safer then the jailou◠could It was an angell deliuered Paul from the wrath of the tempest which was not so obedient to the angell as the angell was to Paul And when at the last Day the trumpet shall found the angels shall make as much speed as the voice of the trumpet and bee as officiously obedient as the bones of the dead which they shall raise and attend at that last ascension And then shall they waite for euer after rather vpon the person then the message of their Prince Christ Iesus of our Prince Christ Iesus Who is ascended to rayse vs to an ascension of Faith by which it being of things not seene wee doe not only honour the person in whom wee trust but modestly oblige him And thus the skilfull mercie of our Sauiour vouchsafes to make himselfe beholding to vs by his owne work for his owne worke for our faith in his absence rather then to make vs beholding vnto him for our delight in his presence Hee ascended therefore to rayse vs likewise to an ascension of Hope which has obserued his loue to bee so vnited to his power in his assumption of our nature vnto his nature that by the great act of his ascension it likewise expects the assumption of our persons vnto his person Hee ascended likewise to rayse vs to an ascension of Loue which being like fire ought to ascend and being purer then the fire ought to ascend aboue the fire and since the fire can ascend to Heauen loue ought to exceed it and ascend into Heauen Into which holy place our high Priest is entred not so much to begge pardon as to giue it and by his entring into this holy place that he might make the certaintie of our peace equall to the mysterie of it he has prooued our Priest to be equall to our God Hee had before made man but little lesse then the angels but now the man Christ Iesus is aboue all the angels to whom Enoch's ascension was newes but this amazement And as it was their singular wonder so let it be our singular joy And indeed we may well rejoyce when by ascension we shall bee purged from the melancholy of our humanitie when our faith shall be happily lost into sight when wee shall bee past hope not by despaire but by possession when we shall be more transported by loue then by angels when we shall bee no longer their charge but their company when God shall so delight in vs that if wee could sinne we should be proud that hee so delighted in vs when we shall so delight in God that if there could bee sorrow in that delight we should bee sorrie that wee had not alwayes delighted in him and the eternitie of this delight shall be an ascension of this delight O happy and full Vision when Iacob shall not dreame that hee sees angels goe vp to Heauen but shall goe thither himselfe and now adore the angell whom once he wrestled with and as he then would not part from him till he had a blessing so now he neuer shall part from him because he has this blessing O happy and full vision when Moses shall see the face of God and liue nay when he shall liue because hee sees the face of God! when Moses his face shall shine so bright that now it would shine through his veile and yet his righteousnesse shall bee more glorious then his countenance when now hee shall not need to goe to the top of Mount Nebo to see the land of promise but on the top of this holy hill enjoy the true land of promise and the God that promised it O happy and full Vision when Simeon shall with more joy bee taken vp into Heauen then he tooke-vp the child Iesus into his armes and shall find himselfe more increased in joy then the child his Sauiour increased in stature when hee shall see his Sauiour honoured at the right hand of God who once vouchsafed to honour Simeons armes O happy and full Vision when Peter shall see himselfe as much transfigured as Christ when Peter shall see Christ more then transfigured and now shall with delight behold our Sauiours face when before for feare he fell vpon his owne O happy and full Vision when Paul shall so see Christs bodie in Heauen that he shall know himselfe to bee there in bodie when Iohn shall no more need to see the new Ierusalem come downe from Heauen but shall goe-vp vnto it Vnto which O thou Lambe of God grant that by the imitatiō of thy innocēce we may ascend that we may ascend to that Ierusalem by thy light who art the light of that Ierusalem that the sight of thy triumph may bee our triumph that our petitions may now so ascend that they may make way for the ascension of our soules and bodies that with thy Cherubins and Seraphins continually wee may cry Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbaoth who doest now with victorie rest from thy passion And though wee cannot hope for the glory of thy right hand vouchsafe vs the protection Heare thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father and haue mercie For thou only art holy thou only art the Lord thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most high in the glory of God the Father Heare O thou that sittest at the right hand of God and haue mercy And let thy mercy make our ascension a witnesse and part of the glory of thy ascension The end
His diuinitie which was acknowledged by the Deuils whom he dispossessed who for a moment did by a greater miracle leaue their lying then their habitation and being tormented vnto truth admirably confessed him the Sonne of God His diuinitie which at his Baptisme Heauen reuealed vnto the Baptist which reuelation he likewise reuealed vnto the Iewes the best of whom esteem'd him as a man of God the worst of whom fear'd him as a man of God And he told them what he saw not in the contriuance of phancie or by the fallacie of a glasse And hee did see the veile of Heauen diuided as if the diuine persons who neuer had beene vndiuided would now sensibly appeare vnited at this the Synod of their Trinitie And hee did see the mild embleme of the Holy Ghost descend vpon him and he heard the voyce of the Almighty who was both the father and the witnesse at this great Christning And shall we yet say that this light of the World was so obscured in the cloud of flesh that it was not cleerely presented to the eyes of the world shall we yet say that we doe not sufficiently vnderstand whether or no the Iewes did sufficiently vnderstand shall wee yet say with a bold compassion Had they knowne it and yet wee must say with a safe compassion Had they knowne it they would not haue crucified the Lord of glory The common Iew was the common sense of that politique bodie his outward soule was able to see the Law but for Prophesie hee was as farre from the vnderstanding of it as from the gift of it Hee could with enough ignorance gaze at the wonders of our Sauiour but it was a greater wonder to worke in a Iew a beliefe of these wonders then to worke these wonders Yet some did beleeue them and abuse them vilely apprehending these demonstrations as the impotent perswasions of probabilitie And some thus thought him to bee the Christ yet durst not reueale this cheape opinion least they should bee excommunicated to saluation by being cast-out of the Synagogue to Christ and his Disciples It is the property of a wiseman not to haue his heart in his tongue but neuer was it the property of a wise man to haue a heart without a tongue The mercie of our Sauiour made the dumbe to speake but the feare of the Rulers made these speakers dumbe thus were their consciences tongue-tied by authoritie And the Rulers themselues did not more impose this silence vpon others then vpon themselues but striuing as much to exceed the people in peruersenesse as in authoritie vnto their ignorance they added fury Indeed they could not by the sharpest discretion of their eye distinguish an incarnate God nor was the Critique Gamaliel able to instruct his Disciple Saul in the Catechisme of this mystery though Saul's vnwilling ignorance admitted him neerer to pardon and conuersion But the chiefe of the Iewes to whom the Gospell was a schisme politiquely rejoycing in their wisdome and honour scorn'd the imputation of leuity by a change and a suspected dejection by this change whereby the High-priest of Ierusalem should be abused into an obscure Christian Wherefore arm'd thus with the affectation of ignorance and the malice of ambition at what thunder would these startle at what vnconceiued almightinesse would this fury turne dastard Yet had they knowne it they would not haue crucified the Lord of glory And yet by an vnmoued decree this passion was sealed to a necessitie and can we then make this predestinated execution depend vpon the will of the vncertaine Iewes This dazles the eye and is a wheele turning in a wheele a spheare wrapt in a spheare the lowest against the order of Heauen and nature seeming to giue motion to the highest the will of the Iewes to the decree of God Had Festus vpon his judgement-seate heard holy Paul preach this seeming opposition wee may easily beleeue that without the manners of deliberation he would once more haue cryed-out to our Apostle Much learning has made thee mad But wee leaue him to his owne ignorance and an other judgement-seate◠and without being rapt to the third Heauen wee know that Those things which are necessary in respect of the first cause admit vncertainty in respect of second causes The crucifying of our Sauiour was necessary cōpared to Gods decree but it was contingent cōpared to the libertie of the Iewes will in whom it was choice and not necessitie to will or not to will the death of Christ If the Iewes had knowne it then both the causes of this action and the action it selfe might haue not beene and had not beene But this condition the knowledge of our Sauiour which if it had beene our Sauiour could not haue suffer'd could not be because the first cause God had decree he should suffer And as God by this decree of his Passion did not with an actiue concurrence lay a necessity guilt vpon the will of the Iewes no more did hee impose any necessitie vpon the humane will of Christ but our Sauiour made himselfe a free sacrifice with as much mercy as affliction For though there were in his humane will a necessitie of obedience to the decree of his Passion yet was there also a true indifference this necessity being extrinsecall to his humane will precisely considered as it was intrinsecall and naturall to his person But his humane will suffering no violence did for our sake in the libertie of choice offer-vp his person to the violence of the Iewes Who were so glad of their ignorance and ambition that rather then they would fall from their Cleargy-monarchy they would not feare to set vpon God The brauest sinne that euer was was ventred in Heauen by an Angell and the basest sinne that euer was was committed on earth by a Disciple A Disciple who had he beene of an intire faith had beene euen yet of an intire fame in our sacred Kalendar enjoyed the place and title of Saint Iudas Hee was Christ's purse-bearer whose office vnder such a Master was in all likelihood of too narrow a commoditie for a large Knaue yet louing this more then his master hee bargaines with the Priests and takes earnest to be a conuenient Traitor But heere I must not forget one thing because our Sauiour has commanded mee to remember it and that is thy piety O happy woman who didst bestow vpon our Sauiour's head and feete a precious oyntment With thy beautifull haire thou didst wipe his beautifull feete from which thy oyntment returned sanctified to thine owne head and by a commanded anniuersary of thy pietie he hath poured vpon thee the oyntment of a religious fame Iustly doe I heere remember her her liberality being the vnjust cause of Iudas his murmuring and it was he whose thrift did chide at the spending of this oyntment Now therefore as if hee had vowed a repaire of this losse he finds a policie to sell the oyntment which was already spent by selling his
into it Loue was swiftest but zeale boldest When they are entred they find Christ's victory acknowledged by the linnen clothes his spoiles of death and these spoiles too had beene diuided the napkin of his head being laid by it selfe It seemes the angell at our Sauiour's resurrection attended to bee a witnesse of it to the women and leaue a witnesse of it to the Disciples Thus that he was not stolne away appeares by the inconuenience and leisure of his vndressing and by the method of the linnen which the frightened policie of the souldiers did no more touch then obserue and they no more obserued it then did the women who after the sight of the angell had their eyes as much amazed as their minds The souldiers too did more tremble then watch but the Disciples had lesse feare and more time besides they learned somewhat which they were not taught and could now teach the women this newes of the graue But did hee rise but from the graue This is the newes but of his bodie yes hee did rise also from the damned who are dead too as much in judgement as to nature Though some are as vnwilling to haue Christ descend into Hell as to goe thither themselues and in a dangerous Brachygraphie write the Creed so short that without the commission of an Index Expurgatorius they quite leaue out the article of the descent But what an vnmannerly ingratitude is this to accept of Christ's benefits and denie his wonders They will enjoy his conquest of Hell and yet they will not let him goe to conquer it Ought wee not to make greater the glory of Christo and can wee make lesse the power of Christ Let then our pietie behold and wonder to see Heauen descend into Hell to see againe Gosâ—â—â—â— in Aegypt The Deuill had beene before in Heauen and now God is pleased to goe into Hell The arch-angell conquered the Deuill in Heauen and now God conquers him in his owne Empire and makes his Empire his Dungeon Wee ouercome the Deuill by flight but God by inuasion Yet who would not stand amazed to see God with the Deuill Had the Manichie beene now hee might heere at once haue behold both his Princes Mee thinkes our Sauiour now turned Sampson's Riddle into a Prophesie which hee expounded and fulfilled Did not out of the eater come forth meate and out of the strong came there not sweetnesse when from the jawes of Hell by Christ came forth saluation Now whiles the soule of our Sauiour was triumphant in Hell his bodie was obedient in the sepulchre his diuinitie being as his soule till it recalled his soule and made the whole Christ change an age of three and thirtie yeeres into eternitie Loe heere is the Lion of the Tribe of Iudah whose almightie strength vouchsafed to couch vnder the power of the graue and Loe the glorious indignation of his loue has rouzed him vp againe from the sloth of death Will you behold how hee was raised behold how the potter workes vpon the wheele he takes clay he makes it a vessell and this vessell being marred in the hand of the potter he makes it againe as hee best pleases Christ was immortall clay and earth purer then Heauen When by the wonder of omnipotency the Creator and the creature were made into one and of one matter did consist both the potter and his pot From this broken clay there did arise the same and a renewed Christ That hee rose in the earnest of a body his owne mouth did testifie when hee said nothing proouing it by the authoritie of food which he did eate with his Disciples Could any man in this point be yet an infidell If any could see how he conuerts them Hee lets Thomas disgrace himselfe to a beliefe and by his distrust mercifully and miraculously increase his faith Can any doubt that hee was renewed in a bodie of glory when he was full of God Know you not that his body was indeed the Temple of the Holy Ghost Was hee not renewed in a body of glory whom the doores that were shut when hee entred to his Disciples did obediently acknowledge to be the King of glory And though hee were patient vnder death three dayes yet since the first part of the first was spent before he died and the last part of the last after hee reuiued there was the number but not the length of three dayes and thus hee made so short a change seeme rather a sleepe then a death And O but to consider heere as well the wonder as the change Doe but imagine that in the dawning birth of the morning you saw the reuelation of a graue emulating the morning a coarse rising with more comfort and glory then the Sunne a winding-sheet falling away as an empty cloud the feet and hands striuing which shall first recouer motion the hands helping to raise the body the feet helping to beare both the body and the hands the tongue so eloquent that it can tell you it can speake againe the eares so pure that they can perceiue the silence of the graue the eyes looking forth of their Tombes as if they were glad to see their owne resurrection Would you not bee as much affrighted as instructed with this power of a God Would you not be turned into very coarses to see this liuing coarse Would you not be strucke as pale as the winding-sheet you looked-vpon But when all this shall bee done as well in mercy as in majestie as well to raise you to a hope of eternall life as to strike you with a remeÌ„brance of a temporall death as well to make you like vnto God as to make you know you are yet not like vn-him O how will you then at such compassion dissolue with compassion as if you would hasten to the like resurrection How will you then kisse those hands which before you feared How will you then with stedfast eyes examine and adore the resurrection of that body which is the hope and cause of the resurrection of our bodies For therefore did hee raise himselfe that hee might raise vs and so become the first-fruites of them that sleepe But shall wee rise too and shall dust againe bee taken-vp and breathed on Shall euery man by this second Adam be made as wonderfully as the first Adam And yet shall we want faith when God wants not power Or shall we thinke it harder to vnite the bodie and soule then to make them It were an impious discourtesie to deny that to God which God denied not vnto his seruant Did not the widow of Zarephah thus receiue a sonne by Elias who yet was neither the father of it nor the God Nay did not his seruant doe more for the Shunamite to whom hee promised a sonne before hee was conceiued and restored him after hee was dead Nay did not the bones of this Elisha giue life to one that was as dead as themselues teaching him to confesse the mercie of a graue It