which they make lying under the Altar may be heard and accomplished They pray for us that we may be partakers of the forgivenesse of sinnes and wee pray for them that they may be partakers of the Resurrection of the body But as this Communion of Assistance is but for a time so the Communion of Love will be for ever For we shall love one another and bee loved of one another as Members of one Body as Inhabitants of one Citie and as Fellow-labourers in the worke of exalting Gods glory a work which because it shall never end there shall therefore never be end of this Communion If the Communion bee of the Saints on earth betweene themselves this is visible charity as it is said If yee love not your brother whom yee see how can yee love God whom yee doe not see And it consists in supplying what wants soever we see in a brother as farre as wee are able and in doing to others as we would be done unto our selves If the Communion bee of the Saints in Heaven between themselves this is Intellectuall Charitie and it consists in a reciprocall love they beare one to another in regard of the love they beare all to God If the Communion be of the Saints in Heaven towards the Saints on Earth this is condoling charity and it consists in a griefe they take at any sinnes we commit least wee should not be found blamelesse at the great day of the Lords appearing If the Communion be of the Saints on Earth towards them in Heaven this is a congratulating charity and it consists in a pious rejoycing at the happinesse wee conceive they enjoy in the fruition of God and of his blessed Angels This Communion of Saints is a Gazophylacium or Treasurie where there is receiving indeed but not without contributing we must do our parts to it or never looke for any part in it and it is to be doubted there are many Hereticks amongst us concerning this Article that either understand it not or at least beleeve it not For if they did truely beleeve the Communion of Saints were it possible they should passe by the man lying wounded in the way and not doe as much as the Samaritan did take care of his curing It is no doubt good to observe the Rule that Charitie begins at home but it is good also to understand the Rule and to know what is meant by home for the Home of Charitie is included in the Communion of Saints and extends as farre as the releeving of a needy brother But alas because Charity seekes not her owne therefore she her selfe is not much sought after and while Charity is neglected this Article stands in our Creed but as a Cypher and as well we may forbeare to fay we Beleeve it as forbeare to shew by our actions that we Beleeve it Or rather better indeed to leave it out of our Profession then not to take it into our Practise And this Communion is therefore necessary to be beleeved because it is the flowre of Charitie and must be set in our hearts betimes that it may take the deeper root as that which shall continue when the flowres of Faith and Hope shall be faded and gone And now having spoken of the two Articles The forgivenesse of sinnes that properly relate to the Holy Ghost It followes to speake of the two next Articles which properly relate to the Sonne of God Christ Jesus whereof this is the first I beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes And indeed after the Communion of Saints this Article followes very fitly seeing there is seldome any mention made of Forgiving of sinnes but that there is mention made of Charity also as in the Prayer taught us by Christ we say not Forgive us our trespasses but say withall as we forgive them that trespas against us For Love covers the multitude of sinnes and the sinnes being covered they are the more easily forgiven afterward But whether the connexion of this Article to the former bee for this reason or no there are certainly of this Article many great reasons For if there were not Forgivenesse of sinnes the whole world should bee damned For all the World being guilty of sins and the Wages of sinne being death if that wages be not forgiven how shall any man be saved But seeing there are which are Elect and ordained to salvation this makes me assuredly to beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes If we should not beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes Why have wee Beleeved that Christ was Crucified For why was hee Crucified but to pay the penalty of our sins And the penalty being paid how can the sinnes but bee forgiven To what end was all the suffering of Christ but to satisfie his Fathers justice That laying the severity of his justice upon him hee might conferre the benefit of his mercy upon us and how is his mercy conferr'd but by Forgiving of sins If we should not Beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes how could wee beleeve that God were merciful seeing the chiefest act of Mercy consists in Forgiving And to deny God to be mercifull what were it but to deny him the most glorious and the most eminent of all his Attributes seeing his mercy is above all his workes Alas if we did not beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes in what miserable affliction should our mindes be For knowing first that we cannot but commit sinnes dayly and then knowing how grievously our sinnes provoke the wrath of God against us and lastly knowing how fearefull a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God in what a miserable condition should we be if we did not beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes If I should not beleeve the Forgivenes of sinnes what hope could I have they should ever be forgiven seeing all the meanes I have in my selfe to procure their forgiving is onely my beliefe that they shall be Forgiven O how comfortable an Article is this which makes it be truly said of Christ In odore vnguentorum tuorum curremus post te In the savour of thy sweet Ointments wee will run after thee For with this Oyntment hee healeth all our sores he makes us whole in all our diseases he makes us strong in all our Infirmities O my soule if at any time thou either by infirmity fall or by allurements be entised to commit sinne then have recourse to this Article I beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes and thou shalt certainly find in it both rest and refreshing to thy fainting spirits And of what sins is it then that I beleeve the forgivenesse Indeede of all sinnes how great or many soever they bee for seeing there are no limits of Gods mercy neither is there any bound of his forgiving And therefore though mâ— sinnes be more then the haires of my head though a burden farre greater then I can beare yet I beleeve the Forgivenesse of them all But if I beleeve the Forgivenesse of all sinnes doe I not then beleeve
extra all exteriour workes and all are exteriour works that are not personall as they be common to all the persons in the Deitie so they may be affirmed of the whole Deity After the Article of beliefe He ascended into Heaven that Christ rose from the dead our next Beliefe is that he ascended into Heaven and indeed it followes well For as when he came downe from heaven he never left descending till hee descended into hell so now that he is risen he never leaves rising till he ascend up to Heaven And so my soule shouldst thou doe not thinke it enough to rise up from sinne and there stay but never leave rising till thou ascend up to Heaven as Christ did But what Ascend as soone as he was risen What time was there then for Thomas to put his hand into his side What time for Peter to take charge of his Sheepe Hee therefore ascended not presently after his up-rising but stayed forty dayes upon earth before he ascended in which time hee appeared nine times to his Apostles and Disciples But what needed he to have stayed fortie dayes if hee appeared but nine times Or why appeared hee but nine times if hee stayed fortie dayes Indeed to give the reason of the number of his times of appearing and why at other times hee concealed himselfe is perhaps a secret beyond our capacitie Onely in generall wee may conceive that hee appeared sometimes to make his Disciples assured of his Resurrection and he forbore appearing sometimes to weane them from their carnall desire of his presence He appeared sometimes to instruct them in many things which they knew not before and he forbore appearing sometimes to prepare their mindes for his ascending But howsoever by these his appearings hee manifested foure faculties of a glorified body that it can vanish away at pleasure that it can eate or fast at pleasure that it can alter shape at pleasure that it can enter where the doores are shut For all these Christ did after his rising by vertue of his glorified body But that his Body though glorified was at any time in more places then one at once is no where to be found in the holy Scriptures and can never bee proved by the Word of God But to what Heaven was it that Christ ascended Not as some foolishly interpret those words of David In Sole posuit tabernaculum suum as though hee placed his Tabernacle in the Sunne and went no higher For if this were so how could he come to sit at the right hand of his Father whose throne is in the highest heavens This ascending of Christ into heaven makes justly a high Festivall among us which wee call Ascension day but should we not rather call it Ascension yeare or some longer time then a yeare at least if wee meane it as long as the time hee spent in ascending For if it were lesse then yeares it may be written for a Wonder seeing Alpharabius a great Astrologer amongst the Arabians affirmes for certaine the starry-Starry-Heaven to be so high above the Earth that a man with reasonable journeyes could hardly goe it in eight thousand yeares and other Astronomers affirme the distance from the Earth to the nethermost Heaven to bee no lesse then fourescore Millions of miles And another expresseth the distance thus that if a Mill-stone were falling downe from Heaven it would be neere a hundred yeares in falling before it came to the Earth And if wee wonder at these things as indeed they are most wonderfull wee may consider what just cause there is to have this Attribute given to God to be the Maker of heaven and earth But though the distance of place be so great and the motion of a naturall body bee so slow yet what is this to a glorified body that makes no reckoning of distance of place but instar fulguris like Lightning is able to move from any part of the world to another in an instant that if we measure the length of the Festivall by the length of the time which Christ spent in Ascending we need not call it Ascension day but Ascension minute seeing his glorified body was able in a minute to passe from the Earth to the highest Heavens And though when hee began his Ascent from Mount Olivet hee set out at first so slowly that if he went no faster he was not like to get to Heaven in many yeares yet that was done but ad pascendos Discipulorum oculos as it were to feed his Disciples eyes to the end they might the better observe his Ascending and be the more sensible of it and perhaps to shew how unwilling hee was to leave them For afterward no doubt hee mended his pace and made use of the agility of his glorified Body and perhaps was arrived in Heaven while the Angel stood blaming the Apostles for gazing up after him But if he had been Ascended into Heaven sooner why did he not send the Holy Ghost downe upon his Apostles till after fifty daies that he began his Ascending that so hee might have kept his promise And loe I am with you alwayes to the ende of the world meaning either by himselfe or by the Holy Ghost where now there were fifty dayes in which they neither had Christ nor the Holy Ghost amongst them O my soule what presumption is this to inquire into Mysteries that are hidden from us and will be still till wee come our selves to heaven from whence the Holy Ghost was sent But what ground have wee for it that Christ indeed ascended into Heaven Seeing Saint Mathew and Saint John who were likely to have seene it speake nothing at all of it onely Saint Marke and Saint Luke who saw it not and had it but at the second hand record it to us and is it reason to beleeve them that speake but by heare-say when eye witnesses if any such thing were are silent especially in a matter of so great consequence as his Ascension is It is true indeed Saint Mathew for what cause I know not breaks off his Gospel before Christs Ascending but Saint John though hee speake not of it in the place where the other doe yet hee had delivered it at least intimated it before in his Gospel where hee mentions Christ to say What and if yee shall see the Sonne of man ascend up where he was before And Saint Paul a Witnesse without exception affirmes plainely That more then five hundred brethren at once saw him Ascending and himselfe also though he saw him not Ascend yet he saw him being Ascended that nothing can have a more sure ground of Beleeving nothing bee more certaine then Christs Ascending into Heaven And of his Ascention wee may easily conceive two speciall effects One which we are sure off the other which wee hope the first his owne glory that having received indignities on earth hee might receive the reward of them in Heaven the other our comfort that where he is we may be also
yet in some respects they are sometimes appropriated more to One then to another heere therefore in speaking of Heaven and Earth the Originall of Creatures the making them is justly attributed to God the Father the originall Creator for otherwise it is so true that they all had a hand in making them that it is said of the Holy Ghost also that Spiritus Dei Incubabat the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and what was this but a Fomenting the worke of the Father and the Sonne by the Bond of Concord the proper worke of the Holy Ghost From hence we may learne that the World hath not been from Everlasting For if God be Maker of Heaven and Earth then Heaven and Earth were made and if made then made in time and if made in time then there was a time when they were not made But how could this bee seeing there was no time till they were made But yet there was a space of Duration and that space had beene from Everlasting and being from Everlasting how could it ever come to have an ende and an End it must have before Time could come to have a Beginning O my Soule These are no Thoughts for thee thy wings are too weake to fly so high a pitch Thy Plummets are too short to sound so great a depth It may bee sufficient for thee to know that although God made not the World from Everlasting yet hee made it then when from Everlasting hee had Decreed to make it but how hee brought Time out of Eternity is a mystery thou shalt never attaine to know till thou come thy selfe to attaine Eternity Thus farre wee are brought by Beleeving in God the Father And in his onely Sonne Jesus Christ our Lord. but seeing Father is a Relative and every Relative imples a Correlative and the Correlative to Father is Sonne this brings my Beliefe a degree further to Beleeve in his onely Sonne Jesus Christ our Lord Not his Sonne by Adoption as we are nor his Son by Creation and Grace as Angels are but his Sonne by Generation as onely himselfe is and such a Sonne as the Father Proclaimes to be His and tels the day when he begot him Hodie genui te This day have I begotten thee But what day was this day Not such a day as our dayes are which follow one after another but a day in which there is nothing Before nor after but the Past and the Present are both at once the Past in Genui the Present in Hodie indeed a day Not of Time but of Eternity which makes him Co-eternall with his Father One good degree of Equality And as the day of his Begetting is not like ours So neither is the manner of his Begetting like ours For where our Begetting is a Third from Two his Begetting is a Second from One and therefore must needs bee of One substance Both and this makes him Consubstantiall with the Father another good degree of Equality which kind of Begetting though it exceede our capacity yet it exceeds not our Beliefe and therefore though our Inquisitive Thoughts would faine bee making further Querees about it yet Faith makes us contented to take this for an Answer Generationem ejus quis enarrabit Who shall declare his Generation If then the day of his Begetting make him Co-eternall with the Father and the manner of his Begetting make him Consubstantiall with the Father have we not as good ground for our Believing in him as in the Father And though it may be thought no Power is left for the Sonne the Father being Almighty yet all Power is given to the Sonne both in Heaven and Earth for though the Father bee Almighty yet Almighty but as God and therefore Almighty as due to the Sonne who is God with the Father and as just cause wee have to say to the Sonne as to the Father Wee praise thee O God wee knowledge thee to bee the Lord. But how can the Sonne that is begotten be Co-eternall with the Father who Begets Seeing that which Begets is alwaies before that which is Begotten But is not this a fallacie They being Relatives Seeing nothing can Beget but there must bee something Begotten there cannot bee a Father till there bee a Sonne and therefore if the Father bee from Everlasting the Sonne also is from Everlasting and so are Co-eternall But though the Sonne may bee Co-eternall with the Father yet how can he be Consubstantiall with the Father Seeing the Substance of every thing is proper to it selfe and cannot bee communicated to another This indeed were true if the Father and the Sonne were Aliud Aliud and not onely Alius Alius but now being Both One God and onely Two Persons Seeing the difference of Persons makes no difference of Substance they remaine of One Substance Both and so are Consubstantiall Thus farre reacheth our Beliefe in the Divinity of the Son but seeing we beleeve him to be both perfect God and perfect Man this leades our Beliefe a degree further To Beleeve in Jesus Christ our Lord Termes belonging to his Humanity Jesus a Name given him by an Angel when hee was yet in his Mothers womb Because hee should save his people from their sinnes Christ a Name given him from his Office As being a Priest after the Order of Melchisedech annointed with the oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes Lord a Name given him from his Dominion For of his Kingdome there shall be no end O Blessed Son of God Let mee enjoy the benefit of thy Name Jesus that I may bee saved from my sinnes Let me enjoy the benefit of thy Name Christ that I may bee partaker of the oyle of gladnesse with which thou wert Annointed Let me enjoy the benefit of thy being my Lord that being thy Servant I may have thy Protection and Thou my Obedience But how happens it that having said in the beginning of my Creede I Beleeve I now come to say Our Lord and so where I went single out am now suddenly fallen into company It is true indeed I sayd I Beleeve when I spake but as regarding my owne person but now that I speake as regarding the Communion of Saints I say Our Lord. For though Saint Thomas said My God and my Lord as though hee would claime CHRIST wholly to himselfe yet that seemes spoken but in passion and to make amends for his former doubting But now that I speak deliberatly I can say no lesse then Our Lord seeing as Christ is a Saviour not of me onely but of all mankinde so he is the Lord not of me onely but of all that serve him and thus Christ is that Lord in whom is expounded the Riddle of David The Lord said unto my Lord For if hee be Davids Lord how is hee his Sonne and if he bee his Sonne how is he his Lord Indeed Both his Son as concerning the Flesh but his Lord concerning Divine Generation and if Davids Lord
distinction it will keepe us right in the true understanding of this Article For if hee descended into Hell as an Agent then not as a Patient and if not as a Patient then not to Suffer but onely to Triumph Lastly if Christ descended into Hell to suffer why did not then his body descend aswell as his soule seeing our bodies aswell as our soules should have suffered the paines of Hell Which cannot be objected if wee hold hee descended into Hell but only to Triumph For as it was a sufficient and proper triumph for the soule to triumph over Hell so it was a sufficient and proper Triumph for the body to triumph over death which it did by rising the third day as it followes in the next Article Indeed for his descending into Hell to triumph over Satan there was great reason seeing hee it was that had offered him so many great indignities here on earth He it was that had tempted him in the Wildernesse Hee it was that put it into Judas heart to betrary him It was therefore very expedient that the first thing he should doe when hee came to be an Agent should be to goe into Hell to be revenged upon him as it were in hot bloud and for his greater disgrace to triumph over him within his owne Kingdome Now which of these opinions is the more probable perhaps wee may but which is the truer who can bee sure Seing probability and truth doe not alwaies goe together and sometimes the more true is the lesse probable there being fallacies aswell in Reason as in Sense and indeed in matters obscure and not recalled in Scripture we may sooner mistake all then take any at all right and never know in any of them when we be right or wrong and therefore of such poynts though it may be tolerated to make Disquisitions yet it is not safe to make conclusions Sapere ad sobrietatem is an excellent rule in all cases but where the truth is but conjecturall as in this case most of all and it was justly said of Christ Yee erre not knowing the Scriptures For if our knowledge be grounded and not upon Scriptures not onely Errour is easily let in but it is hardly kept out What the Scripture delivers in plaine termes we may be bold to build upon but inferences and deductions are for the most part fallacious seldome so cleare to induce a beliefe seldome so certaine to breed a knowledge and therefore in this poynt our safest course is to content our selves with that which our Creed delivers that Christ descended into hell and not be too curious in examining much lesse too peremptory in concluding either the manner or the causes of his descending But if Christ descended locally into Hell How could he ever come from thence againe Seeing it is said and truly said Omnia te advorsum spectantia nulla retrorsum That from Hel there is no returning No returning indeede for those that are damned and are brought thither to live and die there but for him who descended into Hell to overcome Hell for him who by descending into Hell merited ascending into Heaven It was not onely possible that he should returne but impossible he should be there detained There have beene Hereticks of old at least if they were Hereticks called Psychopanichitae who held this opinion that when the body dyes then the soule falls asleepe and that there is an Interstitium of living as wel in the soule as in the body the soule lying asleep and not waking till the body at the last day rise againe because it hath beene said of men when they dyed that they slept with their Fathers and Saint Paul also expresseth death by sleeping where he saith For this cause many of you are weake and many sleepe and by this meanes it may bee justly said that when a mandies he knowes his judgement presently For though there bee a million of yeares betweene his death and the day of Judgement yet the soule lying all the while asleep they are to him as contiguous And this seemes to bee no improbable opinion and by which many difficult places in Scripture may be cleared for if it were not thus how could it be said that where the tree falleth there it lyeth for if the soule be in action while the body is dead how will the Tree lye where it falleth Seeing the good soules will alwaies be doing of good and the evill soules of evill But if notwithstanding these reasons this opinion bee not suffered to passe Can it better bee confuted then by that which is said here Hee descended into Hell for what Hee but his soule If then his soule descended and descending bee a voluntary action and no voluntary action but of that which is awake then certainely was Christs soule awake after death and not asleep and if his soule then ours aswell seeing there is no difference that we know off betweene his soule and ours but propension to sinne But what a kind of perswading is this to seeke to perswade us to beleeve in Christ by hearing hee was scourged and crucified and hanged amongst common Malefactors and after all this to descend into Hell Is he like to be a Saviour to us that could not save himselfe For if he had saved himselfe and come downe from the Crosse the Jewes pretended at least they would have beleeved in him But when he did not this upon so just a Motive what reason had they but to thinke he could not doe it and then what reason had they to thinke him a Saviour This indeed was the mist that blinded the Jewes eyes they could never be brought to think him the true Christ because he came in such meannesse humility where they looked for a Messias that should come in state one that should domineere in the world and restore the temporall Kingdome to the Hebrew Nation And yet is this one of the maine reasons which makes us know and beleeve him to be the true Christ because it is most agreeable to all the ancient Prophecies that such a one the true Christ should bee And indeed seeing hee came into the world to bee a Redeemer and Redeeming consisted no lesse in suffering then in doing It was necessary hee should come in such an Estate as might be fittest for suffering so to pay for us the uttermost farthing of our debt not onely by Active but aswell also by Passive obedience which hee could not have done at least not made appeare to have done if hee had come in such state as the Jewes expected But though he descended into Hell and no doubt The third day hee rose againe did great matters at his being there yet it seemes he was not long about it for the Third day he rose againe Not sooner then the third day that it might appeare hee had beene certainly dead Nor later that he might not leave his Disciples too long in discomfort Not sooner then the third day that
there might be time sufficient for his soules triumphing Nor latter that there might not be time sufficient for his bodies corrupting Not sooner then the third day that hee might not abolish the old Sabbath upon the old Sabbath Nor later that he might not leave the world without a Sabbath for if hee had not risen till the fourth day then had the third day beene neither Sabbath-day nor working-day Not a Sabbath because hee was not then risen whose onely rising made the new Sabbath not a working-day because but one day by it selfe and none of the six that were at first ordained to bee working-dayes And now is performed the thing signified of which Jonas was the signe for as Jonas went down into the Whales belly and after three dayes was cast out safe upon the shoare So Christ having descended into the Whales belly of Hell was the third day set a shore on the earth and rose from the dead Now is verified the saying of Christ at which the Jewes tooke such scandall Destroy yee the Temple and in three dayes I will build it up againe For when the Jewes had destroyed the sacred Temple of his Body by putting him to death upon the Crosse in three dayes he built it up againe and rose from the dead And now was verified the Prophecie That the glory of the second Temple should bee greater then that of the former For so was Christs body being risen from the dead farre more glorious then the body in which he dyed And now the third day being come hee rose from the dead but why from the dead For onely his body from the dead his soule from Hell and why then from the dead rather then from Hell Is not the rising of his soule as worthy of our beliefe as the rising of his body And why then not as well mentioned as the rising of his body But is it not that to say he rose from the dead includes them both seeing his body could not rise without his soule besides it more concernes us to say hee rose from the dead then to rise from hell because to rise from the dead is our owne case but to rise from Hell is never like to be the case of any but onely of himselfe Neither indeed can it properly be said He rose from Hell seeing there can bee no rising where there was not a falling first but though his soule descended into Hell yet it fell not in Hell as his body did by death and therefore proper onely to say Hee rose from the Dead and not from Hell Never Cordiall was more comfortable to a fainting spirit then this Article is to us The Article before put us almost cleane out of heart For if his being dead and buried touched us so very neerely how could his descending into Hell but touch us to the very quick But now this Article of his rising from the dead puts new life into us seeing by this we are assured not only of the greatnesse of his power that could so easily vanquish Death and Hell but of the greatnesse of his love that as hee did it for our sakes so for our comfort he would come againe to let us know it And indeed though Christ did well enough himselfe with his descending into Hell yet we for our parts could never well brooke this Article for two unpleasing words that are in it Hell and Descending extreamely distastfull both For Hell is a terrour and Descending a disgrace but now this Article of his Rising cheeres us up againe for Hell is no terrour to him that can vanquish it and Descending is no disgrace to him that can rise againe and indeed there is nothing that more pleaseth us then rising For as long as we be rising wee can never doe amisse as the word never gives offence so the action never takes hurt and specially if wee rise as Christ did from the dead For how much the place from which wee rise is more hatefull so much the rising it selfe is more gratefull and seeing nothing is more hatefull then death therefore nothing is more gratefull then rising from the Dead But though Christ continued longer dead then his Disciples could have wished yet hee rose sooner from the Dead then perhaps they expected and perhaps they expected not he should rise at all For if Mary Magdalene had beleeved that Christ should rise againe would shee have come to the Sepulchre with Spices to Embalme him But how is it true that Christ did rise the third day when it appeares he rose before it was day For the Sunne was not risen when Christ rose and it is the rising of the Sunne that makes it day But though the Sunne were not risen yet it was upon rising and that was enough to denominate it day And besides before the Sun riseth there is alwaies a Diluculum a day-breake and that certainely enough to make it bee called Day But it seems it is meant in the Gospell to expresse not only that it was the third day but what time of the third day it was when Christ arose And indeed whether wee take the day after the account of the Jewes who begin their day at Sun setting or after the account of the Romans who begin their day at Midnight as we do in both the accounts it was the third day and then the Sun rising was the time of the day in which he rose But why then would Mary Magdalene come no sooner with her Spices seeing by this account the Sabbath day that had hindred her was ended long before Was it not that if shee had gone sooner shee must have gone by darke and could shee in the darke have done the worke shee went about And to have gone by candle-light would have bred suspition The Watchmen then might justly have said His Disciples came by night and stole him away but now shee tooke advantage of the first light to bee going to the Sepulchre as Christ may be thought at the same time to bee rising from the Sepulchre and perhaps it was but the distance of place that made the difference of time betweene her comming and his rising and it was well there was that difference of time For if shee had come sooner shee had found Christ lying dead in his grave still and to have Embalmed him then with her Spices might have brought imputation upon his Resurrection have made it be thought that the vertue of her Spices had revived him and therefore to prevent this scandall Christ was up before Mary Magdalen came and as soone as the third day affoorded but any dawning of light for where Saint John saith While it was yet darke is but a phrase of expressing It was not broad day-light He rose from the Dead And is there not in this a Mystery May we not say that Christ would not rise but with the rising of the Sunne because the Sunne could not rise but with the rising of Christ For as when Christ left his life
the Sunne left his light and was covered with darkenesse so now that Christ riseth from the Dead the Sunne riseth from the darke and makes the day spring from on high againe with his light Was it ever heard before that two Suns did rise both together And why was it so now but to shew that he is the true light that lighteth every one that commeth into the world and that in his light we shall see light O blessed Sunne of Righteousnesse as thou didst then rise and appeare to thy Apostles with beames of comfort to remove from them all darknes of sorrow so vouchsafe now to rise in my heart with beames of grace to dispell from mee all clouds of errour that I may not take thee for a Cardiner as Mary Magdalen did but that calling me by my name I may answer thee with Rabboni as Mary Magdalen did who though shee came too late to annoint thee with her Spices dead yet she came time enough to be the first messenger of thy rising from the dead and to have the honour to bee Apostola Apostolis the Apostle to thy Apostles who but for her incessant diligence might have languished longer in the ignorance of thy rising But is it true indeed that Christ did rise from the dead and that it is not a tricke put upon us Seeing he appeared not to all the people but onely to some few men and are a few men sufficient witnesses to make so incredible a thing to be credited But though he appeared not to all the people yet he appeared to all the Apostles that their holinesse might well supply their number and to all the Apostles at diverse times that the frequencie might well cleare them from mistaking and if incredulity notwithstanding all this will still bee excepting against their witnesse have we not then more then five hundred brethren at once that saw him being risen from the dead that if we beleeve it not now having so many witnesses and such witnesses to confirme it neither would wee beleeve it though an Angel should come and tell it us from Heaven and indeede an Angell did come from heaven and tell it to Mary Magdalen He is risen he is not here But why would not Christ being risen from the dead suffer himselfe to be seene of the Jewes was he affraid they would Crucifie him againe as they had done before but there needed bee no such feare seeing his body was now impassible and not subject any more to such indignities But indeede to what ende should the Jewes have seene him For it would but have moved them to more blasphemy they would but have said as they had said before that he was a Magcian and had a devill and though they had beeue allowed the favour of Saint Thomas to put their hands into his sides yet they would never have beleeved him to bee the same man whom they had put to death but rather some Devil that appeared in his likenesse And were these fit men to have the favour to see Christ The penitent Mary Magdalen could not be allowed to touch him and should such reprobate Jewes be allowed to doe it even to the Disciples themselves he appeared but at times and in short fits rather to confirme their beliefe of his resurrection then to keep them company with his conversation So as there was cause enough why he was not seene of the Jewes but why after he was risen he stayed forty daies upon the earth before he Ascended and in those forty daies appeared nine times and but nine times to his Disciples This indeed is a Mystery whereof without divine Revelation wee shall never come to understand the reason But though Christs body might rise from the dead yet how could it come forth of the Sepulchre seeing a great stone was rowled against it to keep him in Was it that the Angel came from heaven of purpole to let him out In this indeed the Doctors of the Church are much divided some of them holding that the Angel came directly for that purpose as amongst others of the Authors Pope Leo I thinke the second and of the later amongst us Master Perkins Some againe holding that the Angel rowled away the stone indeed but not to any such purpose as amongst others of the Ancients Saint Hierome and of the latter Bishop Andrewes who in his seventeenth Printed Sermon saith thus The Angel indeed rowled away the stone but Christ was risen first and the stone rowled away after But seeing Mary Magdalen asked not this question why should we Was it not more that Christs body should rise at all then that rising it should make its way through any obstacle And why more to come out of the Sepulchre while the stone lay there then to come in amongst his Apostles when the doores were shut For indeed who knowes or is able to define what the abilities and priviledges of a glorified body are But how are we sure that it was the true body of Christ that appeared and not rather a phantasme or ghost seeing a phantasme seems also to be a body as the Samuel which the Witch of Endor raised up to Saul Indeed for this we are beholding to Saint Thomas for his doubting hath made this out of doubt For putting his hand into his side without which he would not beleeve hee found it to bee flesh and bone of which a phantasme or ghost hath none and therefore though it may deceive the seeing yet it cannot deceive the touching And here besides the litterall sense there may not unfitly bee drawne a good Morall observation that as Christ did not rise from the dead till he had first descended into Hell so the best meanes to rise from the death of sinne is to descend into the Hell and torment of Conscience by penitent contrition and indeed he that truely feeles the compunction of soule for his sinne may justly be said to be in hell for the time seeing no hell can minister greater torment but yet with this difference that where in the torment of Hell there is utter despaire in this torment of Compunction there is assured hope O gracious God so frame mee to descend into this Hell of Compunction by penitent contrition that I may never come to feele the torments of that Hell where there is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth But by what power was it that Christ rose from the dead For there is great difference betweene rising and being raysed to rise is properly by ones owne power to be raised is properly by the power of another and they cannot bee both true and why then are they both said For as it is said here that he rose so in another place it is said that he was raised Is it not that his rising was as his dying voluntary and yet imposed he dyed because he would dye and he dyed because his Father decreed him to dye and in this there is no inconguitie seeing all Opera ad