offer to offer up Isaac and the will went for the deed Non combureris thou shalt not be burnt The third example may be the Israelites in whose company the fire was kindled there went out a fire from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense Num. 16.35 But though the flame burnt up the ungodly mutiniers yet every obedient Israelite escaped Non combureris thou shalt not be burnt The fourth example may be the three Salamanders in the furnace Dan 3. who though they walked thorow the fire yet their coats were not changed nor so much as the smell of fire had passed on them And this last example is without example I never heard of any fire-proof before for Fire is of a most devouring and consuming nature turning all combustible things into ashes that come neer it yet the children of the fire the sparks hurt not these three children with the shields of their faith they quench'd the violence of fire when they walked thorow the fire they were not burnt neither did the flame kindle upon them And to these I might adde though somewhat out of order the example of Abraham whom God brought out of Ur of the Caldees Gen. 15.7 Now Ur as Huge observeth signifyeth fire the Greek word from which our English word seemeth to come hath but one Letter more and therefore the Hebrews had a tradition that because Abraham would not worship the Fire as the Caldeans did he should have been cast into the fire had not God given him notice of it and so preserved him But though Vr signifie fire yet the ordinary Glosse taketh it not for a common but a proper Name for the Name of the town or village where Abraham dwelt This example therefore cannot claim kindred of the Text I might more properly bring in our preservation from the Powder-treason but I will rather answer a question that may rise from our Text for is this promise alwayes performed Thou shalt not be burnt the flame shall not kindle on thee What shall we say then to that fiery persecution in Queen Maries dayes when there were so many Bethels in this Kingdome so many Cities wherein mens bones were burnt I Answer it is true that the Church of Christ this Church in particular hath endured the fiery triall But as Rex non moritur so Ecclesia non comburitur as the King is never buried so the Church is never burnt James may die and so may Charles yet God maintaine his life but the King let rebels do what they can never dieth So Latimer may be burnt and Cranmer may be burnt but the Church is never burnt If Pagans should prevail so farre which God forbid as to burne up all the Christians or if Puritans should prevaile so far which God forbid too as to burne up all the Protestants yet I verily believe that out of their very ashes God would raise up a new Phoenix Cinis Mariyrum should be Semen Ecclesiae the ashes of an old should be the seed of a new Church she shall not be so burnt as to be quite extinct neither shall the flame so kindle upon her And the Application hereof now may be briefly thus Seeing God will not suffer his Church to be finally burnt up by others this may teach us as it were to set on fire our selves not with the fire of lust it is better to marry than so to burn nor with the fire of wrath rather heap coals of fire upon the head of the enemies but let it be with the vestal fire of devotion and affection let our hearts burn within us with love to God and men So shall neither the sun burn us by day nor the moon by night the Lord shall preserve us form all evil it is even he that will keep both our bodies and our souls when the Elements shall melt with fervent heat when the earth and the Works therein shall be burnt up he will preserve and keep us from everlasting fire and exalt us to his Coelum empyreum his fiery heaven there for ever to behold him whose eyes are as a flame of fire and his feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace And so ye have the safety of the Church in her passage thorow fire literally taken Ye shall see her safety likewise as she passeth thorow the fire of affliction and persecution When thou walkest thorow this fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee It is the nature of fire Congregare homogenea and Segregare heterogenea to bring together things of the same kind and to separate things of divers kinds A Refiner therefore is wont to bring his Myne to the fire and by this means he severeth the silver from the dross which is likewise wise the very practice of Almighty God it is the Prophet Malachie's similitude word for word Mal. 3.3 He shall sit as a Refiner and Purifier of silver and he shall purifie the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver And the sweet Singer of Israel harpeth upon the same string Psa 66.9 Thou O God hast proved us thou also hast tried us like as silver is tried Non sicut foenum sed sicut argentum non in cineres convertisti sed sordes abluisti saith St. Austin God trieth us not with a consuming but with a cleansing fire turneth us not into ashes only taketh away our sullage and our ashes from us purely purgeth away our dross and taketh away all our tinne God purgeth men by affliction as the Israelites were to purge the spoil of the Midianites Numb 31.23 Every thing that may abide the fire ye shall make it go thorow the fire and it shall be clean God trieth men by affliction what metal they are made of they that endure this fiery tryal they are good gold they are Gods Children they that endure it not they are but dross they are but Cast-awayes Good men are like Shadrach Meshack and Abednego though they walk thorow the fiery furnace of Affliction yet they are not burnt up no not so much as singed but wicked men are like the souldiers that bound and cast them in when they are yet but at the mouth of the fiery furnace when the fire of Affliction but beginneth to seize upon them it prevaileth against them and consumeth them in a moment Good men are in this like clay the fire of Affliction strengthneth and confirmeth them but wicked men are like wax as wax melteth at the fire so do the ungodly perish in the fiery tryal Affliction to them is like the fire that burneth up the wood and like the flame that consumeth the mountains God maketh them like a fiery oven in time of his wrath the Lord destroyeth them in his displeasure and the fire consumeth them Affliction maketh wicked men a great deal worse as water becometh much colder after heating than ever it would have been if it had never
of heaven Psa 78.23 Secondly the celestial orbes and spheres are heaven the Sun Moon and Starrs are called Exercitus coeli the host of heaven Dent. 4.19 Thirdly and lastly the place of bliffe is heaven the Lord hath prepared his seat in heaven Psal 103.19 which distinction of heaven St. Paul seemes to allude unto when he saith that he was caught up into the third heaven 2 Cor. 12.2 Now where the Apostle saith that Christ ascended far above all heavens we are to understand it of the Orbes Celestial he ascended above the Orbes Celestial above all visible and materiall heavens But here then perhaps that of the Philosopher may be objected in the first book De coelo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without or above heaven there is no place now it is essential to every body to be in some place or other quod nusquam est non omnino est if Christs body therefore be in no place it will be so far from being every where as Lutherans would have it that it will cease to be at all To which I answer that to speak physically and strictly there is indeed no place above the visible heavens But though there be not Locus yet there is Ubi though there be no place yet there is a certaine space as I may so speak and it is sufficient for a body glorified to be in such a space which our Saviour notwithstanding calleth a place I go to prepare a place for you Ioh 14.2 And this was indeed the chief reason why he ascended into heaven Adam's sin shut him out both of the earthly and the heavenly Paradise there was no place for him in Eden nor for his posterity in heaven But the doores of heaven were opened upon Holy-Thursday when Christ had overcome and trampled upon death by his resurrection he did open the kingdome of heaven by his ascension Not as if heaven were so fast shut before that none could enter in no not in soul till Christ ascended thither in body the Papists might have some kind of ground for their Limbus Patrum if this were so That cannot therefore be the meaning of it there were glorious mansions prepared for us from the foundation of the world as it is Math. 25.34 But though places of glory were from the beginning prepared for us yet the plenary and the perfect preparation was made by Christs ascension And seeing our Saviour Christ is ascended corporally into heaven this earnest may ascertaine us of our ascension our Head being ascended we shall also ascend that are his Members It may be objected perhaps that flesh and blood cannot inherit incorruption I answer it is true that our bodies as they are now are not capable of going to heaven they must therefore be crumbled to very dust and ashes and new moulded by him that made them at the first before ever they can be admited into that holy place And as our bodies must be refined so likewise must our souls Heaven is a City of pure Gold no unclean thing must come into it We must therefore lay aside every weight and the sinnes that do so easily depresse us David could not go with Saul's armour nor can we ascend to heaven with the weapons of unrighteousnesse If then we will ascend thither at our death we must begin our ascension in this life if we hope to go to heaven when we take our farewell of the earth then while we are here on earth our conversation must be in heaven For anima magis est ubi amat quà m ubi animat saith St. Bernard the Soul is rather where it loveth than where it liveth If therefore we love the Lord Jesus let our affection be with him where our heavenly treasure is there let our hearts be also where the Load-stone is that way let the Iron tend where the carcase is thither let the Eagles resort by religious meditations and by assiduous supplications let us ascend unto that place whither our blessed Lord and Master is gone before St. Austin would rather have been in hell with Christ than be in heaven without him How then should our hearts be inflamed with love of heaven now we are sure that our Saviour is ascended thither How should we contemn though not abdicate the world use it I mean as though we used it not Seing Christ hath left it we should strive to leave it too dying daily as St. Paul did though not in deed yet in desire having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ our soules must be athirst for him our flesh also must long after him with an How long Lord Jesu◠when shall we come unto thee And so I passe from the fourth part of the Text the Place whither Christ ascended to the fifth Quomodo the Manner of his ascension set down here two wayes I begin with the Positive part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was taken up Taken up why so Did he not go up of himself Lazarus was taken up carried by Angels into heaven And these carried up Elijah too the charet and horses of fire were holy Angels the Charets of God saith David are twenty thousand even thousands of Angels Psal 68.17 But though they were carried up yet Christ went up of himself in his ascension of all circumstances Quibus auxiliis came not in Christ went up of himself he ascended by his own power Why then doth our Text say that he was taken up as if he had been some way assisted in his ascnesion up to heaven I answer the Text saith that he was taken up for this reason to signifie and shew his obedience to his Fathers Will for otherwise he might have ascended upon the very day of his resurrection every glorified body being of that agility and lightnesse ut ubicunque volet esse anima ibi statim erit corpus wheresoever the soul would be there is the body straight But though Christ might have ascended sooner yet he would not till his heavenly Father saw good for which reason the Text saith that he was taken up And this may teach us not to lay violent hands upon our selves thinking to get so much the sooner into heaven If we be in poverty or sicknesse in imprisonment or banishment yet we must not make away with our selves nor must we repine or be impatient that we are let into heaven no sooner that we have so long sought for death and cannot find it but we must tarry the Lords leisure we must not be our own carvers all the dayes of our appointed time we must wait till our change come following the example of our blessed Lord and Master who submitted himself in all things to the Will of his heavenly Father and therefore he ascended not when first he might but when his Father would have him taken up And so ye have the manner of his ascension positively set down I now proceed to the Expositive part of it in these words A cloud received him out
trumpet Psal 47.5 As for his Humamity our Saviour seemeth to say that this was in heaven before Ioh. 3.13 No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came downe from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven But to these and all other such objections I answer with Theodoret the Divine and Humane nature of our Saviour being Hypostatically united into one Person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those things which are proper to either of his Natures are attributed and communicated to his whole Person Thus St. Paul saith that God was manifested in the flesh and that God was received up into glory 1 Tim. 3.16 Notwithstanding therefore these objections the Person that ascended was Christ Iesus according to his Humanity He was taken up He it is not said She was taken up The Papists have Ascension or rather Assumption-day for the blessed Virgin Mary which they annually celebrate upon the fifteenth of August whereon they say She was taken up corporally into heaven But this is as true as that the Disciples stole our Saviour out of his grave I am very sure there is not the least mention of any such thing in Scripture and where the Holy Ghost hath no tongue to speak nor pen to write there must we have no eare to hear nor any heart to believe Not the Woman therefore Christ's mother but the man Christ Jesus himself He was taken up And so I passe from the first part of the Text the Person ascending which was Christ to the second part Quando the Time of his ascension which we are to consider first in reference to his Resurrection forty dayes after that then he was taken up But here two questions may be moved First Why Christ did ascend so soon Secondly seeing so soon why no sooner The first question may be why he ascended so soon after his resurrection why he deferred not his ascension till the last day that we might have been taken up together with him To which I answer two wayes First that Christ should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of him Secondly That he should ascend so soon was not expedient in respect of us First That he should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of himself And that first in respect of his glorified body Heaven was the most convenient place for his incorruptible and immortall body Earth is a very Golgotha a region of corruption a place of dead mens skuls Though Christ's body therefore could not have seen corruption had it continued still on earth yet the fittest place for such a body were the incorruptible heavens Again it was convenient that Christ should ascend so soon after his resurrection that he might manifest and declare the truth of his Divinity Earth is a region of death Quocunque aspicias nihil est nisi mortis imago All that ever came hither have or must die once and I assure my self that Lazarus and all the rest that were raised either by the Prophets or by our Saviour or by his Apostles died twice should Christ therefore after his resurrection have continued here longer than he did men would scarce have taken him to be God but have mistaken him for a meer Man and they would have thought that Christ like Lazarus had been to die the second time Thus ye see it was convenient in respect of Christ that he should ascend so soon after his resurrection as he did Ye shall now see that this was expedient in respect of us And the expediency of it we have from Christ's own mouth John 16.7 It is expedient for you saith he and what he saith to them we may apply to us that I go away and he giveth his reason in the very next words If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you And John 7.39 we read That the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified Had there been no Holy Thursday had not our Saviour ascended from his Apostles on the fortieth day there had likewise been no Whitsunday the Holy Ghost had not descended upon the Apostles on the fiftieth day Again Had Christ remained still upon earth he had not been so proper an object of our faith which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The evidence of things not seen Heb. 11.1 Thy Fides will not well stand with thy Vides we do not properly walk by faith when we walk by sight Apparentia non habent fidem sed agnitionem saith St. Gregory fruition putteth a period unto faith and therefore Credimus ut cognoscamus non cognoscimus ut credamus saith St. Austin we come to knowledge by faith and not to faith by knowledge the nature of faith is to be exercised about things absent wherefore though we have known Christ after the flesh saith St. Paul yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5.16 The second question may be seing Christ ascended so soon why did he ascend no sooner Why did he not make one ascending for all As soon as he rose out of the grave why did he not ascend immediately into heaven To which I return a threefold answer First This was not convenient in respect of Christ Secondly it was not convenient in respect of his Disciples Thirdly it was not convenient in respect of us First that Christ should ascend so soon was not convenient in respect of Himself for we know what a tradition the Jewes have among them untill this day namely that his Disciples stole him away while the souldiers were asleep Had not Christ therefore shewed himsef alive after his passion though not to all the people yet to certaine selected witnesses the tradition of the Jewes might have passed for currant truth it might have been doubted to this day whether he had been risen from the dead or no. Secondly that Christ should ascend immediately after his Resurrection was not convenient in respect of his Disciples whose faith was almost quite shipwrack'd at his death they little thought he would make his word good to rise again and therefore the relation of the woman seemed to them as an old wives tale they believed it not nay when our Saviour himself appeared unto them they would scarce believe that it was he but were terrified and affrighted supposing that they had seen a spirit It was fit therefore that Christ should be conversant awhile with these raw Schollers both to confirm their faith touching that truth of his resurrection and also to instruct them in those things that were pertaining to Gods Kingdome Thirdly and lastly that Christ should ascend immediately after his resurrection was not convenient in respect of us For his Disciples were not properly Apostles till after his resurrection a good while if they were Apostles their Diocess was very narrow though they were Apostles to the Iews they were no Apostles to the Gentiles Go not into the way of the Gentiles said our Saviour
is our Native countrey all the while we are on earth we are as it were going a pilgrimage to heaven And the application of this now may be two-fold First Seeing we are but Passengers here and Pilgrims this may serve to set spurs to us and hasten us towards our Countrey For no Passenger would willingly tarry long upon the way but maketh all the haste he can to get him home So let us think it our greatest punishment next to this rebellious reformation that we are constrained to dwell with Mesech to have our habitation among the Tents of Kedar and therefore let us wish with holy David to have the wings of a Dove that so we might flie home to Heaven and be at rest Secondly Though here we are but Passengers yet seeing heaven is our home this may comfort us amidst all our plunderings and persecutions all our necessities and distresses For let a passenger meet with never so bad entertainment by the way yet he will not greatly murmure at it I have better at home he will say and it will not be long I hope e're I get thither So as long Brethren as there are Quarters taken up for us in Heaven if we have any Christian Courage let us not faint by the way be our usage never so course be our passage never so perilous which leadeth me from the first part of the Text the Passenger the Church to the second which is her Passage and this I find to be two-fold per aquas per ignes thorow waters and thorow fire When thou passest thorow the waters when thou walkest thorow the fire Her first passage is per aquas when thou passest thorow the waters Which waters have sundry acceptions in holy Scripture the literal is first in nature and must be so in order And Hugo Cardinalis will have an Alleotheta here one tense put for another Transieris for Transibas when thou passest or shalt pass instead of when thou passedst or didst pass alluding to the passage of Noah in the Deluge or rather to that of Israel thorow the red-sea But whether these or no be the meaning these examples suit well with the Text and of the same nature we have some other in holy Writ the example of Moses of Elijah and Elisha of the Disciples and of St. Paul I shall anon touch upon these in their proper place I shall here only shew you the several acceptions of these Waters The literal I have briefly pointed at already Secondly By Waters we may understand the Enemies of the Church so they are expressed by holy David Psalm 88.17 They came round about me daily like water and compassed me together on every side And Psalm 144.7 He prayeth after this manner Send down thine hand from above deliver me and take me out of the great Waters from the hand of strange children And Rev. 17.15 The Angel expounding the vision of the great Whore which sat upon many waters telleth St. John in express words The waters which thou sawest where the Whore sitteth they are people and multitudes and nations and tongues Thirdly by waters we may understand Heresies and doctrines of Devils So Aretius and others expound that Rev. 12.15 Where we read that the Serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood Fourthly and lastly by waters we may understand the Abyss of desperation So we may construe that of the Psalmist Psalm 69. The waters are come in even unto my soul verse 1. I am come into deep waters ver 2. Let not the water-flood drown me verse 16. The Churches second passage is per ignes when thou walkest thorow the fire which fire is first literally to be taken and we have examples of some in Scripture that found a safe passage thorow this fire as Lot and Isaac and the Israelites and the three Children Secondly by Fire we are to understand persecution and affliction according to that of the Psalmist Psalm 66. Thou laydst trouble upon our loynes Ingressi sumus per ignem we went thorow the fire And St. Peter useth the same Metaphor Think it not strange concerning the fiery tryal which is to trie you 1 Pet. 4.12 The result then of all is briefly this That it is the portion of the Church to pass thorow fire and water it is her destiny to suffer persecution and affliction Noah's Ark was a notable representation of the Church that was tossed upon the waves in the general inundation so is this in the worlds troubled sea which cannot rest The Disciples Ship in the Gospel was another figure of the Church that was covered with waves almost overwhelmed with a raging Tempest so this is filled with the scornfull reproof of the wealthy the deep waters of the proud are ready to run even over her soul The Church is a Ship the world is the Sea a Sea of glass mingled with fire Rev. 15.2 Of glass there is the brittle and inconstant condition of the world mingled with fire here are the troubles of the Church St. Peter's fiery Tryal Troubled alas she is and so hath ever been Look upon Jacob look upon Joseph look upon David look upon the Son of David the time would fail me to tell you of the Prophets and Apostles of the Martyrs Confessours and other holy men of God how they passed thorow the waters how they walked thorow the fire how they had Trial of cruel Mockings and Scourgings yea moreover also of bonds and imprisonment how they were stoned as Saint Stephen how they were sawn asunder as the Prophet Isaiah how they were slain with the sword as the Apostle St. Paul how they were beneaded as St. John Baptist how they were hanged as Tomkins and Chaloner Yeomans and Bourchier how they wandred about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth in sheep-skins and Goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented Thus we see that all which will be loyal to God and the King all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution Till our Saviour came into the ship the Sea was calm and quiet but when he was once aboard there straightway arose a mighty Tempest So long then as thou art without Christ or without God in this world the Devil will make fair weather round about thee but when once Christ Jesus is as it were come aboard thy soul then will Satan raise a storm to try if he can make shipwrack of thy faith when thou hast listed thy self a souldier to fight under thy Saviours and thy Soveraigns banner then look for a whole shewer of fiery arrows from the wicked one for the Messenger of Satan to buffet thee with St. Paul both by inward temptations and outward tribulations by private suggestions and publick persecutions the Devil will strive to split thee against the rock of desperation But take this for thy comfort that although thou art dangerously tossed
his prayer for a blessing upon the Treaty our Saviours benedictions I say are Imperative he commands them he ascended not till he had done this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When he had spoken these things And so I passe from the second part of the Text the Time of Christ's ascension to the third Vnde the Place from whence he ascended which was that part of Mount Olivet next to Bethany as will appear by comparing Act. 1.12 with Luke 24.50 So that here we have three steps First he ascended from a Mountain Secondly from Mount Olivet Thirdly from that part of it next Bethany First he ascended from a Mountaine And why so He stileth himselfe the Lilly of the valleys Cant. 2.1 Why then did he not ascend from the valley of Iehoshaphat he shall from heaven come thither at the day of judgment Ioel 3.12 Why then did he not from thence go into heaven Was it to shew that he is the God of the mountaines only and not also of the valleyes or was it that he might be a little neerer to heaven and by this meanes shorten his way thither No such matter but he ascended from a mountaine chiefly for two reasons First to teach us saith Lâ—rinus that we should alway use meanes where they may possibly be had He could at all times have walked upon the water but he would not when he came where shipping was he went aboard He could have satisfied the multitude without food he could have taken â—way their Hunger with a word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be ye filled but he would not he fed them at one time with seven at another time with five loves using meanes though inconsiderable and weak He could have cured him that was born blind with an Epphatha be opened but he would not he bade him go to the pool of Silâ—â—â— and wash All to teach us that we should not neglect meanes and look for miracles When we are sick we must send for the Physician not look for Gods help without his When an house is fired we must cast water on it not hope that God will quench it by a shower When perjured rebels have usurped the Crown to recover this out of their hands we must put on not only the armour of God but the armour of man too we must not only have the sword of the Lord but of Gideon For to look for help from God and use no meanes is not to trust in God but even to tempt him And that we might avoid this our Saviour would not ascend from a Valley but rather chose the mediation of a Mountaine Secondly he ascended from a mountaine to teach us that as mountaines raise and elevate our bodies so they should likewise elevate our souls they should put us in mind of heaven and things above VVhensoever therefore we go up an hill we should be thinking upon God's hill and we should fix our cogitations upon him who was transfigured upon a mountaine mount Tabor crucified upon a mountain mount Calvary and ascended from a mountain even from mount Olivet And why from this mountaine of all other The reasons seem to be chiefly two First that as upon this mountain he shewed himself to be a frail man so he might there shew himself to be the mighty God too as he manifested the weaknesse of his humanity upon this mountaine by his agony and bloody sweat and by his groveling on the ground so he might likewise manifest the power of his Divinity upon the same mountaine by his glorious ascension from thence into heaven Secondly the Olive-tree is the emblem and hierogliphick of Peace good reason then that our Saviour should ascend from mount Olivet seeing he is our Peace the very Prince of peace this was the Legacy that he bequeathed to his dearest friends Peace I leave with you my Peace I give unto you And as Christ ascended from a mountaine and from mount Olivet so lastly from that part of it next Bethany Now Bethany by interpetation is the house of affliction and fom Bethany our Saviour went unto his Passion for just before his apprehension he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the Leper Math. 26.6 he went from the same place to his Cross and his Crown And so must we we must not think to go a delicjis ad delicias as St. Jerome speaketh from the jollity of this world to the joyes of heaven no if hereafter we will have good we must here have evill things Per angusta ad augusta through heaviness to happiness Per varios casus per tot discrimina rerum through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdome of God Acts. 14.22 Lift up therefore the hands which hang downe and the feeble knees For what if thou art imprisoned and as it were buried alive in thy bed of languishing What if sicknesse have taken such hold upon thee that thou are not able to look up What if thou art feeble and sore smitten so that all the night thou washest thy bed and waterest thy couch with thy teares Why yet let this consideration be instead of an handkerchief to wipe thine eyes consider that thy Saviour and thy Martyred Soveraign went from Bethany to Bethel from the house of affliction to their Fathers house and if thou hast faith and patience thou shalt do so too thy bed of sicknesse or if it be thy scaffold or thy gibbet this shall be the same to thee that Bethany was to thy Saviour thou shalt from thence be translated and exalted into Abraham's bosom thy light affliction which is but for a moment shall work for thee a far more exceeding and eternall weight of glory And so I passe from the third part of the Text the Place from whence Christ ascended to the fourth Quo the Place whither he ascended which was Heaven he was taken up thither In the first chapter of Ezekiel's Prophesie we read of four living Creatures and every of these creatures had four faces the face of a man the face of an Ox the face of a Lion the face of an Eagle Whereunto Expositors resemble four actions of our Saviour his Nativity his Passion his Resurrection his Ascension At his Nativity he was like a man more than like he was a man indeed man of the substance of his mother born in the world At his Passion he was like an Ox offered up for us in sacrifice upon the Altar of the Crosse At his Resurrection he was like a Lion even a lion of the tribe of Judah he brake the bonds of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it At his Ascension he was like an Eagle he soared up into heaven Into heaven But did he go no higher St. Paul saith he ascended farre above all heavens Eph. 4.10 But for answer to this we must observe that the Scripture maketh mention of a threefold heaven First the Air is called Heaven he commanded the cloud above and opened the doores
FIVE SEASONABLE Sermons As they were preached before Eminent AUDITORIES Upon several ARGUMENTS BY PAUL KNELL Master in Arts OF Clare-Hall in Cambridge Sometimes Chaplain to a Regiment of CURIASIERS in His late MAJESTIES Army LONDON Printed in the year 1660. TO THE SACRED MAJESTY OF THE Most High and Mighty MONARCH CHARLES the Second BY THE Especial Grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c Most Gracious Soveraign WEre not your Regal Clemency and Candour very eminent the Tenuity of that which here I offer to your Majesty might indict me for familiarity But as the Israelites were not to appear before the Lord their God so neither durst I before my Lord the King empty-handed Silver and gold indeed I have none scarce so much as that which Solomon saith is like Apples of Gold in pictures of silver but such as I have I most humbly offer to your Majesty knowing that as Artaxerxes did not disdain two handfuls of ordinary water offered to him by Synaetas so your Royal hand will graciously accept one handfull of Sanctuary-water from him who as in duty bound hath both actively and passively approved himselfe a faithfull Subject to the King and a dutifull Son of the Church of England that hath no better Present One of these slender Sermons hath already been honoured with your Royal ear at the Hague they all now humbly crave a glance from your gracious eye at White-hall The Inscription indeed and subscription of this Dedication are so vastly distant that some large Apology ought to intervene But your Majesties many important affairs dispense with no further avocation I humbly add therefore only a short Halelujah and Hosanna Blessing the Lord by whom Kings reign for so signally visiting your sacred Majesty and so seasonably redeeming your distressed People Beseeching also the same Lord of Lords to save and defend your Royal Person as with a shield to make your Throne here as the dayes of Heaven and hereafter to translate You to an Heavenly Throne which is the due and daily sacrifice offered up with a true heart fervently by Your Sacred Majesties Most Humble AND Most Loyal SUBJECT PAUL KNELL THE CONVOY OF A Christian A Sermon PREACHED Before His MAJESTY KING CHARLES the First OF Ever blessed Memory at Matson near Glocester in time of the Siege there on Tuesday August 22. 1643. LONDON Printed in the year 1660. THE CONVOY OF A Christian ISAI 43.2 When thou passest thorow the waters I will be with thee and thorow the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest thorow the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee QUem miserum video hominem scio Trouble is the very badge and cognizance of humanity we are born to it holy Job saith as the sparks flie upward to this end were we born and for this cause came we into the world Or if this be not Finis intentionis yet it is Finis executionis I am sure if we came not hither on purpose to be troubled yet without great trouble we cannot get from hence from the Cradle to the Coffin being like Ezekiel's roul full of Lamentation and Mourning and Woe There are some indeed I mean the traiterous Reformers of our Age that live wholly at ease in their usurped possessions they come in no misfortune like other folk neither are they plagued like other men But these look like the Devils Darlings or rather like the worlds Bastards though we may be men therefore without Trouble yet without it we cannot be loyal Subjects we cannot be good Christians in the world ye shall have tribulation were the words of our departing Saviour to his Church But he told them just before that in him they should have Peace and he telleth them in effect the self same in our Text That he will deliver them in six troubles yea that in seven there shall no evil touch them that in Famine he will redeem them from death and in War from the power of the sword let their troubles be external corporal corrections let their Troubles be internal spiritual desertions yet their Jehovah and their Joshua will deliver them out of all When thou c. In which words we may observe four parts The Passenger the Passage the Concomitant and the Consequent The Passenger is the Church Cum transieris when thou passest The Passage is two-fold Per aquas per ignes thorow waters and thorow fire When thou passest thorow the waters when thou walkest thorow the fire The Concomitant or Convoy is Almighty God Tibi adsum I am or will be with thee The Consequent is the Churches safety Flamina non operient flamma non incendet the rivers shall not over-flow thee the flame shall not kindle on thee And of these parts in order I begin with the Passenger which is the Church cum transieris when thou passest Had we retained our first integrity we might easily have stept to heaven with as great facility as from one room to another from the Parlour of an earthly to the Presence-Chamber of an heavenly Paradise But sin hath placed a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great gulf between us and heaven we that were sometime near are now afar off whosoever will hereafter enter into Canaan he must undergo a tedious passage thorow the wilderness There are four Titles that pertain to the very best of Adam's sons Advenae Inquilini Hospites Peregrini we are Strangers we are Sojourners we are Guests we are Pilgrims But of all four the last methinks fitteth our condition best Peregrini we are Pilgrims Viatores we are Travellers Transeuntes we are Passengers here we have no continuing City but we seek for one to come Look upon the Patriarch Abraham the great Grandfather of the Church and ye shall find him like St. Paul in journeying often from Caldea to Charran from Charran to Canaan where he sojourned the Apostle telleth us as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob he had there none inheritance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith St. Stephen no not so much as to set his foot on to teach him and us all that we must not set up our staff here Plus ultra we must go farther we being but Pilgrims on the Earth This we know likewise to have been the condition of the Israelites who wandered in the Wilderness in a solitary way and found no City to dwell in Their own houses were Tents Gods house was but a Tabernacle all portable to be carryed up and down from one place to another They had neither Tenement nor Temple till they were setled in the land of Canaan nor have we any certain dwelling place till we come thither where the Lamb is the Temple For while we are at home in the body we are not properly at home we are but in via in the way that leadeth us to it we are born from above and therefore there