Redeemer with a sufficient price in his hand In the daies of his flesh he offred vp praiers and supplications and himselfe too with strong crying teares and was heard because of his reuerence The Holy Ghost neuer offred vp any thing Hee comes only as a Comforter not as a Redeemer as a monitor to vs not as a mediator for vs. He comes to helpe our dulnesse to raise vs vp to giue heat to our affectâ—ons to indite our praiers and that also is the benefit of the Sonne that sâ—nds him Ye haue receiued the Spirit whereby yee crie Abba Father that when our praiers are conceiued by the spirit and offred by the Sonne they may euer bee auaileable and neuer take repulse with the Father O quench not this spirit grieue it not but cherish and entertaine euery motion thereof Is it not a faithfull remembrancer sent vs by the Sonne of God Come holy Spirit and let it bee thy good pleasure to remember vs in this thy fauourable influence take away stumbling blocks out of my soule which is the kingdome of Iesus Christ that he may raigne there alone as hee should doe Couetousnesse comes and challengeth gouernment pride would be a king lust sayes shee will raigne ambition backbiting enuie and wrath striue in mee which of them should haue the greatest sway I dull and heauy creature resist as I am able I withstand as farre as I am aided I claime Iesus to be my Lord I defend my selfe for him because I am his right I hold him for my God him for my Lord Come therefore holy Spirit and scatter these Vsurpers in thy power Draw vs all after him draw vs though wee be vnwilling and make vs willing draw vs that are slothfull and make vs cheerfull Shed out and powre foorth the oile of thy gladnesse vpon vs and we shall run in the sauour of thine ointments We are soone weary and changeable draw vs after him lest wee begin to take our vagaries after other louers After other louers Quem inuenirem qui me reconciâ—aret tiâ—i An â—undum mihi fuit ad Angelos Qua prece Quibus Sacramentis Whom should I finde that should reconcile mee vnto thee Should I make any way to Angels With what praiers With what mysteries Sure Angels are not strong enough to carrie vs to heauen and men are too weake yet there bee Giants now as were after the flood that hauing got such morter and bricke say Come let vs build a tower whose top may reach vp to heauen Videte quas scalas imo quae praecipitia ipsi sibi parauerint ad ruinam Marke what ladders yea rather what downfals they haue gotten themselues for their owne ruine for Angels are creatures not able to stand of themselues without the support and benefit of the sonne of God If their abilitie had beene sufficient the diuels would neuer haue lost their places The rest are called elect Angels and Christ is the ground of all election Verily Paul calleth him the head of principalities and powers in whom they doe all consist Qui dedit â—aâ—so homini vt surgeret dedit stanti Angelo ne caderet Hee gaue man that was fallen power to rise and Angels that stood grace that they should not fall and so he was beneficiall to both raising vp the one and confirming the other And if I should commit my cause to such an aduocate as hath need of a patron himselfe it were a right tower of Babel and no scale of heauen The holiest men in the world are too weake to carry vs to heauen by their intercessions Doth this appertaine vnto man O Lord God Adam was perfect both in body and soule yet of too too base a condition to stand in the presence of God without the interuention of a mediator The tree of life which was giuen him is a cleare testimony heereof What needed he any Sacrament of Christ if hee could haue stood of himselfe And then mee thinkes it is plaine enough that seeing Adam could not mediate his owne cause in his integritie no saint though in heauen is able to vndertake for vs in this common miserie Mary began to be a mediator for wine at the marriage in Cana but assoone as Christ repressed her boldâ—esse she desisted soberly and gaue a wholesome charge to the waiters which may well hold the nature of a rule amongst all posteritie to attend vpon Christ alone When the Saints themselues doe send vs vnto Christ shall wee leaue him and in our superstitious affections hang vpon Saints If you do looke for nothing but that which happened vnto Baals Priests They cried from the morning vntill the euening sacrifice and there was neither voice nor one to make answer not any that regarded Tell vs Paul what you did thinke when you were in such a strait that you knew not what to chuse whether to be dissolued and to be with Christ which was better for your owne particular or to abide in the flesh which was more profitable to the Philippians Were you not then verily perswaded that after your death the Church could make no vse of your praiers What then Is the saints loue diminished in heauen where all their graces be increased No sure loue falâ—eth not away But the loue of the saints in heauen is not alwaies in action It is there rather in Maries contemplation than in Marthaes exercise Or if it be in action it is like to Peters when hee had a taste of it in the transfiguration of Christ The loue of his brethren was not decaied but hee was so rauished and pleased with the sight of that which was present that he thought of nothing but the fruition thereof Bonum est nobis esse hic It is good being heere Hee thought not of his brethren that were absent he desired but three Tabernacles for those that were present Can the Saints that be in heauen heare our praiers from earth Haue they any dispensation of vbiquitie Haue they any indowment of omniâ—cienâ—iâ— Can they search our hearts Doe they see and foresee our wants For who will commit his body to such a Physician that knowes no more of the infirmities thereof than he himselfe doth tell him Can they open the gates of heauen for vs Can they conquer death for vs All this a mediator must doe Ego alium noui â—eminem qui hâ—c potuerit nisi Dominum meum Iesum Qui cerse in morte viuebat qâ—â—pâ—re fractus in cruce in diuinitate stabat â—m â—aâ—r◠〈◊〉 nâ—bisâ—um supplicans in altero cum patre propitiaâ—s homo manifestus Deus absconditus I know not any that can doe this but onely my Lord Iesus that liued in death who being brused vpon the Crosse in bodie stood in his diuinitie with the father suppliant with vs in the one and giuing a largesse to vs with the Father in the other a visible man and a hidden God Will you see how hee did liue in death Consider
then that Satans power was not to continue longer as Paulinus writeth Epist 4. than till he had slaine an innocent person therewith Was not this liâ—ertie enough Did hee not once vrge such a point against poore Adam for eating the fruit that was reserued because â—ee had libertie enough to eat of all the rest And is not his owne cause now like to this Ah thou vngratious and wicked seruant I will iudge thee out of thâ—ne owâ—e mouth Did it not suffice thee to bee the minister of Gods iustice to inuade all that offended If this only were permitted oughtedst not thou to haue forborne this one innocent person that neuer sinned Thou hast shed innocent blood and art now not an executioner of the Law of God but a trespasser against it Art thou able to reinfuse the guiltlesse blood into those sacred veines againe out of which thou hast presumptuously spilt it Is thy power nothing to edification but al to destruction Know then O thou enemie that temeritie is not alwaies fortunate for destruction is now come to a perpetuall end Neque enim lex iustior vlla est quà m necis artifices arte perire sua Thus you see the power of Satan dissolued by the death of Christ not with force but in law and iustice And what doe you thinke of the Godhead of Christ that hitherto was a beholder and no actor a Iudge and no party in this businesse Should not the Iudge of all the world doe right Or can there be any better iustice any greater right than to restore the innocent and to punish the wrong-doer Euen so he did The Godhead of Christ which was glued to his bodie with an inseparable vnion which was with it in the graue that it did not see corruption that same Godhead did breath the breath of life into it againe and then he was inter mortuos liber a free man amongst those that were dead When he had thus reuiued and restored the innocent then he spoiled principalities and powers so much more magnifically because he pursued them into their owne holds and triumphed ouer them in their owne Castles of the graue and hell It fared with them all as it did with the great sea-beast when he had swallowed vp Ionas They had taken such a morsell as they could not hold but were faine to be rid of it againe Then hee tooke the beast euen the great Leuiathan that crooked serpent and cast him aliue into a lake of fire burning with brimstone Non iam Diabolum vt Leonem timemus sed vt pellem conculâ—â—mus We doe not now feare the Diuell as a Lion but wee tread him vnder our feet as a case There is no cause now that you should stand in doubt of any angrie Porters that you should bee afraid of any firie sword Christ see Satan falling downe from heauen as if it had beene lightning Ego alium noui neminem qui hoc potuerit nisi dâ—minum meum Iesum I know not any that could so haue taken him away and remoued his power but only my Lord Iesus When Christ was risen againe hee made not the earth a place of his residence but ascended to heauen as a conquerour It is well seene how thou my King and God goest to thy sanctuarie not climing by ladders not hoised vp by cords or pullies but marching valiantly in the multitude of thine owne strength thou makest the Clouds thy Chariots and walkest vpon the wings of the winde And when hee came neere to the wals of that heauenly Citie hee did not begge or intreat an entrance by fauour but commanded it as one that had authoritie Lift vp your heads O ye gates and be ye lift vp ye euerlasting doores and the King of glory shall come in Securae estote caro sanguis coelum in capite posâ—detis aut si vos in coelo negent negent in coelo Christum Feare not flesh and blood ye are now in your head possessed of heauen or if any denie you to bee in heauen they may as well deny Christ to be there He â—scended whole for there was not one bone of him broken then must his bodie bee there too which we are Hominem portauit ad coelum Deum misit ad terras He hath both taken and giuen a pledge He hath taken flesh of vs and carried it into Heauen that Heauen now knowes what it is to beare man and he hath giuen vs his spirit from thence in testimonie that we shall all bee gathered thither Ego alium noui neminem qui hoc potuerit nisi Dominum meum Iesum He shall be my mediator he shall be my ladder If he did redeeme me with the infirmitie of his death can he not make intercession for me in the maiestie and glorie of his life He liues at the right hand of God not in contemplation of his owne greatnes but for the comfort and sustentation of our wants He liues for euer to make interpellation for vs and if he were heard in the dayes of his flesh because of his reuerence shall he be refused now at the right hand of God because of his glorie Hauing once opened heauen he makes it a thorow fare for our praiers to ascend and for his benefits to descend Amongst other things that he giueth vs from thence one is here specially mentioned in the text The Angels of God ascend and descend vpon the sonne of man that is by his appointment and authoritie to attend to guard to comfort vs poore men Are they not all ministring spirits sent foorth for their sakes that shall bee heires of saluation The Angell of the Lord pitcheth round about the Tents of the godly and deliuereth them They shall beare our soules into Abrahams bosome Let vs vse their ministry that is glorious leaue their mediation that is superfluous There is another sort of Angels that ascend and descend vpon the sonne of man When he led captiuitie captiue he gaue gifts vnto men some Apostles some Prophets some Pastors and Doctors for the gathering together of the Saints These are called in the Reuelation the Angels of the Churches and heere they are said to goe vp and downe They had not need to sit still lest the children should call for bread and there no none to breake it vnto them We haue the keies of the kingdome of heauen committed vnto vs. Tibi â—abo claues regni coelorum Wee are key-bearers to open the kingdome of heauen to you by preaching of the Gospell This power Peter and Paul did exercise faithfully They preached the Gospell and in that remission of sinnes and so opened the kingdome to the beleeuers They neuer practised nor thought of such exorbitant and infinite power as the Church of Rome doth now vsurpe vnder the colour and title of those keies directly or indirectly to sway and to dispose of all the world Paul neuer planted any such power Apollos neuer watered it and God of his
great mercy neuer giue increase to it in these kingdomes It is clauis errans a false and counterfeit key the kingdome of heauen is not opened but shut with such keies It is the key of the bottomlesse pit Non monsirabunt credo qui hâ—c â—icunt They that plead this will neuer be able to shew where any of the Apostles did it any time sit either Iudge ouer men or diuiders of inheritances or distributers of lands I haue read saith Bernard where the Apostles haue stood to be iudged but they did sit in iudgement of such matters I neuer read Christ would not meddle with the diuision of inheritances Who hath made me a Iudge amongst you He disclaimeth all authoritie in secular affaires and professeth that his kingdome is not of this world Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo Hee did not speake it in a corner but before Pontius Pilate in the iudgement place where the Apostle saies he made a good confession And those things that bee done in iudgement are so publike that they are intended to be done before all the world Therefore Augustine makes Christ call all the world to record Audâ—tâ— Iudaeâ— Gentes audi praeputium audite omnia regna terrena Non impâ—dio dominationem vestram in hâ—c mundo Heare Iewes and Gentiles saith Christ heare you that are vncircumcised heare all yee kingdomes of the earth I hinder not your gouernment or authorities in this world Compare them now together and you shall see how the Vicars of Christ agree with their founder Christ had no kingdome in the world and they will haue all the kingdomes of the earth Christ would haue no authoritie to diuide inheritances and they will haue none to doe it but themselues Christ did not trouble any humane gouernment and they will not suffer any to be quiet Such cannot be friends of the bridegroome they must needs be his aduersaries 〈◊〉 â—mâ—spâ— si sunt sed aemuli They are not the Vicars of Christ they are the seruants of Antichrist They goe not vp and downe vpon the sonne of man but vpon the man of sinne Bernard describes them liuely Iâ—aâ—or latâ—rae voluntâ—ria paâ—pâ—rtas haec sunt Moâ—aâ—hâ—rum insignia haec vitam solent nobilitare monasâ—am Vesâ—râ— autem oculi omne sublime vident vestri pedâ—s omne serum â—râ—mâ—nt vestrae linguae in omnibus audiuntur concilijs vestrae manus omne alienum diripiunt patrimoniam Labour Cloister and voluntary pouertie were wont to be the cognisances of Monks These were woont to commend the liues of Monkes But your eies doe now see euery great sight your feet are walking in euery place of assemblies your tongues are heard in euery consultation your hands reach at euery mans patrimonie Doe you then my good friends that are the Lords Vineyard take heed and beware of these false Prophets that they steale not your hearts sheepe in habit but foxes in craft We that are guardians of your Vines shall by the grace of God weaue nets for them with the threeds of the Scripture he that is Christs true Vice-gerent the Lords anointed will in his princely vigilancie catch vs these foxes these little foxes that destroy our Vines and make them bring small grapes I haue deliuered you Christ Iesus to be a ladder to carry you to heauen and now nothing remaineth but to shew the vse of it which I will do in a word or two because I dare not abuse your patience longer You shall therfore passe vpon him along from step to step vntill you come to the throane of grace The first step you shall begin at his natiuitie wherein the lesse that he made himselfe in his humanitie the greater he offred himselfe vnto you in his bounty and the baser that he was for you the dearer hee should be to you A childe was borne to vs. Take then the purity that was in his birth to couer all the impuritie that was found in yours The next step that you make is to his life and that is broad with innocencie Innocent in his conception because it was of the Holy Ghost Innocent in the rest of his life for hee was obedient to the father c. Innocent in his affections because they were tempered to the pleasure of God Not my will but thy will be done Innocent in his words Si malo locutus fuero de malo feâ— testimonium If I haue spoken euill beare witnesse of the euill Innocent in his deeds and so pronounced by the mouth of his Iudge Innocent euery way Which of you can conuince me of sinne In all this innocencie you may say with the Spouse in the Canticles Dilectus meus mihi ego illi My beloued is mine and I am his bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh and so wee are two not onely in one flesh but also in one spirit which increaseth our comfort Qui agglutinatur Domino vnus est Spiritus Hee that is ioined to the Lord is one spirit Hence comes that blessed interchange of indowments that he hath taken all our sinnes vpon himselfe and giuen vs all this his innocencie The third step is the satisfaction of his death and the Apostle teacheth you that if one bee dead for all then all are dead in that one And it is certus sermo a cleere case that if wee die with him wee shall also liue with him The next step is the power of his resurrection wherein you may say Meum est quod cecidit vt meum sit quod resurrexit mâ—m est quod iacuit intra tumulum vt meum sit quod asâ—eâ—ditâ—n coelum That which is fallen is mine that it may be mine which is risen again that is mine which did lie in the graue that that may be mine which is ascended into Heauen The next steppe is the glory of his ascension and from thence it is a ready step to pasâ—e vnto the throne of grace where you shall see him sit at the right hand of the Father There I will leaue you for I know not where to leaue you better than at the right hand of God Walke there by faith vntill hee bring you thither both in soule and body that you may waâ—e then according to sight and kind to enioy the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost three persons and one God to whom be all honor and glory now and euermore Amen Hoc autem ideo vt conceptio mea emundet tuam vita mea instruat tuam mors mea destruat tuam resurrectio mea praecedat tuam ascensio mea praeparet tuam Porro spiritus adiuuet infirmitatem tuam * ⎠* FINIS Denter 6 Rom. 8 Galat. Act. 7. Act. 15. Piscator Ioh. 17. Bâ—râ—ar in Cantic ser 68. Genes 28 Heb. 6. Num. 23. Hol. 6. Tertull. Bernard Châ—ys in Mat. hom 75. Hieron in Psal 105. Matt. 25. 1. Cor. 3. Luke 16. Conâ—ess li. 9. cap. 3. Contra Iouiniaâ— l. 2. Luke 16. Luke 23. Reuel 14. Bernard Esa Aug. Chap. 2. Bernard Paulin. Epist 4. Athanas Rom. 11. Aug. Confess lib. 10. cap. 42. Bernard Esa 4â— Rom. 8. Aug. Iob. 10. conâ—es cap. 42. 1. Tim. 5. Col 2.10 Col. 1. Berrar in Cantic Aug. Heb. 10. Psal 34. Luke 16. Matt. 16. Berâ—ar de 〈◊〉 â—râ—tâ—â—e ad Eugeâ—m Epist 4 2. Esa 9. Philip. 2. Mat. 26. Io. 8. Chap. 2. 1. Cor. 6. 2. Cor. 5. 2. Tim. 2. Aug. Ber. serm 2. in die Pentecost