therefore confesse both in humility and verity thy selfe to be an unprofitable servant and say with David Not unto mee O Lord not unto me Psal 115. 1. not unto me for my rising not unto me for the fruits of my rising but to thy Name bee the praise And thus much of our rising in causa as it proceedeth from Christs Resurrection which was the first thing The second is our rising in it selfe what it is for upon Christ his rising we are also risen and what then is our rising Surely our rising hath great similitude and likenesse with Christs rising Now in Christs rising we may especially observe three things 1. Corporis expulvere resuscitationem the bringing up of his body from the dust of death 2. Vnionem animae corpori resuscitato the uniting of the soule with the body risen 3. Vnitorum inseparabilem colligationem the impossibility of ever having his soule and body thus united to be served So must there be in our spirituall resurrection this rising with Christ these three things 1. The raysing of the soule from sinne which is the very dust and death therof 2. The uniting of it to God who is anima animae the very life and soule of the soule in whom it liveth moveth and hath it being not in nature only but also in grace 3. The knitting of these two God and the soule together in the perfect bands of love which may not be upon every little jarre broken but remaine inviolably for ever firme and sure 1. Wee must rise out of the grave of sinne sinne it is as death Saint Gregory elegantly sheweth us the Greg in Psal 142. estate of the dead sinner in sepulchro conscientia tumulatum c. he is buried in the sepulcher of his conscience is bound with the napkins of concupiscence is cast out from the sight of God is covered with hardnesse of heart is shut in with the stone of iniquity a miserable death As then God said to Elias in the Cave What dost thou here Elias Come out and stand in the Munt before the Lord 1. King 19. 9. So let mee sound this speech in the eare of the sinner covered over with the moulds of sinne What makest thou there thou sinner Come out of this Sepulcher of sinne if thou wilt appeare before the Lord in the land of the living To this the Scripture calleth when it biddeth us awake and stand up from the dead Ephes 5. 14. To mortifie our members which are upon the earth Col. 3. 5. To crucifie the old man that the body of sinne in us may be destroyed Rom. 6. 6. This is done by repentance sorrow for sinne breaking off sin leaving sinne which is the first degree of our rising the first step to life 2. Having risen from sinne we must also unite our selves unto God for hee is our life Deut. 30. 20. Therefore must we cleave to him if we meane to live else are we as a body without a soule a filthy carkasse It was to no purpose that the dry bones came together bone to his bone that the sinewes and flesh grew upon them that they were covered with skinne unlesse 〈◊〉 winds had breathed upon them also and they had lived for what difference betweene a dry bone and a senselesse body And to as smal end are we roused from the grave of sinne unlesse there be a spirit within that quickeneth for what excellency hath a carkasse unburied above that which is buried a man not righteous above him that is a sinner Life then is yet further required to our rising which because wee are members of a body is not to be had but in the body get faith therefore which ingrafteth into the mysticall body of Christ being ingrafted we shall bee partakers of the Spirit which diffusing it selfe through every member knitteth us to God to whom to be joyned is life Of this speaketh our Saviour Ioh. â—5 3. Abide in me and I in you As the branch cannot beare fruit except it abide in the Vine no more can you except ye abide in mee 3. Being united unto God and living this new life of raysed persons we must continue in this life even as Christ having risen from death now dyeth no more this is the true conformity to his resurrection whereas those that live to dye againe were rather risen in shew than truth moved artificially by some Engine to make them stirre than naturally by a vitall power of their owne and of this continuance excellently sings the Prophet Psal 92. 12. The righteous shall flourish like a Palme tree and spread abroad like a Cedar in Lebanon such as be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God they shall still bring forth fruit in their age and shall be fat and well liking To conclude then this point Let all of us who professe our selves Christians and triumph in our Saviours resurrection let all of us I say rise with him as well he that hath beene dead but an houre or two hee that hath fallen lately as he that like Lazarus hath beene in the grave foure dayes and through his continuance in sinne beginneth to stinke in the nostrils of the Lord. Let not the young
man lye still and thinke another day will come and then it will be time enough for him to rise but as Christ rose early in the morning so let him rise in the prime morning of his youth if he find the grave now open and his soule to be in him let him take heed lest the grave shut her mouth againe upon him lest his soule being taken againe out of that drowsie mansion he have no more such oportunity to rise Againe let not the old man lye still and not arise because hee feareth hee hath laid too long and there is no hope for him to recover life for sweet and comfortable is that saying of Saint Austine Vâ— radius oculi nostri c. As our eye doth not sooner see things that are near it theÌ„ the things that are further off but with a like swiftnesse doth behold them both so the vertue of Christs rising commeth not first to them who are new dead in sinne and scarcely to those that are of long continuance in it sed ei tam facile est ut quaeque recentia diuturno tempori dilapsa cadavera suscitare it can as easily raise those which have longest as those which have had smallest time therein Let us then all both old and young rouse up our selves for the Master is up and shall it not shame the servants to be behinde Christ is risen and draweth us also with the cords of love oh let us runne after him in the sweet savour of his oyntments and ascend after him in our hearts to heaven whither hee hath already ascended which is the third thing propounded in the Text the fruit of our rising with Christ Seeke the things that are above Where two things offer themselves to be considered the Object things above the Act seeke which Act is proportioned to the Object and is divers according to the diversity of it Now things above may bee taken two wayes 1. For Christ the truth opposed to Iewish ceremonies and this interpretation is made good by comparing this verse with the latter part of the second chapter where the Apostle reasoneth in this manner They which wrongly conceive oâ— Christ live still to the Ordinances of the world and burthen themselves with traditions touch not tast not handle not but such as beleeving a right in his resurrection are freed from these beggerly rudiments looke after things oâ— â—n higher nature Christ himselfe who is the body and substance of all those shadowes and is now to be apprehended â—n himselfe without the interâ—osition of those former observances and then seeking is taken for right understanding and conceiving of the state of Religion as if the Apostle had said You that are Christians must know that the Ceremoniall Law is abolished which good in distinction of meats â—ayes apparell things though at first appointed by God yet â—ut for a season and therefore â—ave perished in their use and â—ow are become commandements and doctrines of men You must know that the true worshippers must worship the father in spirit and in truth â—omming to him by Christ who above in heaven at his right hand beleeving in his death â—nd resurrection letting goe the sacrifices of the Law aâ— Mosaicall injunctions which though they had a shew of wisdome in them yet were ordained to endure but till the truâ— came We see how the Apostle opposeth Christ to the earthly ceremonies and dissâ—â—deth Christians who were 〈◊〉 lay hold on him from any further dealing with them and that for two reasons 1. Because he was come whom the prefigured and therefore theâ— were to cease in him 2. Fâ—â— that hee was now againe ascended into heaven and therefore looked for the heart and the affections not bodily observances Now these earthly ceremonies are not such onely were legall belonging to Moses Law but even those which draw the heart from heaven unto the earth placing Religion in outward shewes and wiâ—â— worship such as the Christian within the Papacy hath beene miserably pestered with Saint Austine in his time complained Epist 119. c. 19. of these servile burthens which though they could not be proved to bee directly against the faith yet made the Church of the Christians in worse case than the Church of the Iewes the one being in bondage to a â—egall yoke the other to mens presumptions such as are the â—et number of Paternosters Creeds and Ave-maries to be â—aily said over the adoring of Christ in the Rood Windows c. their Pilgrimages Whipâ—ing themselves and a world more such as these which make indeed a great shew of Devotion in the eyes of men and â—old the beguiled senses in admiration yet are not of any value but for the satisfying of the flesh mans carnall desires who for the sinne of his soule would give any thing rather than his soule or doe any thing rather than the workes of the soule Well are we who have shaked off this bondage and are free to come to Christ as himselfe hath appointed with hearty repentance earnest faith willing affections so to seeke the things that are above 2. By things above may be meant heavenly things the happinesse which aboundeth in heaven and which we are by God ordained unto and then seeking signifieth two things 1. A desire of this happinesse 2. The using of the meanes to attaine this happinesse 1. They which are risen desire things above not with a lazy wish oh that some would give mee to drinke of the waters of life but with ardor and fervency such as was in David Psal 42. 1. Like as the Hart panteth after the water brookes so longeth my soule after thee O God my soule is athirst for God yea even for the living God oh when shall I come and appeare in the presence of God 2. They use the meanes of attaining it no way so straight that they will not walke in if it lead to heaven no labour so hard which they will not endure if it end in happinesse fire water swords stones they will passe through them all to this wealthy place Thus doe the Saints Ascensiones disponere in corde thinke of nothing but ascending upward they digge not downe to hell to fetch from thence wicked plots and devices they spend not themselves upon the earth to get riches honours and preferments but sursum corda all their delight is above these transitory things their soules are heaven-walking spirits ravished with the joy they know to be there and therefore attend ever to partake of it Christ who is their head ascending hath invited them that are his members as Saint Austine speaketh to a region of Angels to the friendship of the Father and the holy Ghost to an everlasting supper to communion with him to himselfe this maketh them to confesse with the Patriarkes Heb. 11. 13. that they are strangers pilgrims upon the earth looking still towards heaven as if they sought a Countrey hic generatio quaerentium quae sunt supra thus