recompence and reward of all such his spirituall labours And thus farre Chrysostome of the Great Week And thus farre I of the sufferings and death of Christ in the same Weeke or his giving up the ghost Buryed THe utmost point and period of the sufferings and death of Christ and the last degree of the dejection and humiliation of his assumed humanity is reckoned by the generall consent of most and best Divines to be his buriall that is when after his death his body like other mens was laid into the ground that so men might see and know that hee was dead indeed according as it was foretold of him That he should make his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death though he had done no wickednesse neither was any deceit in his mouth Esay 59.3 For as Jonas was three dayes and three nights in the Whales belly so shall the Sonne of man be in the heart of the earth saith he of himselfe Matth. 12.40 For the better record of the truth of which prophesies all the foure Evangelists have reported and set downe the manner of it as yee may finde in them if you please to have recourse unto them Saint John shall serve for my purpose in this place as being somewhat larger in some circumstances then the rest who describes the order of Christs buriall in this sort After the death of him saith he Joseph of Arimathea besought Pilate that hee might take downe the body of Jesus and Pilate gave him licence He came then and tooke Jesus body And there came also Nicodemus and brought Myrrhe and Aloes mingled together about an hundred pound Then tooke they the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linnen cloathes with the odours as the manner of the Jewes is to bury And in that place where Jesus was crucified was a Garden and in the Garden a new Sepulchre wherein man was never yet layd There then layd they Jesus because of the Jewes preparation day for the Sepulchre was neare John 19.38 39 40 41 42. verses Where yee see then a large description of the solemnity of his buriall in which wee may observe that though his enemies did crucifie him and put him to death yet his friends onely take care to bury him and have him decently interred Which argues the sincerity of their affection towards him though as yet they durst not openly confesse him for feare of the Jewes And it was more fittingly done by these then it could have beene done by his knowne Disciples because as Saint Austin saith Ser. 117. de Temp. Si Apostoli sepelirent eum dicerent non sepultum quem Judaei nunciaverant raptum The world might have beene apt to beleeve that he had never beene buried at all seeing the Jewes gave out that he was stollen away And because he dyed to save other men it was but reason he should be laid in another mans grave Vt quid enim illi propria sepultura qui in se propriam non habebat mortem saith the same Austin Ser 133. de Temp. For why should he have a Sepulcher of his owne to whom death nor buriall did not properly belong Vt quid illi tumulus in terris cujus sedes manebat in coelis Or why should he looke for a Tombe on earth whose habitation and abiding place was onely in Heaven neither indeed had he any For Saint Matthew tells us that Joseph laid him in his owne new Tombe which hee had hewne out in the Rock Matth. 27.60 And thus much briefly of the manner of Christs buriall The causes thereof is the next thing to be considered which are assigned by Writers upon this subject to bee diverse I wi l prosecute onely some few of the chiefe and so conclude The first whereof shall be this viz. That the truth of his death might thereby be manifested and confirmed For living men use not to be buried but only such aâ— are dead To which purpose also some other parts and passages of his Passion may be urged and alleadged As that a Souldier thrust a speare into his side That he was taken downe from the Crosse so soone as they perceived him to be dead indeed That they annoynted and imbalmed him to the buriall and wrapped him in linnen clothes and the like For as by touching handling and seeing of him as also by his eating of broyled fish afterwards and part of an honey-combe we conclude the truth of his Resurrection so by these other circumstances the truth of his death Secondly that in his Grave he might bury all our sinnes for which that curse was imposed on us In pulverem reverteris Thou shalt returne to dust Compend Theol. c. 49. Gen. 3.19 For as Aquinas well observes Sinne hath brought upon us not onely infirmities and afflictions in the time of our lives but defects also even after our death aswell in our bodies as our soules In our soules to descend to the lowest Lake contrary to the nature of spirituall essences which should ascend rather to the highest heavens and in our bodies to returne againe to the earth from whence they were taken contrary to the Law of our Creation which was to have beene so quickned by the spirit of life as not to have died at all but to have liv'd together with the soule for ever Now this defect of our bodies is to bee considered as our School-man speakes Secundum positionem secundum resolutionem either according to its position or resolution It s position is onely to be laid in the ground Its resolution is also to be dissolved into the first elements of which it was compacted and composed The former of these Christ would did undergoe but not the latter according to that of the Psalmist Non dabis sanctum tuum videre corruptionem Thou shalt not suffer thy holy One to see corruption viz. by the putrefaction of his body Psal 16.10 The reason whereof is this because as the matter or materials of Christs body comming from the nature of man was in regard thereof to be returned to ' its proper and accustomed place under the ground Locus enim corporibus debetur secundum materiam praedominantis elementi that is Place is due to bodies according to the matter of the predominant element which is Earth So the frame and composure of his body comming not from man but from the vertue and power and workemanship of the Holy Ghost was not to be dissolved neither would he or did he undertake it because herein he was singular and differed from other men Thus farre Aquinas Thirdly hee was therefore buried to shew that wee by Baptisme are buried with him into death as the Apostle speaketh that like as hee was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so wee also should walke in newnesse of life Rom. 6.4 Fourthly he was buryed and rested in his grave the whole day of the Jewes Sabbath that he might sanctify an
part of our love being as the fuell to keepe that fire of his love still burning on the Altar of our hearts let us againe and againe consider what Christ hath suffered for us For the fruits and benefits of the frequent commemoration of Christ his passion nec pauci sunt nec parvi saith one are neither few nor small but these foure at the least custodia à peccatis spes firmior praesumptio infirmior charitas flagrantior it will keepe and preserve us from falling into notorious sins and delioquencies strengthen and confirme our hope weaken and abate our presumption and lastly kindle and inflame our love and charity as well among our selves as towards him and his heavenly Father which last I have especially chosen to inlarge upon at this time To which purpose therefore marke once more I beseech you how the Church speaketh to each faithfull soule saying Come forth yee daughters of Sion and behold King Salomon with the crowne wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his marriage and in the day of the gladnesse of his heart Cant. 3.11 So say I O yee faithfull soules daughters of your mother the Church Goe forth Egredimini de sensu carnis ad intellâ—ctum mentis Goe out of the sense of the flesh and come to the understanding of the mind come I say a little out of your selves and by holy meditation behold your King Salomon the true peace-maker and your King too Christ Jesus who though his Kingdome be not of this world yet is a King even in this world with the crowne wherewith his mother crowned him that is with the crowne of thornes upon his head wherewith his mother the Jewes Synagogue quae ei non sc matrem exhibuit sed novercam which herein proved not her selfe indeed a kind mother unto him but rather a stepdame crowned him i. e. fodicavit lancinavit saith Tertullian galled him and gored him In the day of his marriage i. e. in the day of his passion upon the crosse when he was married to his Church built out of his side as Adam to his Eve created of his rib In the day also of the gladnesse of his heart i. e. in the very season of his suffering which was as joyfull to him as a geniall and nuptiall day unto a bridegrome come forth I say see him consider him and meditate on him Et palleat sub spinato capite membrum fieri delicatulum and let us be ashamed under an head so crowned with thornes to become members of delicacy and wanton nicenesse sed studeamus ut membrorum vita capitis sit corona as Austin but let us rather indeavour that the austere and mortified lives of the members may be the crowne and glory of the head and freely acknowledge and confesse every one of us Et quantum valeat quantum debeat as the same Father as well his owne worth in that God would vouchsafe to suffer such things for him as his owne debt and obligation of love and thankfulnesse backe againe unto him for such his sufferings And this he expecteth and looketh for at all our hands crying out unto his Spouse in the Canticles to this purpose that she would set him as a seale on her heart and a signet on her soule Cant. 8.6 which is as if he should say Though I am now going from thee for a time yet forget me not but as a loving wife frames the Image of her deare husband in her heart and as a longing woman imprints the forme of the thing which shee longs for on the childe in her wombe so set me as a seale on thy soule thinke on me delight in me Figar tibi totus in corde qui totus pro te fui fixus in cruce let me be wholly fixed yea fastned in thy heart which have beene wholly fastned for thee on the crosse And as that famous Artemisia so much affected her dead husband Mausolus that she tooke the dead ashes of his urne and mingled them wâ—th her drinke and so intombed his dead carkas in her living body so do thou my Spouse let me live with thee and in thee even after my departure eat me drink me in the Sacrament let me be still in thine heart and on thine arme in thine intention in thine operation within thee without thee every where and at all times let me be beloved and thought upon on earth as I am and ever will be carefull of thee in heaven let us O let us then fulfill his desire now that he may accomplish all our desires hereafter And this sufficeth for Christs sufferings under Pontius Pilate and his crucifying Marke 15. verse 37. And Jesus cryed with a loud voyce and gave up the ghost Dead THe next circumstance to be handled after the crucifying of Christ is his death For so saith the Creed He suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead c. which is the very same with the Text read unto you Iesus cryed with a loud voyce and gave up the ghost For to give up the ghost we all know in our daily and ordinary experience is as much as to dye or to have our soules separated from our bodies which before did live act and appeare together So that to say Christ is dead is as much as to say that after he had indured manifold torments as well in soule as in body here upon the earth that at the last per dolorum vulnerum violentiam as one saith through the violence of the said wounds and afflictions the naturall frame and complexion of his body the conserver of his life before being dissolved his said soule and body were separated asunder verè realiter as truly and really as when any one of us dies Serm. 131. â— Temp. so that sicut in veritate natus ita in veritate mortuus sepultus est saith S. Austin As he was borne a man in the truth of our humane nature so as truly as any man else does or ever did he againe died and was buried And thus we are come at the last to the summe of Christs obedience unto his heavenly Fathers ordinance when commending his spirit unto him in cruce expiravit hee gave up the ghost upon the crosse or as it is in the Creed He died For so saith S. Paul Hee humbled himselfe and became obedient unto the death even the death of the crosse Phil. 2.8 yea he was made a little inferiour to the Angels through the suffering of death that by Gods grace he might taste of death for all men Heb. 2.9 In which wee may behold as one saith Omnium Christi passionum ac afflictionum terminum i. e. the end and termination of all Christs sufferings and afflictions His consummatum est or small finishing of all that belonged to his paines and our peace to his sufferings and our satisfaction And till this was finished there could no peace be perfected nor satisfaction of our debts acknowledged
sacrifice might be voluntary For without willing obedience to his Fathers Ordinance our atonement and the expiation of our sinnes could not bee wrought whereupon S. Austen discoursing upon those words of S. Iohn Et misit filium suum sacrificatorem pro peccatis nostris as he reads them 1 Ioh. 4.10 God loved us and sent his Sonne to bee a sacrifice for our sinnes demands this question Vbi invenit hostiam ubi invenit victimam quam puram volebat offerre where did hee finde a pure and cleane sacrifice fitting for himselfe to offer And when hee hath thus propounded gives the answer himselfe in these words Alium non invâ—nit seipsum obtulit He could finde no other and therefore hee offers himselfe as if he should say hee made his humanity the sacrifice and his divinity the priest But howsoever hee were never so willing and obedient himselfe yet his countreymen and cruell friends must not loose their turne For they will have an hand in this busines though never so much to their cost aswell as hee wherefore after they have conducted him to mount Caluary the place of his execution there they speedily erect his crosse and display his bloody banner and soone after crucifie him thereon as ye may see Luke 23.33 which part of theirs as it was acted with much violence to shew their malice so it was suffered by him with more willingnesse and patience to manifest his love Answerable to that of the Apostle he humbled himselfe and became obedient unto the death yea even the death of the Crosse Phil. 28. Now this kinde of death was accounted in those dayes not onely the most shamefull and ignominious death but the most cruell and tormenting too as yee shall see anon wherefore these Iewes howsoever they had foure kinds of death for malefactors among themselves as our reverend and learned Bishop of Exetâ—r in his passion Sermon hath well observed one of which was ordinarily used to those that did offend of their owne Nation as the Towell the Sword Fire and Stones and each of these above other in extremity yet they rejected and refused all these whereby to take away Christs life and chose this Roman death of crucifying as accounting it the worst of all which we may suppose they did the rather because their owne Law saith cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree Deut. 21.23 so that their malice was such as it should seeme towards him as that they were desirous not onely to crosse and crucifie him whereby to rid him him out of his life but to curse him also if it were possible and in their powers in the life to come But yet as â— Ierome well noteth Hee is not therefore accursed becauâ—e hee hangeth but therefore he hangeth because hee is accursed beiâ—g made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is acursed for us as S. Paul speaketh Gal. 3.13 And therefore howsoever the Iewes made choyce of this death for him out of the depth of their malice and venimous hatred against him hoping thereby not only to destroy his body but his soule too yet hee that was able to worke good out of evill and turne their mischiefe and malice owards him to his owne glory and the benefit of his Church and chosen had other reasons in the secret of his owne counsell which they little dream't of why hee would undergoe it and take it upon him As first that the curse might be imputed unto him which was due to us and so we by his curse might be redeemed from the curse of the Law as the former Apostle saith wee are in the former place And therefore sayth Aretius Ideo cruce passus est Christus ut omnis maledictio etiam à forma supplicii in illo concurreret Therefore did Christ suffer on the Crosse that by the forme and manner of his suffering every curse might concurre and be found in him which was due to us yea hee himselfe bare our sinnes in his body on the Tree that wee might bee delivered from sin and be healed by his stripes as S. Peter sayth 1 Pet. 2.24 Secondly as S. Chrysostome and Theophilact assigne it ut ipsius aeris naturam mundaret terram sanctificaret sanguinis suae distillatione that he might cleanse and perfume the ayre with his holy and Heavenly breath and sanctifie and hallow the Earth with the streames of his sacred blood distilling and descending down from his blessed body Medicina enim quae removet maledictionem terrae est sanguis Christi For the onely Medicine that is able to remoove the curse of the earth is the blood of Christ Thirdly as Anselmus saith That hanging in the ayre on the Crosse the foote whereof was fastned in the Earth and the top looking towards Heaven hee might shew himselfe to be the true Mediator betwixt God and man by reconciling Heaven and Earth together and reducing our humane nature to the society of Angells and so making a perfect peace and union betwixt the things above and the things below By such strange and contrary meanes doth God shew his power and providence in working our salvation and redemption giving us life even by his owne death and that the most accursed death too even the death of the Crosse Optimum faciens instrumentum vitae quod erat mortis pessimum genus as one saith making that the best instrument of life which was the worst kinde of death worst indeed as we shall easily perceive if wee will vouchsafe to looke another while into the manner of it together with the counsell and cruelty of the Iewes in inflicting it as wee have already done into the mercy and goodnesse of Christ in suffering it For besides the infamy and ignominy of it as you have heard already it was a terrible and bitter death too where hee felt the uttermost of those paines which incensed and inraged malice was able to inflict and mans nature able to indure For the better and more cleare expression whereof it is observed by some that Christs Passion on the Crosse had in it all the foure dimensions as length breadth height depth Lenght first in regard that the Crosse was a lingring slow death Vbi diù vivebatur mors ipsa protendebatur ne dolor citius finiretur which gave no quick dispatch unto the patient but protracted and prolonged his life keeping him a great while together upon the Racke under the sharpe sense aswell of our sinnes as his owne paines Now it is truly sayd that Acerbissima est mors quae trahit poenam it is the bitterest kinde of death wherein the paines thereof are long continued and delayed and not presently or suddenly finished and dispatched For to have death prolonged when a man is under the stroke of death is to die many deaths at once Now it was full three houres betwixt Christs affixion to the Crosse and his expiration on the Crosse For hee continued there from the sixth houre untill the ninth as the
of the Apostle more true then in the death of Christ Virtus in infirmitate perficitur Power and strength is made perfect in weaknesse 2 Cor. 12.9 De duplici Martyrio For as Cyprian saith Ibi fracta est Satanae Tyrannis ibi devicti sunt inferi ibi triumphatum est de Diabolo ibi dejectus orcus coelum apertum c. Therein is the tyranny of Satan broken and the infernall powers overthrowne the Devill subjected the Principalities of Hell dejected and Heaven it selfe opened to all true and faithfull beleevers So that as hee goes on Quid homine mortuo contemptius quis enim vel Caesarem mortuum metuat sed Christi morte quid efficacius velum Templi scissum est terra concussa saxa discissa monumenta aperta c. Although nothing be more contemptible then a dead man no man fearing no not Caesar himselfe when he is once dead yet nothing is more efficacious and powerfull then the death of Christ whereat the vayle of the Temple was rent the earth did quake the stones did cleave and the graves did open of themselves so that many bodies of the Saints which slept arose as it is said Mat. 27.51 52. verses A reason of which powerfull effects is this that although the soule and body of Christ were separated asunder by his death à neutro tamen horum recesserit divinitas yet his divinity was separated from neither But Tam Dei virtus in Christo ex operibus quae fecit apparuit quam fragilitas hominis ex passione quam pertulit as Lactantius speakes Inst l. 4. cap. 14. The power of his God-head manifested it selfe in these his powerfull workes aswell as the frailty of his man-hood in those other things which he suffered So that Factus est homo suscipiendo quod non erat non perdendo quod erat as Saint Austin speakes Although Serm. 60. in Iohan. by being made man he tooke that which before he was not yet he did not loose nor let goe any thing of what hee was Sed manens Deus factus est homo But continued God although hee was likewise made man Accepit te non consumptus est in te as he goes on He indeed tooke thee unto himselfe O man but yet did not consume or spend waste or diminish himselfe in thee So that wee must hold and beleeve as that most Reverend Incarnat of Christ the Sonne of God learned and painfull Archbishop of Armagh well observes That there are two distinct natures in Christ God-head and manhood which are so distinct as that they doe not make one compounded nature but still remaine uncompounded and unconfounded together And yet though never so distinct in their natures they are as firmely and fully united againe in the person as can possibly be imagined and conceived seeing in him dwelleth all the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily as the Apostle affirmeth Colos 2.9 that is by such a personall and reall union as doth inseparably and everlastingly conjoyne that infinite Godhead with his finite man-hood in the unity of the selfe same individuall person So that by reason of the strictnesse of this personall union of these two natures in the person of Christ whatsoever may be verified of either of those natures the same may be truly spoken of the whole person from whethersoever of the natures it be denominated so farre Doctor Vsher Which if it be so beloved then by this time I hope you are as well satisfied in the Quis as the Quid Who it is that suffered and dyed as what he suffered viz. even Jesus Christ the Son of God which was conceived by the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Mary as you have heard out of the former Articles even he also is the He which suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead buried c. the worlds Creator and mans Redeemer the Almighty God himselfe Totus Christus though not Totum Christi whole Christ though not all of Christ was the Quis which was the passive Agent and active Patient in all these things for Jesus cryed with a loud voyce and gave up the ghost Neither let it seeme strange to any man that that should be predicated and spoken of the whole person of Christ which can be verified but of one of his natures seeing without any note or thought of strangenesse at all we do the like dayly in our owne and ordinary discourses even concerning our selves and proper actions For whereas the whole person and compound of man consists of two parts and those very different in their qualities and operations as of a soule and a body whereof the one is carnall the other spirituall and each hath his proper actions and imployments accordingly by themselves as the body to eate drinke sleepe walke runne ride suffer hunger thirst heat cold and the like and the soule to understand conceive remember forget to be chearefull or sorrowfull angry or well pleased and such like either of which cannot truly be verified of the different part as not the bodies actions of the soule nor the soules operations of the body And yet we usually referre both and all to the whole person and that without any incongruity or unpropernesse of speech considering the firme union that is betwixt them So by reason of the hypostaticall union and communion of properties that is betwixt the two natures in Christ Divine and Humane That which is proper but to one may safely be predicated and spoken and applyed to the whole Vigilius As also if man whole man may in himselfe have two such contrary qualities as to be able to dye and not to dye To dye in his body and not to dye in his soule as our Saviour himselfe hath taught us saying Feare not those that can kill your bodyes but not your soules Then much more may Christ whole Christ dye in one nature and yet live in another And in him God be said to dye too and Man to live for ever In him I say the second Person onely of the Trinity For to speak it of any of the other two persons whether Father or Holy Ghost it is no lesse then blasphemy and that which never came so much as in the thought of any orthodoxe Christian much lesse divine although some Hereticks there have beene called Patro-passioni which have seem'd to atribute suffering to the Father Dr Clarke But a learned Clarke of our owne calls it an unlearned heresie sprung of Scriptures misconstrued Christs speech especially I and my Father are one c. and therefore I will not so farre trouble my selfe or Readers as to goe about to confute it Sed his perplexioribus disputationibus praecisis as Chitraeus speakes but leaving all such intricate and perplexed discourses as Hereticks did usually beat their braines about we will fall to use and application Fides enim dum simpliciter proponitur intellectum illustrat dum autem altissima ejus mysteria
eternall Sabbath of rest unto his children unto which although they were at first created yet by reason of sinne and the Devils malice they had been deprived unlesse he had dyed and been thus buryed to restore it againe unto them Fifthly he was buryed to the end that he might hallow the earth by his sacred body to become a receptacle of rest for the receiving of our bodyes also Which must needs be a great comfort to the godly to know and beleeve how that by his grave and buryall he hath sweetly perfumed our graves wherein we shall be buryed and instead of stinking houses of perdition hath made them chambers of quiet rest and sleepe unto us so that as the Prophet saith Peace shall come and they shall rest in their beds that is their graves every one that walketh before him Esay 57.2 And in these respects and sundry others which might be thought upon The buryall of Christ is esteemed by some Ancient Fathers to be more hâ—nourable then his birth according to that of Saint Austin Gloriosior est sepuliâ—ra quam nativitas in Christo ista enim coâ—pus morâ—alâ— genuit illa edidit immortaâ—e Because that brought forth a body which was mortall so that it both could and did dye whereas this restored and returned it immortall and which can dye no more but liveth and abideth now for ever And as after his birth he fell into many tortures and troubles miseries and afflictions in this life so after his buryall he hath passed immediately from death to life in the land of the living So that Religiosior plane est ista quam illa nativitas as the Father goes on This latter birth of his is more to be celebrated and held sacred then the former because in that the Lord of the whole World was kept close prisoner nine months together in his Mothers wombe whereas this detained him only three dayes in the wombe of the earth In which respect Illa cunctorum spem tardius protulit Haec omnium salutem citius suscitavit That is said but to delay our hope and this to finish more speedily our Salvation In regard whereof also the Prophet saith That Sepulchrum ejus erit gloriosum as the vulgar Latine reads it Esay 11.10 that is His Sepulcher or buriall shall be glorious not by reason of the statelinesse of his tombe or magnificence of the pompe and solemnity at his buriall For herein it is very likely that the Sepulcher and sepulture of Alexander the Great and many other earthly Princes might farre outstrippe and overgoe him exceed and excell him much but onely Quia ex morte ad vitam gloriam aeternam revixit as saith Chitraeus because herehence hee passed presently from death to life and from mortality to immortality and eternall glory whereas all those great Monarchs of the World aswell as meaner persons remaine under deaths arrest till this present day and so are like to continue to the Worlds end And therefore although these Potentates of the earth can find neither comfort nor glory in their grave though they goe with never so much pompe and glory to it Yet wee which are Christians doe expect and looke for both by reason of the buryall of this our Saviour who as you have heard hath hereby sanctifyed our graves to be unto us as our beds wherein our bodyes rest from thâ—ir labours till the generall resurrection at the the latter day and further hath opened unto us a way from thence to eternall glory So that although we dye and be buryed as other men yet we shall rise againe with him from the earth to life everlasting And lastly to conclude we may from this buryall and sepulture of Christ learne and note the civill use of the grave to be necessary and fitting for all persons and people whatsoever to bury their dead out of sight and from annoyance and offence that they may otherwise come from their deceased bodyes It being reckoned among the blessings of God to be decently and comely brought unto our graves and so layd and put into them and not to be cast out as wile carkasses to the beasts of the field or foules of the ayre as it was threatned and imposed as a curse upon Jeconiah to be buryed as an Asse is buryed even drawne and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem Jer. 22.19 And therefore Diogenes is too currish and uncivill to say Cast me out and lay a staffe by me as seeming to take no thought for seemely buryall at all whereas the Saints of God have alwayes had a speciall care of it Abraham purchasing a possession of buryall the first purchase that we read of in the booke of God wherein to bury his dead out of his sight as yee may see Gen. 23.4 And the Sonne of God himselfe the subject of our discourse at this time submitting and permitting his body after his death to be put into a decent and comely grave as here you see But yet if it so fall out as oftentimes in warres in pestilence in drowning and the like it doth That the godly happen to be deprived of seemely and Christian buryall as the two witnesses of Christ through the rage and inhumane cruelty of their persecutors were as it appeares Revel 11.8 9. Let all men know that this is no hurt or detriment unto them either in the resurrection of their bodyes or salvation of their soules No more then the stâ—tely and pompous tombes and buryall of the wicked can benefit or profit thâ—m either of these wayes For all the pompe and honour done unto their bodyes cannot keepe their name and fame from shame and dishonour noâ— their soules from the fire of hell torments and confusion Luke 16.22 23. The rich glutton dyed and was buryed richly no doubt and sumptuously but his soule for all that went to hell where it was tormented Lazarus dyed likewise and no mention is made of his buryall but yet it is expresly said That his soule was carryed by Angels into Abrahams bosome What profit then had the rich man in that his body was buryed or what disprofit or hurt was it to Lazarus though his body were not Let us not be carelesse then of the decent and comely buriall of our bodies nor neglect to hew us out a Tombe as Joseph here had done or to provide Coffins or Graves for them but above and before all let us be carefull to provide that our soules may be carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosome And this sufficeth for the buriall of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I will conclude the whole discourse with Saint Augustines Prayer upon the Passion in this manner O thou most gratious God which for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be borne into the world to be circumcised as a Jew and yet to be rejected by the Jewes thy Countrey-men and Kinsmen according to the flesh to be betrayed by thine owne Apostle Judas the Traytor and that with a kisse the signe and pledge of love Yea to be bound with Cordes and so led as an innocent and harmelesse Lambe unto the slaughter to bee undecently and uncivilly presented and offered to the sight and view of Annas Caiaphas Pilate and Herod to be accused by false witnesses to have thy sacred body tormented with scourges and thy blessed soule tortured and afflicted with revilings and reproaches to be besmeared with filthy spittle and to be crowned with piercing and pricking Thornes to bee beaten and buffeted with fists stricken with rods blindfolded in thy face despoyled of thy garments fastened to the Crosse with nayles and so lifted up upon the Crosse naked in the wide and open aire To be accounted and crucified among theeves to be offered Vineger and Gall to drinke and lastly to have thy sides wounded and broken pierced and launced with a speare Thou most gratious Lord I say by these most holy and sacred sufferings of thine which I though most unworthy doe thus recount and recollect as also by thy holy Crosse and death deliver me and set me free from the punishments and paines of Hell and vouchsafe to carry me with thee to that blessed place of rest and Paradise of pleasure whither thou carryedst that good theefe that was crucified with thee who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen Soli Deo Gloria