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truth_n	holy_a	spirit_n	worship_v	3,077	5	9.0447	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42394	The history of Christ's sufferings composed out of the prophets, evangelists, apostles, fathers, and other holy writers. With aspirations, or prayers, suitable to each section. In order to an entire resignation of the soul to the will of God, according to the example of Christ by Dudley Garenciers, rector of Waverton, near Chester.	Garencieres, Dudley, d. 1702.	1697 (1697)	Wing G252A; ESTC R215811	117,779	315

Unhappiness of Atheistical Greatness NOW Pilate was glad to hear of g Luke 23.6 Galilee for he was desirous to clear himself of this dangerous business where he saw he must either condemn the Innocent or displease the whole Nation of the Jews And forasmuch as Herod was his h Luke 23.12 Enemy and i Matt. 14.1 Tetrarch of Galilee where Christ was k Matt. 21 11. born in Nazareth and opportunely at l Luke 23.7 Jerusalem by reason of the Feast he endeavours to turn him over to him And Herod at first as m Luke 23.8 Joyfully received him for he was desirous to see him of a long season because he had heard many things of him and hoped to have seen some Miracle done by him it was that Herod who had n Matt. 14. beheaded John Baptist the forerunner of Christ for testifying against his incest and now out of a vain Curiosity to see Christ and some of his Miracles so much famed abroad and not for any intention to learn the truth of his Doctrine he o Luke 2● ● questioned with him in many words to which our Saviour would answer nothing He judg'd him unworthy so great a satisfaction who had shed the blood of his Innocent Servant and knew his crime and yet persever'd in it and now sought after Vanity and not the Truth Simplicity in Intention and Purity in Affection are the two wings which lift us up from Earth One intends God the other apprehends him But instead of these there is a Vain levity in the hearts of some great Men who think their Power Riches and Honor so many warrants for Lightness and Infidelity and that because they are above the Vulgar they may mock at what is Sacred rendring their Religion an empty Speculation and their hearts destitute of saving Practice They may seek for Miracles but none shall be given them but what amazes the rest of the World their Execation in common Duties as a punishment of their Insolency and Pride against so many opportunities as their Riches ●●forded them to minister to the 〈◊〉 of the Giver Hereby it come● 〈…〉 that the greatest 〈…〉 have oftimes the 〈…〉 Grace of God and Blood Spirit Extraction and Wealth are for the most part but a fair Object where misfortune appears with the greatest Deformity The Sun is wont to make his rarest productions in the most unknown places in the World and the Spirit of God never works more Miracles then in the Souls of those Persons whom the World knows not or despises Unhappy Herod where are the Priviledges of thy Nobility and what is the Advantage of thy Birth so long as thou leadest a wicked Life In vain it is for thee to hope for any thing from Christ while thy heart is full of Vanity Adulteries and Murthers Christ will not speak but where the Conscience hears and where he finds an Inclination to Truth nor can he work his Miracles in those Regions where infidelity p Matt. 13.58 binds his hands He would answer to Pilate who had respect for Truth and in whom he found some inclinations to Justice but not to thee whose Levity Profaneness and continually repeated Crimes have rendred unworhty of the Favours of Heaven Prayer O! thou high and lofty one that inhabitest Eternity who dwellest in the High and Holy Place with him also that is of a contrite and humble Spirit Suppress in thy Servant all proud Thoughts vain Desires and wanton Curiosities and keep my Soul in an humble frame that I may be ready to learn not to dispute the Mysteries which thou a God of Truth and Goodness hast revealed Enlighten my Blindness quicken my Dullness support my Frailties disperse my Passions free me from Prejudices which hinder my sinful Nature from ascending to thee and thy Holy Spirit from descending on my Soul SECT XXVI Of the Indignity done to Christ by Herod and his Officers BUT while the Lamb of God is silent his malicious Prosecutors grow louder and louder The q Luk. 23.10 Chief Priests and the Scribes stood and vehemently accused him They could bring no other Pretence of Crimes than what they had done before Pilate but hoping to prevail with Herod by Importunity they repeat and aggravate them with incessant Noise And Herod according to his natural Levity the Type of such as jest at sacred things a ridiculous Soul feeble and languishing in the Relishes of God asks nothing Seriously but only derides and makes sport with him chiefly because of his Title of a King which he thought did only properly belong to r Act. 12.1 himself And An evil Prince saith Solomon has Evil Ministers As did Herod so did his Men ſ Luk. 23.11 of War They lookt upon Christ as impotent and despicable because he would work no Miracle before them and as a Fool that he would not answer nor defend himself against their railing Accusations And therefore put upon him a t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luk. 23.11 white Garment to signifie that he had arrogated Greatness among the People for such the u Jam. 2.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nobility of the Jews wore that all who saw him might take notice of him q Luk. 23.10 and ask What Fool that was and whither they were carrying him and what were the Reasons of his Disgrace and thereby draw upon him an universal Contempt In this opprobrious manner as they thought but indeed the Symbol of his Purity and Innocence they sent him * back again to Pilate We read he was once weary in his Journey being subject to the Infirmities of our Nature he had x Heb. 2.16 assumed and was forced to y John 4.6 rest himself upon Jacob's Well And how much more now must he needs be tired being thus harass'd and afflicted without Intermission of Travel and Shame He had been forc'd out of the Garden to Annas's House thence to Caiaphas and there tormented all night early in the morning hurried again to the Council from thence to Pilate from him to Herod there mockt and set at nought and now dragg'd back again in a ludibrious Vesture But had we not sinn'd he had not thus suffer'd or had he been Guilty they had been less enraged But because he was unlike them they hated to see him and fearing his escape were more vehemently enflam'd Nevertheless all this was designed by Providence that Christ being tried before so many Judges might clearly manifest his Innocence to the World and that passing through all sorts of Affronts and Scorns he might Sanctifie our Tribulations and teach us to endure and suffer our selves to be despised in a Religious Cause and when it happens otherwise to remember our dearest Lord for a President of bearing it with admirable Simplicity and Equanimity of Deportment Prayer O suffering Jesu thou Doctor of Patience with humble Sighs I implore thy Grace to furnish me with the same Meekness of Spirit that I may

O change the hard Fetters of Fear into the inestimable Chains of Love That dreading thy Justice we may avoid whatsoever may expose us to it and may dwell for ever in the Contemplation of those Good things which thou hast wrought and prepared for them that love thee SECT VIII Of the Agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane NOW there was a Valley between Jerusalem and Mount Olivet of the vast Profundity of 400 Cubits called Cedron from the Obscurity of the place where Foggs and Mists seem'd to dwell in the bottom to such as lookt down into it from the Temple and a h 18.1 Brook running there of the same Name Which Brook sometimes swell'd with impetuous Torrents descending from the hard and lofty tops of Mount Moria and Mount Acra sometimes it trickled with a gentle Murmur in its own Source without additional Waters inviting the wearied Traveller to rest an Emblem of the Vicissitude of Humane Condition and the wavering Image of capricious Fortune whereby a Man is sometimes over-born with Force according to that of David k Psal 69.1 2. Save me O God for the waters are come in even to my Soul I stick fast in the deep Mire where no ground is I am come into deep waters so that the Floods run over me sometimes there is a wonderful Tranquility and Smoothness over the Face of all his Affairs which burys the apprehension of the least Storm At this Water-course being the Sink of the holy City they us'd to cast in every accursed thing as the Powder of Maachah's l 2 Chron. 15.16 Idol which Asa stampt and burnt there the Idolatrous m 2 Chron. 30.14 Altars that were in Jerusalem and the n 2 King 236. Grove that was taken out of the House of the Lord and all the o 2 Chron. 29.16 uncleanness that was found therein Which is the reason of that Metaphorical way in Scripture of understanding Affliction and Troubles by Water and particularly of those Words concerning our Blessed Saviour who after passing this was to enter upon his Sufferings That he should p Psal 110.7 drink of the Brook in the way Nor may we hope to be exempt from it who have given up our Names to be his Followers since in the Torrent of Tribulation are found the living Waters of Comfort which spring up in the Soul unto eternal Life Here holy q 2 Sam. 15.23 David past in Grief when he fled out of his Palace from his Son Absolom and all the Country wept with a loud Voice And now this r Mark 12.35 Son of David passes over it sorrowing in his way to Mount Olivet where grew abundance of Olives to meet the Anger of his incensed Father due to the rebellious Children of Men. The f Gen. 8.11 Olive signifies Peace and t Psal 104.15 Oyl Gladness prefiguring it may be the Reconciliation to which his Sufferings there were preparatory and the Joy they should create to all Believers But to him it was to be the Theatre of unexpressible Dolours and to which the Disciples followed with a sad Heart fearing and trembling for the Words he had spoken u Zech. 13.7 Matt. 26.31 That in this night the Shepherd should be smitten and the Sheep of the Flock should be scatter'd abroad We read at other times they went * Luk. 10.1 before into every place whither he himself would come But the Evangelist has observ'd now they x Lide 22.39 follow'd him as unable to precede in the way of Sufferings for poor Nature abhors the Cross and clings to the Principles of Self-preservation though after he had sanctified it it became more agreeable and they embrac'd it with Alacrity as desirous of nothing more than to bear about in their Bodies the Dying of the Lord Jesus and to be made conformable to his Death believing That in following him they should arrive at the same Glory And our y 2 Cor. 1.7 hope is stedfast that as we are Partakers of the Sufferings so shall we be also of the Consolation At last they arriv'd at a z Matt. Village called Gethsemane scituate at the foot of the Mount of Olives where were many pleasant Gardens into one of which he entred with his Disciples as chusing a place for his satisfactory Pains answerable to that of the first Scene of Humane Misery a Gen. 2.8 where Adam fell and ruin'd Mankind and wherein he might best attend the Offices of Devotion Prayer and Meditation before his Crucifixion Here the second Adam would begin his Passion in order to our Redemption from that contagious Guilt spread over his Posterity by the first Man here he would become obedient unto Bonds and mercifully take our Sentence upon himself that he might free us from all Bondage of Satan and vindicate us into the Liberty of the Sons of God Behold then on this Stage three marvellous Agonies of God and Death Joy and Sorrow the Soul and the Flesh beginning in the Sweat and Blood of our dearest Lord but ending with the loss of his precious Life God and Death were two things very incompatible since God is the first and the most universal of all Lives who banishes from him all Operations tending to Death And yet the Son of God having taken upon him our Nature would suffer in it all the Pains that could attend Death to rescue us for whom he died from the Pains of Death eternal The Joy of Beatitude was an absolute Fruition of Celestial Delights and Comforts without any mixture of what might interrupt it or be displeasing And yet the blessed Jesus would suffer his innocent Soul to be overwhelmed with inexpressible Griefs and to descend by our Steps to the Anguishes of Death to raise us to the greatest Joys of Life There was also a great Duel between the affectionate Love and the Virginal Flesh of Christ His Soul did naturally love a Body which was so b Heb. 10.7 Psal 40.70 obedient to the Will of his Father and his Body follow'd wholly the Inclinations of his Soul There was so perfect an Agreement between the two Parties that their Separation must needs be most dolorous Yet Jesus would have it so and for Witnesses of the Combat takes with him c Mark 14.33 Peter and James and John commanding the rest to d Mark 14.32 sit down and compose themselves till he should go and pray yonder that they might not be moved with any thing that should befall him but keep themselves steady against the Fears of Danger But these three Disciples who had seen his Sublimity in his e Mat. 17.1 2. 2 Pet. 1.18 Transfiguration upon the holy Mount he would have be present at his extream Dejection By that they had an undeniable Proof of his Divinity when they were so ravisht at the Glimpse of it that they desir'd to dwell there By this they were to know the Truth of his Humanity and be able

of Judicature but were a concourse of Bloody Murderers He knew as he was God that whatsoever he should answer they would pervert to an accusation against him and that by his answer he should rather irritate than appease them and that the more he satisfied 'em the greater would be their Sin especially that it was written of him in the Evangelical Prophet z Isai 53.7 He was oppressed and Afflicted and yet he opened not his mouth He is brought as a Lamb to the Slaughter and as a Sheep before her Shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth Cajaphas the more enraged at his silence supposing it was done out of contempt to his Person and vext that neither the Witnesses nor his own Authority could draw an answer from him which might bear colour of Censure collects all his Malice and Rage together and darts it at him in one terrible Exorcism a Mat. 26.63 I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God agreeable to the last refuge of Satan in the distracted and furious man b Mark 5.7 I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not Our Saviour not mov'd by the Power of Exorcism for if there were no c Numb 23.23 Inchantment against Jacob much less cou'd there be against his God but least it might not consist with the honour which is due and ever to be paid to the Sacred Name or he might seem wanting to the saving Truth which he came down on Earth to reveal to the World or the Jews might take occasion thereby to defend their perfidiousness and propagate their error after his departure saying That Nazarene being askt by our High Priest and adjur'd by the Tremendous Name whether he were the true expected Messiah would not answer that he was otherwise we had believ'd him and receiv'd him as such For these Reasons he would not here be silent that he might leave them without Excuse but in two Sayings declares the Truth d Mat. 26.64 Thou hast said or it is true which thou hast said I need not answer thou thy self hast said it Or rather he directs it to his wicked Conscience Why seekest thou so deceitfully to draw from me that which thou knowest already so well I need not tell thee I am the Christ since e John 11.47 because I raised up Lazarus from the Dead thou would'st put me to death Thou hast not hitherto believed me for my Miracles and intendest never to believe me for my Words Nevertheless I will yet more clearly confess and I tell you plainly Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting at the Right hand of Power ſ Mat. 26 64. and coming in the Clouds of Heaven But none could thus ascend to equal Power with God none could again descend with the Clouds of Heaven which the Jews themselves expounded of the Glorious Attendance of the Angels unless the true Messiah and Son of God With these words he passionately endeavours to move 'em with the Terrors of the Lord at the consideration of that just Judgment they must at last undergo before his Tribunal how Vile and Abject soever he now appeared since he had tried in vain to reduce 'em by his Innocency and Benefits But now Hypocrisie and Ostentation as well as Obstinacy reign in Cajaphas q Mark 14.63.64 He rent his Clothes and said what need we any further Witnesses Ye have heard the Blasphemy What think ye And they all condemned him to be guilty of Death Why What have ye heard O ye blood-thirsty men but that great Truth of the coming of Christ's Kingdom which the Patriarchs Prophets and all good men long'd for with earnest expectation Where is your Anointing ye Priests and Sons of Aaron Where are the Prophecies ye Scribes and Teachers which long before mentioned these things of the Messiah Where will be your portion ye Sons of Israel who renounce an Interest in the Saviour of the World and condemn the Son of the Great King and think by killing him to seize upon his Inheritance r 1 Chron. 22 8. David was not suffer'd to build the Temple because his hands had shed Blood And how shall you build up the House of the Lord who imbrue your hands in the blood of God What Herod thô otherwise cruel will not dare and what Pilate tho' a Barbarian shall be afraid of you have wilfully pronounc'd against the Lord of Life Therefore shall the Samaritans and Heathen be your Judges yea out of your own mouth shall ye be Judged how much your impiety was greater than theirs and your Injustice crueller than that of Herod or Pilate It was the first time that Cajaphas had heard he call'd himself the Son of God and declar'd himself to be come from Heaven as appears by manifest ſ John 5.18 passages in the Holy Evangelists He might much more easily have believed that Truth knowing how he had raised Lazarus from the Dead then the poor blind Man for the cure of his sight or Nicodemus from the general report of his Miracles who t John 3.2.9 33. both confess that if he had not been of God or God had been with him he could have done nothing But here out of Vain Glory he rent his Clothes a sad Presage prophetically foreshewing that the Priesthood shou'd be rent from him and that Nation and crys as if he had heard some strange thing which personated Admiration became also the type of his own punishment and consign'd the Nation to utter destruction and the whole Assembly devoted to his will the Priests the Pharisees the Scribes and Elders ● Mark 14.64 all conspir'd in the same Guilt Whereby it is evident whatsoever he had said they were all ready to confirm it when immediately with one Voice without any Hesitation all condemn him to be guilty of Death There was no body here had a word to speak for the Innocent none desir'd a time for defence of the Prisoner neither Reason nor Justice nor Humanity are regarded but Cajaphas will have it so and Christ must die Thus was our Saviour suppposed guilty of Blasphemy who in all things sought his Father's Glory and proclamed worthy of Death who did no Sin neither was guile found in his Mouth and that holy Name abus'd and vilifi'd which is above every Name and to which every knee should bow Because we were really Blasphemous and Wicked and had transgrest all the commandments of our God from the guilt of which he came to deliver us by his Condemnation Prayer O Spotless Innocence who wert judged wrongfully but shall come to judge the World in Righteousness Grant Impartialtiy to all the Judges of the Earth that they Administer true Justice without Covetousness or Respect of Persons Sincerity to all Witn●sses that they may bear Testimony to the Truth Integrity to all the Professors of thy Holy Precepts that they may serve thee in purity

Nation to whose power he was delivered The obstinate Jews had Malice enough to prosecute but wanted power Judicially to destroy him It is said they o Mark 14.64 condemned him that is found him guilty yet could not pronounce sentence of Death upon him but p Mark 15.1 Matt. 27.2 deliver'd him to Pontius Pilate the Governor Thus wonderful are the Mysteries of God's Secrets and great his goodness to cause us to believe ' em He reveals before so much as is necessary for the foundation of our Faith and afterwards in his Wisdom through numberless Contingencies and cross Accidents brings his Truth to its proper event That being told q John 13.19 before hand we should believe it when come to pass and so believing have everlasting life But it is the method of the Devil and wicked Men in opposition the Divine Verity to conceal the true intent of all their thoughts and which aggravates their guilt to the depth of horror to make use of Religion and a seeming Piety to bring their wicked designes to pass hopeing to steal a good Name and the opinion of the Multitude by that which renders 'em infamous to all good Men and abominable in the sight of God They had hir'd a Betrayer who had declar'd him innocent they had sought false Witnesses who could prove nothing they had smitten him extrajudicially in open Court and before Sentence they had bound Vilified and Abus'd him with the greatest inhumanity their Rage could invent they had deliver'd him up to the secular Power with knowledge of his Innocence but full purpose of destroying him and now would draw Pilate to accept their Accusations under the colour of an extraordinary Piety and specious observation of a vain Tradition That they were not to come into the house of the Uncircumcised They sent in the Prisoner to the Judgment Hall but they themselves went not in r John 8.28 least they should be defil'd and that they might eat the Passover Prayer But Grant O God that we who are sensible of the horrible Prophanation the Jews made of their Religion by their insincerity and how justly thou removedst 'em out of thy sight when under the pretence of it they persecuted thy Son may never after the like Treachery and Perversness Crucifie him afresh and bring upon our selves the desolation of thy holy Gospel by making it a Cloak to our Maliciousness and Vice But that we may speak and profess truly and practise conscientiously whatsoever ought to be done in imitation of thy Purity and of the Holy Jesus who has reveal'd himself unto us to be the ſ John 14.6 Way and the Truth and the Life SECT XVIII Of the Obstinacy of the Jews to put Christ to Death and of the true Nature of his Kingdom PIlate might have forc'd 'em out of their obstinate Humour to have enter'd the Pretorium and given their Testimony in Court But having much more Humility as well as respect to Justice condescends to come forth and take their Allegations Saying t John 18.29 What Accusation bring you against this Man a very just question to a most Insolent answer u John 18.30 If he were not a Malefactor we would not have deliver'd him up unto Thee As if it were necessary he should rely on their Judgments who were the Subjects of his Tribunal and becoming Justice to pass Sentence of Death without proof of Witnesses or hearing the Prisoner A Faithless Wicked and Stubborn Generation had stopt their Ears to all that was Divine and now were grown Envious least the Heathens should hear those * Luke 4.22 gracious Words which were wont to proceed out of his mouth and at which themselves had so often wondered least Pilate should be Charmed as the rest of the * John 7.45 Officers they had sent to take him and leave him at Liberty with the same Answer y John 7.46 Never man spake like this man Had they askt the z Luke 17.14 Lepers whom he had cleansed or the a John 5.9 Lame whose Limbs he had restored or the b Mark 7.35 Deaf whom he had made to hear or the c Luke 7.21 Blind who had receiv'd their sight or the d Mark 5.15 possest who were in their ●ight mind all had confest It was e Matt. 9.33 never so seen in Israel and that he had done all things f Mark 7.37 Well But Pilate seeing their Pride and that they intended not to make him Judge of the cause but Executioner of their Cruelty and being by Nature of a g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rough and high temper says h John 18.31 Take him and Judge him according to your Law If he be a Malefactor as you alledge and I may not examine him nor hear proof against him take him and judge him according to your customs which admit of Condemnation without Tryal For the i Acts 25.16 Roman Law prohibits me to deliver any man to die before he have his accusers face to face and have license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him And indeed so did the Law of Moses too that it seem not to come behind the Roman according to that of Nicodemus a Ruler of the Jews k John 7.31 does our Law judge any Man before it hear him and know what he does but as they had bely'd the nature of their Judicature so do they upon this their power of Execution when they saw he would not be guided by an implicit Faith saying l John 18.31 It is not lawful for us to put any man to Death Why who afterwards put to Death the Protomarty m Acts 7.58 Stephen and having ston'd n Acts 14.19 Paul drew him out of the City supposing he had been dead and once took up stones to stone o John 10.31 Christ if to these it was not lawful to put any man to death But because Crucisixion was the more Painful and Shameful and the p vid. Sect. 22. Scriptures had signified it and Christ q Matt. 26.2 John 8.28 foretold it which was not in their power as stoning was and they were desirous to have him suffer under their Enemies hoping to clear themselves by his disgrace and torture they conceal their Power to have him Crucified and are permitted to bring the designs of Providence to pass Seeing therefore that Pilate would have nothing to do in the matter without the Allegation of some Crime They begin to accuse him r Luke 23.2 for perverting the nation forbidding to give Tribute to Cesar and for saying that he himself was Christ a King As if he had broken the Divine Law by seducing the People from the Service of God who came to ſ Matt. 5.17 fulfil it and to do the t John 6.38 Will of his Father As if he had transgressed all humane Constitutions in conspiring against the Emperor who hid himself from

Let them on their Knees approach him on the Cross and reverently cover his naked Body We cover him when our Charity clothes his Servants and hides the infirmities of his little ones Let them with diligence unfasten the Nails and gently draw them out of his Hands and Feet We draw them out when we freely obey his Will and loosen our Affections from cleaving to the World And when they have thus rescued their adorable Lord let them Nail themselves in his stead to the Cross And this we do when we put off the old Man and Crucifie the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts Prayer O Blessed Jesu whose Sacred Body was laid in a Sepulchre after thou hadst Suffer'd Death for the life of my Soul make me so frequently to renew in my mind the memory of thy precious Death and Burial as may put me upon a serious preparation for my own And since thou didst not design to stay any longer on Earth then till thou hadst made a way for thy ransomed to pass let not my heart be set on any condition how comfortable soever it may appear to my senses which may make my Soul desire to be absent from thee But cause me to grow daily less and less affected towards the uncertain pleasures of Life and more and more in love with thy Eternal Joys Grant me My Redeemer a true Penitent Heart for all my former neglects of Thee Deliver me from the punishment my Sins deserve and from the Sins that deserve those Punishments That when I close mine Eyes in Death I may rest in thee and being absent from the Body may be refresht in the Repositories of thy Mercy So shall my Time be govern'd with thy Grace and my Eternity Crown'd with thy Glory SECT XLIX Of the Sealing and Watching the Sepulchre of Christ NOW the Chief Priests and Pharisees upon mature Consideration revolving all the accidents of the past day and comparing the circumstances of his Words and Actions with the Predictions of the Prophets concerning the Messiah and the wonderful ways by which they were compleated and especially remembring those Mystical words which before they pretended they could not understand and z Vid. Sect. 16 r.s wrested to a seditious intent against their worship of his building again in three days the Temple they should destroy and that he had given such his restoration from the Dead as a a Luk. 14.29 30. sign at their request to convince the World of his Truth they came to Pilate early on the next day that followed the day of the Preparation being the great Sabbath of the Pascal week wherein all other People were at their devotion and Prayers so restless and industrious were the Powers of Darkness to have buryed the Gospel in the Grave of Christ and said b Mat 27.63 64 65 66. Sir we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive after three days I will rise again Command therefore that the Sepulchre be made sure until the third day lest his Disciples come by night and steal him away and say unto the People he is risen from the dead So the last error shall be worse then the first Pilate said unto them ye have a watch go your way make it as sure as you can So they went and made the Sepulchre sure sealing the stone and setting a watch Thus did that obdurate and impenitent People harden themselves by those wonders which should have wrought their Faith and Conversion and justly feared the last error would be worse then the first hereby Prophesying ignorantly against themselves For their Sin became unpardonable because seeing they would not see But blessed be God all their obstinacy has been subservient to the Magistery of his Providence which orders all things prudently by the means of others They thought to have accomplished their malice against Christ and at the same time fulfill'd the determinations of his Will They thought by sealing the mouth of the Grave and setting a strict Guard over the Corps to have buried his Memory in perpetual silence and all the while were giving Testimony to his Resurrection and setting a sure seal to the Truth of his Divinity For securing and watching the Sepulchre with such diligence they have placed the Resurrection the Foundation of our Faith beyond doubt to future Ages and much firmer then if they had never watcht This is that which gives Glory to the Empire of Christ and whereby we perceive its Divine Power and the miraculous extent of its Conquests whose establishments have been so contrary to all humane ways When we consider how he was exalted by the lowest abasements glorified by his ignominies enriched by his Poverty lives by his Death and is Eterniz'd by his Sufferings And that our Religion ever oppos'd by the Wicked is nevertheless Victorious and Triumphant over impiety enricht by its Losses Glorious by its Persecutions establish'd by its Totterings and honour'd by its Wounds This is that which transports humane understanding into an admiration of the greatest of our Christian Profession Prayer O Crucified Jesu the Fountain of Love Let the wonders of thy Mysterious Incarnation and Death set all the Powers of my Soul on work that I may desire and pant after thee that I may Admire Adore and Imitate thee that I may take sweet and Heavenly delight in the Communion of thy Cross that I may with Praise and Thanksgiving receive thee into my Soul attend and watch thee till thou arise with thy Graces there There will I Love only Love always love to entertain thee SECT L. A Reflection on the foregoing History with Thanksgiving for the Death of Christ AND now my Soul thou hast seen this Great Mystery God Incarnate dying on the Cross to make satisfaction to the infinite Justice by the dignity of his Person Suffering in the Nature which had offended whereby thou art raised to a lively hope of obtaining Heaven which otherwise thou hadst lost and been for ever miserable in Hell with what words with what Affections with what Actions wilt thou glorifie the Author of so inestimable a gift as this O depth of Love Abyss unsearchable of the infinite Mercies of God! That God should delight to make his own Son a Sacrifice who would not suffer Abraham to offer his That God should design it from the foundation of the World foreseeing we should stand in need of it and without it perish Everlastingly That God should reveal it when we no ways deserv'd it nor could on any account hope for it and command us to seek the Benefits of it and enable us to obtain them by his preventing and assisting Grace O God Eternal who hast redeemed my Soul by the precious Blood of thy dear Son I am less then the least of all thy Mercies and of all that Truth which thou hast revealed to thy Servant I praise thee I bless thee I worship thee I extol thee I give thee thanks for thine infinite Compassion O Lord God Heavenly King God the Father Almighty O Lord the only begotten Son Jesu Christ Lamb of God Son of the Father that takest away the Sins of the World have Mercy upon me receiv● my Prayer and unite me to thy self in the flames of Love For thou only art the Saviour thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most high in the Glory of God the Father Glory and Honour and continual Thanks be given to Thee Lord God Almighty The Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of Christ whereby thou mightst exalt us to Eternal Life Amen FINIS