part which moderation I wish in you all What I reade in the word of God that I beleeue what I do not reade that I doe not beleeue In Gods causes wee maie not easily leaue Gods words and with a new kind of speach make way for a new kinde of faith We must learne from God what to beléeue and not by correcting or inuerting his words teach him how to speake Since therefore redemption and remission of sinnes are euerie where in the scriptures referred to the death and bloud of Christ I dare not so much as thinke the words of the holie ghost in one of the greatest mysteries of our christian faith to be improper or imperfect And that you may the better perceaue how plainelie and fullie this doctrine is deliuered in the propheticall apostolical scriptures I thinke it good to go forwardes with the effects of Christes crosse by which it shall appeare howe sufficient the price of our redemption is in the bloud of Christ without anie supplie of hell paines to be suffered in y e soule of Christ. The effectes of Christs crosse though I might recken manie yet to keep my selfe within some compasse I restraine to fiue chiefe branches the MERITE of his suffering which was INFINITE the MANER of his offering which was BLOVDY The POVVER of his DEATH which was mighty the COMFORT of his CROSSE which was NECESSARIE the GLORY of his RESVRRECTION which was heauenly These fiue will direct vs not onely what to beléeue but what to refuse in the person and passion of our Sauiour I will therefore take them as they lie in order The merite of Christs suffering must be simply infinite that it may worke two things for vs to wit redeeme vs from Sathan and reconcile vs vnto God cleere vs from hell and bring vs to heauen in either respect it must be infinite The wages of sinne is death both of bodie and soule héere and for euer With the Iudge of the world is no vnrighteousnesse He therefore punisheth no man without cause or aboue desert Since the reuenge of each mans sinne is eternall y t is infinite in time the waight of each mans sinne must needs be infinite as being rewarded with euerlasting death It may séeme much to carnal men that God should requite sin with euer during reuenge but if we seriouslie bethinke our selues what it is for earth and ashes to waxe proud against God after so manifold abundant blessings to cast off his yoake readily yea gréedily to prefer euerie vanitie and fansie before his heauenlie truth glory we shall presently perceiue how iust cause God hath infinitely to hate our vncleannes eternally to pursue the pride contempt rebellion of wicked and wilfull men against his diuine maiestie howsoeuer we digest it it is a thing determined with God and no doubt balāced in his vpright and sincere iudgment The soule that sinneth that soule shal die Death life are both eternall y t is infinite in length though not in weight in durance though not in degree and sence of ioy or paine Then in either respect to counteruaile our deliuerance from hell our inheritance in heauen she merit of Christs suffering must be infinite An infinite purchase cannot be made but with an infinite price For this infinite price whither shall we seeke to the paines of hell or to the powers of heauen◠y e paines of hel are neither meritorious nor infinite What thanks with God to be separated from God and the soule being alienated from God what other part of man can merite his fauor If any man fal away my soule shall haue no pleasure in him Hel paines therefore are accursed not accepted of God and hee that suffereth them is hated and no way beloued Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire As they are not meritorious no more are they infinite I meane in waight but they must euerlastingly be suffered before they can be infinite For not only diuels but men of all sorts shal suffer them who cannot endure any infinite sence of paine All creatures are finite both in force to do strength to suffer Infinit is as much as God himself hath therefore God alone is infinite So that neither hel fire is of infinite force to punish nor men nor angels of infinite strength to suffer but the vengeance of sinne continueth for euer by reason no creature is able to beare an infinite waight of punishment Since then the paines of hel haue neither worth nor waight sufficient in themselues to satisfie the anger procure the fauor of God we must séeke to heauen euen to God himselfe for the true ransome for our sinnes and redemption of our soules which we no where find but in the person of Christ Iesus who being true God tooke our nature vnto him and by the infinite price of his bloud bought vs from y e power of hel brought vs vnto God For neither y e vertues of Christs humane soule though they were many nor the sufferings of his flesh though they were painful are simply infinite til we looke to his person then shall we find that God vouchsafed with his own bloud to purchase his Church that we were reconciled to God by the death of his sonne when we were his enemies Bernarde expressing the infinite merite of Christes death and passion saith Incomprehensibilis deus voluit comprehendi summus humiliari potentissimus despici pulcherrimus deformari sapientissimus vt iumentū fieri immortalis mori vt compendio absoluam deus fieri voluit vermiculus quid excelsius deo quid inferius vermiculo The incomprehensible God woulde be comprehended the highest humbled the most mighty despised the most beautifull deformed the most wise bee like a beast the immortall would suffer death to speake all in fewe wordes God would become a Worme what is higher then God what is baser then a Worme If betwéene the Creator and the best of his creatures there be an infinite distance what thinke yee then was there betwixt the throne of God in heauen and the crosse of Christ on earth not an infinite distance and so infinite that neither men nor Angels can comprehend it The ground of our saluation then is the obedience humility and charitie of the sonne of God yeelding himselfe not onelie to serue in our stéed but to die for our sinnes For when he was equall with God in nature power and glory hee refused not to take the shape of a seruant vpon him and to humble himselfe to the death of the crosse not onelie obeying his fathers will which we had despised but abiding his hand for the chastisement of our peace The Apostle noteth these thrée vertues in the person of Christ Let the SAME AFFECTION of loue bee in you which was in Christ Iesus vvho being in the forme of God emptied and humbled himselfe and became
Patriarkes perished in their sinnes by mistaking the true price of their redemption For that they knewe anie thing of Christs suffering Hell paynes I thinke will hardlie bee prooued But out of question their faith was right which was settled on the bloud of Christ to bee shedde for the redéeming of their sinnes and themselues are Saintes in Gods kingdome Wee must therefore take heede that wee doe not rashlie varie from the foundation of their faith and hope which must likewise be ours with this onelie difference that they beléeued in him which should take away the sins of the worlde by his death and crosse and we in him that hath taken them away The time doth differ but the meanes are still the same The lamb was slaine from the beginning of the world not actually but in the counsaile of God which did purpose it and in the truth of God which did promise it as likewise in the faith of al his saints which did rest reioice in it frō whose steps if we swarue we may not looke to be Abrahās children y t refuse Abrahās faith as erroneous chalēge our father for misbeliefe If the offerings and faith of the Patriarks were not pregnant enough to lead vs to the true sacrifice for sinne the Apostle to the Hebrewes doth so purposelie and positiuely handle it that I much muse how any man of iudgement or learning can mistake it For if we marke but thrée conclusions which the Apostle maketh we cannot erre from the truth in this behalfe The true sacrifice for sinne must be but ONE and ONCE OFFERED not often nor iterated by reason it is perfect and able to clense vs from all sinne It must bee BLOVDY for so were all the offeringes of the lawe and without shedding of bloud is no remission It must bee CONFIRMED BY DEATH that redemption purchased might neuer bee reuoked nor altered These thrée positions are mainelie and mightilie vrged by the holie ghost the 9. and 10. to the Hebrues and for this faith are all the fathers of the old Testament from Abel to Samuel praised in the 11. chapter of that Epistle This man saith Paul meaning Christ after he had offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINNE sitteth for euer at the right hand of God For with ONE OFFERING had he made perfit for euer those which are sanctified Now where remission of sinne is there is no more offering for sinne Christ then making but one offering for sinne we must not make two but rather learne what that one was which we may do without any difficultie since the Apostle so plainlie teacheth vs that we are sanctified by THE OFFERING OF THE BODY OF IESVS ONCE that BY HIS OWNE BLOVD CHRIST ENTERED in Once into the holy place and FOVND ETERNALL REDEMPTION Almost all things are by the law purged with bloud and without shedding of bloud is no remission It was then necessary that the similitudes of heauenlie thinges in the law should be purified with such thinges as the bloud of bulles and goates but heauenly things themselues with better sacrifices then these euen with the bloud of Christ. For if the bloud of bulles and goates sanctifieth as touching the purifying of the flesh howe much more shall THE BLOVD OF CHRIST who through the eternall spirit offered himselfe without spot to God PVRGE YOVR CONSCIENCES FROM DEAD WORKS to serue the liuing God And for this cause is he the Mediator of the newe Testament that THROVGH DEATH which was for THE REDEMPTION OF THE TRANSGRESSIONS IN THE FORMER TESTAMENT they which were called might receiue the promise of eternal inheritance For where a testament is there must be THE DEATH OF HIM THAT MADE THE TESTAMENT For it is of no force so long as he that made it is aliue wherefore neither was the first testament ordained without bloud Iesus then suffered without the gate that hee might SANCTIFIE the people WITH HIS OWNE BLOVD and this is the bloud of the euerlasting Testament through which God brought againe from the dead our Lorde Iesus Christ confirmeth the same when hee saith This is MY BLOVD of the new testament WHICH IS SHED for many for THE REMISSION OF SINNES The words be plainer then that they néede anie commentarie There was but ONE sacrifice that coulde abolish sinne euen THE OBLATION OF THE BODIE OF IESVS ONCE whose BLOVD purged our consciences from deade works and purchased eternal inheritance by the TESTATORS DEATH FOR THE REDEMPTION of those sinnes which we committed against the former Testament What shift haue we to shun the force of these wordes or to bring in the paines of hell in Christes soule as a part of the propitiatory sacrifice for sinne Christ made but one oblation of himselfe for sinne and that was the suffering of death in his body for the redemption of our transgressions and shedding of his bloud for the remission of our sinnes More then one hee néeded not make for that one obtained eternall redemption and other then this he did not make for his offering was both BODILY and BLOVDIE This is my body which is giuen and broken for you this is my bloud which is shed for manie THE OBLATION OF THE BODY of Iesus once THE SHEDDING OF HIS BLOVD are of strength force enough to clense vs from our sins to procure vs the promise of euerlasting inheritance which beeing confirmed by the death of the testator standeth irreuocable How canne wee then bring in another sacrifice of Christes soule suffering the paines of hell which could be neither bodily nor bloudy but wee must increase the number and confounde the differences of Christs offerings and weaken the force of his externall corporal sacrifice which was the truth that answered accomplished al the signes of the law For the inuisible paines of hel are no where prefigured in the sacrifices of the law that I find nor so much as once mentioned in the Apostles discourse of Christs sacrifice for sinne that I reade therfore if we adde them as a necessary part of our redemption we derogate from the bloud of Christ as insufficient without those torments to clense vs from our sins pacifie the wrath of God that was kindled against vs. What danger it is to depart from y e manifest words of the holy ghost in so high a point of faith by things vnwritten to discredit things written I néede not admonish such as be learned let the simple take héed that they suffer not reason to ouerrule religion obscure and doubtful places in the scriptures to wrest from them the perspicuous and perpetuall doctrine of the holy ghost Howe ful and perfect the redemption is which wee haue by the bloud of Christ if you search the Scriptures you shall easilie see if you doe but hearken you shall presentlie learne The bloud of Christ doth REDEEME CLENSE VVASH IVSTIFIE SANCTIFY the elect It doth PACIFIE and
PROPITIATE the Iudge It doth SEALE THE COVENANT of mercie grace glorie betwixt God man It doth CONCLVDE and bind the diuell what more can be required I verily cannot coÌ„iecture If the blood of Christ performe al these things for vs more we can not aske or expect why shrinke we from it as vnable to saue vs except it be supplied with the paines of hell Whether I affirme any thing of mine owne or deliuer you that which is plainly taught in y e scriptures iudge you Ye were REDEEMED saith Peter by the pretious bloud of Christ as of a Lambe vnspotred and vndefiled Christ by his own bloud saith Paul entered once into the holy place OBTAINING eternall REDEMPTION The bloud of Iesus Christ CLENSETH VS froÌ„ all our sinnes He WASHED vs from our sinnes in his bloud Beeing now IVSTIFIED by his bloud we shall bee saued from wrath through him Iesus suffered that hee might sanctifie the people with his bloud By Christ then wee haue redemption through his bloud euen the remission of sinnes and nowe in Christ Iesus yee which once were farre off are made neere by the bloud of Christ. For it hath pleased the Father by him to reconcile all thinges vnto himselfe And to pacifie through the bloud of his Crosse both thinges in earth and things in heauen Whome God hath purposed to bee a Reconciliation through fayth in his bloud And therefore the new testament is sealed with Christes bloud This is saith hee my bloud of the new Testament which is shed for manie for the remission of sinnes Yee are come to Iesus the mediatour of the newe Testament saith Paul to the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things then that of Abell For Abels bloud cried for vengeance but Christs bloud speaketh for mercie and grace And for that cause Paul calleth it The bloud of the euerlasting Testament For this is the Testament that I will make with the house of Israel after those dayes sayeth the Lorde I will put my lawes in their minde and in their heart I will write them and I will bee their God and they shall bee my people I will be mercifull to their vnrighteousnesse and I will remember their sinnes and iniquities no more This testament of mercie grace and glorie is confirmed by the death of Christ and sealed with his bloud which if we weaken or frustrate with our inuentions or additions wee must looke for that fearefull iudgement which the Apostle threatneth He that despiseth Moses lawe dieth without mercie vnder two or three witnesses Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shal he be worthie which treadeth vnder foote the sonne of God and counteth vnholie the bloud of the Testament wherewith he was sanctified and reprocheth the spirite of grace The wrong that is offered to the bloud of the newe Testament treadeth vnder foote the sonne of God and reprocheth the spirit of grace Now howe can we more vnsanctifie the bloud of the Testament then to make it so vnprecious that it cannot redeeme vs without the paines of hell or to set vp another price for which we haue no expresse record against or aboue the bloud of Christ by which we are cleansed from our sinnes and reconciled to God I knowe they will and must answere the paines of hell are contained in the bloud of Christ for so much as he suffered the one in â—heir imagination when hee shed the other Could they prooue by expresse and infallible testimonies which they cannot do that Christ suffered in soul the paines of the damned they had some reason to comprise the one within the other but no such thing being warranted or witnessed in the scriptures they must take héed that they do not elude rather then expound the words of the holie ghost with a perpetuall Synecdoche which shall frustrate the very force of all those euident and vehement speeches For it is strange to mee first that without iust proofe any such thing should be ioined to the bloud of Christ to helpe the price thereof Next that the holie ghost should alwayes vrge the one and as if were continuallie forget the other Thirdlie the things which are named in the Scriptures as they were the last so are they the chiefest parts of Christs sufferings the rest being vnderstood as antecedent to them and not eminent aboue them Nowe the CROSSE BLOVD and DEATH oâ— Christ are euerie where mentioned in the scriptures as the verie ground worke and pillars of our redemption Lastlie the bodie of Christ wounded and his bloud shed for the remission of sinnes are the seales that confirme and ratifie the new testament and therefore they giue chiefest power and strength to the whole couenant as appeareth by the Sacraments which import vnto vs not the paines of hell but the death and bloud of Christ as the right and true meanes of our redemption Know ye not saith Paule that all we which haue beene baptised into Iesus Christ haue beene baptised into his death Wee are buried then with him by baptisme into his death And speaking of the Lords Supper he saith As often as ye shall eate this bread and drinke this cuppe ye shewe the Lords death vntill he come The cuppe of blessing which wee blesse is it not the communion of Christes blood The bread which we breake is it not the communion of Christs bodie By these we are grafted into Christ by these wee are quickned nourished into life euerlasting And these propose vnto vs no inuisible paines of hell but the bodie of Christ wounded and his bloud shed for the remitting of our sinnes â—ow vniting vs vnto Christ that we may be members of his bodie of his flesh and of his bones Yea what an vnthankefull part were it for the captiues that are inlarged to chalenge the ransome which was paide for their fréedome as defectiue when the aduersarie from whom we were bought receyued it by the rule of Gods iustice as a price most sufficient for vs all that were deliuered F I will redeeme them from the power of hell I will ransome them from death saith God by his Prophet g you were bought with a PRICE saith Paul The price then which Christ paid must be fully worth the thing redéemed For since it pleased God not by force to take vs from Satan but with a price to buie vs out of his hands it were dishonour to God and a kinde of reproch to giue lesse for vs then might counteruaile vs. And therefore let vs rest assured that the price which Christ payed for vs was of farre greater value then we were not onelie in the vpright iudgement of God but euen in the malicious and furious desire of Satan who thirsted after the bloud of the sonne of God with greedier â—awes then after all the worlde besydes and tryumphed more in bringing him to a shamefull death then in
world is the DEATH OF HIS FLESH ONLY nor thereby take occasion to defend that his bloud is not able to iustifie or sanctifie the beléeuers Sanguine suo hoc est SVAE CARNIS SANGVINE iustificat omnes in se credentes With his bloud that is with THE BLOVD OF HIS FLESH he iustifieth all that beleeue in him SI NON ALIO MODO SALVANDVS ERAT mundus nisi in SANGVINE ET CORPORE morti VTILITER derelicto quo pacto non necessarius verbo incarnationis modus vt iustificet in saÌ„guine suo credeÌ„tes in se conciliet patri per morteÌ„ sui corporis If the world MIGHT NONE OTHER VVAY BE SAVED but by Christes leauing his BODIE AND BLOVD VNTO DEATH for our good howe was not the taking of flesh necessarie for the sonne of God that by his bloud hee might iustifie such as beleeued in him and BY THE DEATH OF HIS BODIE reconcile them to God his father Quomodo sanguis communis hominis nos sanctos efficeret sed sanctificauit sanguis Christi Deus igitur non simpliciter homo deus enim erat in carne SVO SANGVINE nos purificans How could the bloud of a common man make vs holie BVT THE BLOVD OF CHRIST DID SANCTIFIE VS He was therefore God and not simplie a man For he was God in FLESH THAT CLENSED VS VVITH HIS BLOVD When the ancient fathers affirme that Christ died for vs THE DEATH OF THE BODY ONLY and that the BLOVD OF HIS FLESH doth saue and sanctifie the beleeuers we must not like children imagine they speake of insensible flesh or that in those wordes they exclude the vnion operation or passion of the soule whiles Christes bodie suffered and died that were to make Christ a stocke not a man and to giue him carrion and not humane flesh quickened and coupled with life and soule but in the death of his bodie shedding of his bloud they include all those afflictions and passions of the soule which naturally necessarily follow paine accompany death For these sufferings of Christs soule confirme his obedience witnes his patience only their intent is by all meanes to frée Christ from THE DEATH OF THE SOVLE and then to propose the death which hee suffered in the bodie of his flesh on the crosse with all painefull but no sinneful câ—â—comitants and consequents as the propitiation for our sinnes redemption of our soules and reconciliation vnto God by which al y e aduersaries of our saluation the law sinne death and Satan are vtterlie conquered and abolished And thus farre forth they haue the scriptures expresselie concurring with them The bloud of Iesus Christ his sonne clenseth vs from all sinne It must clense then our soules as wel as our bodies for they are the chiefe agents in sin Much more shall the bloud of Christ purge your consciences from dead works Conscience is a part of the soule not of the bodie Thou hast redeemed vs to God by thy bloud saie the saintes in heauen whose bodies lie in the dust of the earth Redemption remission of sinnes iustification sanctification and such like effectes of the bloud of Christ are PRINCIPALLY and PRIMARILY in the soule and by consequent in the bodie And therefore there can be no question but the bodilie death of Christ is the redemption of our soules as well as of our bodies in as much as the whole maÌ„ in Christ died the death of the crosse to redéeme the whole man in vs both partes in him ioyntlie féeling but with admirable patience enduring the bitter and sharpe paines antecedent and annexed to the death of his bodie Cum caro in doloribus est in poenis profecto anima tunc habet maximum agonem patientiae When the flesh is in anguish and paine saith Austen then the soule certainly hath the greatest triall of patience For the soule is so created and ordained that shee feeleth the pleasure and paine of her bodie and howsoeuer the flesh bee subiected to violence the sence and grieuance thereof is in the soule both in this life and in the next As the bodilie death of Christ paieth the price of our redemption so it remoueth all the impediments of our saluation which are manie and mightilie linked together For by the CORRVPTION of nature descending from our parents and dwelling within vs wee are solde vnder sinne fulfilling the will of the flesh and louing pleasures more then God whereby we neglect and breake the LAVV of God and so incurre the CVRSE pronounced against the transgressours of the law and by that obligation are liable to ETERNAL DEATH This is the chaine of originall infection actuall transgression legall malediction and eternal damnation which draweth vs from God and bindeth vs as prisoners and captiues to death and hell If then the DEATH of Christ suffered IN THE BODY OF HIS FLESH loosed euery linke of this chaine and not onelie cleered vs from all these enemies and exactors but reconciled vs to God and made peace for vs by the bloud of his crosse it is a wrong to the death bloud of Christ either to disable theÌ„ as not sufficient to redéem vs or to supplie them with anie better or other addition which the holie ghost doth not mention Examine these particularlie and see whether the power of Christes death doe not perfectlie dissolue them all Our olde man is crucified with him that the bodie of sinne might bee destroied that henceforth we should not serue sinne Let not sinne raigne therefore in your mortall bodie saieth the Apostle that you should obey it in the lustes thereof The force and strength of originall sinne and corruption in all the faithfull is crucified and dead with Christ except they reuiue it by voluntarie obeying the lustes thereof For they which are Christes haue crucified the flesh with the affections and lustes by reason not onelie the guilt but also the life and power of sinne died in Christes flesh when it was crucified So that sinne nowe hath no dominion ouer them because they are not vnder the lawe but vnder grace And likewise for actuall sinne by Christ we haue redemption through his bloud that is the forgiuenes of sinnes For God hath proposed him to be a reconciliation through faith in his bloud by the forgiuenesse of the sinnes that are passed through the patience of God The bloud therefore of Christ Iesus his sonne clenseth vs from all sinne since he is the mediator of the new Testament whose death was for the redemption of the transgressions that were in the former testament If the death of Christ on the crosse and the shedding of his bloud were the iust and full redemption of all our sinnes then apparentlie it eased and ended the curse which the lawe inflictedâ— for sinne For where he is accursed that continueth not in al things written in the book OF
together Góod Sir awake out of your sleepe and learne at least to vnderstand before you aunswere As this presumer euerie where with disdaine casteth away the iudgements of the fathers which I produce preferreth his owne peeuish conceite before them all so when he reporteth my reasons he either ignoraÌ„tlie mistaketh them or purposelie peruerteth them y â— they may the lesse encumber him In the effectes of Christes crosse I noted out of the Apostle to the Hebrues three properties of the true propitiatorie sacrifice which tooke awaie the sinne of the world It was a bodilie a bloudie and a deadlie sacrifice and amongst manie reasons to confirme the same I brought these two which the confâ—ter after his forgetfull maner roueth at The first in effect was this The true sacrifice for sinne which the Redeemer should offer was shadowed and foreshewed by the sacrifices which God commanded and accepted in the old testament but the sacrifices of the Patriarches and of the faithfull appointed by Moses foreshewed and figured a bodilie bloudie and deadlie sacrifice and no paines of hell therfore the true sacrifice for sinne was made by the bodie bloud and death of the Redéemer and not by the paines of hell suffered in his soule The second this As the sacrifices of the law prefigured what the Sauiour of the world should do for the abolishing of sinne so the sacraments of the newe testament confirme and scale that performed in the person of Christ Iesus which was the true propitiation for our sinnes and price of our redemption but the sacraments of the new testament and speciallie the Lordes supper declare and confirme vnto vs the bodie of Christ giuen for vs vnto death and his bloud shed for the remission of our sinnes therefore this was the true propitiation for our sinnes and price of our redemption and not the paines of hell suffered in the soule of Christ as some imagine To the first the Confuter answereth The proposition is false taking it generally The carnall sacrifices of the Iewes signified that which they were apt to signifie but not anie further The sacrifices of beastes coulde not prefigure the personall vnion of God and man nor the reasonable and immortall soule of Christ nor his resurrection all which were necessarie pointes in the meritorious sacrifice Secondlie he denieth the assumption For certaine of the Iewes sacrifices set foorth the sufferinges of the soule of Christ also As the scape Gote in the 16. of Leuiticus which was a sin offering though it were sent awaie free and vntouched To the reason drawne from the Sacraments hee saieth Wee are to answere as we did before These are bodilie and earthlie Elements and therefore fitte to set soorth bodilie and apparant effects in Christ they can not set out the spirituall and inuisible effects in him And yet the ceremonie of breaking the bread which is to shewe that Christes bodie was broken for vs can not belong properlie to the bodie but to the soule These I trust are your words now heare my replie I had no such proposition as you frame to your selfe that either the sacrifices of the lawe or Sacraments of the Gospel were figures of our whole and absolute redemption which is as you expound it of all the fruits and causes of our redemption This is your euasion not my proposition I tolde you that as God had promised so the faithfull beléeued that his owne sonne should be the Seede of the woman and by his death and bloud should purge their sinnes To continue this promise and confirme the faith of all before and vnder the lawe God appointed bloudie sacrifices as continuall remembrances and figures not of the person nor of the function of Christ but of the Sacrifice by which hee shoulde abolish sinne to wiâ—te by his bodie slaine and his bloud shedde which the carnall sacrifices were fittest to resemble since God would not haue the bloud of anie man but of his owne sonne shedde for remission of sinnes My proposition then speaketh of the true sacrifice for sinne and auoucheth that to bee the true sacrifice for sinne which was shadowed and figured by the death and bloud of those beasts that God commaâ—â—ded to bee offered vnto him This proposition you doe not denie for you graunt The Iewes sacrifices signified what they were apt to teach and signifie but they were apt and ordained of GOD to teach the Iewes that by the death and bloud of the Messias they shoulde bee redeemed and saued from their sinnes ergo they were apt and ordained of God to figure and shadowe the true propitiatorie sacrifice And so the patriarkes and Prophetes beléeued and expected whose faith and hope could neither be vaine nor frustrate since they were thereto directed by Gods owne appointment This proposition be you Christian or Iewe you may not denie and therefore you doe well to denie the assumption and to affirme that certaine sacrifices of the Iewes as namelie the scape Goate in the 16. of Leuiticus did signifie the immortall soule of Christ which was a sacrifice for sinne and did properlie beare our sinnes and suffer for our sinnes But Sir if a man aske you howe you proue that the scape Goate signified the soule of Christ what haue you to saie Because both Goates saie you are a sacrifice for sinne as the Text speaketh You abuse the Text and deceiue your selfe The wordes are Aaron shall take of the assemblie of the children of Israel two hee Goates fâ—r a sinne offering that is to make a sinne offering of one of them on which the Lordes lotte shall fall So followe the wordes in the 8. verse of that chapter Aaron shall cast lottes ouer the two hee Goates one lotte for the Lorde and another lotte for the scape Goate And Aaron shall offer the Goate on which the Lords lot shall fall and MAKE HIM A SINNE OFFERING The taking of the Goates from the people doth not make them sacrifices for sinne but the offering them vnto the Lord by the Priest so that though two were taken yet lots were cast which of them should hee the sinne offering and which of them the scape Goat which consequentlie was no sinne offering because that was made a sinne offering on which the Lords lot fell And so if the scape Goate did signifie the soule of Christ as you affirme more boldlie then wiselie then was not the soule of Christ a sinne offering neither did it suffer for sinne if your owne example maie bee trusted Howbeit what the scape Goate signified I am not so forwarde to pronounce as you bee though I haue better warrant so to doe then you haue For Cyrill or as some thinke Origen writing vpon that place of Leuiticus 〈◊〉 If all the people of God were holie there shoulde not bee two lottes cast vpon the Goates one to bee offered to the Lorde the other to bee sent to the desart but there should bee one lotte and one offering
earth with his bloud it was declared not to him who knewe it but vnto vs that he had obtained the effect of his praier with his bloud to purge the faith of his Disciples which earth lie frailtie did weaken and whatsoeuer offence the earth had taken at his death al that he dying should abolish yea with his innocent death he should raise vnto an heauenlie life the whole world then dead in their sinnes Bernard taketh hold on S. Pauls wordes where hee calleth Christes sweate by the name of teares and â—aith Ventum est adorationem vsque tertiò factus in Agoâ—ia orabat vbi quidem non solis oculis sed quasi omnibus membris sleuisse videtur vt totuÌ„ corpus eius quod est ecclesia totius corporis lachrymis purgaretur Christ came to praier and being in an agony he praied thrise where he seemed to weepe not onelie with his cies but with all the parts of his body that the whole body of his Church might bee purged with the teares of his whole body S. Paul alleageth the cries and teares of Christ in the garden as a proofe of his priesthood saith that not onlie He offered praiers supplications which was one part of y e priests office wherein hee was heard for the reuerence had of him But also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being sanctified to offer sacrifice for so the word doth often signifie or else consummated by the offering of himselfe on the crosse which was the other part of his priestlie function was made authour of eternall saluation to all that obey him being thus called and allowed of God to bee an high priest after the order of Melchizedec Christ readie to enter the garden saith Proâ—eis sanctifico meipsum for their sakes I sanctifie my selfe and sanctification properlie belonged to the priestes person before hee might appeare in Gods presence to offer for the sinnes of the people and by the rite of Moses lawe the priestes when they were sanctified vnto God had their bodies sprinkled with the bloud of their sacrifice from top to toe Christ then being the truth of all their figures as well in the sanctification as oblation of himselfe might miraculouslie sprinkle his whole bodie with his own bloud for it was aboue nature as Hilarie noteth and so consceraâ—e his person as approoued of God to be the true priest after the order of Melchizedec and voluntarilie dedicate his bloud to be shed for the remission of our sinnes which hee did of his owne accord yeeld to be disposed of at his fathers pleasure before the Iewes or Gentiles wounded his bodie that his whole passion which followed might bee a willing sacrifice and no forced violence by the handes or weapons of the wicked Christes agonie then being alleaged by the Apostle to demonstrate Christs priesthood must not rise from the terror of his own death but rather from the vehemencie of his praier for vs that it might bee aswell an intercession for sinners as a sanctification of himselfe to offer the sacrifice auaileable for the sinnes of the world To which if anie will adde the signification of the martyrs bloud which Austen speaketh of as if Christ in the garden did not onelie present his owne bloud to be the true propitiation of our sinnes but also the bloud of his martyrs to make their death acceptable to God that willinglie laide downe their liues for the witnes of his truth I can be well content to admit that exposition considering Christ must offer both the liues and deathes of all his saintes to God his father before they can be holie or precious in his sight But since Christes feare as they expound the Apostles words Hebre. 5. is made the groundworke of this conceipt let vs see whether their owne foundation wil not ouerthrow their owne building The paines of hell did Christ when hee praied in the garden feare them or no if hee did not feare them hee did not féele them for they are fearefull yea the verie expectation of them is verie dreadful as the Apostle saith Hebre. 10 and if he feared them not howe could they bee the cause of his agonie which these men so stiflie maintaine If he feared them he was fréed from them as they themselues interprete the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for hee was heard in that he feared His praier was to haue that cup passe from him and God neuer denied whatsoeuer he asked I know saith Christ to his father that thou hearest me alwaies Whence they conclude he feared hell paines thence I infer hee suffered them not for being deliuered from the feare of hell approching he could not be left vnder the burden of hell abiding Againe if the suffering of hell were the cause of Christs agony the cause continuing the effect could not cease But his agonie ended in the garden how then could the paines of hell endure on the crosse and be lengthened almost to the end of his life Ierome saith vpon these wordes of Christ to his disciples Arise let vs go least they finde vs as though we were fearefull and drawing backe let vs of our owne accorde goe towardes them vt considentiam gaudium passuri videant that they may see the confidence and gladnesse of Christ going to his passion The continuance of Christes agonie they proue by his complaint on the crosse where not long before he yeelded vp his spirit he cried My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and these words they saie do plainelie conuince that Christ felt himselfe forsaken of God and that this was the true cause of his agonie whatsoeuer pretences are inuented by others to excuse or colour his feare Indeede this place must beare the burden of the whole frame for the rest are onlie signes of sorrowe and zeale the scriptures not expressing the cause but here are manifest wordes if wee mistake not their reference My father is greater then I am were words as cleare as daie light but the referring that to the diuine which hee spake of his humane nature bred the Arrian heresie My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee are not so plaine for the saints of God haue often complained vnto God that they were forsaken of him when he withdrew neither his fauour grace nor spirit from them but onelie withhelde his helpe or comfort for the time to make them more earnest to séeke and flie to him But were they neuer so pregnant if we applie them to the wrong part which God neuer forsooke we may incurre as grosse an errour as euer did Arrius And yet if we straine them to the vttermost they will neuer proue that Christ on the crosse suffered the paines of hell For if we should grant which were diuelish impietie to thinke that God forsooke Christes soule as verelie as euer hee did anie of the wicked heere on earth Cain Saul Iudas not excepted yet that doth not
euerie man according to his works our sauior for warneth vs not in vaine that hel fâ—er is VNQVENCHABLE EVERLASTING Since then neither the remorse reiection malediction nor desperation of the damned nor the darkenes destruction death fire of hel can without euident impiety be attributed to the soule of Christ I am farre from admitting into anie part of the Créed this ambiguous if not dangerous assertion that Christ in his soule on the crosse felt the verie paines and torments of the damned but I preferre the simple and plaine doctrine of the holie Ghost which teacheth vs that Christ died for our sinnes according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that hee rose againe the thirde daie according to the scriptures and by Christs so doing death was swallowed vp into victory and we may ioifully saie O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victory thanking God which hath giuen this victorie through our Lorde Iesus Christ as it was forespoken by the prophet Esay The Lorde will destroy death for euer and by Osee O death I will bee thy death O hell I will bee thy destruction The manner of Christes offering is the second effect of Christs crosse which must be bloudie before it can be propitiatorie In this part I will deliuer you thrée thinges worthie to be obserued with what Sacrifice God was pleased for our sinnes with what price the Diuell was concluded for our ransome with what Seale the newe couenant of grace and mercie was confirmed vnto vs for our safetie These three depend eache on other God as the Iudge offended was to haue a sacrifice for our sinne that might content him the Diuell as the Iailour was to haue a ransome for vs that were by Gods Iustice deliuered into his handes Our selues as prisoners were to bee restored by GODS pardon and to be assured of his protection that the like miserie might not the second time preuaile against vs which is performed by the newe Testament of mercie forgiuing and grace repressing sinne that wee relapse not into the pit of perdition whence wee were deliuered What was the true propitiatorie sacrifice which God accepted for the sinnes of the world if the new testament did not plainelie declare the olde testament would sufficientlie witnesse vnto vs. For as well Patriarks as Prophets yea all the godlie from Abel to Christ did by their sacrifices and seruice of God professe and confirme their faith to be this that they looked for the Seede of the woman who by his death and bloud should purge their sinnes and make peace betwéene God and them This was the promise of grace which God made in Paradise to our first parents threatning the serpent with the séede of the woman in these words He shall crush thine heade and thou shalt bruise his heele As the heele of man is the basest part of his bodie and nearest the earth so the Serpent shoulde bruise the weakest and earthliest part of Christ but euen that bruized heele should bee of force enough to crush the Serpentes head For by the flesh of Christ wounded and bloud shed the power pride of satan should be conquered and confounded This sence of Gods promise made to his parents Abell the first martyr by faith accepted by sacrifice adored and in that respect his bodilie and bloudie offering was preferred before his brothers This faith did all the Patriarkes testifie by their bloudie sacrifices that they expected the bodie of the Messias to be bruized and his bloud to be shed for the remission of their sinnes And as they receiued it from their fathers so they deliuered it to their children for the shoot anchor of all their hope This God did ratifie by his lawe written suffering his people to haue no sacrifices for sinne but such as represented the bloudie offering of Christ on the crosse So that all the sacrifices and sacraments of Moses lawe were nothing else but figures and examples of better thinges as the Apostle calleth them namelie of Christes bodie once to bee offered and his bloud once to bee shed for the abolishing of sinne The FIGVRES of Christ before and vnder the lawe what else doe they point but to the death bloud and crosse of Christ to be the redemption and saluation of all mankinde Abrahams readinesse to offer vp Isaac for which the blessing was annexed to him with an othe what doth it import but the loue of God Not sparing his owne sonne but giuing him for vs all The blâ—â—d of the passeouer sprinkled on the postes of the Israelites fâ—â—uert the destroier doth it not represent the bloud of that immaculate lambe which saueth vs from the fiercenesse of Gods wrath The lifting vp the brasen serpent to cure the people that were stung with fierie Serpents doth it not foreshewe Christ hanging on the crosse to cure our soules from the poison of sinne which is the sting of that deadlie serpent The strength of Sampson pulling the house on his owne and his enemies heades doth it not declare the voluntarie death of Christ to be the destruction of death and hell which insulted at him on the crosse When the truth came expressed by all these sacrifices and resembled in all these figures what offering made he on the altar of the crosse Did he yeelde his soule to the paines of hell or his bodie to be crucified of the Iewes both they will saie for so they must saie except they will haue their supposall of hell paines cleane excluded from the sacrifice for sin But which of these two was beleeued of the Patriarks witnessed by the sacrifices shadowed in the figures of the law expected of the faithfull from the foundation of the worlde The bloudie sacrifice of Christes bodie is so plainelie proclaimed by them all that there can bee no question of their faith and expectation And were they deceiued in the obiect of their faith and hope Did they all mistake the true sacrifice for their sinnes and did God by his lawe confirme them in that errour And doeth the Apostle falselie conclude from the sacrifices of the lawe that Christes offering before it coulde take awaie sinne must of force bee bloudie These were verie strange positions in Christian religion and yet I sée not howe wee shall auoide them if we strictlie maintaine the suffering of hell paines to bee the chiefer and principaller part of our redemption without which the rest is nothing If their faith fastened on the death and bloud of Christ for the remission of their sinnes did saue them then was the death of Christ of force enough without the paines of Hell to release them from their sinnes and bring them vnto God And if it wrought that effect in them it is still of the same power and strength to worke the like in vs. If it were insufficient to release them from the rigour of GODS wrath then are the
the destruction of all the faythfull Wherefore the wisedome and iustice of God suffered him to shewe his rage on the flesh of Christ and as it were to trample in his bloud which hee spilt like water on the earth and left him that which hee so eagerly pursued and in his malice against Gods glorie preferred before all the worlde as a full payment for all those that shoulde be deliuered by the death of Christ. And for this cause the bloud of Christ is called by y e holie ghost the PRICE of our REDEMPTION Ye were REDEEMED saith Peter WITH THE PRECIOVS BLOVD of Christ as of a lambe vnspotted and vndefiled Yea the song which the Saints in heauen do sing vnto the lambe is this Thou wast killed and HAST REDEEMED VS TO GOD BY THY BLOOD When I say the bloud of Christ was â—he price wherewith God redéemed vs out of Satans power I doe not meane that God made anie contract with Satan or tooke his consent to exchange much lesse that Christ did profer his bloud to the diuell to set vs free it were an iniurie to Christ for vs to thinke his bloud was shed to satisfie the diuell as Gregory Nazianzene wel obserueth in his oration de Paschate but Christ offered his bloud as a sacrifice to god his father to verifie the iudgement pronounced against vs Thou shalt die the death and to satisfie the iustice of God prouoked with our sinnes yet in comming to his death since his life might not be ended neither with his owne hand nor by the hand of his Father the wisedome of God deliuered him into the handes of sinners by whose blinde zeale and bloudie rage the diuell that worketh in the children of disobedience conspired and compassed his death and with all maner of contumelie and crueltie abused his body and spilt his blood insulting at him by the mouthes of the wicked and reioycing in the conquest he gate ouer Christ in bringing him to a reprochfull death But this extreame rage of Satan against the person of Christ turned to the vtter ruine of his owne kingdome For God did not onely raise againe the Lord Iesus from death as dying an innocent without all desert but in recompence of the wrong which he receiued at Satans hands to the which he willingly submitted himselfe God gaue him power to spoyle the kingdome of the diuell and to deliuer all that euer did or should beleeue in his death and passion And in this sort Christ bought vs with his precious bloud from the daunger of sinne and hell not offering but suffering Satan by the hands of the Iewes to take his life from him neither compounding with his aduersarie but repressing him in the middest of his malice who assaulting Christ Iesus our head as he had done all the members was ouerthrowne by him and vanquished with an euerlasting victorie Mortuus est volens vt inuoluntarie mortuos exuscitaret Deuorauit ipsum mors ignorans vbi deuorasset cognouit quem non deuorauit Deuorauit vnum cum omnibus perdidit omnes propter vnum Rapuit vt leo confracti sunt dentes ipsius Christ died willinglie saith Basill that hee might raise those which died against their wils Death ignorantly deuoured him which when hee had done hee knewe whom he had not deuoured Hee swallowed vp one as he did all and for that one hee lost all Hee seased on him as a Lion but his teeth were therwith broken The créed extant vnder the name of Ruffinus Sacramentum carnis susceptae hanc habet causam vt diuina filij dei virtus velut hamus quidam habitu humanae carnis obtectus principem mundi inuitare posset ad Agonem cui ipse carnem suam velut escam tradens hamo eum diuinitatis intrinsecus teneret insertus ex profusione immaculati sanguinis The mysterie of Christes taking flesh was to this end that the diuine power of the Sonne of GOD couered as a hooke vnder the shewe of mans flesh might prouoke the Prince of this worlde to assault him to WHOM CHRIST DELIVERING HIS FLESH AS A BAITE helde fast the diuell with the hooke of his diuinitie sticking in him through the shedding of his immaculate bloud Conditorem omnium Satanae manui traditum quis vel desipiens credat sed tamen edoctus veritate quis nesciat cum se pro nostra redemptione Dominus membrorum Satanae manibus tradidit quod eiusdem Satanae manum in se saeuire permittit vt vnde ipse exterius occumberet inde nos exterius interiusque liberaret That the maker of all was deliuered into the hande of Satan who is so foolish as to beleeue And yet who taught by the trueth is ignorant that when the Lorde for our redemption yeelded himselfe into their handes that were the members of Satan hee suffered the hande of Satan to rage agaynst him that whence he outwardlie dyed in body thence he might both outwardlie and inwardlie deliuer vs And therefore hee concludeth Cum corpus eius ad passionem accipit electos eius à iure suae potestatis amittit When Satan receyued the bodie of Christ to crucifie it hee lost the elect of Christ from subiection to his power Saint Austen shewing howe Christ conquered the Diuell first by iustice and then by power sayeth Placuit Deo vt propter eruendum hominem de Diabolâ— potestate non potentia Diabolus sed iustitia vinceretur It pleased God for the deliuering of man out of the Diuels power that the diuell should be conquered by iustice and not by might Qua est igitur iustitia qua victus est Diabolus Quae nisi iustitia Iesu Christi Et quomodo victus est Quia cum in eo nihil morte dignum inuenit occidit eum tamen utique iustum est vt debitores quos tenebat liberi dimittantur in eum credentes quem sine vllo debito occidit Hoc est quod iustificari dicimur in sanguine Christi What then is the iustice whereby the Diuell was conquered What but the iustice of Iesu Christ And howe Because that when the Diuell founde in Christ nothing woorthie of death hee killed him notwithstanding and surelie iustice requireth that the debtours which Satan helde shoulde bee sette free beleeuing in him whome Satan slue without any debt This is it that wee are sayde to bee iustifyed in the bloud of Christ. Sanguis enim ille quoniam eius erat qui nullum habuit omnino peccatum ad remissionem nostrorum fusus est peccatorum vt quia eos Diabolus merito tenebat quos peccatireos conditione mortis obstrinxit hos per eum meritò dimitteret quem nullius peccati reum immerito poena mortis affecit hac iustitia victus hoc vinculo vinctus est fortis vt vasa eius eriperentur For that bloud because it was his who was vtterlie voyde of sinne was shedde for the remission of
I drewe from the Sacraments of the new testament and namelie from the Lordes Supper in the length of six lines Sir refuter you contradict the definition and institution of that Sacrament as also the plaine resolution of S. Paul and the principles of naturall reason The Sacraments you saie are earthlie elements they cannot set out spirituall and inuisible effects in Christ. I had thought Sacraments by their nature had beene visible signes of inuisible graces which definition is so common in the schooles that no smatterer in diuinitie besides you is ignorant of it Si tu incorporeus esses nudè dona ipsa incorporea tibi tradidisset quoniam vero corpori coniuncta est anima in sensibilibus intelligibilia tibi traduntur If thou hadst been without a bodie God would haue giuen thee his spirituall gifts vncouered but because thy soule is ioined with thy bodie in sensible thinges are deliuered thee spirituall or inuisible graces Where all the Sacraments were common saith Augustine Grace which is the vertue of the Sacraments was not common to all In the Lords Supper that there should be no horror of bloud yet the grace of Redemption might remaine for a resemblance thou receiuest the Sacrament but thou obtainest the grace vertue of Christs true nature So that if those earthly elements of water bread and wine did not set out and exhibite the spiritual and invisible effects in Christ they were no Sacraments But the Ceremonie of breaking bread say you cannot properly belong to the body but to the soule In the first institution of his Supper did not Christ breake the bread and deliuer it saying Take eate this is my bodie If breaking belong to the bread then breaking belongeth properlie to the body of Christ for the bread was ordained to shew forth the body of Christ that S. Paul noteth in expresse words The bread which we break is it not the Cōmunion of the body of Christ But Christs body you say was not properly broken because y e scripture saith not a bone of him shalbe broken A speculation fit for such a diuine as you are had Christs body nothing in it but bones Had he not as well flesh as bones A spirit saith our sauiour hath not flesh bones as you see me haue Then if Christs flesh were rent torne with whips with nailes with a speare as it certainly was though his bones were whole his body was properly truly broken For the cutting or tearing of the flesh is the breaking of the flesh and from a part the whole maie and doth properly take his denomination And therfore Paul spake truly and properlie when he thus expresseth the words of Christs institution This is my body which is brokē for you Neither doth he in that word varie from Christs institution but he rather teacheth vs that as the bread is broken and the wine powred out in the Lords supper so was the flesh of the Lords body giuen to be broken torne on the crosse for vs his bloud likewise shed for the remission of our sinnes The nailes spear you grant did pearce him but in no sort can that be called breaking or bruising in peeces as the worde in Esay doth plainlie signifie Wherefore the meaning is the torments of his soule did bruize and breake him in peeces Your Hebrue your Greeke your Philosophie came all out of one forge they are so like You can not finde that Christes flesh was broken and bruised on the Crosse by grieuous stripes and wounds but you haue spied that his soule was broken in peeces and that properlie If one of the Prentices before whome you were wont to talke should aske you into howe manie péeces it was broken your heade would ake to shape him a wise answere But the word DACHA which Esay vseth doth plainly you say signifie to breake in peeces Doth it alwaies and euer signifie properlie to breake into péeces How can it then be applied to the soule but improperlie and by a figuratiue kinde of speech A Moole hill with you is a Mountaine The worde doth signifie to treade vnder foote to bruise to oppresse to humble When Dauid saith the enemie hath cast my life downe to the ground Will you saie he hath broken my life in péeces When Iob saith How long will yee vexe my soule and afflict mee with your wordes will you adde and breake mee in peeces with your wordes When Ieremie saith of the men of Iudah They are not humbled vnto this day Will you phrase it and say They are not broken in peeces to this day In the power of Christs death to proue the bloud of our sauiour to be the true price of our redemption and that as wel of our soules as of our bodies I alledged the words of Peter You were redeemed with the precious bloud of Christ and of the souls in heauen saying vnto Christ Thou wast killed hast redeemed vs to God by thy bloud when their bodies were rotten in y e earth Hence I reasoned if our soules be not redeemed frō death by the blood of christ our bodies haue in this life no benefite of redemption I meane from death for wee die as doe infidels and our bodies rot in the graue as theirs doe till the daie of resurrection But S. Peter saieth wee are redeemed not we shall bee and the saints say to Christ when their bodies lie in the dust Thou hast redeemed vs by thy bloud ergo that redemption which we haue in this life must be referred to our soules and our bodies must expect the generall daie of redemption in the ende of the world To this our Confuter replieth What a paradox yea what impietie is this Haue our bodies no good at all by Christes death no more then the bodyes of infidels because wee die stil as wel as they Good Sir remember Redemption from death is the point which I vrged y t our bodies in this life haue not no more then the bodies of Infidels haue but must expect it And therefore if our Soules be not redeemed by the blood of Christ from Sinne death we haue presentlie no redemption by the bloud of Christ but must staie for the time of our resurrection before we shall haue it Which is contrarie to the words both of Peter and of the Soules in heauen that saie to Christ when their bodies bee rotten in earth Thou hast redeemed vs by thy blood Here y u tell vs of the iustification mortification and sanctification of our bodies as also of the expectation of glorie which our bodies shall haue and thinke to make a great conquest of the words NO GOOD AT ALL but pull in your hornes Besides that my meaning is verie plaine whatsoeuer the wordes were which I might vse which I do not acknowledge to be these that you bring but that our bodies haue no benefitte of Redemption from
the scriptures resolued to bee the sufficient price of our redemption and meane of our reconciliation to God except you take the bodie of Christ for the soule of Christ and the stripes and woundes of his â—lesh for the paines of hell Yee were redeemed with the precious bloud of Christ saieth Peter Can there bee plainer wordes that Christes bloud shedde for the remission of our sinnes is the perfect price of our redemption without the deaâ—h of the soule or paines of hell which you interpose So likewise when Peter saieth Christ bare our sinnes in his bodie on the Tree in that hee suffered once â—or sinners when hee was put to death in his flesh are you not forced to peruerâ— these woordes for defence of your fancie and to take the flesh for bodie and soule that you maie make the death of Christe to bee common to both It is one thing you will saie to take the fleshe for the whole man and another to take the bodie for the soule I knowe it right well but the one will not serue your turne without the other By a part to name or note the whole man is no newes in the Scriptures but to ascribe the attributes of one part to the other because the name of either part is sometimes taken for the whole that is a generall subuerting of all the trueth of the Scriptures Saint Austen tolde you euen nowe that Christes dead flesh is called Christ will you therefore referre the properties of Christes dead flesh vnto his soule and not thinke you take the waie to dissolue as well the vnion as communion of two natures in Christ and of the distinction of two parts in his manhood The body indeede is more distinguished from the soule then the name of flesh is because the vnregenerate part of the soule is in the Scriptures euerie where called flesh but this hath no place in Christ by reason no corruption of sinne cleaned vnto his soule and therefore the name of fleshe doeth no where signifie the soule in Christ as it doeth often in vs onelie by naming flesh in Christ the scripture sometimes intendeth that he disdained not the weakest and basest part of our nature when he came to redéeme vs. And so Saint Iohn saith The worde was made flesh meaning the true and eternall sonne of God vouchsafed to take not onelie our reasonable and humane soule vnto him but euen our vilde and mortall flesh into the vnitie of his person and so became man that hee might restore man nowe fallen from God and perished in his sinnes to the fauour and life of God againe But when the Scriptures saie that Christ died for our sinnes the auncient fathers and Councels with one consent applie that to the death of Christes bodie on the Crosse and not to the death of the soule or to anie paines of hell And though in the Treatise before I haue cited such as sufficientlie witnesse that doctrine to be sounde and Catholike yet will I not bee greeued to let thee see Christian Reader that there was nothing more commonlie nor constantlie professed in the Primitiue Church then the doctrine which I am now forced to defende against the rage and reproch of this slaunderous impugner Post edita per facta diuinitatis suae monumenta reliquum iam erat vt pro omnibus sacrificium offerret pro omnibus templum suum morti tradens quo omnes innoxios liberos à veteri praeuaricatione efficeret seque declararet mortis victorem Corpus igitur quod communem cum omnibus habebat naturam corpus enim humanum mortale erat ad similitudiâ—em sui generis mortem excepit verbum enim quoniam mori non potuit vtpote immortale corpus sibi sumpsit quod mori poterat illudque vt suuÌ„ pro omnibus obtulit vt ita pro omnibus omnibus ipse corpore coniunctusâ— mortem patiens compesceret eum qui mortis habebat imperium hoc est Diabolum liberaret eos quotquot formidine mortis per omnem vitam obnoxiy erant seruituti After Christ by his deedes had declared his diuinitie it remained that hee shoulde OFFER A SACRIFICE FOR ALL yeelding vnto death the temple of his bodie for all thereby to deliuer and discharge all from the olde transgression and to declare himselfe the conquerour of death His bodie therefore which in nature was like all ours for it was an humane and mortall bodie died in like maner as bodies doe For the sonne of God because he could not die being immortall tooke a bodie vnto him that might die and offered that as his owne for all men that so being ioined in bodie to all and suffering death for all he might represse him that had power of death euen the Diuell and free those that for feare of death were all their life long subiected to seruitude Epiphanius treadeth in the same steppes When the sonne of God saith he would suffer of his owne good will for mankinde because his diuinitie coulde not suffer beeing of it selfe impassible hee tooke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OVR BODIE THAT MIGHT SVFFER that therein hee might yeelde to suffer and admitted our sufferings his Godhead being present in his flesh the godhead suffreth not For he that saith I am life how can he die But God remaining impassible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufferâ—th by his flesh that his passion may be accounted to his deitie though it suffered not to the ende our saluation shoulde bee from God In his flesh was the suffering least wee should haue a passible God Which indeede is impassible imputing that suffering vnto himselfe according to his free choise and not of anie necessitie Ambrose in like sort Laqueus contritus est nos liberati sumus Non potuit melius conteri laqueus nisi praedam aliquam diabolo demoÌ„strasset vt dum ille festinaret ad praedam suis laqueis ligaretur Quae potuit esse praeda nisi corpus Oportuit igitur hoc fraudem Diabolo fieri vt sâ—sciperet corpus dominus Iesus corpus hoc corruptibile corpus infirmum vt crufigeretur ex infirmitate Sienâ—m fuisset corpus spirituale non dixisset spiritus promptus est caro autem infirma The snare is broken and we are deliuered The snare could not bee better broken then by shewing the diuel some pray that whiles he hastned to the pray he might be wrapped in his owne snares What pray could there be beside the bodie of man It was therefore requisite the diuell should bee thus deceiued that the Lord Iesus should take a body vnto him euen this corruptible weake body of ours that he might be crucified through infirmitie Had it beene a spiritual bodie that he tooke he would neuer haue said the spirite is readie but the flesh is weake The same Christ suffered and suffered not died and died not rose againe and did not rise because hee raised vp his owne bodie
of Christ least we mistake the truth or distrust the force thereof to the dishonour of Christ and danger of our owne soules To preuent this perill I thinke best to obserue this order in that which shall be saide â—o shewe first what the Crosse of Christ CONTAINETH next what the crosse of Christ PERFORMETH that knowing the contents and effectes of Christs crosse I meane the paines which he suffered and the worke which he accomplished by dying on the crosse we may be setled and assured how far it extended and what it effected for vs. To begin with the CONTENTS of Christes crosse The crosse is sometimes taken in the Scripture for all manner of affliction He that will come after me let him denie himselfe and dailie take vp his crosse and follow me He that doth not take vp his Crosse and follow me is not worthy of me In this sence saieth Bernarde The whole life of Christ was a crosse and a martyrdom The reason 〈◊〉 Christ so vsed the worde for he first vsed it was for that he saw before hande that going to his crosse he should taste all kindes of calamities and so came it to passe For betwéene his last supper and his death hee was betraied of Iudas abiured of Peter forsaken of all his followers hee was wrongfulliâ— imprisoned falselie accused vniustlie condemned he was buffeted whipped scorned reuiled he endured colde nakednes thirst wounding hanging shame reproch and all sortes of deadlie paines besides heauinesse of heart and agonie of mind which oppressed him in the garden Rightlie then maie the crosse note all maner of miseries forasmuch as our Sauiour going from the garden to the graue suffered all sortes of afflictions howbeit this is no different signification but rather a participation of the crosse of Christ. The Church of Rome hath wedded a great part of her deuotion to the crosse of Christ but vnder that name she adoreth the matter and forme of the crosse as for the force and effects of Christs death which is remission of our sinnes satisfaction of Gods wrath and donation of eternall life she prodigallie imparteth that to her pilgrimages pardons purgatorie yea to the works and praiers of quicke and dead and so magniâ—â—eng the signe and wood of the crosse she dishonoreth the merite and fruit of Christ crucified But of her painted and caâ—ued crosses the scripture maketh no mention and therefore I shipt it rather as a manifest illusion then anie signification of the crosse of Christ. Most commonlie in the Scriptures by the crosse of Christ the holie Ghost meaneth the person suffering and the paine suffered on the crosse that is the punishments and torments which the sonne of God suffered for our sinnes after he was fastened to the tree the rest which went before not being excluded as superfluous but continued and increased by that sharpe and extreame martyrdome which hee endured on the crosse And so Christ crucified as the scriptures describe him had from top to toe no part frée from paine and griefe but hoong on the wood hauing his flesh torne with whippes his chéekes swolne with buffets his face defiled with spittle his head stuckt full with thornes his eies deiected for shame his eares burning with taunts his mouth sowred with vineger his hands and feete wounded with Iron spikes his bones vniointed his sinewes pricked and strained his whole body hanging by the sorenesse of his hands and feet and lastlie though he were first dead his heart pierced with a Speare whence issued bloud and water His bodie thus wounded and tortured vnto death his bloud thus shed and as it were powred on the earth are said in the scriptures to be the ransome of our sinnes and price of our redemption Hee bare our sinnes in his body vpon the Crosse saith Peter and again You are redeemed with the precious bloud of Christ as of a lambe vnspotted and vndefiled I do not amplifie the bodilie paines which Christ suffered of purpose to make them séeme greater then they were I find my selfe rather vnable to expresse them but least wee should too much diminish them and aske What great matter it was for him to go securely and as it were sportinglie to his death I thought good shortlie to touch them and leaue the fuller and further consideration of them to the godlie at their priuate leysure In the meane time I may not omit in his Stripes Thornes Crucifying and Death to obserue that which the Reader will happilie ouerskippe in the historie of his passion vnlesse hee be both aduised and learned In his STRIPES I note that Pilate hauing a purpose to saue the life of Christ and not neglecting to satisfie the people that were incensed against him caused him extreamly to be whipped and shewed to the people in that plight with these worde Ecce homo Behold y e man to let them see that Christ had receiued very sufficient correction no crime being prooued agaâ—â—st him and so to withdraw them from seeking his death â—n CROVVNING him with thornes the souldiers did not onelâ—e wreath him a thicke crowne of thornes to sticke his head full of them but after the putting it on to fasten it they did strike him on the heade with their Canes as Matthew and Marke do plainlie testifie In NAILING him to the Crosse besides the greatnesse and sorenesse of his wounds which were worthie to be marked they so strained his bodie least hee should stirre hand or foote that all his bones might bee numbred The greatnesse of his woundes Dauid foreshewed by thâ—se wordes Foderunt manus meas pedes meos they digged my handes and my feete noting howe wide woundes they made in both which were rather digged than pierced and so bigge were the nailes as the Ecclesiasticall historie reporteth that Constantine made of them when his mother had found them in the mount where Christ was crucified A bridle and an helmet for his owne vse How tender and sensible the hands feét are aboue other partes of the bodie and what paine and anguish the pricking straining and tearing of the sinewes ligaments and ioynts in either which are verie thicke and full of sense in both those places did bréede and kindle in the whole bodie nature can teach vs without anie further proofe Of RACKING his ioints Bernard maketh this collection out of Dauid Tantum distentus sumâ— vt corpore nudo in moduÌ„ Tympanicae pellis distonto facile possint omnia ossa mea dinumerari I am so strained saith he in the person of Christ that my bodie naked beeing stretched like the head of a timbrell or drum all my bones may be numbred If this proofe reach not home Dauid hath plainer and expresser wordes in the 14. verse of the same Psalme which cannot be contradicted HITH PAREDV .i. Separauerunt se omnia ossamea All my bones are out of ioint or pulled one from the other In this
motion of the mind is but a temptation to trie the heart or shew the strength of the godlie So was Adam tempted in Paradise by Eue and Eue by the Serpent to prooue howe mindfull they were and thankfull they would be for the blessings of God bestowed vpon them So was Christ tempted in the wildernesse by Satan and all his life long by the wicked which were to him but occasions to declare the innocencie and integritie of his humane nature But the inwarde temptation of the heart and conscience though it bee in all the children of Adam the elect themselues not excepted by reason of their flesh lusting agaynst the spirite their conscience accusing them for sinne and their fayth sometimes fainting yet in Christ wee must graunt no such thing because in him there was neither corruption of flesh nor remorse of sinne nor weakenesse of faith that shoulde anie kinde of waie bréede or yeelde to the worme that gnaweth at our consciences A desperate feare is when the wrath of God awaketh the wicked to knowe and acknowledge what vengeance is prepared for them in the life to come and so hauing lost both fayth and hope they fall to an horrible expectation of iudgement and flaming fyre which shall deuoure the aduersarie But yet euen these men whose case is most despaired are not while they liue heere on earth in the true paines of Hell but are as farre from that as expecting is from suffering The last I knowe not howe to call but by the name of a damned rather paine then feare which the wicked departed this life doe presentlie feele For paine that is present inflicteth rather torment then feare since feare is properlie the trembling at euill before it come and not the grieuing at it when it is come Of these foure impressions yee see which I attribute vnto Christ and which not Despairing or so much as doubting of his saluation we cannot ascribe to him without euident impietie And as for Christes suffering the same paines which the damned soules in Hell doe to my simple vnderstanding it is rather a dreame then a doctrine to bee taught in the Church of Christ. Did they defende as great sense and anguish of paine to haue beene in Christes bodie or soule as hell fire doth inflict to the damned though that were a verie presumptuous and audacious position yet is it not so impious as when they affirme he sufred the self same which the damned do For the damned haue many sorts of paines in hel which by no means could fasten on Christs person and since there be degrées of paine in hell euen for the damned these curious teachers must shewe vs which of these degrees Christ suffered by what warrant of gods word they aâ—iunge the very paines of hell to the crosse of Christ. To perswade them to hold fast the forme of wholsom words which the holy ghost obserueth throughout the scriptures I feare is but lost labor hauing lighted on a strange doctrine they are forced to vse strange spéeches such as no where are found in the word of truth expressing mans redemption by the death and bloud of Christ yet somwhat to rebate the heat of such as despise all other sufferings of Christ in respect of their hell-paines I think it not amisse to examine the weight of those allegations and reasons that are brought to support their assertion The proofs that are pretended for this opinion may be recalled to thrée principal heds which are these PREDICTIONS that Christ should suffer the paines of hell in soul CAVSES why he must suffer them SIGNES that he did suffer them Predictions that Christ should suffer the paines of hel are cited the se Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell and againe The sorowes or streights of hell haue found me out beset me round The causes why he must suffer them are enlarged by some into many branches but may bee contracted into these two THE PART that chiefly sinned in man the VVAGES due to man for sin The WORKE of sin appeared first most in the soul of Adam therfore in y e satisfaction for sin the soul of Christ as they say must properly principally suffer The VVAGES of sin is expressely death both of soule and bodie and therfore Christ as our suretie and for our sinnes must taste of both as they affirm before he can discharge vs from both Signes that he did suffer were his AGONIE in the garden when he sweat blood which for a corporall death he would neuer haue don his COMPLAINT on the crosse that he was forsaken of God which as they thinke proouesh he felt in soule a most fearefull iudgement of God pronounced against our sinnes To euerie of these I will speake in order that finding the weaknesse of their foundation we maie the sooner see the lamenesse of their conclusion To the first I might answere with Saint Austen these words of Dauid specifie not anie suffering of hell paines on the crosse but rather a descent to the place of hell That the Lord after his bodie was dead came to hell is certaine enough for neither can the prophecie be contradicted which said Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell which least anie man shoulde dare otherwise to interpret Peter in the Acts of the Apostles so expoundeth nor the wordes of Peter bee auoided where hee saith that Christ brake the sorrowes of hell the which could not possiblie take hold on him who then but an infidell will denie that Christ was in hell But with antiquitte I will not vrge them if the text doe not refuse their exposition I will release them this authoritie That this saying of Dauid doth not import anie paines suffered while Christ liued but some honour done to his soule after his death maie thrée waies be prooued by the wordes next praecedent by the words next adioyned and by the application which Peter maketh when he citeth this place The wordes next before which are these My flesh shall rest in hope note Christs buriall and this is brought as a reason why Christes bodie should rest in hope not on the crosse where it had no rest but in the graue after he was dead because thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell If this respected any thing endured on the crosse the holy ghost must haue saide in the person of Christ because THOV HAST NOT LEFT MY SOVLE IN HEL the paines and time were both past but he speaketh in the future tence of future things Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell And this was the hope in which Christ died Now hope neuer tendeth to things past and known but to that which is to come This therefore toucheth somthing consequent after Christs death which he hoped for when he died and not anie paines suffered on the crosse or in the garden whiles he liued The words annexed infer the same Thou wilt not leaue my soule in
on his owne shoulders yea the Lorde Laid vpon him the iniquity of vs all but when it came to light vpon him the verie iustice of God found great difference betwixt his person and ours and so great that what should haue condemned vs bodie and soule for euer that could take no hold on him but so far forth as he did voluntarilie yeeld himselfe to bee obedient vnto the death of the crosse and in our flesh to quench the curse of the lawe pronounced againsâ— our sinnes insomuch that neither sinne nor death were able to sease on his bodie till he did of his owne accord resigne it into their handes If we thinke it strange to sée so much difference betwixt him and vs we must remember wee were sinnefull he was innocent we were defiled hee was holie we were hatefull he was beloued we were the seruants of sinne and enemies vnto God he was the Lord of life and of glorie we were seuered and estranged from God both in bodie and soule his verie flesh was personallie vnited and inseparablie ioined vnto God besides that himselfe was the true and euerliuing sonne of God What maruell then if sinne which should haue wrought in vs an eternall destruction both of body and soule could not farther preuaile in him but to the wounding of his flesh and shedding of his bloud for the iust and full satisfaction of all our sinnes euen in the righteous and sincere iudgement of God Though therefore THE SAME PART might and did suffer in Christ which sinned in man I meane the soule yet by no meanes could it receaue THE SAME WAGES which we should haue receiued And since hell is the greatest vengeance that God inflicteth for sinne if Christes soule were frée from anie it must néedes be cléered and acquited from that which is greatest and most repugnant to the fulnesse of grace truth and spirit that dwell in the humane soule of Christ but hereof I shall haue occasion to speake afterward againe The signes that Christ suffered the paines of hell are left and those are his agonie in the garden and his complaint on the crosse that he was forsaken Of Christs agonie since the scriptures haue nor reuealed the right cause it is cut losâ—tie to examen presumption to determine impossibilitie to conclude certainelie what was the true cause thereof Howbeit if we will néedes coniecture at causes wee must take héede that with our obscure and priuate guesses we do not contradict such plaine and euident places as testifie the perfection and coniunction of Christs humane nature with this diuine and so wrong the person of our Sauiour This rule remembred though I bee most willing to refraine the searching of that which is concealed from vs yet since they make this the most aduantage of their cause that there caÌ„not be anie other reason assigned of Christes sorrow besides his suffering the paines of hell I will let you vnderstand how manie there might be besides that which they bringâ— and that theirs of all others is least probable if not altogether intolerable I will offer you sixe causes that might be of Christs agonie euerie one of them more likelie and more godlie then this deuise of hell paines others at their leasures maie thinke on moe which I shall be content to heare Those sixe are these Christs SVBMISSION to the maiestie of God sitting in iudgement The REIECTION of the Iewes The DISPERSION of his Church The LAMENTATION of mans sinne The DEPRECATION of Gods wrath The VOLVNTARY DEDICATION of his bloud to be shed for the sinnes of the world and sanctificatioÌ„ of his person to offer his true eternal sacrifice So great is the MAIESTY OF GOD euerie where and at all times but speciallie sitting in iudgment and so farre excelling the capacitie of all his creatures that no flesh lining is able to appeare before him without feare and trembling The day of the Lord whensoeuer hee riseth to iudge is great and fearefull and who shall indure it When God gaue his lawe which was but the rule of his iudgement so terrible was the sight that Moses said I feare and tremble My flesh saith Dauid to God trembleth for feare of thee and I am afraide of thy iudgements Since then it is a point not onelie confessed but vrged by the defenders of this new deuise that Christ appeared here before the tribunall of God to submit himselfe to his fathers pleasure and the wordes of Christ in that twelfth of Iohn tend to that effect where he saith Nowe euen at hand is the iudgement of the world Now euen shortlie shall the prince of this world be cast out and if I were lift vp from the earth I will draw all vnto me whie might not the humane nature of Christ tremble before the maiestie of that iudge whose glorie the Seraphins in heauen doe not behold without yealing their faces whereby Christ teacheth vs not to presse into Gods presence whiles wee are loden with sin but in much feare and trembling since he would not appeare before God to take our sinnes on him but in this agonie The REIECTION OF THE IEWES might be another cause of his agonie He wept ouer their cittie when he beheld it and remembred the subuersion of it how woulde he then be grieued when he foresawe the finall reiection of y e whole nation and his bloud to be laid on them and their children for euer for their sakes Moses desired To bee wiped out of Gods booke and Paule could haue wished himselfe to be separated from Christ for his brethren the Israelites If the seruants of Christ had so great heauinesse and sorrow in their hearts for their kinsmen according to the flesh what agonie must it néedes bréede in their king and Messias in whome were the bowels of mercie and pittie to sée the wicked rage of the people kindling Gods fearefull vengeance against themselues and their ofspring by putting him to a most cruell and shamefull death that came to redéeme them from sin and death This cause is obserued by Ambrose Hierom Augustine and Bede Nec illud distat à vero si tristis erat pro persecutoribus neither is that dissonant from truth saith Ambrose if he were heauy in soule for his persecutors whom hee knewe should dearelie pay for their sacrilegious putting him to death Hee was not then afraide to die but hee was loath to haue them though they were euill to perish least his passion should bee their destruction which hee meant for the saluation of all Christs soule was not heauie saith Ierom and Bede for any feare of his passioÌ„ but for that most vnhappy Iudas for the scandall of all his Apostles for the reiection of the Iewes and subuersion of wretched Ierusalem And Austen If wee saie the Lorde was sorrowfull for the Iewes when his passion drewe neere where they would commit so haynous a sinne non incongruè
nos dicere existimo I think we speake not without reasoÌ„ If respect of his persecutors could thus agonize him what could the regard of his own followers doe how did the weaknesse of his owne disciples afflict him when the wilfulnesse of his enemies did so preuaile with him Hee warned his disciples of the danger and they vaunted of their strength he willed them to praie and they slept and when he was apprehended they did euerie one forsake him yea the stoutest of them did plainelie forsweare him Hee might therefore iustlie be grieued with their infirmitie and earnestlie praie for their securitie His tender care of them and earnest praier for them appeareth in the 17. of Iohn euen as hee entered into the garden hee called vpon them to watch and praie that they entred not into temptation Dormiunt saith Ambrose nesciunt dolere pro quibus Christus dolebat the Disciples slept and caÌ„nottel how to sorrow for whom Christ sorrowed Tristis erat non pro suapassione sed pro nostra dispersione Tristis erat quia nosparnulos relinguebat Hee was sorrowfull not for his owne suffering but for our dispersing He was gréeued because hee left vs yong and weake Hilarie in his tenth booke de Trinitate largely pursueth this occasion of Christo agonie concludeth Non ergo sibi tristis erat neque sibi orat sed illis quos monet orare peruigiles Christ is not sorrowfull for himself nor praieth for himself but for those whoÌ„ he warneth to watch and pray And for their sakes he â—aith the Angell was sent to comfort Christ that hee should take no longer griefe and feare for his Disciples The Angell being sent to protect the Apostles and the Lord receiuing comfort thereby Ne pro his tristis esset iam sine tristitâ—ae mâ—tu ait dormite requiessite That he should no longer grieue for them beginneth nowe to be without griefe and feare and saith to them sleepe now and take your rest Nam quinobis tristis est eâ— est propter nos tristis est necesse est vt proptennos sit comfortatus nobis for he that was sorrowfull for our sakes and in our behalfe must of force be comforted for vs and to our vse The desire and care Christ had to sée his kept safe from the rage of Satan leadeth me to the fourth cause of Christs agonie For if Christ were so sad for our infirmitie how sorrowfull then was he for our iniquitie whereby we â—dde not one lie 〈◊〉 our selues open to danger but euen wound our selues to death and deseruetion Well saith Ambrose of this matter Mihicompatitur mihi trist is est nahi doleâ— Eâ—go pro mo in me doluit qui pro senâ—d habuir quod doleret Dâ—lesâ— igitur domine Iesu non tuâ— sed mea vulnera non tuam mortem sed nostâ—am infirmitaetem Christ is affected for mee sadde for mee and greened for mâ—e Hee sorroweth for mee and in mee who had nothing in himselfe to bee sorowed for Thou grieuest Lord Iesu not at thine owne wounds but at mine not for thy death but for my weakenesse Inward sorrow for sin is preciselie requisite in all remission of sinnes To sinne and not to be sorie for if is first to displease and then to despise God Wherefore it is not possible to appease Gods wrath once prouoked but with earnest and heartie sorrowe that euer we offended Then as corruption is the mother and pleasure is the life of sinne so the inward affliction and contrition of the soule in all the godlie is the death of sinne And since we are neither willing nor able to sorrow sufficientlie for our sinnes why might not the son of God when her tooke vpon him the purgation of our 〈◊〉 in his own person take likewise vnto him that inward earnest sorow for our sins which neuer creature before him or besides him did or could expresse Godly sorrow causeth uâ— vs repentance vnto saluation and a troubled spirit is a sacrifice vnto God Of this kind of sorrow to supplie the weaknes and want of true repentance in vs all and to teach vs heartilie to lament our sins the more wee attribute vnto the soule of our Sauiour the more sufficient euerie way we make his satisfaction for sin that did not onelie render recompenâ—e by his life and suffer vengeance by his death for our sins but for déepelie sorrowed for them that in his agonie aboue nature he sweate bloud after a strange and maruellous maner The fift cause of Christs agonie might be the cup of gods wrath tempered and made readie for the sinnes of men In the hand of the Lorde is a cuppe saith Dauid it is mixed full the wine thereof is redde all the wicked of the earth shall wring and drinke the dregges thereof In this cuppe are all manner of plagues and punishmentes for sinne as well spirituall as corporall eternall as tâ—mporall The mixture of which â—â—ppe Christ perfectlie knowing and carefullie shunning the dregges thereof earnestlie prayed this cuppe might passe from him I knowe diuers men haue diuerâ—â—iâ— expounded these wordes of Christ some thereby collecting two willes shewed in Christ a diuine and humane the one submitting it selfe to the other some noting a difference betwixt the vnwillingnesse of our flesh and readinesse of the spirite euen in the manhoode of Christ some also thinking that Christ corrected and reuoked his petition suddenly â—lipt from him by the vehemencie of griefe which tooke from him the present remembrance of gods heauenly decree In this varietie of iudgements to refuse none that agréeth any way with the rules of truth Christ might behold three things in the cuppe of Gods wrath and by his praier accordinglie decline them to wit eternal malediction corporall castigation aboue his strength and the separation of his bodie by death from the fruition of God What was due to our sinnes Christ could not be ignorant and as he became man to quicken our souls that were dead not to kill his owne and to bring vs to God not to seuer himselfe from God so knowing what our sinnes deserued he might intentiuelie pray to haue That cup passe from him which was prepared for vs was heard in that he declined or feared Christ saith Paule in the dayes of his flesh did offer vp praiers and supplications to him that was able to saue him from death and was heard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the reuerence had of him for so Chrysostome Theodorete Oecumenius and others not vnlearned as I thinke in the Gréeke tongue doe interprete the worde or as others delight rather to say He was heard in that he feared 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying feare and care as wel as reuerence Paule meaneth that praier saieth Theodorete which CHRIST made before his passion when he said Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me And indéed
but in the garden Christ neuer praied with strong cries and teares to be saued from death that we read in the scriptures and He was heard saith the Apostle in that he feared or shunned From the death of the crosse hee was not saued that therfore was not the effect of his praier for he was heard in that hee asked He desired therefore to be saued from ETERNALL death and that the cup of Gods euerlasting malediction might passe from him and in that he was heard At least then wil they say Christ feared euerlasting death against which he instantlie praied with stroÌ„g cries tears The number of our sinnes and power of Gods wrath hee coulde not choose but see being ordained the sauiour of the world to heare the one and appease the other and therefore if we grant that the sight of both did for the time somewhat astonish the humane nature of Christ aduisedly considering she waight of both I 〈◊〉 no great inconâ—enience therein so long as they impressed nâ—thing in the soule of Christ but a religious feare to Sorrow for the one and to pray against the other But distrust of his owne saluation or doubt of Gods displeasure against himselfe we cannot so much as imagine in Christ without euident want of grace and losse of Faith which we may not attribute to Christs person no not for an instant It is weakenesse of â—aith in vs to feare or forget the promises of God when the conscience of sinne accuseth vs. What then will it be for the soule of Christ after so manie promises and oathes made by God to annoint and send the Sauiour of the world after so manie cleere and full assurances of Gods loue and fauour towards his person to stagger at the certaintie of Gods counsell at the light of his owne knowledge and at the truth of his fathers voice so often denounced and confirmed with thunder from heauen I refraine to speake what wrong it is to put either doubtfulnes or forgetfulnesse of these thinges in any part of Christes humane nature Why then did hee praie that the cup might passe from him he had no néed to pray for himself but onely for vs who then suffered with him and in him On vs it might haue staied being seuered from him as the iust wages of our sin against him it could not prenaile because nothing could befall him either against his will or vnfit for the sonne of God Wherefore the force and effect of his praier chieflie concerned vs Being then comprised in his bodie in which wee were crucified buried and raised togither with him And touching himselfe albeit the innocencie of his cause the holinesse of his life the merit of his obedience the aboundance of his spirit the loue of his father and vnitâ—e of his person did most sufficientlie gard him from all danger and doubt of eternal death yet to shew the perfection of his humilitie he woulde not suffer his humane nature to require it of right but proâ—raâ—â— on the earth be sought his Father That cuppe might passe from him and was heard in that he â—â—unned or anâ—â—ded For though God were long before resolued to accept the death and bloud of his sonne for the sinnes of the world yet by this meanes Christ did sée howe déerelie God loued him that for his sake and at his request released the last bengeanâ—â— of mans sinne tooke the 〈◊〉 of eternall malediction not from him onlie but from vs all at his mediation howbeit to shew the confidence he had in his father and to bring his obedience to the highest degrée that might be hee did after his religious dislike of that cup which wee had deserued simplie and whoâ—â—e submit himselfe to his fathers pleasure without anie condition or exception in saying to his father Not as I will but as thou wilt Not 〈◊〉 by striking any terror of hell into the sence of his flesh as some would haue it but fully resting on his fathers will and goodnesse towardes him as in the surest hauen of his hope and ouâ— helpe against all the power of death and hell A second thing which Christ might iustlie feare and earnestlie praie against though his soule were neuer so safe was the power of Gods wrath to be executed on his bodie vnlesse it pleased God to lighten the burden of mans sinne For God was armed with infinite vengeance to afflict and punish the bodie aboue that the humane flesh of Christ was able to endure Since therefore Christ was not onelie with meekenesse to beare but with al willingnes to offer to abide the hand of God laid vpon him by what meanes soeuer hee might pray that the cup of his passion might be proportioned to the strength of his flesh which was but weake in respect of Gods power and therein also he was heard For the cup which his father gaue him to drinke by the hands of the wicked did passe from him without oppressing his patience or shaking his obedience Thirdlie Christ might feare his verie passion not as weaker in courage then martyrs or malefactors but as perfecter in nature then either of them The more we enioie the presence of God in soule or in bodie the greater griefe it will be and must be to lacke the sence hereof euen for a short time The flesh of Christ then which had not onelie a personall coniunction but also a wonderfull fruition of God aboue all men liuing might well he loath to leaue the same and yéeld to death not as timorous through infirmity but as desirous in pietie to kéepe that sence and feeling of Gods presence which not onlie the soules but also the bodies of his Saintes shall hereafter enioie and which Christ had here on earth in greater measure then we can expresse as being personallie vnited to the diuine nature though as yet not glorified with immortalitie And where some auouch it had beene in Christ a shamefull nicenesse to be so afflicted with the feare of his passion albeit S. Augustine saie well Non est vllo modo dubit andum non eum animi infirmitate sed potestate turbatum We may by no meanes doubt that Christ was troubled not for any weakenesse of hart but through his own power yet Cyril granteth that Christ as a man abhorred and feared death and addeth that except he had voluntarily shewed our feare in himselfe and quenched it we had neuer beene fréed from it Omnia Christus perpessus est vt nos ab omnibus liberaret Sicut igitur nisi mortuus esset mors non extingueretur sic nisi timuisset non essemus nos à metu liberati nisi doluisset non cessassent dolores nostri Christ suffered all that he might free vs from al. As therefore except he had died death had not beene conquered so vnlesse he â—ad feared we had not beene deliuered from feare and if he had not sorrowed our sorrowes could not haue ceased And in
like manner shalt thou finde all the passions of our flesh to haue beene stirred in Christ but without sinne that beeing stirred they might be repressed by the power of the godheade dwelling in him and our nature by that meanes reduced to a better temper Ambrose in other wordes saieth as much Sequestrata deloctatione diuinitatis aeternae taedio meae infirmitatis afficitur Suscepit enim tristitiam meam vt mihi suam laetitiam largiretur vestigijs nostris descendit vsque admortis aerumnam vt nos suis vestigijs reuocaret advitam Debuit ergo dolorem suscipere vt vinceret tristitiam non excluderet nos disceremus in Christo quemadmodum futurae mortis maestitiam vinceremus And so he concludeth Hic alto operatur effectu vt quia in carne sua peccata nostra perimebat maerorem quoque animae nostrae suae animae maerore aboleret Laying aside the delight of his aeternall deitie Christ is affected with the tediousnesse of my infirmity and deiected himselfe to feele the griefe of death as we doe that by following his steps he might reduce vs to life hee was therefore to admit sorrowe that he might conquer sorrowe and not keepe it off and wee to learne in Christ howe we should ouercome the feare of death approching In his agonie hee wrought with a deepe effect that because in his flesh hee killed our sinnes he might also with the sorrow of his soule extinguish the sorrowe of our soules So the sorrowe and feare of death which it pleased our sauiour to féele in our nature came not for want of strength but of purpose to quench and abolish those affections and passions in vs that the faithfull for euer might bee fréed from them through his grace working in their hearts And therefore we haue no cause to excuse much lesse to reproch Christes weakenesse but rather to admire his power and praise his mercie that woulde submit himselfe to these infirmities of our nature thereby to cure them in vs and to strengthen vs against them and to make vs partakers of his wonderfull courage and patience the steps wherof we may dailie find not in martyrs onelie but in all his members when they are tried with anie kinde of outwarde or inward affliction Howbeit I may not omit how great an ouersight it is to conclude that Christ if he feared death in his agony was far fâ—ebler then martyrs which ioifullie die yea then malefactors which oftentimes go to their death verie resolutely The desratenesse of the wicked which haue neither feare nor care of God till they féele the force of his wrath in hell fire is no fit comparison for the sonne of God no more then the sinke of sinne is to swéeten the fountaine of grace I will therefore skippe that ouer with silence But if death bee not fearefull to the seruants of Christ as indéede it is not they are the more bound to their Lord and master who in his owne person to make the waie easie for them with the losse of his life disarmed death for euer and brake the chaines in sunder wherewith death and hell were coupled together For Christ was the first that by seuering death from the terror and power of hell made the stroke of death contemptible to all the godlie which otherwise was and would haue béene the harbinger of hell So that when death presented it selfe to the sight of our sauiour purposing to redeeme the world it came so fast clasped with hell that none but the sonne of God could dissolue the band wherewith they were linked And therfore Christ had far greater cause then anie of his members to feare and with earnest praier to decline the â—aile of death which did wound both bodie and soule with euerlasting destruction if he did not take awaie the sting thereof and by his sundring the one from the other which was the hope of all his saints before he died and faith of al the godlie since death was and is to all beléeuers no cause of feare but rest from their labors and passage to a better life The feare then which Christ had and shewed of death was either the curing of our infirmities in his flesh or the breaking the knot betwixt death and hell which none but he was able to doe or the mitigating of Gods anger which might be executed on his bodie or lastlie the desire hee had to continue the féeling and enioying of Gods presence and coherence with bodie and soule in the vnitie of his person and if in anie of these wee charge Christ with nicenesse wee knowe not what we saie except we will bee guiltie in a worse issue which I perswade my selfe was no part of their meaning that first broched this matter The last cause of Christs agony might be the sanctifying of himselfe to praie for trangressors and the voluntarie dedicating of his bloud to bee shed for the redemption of mankind for where some coniecture Christ did sweate bloud for feare Hilarie plainâ—lie denieth it and saieth Sudoremnemo audebit infirmitati deputare quia contra naturam est sudare sanguinem nec infirmitas est quod pot estas non secundum naturae consuetudinem gessit No man shoulde dare attribute Christs bloudy sweate to infirmitie because it is against nature to sweat bloud and can bee no weakenes which power did aboue the course of nature Austen maketh it a signification of the martyrs bloud that should willinglie bee shedde throughout the church for the testimonie of the trueth Ideo toto corpore sanguineÌ„ sudaâ—it quia in corpore suo id est Ecclesia Martyrum sanguinem ostendit Christ sweat bloud along all his bodie to this ende that he might shew the bloud of martyrs in his bodie which is the church Prosper agréeth with S. Augustine in iudgement and saith Oranscum sudore sanguineo dominus Iesus significabat de toto corpore quod est Ecclesia emanaturas martyrum passiones The Lorde Iesus praying with a bloudy sweat signified the sufferings of the martyrs that should be in his whole body which is the church Bede thereby noteth that Christes praier made for his Apostles was hearde and that by his bloud he should not onelie redresse the frailtie of his disciples but quicken the whole earth being dead in their sinnes Nemo sudorem hunc infirmitati deputet sed intelligat per irrigatam sacratamque eius sanguine terram non sibi qui nouerat sed nobis apertè declaratum quod effectum suae precis iam obtineret vt fidem discipulorum quam terrena adhuc fragilitas arguebat suo sanguine purgaret quicquidilla scandali de eius morte pertulisset hoc toruÌ„ ipse moriendo deleret immo vniuer sum latè terrarum orbem pâ—ccatis mortuum sua innoxia morte caelestem resuscitaret ad vitam Let no man attribute Christs bloudie sweat to infirmitie but rather learne that by sprinkling and hallowing the
our sinnes that whom the Diuell iustlie held as guiltie of sinne and obnoxious to death those hee might woorthilie loose through him whome hee wrongfullie slue beeing guiltie of no sinne with this iustice the Diuell was conquered and with this band was hee bound that his goods might bee spoyled And so Saint Austen concludeth in expresse wordes that THE BLOVD OF CHRIST which the Diuell was permitted to shedde by the handes of the wicked VVAS GIVEN AS A PRICE IN OVR REDEMPTION Which when the Diuell had spilt it was reckoned to him as a ransom for vs since Christ owed none for himself so were we dismissed out of his power In hac redeÌ„ptione tanquaÌ„ pretiuÌ„ pro nobis datus est Christi sanguis quo accepto diabolus non ditatus sed ligatus est vt nos ab eius nexibus solueremur In this redemption the bloud of Christ was giuen as a ransome for vs which being receiued the diuell was not inriched but concluded that wee might bee loosed from his snares S. Ambrose affirmeth as much Si redempti sumus non corruptibilibus argento auro sed precioso sanguine domini nostri Iesu Christi quo vtique vendente NISI EO qui nostruÌ„ iam peccatricis successionis are quaesitum seruitium possidedat Sine dubio IPSE flagitabat pretium vt seruitio exueret quos tenebat obstrictos PretiuÌ„ autem nostrae liberationis erat sanguis domini Iesu quod necessario soluendum erat EI CVI peccatis nostris venditi eramus If we bee redeemed not with corruptible things as siluer and golde but with the precious bloud of our Lorde Iesus Christ who selling vs BVT HE that possessed vs as his seruants by reason of our sinfull succession doubtlesse euen HE required a ransome to dismisse vs from the seruitude which he had ouer vs. Now the price of our deliuerance was the bloud of the Lord Iesus which price was necessarilie to bee payde to HIM TO WHOM we were sold through our sinnes They which traduce this doctrine as inclining to Manicheisme had more neede of Elleborus to furge their braines then of authorities to perswade their hearts For since Christ paid no ransome for himselâ—e but for vs and his innocent bloud could not be shed but by the hands of the wicked what touch of vntruth can it haue that God accounted the bloud of Christ to bee of more value then all the sonnes of men and consequentlie that which the diuell eagerlie thirsted and wrongfullie shed to be reputed as mans ransome and a price most sufficient for all the world Yea the scripture which is the word of truth doth not onely teach vs who redeemed vs and with what price as God bought his Church with his owne bloud but in manifest words from whom we were redéemed euen from the power of DARKNES DEATH and HEL that being deliuered out of the hands of our enemies wee should serue God without feare in holines and righteousnes all the daies of our life Whether therefore wee resemble the bodie and bloud of Christ to a PRAY that brake the téeth of the deuourer to a BAITE that held fast the swallower to a PRICE that concluded the challenger to a RANSOME that fréed the prisoner or to a CONQVEST that ouerthrew the infulter in effect it is all one Satan by killing him that was the authour of life lost both him and all his members the Lorde rising againe by his owne power and raising them all that could not bee seuered from him by the might and merite of his death and suffering And so the godlie which now liue on the earth are not their OVVNE but his that bought them with a price being before solde vnder sinne whose seruants they were till Christ with his bloud redeemed them vnto GOD and made them kinges and priestes to God his father Venit redemptor dedit pretium fudit sanguinem suum emit orbem terrarum Videte quid dederit inuenite quid emerit Sanguis Christi pretium est tanti quid valet quid nisi totus orbis quid nisi omnes gentes The redeemer came saith Austen and paied the price hee shed his bloud and purchased the worlde Consider what he gaue and marke what he bought The bloud of Christ was y e price what was valued at so great a price What but the whole world what but al the nations of the earth Hic sanguis effusus omnem terrarum orbenâ— abluit hic sanguis antea semper praesignabatur in sacrificijs in iustorum caedibus Hic orbis terrarum est pretiuÌ„ Hoc Christus emit ecclesiam Hoc eam omâ—em adornauit This bloud saith Chrysostom being shed washed the whole world This bloud was euer before figured in the sacrifices and martyrdomes of the righteous This bloud is the price of the world with this Christ bought his Church with this he wholy adorned it Christus non esset condignum pretiuÌ„ totius creaturae redimendae neque sufficeret ad bene redimendam mundi vitam etiamsi suam deponeret animam vt pretium pro nobis ac etiam pretiosum sanguinem nisi vere esset filius tanquam ex deo deus Christ had not beene a iust price saith Cyril to redeeme all creatures nor sufficient to purchase the life of the world though he would haue laid down his life and his precious bloud as a ransome for vs if he had not beene the true sonne of God as it were God of God Where as now Vnus dignitate vniuersos superans pro omnibus mortuus est quaecunque sub coâ—lo sunt sanguine suo redemit deoque patrivniuersae terrae habitatores acquisiuit He alone exceeding al other in worth valew died for al by his bloud redeemed all things vnder heauen purchased to God his father the inhabitants of the whole earth But our sauior saith the son of man came dare animaÌ„ suaÌ„ redemptionem pro multis to giue his soule a ransome for many And Esay foretold as much that he should make his soule an offering for sin It is no great masterie to cite places of scripture in shew repugnant one to the other howbeit in trueth these are not contrarieties but coÌ„sequents to the former authorities For where the soule of man is the life of his bodie Christ could not die for our sinnes but he must laie down his soule to death that it might be separated from his bodie so giue HIS SOVLE that is his LIFE a ransome for many an offering for sin And so she very traÌ„slators y t otherwise fauor this opinion of hel paines do interprete those words The son of man came not to be serued but to serue to giue HIS LIFE a ransome for many And the like elsewhere Bonus pastor dat animaÌ„ pro ouibus The good shepheard giueth HIS LIFE for his sheep AnimaÌ„ meaÌ„
power and steadfast fauour of God for their perpetuall defence and eternall recompence So that in all thinges wee are more then conquerours through him that loued vs and gaue himselfe for vs who will tread downe Satan vnder our feete that God may bee all in all Uerie mightie then is the power of Christes death by whose BLOVD the Saintes OVER COME the greate Dragon that olde Serpent called the Diuell and his ouerthrow prooueth all the enemies of mans saluation to bee vanquished and impediments remooued since he was the first perswader and procurer and is the Prince and ruler of them all We haue seene the power of Christs death in subduing sin and Satan as likewise in ending abolishing the curse of the lawe which obliged man for his vncleannesse and vnrighteousnesse to euerlasting condemnation and find that hee which bare our sinnes in his bodie on the tree did in that mortall part which hee tooke of vs crucifie as well the flesh and sinne of man as the curse and death that raigned ouer man and so much hee performed in the bodie of his flesh through death by which hee reconciled vs vnto God to make vs holie and blamelesse in his sight let vs nowe see whether the death of the spirite and the curse of the soule will anie thing helpe the woorke of our redemption or whether the death of Christes bodie doe not more fullie demonstrate the mercies of God and merits of Christ then if the paines of hell had beene ioyned with it And where some men thinke it woulde much commende the TRVTH POVVER and IVSTICE of God and more amplie declare the OBEDIENCE PATIENCE and LOVE of Christ if hee refused not the verie torments of hell for our sakes shunning no part of the burthen that pressed vs I must confesse I am rather of a contrarie minde that the bodilie death of Christ on the crosse doth more plainlie expresse the vertues of God and Christ his sonne then if the terror and horror of hell were therewith coupled And first for the TRVTH of god his threatning Adam in this wise Thou shalt die the death or thou shalt certainely die was truelie performed in the bodie of Christ in the soule of Christ it could not without sinne or damnation neither of which with anie truth can be ascribed vnto Christ. That the mouth of God lied or the soule of Christ died is a choâ—se so hard that I wish all men that haue anie care of Christian religion to refraine either Next touching the POVVER of God the weaker the instrument which God vseth to ouerthrowe his enemies the greater is both his glory and their shame Then for flesh which was the feeblest part of Christ after it was deade and voide of all hope in shew to rise againe into a blessed and heauenlie life and to foile both death and Satan by recouering it selfe into the full possession and all his members into the ioyfull expectation of euerlasting glorie was farre a mightier conquest then for his soule with much adoe at length to escape and resist the assaultes of hell From the depth of hell here on earth manie sinnefull soules haue by grace struggeled and cléered themselues from the graue neuer rose none into an immortall incorruptible life before the flesh of Christ. Déeper in desperation and al other temptations of hel haue others been that yet were saued then anie man dare affirme of Christ déeper in death without corruption then the bodie of Christ neuer was nor euer shall be anie of the sonnes of men It was therefore an harder thing for the bodie of Christ past all sense to rise from death to immortalitie then for his soule voide of sinne and full of grace to repell the force of Satan and yet to repell it sheweth greater power then to suffer it to conquere it sheweth greatest of all But to beare the burden of Gods wrath due to our sinnes and to frée vs from it néeded greater strength they will saie then Christes flesh could haue To support and auert Gods iust indignation from vs the humane bodie or soule of Christ of themselues were not able but the DIGNITIE and VNITIE of his person must be placed in the gap to quench the flame of Gods iust vengeaÌ„ce against our sinnes which was euerlasting destruction both of bodie and soule yet for so much as the sincerity and sanctitie of Christes soule personallie ioyned quickened and blessed with the perpetual vnion communion and fruition of his deitie could feele no want of grace no lacke of spirit no losse of fauour with God in which thinges consist the inwarde death and curse of the soule the wrath of God was executed on the flesh of his sonne which hee tooke of purpose from Adam that the rein he might beare the sinne and curse of Adam and so by his death might satisfie the sentence and pacifie the displeasure of God against our vnrighteousnesse And this is more agréeable to Gods iustice then if Christs soule had suffered the death and curse of the soule For to take life from the soule must be Gods proper and peculiar action No creature can giue the grace or spirit of God to the soule of man which is the life of the soule but onelie God Therefore no creature can take it from the soule but God alone that GIVETH it must TAKE IT AVVAY Since then Christ might suffer nothing iustlie but as the iust for the vniust that is willinglie but vniustlie his death must come by the handes of the wicked who might wrongfullie take his life from him but not touch his soule and not by the immediate hande of GOD who will doe no wrong and can kill the soule I haue sinned saith Iudas in betraying the INNOCENT bloud You denied the HOLIE AND IVST and killed the Lorde of life saith Peter to the Iewes warning them howe great a sinne they had committed in putting Christ to death If hee were an INNOCENT and deserued no punishment if hee were HOLIE and IVST and could not bee persecuted or put to death without haynous impietie and iniurie wee may doe well to remember that the death of his soule had beene a farre greater wrong then the death of his bodie was And therefore if the iustice of God would not farther interpose it selfe in killing his bodie then by deliuering him into the handes of the wicked permitting them to shed his blond which hee woulde accept for the sinnes of the worlde much lesse woulde God with his owne mouth accurse or with his owne hande slea the soule of his sonne whome hee sent to restore and quicken those that were accursed and dead in their sinnes Againe corporallie or temporallie God punisheth one for anothers fault bicause he can recompence them eternally that thereby repent and turne from their sinnes but eternally or spiritually he punisheth no man but for his owne vncleannes either naturally sticking in him or
I haue fullie shewed before the worthinesse of the person is the surest ground of our saluation and chiefest weight of our redemption and therefore his death is of infinite force and his bloude of infinite price euen as his person is For since all mens actions are and ought to bee esteemed according to the giftes which they haue and place which they holde from GOD whie shoulde not the death and bloud of Christ bee valued in Gods iustice according to the height and worth of his person and if in all thinges wee receaue honour not due to our fleshe wherein wee partake with Beastes but fitte for the soule wherein wee communicate with Angels howe seemeth it strange in our eyes that the dooinges and sufferinges of Christ Iesus which hath the natures of God and man in a surer and nearer coniunction then wee haue our soules and bodies shoulde not bee reckned and accepted in GODS iustice as the ACTIONS and PASSIONS of HIS OVVNE SONNE and haue their value from the diuiner and worthier parte of Christ As the death of Christes flesh ONELIE doth more expresse the TRVETH POVVER AND IVSTICE of God then if the death of the soule had beene ioyned with it so the same setteth forth Christes merites namelie his OBEDIENCE PATIENCE and LOVE in farre better sorte then if wee adde vnto it the death of the spirite which is the rewarde of all the reprobate and damned For what a man vnwillinglie suffereth that sheweth neyther obedience nor patience Obedience hath readinesse and patience if it bee perfect hath gladnesse both haus willingnesse If then wee bee forced against our willes to endure that which wee woulde gladlie auoide it is violence it is neither obedience nor patience and consequentlie it hath neither merits nor thankes with GOD. The death then of the soule which is a separation from the fauour and grace of God did Christ suffer it willinglie or vnwillinglie if willinglie there coulde bee no greater neglect of GOD then to bee willing to bee separated from God It were disobedience and insolence in the highest degree to be glad and forwarde to forsake God or to bee forsaken of him Christ therefore must not bee willing to suffer the death of the soule least wee wrap him within the compasse of contemning and reiecting the grace and fauour of GOD which are sinnefull enormities Was hee vnwilling to suffer it then coulde hee bee neither obedient nor patient in suffering it All vertue is voluntarie compulsion hath no merite God loueth a cheerefull giuer and sufferer Hee that murmureth in heart rebelleth though hee holde still his tongue So likewise I must aske if Christ suffered the death of the soule did hee suffer it iustlie or vniustlie if vniustlie God could not be the sole and immediate agent in imposing it and besides God no creature canne bereaue the soule of life Did hee suffer it iustlie then must hee be voide of all vertue for nothing but sinne deserueth the death of the soule Obedience and patience merite thankes with God and cannot wante the blessing of God where the death of the soule is the greatest curse that God inflicteth heere on earth And where they thinke it woulde greatelie increase the loue of Christ towardes vs if hee vouchsafed to taste the death of the soule for our sakes I replie that supposition woulde make Christ a sinner if not a lyar which God forbid shoulde once enter our thoughtes For â—irst Christ saieth Greater loue then this hath no man that one should laie downe his life for his friendes But God commendeth his loue towards vs that whiles we were yet sinners Christ died for vs. If it be loue for a man to loose his soule for his friend then is there found a greater loue then Christ euer knew for he saith there is no greater loue theÌ„ for a maÌ„ to laie downe his life And the Apostle applying it to Christ saith The height of Gods loue was this that Christ died for sinners that is for his enemies not for his friendes sinne beeing enmitie to God and sinners enemies to the holinesse of his will and glory of his kingdome This loue of Christ by which he died for vs we reiect as little worth vnlesse hee endured the losse of Gods fauour for vs which I take to bee sinne and not loue For loue is due first and aboue all to God then to men this order of loue if we breake it is no charitie it is iniquitie What doe all wicked ones but preferre the loue of themselues or of others before the loue of God to loue men so well that wee waxe willing to forsake the fauour and fellowship of God is transgression against God and not compassion towards men and therefore wee maie not bring the sonne of God within the listes of this loue no not for an houre by reason the loue of God afore all others may not faile in the hart of Christ not for a moment bee it neuer so short For our loue then he tooke flesh when he was God which was infinite humilitie and gaue his life for his enemies which was exceeding charitie and in the course thereof referred himself wholie to the wil and pleasure of God which was exact obedience willinglie but wrongfullie suffering whatsoeuer the malice of Satan and rage of the wicked contriued against him the wise and gracious counsell of God so turning the mischiefe of the diuell and his members to the generall good of mankind that Christes innocent and righteous bloud being furiously and vniustly shed by the hands of his enemies became the true sacrifice for sinne and the full price of mans redemption Farther then this if we will force the sonne of God with our fancies as namelie to the death or curse of the soule wee doe not onelie diminish the strength of his loue towardes God but we debase the price of his bloud and make it rather detestable then acceptable in Gods sight For nothing can please God but that which is RIGHTEOVS INNOCENT HOLIE VNDEPILED And in a dead or cursed soule what place leaue we for these giftes and graces of the holie Ghost Since then our high Priest must be holie harmelesse vndefiled and separate from sinners before his sacrifice coulde bee accepted the soule of Christ must necessarilie bee replenished with all goodnesse and embraced with all fauour before the death of his bodie could be an offering of a sweete sauour vnto God and so the power of Christes death is no whitte encreased but altogither weakened if wee conioyne it with the death of the soule The death of the soule then doth not encrease the obedience patience and loue of Christ towardes vs but doth rather decrease and endanger all the vertues of our Sauiour For if Christ suffered the death of the soule which is Gods immediate action since God will offer his owne sonne neither violence nor wrong wee must confesse that Christ deserued the death
of the soule and admitted it as due vnto him to which absurdities if wee come wee leaue nothing sound in our saluation Caâ—â— we him iust that deserueth or holie that desireth to be forsaken of God I thinke not Then all Christs sufferings must be INIVRIOVS before hee can be IVST and VOLVNTARIE before they can be a SACRIFICE vnto God Both which are witnessed by the worde of God as likewise by the ancient fathers THIS IS THANK-VVORTHIE saith Peter if a man for conscience towards God endure grief SVFFERING VVRONGFVLLY For what praise is it if when ye be BVFFETED for your FAVLTS ye take it PATIENTLIE But if when ye doe well ye suffer patientlie this is acceptable vnto God For hereunto are ye called for so CHRIST SVFFERED FOR VS leauing vs an example that we should follow his steppes Christ therfore suffered as well VVRONGFVLLY as PATIENTLY Malefactors may be patient but that is no merit with God He must be both innocent and patient that will haue thanks from God So was Christ He did no sin and so was innocent when he was reuiled he reuiled not againe when he suffered he threatned not which proueth his patience This verie testimonie the theefe on the crosse giueth him We receiue punishment worthie of that we haue done but this maÌ„ hath done nothing amisse Quod iuste debebat Adam Christus iniusté mortem suscipiendo persoluit What Adam iustly owed saith Austen that Christ vniustlie paied by suffering death Pergit ad passionem vt pro debitoribus nobis quod ipse noÌ„ debebat exsolueret Christ goeth to his passion to pay that for vs debtors which hee did not owe. De humanitate suscepta tantum beneficij collatum est hominibus vt à dei sempiterno filio eodemque hominis filio mors temporalis indebita redderetur qua eos a sempiternâ morte debità liberaret Peccata nostra Diabolus tenebat per illanos merito figebat in morte Demisit ea ille qui sua non habebat ab illo immeritó est perductus ad mortem Tantum valuit sanguis ille vt neminem Christo indutum in aeterna morte debita detinere debuerit qui Christum morte indebita vel ad tempus occidit By Christ taking mans nature this benefite men get that the eternall Sonne of God and the same also the sonne of man suffered a temporall death not due to deliuer them from an euerlasting death due The Diuell laide sure holde on our sinnes and by them helde vs deseruedlie in death Those hee remitted that had no sinnes of his owne and was without anie desert brought by the Diuell vnto death But such was the force of Christes bloud that the Diuell had no right to detaine anie man that put on Christ in eternall death due for so much as hee slue Christ with death for the time which was no way due Mediator noster punirâ— pro se ipso non debuit quia nullum culpae contagium perpetrauit Sed si ipse indebitam mortem non susciperet nunquam nos à debita morte liberaret Our Mediatour for himselfe ought not to bee punished because hee neuer sinned But if hee had not suffered a death not due hee coulde neuer haue freed vs from the death that was due If the temporall death of the bodie were not due to our Sauiour much lesse was the death of the soule due vnto him And if no death were due that which hee suffered was wrongfull Then might God bee the permitter directer orderer and accepter of Christes death on the Crosse but hee coulde not bee the immediate inflicter of it because it was wrongfull and vndeserued much lesse might GOD in iustice forsake his soule that with so great obedience patience and innocencie humbled himselfe to the will of his heauenlie father That likewise hee suffered nothing agaynst his owne liking his owne mouth testified when he said Nemo tollit animam meam à me sed pono eam à meipso No man taketh my life from mee but I lay it downe of my selfe And else where The sonne of God loued mee and gaue himselfe for mee Loue your wiues as Christ loued the Church and gaue himselfe for it If it were loue then was it no constraint nor violence that forced him thereto If hee gaue himselfe for vs it must needes bee voluntarie whatsoeuer hee suffered Demonstrauit spiritus mediatoris quà m nulla poena peccati vsque ad mortem carnis accessorit quia non eam deseruit inuitus sed QVIA VOLVIT QVANDO VOLVIT QVOMODO VOLVIT The spirite of the Mediator shewed that without anie punishment of sinne it came euen to the death of the flesh which hee did not leaue agaynst his will but BECAVSE HE VVOVLDE VVHEN HE VVOVLDE AND HOVVE HE VVOVLDE Et natus passus mortuus est nulla sua necessitate sed voluntate potestate Christ was borne and suffered and died not for anie necessitie that vrged him but of his owne will and hauing it in his owne power If Christ might suffer nothing but what hee woulde and as hee would the death of the soule hee did neuer suffer for thereto hee coulde not be willing without sinne by reason it is a separation from God and a losse both of his heauenlie fauour and holie spirite from which Christ willinglie would neuer be excluded The summe is since the TRVTH and IVSTICE of God might not release the sin of man without fulfilling the sentence of the Iudge THOV SHALT DIE THE DEATH and that by man for so much as man was the trespasser God so loued the world when none of the sonnes of Adam was able to restore his owne soule much lesse to ransome others that hee sent his owne sonne to become man and as by the dignitie and puritie of his person to counteruaile and ouerweigh the soules of all men so by his paines and death on the Crosse to verifie and satisfie the iudgement of God pronounced against man and to quit him from all danger following death And to trie the obedience shew the patience and augment the merits of the Redeemer the wisedome of God decreed that his sonne in our substance should violentlie and wrongfullie bee put to death euen by their handes for whose sakes he laid downe his life that his loue might so much the more excéede in praying for his persecutours and dying for his tormentors The shame and sharpenesse of the crosse so iniuriouslie imposed on the holinesse and worthinesse of Christes person and yet so obedientlie and patientlie endured by him God so highlie esteemed and recompenced that hee made his death the ransome of all mankinde and his bloud to bee the purgation and propitiation of our sinnes his obedience wyping awaie our disobedience his fauour quenching the displeasure his blessednesse alâ—ering the curse his death finishing the vengeance that was due to our iniquities This is the
to the Lord alone But nowe where in the number of them that come to the Lord some belong to the Lord some deserue to bee cast awaie and seuered from the Lordes offering therefore part of the sacrifice which the people bring to wit one of the Goates is offered to the Lorde the other is cast off and sent into the Desart Ambrose in the like sense As of two founde in the fielde one istaken the other forsaken so are there two Goates one fitte for sacrifice the other to bee sent awaie into the Desart Hee serued for no vse neither might hee bee eaten or tasted of by the children of the Priestes Beda ioyneth with them If all the people were holie there shoulde not bee two lottes vpon the Goates but one lotte and one offering nowe when manie are called and fewe chosen part of the peoples sacrifice is offered to the Lord the other parte is cast awaie Or else this maie bee vnderstoode of Iesus and Barrabas that one of them which was the Lordes lotte euen Iesus was slaine the other accursed caitife was sent into the Iewes Desart bearing the sinnes of the people that cried Crucifie him So that the scape Goate by the iudgement of these fathers signified the reprobate among the people and not the soule of Christ as you boldlie auouch But did it signifie the soule of Christ what gaine you by that The scape Goate was neither done to death nor made anie sinne offering as you falslie suppose but was separated from the Lords offering and let go free and vntouched Then by your owne similitude the soule of Christ neither died anie death as you after falselie and absurdlie conclude that the soule of Christ died and was crucified neither was it anie part of the offering for sinne to GOD which you so much endeuour to proue Such is your vnderstanding that by your owne examples you ouerthrow your owne positions whiles you labour to establish them with faint conceits of your owne deuising But in the burnt offering or holocaust prescribed Leui. 6 you find more helpe then in the scape Goate to proue that Christ soule suffered for our sins as wel as his body If you meane that Christs soule suffered the paines of hel I would faine sée how you proue that out of the holocaust or burnt offering If you thinke the name of fire doth somewhat relieue you remember Sir besides the sundrie references that fire hath in the scripture the holocaust was first slaine and after burnt and therefore vnlesse you will fasten the fire of afflictioÌ„ as you call it to Christs body or soule after his death the burning of the dead sacrifice by fire will little further your purpose Again in one and the same fire was the holocaust consumed If this therefore touch the death and passion of Christ his bodie and soule must iointly suffer one and the same kind of affliction which is the thing you so much impugne And since by your owne position the bodies of beasts could not prefigure the immortall and reasonable soule of Christ how commeth it now to passe that y e body of the holocaust after death shall signifie as well the soule as the bodie of Christ Can you thus plant and plucke vp with a touch It is no waie denied or doubted by mee that the soule of Christ was afflicted and tormented with sorrow and paine all the time of his passion which this Trister so much laboureth to proue and therefore if the holocaust did signifie the whole manhood of Christ suffering for our sinnes it could not preiudice anie thing that I did or doe teach as anon thou shalt gentle Reader more plainlie perceiue but yet whie the burning of the holocaust should signifie Christes affliction on the Crosse either in bodie or soule I see no proofe made by this Confuter â—nd why it should not resemble Christes afflictions before death these two reasons mooue me First it was burnt after it was dead next it was wholie consumed by fire neither of which can accord with Christes sufferings or the crosse but by the burning of that sacrifice I take rather the acceptation of Christs death or his incorruption after death to be signified For that part of each sacrifice which God reserued for himselfe and receiued to himselfe was alwayes burnt with fyre and the Hebrue word HOLAH which the Scripture vseth for the holocaust signifieth that which ascendeth vp to God by fire whence God is often saide in the scriptures when hee accepteth an holocaust to smel a swéete sauour Which words saint Paul applieth to the death of Christ in saying Christ gaue himselfe for vs to be a sacrifice vnto God of a sweet smelling sauour that is well pleasing and acceptable vnto God So likewise because the fire consumed in the holocaust all that was subiect to corruption the holocaust may signifie Christs incorruption after death This sense S. Austen approoueth when he saith Sic leuetur holocaustum vt absorbeatur mors in victoriam Let the holocaust so ascend that death bee swallowed vp in victorie And againe Quando totum consumitur igne diuino holocaustum dicitur Totum moùm consumat ignis tuus nihil inde remaneat mihi totum sit tibi Hoc erit in resurrectione mortuorum quando mortale hoc induerit immortalitem Cum absorbet ignis diuinus mortem nostram holocaustum est When the whole sacrifice is consumed with heauenlie sire it is called an holocaust Let thy fire ò Lord consume me wholie let nothing therof remaine mine let the whole be thine this shall bee in the resurrection of the dead when this mortalitie putteth on immortalitie When Gods fire consumeth our Death then is it an holocaust And other kinde of holocaust is mentioned by Saint Austen which I mislike not Holocaustum est totum igne consumptum Est quidam ignis flagrantissimae charitatis totus exardescat igne diuini amoris qui vult offerre Deo holocaustum An holocaust is when the whole is consumed with fire There is a fire of most feruent charitie hee must wholie burne with the fire of the loue of God which will offer to God an holocaust No man euer burned with this fire comparable to Christ Iesus whose loue towardes God and man flamed as vnto death so after death most feruentlie So that touching the holocaust the Confuter presumeth but proueth nothing and yet if his supposall were granted it weakeneth not the force of my reason since by the bodily and bloudie sacrifice shadowed in the law I do not exclude the torments on the crosse imparted to the soule or rather wholy discerned by the soule of Christ but onelie the paines of hell which were neuer figured by anie sacrifice nor scaled by anie Sacrament of the old or new testament though now they bee made the principall part of our redemption which indéede was purchased by the death and bloud of Christ Iesus In auoiding the reason which
laid or executed on him that is hanged This most apparantly was a publike punishment executed by the magistrate vpon the body of the offender and because by his open and shamefull death which Moses rightlie calleth the curse of God hee had satisfied the sentence of the Iudiciall lawe God commandeth no farther reproch to be offered his bodie in suffering it to hang in all mens eies any longer but to bee buried the same daie For that by his death the curse of God ceased The difference betwéene these two curses is soone perceiued Euerie sinne receaued the first curse whereof Paul spake before fewe crimes receaued the iudgement of this seconde kinde of curse which was to bee hanged The first was inflicted by God himselfe the second was executed by the magistrate The first touched bodie and soule in this life and the next the second ended with the death of the bodie The first was committing of sinne the seconde was suffering for sinne And therefore Chrysostomes exposition is verie true when hee saieth The people were obnoxious to another curse which was this Cursed is euerie one that continueth not in that which is written in the booke of the lawe for there was not one of them that had fulfilled the whole Lawe but Christ insteede of that tooke vpon him another curse which said cursed is euery one that hangeth on the tree He that should take away the first curse must not bee subiect to the same but vndertake an other in place thereof and by that dissolue the first As if one being adiudged to die for some crime an other no way guilty of the same but willing to die for him should deliuer him from the punishment So did Christ not being subiect to the curse of trāsgression insteede thereof he tooke an other curse and dissolued the curse that laie on them Before a man can be accursed by his death hee must you saie be iustlie hanged for manie Innocents and martyrs are hanged who are most blessed Innocentes and martyrs bee their soules neuer so blessed maie beare in their bodies a shamefull death as Christ did in his and that is a kinde of corporall curse though by men vniustlie inflicted euen as death in the godlie is a remnant of Gods curse vpon sinne though their soules bee blessed before and after death Yea the worde KALAL whence the Hebrewes deriue that which with them signifieth a curse noteth also to make vilde and contemptible as if shame reproch and contempt were the greatest outwarde curse that coulde befall anie man in this life The cause why wee suffer it shall make it iust or vniust but wee must call thinges by those names which GOD first allotted them Nowe death shame wrong reproch and such like God ordayned at first to bee punishmentes of sinne and so partes of the curse due to sinne If wee suffer at mens handes for piety that which God appointed to be the wages of iniquity so wee bee patient and willing to abide the triall which is righteous with God though iniurious from men the name is not altered but the reward increased Yea God it is that causeth iudgement to beginne at his own house oftentimes by the handes of persecutors hee doth vs right when men doe vs wrong and dealeth not with vs according to our sinnes in the greatest wrongs that can be done vs. Therfore martyrs and innocents may do well to remember that God hath cause enough though man haue none and so submit themselues as worthie of worse from Gods handes But none of these thinges may be saide of our Sauiour who alone among all the children of men wanted sinne and suffered wrong and therefore his punishments with God were iust not by his deseruing but by his desiring to suffer for man How then commeth it to passe that martyrs which are sinners before God are vniustlie hanged because they deserue no such thing at mens handes and Christ who was most innocent before men and most righteous before God you wil needs haue to be iustly hanged The suerty you say by his suertiship is a debtor to the creditor and to the law and so Christ though most innocent in himself yet was hee iustlie hanged as our suretie by the iust sentence of the law You mistake Sir Confuter as well the sentence of the lawe as the suertiship of Christ. For though mans lawe permit which is the rule of charitie that men should beare each others burdens and vndertake one for an other in money matters and such like things which God leaueth in each mans will and power yet tell me I praie what lawe Gods or mans permitteth a murderer or like offender to be spared and an other that is willing to bee hanged in his steede I thinke mans law will allow you no such suertiship I am sure Gods lawe will not As I liue saith the Lord the soule that sinneth that soule shall die The wickednes of the wicked shall bee vpon himselfe Hee shall haue then no suerties to die for him much lesse shall his suertie be compelled to die by the sentence of the law Their monie men may giue awaie but their liues they may not till God call for them and if not their liues much lesse their soules by anie sentence of the law The sonne of God did not by LAVV but by LOVE interpose himselfe to beare our sinnes So God loued the worlde that hee gaue his onely begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life Yea the sonne of God loued vs and gaue himselfe for vs not by anie obligation to the lawe for hee was aboue the lawe and could not be bound by the lawe and we were condemned by the sentence of the law and not put to finde suerties The eternall wisedome and counsell of God then out of his inestimable loue towardes vs without the lawe and before the law decréed as to create vs so to redéeme vs by Christ his sonne And the sonne not as debtour to anie nor for anie but of his good will and fauour toward vs offered himselfe to suffer for vs whatsoeuer the iustice of his father would impose Wherein he became not a Suertie bound to the law but a Mediatour to God and a Redeemer of man Suerties that stand bounde and must paie the debt may not looke to be Mediators and he that redeemeth a prisoner from the enemie is not bound but content so to doe And that the death of Christ should be paide as a debt to the lawe whereto Christ was bounde is to mee a strange position I tooke Christes sufferings all this while for a voluntarie oblation to God and not for a due obligation to the lawe and himselfe to be a mediatour not a debtour his death I reckned to bee a richer offer then man coulde owe and a greater price then the lawe could exact And therefore the newe testament of mercie grace and glorie was made by his bloud which are
other manner of purchases then the due paiment of mans debt Howe coulde that bee due vnto the lawe which ouerthrew the law Sinners such as we are were to die by the lawe but that the sonne of God should die for vs what lawe did or coulde require that at his handes you shall doe well therefore to leaue these â—angerous discourses and learne to saie with the scripture and fathers that loue not lawe desire not debt mercy not necessity brought the sonne of God from his throne in heauen to his crosse on earth Such was the sentence of the lawe you will saie that without death he could not redeeme vs. Naie such was his loue you should saie that euen with his death hee would redeeme vs. Cum posset nobis etiam non moriendo succurrere subuenire tamen moriendo hominibus voluit quia nos videlicet minus amasset nisi vulnera nostra susciperet nec vim suae dilectionis nobis ostenderet nisi hoc quod a nobis tolleret ad tempus ipse sustineret Passibiles quippe mortalesque nos reperit qui nos existere fecit ex nihilo reuocare etiam sine sua morte potuit à passione Sed vt quanta esset virtus Compassionis ostenderet fieri pro nobis dignatus est quod esse nos voluit vt in semetipso temporaliter mortem susciperet quam á nobis in perpetuum fugaret Christ when he might haue succoured vs without dying woulde rather helpe man by dying saieth Gregorie because he had loued vs lesse if he had not taken to himselfe our woundes neither had hee shewed vs the strength of his loue vnlesse hee had for a tyme sustayned that from which he deliuered vs. Hee founde vs miserable and mortall yet hee that made vs of nothing might haue recalled vs from our miserie without his owne death But that hee might declare howe greate the vertue of Compassion is hee vouchsafed to bee that which hee appointed vs to bee that receauing a temporall death in himselfe hee might chase it from vs for euer Those saieth Austen that aske did GOD so want meanes to deliuer men from the miserie of this mortalitie that hee woulde haue his onelie begotten sonne to bee made a mortall man and to suffer death It is not enough so to refute that wee shewe this waie to be good and agreeable to the diuine excellencie whereby God vouchsafed to deliuer vs by the Mediatour of God and man Christ Iesus verum etiam vt ostendamus NON ALIVM MODVM POSSIBILEM DEO DEFVISSE cuius potestati cuncta aequaliter sub iacent sed sanandae nostrae miseriae conuenientiorem alium modum non fuisse nec esse oportuisse but also that wee shewe God VVANTED NOT OTHER MEANES to whose power all thinges are subiect but that neither there was nor coulde bee a more conuenient way to heale our misery For what was so needefull to raise vp our hope and to free mens mindes from despairing immortalitie being alreadie deiected by the condition of their mortalitie as to make euident shewe vnto vs how much God esteemed vs and how much hee loued vs whereof what plainer or perfiter proofe could be made then that the sonne of God remaining that he was would take from vs for vs that which he was not and vouchsafe to be amongst vs and first without anie deserte of his to beare our miseries and vpon vs then beleeuing how greatly God loued vs and hoping where afore wee despaired to bestowe without all merit of ours yea when wee deserued euill at his handes the giftes of his grace with bounty no way prouoked by vs. And so Ambrose By one mans death the world was redeemed Christ might if hee woulde haue refrained from death but hee neither refused death as vnprofitable neither could he haue saued vs any better waie then by dying So that no legall necessitie much lesse Iudiciall seueritie brought Christ to his Crosse but to teach vs obedience to God by his example to demonstrato his loue to vs by refusing nothing for our sakes and to declare his owne power whose weakenesse was stronger then all his and our enemies and to strengthen our patience and giue vs comfort in all the troubles of this life he chose the paynefull and shamefull death of the Crosse and there shewed so perfitte a patterne of obedience innocence patience that the Angels themselues did admire it So farre you make Christ suertie for vs that in taking our person on him hee became by our sinne sinnefull defiled hatefull and accoursed Similitudes if you sucke nothing from them but that which is agreeable to y e truth in teaching may be tolerated in concluding they wil halt That Christ is a suerty we find it once mentioned in the scriptures but not to y e law to pay our debtes but of a better testament euen of the new couenant of grace established in his bloud wherof he is also the mediator priest Now he died for vs not as a suerty bound to y e law but as a mediator to God for vs he interposed himself of his own accord to yeeld such recompence vnto his father as hee should be pleased to accept for vs. If you wil needs vse similitudes vse rather the similitude of a mediator and Redeemer which the scriptures often call him then of a suerty therby to bind him not onely to suffer the paines of hell in our stéede but also to defile him with our sinnes and make him hatefull to God by our curse No similitudes can prooue Christ in taking our person on him to be SINNEFVLL DEFILED HATEFVL and ACCVRSED and therfore your vncleane mouth and vncleaner heart that thus speake and thinke of the sonne of God are worthier of castigation then of refutation I know you will pretend the Apostles wordes God made him sinne for vs that knewe no sinne but howsoeuer some late writers turne sinne into sinner and thence giue cause of these and the like speaches the church of God from the beginning hath warilie declined such irreuerent wordes and yet plainelie confesse the truth That God MADE HIM SINNE hath two good and approoued senses one that he made him a sacrifice for sinne and so the clenser of sinne and no waie defiled by our sinne the other that he punished our sinnes in him and vsed him as hee doth sinners They that know saith Austen the scriptures of the olde testament acknowledge this that I saie Not once but often and verie often it is found Sacrifices for sinnes are called sinnes Then him that knewe no sinne God made sinne for vs that is a sacrifice for sinne Christ was made sinne in that he was offered to abolish sinne And againe peccatum vocabatur in lege sacrificium pro peccato assidue lex hoc commemorat non semel non iterum sed saepissime Tale peccatum erat Christus Peccatum non habebat peccatum erat peccatum erat
and soule of Christ were both free he did not suffer the true paines of hell nor the same torments which the damned do in hell and which wee should haue suffered had wee not béene redéemed This you saie is great iniquity yea plaine sophistry to amplifie against you and to make your most holie truth odious with the people onely by the ambiguitie of the worde hell Begin you nowe to finde the sensible absurditie of your mishapen fancie if you woulde haue taken the name of hell metaphoricallie for great and excéeding paines this question had béene sooner calmed and our Creede freed from your newe found exposition But to father your opinion vpon the créed with more likelihood where the word hell is properlie taken though you now hatch vs a new signification of hell out of Socrates you then vrged as your selfe in this present confutation do still vrge that Christ must haue the FVL VVAIGHT AND BVRDEN of our sinnes laid vpon him and suffer those sorrowes and paines for sinne VVHICH ELSE VVE SHOVLDE that his price VVAS THE SAME which else wee shoulde haue payde that seeing it was possible for him to feele THE FVLL SMART of our sinnes yea ALL OVR SMART and Gods strict iustice so required IT VVAS SO AND MVST BE SO as also that it is not proportionable with iustice that an easier punishment should satisfie for a greater sinne and of al absurdities the greatest that meere men shoulde suffer more deepelie then Christ did and therefore Christ sustained euen the sense of Gods wrath DVE to our sinnes and had the VVHOLE CVRSE of God for sinne executed on him that is the DEATH OF THE SOVLE and the TORMENTES and sorrowes DVE TO THE DAMNED Without anie Sophistrie Sir what is the FVLL BVRDEN of our sinnes and THE SAME PRICE which we should haue paide what is OVR FVLL SMART yea ALL OVR SMART and the VVHOLE CVRSE OF GOD what is the DEATH of the soule and the TORMENTS DVE TO THE DAMNED but those verie things which I by the warrant of Gods word told the people were prepared and threatned to the wicked and shall bee executed on them in hell as they shoulde haue bin on vs if we had not bin redéemed by the bloud of Christ you must recall all your reasons and vnsaie all these positions before you can auoid that which I obiect If Christ did and must by Gods iustice suffer the VVHOLE the SAME and ALL that was due to vs for our sinnes shewe me good Sir I praie you for I confesse it passeth my reach how you can free him from the darknes destruction reprobation malediction worme or fire of hel yea those words if you looke not well to them and rebate them in time with some fresh write they wil carrie with them both the PLACE and PERPETVITY of hell for both these were DVE to our sinnes and are parts of Gods CVRSE and should haue béene executed on vs as they shall bee on the damned and out of ALL the VVHOLE and the SAME how can you except anie but by an open Vray dire of dotage The local hel of the damned you speake not of Speake of what you will so long as your assertions in full and plaine termes inferre and conclude so much well your words may runne without your wits but I tell you trulie what is the consequent of them and leaue those wordes and then your most holie trueth is left naked without shew or shadow of proofe For these generals the VVHOLE the SAME and ALL giue life such as it is to your childish reasons Without them you cannot open your mouthe to make one conclusion But because hell fire so much crosseth your cause that you would faine be rid of it and burneth your fingers so fast Sir Refuter that you striue to cast water on it giue mee leaue a little to let you vnderstand it flameth more fiercelie then that you can quench it with the licour of your mouth And the rather for that in the eares of all men it is a most sensible reproofe of your vnsauorie position For if Christ suffered not the fire of hell in bodie nor soule then most apparantlie he suffered not the FVLL burden of our sinnes nor paid the SAME price which wee should haue paide nor endured ALL our smart nor felt the VVHOLE curse of God nor sustained the tormentes DVE to the DAMNED and therefore the true kindeling of this fire is the vtter quenching of your new deuised hell paines Knowe you therefore Sir Refuter that your metaphoricall fire in hell is a phantasticall errour of yours and you shall doe well to tremble at the terrible iudgement of God threatned in his worde with more religion then to cast off that fire as a toyish fable I shall not néede to rehearse how often it is denounced in the Scriptures and in what vehement and constant manner let vs learne rather carefullie to shunne the place then cunninglie to shift the word which they shall finde to bee no figure that feele it A fire saith God himselfe is kindled in my wrath and shall burne to the bottome of hell it shall eate through the earth and the depth thereof and shal inflame the foundations of the hils Behold saith Esay the Lord wil come with fire that he may recompence his anger with wrath and his indignation with the flame of fire for the Lorde shall iudge with fire The slaine of the Lorde shall bee manie their Worme shall not die neither shal their fire be quenched Which wordes our Sauiour directlie reffereth to hell It is better to enter into life haulting then hauing two legs to bee cast into hell into the fire that neuer shall bee quenched where their Worme dieth not and the fire neuer goeth out If wee sinne willinglie saieth the Apostle to the Hebrues there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinnes but a fearefull expectation of iudgement and raging fire which shal deuoure the aduersaries As Sodome and Gomorra and the cities about them are set forth for an ensample and suffer the vengeance of eternall fire The fearefull and vnbeleeuing the abhominable and murtherers and whoremongers and sorcerers and Idolaters and all lyars shal haue their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death To whome the Iudge shall saie when they shall see the truth thereof before their eies Depart from mee ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Diuell and his angels For the Lord Iesus shall shewe himselfe from heauen with the Angels of his power in flaming fire rendering vengeāce to them which know not God and obey not the Gospell That the fire with which Christ shall appeare to iudge shall bee corporall and visible to all mens sights can bee no question it shall dissolue the heauens melt the elements and burne vp the earth with the workes that are therein as Peter
become an ale-house where no maÌ„ should heare you but in the face of the world to bray after this sort is tolerable in no man but in you that neither know what you say nor see what you should prooue nor vnderstaÌ„d what maketh with you or against you You no sooner reade in any maÌ„ new or olde mention of Gods wrath or of death but you straight fansy that he meaneth your hel paines the death of the soule and so you play with the homilies allowed by the lawes of this Realme Where because you find that Christ interposed himselfe betweene the wrath of God vs to auert it from vs you forthwith resolue the Homilies teach your doctrine But awake Sir Refuter and you shall sée great difference betwixt the doctrine taught in the booke of Homilies and publikely approoued by the lawes of this Realme your frenzies that Christ DIED the DEATH of the SOVLE that the VVHOLE CVRSE of God was executed on Christ that he was by our sins defiled sinful hateful accursed that al the powers of his soule senses of his body were ouerwhelmed distracted and all confounded that he felt the verie Diuels to be instruments executing the wrath of God vpon him that the sufferings of Christs soule by Sympathie as you call it that is from and by the body make not to our redemption that Christs soule died and was crucified where it is absurd and most false to say Christ was made aliue ether in his humane soule or by the same these and an hundred such absurdities and impieties haue no allowance in the bookes of Homilies nor any thing sounding towards your hellish paines of the damned The doctrine there taught is sound true and plaine that we are redeemed by the death and bloud of Christ Iesus that such was the iust displeasure of God against our sinnes that though he were his owne son that vndertooke the cause for vs the iustice of God pursued him with most painfull smart and anguish euen vnto death and forced the weaknesse of his humane flesh to crie my God my God why hast thou forsaken mee But you content not your selfe with this you must haue him suffer the verie paines of the damned in Hell or nothing His bodilie death were it neuer soe paynefull and sharpe you make light account of the theeues crucified with Christ suffered you say as great bodily violence as he did yea wicked vngodly men indure with boldnes great ioy far more exquisite barbarous tormeÌ„ts sharper tortures as touching the body then Christ could endure and therefore in plaine words you saie such follie in the sonne of God bee it farre from yâ—u once to imagine as that he should stagger shrink or faile for any corporal tormentes whatsoeuer forgetting what Ambrose writeth Neque enim habent fortitu linis laudem qui stuporem magis vulnerum tulerunt quaÌ„ dolorem it can haue no praise of fortitude to be desperately confirmed rather then patientlie subiected vnto paine of torments And what AusteÌ„ confesseth Nihil erat tunc IN CARNE INTOLERABILIVS there was nothing more intolerable in the flâ—sh then the crosse of Christ as likewise what Bernarde resolueth Nec aliquo modo dubitandum quin infirmitatem exterminationem corporis incomparabilem sustinuerit it must not be doubted but Christ suffered incomparable weakenes and torment of body For this if you did striue it were to be tolerated for that which no father euer testified nor scripture euer affirmed when you shew your selfe so eager you bewray your humor you benefit not your cause Thou hast heard christian Reader what things I haue misliked in the first part of this opponents pamphlet but nothing more then this that he wasteth so manie wordes and neither expresseth what hee meaneth nor proueth what hee pretendeth All that he hath saide is this in effect Christ suffered in soule the wrath and curse of God foâ— our sinne or due to sinne but these are so generall termes that in parte they bee true in parte they bee false and therefore hee that walketh in these cloudes and descendeth not to particulars meaneth to hide his heade vnder the Couert of these generalities when neede is and out of these to fashion to himselfe such assertions as please best his humour The waâ—e to come by a trueth is to specifie the partes of Gods wrath and curse which they suppose Christ suffered and then shall wee in fewe wordes trie whether those sufferings accord with the rules and groundes of the scriptures or no. And this I foretell because if hee or anie other for him bee disposed to reuiue his cause hee must not bring a sacke full of words for so waightie matters but plainlie and particularlie declaring what he holdeth and proouing what he affirmeth go directly to the point and then by Gods grace we shall soone trie where trueth standeth But if anie man will draw the grounde of our redemption to generall and ambiguous termes which shall still increase contention to noe purpose I meane not to repell words with words till they answere these proofes I will not trouble my selfe with their emptie phrases In the second Question of Christs descent to hell I shall not hold thee long gentle reader because this babler forgetting what I sayd concerning the proofe and purpose of Christs descent to hell runneth a new course to Pagans and Poets for help to expound that article of our Creede and there presumeth himselfe to be so strong that of the rest he doth prate without reason or remembrance The end of Christs descent to hell I noted out of Athanasius Fulgentius and others and prooued their speach conformable to the Scriptures the places thou hast in the latter part of the treatise I meane not to increase this close with néedlesse repetitions The CoÌ„futer belike distracted and distempered with the cogitation and confusion of his hell paines vtterly mistaketh or forgetteth the whole He supposeth Christs descent to hell had none other purpose but to triumph and insult vpon the thrice miserable and wofull wretches in their present vnspeakeable damnation infinitely confounded alreadie inferreth Sure a verie sorie triumph this were for the sonne of God which euen among men were nothing but dishonorable but if his braines be so briâ—kle that he can neither conceaue nor carrie awaie what I sayd I must not beate it into his head that I then preached is here now printed let him refell it if hee can Soe when I made the subduing of hell and treading on Satan with all the power of darknesse a chiefe part of the glorie of Chrits resurrection this scorner in his foolish conceite mocketh at it and saith a worthie priuiledge surelie and verie honorable All men would thinke it a greater honour neuer to haue come in hell at all For his actuall triumphing in hell all the world knoweth is the most inglorious and vilest debasing In sadnes Syr refuter if