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
then also of us all seeing of his Kingdome as there shall be no End so neither is there any limitation but it is as Universall as Eternall But though Christ bee the Sonne of God by Generation concerning his Divinity yet not by generation concerning his Humanity but I Beleeve Conceived by the Holy Ghost He was conceived by the Holy Ghost Not that the Holy Ghost was his Father For the Father contributes matter to the being of a Sonne but the Holy Ghost contributes no matter to the being of Christ doth nothing to supplere vicem Patris but onely to be supplementum Matris Indeed a Conception which passeth our conceiving That if Mary doubted how this should be seeing she knew not man we as well may doubt it seeing we know not the manner nor ever can know it but the answer which the Angels gave to satisfie Mary must serve also to satisfie us The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee And here now comes in the great Mystery of the Incarnation of the Sonne of God to the Jewes a Scandall and a stumbling Blocke to the Gentiles and yet the Mystery not more hard to Beleeve then necessary to be Beleeved indeed so necessary that there is properly no Antichristian but hee that denyes it as Saint John saith Who is the Antichrist but hee that denies Christ to be come in the flesh But why was it necessary that the Sonne of God should bee Incarnate Indeed for many great reasons For his being Incarnate makes him the more to commiserate our infirmities his being Incarnate brings our Flesh againe within the Verge of Sanctification but chiefly his being Incarnate makes him fit to be a Mediator betweene God and us makes him fit to bee a Sacrifice for our sins and if it were not for his being Incarnate we should never have Accesse to the Throne of God O blessed Iesus what Infinite benefits doe we receive by thy being Incarnate but what benefit dost thou receive by it thy selfe Alas onely to make a purchase of a number of ungratefull wretches who little consider what great things thou hast done for us little consider what great sufferings thou hast endured for us little consider thy Love thy Patience thy Humilitie in taking our Flesh upon thee when yet but for thy taking it upon thee our Flesh should never have come to Inherit Heaven But why was the Sonne Incarnate and not as well the Father or the Holy Ghost Indeede for just cause For it was not fit the Father should bee Incarnate because the Incarnation was to pacifie the Father Nor was it not fit the Holy Ghost should be Incarnate because the Incarnation was to be the worke of the Holy Ghost onely the Son was fit to bee Incarnate because it was congruous that being the Sonne in the Trinitie hee should also bee the Sonne of the Woman So to make us the Sonnes of God without remooving out of his Spheare of Sonne-ship at all And heere begins the difference betweene the Humane nature of Christ and Ours For wee are all of us conceived in sinne as David saith of himselfe That he was conceived in sinne and as David so wee all but Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost and therefore without sinne And as all the passages of our time esteemed are like our Beginning Conceived in sinne Borne in sinne Living in sinne and Dying in sinne So all the passages of Christs time afterward are like his Beginning Conceived without sinne Borne without sinne Living without sinne and Dying without sinne by which it was wrought that though he tooke upon him our whole nature became in al things like to us yet sinne was excepted And that which was conceived by the Holy Ghost did not prove we may be sure a false conception but prospered and proceeded to a perfect Birth therfore as I Beleeve he was conceived by the Holy Ghost So I Beleeve Borne of the Virgine MARIE hee was Borne of the Virgin Mary Conceived altogether Supernaturally in her but borne for the most part Naturally of her was nourished in her Wombe lay nine moneths enclosed in her Wombe came forth of her Wombe after the course of Nature and yet Borne Supernaturally of her too Supernaturally as of a Virgine though naturally as of a Woman For he was Natus ex Virgine Borne of a Virgine So he was Factus ex muliere made of a Woman Not made in her but made of her was Flesh of her Flesh and Bone of her Bone as truly as Eve of Adams It may well bee said hee was Borne Supernaturally of her For who ever heard of such a thing before a Virgine to bee the mother of a Childe But though it were never heard off before that such a thing was Yet it was heard before that such a thing should bee For the Prophet Esay long before had foretold A Virgin shall be with Childe and shall bring forth a Sonne and what marvell if there never were such a Mother before when there never was such a Childe before For this is that Childe of whom it is said This day is borne to you a Saviour which is Christ the Lord and a Saviour of whom No lesse then of all mankinde and this no lesse strange then his Birth A child to be a Saviour of men and One Childe of all mankinde fully as strange as to be Borne of a Virgin Indeed strange Both or rather Wonderfull Both yet as strange or wonderfull as they Both are we Beleeve them Both though but One of them be delivered heere for an Article of our Creede It is Recorded of many that they were Sanctified in their Mothers Wombe as amongst others of Jeremy the Prophet but never Recorded of any that he was Conceived by the Holy Ghost but onely of Christ and between being Sanctified and being conceived by the Holy Ghost there is very great oddes For to be Sanctified is only to have a measure of Holinesse but to bee conceived by the Holy Ghost is to have the whole Substance made Holy To be sanctified is onely to have Grace infused in the Soule but to be conceived by the Holy Ghost is to have both Body and Soule bee altogether Grace it selfe But though Christ were conceived without sinne because conceived by the Holy Ghost yet how could hee bee borne without sinne being borne of a sinnefull woman For though Mary were a Virgin yet no doubt shee was a sinner For why else should she need a Saviour as shee saith her selfe My spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour and could Christ take flesh of a sinner and not with that flesh take sinne But is it not that the Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier and could aswell sanctifie the Flesh it selfe as the motions of the Flesh and therefore make him as well borne without sinne as conceived without sinne sinne not being able to enter where the Holy Ghost keeps possession But why is there
the innumerable number of persons that must make their appearance there scarse the whole earth would be roome enough to make a Sessions-house for such a company unlesse perhaps by the like miracle as is said to have beene usuall in the Jewish Synagogue that when the people kneeled downe there was roome enough in the Temple to hold them all but when they stood up they were fain many of them to goe out of the Temple for want of roome when yet kneeling downe must needs take up more roome then standing up But though we know not either at what time or to what place hee shall come yet we beleeve to what purpose hee shall come For hee shall come to judge the quicke and the dead The quick those whom hee shall finde alive at his comming and the dead those who dyed before his comming Or the quicke those that are alive in grace and the dead them that are dead in sin But not to judge the dead while they are dead for so they should not bee able to answer for themselves which cannot stand with the justice of so righteous a Judge but at his comming at the sound of a Trumpet The Sea and the Earth shall give up their dead and they shall all arise and stand at his Tribunall to receive their sentence of pardon or condemnation according to their works And oh how terrible will that day be For if the day were terrible in which the Law was given so terrible that Mount Sinai was all of a smoake how terrible will that day bee in which the transgressors of the Law shall all be brought to receiue their Triall If the day were terrible which was a day of grace how terrible will the day be which shall be a day of punishment O my soule let the remembrance of this Article be never out of thy minde and if at any time thou find in thy selfe either suggestions of Satan or motions to sinne then thinke upon this Article and when thou thinkest upon it beleeve it and be most assured that there shall most certainly bee a day of judgement in which all thoughts of the heart though never brought forth in words shall bee discovered all actions of life though never so secretly done shall all be laid open and judgement shall be given upon them all without favour or partialitie And let us not flatter our selves in security because he who is now our Advocate shall be then our Judge but rather consider that though hee be now a Lambe he will then be found to be a Lyon Demonstravit potentiam qui demonstravit patientiam and let us prepare our selves against that day in feare and trembling and let us send up strong cries to him that as the good Thiefe obtained to be remembred of him when he came into his kingdome so wee may obtaine of him to be remembred in mercy when he comes to judgement Before wee leave this Article there is one observation which may not be omitted that this Article is of a different making from all the rest all the other might bee made by Apostles but this seemes rather to bee made by a Prophet For our beliefe in it is Propheticall and tells what Christ will doe in time to come Indeed none of the Articles concerning Christ are in the Future tense but onely this as none of them is in the Present tense but onely the next before He fitteth at the right hand of his Father all the other Articles are in the Preter perfect tense and speake of the time past even from his conception to his ascending into Heaven in the Preterperfect tense all but once ascended into Heaven where all time is Present no more Preterperfect tense then no more mention of time past and therefore our Article turnes Present too He sitteth at the right hand of his Father and there should sit and enjoy his Present tense and time for ever if it were not for us but as once before for our sakes hee left Heaven and came downe to redeeme us so once againe for our sakes hee will leave Heaven and come downe to judge us For without judging he could not come to rewarding No comming to Venite benedicti Patris Come yee blessed of my Father untill hee have judged first and without comming to this Venite all that went before would come to nothing And therefore all the benefit of these Preterperfect tenses consists in this Future all the harvest I may say of the other Articles is reaped in this last that Christ shall come to judge the quick and the dead O therefore my soule be carefull to lead thy life so in this present world that thou maist not bee afraid of his comming to judgement because of Ite maledicti in ignem aeternum Goe yee cursed into everlasting fire but maist rather rejoyce at his comming because of Venite benedicti Patris Come yee blessed of my Father For as that Ite will pay them home for all the pleasures of a wicked life So this Venite will make amends for all the pressures of a wretched life and indeed without the benefit of this Venite all the delights and pleasures the world can afford will prove but as Naboths Vineyard to Ahab Corosives in the end And now having beleeved in the first and second Person of the Trinity I beleeve in the Holy Ghost the Father and the Son if wee should not beleeve in the third Person the Holy Ghost wee should doe him great wrong and our selves more seeing it hath been through him and by his assistance that we have beleeved in thē For as it is true that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son so it is true that beleeving in the Father the Son proceeds from the Holy Ghost For beleeving being a work of Faith and Faith a worke of Sanctification and Sanctification a worke of onely the Holy Ghost how should wee come to beleeving but by the Holy Ghost And it is indeed for this that he hath his Name to be called the Holy Ghost or Spirit Not but that the Father and the Sonne are both Holy and Spirits as well as he but because it is properly Hee that inspires our mindes with all good thoughts and holy desires And now my soule while I beleeve in the Father as the author of my Creation and in the Sonne as the author of my Redemption and in the Holy Ghost as the author of my Regeneration that all the Persons in the Deity may have their severall operations in me and bestow their severall gifts upon me will there not be cause of my thankefulnesse to every one of them and of returning to every one of them all praise and glory who are all of them but one But why is there so much spoken of Christ and so little of the Holy Ghost being a Person in the Trinity as well as hee Is it not that there is more spoken of the Sonne then of the Holy Ghost
Credere Deum or Credere Deo which a man may doe as a stander by and as onely a looker on though he make himselfe no party in the matter The true Beleeving in God indeed is Credere in Deum to interest our selves in him to depend wholly upon him to put all our trust and confidence in him to account him not onely our Oracle to Direct us but our Sanctuary to Protect us to make him not onely our Hope but our Assurance and both in life and death to say that to him which Christ said at his death In manus tuas Domine commendo spiritum meum Into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit I therefore beleeve in God indeed but not in Gods and therefore not in Gods because there are no Gods to beleeve in For if there were more Gods then One there should be none at all seeing it is against the nature of God to bee more then One. Neither indeed will Time or Place allow any more For of Place it is true which God saith of himselfe Caelum Terram ego impleo Heaven and Earth I fill and if One God fill all places what roome can there be for any other And of Time it is true also that God is Primum Ens the First Being but there can be but One First and therefore but One God And as One multiplyed by One can never make any more then One so God being Unity it selfe can never be multiplied into a number but it is most true which the Jewes say of him Hu a'chad ue aein shenì He is One and there is not a Second and yet perhaps not true in their meaning For they may meane it of the Persons in the Deity of which here is both a Second and a Third and yet all Three but One God And if there were more Gods then One there could bee no Beliefe at least but distracted Beliefe and distraction is destruction to beliefe For if it be not Fixt and Intentive upon One and the same power still it may bee Opinion but it cannot be Beliefe But what is God or who is the Lord that I should beleeve in him For to Beleeve in God and not know what God is were to Beleeve in I know not what and were like to make but a blind Beliefe Is it then that there is something which is seene by being invisible which is known by being Incomprehensible and that my Soule is God Or is it there is something whose Center is every where and Circumference no where whose Power is Infinite and in whose hands are all the corners of the Earth and that my Soule is God Or is it there is something which cannot be said It was and yet hath alwaies been Nor cannot be said It wil be yet shal be for ever and that my Soule is God Or is it ther is somthing whose Being cannot be conceived and yet whose Being onely is conceivable which exceeds the Sun in brightnes yet is no quality the World in greatnes yet is no quantity and that My Soule is God But indeed God is He who brought the Ten great Plagues upon Pharaoh for presuming to aske this Question For who can be excused that takes not notice of his Being who is the Author of al Being Who can be excused that knows not who Hee is that onely is And therefore when Moses asked God his Name he answered I am that I am meaning that his Being was his Name For as a name is proper to the thing named so Being is proper only to God all other things rather seeme to be then are Or if they bee indeed yet it is but a Being which they have from him seeing in Him we all live and move and have our being And this I am of Moses is my I am too For it is true which God saith of himselfe Ego Deus non mutor I am God and there is none to change for me and therefore in Beleeving in this I am I am I am sure in a a right Beliefe which makes me to beginne my Creede with this I beleeve in God But thought the Beliefe no doubt be true Yet it is but a truth which Jewes and Turkes beleeve as well as we For they also Beleeve in God and in one God and shall a Christians Belief go no further then theirs Yes my Soule For I beleeve in God the Father the first Person in the Trinity and this no Jew nor Turke beleeves For they have alwaies stuck at One and could never bee gotten to come to Three when yet without knowing this Three that One can never be truely knowne Although to say the truth this Mystery of Three in One is a Truth not so much to be known as to be Beleeved For if it could be perfectly knowne It would not perhaps bee so fit for a Creede which consists in Believing as for some Art that consists in knowing But though I cannot perfectly know this Mystery yet I Beleeve it because I submit my understanding to Faith which though I cannot make to goe along with Beliefe as a Companion yet I make it to wait upon Beliefe as a Servant and this neither Jew nor Turke will be gotten to doe They like not to make their Understanding a Servant though they can be content to be servile themselves yet they will have their understanding to be Free and therefore what they comprehend not they beleeve not Foolish men that would bring downe Heaven to Earth and bound the profound Mysteries of God within the shallow lymits of their owne braines But what is meant by a Person in the Trinitie which is necessary to be known that when wee say there bee Three persons It may not bee thought we meane Three Gods Indeed humane Infirmity is apt to fall into such errour Wee must therefore know that a Person in the Trinity is a Name of Distinction but not of Diversitie It makes Alium Alium but not Aliud Aliud and it is an Appellation proper onely to the nature of the Deity and not to be found in any Creature whatsoever The Person of the Father is distinct from the Person of the Sonne and the Person of the Sonne from the Person of the Holy Ghost but Distinct in Relation not in Substance and all Three Persons are but One God And to make it plainer we may say that God considered as Begetting is the Person of the Father considered as Begotten is the Person of the Sonne and considered as proceeding from the Father and the Sonne is the Person of the Holy Ghost In these onely distinguished in all other points of Deity One The Father is not more God then the Sonne nor the Son then the Holy Ghost They are Three in Subsistence but one in Substance the Subsistence makes the Trinitie the Substance the Deitie an Ineffable Mystery which we may Beleeve but cannot Comprehend O my Soule how much â—re wee bound to God for revealing this Mystery of the Blessed Trinity
in regard of the Sonnes being Incarnate and taking our nature upon him For this indeed brings in many points to bee beleeved whereof considered onely as the second person in the Trinity there should be no need So as the two Natures in Christ must needs give cause to have more spoken of him then of the holy Ghost that hath but one nature The Doctrine concerning the Holy Ghost hath in all Ages beene most obscure so much that in some Churches it was some time before it was beleeved at all or so much as knowne whether there were a Holy Ghost or no even in these present times the Greeke Church a Church of great extent differs thus from us that where we beleeve the Holy Ghost to proceede from the Father and the Son that Church beleeves the Holy Ghost to proceed from the Father by the Sonne a nice difference in so Incomprehensible a Mystery that there seemes no just cause to lay such Anathemaes as some doe upon that Church for so beleeving If wee should beleeve in the Father and in the Sonne and not beleeve in the Holy Ghost this beliefe would never be sanctified seeing the Holy Ghost onely is the Sanctifier and sanctifies none that beleeve not in him and the beliefe not being sanctified would never bee acceptable to the Father himselfe notwithstanding our beliefe in him And this perhaps was the cause why the Offering of Cain was not accepted because though a Sacrifice yet it wanted a devotion sanctified by the Holy Ghost There is a sinne which is properly called The sinne against the Holy Ghost and for them that commit this sinne we are forbidden to pray a grievous sinne no doubt which stops the current of Charity whose nature is wont to overflow al banks but what the sinne is and by what marks it may certainly be known though a Question much agitated is not yet so fully explicated but that it leaves scruples but whatsoever it is or may be we may be sure that the Not-beleeving in the Holy Ghost is one principall ingredient in it Or rather where a true beleeving in the Holy Ghost is this sinne properly can never bee committed And therefore in making profession of our Faith there is none of all the Articles in the whole Creed that seemes more necessary to be said then this For by saying this Article we make it appeare there can bee no danger in praying for us as not being likely to commit the sin against the Holy Ghost who beleeve in the Holy Ghost But why is it that sinnes committed against the Father or the Sonne shall bee forgiven but a sinne committed against the Holy Ghost shall never bee forgiven neither in this world nor in the world to come Is it not that if a sinne bee committed against the Father or the Sonne the Holy Ghost being the Sanctifier can sanctifie that sinne and make it pardonable but if a sinne bee committed against the Holy Ghost there is none to sanctifie it and not being sanctified it justly exceeds all bounds of Remission O therefore thou blessed God the Holy Ghost Vouchsafe to endue me with a Spirit of sanctification that what other sinnes soever I may happily unhappily commit yet I may never be so unhappy to commit this dreadfull sinne of sinning against thee When we read the order of the Persons in the Trinitie the Father placed first the Sonne second the Holy Ghost last wee must not conceive it as though there were any Priority betweene them in time who are all Go-eternall or any disparity betweene them in dignitie who are all Consubstantiall but that it is an expressing of Order onely to our capacities seeing although they be Three Persons yet they are all but One God All but One in Substance though Three in Subsistence The Incomprehensiblenesse of which Mysterie though it exceed our capacities yet not our Beliefe Or therefore the fitter for beliefe because it exceeds our capacities And now having professed our Beliefe in God the Father God the Sonne and God the Holy Ghost wee may justly conclude and say O Holy Blessed and glorious Trinity Three Persons and One God have mercy upon us miserable sinners And thus is finished the first part of our Creed In whom it is we Beleeve the other part remaines containing What it is we Beleeve For to know In whom to beleeve and not know what to beleeve were to stand at a gaze and bee to seeke when wee come to our lesson Indeede the things wee beleeve have dependance upon the Persons in whom we beleeve and such dependance as without beleeving in those wee cannot truely beleeve these If wee did not beleeve in the Holy Ghost we could not beleeve the Holy Catholike Church nor the Communion of Saints for these are benefits that come by the Holy Ghost And if we did not beleeve in the Son of God Christ Jesus we could not beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes nor the Resurrection of the body for these are benefits that accrue unto us by the Sonne of God Christ Jesus And if we did not beleeve in God the Father we could not beleeve the life Everlasting seeing by him onely it is that we live and have our present being and shall have our eternall being And the first Article of this kinde is this I beleeve the holy Catholike Church I beleeve the Holy Catholike Church I beleeve it in deed but not in it as I doe in God For this is a Priviledge due onely to him and besides if I should beleeve in it I should beleeve partly in my selfe as being a Member of it but I beleeve there is a Holy Catholike Church Holy as in which are the Elect of God and Catholike as in which are of all Nations under heaven and this is not the Church of the Jewes for that Church though at some time it were Holy yet it was never Catholike as being bounded within Canaan but now as the Holy Ghost hath made the Church Holy by sanctifying it so Christ hath made it Catholike by enlarging it for at his comming at least at his going away he broke downe the Partition wall by his last Warrant to the Apostles Goe teach all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost But though Christ set his Church at large yet not long after his time a Sect of Hereticks would needs restraine it againe For Donatus and his followers would perswade the world that as before the true Church was onely in Canaan so now the true Church was onely in Africa but by beleeving the Holy Catholike Church I now disclaime both these Churches the Church of the Jewes as not being Catholike and the Church of the Donatists as being neither Catholike nor Holy But what use is there of this Article May not a Christian man doe well enough and yet leave this Article out of his Creed Indeed there is not onely great use of it but even necessitie For
make us beleeve in Christ The next two Articles of Christs Conception and his Birth are declared by the Angell to Joseph Feare not Joseph to take Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost and she shall bring forth a Sonne and thou shalt call his Name jesus Then the next Article of Christs suffering under Pontius Pilate is sufficiently testified in Pontius Pilate who gave sentence to have Barrabas released and Christ to be scourged and then his being Crucified Dead and Buryed are for more surety recorded with their circumstances That he was Crucified betweene two Theeves and when his Legges should have beene broken he was found to bee Dead before and then was Buried and laid in a Sepulchre where never man had been laid before by Joseph of Arimathea as all the Evangelists testifie But now the Article of Christs Descending into Hell makes us at a stand For none of all the Evangelists bring Christ any further then his Grave there they leave him and say not a word more of him till his Rising from the Dead that for any thing appeares yet this Article is like to be lost for want of a Testimoniall It may seeme indeed strange that this Article should be in the Creed and not bâ— found in the Gospel seeing thâ— Gospell seemes to bee the ground from which the Creed is taken Bâ—â— is it not that the ground of ouâ— Creed is not onely the Gospell buâ— all the whole Scripture For thâ— Gospell seemes to deliver no morâ— of Christ then what was visible and done in his body and least wee should bee doubtfull what became of his Soule when his body was dead therefore this Article Hee descended into Hell is added For wee may observe that in these Articles concerning Christ this word Hee personates three Estates as when it is said Hee was Crucified Dead and Buried here the Word Hee Intends but onely his Body as when it is said Hee Descended into Hell heere Hee intends but only his Soule and when it is said He rose againe from the Dead heere the word Hee intends both his Body and Soule together and so continues in all the Articles following He ascended into Heaven He sitteth at the right hand of his Father He shall come to Iudge the Quick and the Dead still the Word Hee intends both his Body and Soule together From whence wee may gather how it is like to be with us also that though our soules and bodies be parted for a time yet when in the Resurrection they once meet againe they shall never afterward be parted any more But though this Article seeme to have no ground in the Evangelists yet in the Apostles and Prophets it hath at lest the Prophet David long before had said in the person of Christ Thou wilt not leave my soule in Hell by which it appeares that his soule was in Hell and theâ— what time so fit for the being thereâ— as while his Body was lying in the Grave and Saint Paul also seeme to say as much where hee saithâ— He Descended into the lowest parts of the Earth which must needes bee certainely a lower place then the Grave And so between the Prophet David and the Apostle Saint Paul we shall be able to make this Article a good Testimoniall having from the one the Place from the other the Motion David naming Hell and Saint Paul descending After the stop of this Article wee come againe into the Roade For the Article of Christs Rising from the Dead hath not onely the Voyces of all the Evangelists but it hath a clowde of Witnesses besides Saint Paul affirming that more then five hundred brethren at once saw him being Risen from the dead Then he next Articles whether two or one of his Ascending into heaven and sitting at the Right hand of God are in such manner testified by Saint Marke that the words of the Creed are but the very Transcript of his Text. Then the Article of Christs comming to Iudge the Quick and the Dead is Proclaimed as from Christ himselfe that it is Hee which was ordained of God to be Judge both of quicke and dead And then the Article of Beleeving in the Holy Ghost is made good by Christs last charge to his Apostles Goe teach all Nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and in whose Name wee are Baptized in Him certainly we have just cause to beleeve But then the Article of beleeving the Holy Catholique Church makes us at a stand againe Foâ— what place of Holy Scripture caâ— bee brought for a Testimony oâ— Beleeving the Catholick Church wheâ— not so much as the word Catholickâ— is to be found in any place of Holy Scripture For though some Epistles of some Apostles be Inscribed Catholicke yet Inscription of Epistles is no part of the Scripture no more then part of the Epistles But is it not that though the word Catholicke be not directly exprest yet it may be directly inferr'd seeing many places of Scripture binde us to Beleeve the Church but no particular Church and therefore the Catholicke or Universall Church Then the Article of the Communion of Saints Is it not fully exprest by Saint Paul where hee saith There is one Body and one Spirit one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in us all Then for the Article of Remission of sinnes We have as many Testimonies of Scripture as there are words but it may bee Testimoniall enough which Saint Iohn giveth where he saith The bloud of Jesus Christ clenseth us from all our sinnes Then the Article of the Resurrection of the Body though it might passe under the Article of Christs Resurrection without any other Testimony For if Christ be risen from the Dead we also shall rise from the Dead Yet it hath a Testimony by it self where it is said God that raised up Christ from the Dead shall also quicken our mortall Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in us And lastly the Article of Everlasting Life is Testified by Saint John as it were in Red Letters where hee saith God so loveâ— the World that hee gave his onely bâ—gotten Sonne that whosoever beleeveâ— in him should not perish but have liâ—â— Everlasting And now having shewed that aâ— the Articles are contained in thâ— Scripture It remaines to shewâ— what it is they containe I Where first it may be demanded that as in saying the Lordâ— Prayer we say Our Father taking others along with us and not going our selves alone So in saying the Creede why we doe not as well say Wee Beleeve that so wee may not goe alone but take others along with us Is it not that Beliefe is Personall but Prayer belongs to the Communion of Saints Prayer proceeds from Charity and therefore is Communicative but Beliefe proceeds from Faith and â—erefore is reserved Another may â—ray for mee but another
cannot â—eleeve for me I must beleeve for â—y selfe another cannot I speak â—ot of Infants but of Adulti It â—s not here that Per alium is as good â—s Per se and therefore no such Tye â—or saying Wee Beleeve in making â—his Profession as for saying Our Father in making that Prayer I Beleeve But when I say I Beleeve Doe I well consider what it is I say a word indeed soone spoken but not a worke so easily done for we must not thinke to put it off with God as he did with men who said Iuravilingua mentem injuratam gero I swore with my tongue but I kept my heart unsworne For God is a searcher of the heart and lookes after that and as soone as wee say to him I Beleeve he seemes presently to say to us Then give me your heart for unlesse you give me your heart I will never beleeve you speake as you meane And thus my soule thou seest how deepely thou hast engaged thy selfe by saying I beleeve and yet thy engagement not so great but thy undertaking is greater For to Beleeve is no such easie matter as the World accounts it It is indeed more then of our selves we are able to doe For it is a worke of Faith and Faith is the gift of God and so we undertake to doe that to God which without Gods assistance we cannot doe as though wee had Gods assistance at command No my soule but wee must bee faine to helpe our selves with saying I beleeve O God helpe my unbeliefe But why am I so forward to Beleeve and doe not rather make a stand and doubt Seeing doubting is commonly safe where credulity runs headlong into danger Is it not that Beleeving is acceptable and hath reward For Abraham beleeved and it was counted to him for Righteousnesse where Not-Beleeving is distrustfull and hath not so much as Hope and againe Beleeving may make me of the number of the Faithfull where Not-Beleeving may make me an Infidell and though Beleeving may have lesse worldly providence yet certainely It may have more spirituall wisdome then Not-Beleeving and these are Reasons that make me so forward to Beleeve But what reason can I have to make me beleeve when I must not beleeve reason No doubt in matters of the world the Rule is good to beleeve no more then wee see good reason for and thereupon is the counsell given 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Becarefull to bee mistrustfull but in matters Divine and belonging to God hee that beleeves no more then Reason warrants may justly be said not to Beleeve at all seeing Beliefe is a worke of Faith and Faith properly beginnes not her worke but when the Reason hath given over working There seeme to bee many inducements of Beliefe but specially two First the Testimony of the Sense For who will not beleeve that which hee sees with his eyes but this beliefe will not serve the turne For Faith is an evidence of things not seene and therefore wee must beleeve though wee doe not see Then the Testimony of Reason for who will not beleeve that for which hee sees apparent reason but neither will this Beliefe serve the turne for Faith is above Reason and Nisi Credideritis non Intelligetis Unlesse yee Beleeve yee shall not understand and so Beliefe must not alwaies stay for understanding but we must be faine to have recourse to this stil I beleeve O God helpe my unbeliefe Beliefe indeed is two fold Humane and Divine Humane Beliefe is alwaies grounded upon Sense or Reason but Divine Beliefe hath other grounds to stand upon either the ground of Abraham Qui in spe contra spem credidit Who contrary to hope Beleeved in hope or the ground of those whom Christ calls Blessed Blessed are they that have not seene and yet have beleeved For we must not alwaies looke for the favour of Saint Thomas to bee allowed to put our hands into Christs sides before wee beleeve but we must sometimes come with Faith without the concurrence of eternall Evidence and then indeed is Beliefe most kindly when it stands not upon the Prop of Sense and Reason which may be preparatives to Beliefe but it is Faith that gives the confirmation And as there are certaine inducements of Beliefe so there are certaine properties in Beliefe It must be steadfast without wavering assured without doubting confident without presuming but above all it must bee rightly applyed for without right application Beliefe is no better then Infidelity and then onely is Beliefe rightly applyed when it is applyed to God and this brings me to say I beleeve in God For now I am sure I take my ayme right and apply my Beliefe to the right Object If I should apply it to any but God it must be to some Creature and seeing every Creature is subject to a Higher Power what hope could I have to Beleeve in such a one who must himselfe Beleeve in another But when I apply my Beliefe to God not onely I may justly hope but I may securely be assured seeing God is a Power Supreme and hath no Equall to contest with him much lesse any Superiour to controule him If I should Beleeve in man I might feare that which David saith that All men are lyers but when I beleeve in God I am out of that feare seeing God is the Truth it selfe and cannot lye If I should Beleeve in Angels I know the Angels did once fall and what they did once they might doe againe if they were not upheld by a stronger Power and can it bee safe Beleeving in them who stand by the power of another and not by their owne But when I beleeve in God my Beliefe is built upon a sure Foundation seeing Heaven is Gods Throne and the Earth his Foot-stoole that he is neither capable of Rising nor subject to falling David would not put his trust in man pronouncing him accursed that should doe it and why should I Moses would not trust an Angell to be his guide though God himselfe offered him one and why should I No my soule but Adhaerere Deo bonum est It is good sticking to God and no assurance indeed of any good but onely in sticking to him and depending wholly upon him And as there are certaine properties of Beliefe to make it bee right so there are certaine degrees of Beliefe to make it perfect The first Degree is to Beleeve There is a God and this Degree is so sensible and plaine that he must be a Naturall foole that beleeves it not as David calls him The Foole hath said in his heart There is no God Another Degree is to Beleeve him in all he saith or promiseth which is in effect but to account him an Oracle Another Degree is to beleeve him to be a Rewarder of them that serve him an effect of his Justice and all these Degrees of Beliefe may be in a man and yet no true beleeving in God For these doe but amount to
seeing there is no salvation out of the Catholike Church what assurance could I have of my salvation if I did not beleeve that there is a Catholike Church How can I beleeve my selfe to be a member of that Body which I doe not beleeve to bee For this Holy Catholike Church is the number of all those whō God hath Predestinated and Elected and though the Catholike Church may have in it errours and perhaps Heresies yet the Holy Catholike Church can have none in it but Orthodoxe and true beleevers For it is as the Arke of Noah to save all that beleeve the comming of the Flood but unbeleevers are all excluded from entring into it It is as the Corporation of the Citizens of the New Hierusalem in which whose names are not Enrolled and none are Enrolled that beleeve not they can bee no partakers of the Heavenly Priviledges of which Salvation is the chiefest If there were not a Holy Cathotholike Church then Christ should be a Shepherd without a Flocke then God the Father should bee a King without a People then the Holy Ghost should bee a guide and have none to lead but the Two first of these are assured us by Christ where he saith Feare not little Flock For it is your Fathers pleasure to give you a kingdome and the last where hee saith Hee will send the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth Therefore there is an Holy Catholike Church which he that beleeves not is not of it and not being of it can have no hope of salvation by it To be Holy and Catholike are indeed the proper Caracters of a Christian Church the first representation whereof was then when at Pentecost there met at Hierusalem of all Nations under heaven Parthyans and Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and Judea in Cappadocia Pontus and Asia Phrygia and Pamphylia in Aegypt and in the parts of Lybia and sirangers of Rome Jewes and Proselites Creetes and Arabians For here was no bounding within Canaan no bounding within Africa but the Church was made apparent by plurality of Nations to bee Catholike and by visible graces to be Holy This Church therefore I beleeve to be holy yet not holy in perfection but tending to perfection and justly called holy for its Inchoation and I beleeve it to bee Catholike but Catholike in doctrine not in discipline and therefore the rule of it as concerning doctrine is this Quod ab omnibus Quod ubique Quod semper For if it be not ab Omnibus It is not Catholike in Persons if not Vbique not Catholike in place if not Semper not Catholike in time and all these must concurre to make the Church be Catholik in Doctrin In Discipline not so for there neither ab omnibus nor ubique nor semper is required but it may be various and diverse according to the diversity of Time and Place and yet in doctrine bee the Catholike Church For Discipline is but onely Ecclesiasticall where Doctrine is divine This Article bindes my beliefe to no particular Church as it is a particular but as it is a Member of the Catholike For take it by it selfe without considering it as a Member of the Catholike Church and it is not so properly a Church as a Conventicle which though I cannot deny but it may be Holy at least in a Morall holinesse yet I can deny that I am bound to beleeve it to be holy because I am bound to beleeve no true holinesse to bee out of the Catholike Church This Catholike Church is a Schoole of instruction to teach us as much as we are bound to know and a Rule of direction to informe us as much as wee are bound to beleeve if it were but onely what Saint Thomas saith this might make us doubt of Christs resurrection or if it were but onely what Saint Peter saith this might make us incline to comply with the Jewes but when it is that which all the Apostles with one consent say this is the voice of the Catholike Church and can never make us to goe astray And therfore to this Church I submit all my faculties both my understanding to her decrees and my will to her counsels and make account that if I know any thing and not of her instruction it will prove but falsehood if doe any thing and not by her direction it will prove but folly For this that Spouse of Christ of which it is said Thou art all faire and there is no spot in thee Oh then let not me beginne to make any spot in the face of thy Spouse O Lord but so purge me with Hysope that though I be not pure yet I may bee cleane at least not so foule to defile others nor deserve with Miriam to be put out of the campe of thy Militant Church but may come to thy Triumphant As therefore this Article is the first of all we have to beleeve so let it have the honor that is due to the first and have the highest place in our beliefe For indeed all the Articles that follow are but as flowres that grow in the garden of this Catholike Church The Communion of Saints as the flowre of Charitie The forgivenesse of sinnes as the flowre of Faith The resurrection of the body as the flowre of Hope and the life everlasting as the flowre of reward if I may not rather say as the whole nosegay of all the other flowres together seeing in this they have all their smels united into one fragrant odour Charity raised to perfection Faith turned into love and Hope into enjoying But what should be the cause why amongst these Articles that are to be beleeved there is no mention at all made of the Scriptures For seeing we are commanded to search the Scriptures No doubt it is required wee should beleeve the Scriptures and if we should beleeve them why are they left out in the Article of our beliefe Is it not that these were Articles of Beliefe for a Christian man before any Gospell of Christ was written and how then could they have any place in the Creed when they had not as yet any being in the world For the life and doctrine of Christ was published by word before it was recorded by writing and the Apostles preached it before the Evangelists writ it and this Creede being a Breviate and summe of that which was preached who can tell but it may bee more antient then that which is written at least being the substance of them both what more is it to beleeve the Scripture then the Creed And then what neede is there to have them named when they are exprest And as for the words of Christ Scrutamini Scripturas Search the Scriptures or yee search the Scriptures if we extend them no further then Christ spake them we may be farre enough off from beleeving the Gospel For Christ spake then but of the Olde Testament and not of the New which at that time was none For
remedy and so between the little knowing of sinne and the little acknowledging of sinne the beliefe of this Article is in no little danger to be very little only Faith stands in the breach and supplies all defects and it is the worke of Faith and indeed of a great Faith that can truly say I beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes There have been Hereticks of old who held this opinion that no fins should be forgiven that were committed after Baptisme and they grounded their opinion upon the saying of Saint Paul If wee sinne wilfully after we have received knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sinnes and grounding themselves upon this Text they would neither Baptise others nor be Baptized themselves till in their old age making account that Age having repulsed in them inordinate desires they might safely then bee Baptized without feare of committing any wilfull sinnes afterward But would any man beleeve that men of common sense could ever fall into so grosse an errour especially having heard it said At what time soever a sinner repenteth him of his sinnes I will put all his wickednesse out of my remembrance saith the Lord. That we may see it is not time that prejudiceth Gods forgivenesse whether before Baptisme or after whether sooner or latter but come at any time and bring Repentance and God at no time will be wanting to Forgivenesse For as it is mercy in God which is the motive to us to Beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes so it is Repentance in us that is the motive to God to Forgive us our sinnes But why is the Forgivenes of sins put here inter Credenda amongst things to be Beleeved and not rather inter Agenda amongst things to be done seeing to Remission of sinnes there belongs Repentance a thing to bee done and without Repentance no forgivenesse Is it not that forgivenesse of sinnes is an effect of Faith and therefore justly placed amongst things to be Beleeved and though Repentance be necessary to come in the Recre yet Faith must lead the Vant-gaurd and have the Preceedence For if Faith goe not before Repentance will not follow indeed cannot follow seeing without Faith It is impossible to please God And now my soule observe the great extent of this Article it keeps mee from sinning against the Holy Ghost whilst I beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes by his inspiring it appeaseth the wrath of God the Father whilst I beleeve the forgivenesse in onely his mercy It glorifies his Sonne Christ Jesus whilst I beleeve Gods mercy through onely his Merits that seeing this Article is reguardant to all the Persons in the Trinity I may hope that by beleeving it all the Persons in the Trinity will be reguardant upon me and specially the Sonne For indeed this Article and the next that followes are two flowres I may say that grow upon the very Grave of Christ For as there is no Forgivenes of sinnes but onely by the vertue of his death so there is no Resurrection of the body but onely by the operation of his Rising from the Dead And thus farre wee are brought by this flower of Faith I beleeve the Forgivenes of sinnes The next is the flower of Hope The Resurrection of the Body by which wee Beleeve the Resurrection of the Body and it followes indeed very fitly for seeing the body dyed not at first but by reason of sinne what should hinder if sinne bee forgiven but that the bodie should rise againe and returne to life This indeed is a flower something hard of growing but 〈◊〉 growne sends forth a most 〈◊〉 savour and as of all the Articles in the Creed there is none more hard to be beleeved so once beleeved there is none that ministers greater comfort For what need I care though my body bee laid in the grave and bee turned to dust so long as I am sure and undoubtedly beleeve that hereafter it shall rise againe and bee in the same but a better state then now it is In the same for substance but in a better for quallities and endowments If there were no Resurrection of the body then neither the godly should have Reward in their Bodies nor the wicked Punished but seeing both the godly shall bee Rewarded in their Bodies and the wicked Punished therefore there shall bee a Resurrection of the Body This Article no doubt is hard to be beleeved For who would beleeve there should be Regressus a corruptione ad generationem a privatione ad habitum a going backe from Corruption to Generation from Privation to Habit a thing impossible in Nature and improbable in Reason yet this impossibility in Nature this improbality in Reason must be beleeved before wee can beleeve the Resurrection of the Body Who would beleeve that a Body consumed to dust and that dust scattered by the wind into a thousand places should ever be brought together againe to be the same body it was before who would believe that a Body devoured perhaps by wild beasts perhaps eaten by Fishes and by digestion become a part of those Beasts or Fishes should ever returne to be the Body of a man againe as it had beene before Indeed none would beleeve it that looked only upon the power of Nature as were ledde only with the light of Reason but when we looke upon a Power that is stronger then Nature and are led by a Light that is brighter then Reason what should hinder why we should not beleeve it Shall we not beleeve the Resurrection of the body because we know not by what wayes it shall bee raysed Is it not enough that we know the power of Gods wayes but that we must also know the waies of his Power Doe we know how the body at first is formed in the Mothers wombe and would we looke to know how it shall bee formed the second time in the wombe of the Earth Have wee professed by the first Article of our Creed that God is Almighty and will we not allow him to do the works of an Almighty Doe we beleeve that nothing is impossible for God to doe and yet thinke there is this thing which he cannot doe Looke upon the Corne when it is cast into the earth and after a few daies you shall see it to bee nothing but as a kind of corruption and yet of that corruption doth God make the same Corne to spring up againe and to bee as flourishing as it had beene before and if God doe this in the Corne shall hee not as well doe it in our bodies But it is not perhaps that wee doubt of his Power but of his Will seeing his Will is not alwaies to doe all hee can And can we doubt of his Will his Will so often revealed to us in his Word so firmely assured to us by his Word This is the Fathers Will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given mee I should loose nothing but should raise it up againe at the
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
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-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