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
O blessed Saviour I know not whether more to grieve for thy Descending into Hell or more to joy for thy Ascending up to Heaven yet I must confesse there is advantage on the joyes part For though one of them was to thee most prejudiciall yet both of them are to mee most beneficiall There are many that ascend for we are all of a climbing nature but not into Heaven They ascend but with Symon Magus up into the Ayre the popular ayre of Ambition and glory of the World and alas they presently fall downe againe because the thin Ayre is not able to beare them up and the end of these men is worse then the beginning There is no Ascending good but into Heaven For once come thither there will be no falling down againe For though Lucifer did so once yet it is never like to bee done so any more It was never heard that any Ascended up to Heaven till now but onely Elias the Prophet a type perhaps of Christs Ascending who ascended up in a fiery Chariot and wee may marvell how hee could ever get to Heaven and not bee burnt by the way but indeed the fire of his Chariot was perhaps the ardour and burning love of Seraphins which like the fire that appeared in the Bush to Moses though it burnes it never consumes And thou my soule if with this ardour and burning love of God thou couldst enflame thy heart thou also might'st Ascend up to Heaven in a fiery Chariot as Elias did But though Elias went up into Heaven yet it cannot properly be said that he Ascended into heaven For he was taken up in a Fiery Chariot and to bee taken up is by the power of another to Ascend is by his owne power and this Elias did not nor ever any but onely Christ But though Christ ascended into Heaven yet he ascended not as the soules of the Saints doe He fitteth at the right hand of God to lye under the Altar when they come there but he Ascended to sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty For who indeed is fit to sit at the right hand of the Father but his onely Sonne And now by his Ascending a great alteration is made in the order of taking place in Heaven For where before the Cherubins or Seraphins or what other Order is the highest in the Hierarchy of Angels tooke their places next to God Now the humane Nature of Christ takes place before them all that if Lucifer were now in Heaven he might have juster cause to murmur at Gods partiality as he would call it then ever he bad when he first revolted But we must not here bee ledde with the weake conceit of flesh or with the vaine conceit of errour as though God were a body and had a right hand and a left hand like to us who is purus Spiritus a pure and simple Spirit but as we make account that to fit at our right hand is to have the highest place next our selves so when Christ is said to sit at the Right hand of his Father it is meant that all power is given him both in Heaven and Earth at least a power far supreme then any creature a soveraigne power over all creatures And this my soule makes well for thee and for us all for we may bee sure hee sits not there for his owne glory onely but as well also for the good of his Church that by sitting there he may bee the readier to make continuall Intercession for us for alas if it were not by this benefit how were it possible his little Flocke should have been able to withstand so many Assaults as have most violently beene made upon it in all Ages O Blessed Jesus thou well deservedst to sit at the right hand of the Father who didst offer up thy selfe a perfect sacrifice of obedience to thy Father Thou well deservest to have the highest place in Heaven who didst humble thy selfe to the lowest place in Hell Thou art worthy to have all knees bow to thee both in Heaven and Earth who didst drinke the bitter Cup of thy Fathers wrath to reconcile all things unto him both in Earth and Heaven And though in the time of thy Pilgrimage upon Earth thou wert faine to flee out of Judea into Egypt and faine to stand as a Prisoner at the Barre of Pilate and faine to hang nailed on the accursed Tree and faine after all to lie buried in a Grave all Postures of misery yet now at last thou art come to a Posture of rest For thou sittest and to a seat of glory For thou sittest at the right hand of thy Father and there shalt sit in rest and glory till the time come that thou come to give just sentence upon them who gave unjust sentence upon thee and to bee avenged of all thine enemies For as we beleeve that Christ sitteth at the right hand of his Father So we beleeve hee shall come from thence to judge both the quicke and the dead But how can wee beleeve that Christ shall come to judge the quicke and the dead From thence he shall come to judge c. when he professeth himselfe that hee Judgeth no man It is true indeed he judged no man while he was here upon earth to be judged himselfe but now that all power is given him both in heaven and earth wee beleeve it is a part of that power that he shall come to jduge both the quicke and the dead But when will the time of his comming bee O my soule thou maist well rest satisfied with that answer of Christ to his Apostles It is not for you to know the times and seasons which God hath lockt up in his owne breast Yet see the vaine inquisitivenesse of mans nature that would know that which is hidden from the Angels and more then this from the Sonne of man himselfe although it may seem strange that he should not know the day of Judgement who is himselfe to be the Judge and yet not strange seeing to appoint the day of judgement belongs to him that appoints the Judge and is perhaps one of the things which makes God say Secretum meum mihi My secret to my selfe but most of all my soule it may be enough for thee that thou art sure to heare newes of thy own judgement soone enough even as soone as thou leavest this sinnefull body and as for the generall Judgment thou needest not trouble thy selfe when or how long it shall be a comming seeing though it may perhaps encrease thy particular judgement yet it shall not alter it And as wee are uncertaine of the time so wee are no lesse uncertaine of the place For though we beleeve from whence he shall come yet wee have no beliefe whither he shall come It hath bene a received opinion by some that he shall come into the Valley of Jehosophat and keepe his Sessions there but alas what is the Valley of Jehosophat to receive
expresse but a very small part or rather indeed no part at all of it seeing of those how many soever yet they will have an end at last Everlastingnesse never It may best bee exprest by number In abstracto of which when never so many have bin preceding yet never the fewer will bee left behind O the wonderfulnesse of everlastingnesse enough to amaze our apprehension so wonderfull that when wee have wondred as much as we can wee may begin and wonder againe and he that shall stand wondring all his life long yet cannot be thought to have wondred enough Iustly therefore is it made an Article of our Creede seeing it exceeds our capacity it passeth our understanding it transcends our reason onely Faith is apprehensive of it And where is it then that this Everlasting life shall bee led Is it not that of the first thousand years we may perhaps give some account that it shall be led where wee shall reigne with Christ for so Saint John the Evangelist in plaine termes delivers it and Papias a Bishop and a Scholler of Saint Johns who was likely to have learned the meaning of his words affirmes more that it shall be led heere upon earth in all delights and pleasures both of body and minde and indeede most of the ancient Fathers of that Primitive time runne together by a line in this Exposition and yet by the later Fathers is this Opinion cleane exploded and the words of Saint John expounded in a farre differing sense and not without cause for seeing it is truely said that flesh and bloud shal not enter into the kingdom of heaven there is no likelihood that bodily or fleshly pleasures shall ever be allowed to have place in that kingdome Is it then that there shall be a new heaven and a new earth and then this life Everlasting shall be led And it is indeed most likely that as our bodies shall rise though in their old substance yet endued with new qualities So heaven and earth where they are to abide shall suffer the like alteration that so there may bee a correspondence between our bodies and them which could not be if the qualities of heaven and earth were not aswell altered as of our bodies But when is it that this life Everlasting shall beginne Indeed as soone as this momentary life shall end but yet but in part and therefore we beleeve the resurrection of the body first and then the life everlasting after because although the soule in its kind be living still yet till the body rise againe there will be no perfect life and it is not intended that our life should be everlasting in the imperfection of it which is the separation of the soule from the body but that the body rising againe and joyning with the soule it shall then bee everlasting And now my soule consider the difference of our future life from this that is present which shal be so much longer then this as eternity then a moment and so much better then this as happinesse then misery But wherein shall the happinesse of our future life consist For if bodily pleasures be restrained there will want a great part of that which wee now count happinesse Indeed bodily pleasures will be restained but not pleasures of the body but the body being raised up a spirituall body the pleasures also of the body shal be spirituall pleasures And how much the soul is better then the body how much the reason is better then the sense so much shall the pleasures of our future life bee better then the pleasures of our present life and if this doe not sufficiently expresse the difference Remember then how Christ hath exprest it that the pleasures of our future life shall bee such as neither eye hath seene nor eare heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man and by this certainely we may well conceive the infiniteness of the difference But what are these pleasures which eye hath not seene nor eare hath heard Indeed if wee could tell vvee should make Christs vvords but vaine yet in some sort perhaps vvee may conceive them For vvhat eye hath seene the faces of Cherubins in their brightnesse What eare hath heard the melody of Angels in their sweetnesse But which is most of all into what heart of man hath it entred what the glory of the Almighty God is and what joy it will be to us to be admitted into his blessed presence O my soule these are pleasures which if we could apprehend would drive us into extasie at least would raise up our minds from groveling in the base pleasures of this vaine world And who are they that shall bee partakers of this life Everlasting are they onely the godly or as well also the wicked Indeed as well the wicked as the godly but not the wicked so well as the godly For alas the wicked shall live everlastingly indeed if it may bee called life which is infinitely worse then any death to bee in perpetuall torment and paine insufferable Onely the godly shall live everlastingly the life which is onely worthy to bee called life in perpetuall joy and happinesse unspeakable Oh then if our lives shall necessarily bee everlasting and that the happinesse of the everlastingnesse depends upon this moment we now live Let us endeavour to spend our short time so that our everlastingnesse may be in joy and not in misery O my soule be alwaies thinking of this word Never Never shall the torments of the wicked have an end Never shall the joyes of the godly have an end not after a thousand yeares not after a million of yeares not after a million of millions of Ages but Never Never which if wee could apprehend or would but consider it would certainely be a Remora to us and give a stop to all our vaine courses And now having briefly run over these Articles of our Creed we may doe well to consider how happy the Church of God should be if it would content it selfe with these Articles as once it did For then the little Barke of Christ should not bee tossed with so many tempests of Schismes should not be torn with so many rents of Division as now it is but should enjoy the unity of faith in the bond of peace where now while new Articles are dayly obtruded upon our Consciences we seem to be in worse case with Articles of faith then the old Jewes were with the Ceremonies of the Law they overwhelmed with number we with novelty or rather indeed with both FINIS
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
mention made of the Virgin Mary Is it not enough to beleeve that Christ was borne of a Virgin but there must be added the Virgin Mary Indeed it is added very justly for by this it appeares that Christ was Descended of the Lynage of David his Mother being of the same Lynage as the Prophets had foretold the true Christ should bee and this is no small strengthening to our Beliefe that Christ is the true Messias But how is it like that Mary was a Virgine when shee had a Husband at least how can wee beleeve shee was a Virgin when shee had a Child Is it not that her Marriage was Inchoate indeed but not Consummate shee was Desponsata but not Nupta shee was not Married And therefore Espoused that there might bee One to take care of her and her Childe when it should be borne But why should her Husband take care of a Childe that was none of his owne might he not rather justly suspect her to have played false with him and therefore rather put her to shame at least put her from him then to take her to him It is indeed a hard matter to make one beleeve that a woman should have a Childe and not accompany with man but as it was the Holy Ghost that wrought the conception of Christ in his Mothers Wombe so it was the Holy Ghost that wrought this Beliefe in the minde of her husband Joseph that the Angell told him true when he said unto him Feare not Joseph to take Mary thy wife For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost And though shee were the Mother of a Childe yet she continued a Virgin still For neither the conception of Christ nor the Birth of Christ did abrogate her Virginitie but rather made her if not a more Virgin at least a pureâ— Virgin then shee was before For such is the purity of Christs Body that it makes all passages the â—urer by which it passeth and therefore it may bee piouslâ— beleeved and without Hyperbole that as she was Virgo ante partum so shee was Virgo in partu and Virgo post partum a Virgin before the Birth and in the Birth and after the Birth for though shee had Purification yet that perhaps was but as Christ had Baptisme to fulfill all righteousnesse And as Christ was conceived of Mary without sinne so Mary was Delivered of Christ without paine for it was but just that she who brought him forth that Freed mankind from the generall Curse should in bringing him forth bee Freed her selfe from the particular Curse laid upon Woman-kind which was That in sorrow they should bring forth Children But if Jesus Christ were Borne of the Virgin Mary how could he be the Sonne of the Virgin foretold by the Prophet Esay For the Sonne of that Virgin was to be called Immanuell and not Jesus where this Sonne of the Virgin Marie was called Jesus and not Immanuell But is it not that Immanuell was not properly meant a Name of Appellation but of Act and then was the Name Acted when the Sonne of God tooke Flesh and was Incarnate For being the Son of God and taking our nature upon him he was God with us and to be God with Us was to be Immanuell Blessed Marie what Tongue can expresse thy Happinesse in thy selfe thy glory in the world to have thy Body nine moneths together be made a Heaven for the Son of God to dwell in to have thy Wombe bee the sacred Bed for the Holy Ghost to overshadow and more then both these to have the Sonne of God to bee thy Sonne and take Flesh of thy Flesh and Bone of thy Bone that all our Affinitie now to Heaven must be attributed to thee that our flesh which was never before without sinne is now made as pure as when it was first made must bee attributed to thee and more then Both these that our Flesh is now exalted up to Heaven must bee attributed to thee that Christ sitteth at the Right hand of his Father to bee our Advocate must be attributed to thee and therefore all Generations shall justly call thee Blessed justly thou mayest say Thy Soule doth magnifie the Lord and thy Spirit rejoyceth in God thy Saviour For if ever Soule had cause to Magnifie the Lord If ever Spirit had cause to rejoyce in God It is Thine It is Thine most Blessed most Glorious and most to bee Admired Marie Suffered under Pontius Pilate After we have Beleeved that Christ was Borne of the Virgin Marie It followes next that we Beleeve Hee suffered under Pontius Pilate But what Suffered as soone as hee was borne Indeed as all of us beginne our life with Crying which is an effect of Suffering and bring this Omen with us into the world of the miseries that are to follow So Christ was more like to doe it then any other who was Vir Dolorum a man of sorrowes all his life long but yet this is not the suffering that is here meant For the suffering heere spoken of was under Pontius Pilate which was not till many yeares after the time of Christs birth Was it then that hee was smitten and buffeted had a Crown of Thornes platted upon his Head was mocked and scourged under Pontius Pilate Great suffrings all yet neither were these the Suffering that is heere meant but as we use to say when men are Executed and put to death that then they suffer so the suffering here meant was his Executing and putting to Death as Christ himselfe calleth it where he saith I have desired to eate this Passeover with you before I suffer which was done also under Pontius Pilate at that time Governour for the Romanes in Hierusalem But though it bee necessary to beleeve that Christ suffered yet why is it necessary to beleeve that he suffered under Pontius Pilate Indeede because there were many afterwards that tooke upon them to be Christ as Christ had fore-told that many should come in his Name saying I am Christ But wee acknowledge none of them to be the true Christ but Him onely that suffered under Pontius Pilate We have here an Example what little good there is in good Intentions if they bee not followed home to their full period for a good Intention in Pilate for want of pursuing cost Christ a scourging more then otherwise perhaps hee should have had for out of a desire to save his life he caused him to bee scourged hoping in a good intention it would have passed with the Jewes for a satisfying punishment but when his scourging would not serve their turnes nor pacifie their malice he then left pursuing his good intention and delivered him into their hands to be put to death Unhappy Pilate that seeking to doe him good didst him hurt and thinking to save his life didst adde a scourging to his death What ill lucke hadst thou to bee a Governour at this time thereby to be made a Minister of so fowle a
be a kind of Honour in being fairely Buried and perhaps besides the Honour a further mystery in it in what place the Body is laid For why else should Joseph be so earnest to have his Bones carried out of Egypt and be brought to Canaan to be buried there But what needes expressing in our Creed that hee was Buried seeing what needes beleeving that he was Buried Our salvation had sufficiently beene wrought by his death though he had not been buried at all and is it not then sufficient that I Beleeve he was Dead unlesse I beleeve also that hee was Buried But seeing our salvation was wrought by his Death It was fit to make the Opinion of his death undoubted and to leave no scruple in the minde about it which could not well bee done but by adding that he was Buried For if he had not beene Buried it might bee thought hee was but in a Traunce and then no great matter to revive againe and so his Resurrection have been sleighted but Buriall is a thing that consummates death and makes men dead though they were not dead before as it is reported of the subtile Schooleman Scotus that falling into a Trance by some Fit of Infirmity he was whether out of Officious or Malitious hastinesse suddenly buried and found afterwards by evident Signes that he was buried alive And therefore to leave no scruple for doubting of the true Death of Christ it was necessary to be added that he was Buried And now that wee have seene Christ Dead and Buried One would thinke there were an end of Articles of Beliefe concerning him and yet there are other behâ—â—de that must bee Beleeved no lesse then thefe and happy it is for us that there are other behind for Alas if our Beliefe should end in his Death and Buriall what hope could we have of benefit by beleeving in him But now Christs humane nature consisting of a Body and a Soule and they being by death parted as that Article tels what being dead became of his Body That it was Buried So this next Article tels what became of his Soule That it Descended into Hell For his Soule is all the He now that in this Article is intended But is this an Article to make us be glad off had we not beene better to have left him at his being dead and lying quietly in his Grave then to bring him afterward to Descend into Hell Not at all For marke the consequence of this Article that if notwithstanding his Buriall wee should bee doubtfull still of the death of Christ For one may bee buried for dead and yet revive againe as Scotus did Yet this Article that now comes in will stricke the matter dead and indeed if there were nothing else in the Article but that it makes us infallibly certaine of his Death It were cause enough for giving it a place in this our Creede seeing there is nothing that requires so great a confirmation as the death of Christ because upon his death it is that the maine work of our Salvation depends and certainely a greater confirmation of his death there cannot bee then this that while his Body was lying in the Grave his Soule descended into Hell For to have the Body in one place and the Soule in another both at once is manifestly and infallibly to bee dead Seeing Death is nothing else but to have the soule and body to be divided But now concerning his descent into Hell It is wonderfull what diversity of opinions there is at this day about it Partly concerning the place and partly concerning the motion First what is meant by Hell and then what is meant by Descending so differing all in the understanding of the words as if they were not all of one language at least had a taint of Babell remaining stil in them Some have thought that by descending into Hell is meant nothing but the extreame sorrowes and torments of soule which Christ suffered in the Garden and on the Crosse but this the time and order of the Articles which hath hitherto been precisely observed will not allow For hee descended not into Hell till after he was dead and buried And besides if this were so it should rather bee said that Hell ascended up to him then that he descended into Hell especially seeing those agonies were violent this descending voluntary those were sufferings this an action Some againe have thought that by Hell is meant the Grave and by descending into Hell his being held under the power of death but this the soule will not allow for the grave is a place but for the body no place for the soule and the soule must have a place to bee in aswell as the body and it is the soule onely that in this Article is intended Some others have thought that by descending into Hell is meant the going of his soule to the place of all just soules after death which is to Paradise but this the manner of the motion will not allow for to Paradise certainly is an ascent and not a descent and therefore most unlikely that ascending into Paradise should bee exprest by descending into Hell For though the Poet Virgil maks amaena vireta Fortunatorum Nemorum sedesque beatas to be a part of Hell yet this is but a Poeticall fixion and not worthy to have place in Divinity which makes it more plaine Christ told Mary Magdalene at his rising that he was not yet ascended to his Father But to go about to meet with Errour in every corner would bee both troublesome and tedious and perhaps not worth the labour It may be sufficient for us to see the truth by it selfe and Rectum est Index sui Obliqui by viewing the right wee shall the better discerne the falsehood The truth â—hen in this Article seâ—mes to bee this That the soule of Christ being pâ—rted from his body descended locally into Hell properly so called though it may seeme strange that having promised the good Thiefe to be this day with him in Paradise he should be this day with the bad Thiefe in Hell and yet not strange seeing the soule is no such slow mover but that it might bee in Hell and Paradise both in one day and lesse strange if it bee true that he meant it perhaps of his Deity and not of his soule And that the soule of Christ did locally descend into Hell may thus appeare The soule though a spirit must yet have a place after its kind to be in 〈◊〉 if not Circumscriptive at least Definitive and the soule of Christ stayed not with his body for then his body should not have been dead no it ascended not up to heaven for this is a contrary motion to descending nor it hovered not about in the ayre for this is but a Fictiâ—n of Poets when they speake of soules departed and what place then remained but onely Hell And if it were not the true Hell into which his soule descended then must the
last day And in another place This is the Will of him that sent mee that every one that seeth the Sonne and beleeveth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day And now if we be satisfied of his Will shall we fall back againe into a relapse of doubting his Power But alas is it any hard matter for God to make the same body again which hee had made once before Or is it harder for him to make a Body the same it was before then it was to make it at first when it was not at all Is it not easier for God to make a Body out of something then it was at first to make it out of nothing Is it any hard matter for God to reduce all Bodies to their first Elements and then to mixe and compound them againe as he did at first When our Bodies were first made they were made but of dust and when they are dead they shall but be turned into dust and cannot God take the same dust to make the same body againe as well now as hee did then What though it bee scattered about in a thousand places is distance of place any thing to God who is equally in all places at once Is it hard for God to know which is the proper dust of every particular Body and to give to every one their own dust whose knowledge extends to count the just number of the sand and to call all the stars of Heaven by their names Is there any dust upon the Earth any mote in the Sun which God hath not made And if hee have made them all by his power shall he not dispose of them all at his pleasure If by onely saying Congregentur Aquae God made the great Ocean which we cannot look upon without wonder Can he not as well by onely saying Congregetur Pulvis make the dust of all Bodies come together again that every Body may be the very same Bodie it was before Say a Body be devoured of Beasts be eaten of Fishes so as by digestion it become a part of their Bodies say it suffer never so many alterations yet all those alterations shall be resolved at last into the same dust it was at first and cannot God of the same dust make the same Body againe as well now as he did before God of nothing made the dust of the Earth and of that dust the Body of man and though the dust which was made of nothing shall returne againe to nothing yet the Body of man that was made of dust shall never returne to lesse then dust and to so little should never have returned neither if God for mans transgression had not denounced against him Pulvis es in pulverem reverteris If then Gods saying Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt returne have been the cause of the Bodies returning to dust why shall not his saying A Body thou art and a Body thou shalt rise againe be as well a cause of the Resurrection of the body And now if we be satisfied of his power shall wee fall back againe into a relapse of doubting his Will But why did God make the Body of man of dust where he made the bodies of Beasts of nothing but because the bodies of Beasts shall returne againe to nothing where the Body of man shall never returne but into dust that out of that dust it may rise againe to be the same Body it was before Why did God make the Body of man himselfe where he commanded the Earth to bring forth the Bodies of other Creatures but because he meant it a further preservation then hee meant other creatures and what further preservation if the body did not rise againe And if now againe we bee satisfied of his Will shall wee fall backe into another relapse of doubting his power Cannot God doe as much upon a sudden as Nature can doe with Time Though Nature must have nine Moneths lying in the Mothers wombe before it can make a mans Body perfit yet God made Adam a perfect Body in an Instant and could he transcend Nature then and can he not now Is he growne to bee as impotent as Nature able to doe no more then what naturally may be done What though the world doubt it and Sadducees deny it shall we rather assent to them then say with Job Though wormes destroy this Body yet I shall see God in my Flesh And if see God in his Flesh then must his Body rise againe that hee may have Eyes to see him And as these be some reasons of many to shew that the Resurrection of the body may be So there are other reasons as strong to shew that it shall and must be When Moses met Christ on the Mount how came hee by his Body againe which had beene dead and buried many hundred yeares before How came those men by their bodies againe who having beene dead and buried arose at the time of Christs rising and appeared unto many in the Holy Citie When Christ at the last day shall say Venite Benedicti Patris Come yee Blessed of my Father hee shal not say it to the soule alone nor to the body alone but to the whole man and if to the whole man then must the body bee joyned to the soule againe that it may be a whole man but no such conjunction if no Resurrection of the Body Is not Christ our head and we his members and if hee Ascended up to Heaven in body and soule must not we that are his members doe the like But no such Ascension if no Resurrection of the body Hath not Christ promised That wee shall sit with him at his Table and eate and drinke with him in his Fathers Kingdome But no such Eating and Drinking if no Resurrection of the Body When Christ in the Gospel meant to confute the Sadducees denying the Resurrection hee used this Argument Have ye not read what God said to Moses in the Bush I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaak and the God of Jakob God is not the God of the dead but of the living and with this Argument he put them to silence But how their Errour is confuted by this Argument or how this Argument proves the Resurrection of the Body is not easie to bee perceived It seemes the Argument is not so much ad Rem as ad Hominem though it prove not directly the Resurrection of the body yet it proves it sufficiently against the Sadduces who therefore denyed the Resurrection of the body because they beleeved not the immortality of the soule and this Argument proving directly the immortality of the soule proves sufficiently against them the Resurrection of the body Or is it perhaps meant thus God is the God of Abraham but Abraham is not the soule onely but the whole man and therefore the Body of Abraham though now dead must of necessity bee raised to life againe seeing God is not the God
distinction it will keepe us right in the true understanding of this Article For if hee descended into Hell as an Agent then not as a Patient and if not as a Patient then not to Suffer but onely to Triumph Lastly if Christ descended into Hell to suffer why did not then his body descend aswell as his soule seeing our bodies aswell as our soules should have suffered the paines of Hell Which cannot be objected if wee hold hee descended into Hell but only to Triumph For as it was a sufficient and proper triumph for the soule to triumph over Hell so it was a sufficient and proper Triumph for the body to triumph over death which it did by rising the third day as it followes in the next Article Indeed for his descending into Hell to triumph over Satan there was great reason seeing hee it was that had offered him so many great indignities here on earth He it was that had tempted him in the Wildernesse Hee it was that put it into Judas heart to betrary him It was therefore very expedient that the first thing he should doe when hee came to be an Agent should be to goe into Hell to be revenged upon him as it were in hot bloud and for his greater disgrace to triumph over him within his owne Kingdome Now which of these opinions is the more probable perhaps wee may but which is the truer who can bee sure Seing probability and truth doe not alwaies goe together and sometimes the more true is the lesse probable there being fallacies aswell in Reason as in Sense and indeed in matters obscure and not recalled in Scripture we may sooner mistake all then take any at all right and never know in any of them when we be right or wrong and therefore of such poynts though it may be tolerated to make Disquisitions yet it is not safe to make conclusions Sapere ad sobrietatem is an excellent rule in all cases but where the truth is but conjecturall as in this case most of all and it was justly said of Christ Yee erre not knowing the Scriptures For if our knowledge be grounded and not upon Scriptures not onely Errour is easily let in but it is hardly kept out What the Scripture delivers in plaine termes we may be bold to build upon but inferences and deductions are for the most part fallacious seldome so cleare to induce a beliefe seldome so certaine to breed a knowledge and therefore in this poynt our safest course is to content our selves with that which our Creed delivers that Christ descended into hell and not be too curious in examining much lesse too peremptory in concluding either the manner or the causes of his descending But if Christ descended locally into Hell How could he ever come from thence againe Seeing it is said and truly said Omnia te advorsum spectantia nulla retrorsum That from Hel there is no returning No returning indeede for those that are damned and are brought thither to live and die there but for him who descended into Hell to overcome Hell for him who by descending into Hell merited ascending into Heaven It was not onely possible that he should returne but impossible he should be there detained There have beene Hereticks of old at least if they were Hereticks called Psychopanichitae who held this opinion that when the body dyes then the soule falls asleepe and that there is an Interstitium of living as wel in the soule as in the body the soule lying asleep and not waking till the body at the last day rise againe because it hath beene said of men when they dyed that they slept with their Fathers and Saint Paul also expresseth death by sleeping where he saith For this cause many of you are weake and many sleepe and by this meanes it may bee justly said that when a mandies he knowes his judgement presently For though there bee a million of yeares betweene his death and the day of Judgement yet the soule lying all the while asleep they are to him as contiguous And this seemes to bee no improbable opinion and by which many difficult places in Scripture may be cleared for if it were not thus how could it be said that where the tree falleth there it lyeth for if the soule be in action while the body is dead how will the Tree lye where it falleth Seeing the good soules will alwaies be doing of good and the evill soules of evill But if notwithstanding these reasons this opinion bee not suffered to passe Can it better bee confuted then by that which is said here Hee descended into Hell for what Hee but his soule If then his soule descended and descending bee a voluntary action and no voluntary action but of that which is awake then certainely was Christs soule awake after death and not asleep and if his soule then ours aswell seeing there is no difference that we know off betweene his soule and ours but propension to sinne But what a kind of perswading is this to seeke to perswade us to beleeve in Christ by hearing hee was scourged and crucified and hanged amongst common Malefactors and after all this to descend into Hell Is he like to be a Saviour to us that could not save himselfe For if he had saved himselfe and come downe from the Crosse the Jewes pretended at least they would have beleeved in him But when he did not this upon so just a Motive what reason had they but to thinke he could not doe it and then what reason had they to thinke him a Saviour This indeed was the mist that blinded the Jewes eyes they could never be brought to think him the true Christ because he came in such meannesse humility where they looked for a Messias that should come in state one that should domineere in the world and restore the temporall Kingdome to the Hebrew Nation And yet is this one of the maine reasons which makes us know and beleeve him to be the true Christ because it is most agreeable to all the ancient Prophecies that such a one the true Christ should bee And indeed seeing hee came into the world to bee a Redeemer and Redeeming consisted no lesse in suffering then in doing It was necessary hee should come in such an Estate as might be fittest for suffering so to pay for us the uttermost farthing of our debt not onely by Active but aswell also by Passive obedience which hee could not have done at least not made appeare to have done if hee had come in such state as the Jewes expected But though he descended into Hell and no doubt The third day hee rose againe did great matters at his being there yet it seemes he was not long about it for the Third day he rose againe Not sooner then the third day that it might appeare hee had beene certainly dead Nor later that he might not leave his Disciples too long in discomfort Not sooner then the third day that
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
rising seeing hee therefore did rise that hee might be Primitiae resurgentium The first fruits of them that rise but the first Fruits he could not be if others did not rise as well as hee And therefore having beleeved in an Article before that Christ rose from the dead this Article of our own rising is but Ex Abundanti more then needed but that the difficulty of beleeving it requires as it were a double Buttresse to strengthen our Faith There are some perhaps that look for Naturall reasons to prove Demonstratively the Resurrection of the body but is not their expectation very unjust to expect Naturall reasons to prove a thing that is not Naturall If Naturall reasons could be given of it it should be fitter for the Metaphysicks then a Creed and as able to breed a Knowledge as Beliefe Our Reason onely helps us thus farre to make us know there is something left for Beliefe which Reason cannot reach to and of this nature is the Resurrection of the body our Beliefe shall then be turned into knowledge when we shall come to have experience of it in the meane time wee must content our selves with Beleeving it And O my Soule doe thou beleeve it indeed and be most assured that though thy Body leave thee for a time and bee laid in dust and bee turned to dust yet it will not bee long ere it shall rise and bee joyned with thee againe as now it is but in a far happier condition then now it is Not stubborne and restiffe then but tractable and obsequious not earthly and lumpish then but Aery and light and indeed such a body it shall be as thou wouldst wish it to be Not subject to diseases Not weary with labours Not itching with lust Not drowsie with sleep Not hungring after meat and which is most of all where now it takes upon it to be thy Master It shall then be content to be thy servant but such a servant as shall therefore serve thee because thou servest God For it is sowne a Naturall body it shall bee raised up a spirituall Body It is sowne in corruption it shall be raysed in incorruption the same body in substance that now it is but endued with Spirituall and better qualities Many questions are here moved by the Schoolmen as whether the bodies of Abortives which were never borne but dyed in their Mothers wombes shall be partakers of the Resurrection seeing though they never came to see the light yet they had beene once alive and quicke Then whether bodies shall arise of the same age and stature at which they died as Infants at the stature and age of Infants and others at their severall statures and ages Or else shall all rise at a perfect age and stature because of the words of Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians Till we all come unto a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulnes of Christ Then whether bodies shall arise with the same deformities and defects which they had living as Crooked Lame Blinde or otherwise mutilation of Members seeing Christ arose with the same wounds which he received when his body was pierced with the Speare And many such questions moved more out of vaine curiosity then tending to Edification and which perhaps may probabably be argued as having coulours on both sides but can never directly be defined as having warrant on either side Reason may make conjectures of it but Faith will build no certainty on it It may bee sufficient for us to beleeve that the bodies of all men shall rise at the last day and stand at the Tribunall of Christ who shall come from Heaven to judge the Quick and the Dead And now having beleeved the two Articles that properly relate to the Sonne of God Christ Jesus the Forgivenesse of sinnes and the Resurrection of the Bodie It followes fitly to beleeve the Article that properly relates to God the Father The life Everlasting and it followes not onely fitly but very necessarily For if we should not adde the life Everlasting it might be thought that our Resurrection were but like theirs who rose at the time of Christs rising and appeared to many in the Holy City who rose indeede but then died againe at least who can tell what became of them and so our Beliefe should cast Anchor in a very unsafe harbour but now by adding the life Everlasting we make the Resurrection of our Bodies a perpetuity and beleeve they shall rise againe never any more to dy And indeed how can it be otherwise seeing there never was but one sentence of death denounced against man and that sentence once executed by his dying once there is no new sentence of dying any more and therefore the Body being beleeved to be raised from the dead the life Everlasting will bee beleeved of course Death indeede is a debt due to nature and a debt that nature lookes to have payd but yet nature is not so unjust to looke that a debt should be payd her more then once and therefore the body having payd the debt once by dying once if it can get to rise againe and live it will not be then in natures debt any more and therefore cannot naturally dy any more but shall live for ever But why is there no mention made in our Creed of the Immortality of the soule that of this poynt there might be left no scruple for as long as this is in sufpence wee shall necessarily fall into the errour of the Sadduces and never beleeve the Resurrection of the body Is it not that the Immortalitie of the soule is therefore not made an Article of our Creed because it is not so properly credible Per fidem as demonstrable per artem there being so apparent reasons for it that even the Heathen themselves have not denyed it and one of their owne Poets could say Parte tamen meliore mei super acta perennis Astra forar meaning his soule Besides what need is there of mentioning it when it is sufficiently intimated or included rather in these two last Articles For if we beleeve the resurrection of the body we cannot doubt of the Immortality of the soule seeing the body cannot rise without the soule and if we beleeve the life Everlasting we cannot but beleeve the soule to bee Immortall seeing without the soule there can be no life at all And now wee are come to the last Article of our Creed which may well bee the last seeing it brings us to that which is Everlasting And here it may not be unfit to examine a little the extent of this Everlasting life seeing it is not momentary and fading as our present life is but continuing and lasting without having any lâ—st that if we say it shall last a Thousand years if a million of thousand years if so many millions of thousand yeares as there are sands in the sea although an infinite incomprehensible extent of time yet wee shall