die in Christ Mar. 12.24 Mat. 22.29 and in the Lord They shall rise in glorie Let no man be deceaued as were the Sadduceis and Libertines and as nowe is the whole familie of loue The dewe of Gods power is as the dewe of herbes Herbes appeare not in winter time The dewe from heauen softeneth the ground doth awaie the frost openeth the earth the herbs spring againe and flourish a fresh Likewise the moisture of Gods omnipotencie and power diuine will cause commaūd the earth to giue an account of her dead to yeild foorth the bodies of his Saincts that they may liue Euen as my bodie saith the Prophet and putteth the matter out of doubt pointeth to his owne bodie proueth the restitution of Gods people from banishment by this infallible argument teaching that because they doubted not of this the greater they should beleeue the lesse which was their restitution So in Ezechiell the people seemed to be in a dead and desperate case Ezech. 37 as if their verie bones were dryed vp their hope gone and them selues cleane out of God sheweth in a vision to the Prophet a plaine fielde full of dead bones hee will giue them senewes flesh shall growe ouer them and he will call the dead out of their sepulchers And by this god meaneth that he will restore his people and conuey them home euen as if they were taught well knew he would reuiue the dead The Articles of our Crede touching the resurrection and life eternall is most largely proued by Sainct Paule to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 15 But Christ confuteth the Saduceis sufficientlie with this Mat. 22.32 Mar. 12.26 that God is the God of Abraham Isaak and Iacob And that God is the God of the liuing and not of the dead Of them that liue and therefore are and not of them that liue not and therefore are not and of them that shall liue in whole and not onelie in part And it is spoken in the present tence of the liuing as well for the certaintie of the bodies rising as for the assured being of the soule in the meane season in the handes of God And herein concerning the soule for of the bodie I haue said sufficiently what becommeth of it when man is dissolued I can not but maruel what M. Bristow meaneth to mencion Reply to D. Fulk cap. 8 part 2 that there be many texts to make it probable that not any one entreth into heauē no not since Christs time till the generall resurrection Bez. li. Theol Epist 2 Epist Al these probabilities are aunswered by a learned man of our own age in perfit maner particulerly vpon occasion heare I reade it needlesse to trouble the simple with impertinent disputes Immediatly vpō the departure out of this mortalitie the soule is receaued into the ioyes of heauen Luc. 23.43 2. Cor. 12.2 It may suffise them to know that while we are in this bodie we are pilgrimes from the Lorde ergo not so when the tabernacle therof shall be layed aside But then we shall be as it was saide to the theefe euen in the day therof with Christ in Paradise And what is Paradise but heauen for so Sainct Paule when he talketh that he was taken vp into Paradise he tearmeth it the thirde heauen Euerie man sayth Austine sleepeth with his cause and shall rise with his cause But in the middle time as in our common sleeping some sleepe quietly some haue heauy and sorrowfull dreames so when we go into the common bed of the earth with our bodies yet our soul hath her rest with a sense of ioye or hath a feeling of sorrowefull paines Habent omnes animae Tract in Iohn 49 quum de seculo hoc exierint c. All soules when they depart out of this worlde straight they haue their diuerse places of receipt if they be good they haue ioy if they bee naught they haue torment and when the generall resurrection shall be the ioye of the good shall be more ample and the torments of the wicked more grieuouse when with their bodies also they shall be tormented and this is onelie the differēce Wherfore in the hour of death let no faith full man doubt but that he hath a present entrance into heauen and that he shall be with Christ there and that he may praie looking vpward into heauen both with Christ and with Steeuen Into thy handes O God I commend my spirit O Lorde Iesus receaue my spirit And this is a kinde of glorification which shall be consummated after the consumption of all thinges In the meane time while wee yet remaine in this world there are dueties to be done and euerie man hath his talentes fewe or manie or at least one Mat. 25.14 and that one he may not hide in a napkin like the idle man nor digge it in the earth where it may rust much lesse throwe it to the dunghill that is bestow it vpon bad and vile vses The noble man is gone into a farre countrey the maister to a wedding but they will certainelie returne againe but when that is vncertaine whether at the first seconde thirde or fourth watche VVhy the comming of Christ is not specially in the circumstances of time certainely known whether in the euening or at the dawning of the day and therefore is so vncertaine the rather to excite thy care and stirre vp thy diligence to prouoke thy watchfulnesse to set thee alwayes in a continuall expectation both of his comming particulerlie to thee and in generall to iudge the world But if thou like the euill seruaunt saye tushe the Lorde differreth to come and being absent can not see what is done amisse and cruelly shalt misuse thy fellow seruauntes or riotouslie mispend thy maisters substance wasting all in wantonnesse and excesse liuing in pleasure and fatting thy selfe as in the day of great slaughter and much feasting shall common with thy soule after this maner O my soul take thy rest this iolitie will not faile this case on earth is euerlasting behold suddenlie when thou thinkest least Luc. 12.46 this night before euer the morning can come death is at thy doore thie dayes are numbred thy deeds are waighed thy doom is come and thy soule shall departe not onely this life and so an end but shal be sundred from the nomber of the liuing with God and shall liue in torments euerlastinglie with Satan and his angels without end Nay rather let vs imitate the faithfulnesse of Sainct Paule who in respect of others namely of his brethrē the Iewes what a continuall sorrowe conceaued he howe hartie was his desire howe feruent his prayers in their behalfe Yea he had care of all congregations Who is weake and I am not affected Who is offended and I not grieued And in respect of him selfe he ranne his race he kept the faith he fought a good fight knew that there was a
likewise with ioy of heart embrace the Lordes vnspeakeable mercy reuealed giuen in the onely and sole Sauiour of the world Iesus Christ the righteouse Amen Dauid was better 1. Sa. 17.47 2. Sam. 11.2 when he kept his fathers sheepe then when he got the Kingdom If the sinne of Adam were lesse and namely if the powers of mā were more his will of greater abilitie more orderly then I haue proued it to be yet I gesse it were good that an horse should not know his strength What need we flatter a wanton a way ward thing which is thē best when it is most kept short and naturally it is neuer good but alwayes naught When God intended to take iust reuēgment of vnthākful men Rom. 1.24 that became vaine in their imaginations and their foolish hearts were full of darknesse what did he He gaue them ouer to their own lusts that is to say to their own will and wilfulnesse This grieuous punishment had not bin great August 6 Tract in Epish Ioh. if the flexiblenesse towardnesse of their wills had bin so good or but so indifferently il or els inclinable ready or free to receiue either good or euill or able to consent when grace is offred which is the verie hinge in deede Stap. l. 4. c. 1. wheron the question of free will most dependeth Nowe but to consent to good is a good thing hast thou this cōsent what hast thou that thou hast not receaued 1. Cor. 4.7 if thou hast receaued of an other then is it not in thy selfe Againe no goodnesse groweth out of the earth but descendeth from aboue And againe flesh bloud Mat. 16.17 doth neither reueale nor receaue any good but is enimity to all good therfore cannot cōsent which is a point of frindship therunto Nay in the regenerat Cic. de amic the flesh still lusteth against the spirit which we haue receaued and therefore doubtlesse in the vnregenerat it much more doubtlesse in the vnregenerat it much more dissenteth before grace be receaued lesse embraceth it when it is offred When his graces are generallie offred man is recusant by natur shutteth his eyes claspeth his hands is altogether auerse in heart but yet whom God taketh choseth effectually he turneth their hearts as he did the Purple sellers heart in the Acts Act. 16.14 Act. 9.18 haleth and smiteth Paule downe from his horse doth away the scales from his eyes worketh mightely the conuersiō of thē that shal be saued and this he maketh men willing to receaue that which before they wilfully refused herupō to imagin this willingnes to be of man because at length by Gods gift it is in man is a vain imaginatiō to giue that to man which is Gods gift as M. Stapletō doth saying Stap. l. 4. c. 4 that capacity of good things is of natur and actiuity of Grace No. bothe the beginning the end both capablenes agilitie to will to work is of him Fulgentius was troubled with the like fancifull men Fulg. de incar Christ cap. 24 that thought that because we were enabled by God to good therfor we ar also able of our selues The cōsequēt is naught For as the flesh of mā hath no feling and sense of it selfe but the soule doth giue it life sense so it may haue both so man may God so working in him be wel willing but the life soule of this willingnes is the mere sole mercy of God The wisdom of the Lord Prouer. 9.1 in the book of prouerbs whō he possessed from all beginninges hath built here an house hewed out her pillers c. This bilding house is his Church chosen Now euē as an hous can not rere vp it self so is it with man nether the first stone nor any part of it selfe cā it selfe lay or set in the frame And as the carpēter choseth his timber the mason his stone the potter his clay and not contrariwise the clay his potter the stone his mason the timber his workman the house her bilder so God choseth the Church not the Church him That is a true word I haue chosen you not you me Ioh. 15.16 in any kind of choice A wrāgler may stretch a similitude farther then may stand with christian humilitie As the carpenter in deed chooseth out 〈…〉 tree out of the wood worketh it alone yet he chooseth the fayrest the fittest and the straightest because these qualities ar in the timber So God chooseth of men the best qualified by nature because of naturalles that were in them first No not so He knoweth who foreknoweth al things no doubt what persons will best serue his building who ar fittest who vnfit But ther for ar sōe fit because he maketh thē fit For otherwise by natur we are vtterly vnfit all And to demonstrate that all standeth vpon mere choise he chooseth the weak to cōfound the strong the simple to confute the wise 1 Cor. 1.23 Iohos 6.20 as it were the blast of hornes to ouerthrow the mighty walled city Iericho He chooseth the least likely the most vnwilling to shew that neither in mans will or any part of his corrupt natur else is ought to this purpose But of this his exceding mercy fauor free grace more in speciall in the processe following Hetherto in the plenarie view of man both within without in body soule in whole and in part appeareth nothing since his fal but misery bondage pollutiō vncleannes darknes confusiō frowardnes obstinacy rebellion and in a worde perfit sinne corruption God looketh down frō heauen vpon all the children of men in earth findeth not any one cōsidered as he is in his own nature Psalm 14.2 with whome it fareth better then hath bene declared OF THE FREE GRACE OF GOD. LIBER II. OF mans corruption hath bin declared tuching almighty God in the Scripturs amongst other proprieties vttered after the maner of men for the better vnderstanding are chiefly set foorth his righteouse iudgements gracious mercy His iudgements pronounced by the Lawe and executed in his wrath against the children of vnbeliefe disobediēce his mercie prepared for the elect in his son published by the gospel This Gospel message of the ioyfullest tidings that euer were Luc. 2.10 was imparted first to Adam in paradise as a present remedie immediatly after his fall applied to the weaker part affected by name to Eue. Thy seed shall bruse the Serpents head Gen. 3.15 Afterward declared to Abraham In thy seede shall all nations be blessed Gen. 12.3 Then renued againe in Isaak so foreshewed in the sacrifices olde ceremonies likewise inforced by the Law and foretold by the Prophetes in the fulnes of time presented in the person of our Sauiour lastly by his Apostles still by the worke of the ministery the partitiō wal
setteth down howe they were discerned it setteth not downe A simple aunswer is easiest and truest as I take it God who made the apparition to Peter and Iohn gaue vnto Peter and Iohn the knowledge to discerne who they were that appeared whether he will giue them the like knowledge in the life to come because the scripture is silent I dare not definitiuely say or argue to or fro Farther it is reasoned Adam in his innocencie straight way notwithstanding he were asleepe when Eué was taken out of his side yet he knew who Eué was semblably when this corruption shall put on incorruption when sinnefulnes shal chāge for innocency like to or else more perfitte then Adams in Paradise when our knowledge in part shall be made perfit and our charity intended to an higher degree and extēded to more in number then we may if know the things that we knewe not before much more know the things and recognize the persons we knew once I will not dispute against this opinion much for peraduenture it may be true Farther it is reasoned that if the damned spirite of the richman in hell notwithstanding the great distance chaos betwixt could discerne Lazarus Abrahā in heauē that the soules of the iust and perfit mē shal much more see with a clearer eye the society of all but especially certaine in the cytie of the Saincts I will not answer this to be parabolical that euery part of a parable doth not euer proue euery matter that it may be fitted vnto For it may be that this very part thus vrged is not of a thing altogether impossible But that which I shall shortly remember by occasion of the question moued is most true and much to be considered First it is true that death is a passage into a better life to all that beleue a doore entrance into heauen a redy meanes to be with Christ and not where Christ is onely for Christ according to his Godhead is excluded no place but with Christ and in Paradise are they who die a corporall death but yet liue vnto Christ And then this being throughly considered it doth lenifie such natural passions as are incidēt to the sonnes of Adā it maketh the bitter cup to haue a sweete tast it breedeth a desire to be dissolued and a longing to be at our long and last home For the things here are nothing to the thinges there yet are we hardly induced to leaue them and herein they serue loue vs most and we them But let vs consider when we die we depart from the world and therefore from worldly affections also we should depart and betake our selues wholly to a better habitation and vtterly to haue nothing to do with the things that are done vnder the sunne after the dispositiō of our house and temporalities as Esaie exhorted the king A wet eye and an affectionate minde doth neither discerne aright nor iudge vprightly in this case and when we should be rauished with the loue of his face to whom we go we looke backward whether we shall see the faces of our old frinds any more In the resurrection they neither marry nor are maried mariage is the neerest coniunction amongest men But then the respects of mā wife shal be swalowed vp as it were a candle put out at the rising of the Sunne Therefore the affections toward father and mother children and kinred of consanguinitie and blood of affinitie or amity which are lesse shal also cease then For they will either hinder somewhat or doe much hurte in the quietnes of our passage I reade of one Rotholdus of whome Sigibert doth write a man of name and a Duke when he shoulde be baptised he would knowe whether there were moe in heauen or in hell and what acquaintance he had in either place was not this a great folly In the second booke of Samuel Dauid maketh offer to an old aged man Barzelai 2. Sam. 19. that elswhen had shewed him kindnes that now God had blessed Dauid and had brought him to the kingdome he woulde requite the old man and offered him that he should goe with him be in his court at Ierusalem But Barzelay on the other side maketh a contrarie request vnto Dauid that he may returne to Gilead and dy in his own countrie and be buried in the graues of his auncestors and as for anie pleasure that he could take in the kings palace he said he was ouerspent and worne his sense of tasting was gone so of hearing the voyce of the singers and the court musicke did not affect the old man In the storie we see a contentation in the aged man and also a loue to his country whereby he preferred Gilead before Ierusalem I do not altogeather discommend euery point in his affection But by application if I may speake there are ouer many Barzelaies now a dayes both in their liues and in their deathes They are so long time accustomed to the worse that they disdaine the better they cannot tast the truth they will not heare the musicke of the charmer charme he neuer so cunningly They began in superstition they haue long continued in error and they will needes be buried in the idolatrie of their forefathers and they will go whether they thinke they haue most acquaintance But true religion goeth neither by the most nor by those that seeme to be most neere a man commonly In our life the worde is our direction the spirit our guide In our death we must as we resigne our bodyly substance vnto godly vses and our bodies for a time into the bosome of the earth so without more adoe without forecasting of doubts or scruples of curious fancifull or affectionat questioning must we wholy yeeld vp our soules vnto God our father a safe keeper of them vnto the gloriouse resurrectiō in Christ Iesu to whom with the holy spirite three persons and one euerliuing God be euerlasting praise Amen