nature in Christ and reuoke from hel Marcyons opinion Christs body was not in the sepulchre after his resurrection when as it appeared vnto Marye Magdalene neyther was it wyth the eleuen at Ierusalē when as it was with the two which went toward Emaus No more can it be in the breade when as according to the scriptures it was taken vp to heauē and setteth at the right hand of God the father For Christ went from the father and came into the worlde againe he left the world and went to the father But he left not the worlde in respecte that he is God when as he is with vs to the end of the world therfore left he the worlde as concerninge his manhed that is he caried into heauen the body which he toke of the virgin Mary into the glorye of the father This is the foundation of the Catholike and Christian faythe and the hope of all the elect which whilest they denye or stirre let them take heede what they make of Chryste or howe they are to be counted for Christians Let them take heede I saye what foundation they stick vnto The flesh of Christ also is glorified after his resurrection and yet for all that is it flesh in deede and putteth not of the nature of flesh and although it be spirituall yet is it not conuerted into a spirite and much lesse into God A spyrite sayth Christe hath neyther flesh nor bone as ye see me haue The body therfore of Christ is in heauen and not in the bread of the supper which coulde be neyther necessarye nor profitable yea it was caried vp is heauen after the resurrection in the sight of the Apostles which was so expedient for theyr fayth which fayth they could neuer establysh by the suppenor by the presence of his body glorified but that thei alwaies wauered and doubted til suche time as they were confyrmed by the holy ghost We must therefore transferre our minde from all corporal and visible thing into heauen where Christ sitteth at the right hand of god beleue that Christe hath geuen his body to the death for vs. After this sorte is the body of Christ eaten not with the teeth of the body but by the contemplacion of fayth For fayth in dede which cleaueth only to God may vse corporall things but not as though saluation were bounde to those things and be deliuered to vs thorough them but to put in practise fayth and charitie Euen so we cary about the bread and wine in the Supper we distribute it amongest vs and we eate not to merite any thing of God by the same as it were by a certayn worshipping but bycause by these outward signes our senses are stirred vp to weigh consider more diligentlye the grace of God geuen vs by the death of Christ and to lift vp our mindes to Christe the bread of lyfe which for our sakes descended frō heauen For our weakenesse therefore are the sacramentes instituted of Christ as it were certayne signes of the grace and beneuolence of God towardes vs which do stirre vs vp to consider the promises of God wherein our fayth is exercised For they whiche vse these signes doe testifye that they haue fayth in the promises of God and that they bee of the number of those which acknowledge God for theyr God whom they worship in spirite in whom they trust to whō they geue thanks c. And whē doth god more declare shewe him selfe to be our God most louing Father thē when he promiseth to geue vs hys sonne and also performeth it Roma viii For how can he not geue vs all thinges with hys sonne Or what can he denye whiche hath geuen vs his only begotten Sonne Iohn iii. And he hath geuen him vnto vs not to punishe and condemne vs as we iustly haue deserued but that by him we might be saued and haue euerlasting lyfe For he gaue him to be ours al whole to be our righteousnesse wisedome hollynesse redemption saluation and life What a great loue is thys what a great grace the eternal Sonne of God descendeth and taketh vpon hym selfe our nature that we being made newe by his grace might ascend taking after a sort the diuine nature He descended that we creping on the groūd might be thoroughe him transferred and lift vp to his glory The Lord of al things taketh vpon him the shape of a seruaūt to make vs which are by nature seruaunts oppressed with most greuous bondage the sonnes of God He taketh vpō him selfe our weakenes to strengthē vs with his spirite He is made man to transforme vs by his grace in a manner into Gods He hath communicated with vs in fleshe and bloude being made partaker of the same that also the children namely we might haue euerlasting fellowship with him In fine he would be made like to hys brethren in al thyngs Hebr. 3. that we myghte see that we haue a mercifull and faythfull high prieste to doe all those thinges which we haue to do with God which maketh satisfaction by his bloude for all our sinnes He hath taken vpon hym selfe all that is ours to participate vnto vs what so euer he him selfe is and hath And thys is it which he sayeth to Magdalene I ascende to my Father and your father my God and your God See what a loue the father hath geuē vs both to be named and to be the Sonnes of God i. Iohn iii For the which cause he is not ashamed to cal vs brethren saying God to my brethren c. For his spirite beareth witnes to our spirit that we are the sōnes of God For we haue not receaued a spirite of bondage to be affeard Roma viii but the spirite of Adoption by the which we crye Abba Father God therefore is our Father and our God and we are hys children with whom he hath made a new couenaunte and confyrmed it by the bloud of hys Sonne that we might nowe haue fellowship mutuall perticipacion with the father hys sōne Iesus Christ These benefites so great and most ample are geuen vnto vs of God ii Cor. iii. i. Cor. xiii but they are receaued of vs only by faith which selfe fayth is also the gifte of God and are felt inwardly in spirite For as yet we doe not beholde the glorye of the Lorde with open face for partlye we knowe and perceaue by a glasse in a riddell and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be which is done to our profit that the father should not make vs fully perfecte whilest we liue in this fleshe but doth geue vs the knowledge and fruition of him selfe by certain degrees that we might learne to think humblye of oure selues to walke before oure heauenly father in the feare of God and to depend al wholly vpō him we are therfore made safe but yet in hope whiche hope is not nowe sene fullye otherwise it shoulde be no hope
Pet. ii but it is mete that they which be straūgers and pilgrimes in this world should abstaine from fleshly lustes which fight against the soule hauing honest conuersation amongest the gentiles that they which speake euil of vs as euill doers may haue vs in estimation for our good workes and glorifye God in the day of visitatiō In his former talk he reproued ambition and couetousnesse now he reprehendeth selfe trust and desire of money of the which the one was in Peter and thother in Iudas the disciples Peter not weighing his own strength promiseth greater thinges than he can performe neither doth he beleue the lord who admonished him of it but despising all other boasteth himselfe only to be strong Iudas which had conceiued this horrible mischeuous acte in his harte dothe not heare the Lord which called hym backe from it So plaieth our fleshe when it is lefte to it selfe No man acknowledgeth his errour no man wil beleue him which admonisheth him Euery man hopeth that he can be hiddē whē as he is not called by name howsoeuer his cōscience withstand him inwardly Christ assayeth Iudas diuers wayes to withdrawe hym from his pretence in whiche the wonderfull gentlenesse and loue of Christ is to be marked who will not the death of a sinner but that he should be cōuerted and liue but the more that Christ sheweth and putteth forth his louyng kyndnes so much the more his vngodlines is hardened so that he dare most impudently say is it I Moreouer this most wicked varietie dareth thrust himself into the holy fellowship and table of the lorde not fearyng to lye vnto him which knoweth all thinges So greate a thing is hipocrisie and a harte possessed with couetousnesse So in lyke maner dare we somtimes com to the holy communion with Iudas boasting our selues to be godly when as inwardly we be most vngodly And althoughe both Peter and Iudas fell either of them yet great is the diuersitie betwene the deniall of Peter and the betrayeng of Iudas Peter being ouerwhelmed with a sodayne terror synned of feare and cowardnesse of mynde but Iudas sinned of a pretensed malice for the deuell had possessed his harte Christ therfore saith that Peters faithe was not altogether gone for althoughe he denied him outwardly with his mouth yet neuerthelesse his hearte fell not from Christ and god suffreth the godly sometymes to slippe that they may knowe themselues more throughly and humble thēselues in mind learne and acknowledge their infirmitie and after their fall they may rise agayne more strong and better couraged Thei may learn to put no confidence in themselues to be sory for other mens falles and to be more carefull and for that cause Christ saieth and thou after thou art conuerted strengthen thy brethern Sathan so stirred vp Iudas as we haue heard before that not onely he shroncke from Christ but besydes that he betraied him to his enemies to be destroied here it is said that the diuell entred into him after the sop which is thus to be vnderstanded that the diuell which before had possessed him did now more fully possesse him and more vrge him to bring to passe the mischiefe which he had conceiued For euen as in faithe there are certain degrees so also is there in infidelitie breach of faith No man is made most good vpon the sodayne so no man is moste wicked sodenly by littell and littell we slide into the pitfall if we watche not if we resist not the beginning and if we neglecte small matters Our foote muste be plucked by and by out of the clay of synnes least it fasten more depely in we must streight way resist the affections least they come to haue dominion ouer vs. Sathan slepeth not he neuer ceaseth but walketh about like a roaring Lyon seeking where to get his pray whom let vs resiste by faith and he wil flye from vs. The lord is strong to deliuer vs out of the mouth of the Lyon so that we flye vnto him by and by with our whole hart and cast our selues all wholy vpō him with a soūd faith let vs take hede of the meate and of the baite which that moste subtill enemye layeth for vs lest when we haue deuoured it we fal with Iudas into the euerlasting night ¶ And when he was gone Iesus said now is the sonne of man glorifyed and God is glorified by hym and God shall glorify hym by hym self and shal glorify him by and by My littel children yet a littell while I am with you ye shall seeke me and as I haue saide to the Iewes whither I go ye cannot come so also I saye vnto you nowe I geue you a new commaundement that ye loue one an other euen as I haue loued you do ye also loue one an other by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples yf ye haue mutuall loue amongest your selues Simon Peter said vnto hym lord whither goest thou Iesus aunswered hym whither I go thou cāst not follow me now but thou shalt followe me hereafter Peter said vnto him lord why cannot I follow thee nowe I wil geue my life for thee Iesus aūswered wilte thou geue thy life for me Verely verely I say vnto thee the cocke shal not crow before thou hast denied me thrice WHen the betrayer was gone Christ maketh mention of his glorifieng not without o◠and reioysing of the spirite Now is the sonne of man glorified He speaketh of the thing to come and at hand as thoughe it were now past that we might see the certeintie of gods prouidence The time is now present that the sonne of man shal be made noble after a new sort that is to say by his deth crosse resurrection and ascension and other thinges which folowed after the sēdyng of the spirit as miracles and the conuersion of the Gentiles c. For that cause saith Paule in his Epistle to the Romanes that the son of God whiche was borne of the seede of Dauid as touching the flesh was declared to be the sonne of God with power as concernyng the spirite of sāctification in that he rose again from the dead And this power of the resurrectiō of the which Christ also speaketh here shuld follow within few daies after which was not done by an aungell or by any creature but by the power of the father as Paule witnesseth in the second of the Colossians where he saieth Who hath raised him vp c. Christ therfore sayeth and God shall glorifye hym He also by these wordes comforteth the harts of his disciples who were not a little troubled now bicause he had made mention vnto them of his death as though he woulde say The tyme is come that I shall accomplish the will of my father that is that I shall dye but by this my death my father shal be glorified Be ye not therfore troubled ye shall see and that by and by what great glory my father will geue me By these
otherwise then whan shepe are thrust forth amongest wolues that by these meanes oure stubborne flesh might be at the leaste by some meane restrayned and brideled with certayn snafles euen as a wilde and vntamed horse is that we might learne to lyue alwayes in humblenesse and in the feare of the lorde and when we are tossed wyth the oppressions of the worlde to haue oure whole regarde vnto him in whome onely we haue peace Lette vs acknowledge the most good wil of our father in all affliction Psal lxv and temptation who leadeth vs through water and fyre but to oure refreshing who boyleth away our drosse in the fornace of temptation that we be made pure vessels to his glory and sanctifying of his name let vs diligently weigh the profitte that commeth therby vnto vs here and in the world to come i. Cor. x. And that our father is alwayes present with vs neither suffreth he vs to be tempted aboue our power but with the temptatiō doth also shew the end either in geuyng strength constancy in the battayle and comforting our imbecillitie or els surely in pluckyng and deliuering vs out of euils and daūgers It is al together mete that we vtterly denying oure selues doe sacrifice and consecrate our selues wholly vnto his will To be altogeher without the crosse it profiteth vs not therfore our most best father leadeth vs betwene feare and hope laieth vpon vs a crosse that we might not be caried after our owne luste but mighte follow Christ his sonne which is our heade in all these thinges our mindes are heauy sorowfull and moued with impatience by reasō of the infirmitie of the flesh but yet in the mean time faith sustaineth this infirmity of the flesh that it cannot altogether fal or faynte and the power of God dothe more manifestly shewe forth it self in our weakenesse How we ought to pray whē as it doth erect stay vs vp by putting forth his hand Christ teacheth vs furthermore with what submissiō of the mynd of the body with what feruentnesse and with what gesture of the body we should praye also what place is apte and mete for prayer to whome we should directe our prayer and in what sort it should be done and when we should pray c. For althoughe the mynde of the godly ought alwayes to be bente vnto God yet most of all when the enemy doth assayle it leste it fall into an agonye and the more we are greeued and vexed so muche the more feruently must we geue oure selues to praier and for bicause that prayer is an earnest talke of the faythfull harte wyth God therfore we must chose out a litte place for the same which maye be voyde of all concurse of people and noyse lest there should be any thing be it neuer so small that mighte disturbe a man or plucke him backe from God but that the mynde may cleaue vnto God wtout seperation with how great a submissiō of the body a mortal mā should appeare before gods maiesty and the throne of grace Christ doth manifestly declare in falling prostrate with his body bowyng on his knees a feruent praier doth not only lift vp to god that hāds but also it lifteth the eies the hart vnto god that is to say vnto the hils frō whēce cōmeth help Besides this an ernest deuout praier dothe burste forth with teares out of the eyes but also with droppes of bloud out of the body as we maye see in the tremblyng of Christ We learned therfore by our head that we shoulde neuer dispaire of gods help when temptatiōs do assaile vs not to fal when any pensiuenesse of harte or impaciēce commeth vpon our mindes but rather run vnto God with a sure faith and declare vnto him our cause to desire him to shewe vs how to come out of temptation and to supporte our weakenes with his spirite ¶ Then Iesus came agayne vnto hys disciples and founde them sleping and he sayde vnto Peter Symon slepest thou couldest thou not haue watched one hour with me watch and praye that ye enter not into temptation The spirit is redy but the fleshe is weake HEre is declared after what sort the frailnesse of the flesh behaueth it self towardes the vnmeasurable vnspeakable grace of Christ and how vnthankful we bee for so great benefits Christe prayeth and sweateth bloud wholly to aduaunce the saluation of his but they slepe soundly forgetting their excellente free promise whiche they beefore hadde promised Christe therfore geueth them warning to learne to know themselues and to rū vnto God for strēgth Our wil is oftentimes prone and bursteth forth with a sodaine violence but we are very slowe in performyng wherefore Christ which knoweth vs bothe within and without teacheth modestye and putteth away all rashnesse frō vs he teacheth vs to be myndefull of our fraylenesse and to be seruente in prayer vnto the father without whom we can do nothyng and by whom we may do all things Neither let vs cocker the flesh to muche least we should truste any thing in oure owne strengthe The faythfull must alwayes stand girded in their standing Sathan sleepeth not no more must we slepe but watche and stoutely resist we are still in the battayle All thinges are full of daungers and snares we must not therfore lie snorting on slepe but we must watch fight with a feruēt faith and faithfull prayer Christ also teacheth that when we haue finished oure talke wyth god we should haue a regarde to oure neyghbors and chiefly the weake ones to exhort and stirre them vp From faith we muste returne to charitie and so like a circle from charitie agayne to faith For a man is not occupied alwais with one kind of busines there be courses of things This sentence pray that ye enter not into tēptation is expounded two wais either that tēptation is ouercome by a faythfull prayer the more ye pray the lesse ye shall be tempted or els that we shuld pray that the Lorde lead vs not into temptation as it is in the vi chap. of Math. in the lordes praier the spirite of the faithful being endewed with the spirite of God is ready but the flesh hathe yet infirmitie adioyned which repugneth against the spirit For the faithfull doth fynd an other law in his mēbers which repugneth the law of the spirite howsoeuer the inward man delighteth in the law of god as though he wuld saye ye haue promised many thinges but ye performe littell ¶ And he went agayne and prayed the same woordes O my father if thys cup canne not passe away from me but that I must drink it thy wil be done And returnyng he found thē on sleepe agayn for theyr eyes wer heauy neither could they tell what to answer him and he left them and went agayne and prayed the third tyme the same woordes saying O father yf thou wilt take away this cuppe from me neuerthelesse not my
for how can a man hope for the same thing that he seeth Roma viii Therefore we wayte for that by pacience which we see not but onely beleue hope for Let vs be exercised in the meane time vnder the crosse so shal we continually be made perfect by his spirit being hated oppressed in the world that we may the soner aspire vnto our father be very desirous to come to our heauenly coūtrey Heb 13. Titus ii We are straūgers in this world we haue here no abiding citie but we looke for one to come wayting for that blessed hope appearīg of the glory of the great God our sauior Iesus Christ i. Iohn iii ii Cor. iii. And we knowe that whē he appeareth we shal be like vnto him bycause we shal see him as he is and we al representing the glorye of the lord in a glasse with vncouered face are transformed into the same Image frō glory to glorye as it were by the spirite of the Lorde This is signified shewed before as it were in a certayn figure in that Christ openeth him selfe after his resurrection by litle litle leasurely by certain degrees as we see in the women in the trauellers of Emaus in the disciples Sometime he appeareth in the forme of a straūger holdeth their eyes that thei knew him not sometime he talketh with Marye in forme of a gardener sometime he sendeth hys Aungell vnto them sometime he offreth hym selfe to be sene and handled openly sometyme he forbiddeth them to handle him sometime he appeareth at Ierusalem sometime in Galile till he openly ascended into heauen al doubt set asyde they loking vpon him sent his spirite fully vnto them from aboue So God oftentimes deferreth and will not be sene by and by and being called vpon sendeth not succoure strayght waye that our hartes mighte be kindled more more our fayth shine forth more brighte Who vnderstandeth not that Mary Magdalene was pulled away frō Christ with an euil wil whē as he sent her to the Apostels For vndoubtedly shee woulde haue gladlier abiden longer with Christ satiated her minde with the contemplacion fruition of him But it was more necessary to serue her neyghbor that that ioye and so wonderfull comfort shuld also be brought to the Apostles Whereby we learne that we can not fully haue the commoditie of the contemplacion of the Godhead whilst we liue here but we had neede to serue oure neighbour by charitie Paule acknowledging thys writeth vnto the Philippians after thys sorte What to chose I knowe not Phillip i. for I am constrayned of these two thinges I desire to be loosed and to be with Christ which is much and farre better Neuerthelesse to abide in the fleshe is more nedefull for you And the woman entred into the sepulchre found not the body of the Lord Iesus And it happened as thei wer amased therat behold two mē stode by thē in shining garments And as they were affrayed bowed downe theyr faces to the earth thei said vnto them why seeke ye the liuyng among the dead He is not here but is risen Remember howe he spake vnto you wen he was yet in Galile saying That the sōne of mā must be deliuered into the hands of sinneful men be crucified the thirde daye rise agayn And they remembred his words returned frō the sepulchre tolde al these thinges to the eleuen to al the rest And as they wer going to tel it to the disciples beholde Iesus met thē saying Al hayle And they came held him by the fete and worshipped him Then sayed Iesus vnto thē be not affeard Go tell my brethren that they go into Galile there they shall see me And it was Mary Magdalene Ioanna others that were with them whiche tolde the Apostles these things And their words semed vnto them fained things neither beleued they them DIuerse wayes doth Christe as I haue sayd before declare that he is risen from death in deede but yet to those oute of whose hartes the feare of the crosse had not altogether shakē of Christ which sought hym with a feruent fayth Charitie is diligent neuer ceasseth they go often to one place looke againe being desirous to serue Christ Whose feruentnes doth put to shame our sluggishnes They seke one absent being very desirous of him we eyther disdayne Christ being presente in the poore or els we thinke scorne to bestowe a litle of our money vpon thē They spare no laboure nor coste we are so addicted to thinges that we can let thē go empty away The Lord therefore doth not frustrate the desire of these godly womē but meteth thē saluteth thē frendly offreth him selfe to be felte of thē finallye he comforteth them All these things are done that their weake faith might be strengthened Let vs not doubt therefore at all but that the Lord wil be with vs and comfort vs whē we are in afflictions and temptacions So that we seke the lord and cease not till we fynde hym And behold two of them went the same day to a castle called Emaus whiche was about threscore furlongs distant frō Ierusalē And thei talked betwene thē of al these things that had happened And it came to passe as thei were in talking and reasoning together Iesus also him selfe drewe nere went with them but theyr eyes were holden that they knew him not And he said vnto thē what manner of talke is thys whiche ye haue together as ye walke and be so sad And one of them aunswered whose name was Cleophas and sayd vnto him Arte thou only a straunger in Ierusalem and knowest not the things that are happened there in these dayes To whom he answered what thinges And they sayd vnto him of Iesus of Nazareth whiche was a Prophete mighty in dede and word before god and al the people And how the high priests and our rulers deliuered him to be condemned to death and haue crucifyed hym But we hoped that it had bene he whiche shoulde redeme Israell And nowe as touching al these thynges this is the thyrde day since these thyngs are done yea and certayne women also of our company amased vs which came to the sepulchre before daye lyghte finding not hys body came and sayed that they had seene a vision of Aungels which sayed that he is on lyue And some of them whiche were with vs went vnto the sepulchre and founde it euen so as the women had saide but him they saw not THe same daye namely in the which the Lord had risen Luke 10. two of these seuenty disciples whom the Lorde whē he was yet liuing had chosen wente forth It appeareth that these disciples woulde haue fled for feare namelye of the persecution which they supposed to be at hande This historye also teacheth that it was true which Christ promised namely that he
are but fewe which haue the libertie to bee familiarly conuersaunte with him and yet in the meane time al of theÌ„ though they dwel neuer so farre of haue the fruition of the common peace and tranquilitie which he hath gotten and defendeth by his wysedome euen as â—mplye as thei which are alwaies present with him in the courte And if so be that the king die yet do the citizens reioyce in the lawes and ordinaunces ordayned by him Euen after the same sorte is it with our king Christ it is not geuen to al meÌ„ to see him corporally which happened to the apostles by a singulare prerogatiue yet may all the godly by faith haue the fruition of the grace and redemption gotten by him yea euen those whiche neuer saw thym with theyr corporall eyes and for this cause dyd Christe when he shoulde departe from his Disciples as concerning his had promise vnto them an other comforter and aduocate namely the holy ghoste whiche shoulde teache them the spirituall and true knowledge of Christ He draweth oure hartes vpward where Christ is at the ryghte hand of God that we despising all the goodes of this worlde mighte cleaue only to him and haue reste in hym Let vs in the meane time serue our neyghboures by charitie and diligently plante the Kingdome of Christe in the world namely that he may reigne in the harts of all men Let the eyes of our mind be alwaies fixed in heaueÌ„ vpoÌ„ him which is our aduocate before the father which hath sanctified our flesh in him selfe which hath ioyned our nature vnto the godhed and hath so exalted it that ther might be an assured hope in vs that we shall liue with him for euer He is flesh of our flesh bone of our boÌ„es our brother hed in whoÌ„ is setforth vnto vs the hope of immortall lyfe Ephe. 2. Wherfore for asmuch as god which is rich in mercy hath of his singuler loue wherby he loued vs yea euen then when we were deade thoroughe sins hath quickned vs together with Christe and hath raysed vs vp to gether agayne with hym and made vs set together in heauenlye places with Christe Iesus and hath sealed vs with the holy spirite of promyse whyche is the earneste penye of our enheritance for the redemptioÌ„ of the possession gotteÌ„ to the praise of his glory Ephe. 1. let vs for al these things geue thaÌ„ks to God and pray that the god of our Lord Iesus Christ the father of glory would geue vs the spirite of wysdome reuelation by knowledge illuminate the eyes of our minde that we may know what the hope is wherunto he hath called vs and how rich the glorye of his inheritaunce is toward the sayntes and how excellente the mightines of his power is toward vs which beleue according to the efficacy of his might and streÌ„gth which he hath shewed forth in Christ when he raised him from the deade and made him to sit at his right haÌ„d in heauen aboue all principalitye and power strength and dominion and euery name that is named not only in this worlde but also in the world to come and hath subdued al thinges vnder his feete and hath made him the heade of the church aboue al thinges which is his body the perfection of him which filleth all in all to whome be prayse and glory worlde without end AMEN Jmprinted at London hy Iohn Daye dwellinge ouer Aldersgate beneath Sainct Martynes Cum gratia priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis