yet here they hanged either till their bloud distilled by little and little out of those wounds that were made in their hands and feete or till they died with the extremitie of hunger vnlesse in pittie their tormentors would by violence hasten their much desired death by a butcherly breaking off their legges and so dismembring of their tortured bodies as they did vnto those two theeues that were crucified with our Sauiour And this was the death the accursed base seruile ignominious and most painefull death that our Sauiour Christ was put vnto It is reported of Aristides that he dying by the bite of a Weesell said Aelian de var. Hist lib. 14. c. 4. that his death would haue been more pleasant more acceptable vnto him if he had died more honourably by the clawes of a Lyon or a Libbard and not by the teeth of such a contemptible beast And what a griefe was it vnto the Sonne of God to be put vnto this I know not whether more shamefull or more painefull death And besides it is worth the obseruing All circumstances doe aggrauate the griefe of Christ vpon the Crosse that they crucified him then and at that time when he had deliuered their Fathers out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage In commemoration of which benefit their Passeouer was to be celebrated and a great concourse of people was then euer present at Ierusalem And further they did not onely exclude him out of their Citie and put him to death without their gates as Saint Paul noteth but they did also consort him with the wicked and crucified him betwixt two theeues so cruelly they did deale and so basely they did esteeme of him Secondly After they had thus nayled him vnto the Crosse in stead of the comfort of pittying him which wee vse to shew vnto the vilest Malefactors in such extremities and which is some kinde of satisfaction vnto the sufferer he findes his friends forsaking him not daring to say Alas for him How they scoffed at Christ vpoÌ„ the Crosse and he seeth his enemies deriding him in the middest of his sorrowes and shaking their heads at him and saying O thou dissembling and disloyall wretch thou sauest others but thy selfe thou canst not saue thou canst destroy the Temple and build it againe in three dayes but thou canst not come downe from the Crosse to preserue thy life for if thou beest the Sonne of God come downe from the Crosse Why Christ came not downe from the Crosse and we will beleeue in thee But to this Saint Ambrose answereth O stulte caece grex sacerdotum nunquid impossibile erat ei de paruo stipite ligni descendere qui descendit è caelorum altitudine O foolish blinde and sencelesse Flocke of Priests doe you thinke it vnpossible for him to come downe from a little piece of wood which came downe from the height of Heauen Non venit vt se liberare qui subseruâ—tute non erat sed vt nos de seruitute redimeret Ambros in 27 Math. or doe you thinke that your bonds or nayles or fastening of him to the Crosse were able to detaine him there when as the Heauen anâ— all the Host of Heauen were not able to hold him from descending from this ascending to the Crosse for hee came not to free himselfe from death but to deliuer himselfe to death tâ—at hee might free vs from eternall death And therefore hee patiently suffered all all paine all contempts and all disgraces yet they still went on from one degree of scoffes vnto another for when he in a most disconsolate state cried Eloi Eloi Lamasabachthani They doe in a most barbarous scoffing manner say Stay and see if Elias will come to helpe him And thus was he flouted and derided by all that beheld him by the Souldiers by the High Priests by them that passed by yea by the very Theeues that were hanged with him And what is this but to adde an vnspeakeable sorrow vnto an insufferable paine and so as Salomon saith to grieue him more and more that was already too much afflicted at the heart How they gaue him vinegar to drinke Thirdly When hee most lamentably in the middest of this hotte and grieuous conflict with Satan sinne and the wrath of God cried I thirst they most despightfully giue him vinegar to drinke a sweete drinke for a dying man to augment his griefe but not to quench his thirst How they diuided his garments Fourthly They take those blessed Garments wherewith he had wrought many a Heauenly miracle and before his face they diuide the same among the wicked and most barbarous bloudy Souldiers And How Christ being dead they still raged against him Fiftly When he was quite dead their malice still remained aliue so that he might iustly say Nec mors mihi finiet iras Saeua sed in manes manibus arma dabant They did most furiously rage against his harmelesse Ghost for though they saw that he was already dead yet still they persecute him Et miles validis ingentem viribus hastam In latus contorsit And one of those immane and bloudy Souldiers pierced his side with such a mighty speare that it made so deepe a wound as that Thomas might well put his hand into the same And thus did our Sauiour suffer in Golgotha in the Fields of Caluarie Diuers obseruable things to be considered First Of all sorts of men Iewes Gentiles Princes of the people Priests Souldiers Masters Seruants Friends Strangers Young Old Male and Female Secondly In all the things wherein it was possible for a man to suffer as first in his friends for they all forsooke him and not one of them assisted him when hee was thus persecuted by his foes Secondly In his good name for they loaded him with lies and accused him of blasphemies Thirdly In his outward goods which we call goods of Fortune for though he had nothing but his cloathes yet they stripped him of his garments and left him starke naked but what had beene abscene for themselues to see in the sight of all men Fourthly In all his sences for his holy eares heard nothing but shamefull reuilings his bright eyes saw nothing but cruell enemies his feeling could perceiue nothing but sharpenesse of nayles his smelling but their stincking spittles and his taste but gall and vinegar Fiftly in all the members of his body How Christ suffered in all the members of his body for his head was wounded with a crowne of thornes his face was defiled with their filthy spittings and most shamefully buffeted with their sacrilegious fists his eyes dazeled with blowes and amazed to see their outragious cruelties his hands and feete nayled vnto the Crosse his heart pierced with a speare and in a word his whole body was so pittifully rent and torne with whippings scourgings that we may truly say Totum est pro vulnere corpus That from the
4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 senum of old age till death as Varro distributeth the same Yeares of their age First In our childehood we are all alike the heyre differing nothing from a seruant though hee bee Lord of all all Lords or what you will but they must be vnder Tutors and Gouernors sayth the Apostle and because exultat leuitaete puer children are childish and apish rather delighting in toyes then imbracing instructions therefore they are kept vnder correction and brought vnto vertue by good discipline while they may be taught for as it is prouerbially sayd Flexilis est iuncus salices flectuntur amarae Robora dura minus the tender branch may bee easily bowed but the well-growne Oke Prouer. 29.18 and c. 4.3.4 will bee sooner broken then straitened so wee may teach a childe a trade in his youth but we shall hardly teach an old Horse to amble and therefore the wisest among the sonnes of men aduiseth all men to correct their children though they be neuer so deere in their sight because this is as necessarie vnto the children as their foode and as comfortable vnto the parents as the childe himselfe in as much as to haue a good childe is better then to haue a childe And yet this instruction and especially the correction is such an intollerable burthen so heauie for them to beare What a burthen correction is vnto children as that they thinke no creatures more miserable then themselues when they see all others free and themselues onely as they thinke bound vnder the rod and therefore would they giue all they haue to be once rid out of this seruile bondage Secondly In our youth we are like vntamed colts wilde and wanton vnable to rule our selues and vnwilling to be ruled by others and therefore wee doe loosen our bridles to all licentiousnesse and euery young man is for the most part as the Poet describeth him briefly Inuidus iracundus iners vinosus amator We burne with lust while we be youths How dissolute we are in our youth Ouidius l. 13. Metam Dum mihi laeâ—â— genas conuestit flore inuentus militiae ingredior castra cupido tuâ— and are still inflamed with that vntameable fire of wanton loue neque enim robustior aetas Vlla nec vberior nec quae magis ardeat vlla est Pleasure and youth doe smile on vs to woe vs To taste vaine lusts tasted they vndoe vs. Therefore S. Iere. sayth That it is almost impossible to find a young man that is not sometimes tempted with fleshly lusts and Saint Ambrose sayth Inter omnia certamina christianorum durissima sunt praelia caftitatis Prodigus curae vacuus temerarius audax Omne genus vitae liberioris amo Among all the combats of Christians it is the hardest thing for vs to ouercome and subdue our owne lusts and to keepe our owne flesh a chast and a modest virgin And as we are inflamed with lust so we are drowned in drunkennesse we swell with pride and we fill our selues with all filthynesse and thereby we doe many times as wee daily see in many desperate youthes by drinking whooring swearing quarrelling and such like effects of deboysnesse suddenly cut off our selues in our owne wickednesse and what greater miseries can there be then these and yet behold I will shew thee greater abhominations For The miseries incident to vs in our Manhood Nunc me ludus habet nunc me formosa puella nunc fera pro pacta praelia nocte gâ—ro Sedvelut herba perit sic flos cadit ipse inuentae faelix qui potuit dicere talis eram Thirdly In our manhood we are come to the midst of miseries so that quocunque afpiciam quocunque lumina vertam Wheresoeuer we looke and turne our eyes we shall see nothing but our selues swimming in a Sea of sorrowes and there tumbled and tossed with many waues of woes micat ignibus aether Cloudes of darkenesse are in stead of comforts and about our heads we shall finde haile-stones and coales of fire for now we finde the affaires of the world the feares of enemies the cares for families the discontents at home many times of thy Wife that lyeth in thy bosome many times of thy Children the fruits of thine owne bowels the wrongs of Neighbours abroad the suites of Law and a thousand such bitter fruits of sinne doe so vexe and affright the heart of man that they make him often sleepe like the Nightingale that is said to haue alwayes a pricke before her breast and then to rise vp early and late to goe to bed Psal 127.3 and to eate the bread of carefulnesse and all to no purpose for after we haue wearied and worne out our selues in the pursuite of this world all our workes and labours are but as the Spiders webbe it will make no garment for vs and when wee haue brought our yeares to an end as it were a tale that is tolde then notwithstanding all our former pompe and power wee shall be as poore as when we were borne euen as poore as Iob for The miseries incident to vs in old age Iob. 1.21 as we came naked into the world so naked wee shall returne againe and so this is not onely the misery but also the folly and madnesse of men And yet behold a little more For Fourthly In old age Vsque adeo grauis vxori gnatisque sibique vt captatori moueat fastidia Cosso Wee are troublesome to our selues and others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nunc mihi cum medicis res est iudice summo misere vitam semisepultus ago rixosae inuestant vetula execrabile vulgus inuidus in terra parta recondo sâ—num Eccles 12.1 An old man is troublesome vnto youths saith Menander yea our owne Wiues though they cannot leaue vs yet doe they loathe vs and indeed our selues doe now begin to hate our selues Laudat praeteritos presentes despicit annos For these be the dayes wherein there is no pleasure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because olde age is like an heauy burthen vnto men that makes them stoope downe to the earth Nec coelum spectare licet sed prona senectus Terram à qua genita est reditura videt and neuer suffers them to rise or scarce to looke vp towards Heauen vntill they returne to the earth Gen. 3.19 from whence they were taken Alas then what a misery is this to consider the miseries of olde age our bodies are weakned our beauty vanished our senses blunted the eyes cannot see the eares cannot heare the hands cannot worke and the feete cannot walke and then besides Circumsilit agmine facto morborum omne genus We are seized vpon by all kinde of diseases our heads ake our hearts faint and all our bodies tremble Coughes Rheumes and Feauers doe now seeme to be our vitall spirits and so the Heathens saw and so they said that no age was free from miseries yet
but I will by Gods helpe be euer ready with all my heart to suffer any thing for the Name of Iesus Christ and for the least iot of his truth But I doe much reioyce in that assured confidence which I haue that your Lordship will herein as well as in all other points of true piety be an heauenly shining light and president vnto all other circumstant and succeeding Bishops and other Patrons whatsoeuer and to that end my prayers shall euer continue for your Lordship And for you my most worthy friend and neuer to be forgotten Benefactor Sir Iohn Wynne I must because I may truely say of you with the Poet Ego te intus in cute noui I am so intimately and inwardly acquainted with your very heart affections most earnestly pray to God for your long continuance amongst vs not onely because of your continuall loue and fauours vnto me and mine but especially to be as you haue beene hitherto the chiefest pillar of ciuill gouernment the best relieuer of our poore and needy and the most apparant patterne of all good workes of piety and charity in all these parts wherein you liue and you haue not lost your reward for God hath blessed you and your Lady with many blessed children all fearing God I said enough though I could truely say much more hereof such a comfort that not many men haue the like and God renueth your yeares as the Eagles and I hope yet will adde vnto your dayes as he did vnto the dayes of Ezechias and yet this is nothing Quia merces tua apud Deum in respect of that great reward which you shall haue of God because that by continuance in well doing you shall be sure to haue glory and honour and immortality and therefore most worthy Knight as I beare witnesse of this truth which I haue seene and know of your Religious heart fearing God full of good so I say vnto you as Christ saith vnto the Church of Smyrna Goe on in your course of godlinesse and be faithfull vnto the death and you shall haue the Crowne of life when the Lord shall say vnto you Euge serue bone Well done thou good and faithfull seruant enter thou into thy Masters ioy Amen Your Lordships and your Worships in all Christian seruice to be commanded GR. WILLIAMS To the Christian READER Deere and Christian Reader THe more grace any man receiueth from God the more thankefulnesse and seruice he oweth to God And I confesse God hath shewed me farre more then vsuall fauours which I assure my selfe he denyed to many farre more worthy of loue then I poore worme could any wayes thinke my selfe to be for he hath three times at least bestowed my life vpon me first in making me as he did all other men secondly in redeeming me as he doth all righteous men and thirdly in preseruing me from the hands of wicked men who though they gaue not any life vnto me yet induced by the malice of Hell and assisted by the subtilty of Satan did combine with a craftier cruelty then euer that I could finde the Arrian Bishops did against that innocent constant Athanasius to take away my feeble life for when the proud were risen vp against me Psal 86.14 and the congregation of naughty men had sought after my soule and compassed me on euery side Ecclus 51. so that there was no man to helpe me yet when I prayed vnto my God Vers 2. that he would not leaue me in the dayes of my trouble and in the time of the proud when I had none other help then did he awake as a Giant out of sleep and preserued my body from destruction Vers 3. he saued me from the mouth of the King of Lyons and according to the multitude of his mercies hee deliuered mee from the teeth of them that were ready to deuoure me and out of the hands of them that sought after my life Vers 7. yea he was so gracious vnto me that he left me not vntil mine eyes did see their desire vpon mine enemies not their destructiō which my soule desired they might neuer taste of and I pray God they desired the same themselues but their suppression so as they might neuer triumph in the miseries of Gods seruants nor trample the bloud of innocents vnder feet And therefore seeing God hath been so gracious vnto me I haue most constantly resolued by the assistance of his Spirit not onely to praise his Name for his goodnesse and to tell what he hath done for my soule but also to dedicate my whole life wholly to his seruice to despise the vanities of this life to abandon all the pleasures of this world to be carelesse of all earthly things * Quae possessa onerant amata inquinant amissa cruciant but what may make in ordine ad deum to helpe me the better to serue my God and with Iohn Baptist to consume my life in the preaching and penning of Gods Word and maugre all the malice of the proudest Prelates in the world to speake the truth as my conscience tels me though my wife and children should all begge and my body be burned for the same I will neuer count my life deare vnto me to spend it in his seruice that so often gaue it me And because I desired to doe that which I thought best for the edifying of Gods Church I haue applied my selfe to treate of these ensuing theames which doe containe the chiefest points and the most necessary grounds of all Christian Religion for besides my naturall inclination euer tending rather to pacification then contention I thinke we haue more neede of fundamentall instructions which are necessary for all men then of any controuersiall positions which may satisfie some men that perhaps desire rather to informe their iudgement then to reforme their manners And in the handling of them I haue intermingled the positiue declaration of the truth in a scholasticke forme with a forcible application of the same vnto our soules for the framing of our liues to make vse of what wee learne for I approue not so well the handling of Gods word with too slender inforcement of the same vnto our consciences as the schoolemen did their too much addicted followers vse to doe nor yet meerely to stand vpon exhortations with too slight expounding the most principle grounds of Religion which I feare to be the fault of too many amongst vs And therefore the one being but as a foundation without roofe and the other as a building on the sand or in the ayre vpon reeden pillars I haue euer adiudged it the best course to knit both together to make both a perfect buiding If I haue done well it is that which I desired but if I haue done slenderly it is that I could attaine vnto Aug. proaem l. 3. de Trinit And therefore I will be euer of that Fathers minde which in all his workes and
humane Soule That Christ had a true reasonable humane soule AND further we must consider that as he had a true humane body so he had a perfect reasonable soule for First The testimonies of the Scriptures are most plaine and pregnant herein As My soule is heauy vnto death Math. 26.38 And againe Father into thy hands I commend my spirit Heb. 2.17 Secondly Reason it selfe confirmeth it for He was made in all things like vnto his brethren Sinne onely excepted and he is The Shepheard of our soules 1 Pet. 2. And therefore he must needes consist of body and soule Thirdly The whole Schoole of Diuinity did euer teach the same Truth for Nazianzene saith Quod non assumpsit non salvabit Either he had a soule or he will not saue a soule And Saint Augustine saith Aug de tempore Ser. 145. Totum suscepit vt totum liberaret verbum The Word tooke all vpon him i. e. both body and soule that he might saue both body and soule And so Fulgentius doth most largely and excellently proue this point in his first Booke De Mysterio Mediatoris Fulgentius de myst med ad Tras l. 1. vnto King Trasimund where I referre my Reader to a most elegant and learned discourse of this matter Ob. But against this many of the Arrians and Apollinaris doe obiect as Nazianzene Athanasius and Saint Cyrill doe affirme that Christ had no humane soule Iohn 1.14 but onely a liuing flesh because the Euangelist saith That the Word was made Flesh And Saint Paul saith Rom. 1. That he was made of the seede of Dauid according to the Flesh Sol. To this I answere that it is an vsuall thing in Scripture to speake synechdochically and sometimes totum denominare ex parte praestantiori to put the soule for the whole man as seuenty soules that is seuenty men went downe vnto Egypt and the soule that sinneth Exod. 1.5 that soule shall die and let euery soule be subiect to the higher Powers Ezech. 18.20 and sometimes totum denominare ex parte minus praestantiori Rom. 13.1 to put the body for the whole man as all Flesh i. e. all men had corrupted their wayes before God and Gen. 6.12 all flesh shall see the saluation of God and to thee shall all flesh come that is all men And therefore hee was made Flesh signifieth Athanas in Sym. that hee was made Man of a reasonable soule and humane flesh subsisting And the reason why the Euangelist saith He was made flesh Why the Euangelist saith he was made flesh rather then he was made man rather then He was made man is diuersly rendered by the Fathers For some say it was to shew what part of Christ was made of his Mother that is his Flesh for his Diety was increated and his soule say they was created of nothing and his body onely was made of his Mother And therefore hee saith The Word was made Flesh But this cannot satisfie them which beleeue the Soule to be ex traduce by traduction from the Parents And therefore Secondly others with Theophilact say the Euangelist saith The Word was made Flesh to expresse the greatnesse of Gods loue who for our sakes would be contented to be made the vilest thing for all flesh is grasse Esay 40.6 Thirdly others with Saint Augustine say It was to shew the greatnesse of Christ his humility Ex parte ignobiliori to be named by the meanest name and the basest part of man he was contented to be made flesh for so we finde that in this respect i. e. to shew the greatnesse of his humility though hee was the Sonne of God yet most commonly would hee terme himselfe The Sonne of man to shew vs how hee debased himselfe and was well contented with the meanest and most abiect titles for our sakes and to teach vs by his example not to stand so much vpon our dignities but to humble our selues that we may be exalted Fourthly others with Saint Cyrill say It was for our greater confidence that we should not doubt of Gods loue and fauour towards vs because our flesh which was the part most corrupted is now vnited vnto God and because Christ is now become our brother and our kindred according to that of the Euangelist Behold thy Brethren and thy Kinsmen stand looking for thee Mar. 3.32 for that Consanguinity is in regard of flesh and bloud Fiftly others say It was Vt infimum summo poneret that he might put the highest and the lowest together for he had called Christ the Word which sheweth the highest power of God for thy Word is Almighty Heb. 1. and hee beareth vp all things by his mighty Word And therefore as hee had set downe his Deity by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word which declareth his greatest power so hee would shew his humanity by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Flesh which expresseth our greatest infirmity for as Summa dignitas in verbo the greatest dignity is exprest in the word So Summa infirmitas in carne the greatest infirmity is shewed in the flesh And therefore he saith The Word was made Flesh to declare vnto vs Quantus Deus quantillus factus est homo How great a God was made so meane a man All these reasons are very good and may well stand all of them to shew why he saith The Word was made Flesh rather then He was made man Yet Tertul. l. de carne Christi Jrenaeus l. 3. c. 11. Sixtly I like best of Tertullians reason alledged also by Irenaeus Saint Chrysostome and others that the Spirit of God foreseeing what Heresies would follow after and soone creepe to invade the Church of Christ did therefore purposely here and in many other places set downe most euident and vnanswerable arguments to conuince them whensoeuer they should arise that so the light of Truth might be cleered and the mouth of all wickednesse might be stopped God before heresies came prouided for vs that we might be preserued from them when they came And therefore I say that the Pen of the Euangelist was here directed by Gods Spirit to say The Word was made Flesh not because he had not a soule but to assure vs against Marcion Macidonius Valentinus Manichaeus and others that Christ had a true and a naturall flesh assumed from the very flesh and substance of his Mother and vnited vnto his God-head And so you see that Christ had not Ideam humanae naturae An imaginary patterne of humane nature but the whole nature of man In vno indiuiduo Consisting both of body and soule CHAP. IIII. Of Christ his being subiect to all the humane infirmities that are without sinne SEcondly As Christ had all the parts of a true man That Christ was made subiect to all our humane fraileties which are without sinne that is body and soule so he had all the properties that doe concerne mans nature
By his stripes we are healed Esay 53.5 And therefore seeing the sufferings of Christ is that precious balme of Gilead that soueraigne salue which is sufficient to heale euery sickned soule to hinder vs to sinne to kindle our loue to God and to erect our hope in God no man can treate no man can heare of a matter more excellent then is the dilating of the sufferings of Christ Thirdly Here is a compendious breuity a theame short enough but foure words Ita oportuit Christum pati 3. Here is abundance of matter in few words Thus it behoued Christ to suffer or Christ must thus suffer And they be certaine in sence and full of matter And therefore you may easily remember the words because they be so few and you should diligently muse and daily meditate vpon the matter and bee throughly excited to an vnwearied hearkening or reading and to a faithfull retaining of the same because so excellent and I may be truly excused for my large preamble and long perambulation vpon the same because there is Multum in paruo Hieron ad Demetriad A great deale of matter couched here in a little roome euen as the whole World is expressed in a little Mappe For though the men of Myndas might well shut their large gates Laertius l. 6. lest their little City would runne out yet huge spacious Cities must haue their Gates bigger then little Wickets least their people should get neither in nor out And therefore though these words be but few yet seeing herein there is contained infinite matter and an huge building Centum sublime columnis for what higher mystery or what ampler discourse can wee finde then the sufferings of Iesus Christ you must giue me leaue to insist a while to behold the stripes and to search into the wounds of Christ for I may not shut a large foote into a little shooe and I cannot inclose so many Iliads of sorrowes as one did the Illiads of Homer within the compasse of a nut-shell And therefore by Gods helpe though I meane not to build Tabernacles and to stay euer in the expounding of that which shall be euer in my remembrance yet I will Sistere gradum Make a stop and stay a while To treate of these words of Christ Thus it behoued Christ to suffer In which words as the Holy Ghost hath set them downe I note these foure especiall points The diuision of the Text. First The person suffering Christ thus it behoued Christ Secondly The suffering it selfe it behoued him to suffer Thirdly The necessity of his suffering it behoued him to suffer Fourthly The manner of his suffering Thus it behoued Christ to suffer i. e. As the Prophets fore-told and as you haue seene hee did CHAP. II. Of the surpassing excellency of the Person suffering 1. Part. FOr the first The excellency of the person that is the subiect of any action doth giue the most life vnto any matter for the exploits of Kings or the deedes of Nobles doe of themselues craue attention a hundred times more then the story of any one of base condition Consider wee then the person that is to vndergoe this passion First We shall finde him to be a man for so Pilate saith That Christ was a Man Behold the man And himselfe commonly giues himselfe none other title then The Sonne of man to shew indeede that he was a true man as we are And this should moue in vs compassion for humanity it selfe at the torments of the very bruite Beasts is something touched and Diogenes the Cinick◠in this respect is said Laertius l. 6. Bonauent in vita S. Francis to haue redeemed many times the Beasts from slaughter And Saint Francis likewise is said to haue ransomed the poore Lambes from the Butchers hands because it grieued them to see any Creature tortured and therefore much more should we be moued with compassion at the passion of any man for if one member suffer 1 Cor. 12.26 all the members suffer with it saith the Apostle Secondly Christ was not onely a man That Christ was a iust man but he was also a iust man Non erat dolus in ore eius There was no guile found in his mouth His enemies themselues confesse it Math. 27.19 Resolution of Pilate Pag. 47. Haue thou nothing to doe with that iust man saith Pilates wife and Pilate oftentimes as I haue shewed in my Booke of the resolution of Pilate confessed and by many arguments confirmed his assertion that Christ deserued no punishment at all Luke 23.14 and that hee could not finde though hee had most diligently searched any cause of death in him and therefore to cleere himselfe from the imputation of iniustice Leo Ser. 3. de pass that he should ijsdem labijs eum mittere ad crucem quibus pronunciauerat innocentem With the same lippes send him to be crucified whom euen now he had iustified he washed his hands in the view of the multitude saying I am innocent from the bloud of this iust person So Herod Math. 27.24 though he had derided our Sauiours silence yet dared hee not condemne his innocency for I haue sent him vnto Herod and loe Luc. 23.15 nothing worthy of death is found in him saith Pilate So Caiphas the High Priest prophesieth of him whom he persecuteth and absolueth him whom he accuseth for hee pronouncing the mystery of our saluation said It was necessary that one should die for the people John 11.50 Therefore hee must be a iust man or else hee could not satisfie for the sinnes of men And so the Diuell himselfe though hee violently persecuted and most maliciously accused yet bee cleerely iustified our Sauiour Christ for it was he as many of the ancients doe coniecture that told Pilates wife and incited her to tell her Husband that the man thus maligned and condemned as nefarious was notwithstanding iust and righteous for the Diuell knew that since he first knew him he knew no sinne in him And it may be that to this our Sauiour alludeth John 14.30 Talem vix reperit vnum milibus è multis hominum consultus Apollo Iohn 8.46 when he saith The Prince of this World commeth Sed in me non habet quicquam but hee hath nothing in me As if hee should haue said When hee searcheth and seeketh and sifteth what he can yet shall he finde no euill no sinne no not the least cause of death in me For he might iustly say Which of you can rebuke me of sinne Quia ab omnibus accepit testimonium innocentiae Because hee had the testimonies of all men Iren. l. 4. c. 14. of all sorts as Irenaeus saith to iustifie him God Men Angels Diuels Friends Foes Acquaintance Strangers and all iustified him that he was voide of sinne full of grace And therefore as we haue euer more compassion of them that suffer and be innocent then of those whom wee coniecture
ámici nomine Quales erunt amoris carmine Qui te canunt modulamine sweet LORD if thou callest him friend that betrayed thee how graciously wilt thou honour them that doe serue thee but he goeth on to recall him to repentance for in saying Wherefore camest thou he sheweth his compassion towards him because they be Verba miserentis non querentis Words of pittying him as if he had said al â—s poore wretched man what dost thou meane to doe to runne from God vnto the Diuell for Christ knew well enough to what end he came and therefore hee addeth Iudas betrayest thou the Sonne of man with a kisse Iudas is thy name a name Honourable and Noble among the Iewes and wilt thou now so stayne it that it shall be for euer so odious among all Christians that not any one of them will be called by it but distaine it as a most infamous appellation euen for euer Et tradis and wilt thou proue a Traitor to betray yea and to betray the Sonne of man and that with a kisse for if thou wouldst needs betray him why so hypocritically with a kisse O signum sacrilegum Aug. Ser. 3. post pal fer 2. de pass ex Bosq O placitum fugiendum vbi ab osculo incipitur bellum per pacis indicium pacis rumpitur sacramentum O most horrible and a most hatefull fact when Warre is begun with a kisse Tuta frequensque via sub amici fallere nomen tuta frequensq licet sit via crimen habet and peace is broken vnder the colour of Peace to proue the prouerbe true Quicquid id est timeo Danaos dona ferentes Whatsoeuer mine enemie doth yet still I feare him and I will loue rather the wounds of my friends then the kisses or gifts of my foes least they proue like the kisses of Iudas or the mutuall gifts of Hector and Aiax to be the chiefe instruments of their destruction Esay 5. â— But quid debuit Nay quid potuit vltra facere quod non fecit What could Christ doe more to recall this Iudas to repentance then he did O that he had had the grace to vnderstand it and to make a right vse of this blessed Sermon of our Sauiour Christ Iudas betrayest thou the Sonne of man with a kisse for he desired not the death of a sinner but rather that he should repent and liue Yet nothing could preuaile to doe him good Nothing can reclaime an obstinate sinner Te saeuae progeuiere ferae He was so hardened in his wickednesse that nothing could bring him to repentance to shew the fearefull case of those men that notwithstanding all our preaching will still goe on in their old vsuall sinfull courses and neuer turne vntill with Iudas they come as it is said of him into their owne places i. e. the pit of destruction And therefore as Caesar said Etiam tu Brute So our Sauiour seeing not a stranger but Hominem pacis suae Iudas one of the twelue Apostles his companion and his owne familiar friend which did also eat at his Table yea and dipped his hands in the same dish with him Magnificare supplantationem to lift vp his heele against his Master his Maker his Redeemer Aug. Ser. 117. Et officio sanguinem fundere and to betray him so treacherously with a kisse yea and also to contemne this his gracious Sermon as to make no vse thereof this must needes be a griefe and a sorrow vnto him especially if wee consider how hee doth alwayes grieue more at our destruction then he doth at his owne sufferings and most grieuous Passions Now the practice of Iudas to betray his Master with a kisse What wee should learne from the consideration of this Treason of Iudas should teach all Masters not to trust euery seruant too farre for as all is not honey that is sweet nor all gold that glistereth So is not euery man a faithfull seruant that saith Haile Master God saue you And the reward of Iudas to hang himselfe to destroy himselfe to damne his soule and with that little gaine he got to buy a field of bloud for others and to purchase Hell for himselfe should teach all seruants to take heede that they betray not their masters and all men to beware of couetousnesse Secondly Iudas had no sooner betrayed him into the hands of sinners but all his followers presently fled his best beloued Iohn was now deiected and the stoutest Peter did follow aloofe all the rest did basely hide their heads and withdraw themselues cleane away Not long before he had fed them with his own body and refreshed their spirits with his most pretious bloud and yet now they all forsake him which should support him and he was left alone in the hands of the barbarous souldiers well hee might looke as the Prophet saith for some to haue pâ—tty vpon him but looke while he would there was no man to helpe him no Zach. 13.7 nor yet to pitty him for I will smite the shepheard and all the sheepe shall be scattered And what a griefe it is to a man to see himselfe destitute of all friends and forsaken of all his familiars as if heauen and earth had conspired to leaue him helpelesse let any man iudge Thirdly Iudas hauing giuen this signe then the whole cohort the whole company of armed souldiers consisting of 1000. men as Vatablus saith or of 55. footmen and 56. horsemen as others thinke comes in the midst of the night with swords and staues to take him and to lay hold vpon him which they might haue peaceably taken in the day time teaching in the Temple but that as Saint Ambrose saith Ambr. in Mat. 26. Factum congruit tempori personis The fact and the time and the persons doe well agree because that a worke of darkenesse done by the children of darknesse was fittest to be done in the time of the greatest darkenesse and when the souldiers had apprehended him they presently bound his hands and perhaps shackled his feete with chaynes Ecce trahebatur passis priameia virgo crinibus Virgil. Aeneid 1. because Iudas had willed them before to hold him fast and because they would hereby fore-shew that hee should die they neuer vsing to bind any but those whom they vndoubtedly purposed to crucifie and especially because the Holy Ghost would hereby signifie that as Theeues are wont to be bound so our Sauiour Christ was contented to be bound not for his owne but for Adams theft he was bound for vs that we might bee loosed from the bonds of sinne And being thus bound they drew him by the haires of the head as Leo seemes to affirme when he saith Leo Ser. 7. de pass Trahunt volentem trahi sinentem sibi fieri quicquid sacerdotum instinctu popularis furor audebat They drew him that was willing to be drawne and contented to suffer them to doe vnto him
life Why Christ would not answere Pilate whence he was Or as others thinke he would not answere least by his eloquence he should haue escaped death insomuch that Pilate who vniustly condemned him iustly admired this that he which was wont to open his mouth in Parables and to teach others the way vnto eternall life would not at this time open his mouth to speake one word for himselfe to saue his life Secondly Pilate being much affraide to be thought an enemie vnto Caesar Marke 15.15 and being most willing to please the people as the Euangelist noteth he determined to deliuer him to be crucified And these were the motiues that caused Pilate to condemne our Sauiour Christ and these cause many a man to sinne when we feare man more then God What moued Pilate to deliuer Christ to be crucified and are desirous rather to please the people then to discharge our consciences from which two fearefull things good Lord deliuer euery faithfull soule Thirdly Because Pilate knew that for enuie the Iewes deliuered him to be crucified and his owne conscience by many arguments testified vnto him how vniustly hee condemned that iust man Math 27.24 The poor shift of Pilate to excuse himselfe therefore that it might happen vnto the Iewes according as they had concluded themselues His bloud be vpon vs and vpon our Children He taketh water and washeth his hands saying I am innocent from the bloud of this iust person See ye to it And then he gaue sentence that it should be as they required that IESVS CHRIST should be presently CRVCIFIED The sentence of Christs condemnation Ah sencelesse sinnefull man a man voide of wisedome to commit such an horrible sinne against thy God and to condemne life to death Alas what auaileth it thee to wash thy hands in water and to defile thy heart with bloud for how shalt thou answere this not onely to condemne an innocent Sed ijsdem labijs illum condemnare quibus pronuntiaueras innocentem But also with the same lippes to condemne him as guilty which euen now had pronounced him guiltlesse Surely God may say to thee as to all those Iudges that follow thy steppes to make a long speech to iustifie themselues Luke 19.22 and in few words to condemne the innocent Out of thine owne mouth will I condemne thee O thou euill seruant and I will iustly condemne thee to eternall death because thou hast vniustly condemned an innocent man to death O consider this ye that forget God and ye that be called Gods on Earth cleanse your hearts from all euill and let not your hands deale with wickednesse so shall you be innocent from the great offence And so you see what the Iudge of all the World suffered before these petty Iudges of this World CHAP. VI. What Christ suffered in Golgotha the place where he was crucified PIlate hauing passed sentence vpon Christ to be crucified the Souldiers take him and laying his Crosse a heauy Crosse vpon his shoulders as Isaac carried the wood wherewith himselfe should be sacrificed Gen. 22.6 2 Sam. 11.14 or as Vrias carried the Letters of his owne death they compelled him to carrie it so long as he was able to stand vnder it then meeting Simon of Cyrene comming from his perambulation in the fields they make him carrie that Crosse of Christ vnto the place of execution and placing the same in Golgotha which was the place where Adam was buried Ambros l. 5. Ep. 1â— as Saint Ambrose thinketh they nayled and fastened Christ vnto it vpon that very day of the weeke that Adam was created Two things considered vpon the Crosse and as is thought he was hanged vpon this Tree vpon the very same houre of the day as Adam did eate of the forbidden Tree And here wee must consider two especiall things 1. The grieuous things that he suffered Tantum distentus sum vt corpore nudo in modum tympanica pellis distento facile possint omnia ossa mea dinumerari Bern. de pass c. 7. 2. The gracious words that he vttered For the first they stretched his body as Saint Bernard saith and then they nayled him to the Crosse which was a grieuous torment vnto any but especially vnto him because his body of all other men was the most tender as being onely shaped of a Virgins substance without any commixture of the male nature and yet the most sensible parts of this tender body must be bored and mangled by his cruell enemies for his feete that afore were washed with Maries teares must now be teared with iron nayles and those blessed hands Bosquier de passione Domini p. 847. in fol. that had wrought so many wonderous workes must now be fastened Vnto this wooden Crosse and there he must hang vntill he die Horrendum dictu A most odious and a most grieuous death and that in foure respects First Because it was an accursed death so esteemed by man 1. An accursed death and so denounced by God himselfe where he saith Cursed is euery one that hangeth vpon a Tree Deut. 21. Gal. 3.13 Tripartit hist l. 1. c. 9. 2. A shamefull death And therefore Constantine the Great and good made a Law that no Christian should be crucified vpon a Crosse Secondly Because it was an ignominious and a shamefull death inflictâ—d chiefly vpon those slaues and seruants that either falsly accused or treacherously conspired their Masters death and it was neuer imposed vpon free men vnlesse it were for some haynous and notorious crimes as robberie murther sedition rebellion or such like 3. A painefull death Thirdly Because it was a most painefull death for that they were fastened to the Crosse not with any little nayles but with bigge purposely made nayles that might hold them sure and fast enough vnto the Crosse so bigge were the nayles that pierced Christ his hands and feete that being found they were found sufficient to make a bridle and a Helmet Socrates Hist l. 1. c. 17. as Socrates saith and then the whole waight of their bodies hanging by these parts made their paine intollerable and killed them at length without any deadly wound And therefore Cicero that most eloquent man which wanted no words to expresse any thing else when hee came to consider of this accursed death was brought to that passe Cicero Orat. 7. in ver to that non-plus as to say Quid dicam in crucem tollere What shall I say of that cruell and most painefull shamefull death of the Crosse 4. A slow and a lingring death Fourthly Because it was a slow and a lingering death for that as the Poet truly saith Morsque minus penae quam mora mortis habet To be long in paine is worse then death a soone dispatched riddance out of paine being a great fauour vnto a languishing life and although in other deaths they should be quickly dispatched and soone rid out of all their paine
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and descended alone into Hell and brake downe that Rampier wall which had stood from the beginning of the world Athanasius in that Creede which wee doe professe saith that Christ suffered for our saluation descended into Hell and rose againe the third day from the dead this is the Catholicke faith which except a man beleeue faithfully he cannot be saued Saint Augustine saith Aug. ep 99. that Christ in soule was in Hell the Scripture doth sufficieÌ„tly declare so prophesied by the Prophet so vnderstood by the Apostle and so expounded vnto vs and therefore Quis nisi Infidelis nâ—gauerit fuisse apud infâ—ros Christum Who saith hee but an Infidell will deny Christ to haue beene in Hell Saint Hillary saith Hilarius de trinit l. 2 in Psal 138. that because the Law of humane necessity was such that when our bodies were buried our soules were to descend to Hell Ideo istam descentionem dominus ad consummationem veri hominis non recusauit Christ himselfe did not refuse to descend into the same place Pope Leo saith as much and Fulgentius is as plaine as any of them all Fulgent ad Tras l. 3 â—e resurrect dom I might reckon many more but my purpose is not to say what I could in this point onely I say that he descended into Hell not to suffer for that was finished on the Crosse but for the subiection of Satan and the deliuerance of men not of those that were in Hell but of vs that we should not goe to Hell for how can we be deliuered if Satan be not destroyed how is he destroyed if hell be not vanquished Zach. 9.11 for that is the Pallace of his pleasure and the horrour of our soules the pit wherein there is no water but for as much as this is the condemnation of man and the Law of humane necessity that the body should to the graue and the soule to hell for sinne it remained for the full effecting of our Redemption that Christ should thither descend whither man fell by desart of sinne that is into Hell where the soule of the sinner was wont to be tormented and to the graue where the flesh was wont to be corrupted that by the death of the iust temporally dying Fulgen. quo supra Athanas de incar hath the like saying eternall life might be giuen to our flesh and by the soule of the lust descending into Hell the torments of Hell might be abolished saith Fulgentius And so I beleeue this for mine exceeding comfort that now I need not feare any enemy because Christ suffered for my sins destroyed all mine enemies descended into Hell vanquished the Diuels and rose againe the third day to make an open shew of this his most victorious conquest and blessed bee his name for the same CHAP. IX Of the manner how Christ rose and of the particular application thereof vnto our selues SEcondly we are to consider the manner how our Sauiour rose and many other particulars concerning his resurrection but chiefly we should obserue that his resurrection was 1. in respect of the place from the dead 2. in respect of the time earely 3. in respect of his person it was 1. true 2. perfect 3. glorious I will not stand vpon these particulars The application of the resurrection vnto our selues Rom. 10.9 but to apply all vnto our selues that we may reape some fruit by all I must intreat you to remember what the Apostle saith If thou shalt confâ—sse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt beleeue in thine heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saued for as I told you before that the resurrection of Christ is the only maine vnanswerable argument to proue Christ to be the true Messias and the Sauiour of the world so heere you see the Apostle putteth the true beliefe in our Sauiours resurrection as the onely chiefest point that is necessary and sufficient for our saluation and therefore it is not without cause that the doctrine of the resurrection should be insisted vpon to be preached and manifested by vs and to be learned and beleeued by you That it is not the Theoricke but the applicatiue knowledge of Christs resurrection that will helpe vs. But here wee must know that it is not the bare Theoricke and intellectuall knowledge that Christ is raised from the dead at that time from that place and in that manner as I haue shewed vnto you before is sufficient for our saluation for so the deuils know it and beleeue it too and yet they receiue no fruit nor benefit thereby but it is the practicke experimentall and applicatiue knowledge and beliefe in the resurrection of the sonne of God that is effectuall for the saluation of man Philip. 3.10 11 And therefore Saint Paul prayes that Hee may know Christ and finde in himselfe the vertue and power of the resurrection of Christ for as the rising of the head doth euer cause the rising of all the parts of the body which is vnited vnto the the head so the resurrection of Christ doth euer worke a resurrection of all the members of Christ for so the Apostle teacheth vs Rom. 8 11. If the spirit of him that raised vp Iesus dwell in you he that raised vp Christ from the dead shall also quicken and so raise vp your mortall bodies by that spirit which dwelleth in you That the resurrection of Christians is twofold And we finde this resurrection of vs that are his members to be two fold 1. from sinne and from all the vanities of this world 2. from death and from the corruption of the graue First if wee be the members of Christ then certainely wee are risen with Christ risen I say from the death of sinne vnto the life of righteousnesse and if wee bee risen with Christ then doth our hearts wish and desire those things that are aboue where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Coloss 3. saith the Apostle and therefore whosoeuer walloweth in sinne and delighteth in the things of this world it is certaine that hee hath not as yet any part or portion in the resurrection of Iesus Christ for if wee bee the members of Christ wee must also rise with Christ and wee must rise as Christ hath risen for otherwise we would all rise That the resurrection of Christ is a patterne to teach vs how we should rise from sinne and from the company of sinners and many doe rise but not as Christ rose and therefore such risers tolluntur in altum vt lapsu grauiore ruant the higher they rise the greater is their fall But we must rise as Christ hath risen and that is as I told you before First in respect of the place from the dead First from the society of the wicked so must we rise from the dead workes of sinne and from all those that are dead in sinne Christ left the dead in their