putrefaction the Prophet apprehends a certaine hope of the Resurrection of his owne flesh to Immortality and assures himselfe that God will not give him over to that corruption which shall seize on him in the grave that his dead body shall not miscarry nor vanish away in rottenesse but bee raised againe in glory This meditation leades me by the hand to treate of our Saviours Resurrection being pertinent and conducing to the series of our discourse CHAP. 3. Christs Resurrection manifested by the testimony of Angels by his owne apparitions by the fulfilling of the Prophecies his Resurrection is a demonstration of ours THE glorious resurrection of our blessed Saviour was first proclaimed by an Herauld from Heaven so all the Evangelists testify Sonuit de sepulchro vox laetitiae never before was heard such newes from the grave but at that time when an Angell was the preacher his Sermon Christ is risen his Auditory Mary Magdalen and other devout women To discourse at large of those celestiall and immortall spirits comes not within the compasse of my walke yet thus much briefly and to our present purpose Angels however they still behold the face of our Heavenly Father yet they are but his houshold servants his pages of honor which hee sends on his holy errands the sacred tutors of the Saints the guard of Gods elect the watch-men over the wals of the new Ierusalem chaplaines in ordinary to the King of heaven Messengers Ministers attending about his Throne expecting his pleasure alwayes in readinesse to make knowne his will unto Man When God brought forth his first begotten Sonne into the world he sayed worship him all yee Angels and so they did when the blessed Virgin oreshadowed by the Holy Ghost carried her divine burthen within her wōbe an Angell appeared unto Ioseph to justify the innocency of the Mother and the Deity of the Sonne when hee was borne the Angels told the same unto the sheepheards and that with an Ecce too Luke 1. when Herod ment death to the Babe for the name of a King an Angell revealed the same unto Ioseph and willed him to fly into Aegypt with the child and so Populus Aegypti qui fuit persecutor primogeniti became custos unigeniti whē Herod was dead the Angell bid Ioseph returne againe into Iury When Satan left tempting him the Angels came and ministred unto him when his soule was exceeding sorrowfull unto death the Angels attēded to comfort him when his body was to bee raised from death an Angell descends to draw away the curtaine while our Lord came forth of his bed-chamber an Angell roles away the stone which his Adversaries had laid upon his grave an Angell is the first that reports the glad tidings of his resurrection The truth of this Angelicall assertion was secōded by Truth it selfe for what the Angell preached unto the women what the womē reported to the Apostles for in this Article were they first catechiz'd by the weaker sex our Saviour makes good by his manifold apparitions being seene at sundry times by such who were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ideo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 witnesses chosen before of God for that purpose as the Apostle affirmes in his little Creed to Cornelius Acts 10. wherein is a synopsis or summe of the chiefe points of holy beliefe Concerning the Doctrine verse 36 37. Miracles verse 38. Life and Death verse 39. Resurrection verse 40 41. Comming to iudgemēt verse 42. of Iesus Christ What Peter there recites to his Auditor his new convert his Cornelius what Paul elsewhere to his Corinthians was all foretold Per os Prophetarum by the mouth of the holy Prophets for this is sure convertible Nothing was done by Christ which was not foretold nothing was foretold which was not done So that there was an Oportet a forceable reason that he should rise againe Vt impleretur that the Scripture might be fulfilled his Resurrection being as Aquinas saith Complementum omnium promissionum the Consummatum est the period the accomplishment of al predictions We may farther illustrate this if we looke on our Saviour as he was seene by Ezekiel in a vision as a King Ezek. 9.2 as a Priest as a Prophet walking amongst the midst of the Angels as a King cloathed in white as a Priest and with an inkhorne hanging at his girdle as a Prophet And here likewise shall wee find an Oportet that his Propheticall Sacerdotall Regall Offices each of them implyed a proofe of his Resurrection First let us consider him as a Prophet even the Prince of Prophets When the Angels at the Sepulcher sayed unto the women why seeke yee the living among the dead He is not here Luk 24.6 but hee is risen hee addes to remēber how he spake unto you whē hee was yet in Galile saying The Sonne of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful mē be crucified and the third day rise againe It is remember 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not what only but how not the matter but the manner remember that He will keep his word though he die for it though he dye for it hee will rise againe the third day to keep it to a minute The very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of his resurrection is determined He rose the third day that early too When God was to give sentence upon man for sin he stayed till the heat of the day was over but upō this day being to preach remissiō of sins he rose betime while it was yet darke It was the Love of God and tender affection to his Church which he had so lately so deerely bought made him rise so soone and appeare so often the same day to distressed soules In all my Creed there is no other circumstance of Time but this of all the Actions of Christ for mee there recorded onely this Action of rising againe though of all the most difficult yet it is to bee beleeved with the circumstance of time no other to shew that the doubt and difficulty the improbability in respect of meanes bee it what it will yet whensoever my Saviour promiseth hee keepeth it as well as whatsoever he hath promised Secondly as his prophecy so his priesthood inforced his Resurrection How could it appeare that the obligation was cancelled the law fulfilled God pacified if hee had not risen againe If the debt had not bene taken off by the surety it would have lyen still upon the Principall If Christ had not risen from the dead wee should still be yet in our sinnes and our Faith should bee in vaine But wee know that our high Priest with one offering hath consecrated for ever them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 The powerfull operation of this passion endureth for ever being the Lābe slaine from the beginning of the world and bleeding as it were to the worlds end Aron and his successors were but onely forerunners of Christ who is the end of the Law
his body for hee was slaine in warre 2. Chro. 35. In 22. of Math. and the 32. Christ saith I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaack and the God of Iacob God is not the God of the dead but the living Hee doth not say I was the God of Abraham and of Isaack and of Iacob or I am the God of Abraham that once was but as implying his owne eternall being and the certaine being of those holy Patriarches hee saith I am the God of Abraham c. Now God is not the God of those that are not and have no existence at all but of those that have a being So that hee will raise their bodies or else he did Dimidium tantummodò Hominem restituere else hee were God but to one part of Abraham But as his mercy is over all his works so his works of mercy are over all his His mercy extends both to soule and body and in the mercy of the most High they shall not miscarry Therefore shall God raise the bodies of dead men But wee must not frame unto our selves a God all of mercy but learne to sing that compounded ditty of the Psalmist of mercy and Iudgement Gods iustice is himselfe as well as his mercy As his mercy which wee have already shewed so likewise his iustice requires that their must bee an universall resurrection If in this life saith the Apostle wee have hope in Christ 1 Cor. 15.15 we are of all men most miserable Paul indeed was at a quotidie morior every houre in danger to bee drawne to the blocke every day dying ready to bee offered up for the name of his Lord and Saviour But to what purpose did hee expose himselfe to such variety of perils if there were no resurrection Miserable is that man that either laboureth or suffereth in vaine Shal Paul beare in his body the markes of Christ Iesus and shall he not beare in the same body the crowne of his glory Shall the labourer endure the heate of the day and shall hee not at length receive this penny his wages Christiani ad metalla was a usuall condemnation but what made them digge so willingly in the mines Surely they had a treasure there which the Emperour knew not of they had infinite more precious wealth from thence then hee For the hope of the gaining a better life is the perswasive Rethoricke against the feare of loosing this Haec vespera est necesse est addi matutinam laetitiam and then shal our birth be consummate when the evening and the morning are made one day These mixt meditations compounded of contrary ingredients as a Crosse and a Crowne Martyrdome and glory Mortality and heaven death and life are strong grapples and ties to hold a Christian and his patience together It were iniurious to cōplaine of the measure when we acknowledge the recompence Afflictiōs are the flowers of eternall felicity and who would not willingly gather the flowers for the fruits sake He that hewed timber out of the rocke Psal 74.6 was knowne to bring it to an excellēt peece of worke so was Ioseph hewed in the stocks and in the prison God brought him to an excellent peece of work to make him Lord of Aegypt Thus was Christ Iesus hewed and squared on the Crosse with hammers nailes and speares of that excellent work see where he sitteth at Gods right Hand Thrones Powers Dominations Angels subjected to him And thus will God deale with the dead bodies of his Saints which though they have bin persecuted here and the iron hath even entred into their soule yet at length they shal come out of their graues like so many Iosephs out of prison for Death like that Aegyptian Mistresse hath only power over their coates their upper garments their bodies and the grave like the serpent is dieted and feedes on nothing but dust It is not so much the death of the body as the corruption of the body Mortalitas magis sinita est quam vita When the Lord brought the Israelites to Canaan he made them goe Southward into the mountaines the South was a dry and barren part Thou hast given me a South land give mee also springs of water Iudg. 1.15 Thus doth God deale with his children in this life hee sheweth them great afflictions and troubles the South part as it were at first but afterward he bringeth them to the land that floweth with milke and hony He that shall build his faith on this rocke hee that doth thus Reponere fidem in sine will supervolare crucen◠triumph o're the Crosse and with Iob comfort himselfe on the dunghill with a videbo Deum and outface death with his Resurrection in hope and expectation of that glory hee shall once enjoy with Christ Benedictus sic Deus saith the Apostle Blessed hee God who hath begotten us againe unto a liuely hope by the Resurrection of Iesus Christ to an inheritance incorruptible c. It hath beene well observed by one of no vulgar Iudgement how the Resurrection is there placed in the midst betweene our hope and our inheritance To hope before it before the Resurrection hope but after to the inheritance it selfe to the full possession and fruition of it So from the state of hope by the Resurrection as by a Bridge passe wee over to the enjoying our inheritance Before I shut up this stage I must cleere a doubt and remove an objection which hangeth on this thinge Some of the Rabbins have conceited that the wicked by corporall death shall utterly bee extinct and that none shall come to Iudgement but they shall bee saved grounding their opiniō on those words of the Psalmist Psal 1.5 The wicked shall not rise in Iudgement But here insteed of the naturall milke of this text they sucke out the blood of misinterpretation And they which shall tenter and wrest the Scriptures which is a fault Saint Peter complaines of with expositions and glosses newly coined to make them speake what they never meant must needs bring forth aut heresim aut phrenesim If wee tread in the steps of the best interpreters we shal find as Hierome others observe that this is not to be understood Quod non furgent sed quod in judicio non resurgent Hee saith not that the wicked shall not rise but in judgement they shall not rise not rise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faith Christ as Felons whose fact being evident are placed at the bar not so much to be convicted as to bee cōdemned Their conscience that like a Blood-hound hunts drie foote shall set before them the sent of their sinnes soe that the Lord Iudge shall not make any great inquisition to find out their faults but proceed to sentence At that great assise shall wee all appeare Nam oportet nos omnes 2 Cor. 5.10 saith the Apostle confusi confisi both Christs confessors his crucifiers but the end
Remission of sinnes and the other of Everlasting life teaching us that then only the Resurrection of the body is a benefit when Remission of sins goeth before eternall life followeth after for as the Resurrection is sepes Fidej so eternall life is Corona Fidej In this as in each parcell of the Creed are two maine things observable First the Act which is to beleeve therefore Credo must be applyed to every Article Pides est tota copulativa Secondly the object which is the ensuing Article In the Act is the personality which is faiths possessive Ego I beleeve This was Iobs Creed Scio quod Redemptor nâ—… I know that my Redeemer liveth I must saith one put all men in my Pater noster only my selfe in my Creed My prayer must bee like the penny which Peter found in the fishes mouth with which Christ bid him pay tribute pro me te I must pray for others beleeve for my selfe No mans faith can do mee good but mine owne for I cannot beleeve by an attorney nor be saved by a proxie When doubting Thomas fouÌ„d his faith at his fingers ends then did hee cry out with an holy appropriation my Lord and my God Vt brevissima sit absolutissima confessio saith Bullinger for hee did utter that in two words which is the contents of the two Testaments and summe of all summes of Faith and holy beleefe That living carcasse whom formerly wee mentioned hee that was even poore to a proverbe was enriched with this singular faith Iob 19.26 I shall see God in my flesh id est as it is excellently glossed on I in my flesh shall see God or Videbo Deum in carne h. e. Deum incarnatum I shall see God having taken flesh on him If I have this faith in particularity and can apply things generall to mine owne comfort then God even my God shall give me his blessing Et non est haec superbia Elati sed confessio non ingrati From the Act we remove our meditations to the object and here wee will first explaine those two Emphatical termes 1 Resurrectionem 2 Carnis For in these models summaries of Christian doctrine there is weight in every word we must therfore herein imitate the finers of pure gold Qui non tantum auri massas tollunt verum bracteolas parvas that make use not only of the wedge but even of the smallest foile or rayes that their mettall casteth Resurrection is properly a rising againe upon a fall taken for this praeposition Re as it hath beene noted B. of WimoÌ„ by a pious and learned Father of our Church doth ever imply not only Againe but Againe as it were upon a losse not second onely but a second upon the failing of the first as Redemption a buying againe upon a former aliening Reconciliation upon a former falling out Orthod fid lib. 4. ca. 28. Restitution upon a former attainder Resurrection upon a fall taken formerly to this suites well the definition of it given by Damascen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Resurrection is a second quickening or setting up againe of that which first fell Resurget quod prius cecidit In this word then Resurrection we do find the strength and sinewes of an argument If the body rise it must first fall in this is implicitly woven up a confessed truth That all men must dye the first death Debemur morti nos nosiraque to dye is as true as good a debt as any the world knowes for the levying of which debt as one excellently and with a silver pen there is an extent upon all mankind and a Statute recorded by Saint Paul StatutuÌ„ est omnibus semel mori This a decree not to bee reversed a debt not possible to be declined Here might I have store of rich cloath to apparel my lines withall but lest the hemme should be bigger than the garment I have taken no more than what is suitable to my purpose My second observation is that in this common cognizance of our faith in this Article of my Creed I do not say at large I beleeve a Resurrection but more strictly more expressely thus Credo resurrectioneÌ„ carnis I beleeve the resurrection of the flesh Carnis scilicet non Animae This word Resurrection doth properly belong to the body the body that fals must rise To thinke that our soules shall sleepe in dust as our bodies doe till the last doome is but a dreame of the Anabaptists the spawne of the ancient Arabicks Ne in somnium quidem cadit anima cum corpore quomodo ergo in ueritatem mortis cadet quae nec in imaginem ejus ruit saith Tertullian and experience tels me that my soule while it is now like the Arke of God In medio pellium in these wals of flesh hath her owne working and lively operation even then when the Publican arresteth my body while my senses are imprisoned in the bands of sleepe For the mind of maÌ„ is a restlesse thing Of the immortality of the Soule and though it give the body leave to repose it selfe as knowing it is a mortall and earthly part yet it selfe being a spirit therfore active and indefatigable is ever in motion it hath no rise at all from this clay It sleepes not in a living body therefore it shall not sleepe in a dead body it is made of an everlasting nature As Gods eternall decrees have an end without a beginning so the soule of man hath beginning without an end It hath beginning to live it shall have no time to dye There is indeed a death of the Soule not that it ceaseth to bee but when it ceaseth to bee righteous Habet anima mortem suam cum vitâ beatâ caret quae vera animae vita dicenda est saith Augustine consonant to this is that genuine and proper interpretation of those words of the Evangelist what will it profit a man to gaine the whole world and lose his soule Perdere animam saith the glosse Est non ut non sit sed ne male sit for the soule being immortall is capable of Eternal either Felicity or Misery and whatsoever life it liveth yet it never ceaseth to live I have briefely set down the riches of the observatioÌ„s that naturally arise from the explication of these two termes both which I find comprised in one verse Psal 16.20 Thou wilt not leave my soule in grave there 's the Immortality of the soule nor suffer the holy one to see corruption there 's the Resurrection of the body This David knowing before saith the Scripture spake of the Resurrection of Christ the accomplishment of which prophecy is often repeated in the new Testament Act. 2.31 Act. 13.35 howbeit David after hee had served his time by the Counsell of God hee slept and was layd with his Fathers and saw corruption yet by the vertue of an insitioÌ„ into that Christ whose sacred body the Lord preserved from the least