THE EAGLES FLIGHT Or Six principall notes or sure markes for euery true Christian to so are vp to the euerlasting nest of Gods Eternall kingdome AS IT WAS DELIVERED in a most godly and fruitfull Sermon at Paules Crosse By Maister Price of S. Iohns in Oxford ¶ Imprinted at London by RICHARD BRADOCKE for Iohn Busbie and are to be soulde at his shoppe in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crane 1599. THE EAGLES FLIGHT Luk. 17 37. Wheresoeuer the deade bodie is thither shall the Eagles bee gathered together WEre that fruit a grape as some scholemen holde or a fig as with Moses Barcepha Theodoret resolues or an apple as some other suppose for a taste of which our first Parents Esau-like sould their birthright in Paradice Sure I am that in that there was not Iuice enough to quench that thirst after higher knowledge which the heate of Ambition had bred in the roote of mankinde But that draught which in his infancie but like a corne of salt a little distempered Adam his tast since rysing to a greater growth like an habituall salt phlegme hath bred the passion of dropsie in his posteritie that now the more they do know the more they may know and the admitâ—ing them to one secret is but the hartning them to challendge to be made partakers of another So itcheth both the eye after the varietie of sightes and the care of soundes that as the wise man saith neither is the one satisfied with seeing Eccl. 1.8 nor the other with hearing Christ no soner tooke occasion by a bold question which a Pharise asked him of the time of the day of iudgement to disclose vnto his disciples the signes which might giue them warning of the approch of it and the suddaine seperation of the elect from the reprobate but one pressed him and as it were setting shoulder to the Portall of Gods very priuie Chamber in they must and bee tolde they must where also this greate Sessions should be held Our Sauiour to leaue a testimonie in the worlde how well curiositie pleaseth him shaps them a kinde of answere which might so farre resolue them as their saluation needed though not so fully as their humors desired and in a prouerbiall kinde of speach taken from the flight of Fowles vnto their prey giues them to vnderstande that the distinct place of this appearance was not to bee enquired after But a place there shoulde bee in which it shoulde bee made and towardes it should all flesh as assuredly flocke to receiue their doome as euer Flowe did to gorge themselues with their prey Here therefore is a flight of Fowle to a marke the Fowle that must flie are Eagles the marke at which the flight must bee is a bodie the manner in which this Fowle shall flie is they shall bee gathered togither And the place where the marke or bodie shall be set is yet vnknowne to these Fowles but wheresoeuer it is thither shall they make repaire By the bodie is ment Christ Iesus who at the fulnesse of time shall appeare glorious in that bodie in which hee once conuersed with vs contemned By the Eagles are vnderstoode the elect faithfull seruants of God who at this appearance shall as Dauid saith Ps 36.8 bee not onely banketed but euen to the fulnes satisfied or as the original worde signifieth in a sort surcharged with the fatnes of his howse By the gathering togither of these Eagles is shadowed the resurrection of the iust in which the Trumpe shall blow and the deade shall rise incorruptible and they who haue falne asleep in Christ shall from all the quarters of the worlde bee summoued to meete him in the Clowdes By this little therefore that hath beene â—â—oken some small glimse being giuen of me naturall meaning or drift of this scripture let vs I pray you for the better conceiuing of it enter into a more particuler viewe of the seuerall parts of it taking them in order as they lie Wheresoeuer This wheresoeuer of our Sauiour is a reply vpon a Where of his disciples whereby in the wordes next before my Text they had made bolde to demaund of him of the place in which that seperation should bee of two in one bed and two in one fielde and two at one mill whereof hee had tolde them that the one should bee receiued the other refused The originall greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where Lord though it more ordinarily import but the places and bee englished where yet also sometime signifying the motion to a place and being fitly translated whither as it appeareth by that one verse of Sophocles into which in both these sences hee hath contriued it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 makes it probable that they made two demaundes in one worde one after the place in which this sentence of separation should passe another after the place into which they that were thus seperated shoule passe In effect first to what barre should all flesh repaire for their doome then whither they should bee directed by that doome Duo quaerentibus vnum respondet saith one Christ shapes them but one answere to two questions True but such an one for an answere as the Perspectiues say it is one for a Sunbeame which is made of two beames gathered into one or such a one as you vse to say two friendes make which are one in deede in hearte but two in strength For it cannot bee but the Epitomizer of Ten in Two the digester of so large a volume as the whole lawe into so briefe a summe as Loue God aboue all things and thy neighbour as thy selfe shoulde bee as plentifull in his answere as flesh and bloode should bee in a question Is their question where they should make their appearance see his answere wheresoeuer hee shall keepe his Court. Is there question whither they shall bee translated See his answere whither hee hath gone before to prepare them a place In fine see in one wheresoeuer both a snib for the curious a coÌ„fort for the fainting First a word of the Snib theÌ„ a word of the comfort Wheresoeuer The diuine nature as it is very mercy it selfe so it is also very wisdome it selfe and as in mercy it hath vouchsafed to impart vntoman that hee shall one day bee brought vnto iudgement so it hath in wisdome thought good to conceale from him when shall be this day where this iudgement into which he shall be brought For as the assurance of a iudgement to bee indured cannot chuse but worke a feare of often or grieuous offending in a reasonable man So it is not vnliklie but that so greate fauour as to bee made priuie to the time place of this iudgement would breed a securitie in the heauie hart a pride in the swelling heart of wicked men Hereupon th' eternall wisdome by whome the world was made fore seing how much more conuenient the ignorance than the knowledge of these two circumstances would proue
sligded but straight she is grapling with the Dragon And heere 's a right note of an Eagle indeede to single such an enemie who hath bene thousandes of yeares in armes against his God Ierones his head would now giue proofe of a good subiect to his prince but this Dragons head of a better to his God Should we turne taile to this foe wee shoulde doe what in vs lies to make both God a lier our selues periured He hath promised to put an edge in Gen. 3.15 vs against him I will put enmity betweene this feede and her head And that this enemy should grow to encoūter him wound him in the verie head Hee shall bruise thy very head And wee our selues haue vndertaken in our baptisme to do as much You haue often herad how careful Hawiball was of maintaining the quarrell against the Romaines which his father Hamalcar had sworne him to And you haue often heard how harde God pressed the disobedient Iewes with the Rhecabits obseruance of their fathers charge Put these together Shall not heathen Hanniball rise in iudgement against vs if we rise not in courage against this Dragon against whō we haue passed an oath still to be in armes Were the losse small by his friendship it were another matter But it cost vs if wee remember Paradise Or were the gaine but small by this conquest it were another matter But it is euen that or greater for which once we ventured All we shall be like not Dij Gods that are so base to haue fellowes but Deus that one God that is aboue al in all And how so He made all good and so saith Origen in a sort shall we doe Nobis saltem qui malis aduer samur wee shall make the Diuell him selfe good vnto vs the conquest of whom shall be the matter of our glorie Nowlong you to be bickering with him and woulde any of you know where to finde him Aske Macarius he wil tell you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heere man here is his forme when God bids you be angrie with the Dragon he bids you be angrie with your selues and when hee wils you to fight against him he wils you to fight against your owne lust for they as the Apostle hath giuen you intelligence fight against you Leo in his sermon of the 7. of Macab hath descried within you a whole Ambuscado of his couetousnes which tell mee citizens if you neuer founde there pride which tell me Ladies if you neuer found there Anger which tell me Captaines if you neuer founde there Pleasures which tell mee Courtiers if you neuer founde there Lies which tell mee Lawyers if you neuer found there And if you euer did doe as there bee wishes you Cum viderit is multiplicem pugnam numer◠sam quaerite victoriam Set vpon all there and get many crownes for many conquests One saith a Captaine and his companie is like a birde whereof the Captaine is the bodie which mooueth the winge and the cōpanie the winges which beare vp the bodie As therefore if you can breake the winges you may easilie seize vpon the birde So if you can cut off these forces of the Dragon which are his wings you shall at pleasure catch him which is the bodie And thus briefly of the Foe the fourth note of an Eagle The fist if you remember was the Age and that of the nature that it might be renewed And this is that peculiar of the Soints Iob. 11.17 which was Zephers warrant to promise iust Iobe that his age should shine and appeare more cleare than the moone day Ephes 4.23 And Paules commission to enioyne the conuerted Ephesians to so greate a taske as to bee renewed in the spirit of their minde And Augustines grounde for that note of his vpon Abrahams sacrifice in the 15. of Gen. where though the age of euerie beast hee offered bee set downe his Ramme his Goate each three yeare olde yet of his birdes by which Spiritual men are ment he are wee no such thing De auium aetaete tacetur they haue specified no stint of yeares Esay 40.31 because they haue indee de no ende of yeares Now this reparing of the Eagle is in two points The melting her soarefethers the casting her ouergrown bill Plin. lib. 10. Cap. 3. For the former of which her meanes is as some Hebrewes write to bath in a spring for the latter with Augustine the streame of waters accord to beate it against a rocke Euen so haue the chosen ones of God both two meanes and two degrees of their reuocation The first of their meanes baptisme answerable to her bathing Gal. 3.27 For as many of vs as are baptized haue put on Christ The second 2. Co. 1.10 Repentance like her beating against the Rock for both as painefull is it hauing sorrow for his mother of whom it is bred Act. 11.18 and it is fruitfull hauing life for his daughter which it bringeth forth The first of their degres Viuification or a spiritual ioy vpon a feeling they haue of pardon for hauing done amisse and strength hereafter to doe better The other their Glorification or the change of their corruption into the state of Angels by their resurrection Of the former wee haue one example in Paule now so woe begone as to break out into Owretched man that I am who shal deliuer me from this bodie of death Rom. 7.25 I thanke God through Iesus Christ our Lord neuer more desperate disease neuer more quicke cure For the latter they haue his worde whose credit is so good that hee needes not the testimonie of men In the resurrection they shall bee like the Angels of God in heauen Ma. 22.30 though not with out bodies as they yet as free from corruption as they But of this I haue elsewhere spoken at large Here my note is that euery one who will goe for an Eagle must both molt and replume Shall I speake plaine Vide pro. cap. 24. v. 16. must so search euerie corner in his heart for sinne till hee finde himselfe almost as farre gone as euen now you heard Paule was They bee the broken hearts Christ came to heale The whole in opinion for in truthe there are none they either haue noe neede or shall haue noe vse of his phisicke But you must not stay here Bernard saith God hath two knees a left one of iudgement and a right one of mercie If thou be a sinner and therefore on his left hand thou must indeede take his left knee in thy way till thou tremble for feare But thē by it creep to the right which wil make the spring for ioy Heare secure wantons from whome sin yet neuer wrong teare whom the Viol de la Iambo hath a charge to keepe from melancholie looke vp see another Viol that wil one day as much noble all your sences as that delighteth one It is a Violl of wrath which shall bee powred
vnto vs hath in the one preuented and in the other as it were put by our curiositie For concerning the time Mark 13.32 he cleane discorageth vs to enquire elswher telling vs that with it not the Angels nor the Son himselfe much lesse may we be acquainted And for the place here giues he vs almost as little heart makeing his Apostles whose priuiledge he saide it was to know the misteries of heauen no directer than an indefinit answere vouchsafing their wher not so much as a Here or a There but putting it by as a demaund which misliked him with an vnresoluing whersoeuer Of which wheresoeuer of his you are not yet to conceiue as of an answere whereby hee purposed to shake them off vtterly as vnresolued Luk. 2.27 for more liberal of these secrets then thus was hee when in a generality hee gaue them to vnderstand that hee woulde come in the Clowdes but the mistery which hee refuseth to breake vnto them is the particular place or part of this Ayre where this greate Assise shall be held which notwithstanding yet are there of the peaching lignage of ambitious Adam Wisards who as if they had crept into the heart of the Almightie and ouerheard his secrets would beare the world in hande that they haue learned and distinctly know that ouer the valley Iosaphat nere Ierusalem at the foote of the hill from whence the Lord was taken vp into heauen shall this Iudges throne be setled This Counceller this mightie God so Esay tearmes our Redemer is silent and yet dares dust and ashes presume to speake Wheresoeuer quoth hee and designes no place euen here say they and appoint at the valley Iosaphat True indeede is it that the Lord will summon all nations into the valley Iosaphat for so hath hee promised Ioel. 3.2 but whether into material Iosaphat or Iosaphat so tearmed because the Iudgement which here shall bee pronounced shall resemble that which there was executed vpon the Moabites and Amonites â—â—ustly with Rapertus Fuitiensis doubt For what is Iosaphat if you interpret it but the iudgement of the Lord and what is the valley but the depth of that Iudgement into which Salomonâ— assures sures the young man that God will bring him after all the iollitie of his youth after hee hath cheered himselfe in the daies of his youth and walked in the way of his heart and in the sight of his eyes Eccl. 11.9 Now long these men for a reason of mee why the Prophet should specifie this place Quest Ment hee not to teach the Church that heere literally was this Iudge to be expected My answere is readie two reasons had hee to make choyce of it Answ by allusion to which hee might shadowe to the Iewes the day of iudgement One the freshnes of that famous deliuerances memory which the Lord had wrought in it for theÌ„ Another the great resemblance that will be betweene that generall and that particuler iudgement of his For from the time of this Prophet yet had there not a mans age passed since without stroke of theirs the Lord had in this valley within the sight of this City dispatched three whole Armies which had ioyned forces to beleaguer them and further in such sort as in that generall iudgement hee will dispach the wicked For as here though the Moabite the Amonite the inhabitant of Seyre bounde themselues against Iuda Yet cannot they preuaile So there though the Moabitish flesh the Amonitish world the sauage inhabitaÌ„t of Seir the Diuel enter a league against th'elect yet shall they haue no hand at them As theirs had so shall these their complices haue swords of their owne consciences accusing them to turne into their owne bowels And as the same place was to them a valley of iudgement which to the Iewes was a valley of blessing 2. Chron. 20.26 so shal the great day be to the wicked a day of iudgement for they shall receiue that heauie doome go you cursed which to the godly shall be a day of blessing for they shall heare that ioyfull voice come you blessed c. Here therfor let proud flesh take warning to giue ouer inquiry after this secret of God let careles flesh take aduice to looke into the secret of his own heart Let it not busy thee to know where thou shalt be iudged but how thou maiest answere at iudgedment Knowest thou the place yet canst thou not withdraw thy selfe froÌ„ it appeare thou must And knowest thou not thy selfe ill canst thou answere for thy selfe defenceles wilt thou be coÌ„demned Bethinke thy selfe whether if here in earth thou wert to come to thine answere for a crime pretended to be committed by thee it were wisdome to spend thy time in harkning after the place of execution and not rather to imploy it in prouiding thy selfe of friends answers against the day of thy triall And then say how much better thou shalt be then madde if knowing that thou must once render an answere of thy life past thou yet wearie thy witte onely in search after the place where neuer bethinking thy selfe so much as how thou maiest render thy account Luk. 10.42 Thinkest thou not thou shalt at last haue Marthaes checke for troubling thy selfe about many thinges where as thou mightest with more case haue purchased many commendations by offending but that one thing which is necessarie haue one of the three which witnesse in heauen giue thee testimonie of so much discretion as to chose the better part which shall not bee taken from thee Iohn 21.22 This question thou seest likes thy Sauiour as ill as that of Peters did what should become of Iohn and therefore propose it when thou list vnto him his reply to thee is like to bee as then was to him busie bodie what is that to thee follow thou mee This of the Snib the first of those two notes in this Wheresoeuer now a worde of the other that is the comfort Flesh and bloode is naturally wont in a calme to heed to hope So in a storme to abiect to despaire and like a Bladder that swels indeede with a puffe but irrecouerably shrinks with a pricke Bee wee confronted with no temptation and assaile there neither persecution our constancy nor crosse our patience nor guiltinesse our peace of conscience On scowre wee and so high a top beare wee as to deuoure no lesse than heauen in expectation But hap there either the smallest trouble to fall fowle of vs or our selues a farre off to descry the Iustice of God with the hiddeousnes of our owne sinne Straight vaile wee Bonnet and scarce haling on looke for naught but when wee should wracke Then can we not heare of a Sauiour the voice of an accuser rings so lowde in our cares then can wee not see to heauen the steeme of hell hath so blinded our eyes then seeme wee still to strike eyther vpon the sandes of some secret or the rocke of our
known sinnes Rise wee to the top of a billow why there is the throne of a iudge to coÌ„demne vs. Fall we againe to the bottome why there is a place of torment to follow vs. Then haue wee not memory for all euen so short a speach as that of the Apostles Luk. 8.24 Lord helpe vs or wee perish But so possest are we with the thought of our owne ende that no more but the ende of it runnes vpon our tongues and wee cry onely wee perish Here euen so constant a minde as Bernards incredibili metâ—â— ac miserabiliconfusione deiecta as hee himselfe speakes stricken as it were to the grounde with so great feare as no heart would thinke but any would pittie Nay tenebroso circumfusa horrore as it were close prisoner in darknesse and horror Hoc solum and that de profundis too clamabat as it were from the bottomlesse pit will not haue a worde to speake but quis nouit pot estatem iraeti lae Lord who is able to conceiue aright what the power of thy anger is And whom doth any feare so little appall that his wits serue him to reckon the torments that attend on thy displeasure Here needes not trow wee to so perplexed a Pilot as that poore soule of ours which God hath set at the sterne of this vnwealdie bodie some land-marke to giue it comfort against the feare in which it is and direction for the course it is to take Is it not high time that a Sauiour by a generall wheresoeuer should show that Hauen wheÌ„ the destroyer by a generall No-where hath almost perswaded there is no Heauen yes and that failes hee not to doe Heare him distressed soule whosoeuer thou art Hange sinne so heauie vpon thee that it seemes thou canst not make any wing And be the place to which thou must take thy flight whersoeuer it will yet shalt thou bee able to recouer it Faire it with thee as that did with the Doue and finde thou no other place yet shalt thou not misse of thee hande of this Noah for thy foote to rest vpon Spectat militem suum vbique pugnantem as Ciprian saith Be it wheresoeuer it will that the aduersarie set vpon thee it cannot be so darke a place but thy Sauiours eye is vpon thee too either if thou faint to cheere thee or if thou fight it out to Crowne thee Is it the guarde with which this way is kept that scares thee why is it stranger than was that of Paradice It cannot cut thee off Take not an Angell but Angels euen Principalities vnto thee and ioyne they vnto themselues noe lesse than Powers Attende there vpon these death to dispatch thee life to corrupt thee things present to delight thee thinges to come to suspende thee height to discorage thee depth to afright thee Nay an armie royall of all creatures to ouerrunne thee what greate thinge shall they all be able to do Not so much as to seperate or with-holde thee not from the person but neither the very loue and that is in the hearte thou knowest and of whom of God himselfe Rom. 8.38 Know thou no more particulers of this kingdome than Abraham did of that which was the type of it And haue hee which cals thee hither from out thy kinred and from thy fathers house tolde thee no more but that hee will shewe thee this Lande yet passe thou on securely there will come a time in which brought to thy iorneyes ende ere thou be a warre thou shalt heare This is the lande which I will giue to thy seede And know thou no more of the coaste of this way than Abrahams seruant did of that which ledde to Bethuell yet relie with him but vpon the conduct of the GOD of his maister and hee shall bring thee as straight hither as hee did him whithersoeuer It followeth The bodie is or as Theophilact readeth and that both in the iudgement of Hierome and vpon the warrant of good reason and euen by the confession of the Sire-newe Scholiast himselfe more significantly The deade bodie For this kinde of reading makes both the Syriacke edition of this place in which for this bodie we reader Dephegad of Phagad to destroy as one woulde say the destroyed or slaine And the originall to the fellow text to this in the 24. of Mat. where we finde not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to sal likewise for acakrasse Mat 24.27 because as Ierom saith It falleth by death And the grounde whence this prouerbe in the 39. Iob. 33. verse where euen the vulgar Latine inforced by the nature of the hebrew Calalim comming of Calal to wound or kill reads this vbicunque fuerit caedauer flatim adest Whersoeuer the carkas or deade bodie is thither will it speaking of the Eagle shortly resort Heere therefore not to say how inconuenient it may in reason bee to take this body which so many waies is a deade one for the Church whose verie stones Saint Peter tels are liuing 1. Peter 1.51 In this marke at which this flight is to bee made there are two things to bee considered First it is tearmed a bodie Then this bodie is saide to be a deade one Both not without singuler wisdome of the Spirit First of the bodie it selfe then of the qualitie of it it is a deade one Very much is there worth both our attention memory in this little which here the Euangelist giues our Sauiour when hee tearmes him a bodie For without labour such is the dexteritie of the Spirit of God both armes hee vs against an error which the Diuell hath sowne in the Church and warnes of a benefit which our God hath bestowed vpon his Church For what Christian hauing his Sauiour tearmed a bodie is either so dull as not to conceiue that then Marcion mistooke his marke who taught that hee was but a shadowe or so vnthankefull as not to recount that for his sake was this bodie in vnspeakable humilitie assumed of God in the birth of Christ and in vnconceiueable loue offered vpon the Altar of the Crosse in the death of Christ At this wisedome stand amazed with mee At this loue melt with iee flesh if thou be not harder than stone Thy Sauiour is a bodie remeÌ„ber this with this also in the 24. Luk. 39. wherewith himselfe satisfied his Disciples that he was not a Spirite For hee had flesh and bones and with these two texts stop the Heretikes mouth if euer he assault thee Thy Sauiour is a bodie remember this and with this also that which his Apostle S. Peter tels thee 1. Pet. 2.24 that with this bodie he hath borne thy sins vpon the Crosse and then lift vp thy head and reioyce let thy thoughts be comforts to thy selfe thy words praises to thy God thy deedes good deeds to thy brethren Thy Sauiour is a body remember this withall that which the Doctour of the
of an Eagle the kinde of birde by which our Sauiour chose to shadowe them who shall bee gathered hither Now it remaineth that from this choice of the Fliers I proceede to those neare circumstances in the flight it selfe conteyned in these wordes shall bee gathered together which as I conceiue them are three The first the efficient cause of it or hee in whose strength it is made The seconde the manner or after what sort it shall bee made The thirde the certaintie or the assurance wee haue that it must bee made All three distinctly deliuered vs in that one Originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which wee in english expresse by these many words shall bee gathered together The first of which notes or the efficient cause I gather by Abnegation out of the voice of this Verbe which beeing Passiue giueth to vnderstande that they who shall be gathered are no Actors in their owne gathering The seconde or the manner of this Flight I finde in the Praeposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which imposing vpon the Verbe that is compounded with it a communitie as the Grammarians speake indeede stretching the action or passion of it to manie argueth in this gathering a shoaling or an assembling of some companie The thirde or the certainetie of this flight I deduce out of the nature of this Verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it selfe which at least importeth a preheminence and not seldome an vnresistable violence in conducting or as one woulde say a soueraigntie in drawing whither it inioynes a necessitie of following For so vseth Aesebines it with whome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 soundes as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to drag or haile one to the bâ—â—â—â— no lesse than to leaue him no shift whereby to escape making his answere or to speake more to the capacitie of the meaner first in that it is saide these Eagles shall bee gathered I conclude that it is not they that shall gather themselues Then in that it is added in that they shall bee gathered together I collecte there must bee some number of them who shall be gathered Last in that it is tolde vs that they shall bee gathered or inforced to make this appearance I resolue they shall not haue power to denie it out come they must By the gathering I tolde you in the beginning was the resurrection meant and therefore cannot now doubt but you conceiue that by the cause in this gathering is the Author of our resurrection By the certainetie of this gathering is the assurance of our resurrection vnderstoode Now concerning that which I had intended in each of these three I haue place onely for our Sauiours complainte Iohn 16.12 I haue many things to say but you cannot beare them away not that your capacities would not serue to receiue them for their greatnes but that my strength cannot last to deliuer them for their number For besides what I had intended of the two first points the cause the manner with the summe of which Mor. 24. I should haue bene better able in fewe wordes to acquaint you my especiall purpose was in the thirde to haue attempted the making good vnto the Atheists of our time that which long time Gregory vndertooke to their fathers in infidelitie that Resurrections fidem qui in obedientia non tenent eaudem in ratione debuerant teners They whose faith was so weake that they could not therefore beleeue a Resurrection because God had promised it should yet in reason haue made no doubt of it because very reason in a sort perswaded it But heere as the straitnes of time hath preuented me for vttering that which it may be might haue done some good so hath it made me amendes with bidding me to the keeping of that best rule giuen but in one but true in euery such misterie of religion which otherwise I should haue ventured to haue broken Fides credat intelligentia non requirat Let faith beleeue it let wit seeke no reason of it Ne aut non inuentum putet incredibile aut reperium non credat singulare least curiositie for his paines gaine one of these two thinges either if it bee in iudgement dazeled and cannot finde it like an Apostata to thinke it incredible or if it bee in mercie illightned and able to reach it then like almost as ill to esteeme it no more than ordinarie Howsoeuer therefore either in an other place or at another time in this argument I may venture to doe as swimmers vse put my selfe to diuing to saue others from drowning for so much danger is there in seeking to establish that by reason which is aboue reason here now that one promise of him who is the trueth it selfe that all that are in their graue shall heare the voice of the sonne of God shal suffice mee both for direction to the Author intelligence of the companie Ioh. 5.28 and assurance of the Apparance vpon this Sommons The Sonne of God whose voice shall bee heard hee saith my soule shall bee the Author that All which shall heare it they shall be the companie and that hearing which shall be restored vnto them shall bee the warrant they shall rise Now the God of wisdome and consolation giue vs both in our searching modestie and in our suffering faith that to vs may the comfort redound and the checke not stretch of our Sauiours wheresoeuer The body which was slaine for vs quicken vs which is vnited to vs sanctifie vs which feeds vs strengthen vs which shall iudge vs acquite vs. The maiestie at whose commandement the Eagle mounteth aslure vs of our kinde by our nest so sure as on the rock our eye so strong as vnd aseled by the Sun our flight so true as high and swift our Foe so choyce as the Dragon our age so fresh as renewed our wit so discreere as peizing before bearing away And last the Sonne who wee know shal at last raise vs all out of the sleepe of death in the meane time raise vs his people out of our slumber in sinne that our first life may secure vs from the seconde death To this Son with the Father and the holy Ghost three persons but one God power wisdome and loue it selfe be ascribed al praise dominion glorie now and for euermore Amen FINIS