those which are repentant sinners shall stand and appeare righteous before God for euer at what time soeuer Christ being now in heauen and there presenting himselfe and his merits before his father shewes himselfe desirous and willing that they whosoeuer they are beeing sinners should be accepted of God for the same euen then immediatly at that very instant this his will is done and they are accepted as righteous before God indeed When a man lookes vpon things directly through the aire they appeare in their proper formes and colours as they are but if they be looked upon through a greene glasse they all appeare greene so likewise if God behold us as wee are in our selues we appeare as vile and damnable sinners but if hee looke upon us as we are presented before his throne in heauen in the person of our mediatour Christ Iesus willing that wee should be approoued for his merits then we appeare without all spot wrinkle before him And this is the use Paul makes hereof It is god saith he that iustifieth the reason is rendred For it is Christ that is deade yea or rather which is risen againe who is also at the right hand of God and makes request for vs. Secondly Christes intercession serues to preserue all repentant sinners in the estate of grace that beeing once iustified and sanctified they may so continue to the ende For when any seruant of God is ouertaken by the corruption of his owne nature and falls into any particular sinne then Christs intercession is made as a blessed hande to apply the salue of his death to that particular sore For he continually appeares before God and shewes himselfe to bee willing that God the father should accept his one only sacrifice for the daily and particular sinnes of this or that particular man and this is done that a man being iustified before God may not fall away quite from grace but for euery particular sinne may bee humbled and receiue pardon If this were not so our estate should be most miserable considering that for euery sin committed by us after our repentance we deserue to be cast out of the fauour of God Thirdly Christes intercession serueth to make our good workes acceptable to God For euen in the best works that a man can doe there are two wants First they are good onely in part secondly they are mingled with sinne For as a man is partly grace and partly flesh so are his vvorkes partly gratious and partly fleshly And because grace is only begun in this life therefore all the workes of grace in this life are sinnefull and imperfit Now by Christes intercession his satisfaction is applied to our persons by consequent the defect of our works is couered and remooued they are approoued of God the father In a vision S. Iohn saw an angell standing before the altar with a golden censure full of sweete odours to offer up with the praiers of the saintes upon the same And this signifies that Christ presentes our workes before the throne of God and by his intercession sanctifies them that they may be acceptable to God And therefore we must remember that when we doe any thing that is accepted of God it is not for our sakes but by reason of the value and vigour of Christ his merit Fourthly the intercession of Christ made in heauen breedeth and causeth in the heartes of men upon earth that beleeue another intercession of the spirit as Paul saith He giveth vs his spirit which helpeth our infirmities maketh request for us with sighes which can not be expressed but he which searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the meaning of the spirit for he maketh request for the saints according to the will of god Now the spirit is said to make request in that it stirres and mooues euery contrite heart to pray with sighes and grones unspeakable to God for things needfull this grace is a fruite deriued from the intercession of Christ in heaven by the operation of the spirit For as the Sunne though the bodie of it abide in the heauens yet the beames of it descende to us that are on earth So the intercession of Christ made in heauen is tyed as it were to his person alone yet the grones desires of the touched heart as the beames thereof are here on earth among the faithfull And therfore if we desire to know whether Christ make intercession for us or no we need not to ascend up into the heauens to learne the truth but we must descend into our owne hearts looke whether Christ haue giuen vs his spirite which makes us crie unto God make request to him with grones and sighes that can not be expressed and if we find this in our hearts it is an euident and infallible signe that Christ continually makes intercession for us in heauen He that would know whether the Sunne shine in the firmament must not clime up into the cloudes to looke but search for the beames thereof upon the earth which when he sees he may conclude that the Sunne shines in the firmament and if wee would know whether Christ in heauen makes intercession for us let us ransack our owne consciences and there make search whether we feele the spirit of Christ crying in us Abba Father As for those that neuer feele this worke of Gods spirit in them their case is miserable whatsoeuer they be For Christ as yet makes no intercession for them considering these two alwaies go togither his intercession in heauen the worke of his spirit in the hearts of men moouing them to bewaile their owne sinnes with sighes and grones that can not be expressed and to cry and pray unto God for grace therfore all such whether they be yong or old that neuer could pray but mūble up a few words for fashion sake can not assure themselues to haue any parte in Christs intercessiō in heauē The duties to be learned hence are these First whereas Christ maketh intercession for us it teacheth all men to be most carefull to loue and like this blessed mediatour and to be ready willing to become his seruants disciples that not for forme fashion sake only but in all trueth and sincerity of heart For he is ascēded to heauen there sits at the right hand of his father to make request for us that we might be deliuered frō hell come to eternall life Wicked Haman procured letters frō the king Ahashuerosh for the destructiō of all the Iewes men women childrē in his dominions this done Hester the Queene makes request to the king that her people might be saued and the letters of Haman reuoked shee obtaines her request freedom was giuen contrary letters of ioyfull deliuerance were sent in post hast to al provinces where the Iewes were Whereupō arose a wonderfull ioy gladnes among the Iewes it is said that therupon many of the
beleeue that really and visibly he ascended into heauen and there abides till his seconde comming to the last iudgement who then hauing but common reason would imagine a communication of the bodie of Christ pent up in the element of bread and conveyed into our bodies by the mouth and stomacke The third point is whether we are not Lordes of Christ he being thus giuen unto us Ans. No for this donation is not single but mutuall As Christ is giuen to us so wee againe are giuen to Christ as he himselfe saith Those whome thou hast given me Father I have kept And wee are giuen unto him in that our bodies and soules are made his not onely as he is God but also as he is our redeemer and our sinnes with the guilt thereof are made his by imputation the punishment thereof is wholly laide upon him This is all the dowrie which the Church being the spouse of Christ hath brought unto him The fift point is how any man in particular may know that Christ is giuen unto him of the Father Ans. When God giues Christ to man he withall giues man grace and power to receiue Christ and to apprehend him with all his benefits and this we doe when wee utterly renounce our selues this world and all things therein bewaile our sinnes past resting on the death of Christ for the pardon of them all and as it were with both the armes of faith catching hold vpon him in all estaâ—es both in life and death When the heart of any man is truly disposed and inclined to doe these and the like things we may truly say that God hath giuen him grace to receiue Christ. The second thing required to make us one with Christ is the Mysticall vnion which is a Coniunction whereby Christ and his Church are actually coupled into one whol Mysticall bodie Now that we may the better conceiue the nature of it sundrie questions are to be mooued The first what kinde of Coniunction this is Ansvver In the scripture we meete with three kind of Coniunctions The first is coniunction in nature when sundry things are coupled all by one and the same nature As the Father the Sonne and the holy ghost being three distinct subsistances are all one and therefore ioyned in one godhead or diuine nature Now Christ and the beleeuer are not ioyned in nature for then they twaine should haue one body soule The second coniunction is in person when things in nature different so concurre togither that they make but one person as body and soule make one man and the godhead of the sonne with his manhood make but one Christ in whome there is an union of distinct natures with unitie of person Now Christ and a Christian are not ioyned in person for Christ is one person Peter a second and Paul a third distinct from them both and so many men as there be so many seuerall persons The third coniunction is in spirit and this is the coniunction meant in this place wherby Christ and his Church are ioyned togither for the very same spirit of God that dwelleth in the manhood of Christ and filleth it with all graces aboue measure is deriued thence and dwelleth in all the true members of the church and filleth them with the like graces in measure and therefore S. Iohn saith Hereby wee know that wee dwell in him and hee in us because he hath given vs of his spirit Hence it followes that the bond of this coniunction is one the same spirit descending from Christ the head to all his members creating also in them the instrument of faith whereby they apprehend Christ and make him their owne The second is what are the things united Ansvv. Not the bodie of the beleeuer to the body of Christ or the soule to his soule but the whole person of the man to the whole person of Christ yet in this order wee are first of all immediatly ioyned to the manhoode of Christ and by the manhood to the godhead The thirde question is what is the manner of this coniunction Answ. Wee must not thinke that Christ and his Church are ioyned by imagination as the mind of man and the thing whereof he thinkes or by consent of heart as one friend is ioyned with another and as the Iewes conuerted were all of one heart and soule or by any abode in one place or by touching as sea and land are both ioyned togither and make one globe or by any composition or commixtion of substances as when many ingredients are put togither to make one medecine But this coniunction is altogither spirituall as the former giuing was and incomprehensible to mans reason and therefore we must rather labour to feele it by experience in the heart then to conceiue it in the braine Yet neuerthelesse it shall not be amisse to consider a semblance of it in this comparison Suppose a man hauing the partes of his bodie disioyned farre asunder his head lying in Italy one arme in Germanie the other in Spaine and his legges with us in England suppose further all these partes or quarters haue all one soule extending it selfe unto them all and quickening ech of them seuerally as though they were nearely ioyned togither and though the partes be seuered many hundred miles asunder yet the distance of place doeth not hinder the coniunction considering one and the same soule doth inlarge it selfe and giue life vnto them all In the same maner the head of the Mysticall bodie Christ our Sauiour is now in heauen and some of his members in heauen with him and some in earth and of these some in England some in Germanie some in Italie some in Spaine distant many thousand miles asunder and the spirit of God is as it were the soule of this body which giueth spirituall life to all the members distance of place doth not hinder this coniunction because the Holy ghost which linketh all the partes togither is infinite The benefites which we receiue by this Mysticall union are manifold For it is the ground of the conveiance of all grace The first that by meanes hereof every Christian as he is a Christian or a man regenerate hath his beginning and being in Christ howsoeuer as he is a maÌ„ he hath his being subsisting in himselfe as Paul saith Ye are of God in Christ. And Wee are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones How will some say can this be After this maner The comparison is taken from our first parentes Eve was made of a rib taken out of Adams side he being cast into a slumber this being done Adam awaked said This now is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh Christ was nailed on the crosse and his most pretious blood was shedde and out of it arise and spring all true Christians that is out of the merite of Christes death and passion whereby they become newe creatures Secondly euerie one that
then by them that haue knowledge and oftentimes it is tossed in the mouthes of them that haue little religion in their hearts and therefore I answeare first men should rather haue care to seeke howe they may come to heauen then to dispute what they shall doe when they are there the common prouerb is true it is not good counting of chickins before they be hatched Secondly I say that men in heauen shall know each other yea they shall know them which were neuer knowne or seene of them before in this life which may be gathered by proportion out of Gods word Adam in his innocencie knew Eue whome he had neuer seene before and gaue her a fit name so soone as shee was created And when our Sauiour Christ was transfigured in the mount Peter knew Moses and Elias whome before he had neuer seene and therefore it is like that the Elect shall know each other in heauen where their knowledge their whol estate shalbe fully perfited But whither they shall know one an other after an earthly manner as to say this man was my father this was mine vncle this my teacher c. the worde of God saith nothing and therefore I will be silent and must be content a while to be ignorant in this point The third prerogatiue of euerlasting blessednes is that the Elect shall loue God with as perfect loue as a creature possiblie can The manner of louing God is to loue him for himselfe and the measure is to loue him without measure and both shall be found in heauen for the Saints of God shall haue an actuall fruition of God himselfe and be as it were swallowed vp with a sea of his loue and wholly rauished therewith for which cause as farre as creatures can they shall loue him againe Againe the loue of a thing is according to the knowledge thereof but in this life God â—s knowne of man onely in part and therefore is loued onely but in part but after this life wheÌ„ the Elect shal know God fully they shall loue him without measure and in this respect loue hath a prerogatiue aboue faith or hope howsoeuer in some respects againe they goe beyond loue The fourth prerogatiue is that the Saints of God keepe a perpetuall Sabbath in heauen In this life it is kept but euery seuenth day and when it is best of all sanctified it is done but in part but in heauen euery day is a Sabbath as the Lord saith by the Prophet Isai From moneth to moneth and from sabbath to sabbath all flesh shall come and worship before me and therefore the life to come shalbe spent in the perpetuall seruice of God Fifthly the bodies of all the Elect after this life in the kingdome of heauen shall be like the glorious bodie of Christ so Paul saith Christ Iesus our Lord shall chaÌ„ge our vile bodies that they may be like his glorious bodie Now the resemblance betweene Christs bodie and ours standeth in these things as Christs bodie is vncorruptible so shall our bodies be void of all corruption as Christs bodie is immortall so ours in the kingdome of heauen shall neuer die as Christs bodie is spirituall so shal ours be made spirituall as the Apostle saith It is sowen a naturall bodie it is raised a spirituall bodie not because the bodie shall be changed into a spirit for it shall remaine the same in substance and that for euer but because it shall be preserued by a spirituall and divine manner For in this life it is preserued by meat drinke cloathing sleepe physicke rest and diet but afterward without all these meanes the life of the bodie shalbe continued and bodie and soule keepe together by the immediate power of Gods spirit for euer and euer thus the bodie of Christ is now preserued in heauen and so shall the bodies of all the Elect be after the day of iudgement Furthermore as Christs bodie is now a shining bodie as doth appeare by his transfiguration in the mount so in all likelihood after the resurrection the bodies of the Elect shall be shining and bright alwaies remaining the same for substance Lastly as Christs bodie after it rose againe from the graue had this propertie of agilitie beside swiftnes to passe from the earth to the third heauen being in distance many thousand miles from vs and that without violence so shal the bodies of the saints For beeing glorified they shall be able as well to ascende vpwarde as to goe downewarde and to mooue without violence and that very swiftly The sixth and last prerogatiue is an vnspeakable and eternall ioy as Dauid saith In thy presence is fulnes of ioy at thy right haÌ„d there are pleasures for euermore It is said that when Salomon was crowned King the people reioyced exceedingly if there were such great ioy at his coronation which was but an earthly prince what ioy then shall there be when the Elect shall see the true Salomon crowned with glorie in the kingdome of heauen It is saide that the wise men which came from the East to worshippe Christ when they saw the starre standing ouer the place where the babe was were exceeding glad how much more shall the Elect reioyce when they shall see Christ not lying in a manger but crowned with immortall glorie in the kingdome of heauen Wherefore this ioy of the Elect after this life is most wonderfull and can not be vttered The propertie of life eternall is to be an inheritance which God bestoweth on them which are made his sonnes in Christ who is the onely begotten sonne of the father Hence it followes necessarily that in the Scriptures it is called a reward not because it is deserued by our workes as the Church of Rome erroniously teacheth but for 2. other causes First because life eternall is due to all that beleue by vertue of Christs merit For as his righteousnes is made ours by imputation so consequently the merit thereof is also ours and by it all personall merits in our selues vtterly excluded we deserue or merit eternall happines as a reward which neuerthelesse in respect of our selues is the free and meere gift of God The second is because there is a resemblance betweene eternall life and a reward For as a reward is giuen to a workman after his worke is done so euerlasting life is giuen vnto men after the trauailes and miseries of this life are ended The degrees of life are three The first is in this life when men beeing iustified and sanctified haue peace with God Many imagine that there is no eternal life till after death but they are deceiued for it begins in this world as our Sauiour Christ testifieth saying Verily verily I say vnto you he that heareth my wordes and beleeueth him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life This beeing so we are hence to learne a good lesson
of his life this man I say is prepared and made fitte to enter into the heauenly Ierusalem come death vvhen it wil he is readie And howsoeuer hee must not looke for heauen here upon earth yet hee is as it were in the suburbes of this heauenly citie and at the ende of this life the king thereof the Lorde Iesus will open the gates and receiue him into his kingdome for hee is alreadie entred into the kingdome of grace beeing prepared also one day when God will to enter into the kingdome of glorie To conclude this point let euery man in the feare of God be mooued hereby to set his heart to prepare him selfe that vvhen God shall call him hence hee may be fitte to enter into that glorie Secondly seeing God hath prepared the thirde heauen for us it teacheth euery man in this worlde to be content with the estate vvherein God hath placed him whether it be high or low rich or poore why so because here he is but a pilgrime and liues in a cottage of clay and in a tent wherein he must abide but a while as a pilgrime doth oftentimes carrying his house about with him and wee shall in better sort accept the afflictions which God sends us in this life if we remember that there is prepared for us a place of ioy which must be our resting place and perfect felicitie for euermore This was the practise of the children of God especially of Abraham for when the Lorde called him out of his owne countrey hee obeyed and by faith abode in the promised lande as in a straunge countrey as one that dvvelt in tentes vvith Isaac and Iaakob heires vvith him in the same promise and the reason followeth for hee looked for a citie having a foundation vvhose builder and maker is God They beleeued that these things vvhich the Lorde promised were shadovves of better things and hereon stayed them selues beeing well content with that estate wherto god had called them So Paul was contented to beare the afflictions vvhich God had laide upon him and his reason was Because saieth hee vvee looke not on thinges vvhich are seene but on things vvhich are not seene for the things vvhich are seene are temporall but the thinges vvhich are not seene are eternall And in the next chapter VVee knovve saith hee that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle be destroyed vvee have a dvvelling given vs of God that is an house not made vvith handes but eternall in the heavens And for this cause his desire vvas rather to remoove out of this bodie and to be with the Lord. And thus much concerning Heauen Now followeth the seconde part of Gods creation in these vvordes And Earth Earth signifieth the huge masse or bodie standing of sea and lande on vvhich wee liue and all things that be in or upon the earth whatsoeuer as Paul saith For by him vvere created all things that are in heaven or in earth c. In other Creedes which were made since this of the Apostles being expositions of that there is added Maker of all things visible and invisible Here wee haue occasion to speake of all creatures but that were infinite therefore I will make choise of these two good Angels and Men. I. That Angels had a beginning it is no question for Paul saith that by God all things were created in heauen and earth things visible and invisible whether thrones principalities or powers And in respect of the creation angels are called the sonnes of God But the time day of their creation can not be set downe further then this that they were created in the compasse of the sixe daies For Moses saith Thus namely in the compasse of the first sixe daies the heauens and the earth were fashioned and all the hoast of them that is all varietie of creatures in heauen and earth serving for the beautie and glorie thereof whereof no doubt the Angels are the principall II. Touching the nature of angels some haue thought that they are nothing but qualities motions in the minds of men as the Sadduces and the Libertines of this time but the truth is that they are spirits that is spirituall and invisible substances created by God and really subsisting for the scripture ascribes unto them such kind of actions which can not be perfourmed by the creatures saue only such as be substances as to stand before the throne of God to behold the face of the Father to carry mens soules to heauen c. yet must we not imagine that they are bodily substāces consisting of flesh and bone And though they tooke upon them visible shapes formes did eate and drinke in the company of men thereupon are called Men in scripture yet they did this by diuine dispensation for a time that they might the better performe the actions businesses among men to which they were by God appointed And the bodies of men which they assumed were no partes of their natures united to them as our bodies are to us but rather they were as garmēts are to us which they might put off on at their pleasure If any shall aske whence they had these bodies the answer is that either they were created of nothing by the power of God or framed of some other matter subsisting before If againe it be asked what became of these bodies when they laide them downe because they used them but for a time the answere may be that if they were made of nothing they were againe resolued into nothing if made of other creatures that then they were resolued into the same bodies of which they were first made though indeed we can define nothing certenly in this point III. Angels are reasonable creatures of excellent knowledge and understanding farre surpassing all men saue Christ. Their knowledge is threefold naturall revealed experimentall Naturall which they receiued from god in the creation Revealed which God makes manifest to them in processe of time wheras before they knew it not Thus God revealed to Gabriel the mysterie of the seuentie weekes Dan. 8. 9. And in the Apocalyps many things are revealed to the Angels that they might reveale them to us Experimentall knowledge is that which they get by obseruing the dealings of god in the whole world but specially in the Church And thus Paul saith that to principalities and powers in heauenly places is the manifold wisdom of god by the Church IV. And as the knowledge so also the power of the good Angels is exceeding great They are able to doe more then all men can Therefore Paul calls them mightie Angels 2. Thess. 1.7 Yea their power is farre superiour to the power of the wicked angels who since the fall are vnder them and cannot preuaile against them V. The place of the aboad of Angels is the higest heauen vnlesse they be sent thence by the Lord to doe some thing appointed by him This our Sauiour
God ouer his creatures but especially ouer man in that the Lord created him the sixth day and so before hee was made prepared for him a Paradise for his dwelling and all creatures both for his vse and comfort And if he were thus carefull for vs when we were not then no doubt he will be much more carefull for vs at this present in which we liue and haue beeing Nay marke further since the fall man eates and drinks in quantitie a great deale which in common reason should rather kill him then turne to the strength and nourishment of his bodie yet herein doth the wonderfull power of the Creatour most notably appeare who hath made mans stomacke as a lymbecke or styll to digest all meats that are holesome for his nourishment and preservation And thus much for the Creation Now in these words Maker of heauen and earth is more to be vnderstoode then the worke of creation namely Gods prouidence in gouerning all things created as he appointed in his eternall decree and therefore Saint Peter saith God is a faithfull creatour that is God did not onely make heauen and earth and so leaue them as masons and carpenters leaue houses when they are built but by his prouidence doeth most wisely gouerne the same Now therefore let us come to speake of Gods prouidence And first of all the question offers it selfe to be considered whether there be any prouidence of God or no for the mindes of men are troubled with many doubtings hereof And to make the question out of all doubt I will vse foure arguments to confirme the providence of God The first is the testimonie of the scripture which ascribeth the euent of all particular actions euen such as are in themselues casuall as the casting of lots and such like to the disposition of God which also teacheth that euen men themselues which are endued with reason and understanding haue neede to be guided in all things and gouerned by God and blameth those that denie Gods prouidence Why sayest thou O Iacob and speakest O Israel my way is hid frō the Lord my iudgement is past ouer by my God The secōd argumēt may be taken frō the order which appeareth in the whole course of nature First to begin with families there is to be seen an eutaxy or seemely order in which some rule some obey the like is to be found in townes cities cuntries and kingdoms yea euen in the whole world in which all things are so disposed that one serueth for the good of another Trees and hearbs and grasse of the fieldes serue for beasts and cattell and beastes and cattell serve for men the heauens aboue serue for them which are beneath and all the creatures which are aboue and beneath serue for God This argueth that God is most wise and provident in ordering and disposing all things whatsoeuer The third argument is taken from the conscience specially of malefactours Suppose a man that commits a murder so closely that no man knowes thereof and that the partie himselfe is free from all the daunger of lawe yet shall he haue his owne conscience to accuse upbraid and condemne him yea euen to freight him out of his wit and to giue him no more rest then hee can finde upon the racke or gibbet Nowe this accusation and terrour of conscience is nothing else but the forerunner of an other most terrible iudgement of God vvho is Lorde of all creatures and Iudge of all men And this also prooues the prouidence of god For if the conscience can finde a man out and lay his faults to his charge how much more shall god himselfe the creatour of the conscience see and consider all his doings The fourth and last argument is this The prophesies of things to come should be uncerten or false if god gouerned not the world But now considering things many yeeres agoe foretold come to passe in the same maner as they vvere foretold by the Prophets and Apostles hereby vve must certenly conclude that there is a prouidence of god vvhereby all euery thing is gouerned Against the prouidence of god sundrie things be alledged The first and speciall is that prouidence and disorder confusion and order can not stand together Nowe in the worlde there is nothing but disorder and confusion in seditions treasons conspiracies and subuersions of kingdomes vvhere also sinne and vvickednesse prevailes Answere It is true indeed there hath beene confusion in the worlde euer since the fall of man and angels and it ariseth not from God but from them alone who as they did at the first transgresse the will of God so they doe what they can to turne all upside downe Now then confusion and disorder is onely in respect of the deuill and his instruments but in regard of God in the very middest of all confusion there is order to be found because hee can and doeth dispose it to the glorie of his owne name and to the good and saluation of his chosen as also to the confusion of his enemies Againe it may be obiected that with ungodly and wicked men all things goe well and contrariwise with the godly all things goe hardly For through the worlde none are more molested and more vnder outward miserie then they but if there were any prouidence of God then it should be otherwise the godly should florish the wicked perish Ans. The consideration of the outward estate of men in the world was to David an occasion of a sore temptation For when he savv the wicked to prosper alway and their riches to increase he brake foorth and said Certenly I haue cleansed my heart in vaine and vvashed mine hands in innocencie Now if vve would repell this temptation as David afterward did then vve must goe into the Lords sanctuary with him learne to be resolued in these points I. Though the godly be laden with miseries yet euen that by the especiall prouidence of God turnes to their great good For euerie man since the fall of Adam is stained vvith the lothsome contagion of sinne Nowe the childe of God that is truly regenerate and must be fellowe heire with Christ after this life in the kingdome of glorie must in this life be cast into the Lords furnace that in the fire of affliction hee may more and more be scoured and purified from the corruption of his nature be estranged from the wickednes of the world II. The prosperous successe of the wicked their spoiles their reuenewes and all their honour turnes to their greater woe and miserie in the end as doth appeare in Iobs historie and in the examples of the Chaldeans of Davids enemies and of Dives and Lazarus Thirdly it may be obiected that many things came to passe by chance therfore not by gods prouidēce because chance providence cānot stand together Ans. We must distinguish between chance mere chance Chāce is whē any thing comes to passe
the Angell of God came to destroy the first borne both of man and beast and saw the blood upon their houses might passe ouer them that the plague should not be upon them to destruction So likewise if thou doest feede on the lambe of God and by a liuely faith sprinkle the dore of thine heart with his blood the iudgements of god in this life and the terrible curse of death vvith the fearefull sentence of condemnation at the day of iudgement all punishments due unto thy sinnes shall passe ouer thee and not so much as touch thee And whereas the legges of our Sauiour Christ were not broken by the souldiers who sought by all meanes possible to worke against him all the mischiefe they could wee may note that the enemies of Christ and his Church let them intende to shewe neuer so much malice against him they can not goe beyonde that libertie which God giueth them then Gods will is they can doe no more for their liues The Medes and Persians are called the Lords sanctified ones Cyrus is called the man of Gods counsell because whatsoeuer they intended against the people of God yet in all their proceedings they did nothing but that which God had determined before to be done And whē Senacherib came against the Iewes as a wild beast out of his denne the Lord telleth Hezekiah cōcerning Ashur that he will put his hooke in his nostrills his bridle in his lippes and bring him back againe the same way he came that is he will so rule him that he shall not do the lest hurt unto the Iewes more thē god will This is a matter of great cōfort to Gods Church oppressed with manifold enimies Papists Iewes Turkes all infidels maliciously bent against it for Christs sake Now they may intend practise mischiefe but more then Gods will and counsell is they cā not doe for he hath his ring in their nostrills and his bridle in their lips to rule them as he listeth The second thing which fell out immediatly upon the death of Christ is that the soldiers pearced his side with a speare thence issued water blood The use which ariseth of this point is twofolde First it serves to prooue that Christ died truly not in shew or a fained death for there is about the heart a filme or skin like unto a purse wherein is contained cleare water to coole the heate of the heart and therefore when water blood issued out after the pearcing of the side it is very likely that that very skin was pearced for els in reason we can not coniecture whence this water should come S. Iohn an eye-witnesse of this thing being about to proue that Iesus the sonne of Mary was the true Messias bringeth in sixe witnesses three in heauē the Father the Worde and the Holy Ghost and three in earth the Water the Spirite and the bloode where no doubt hee alludeth to the water and blood that issued out of the side of Christ by spirit wee may vnderstand the efficacie and operation of Gods spirite making men to bring foorth the fruits of the same as loue peace ioy c. And the second witnes namely water hath relation to the water that came forth of Christs side which signifieth the inward washing away of sinne the purging of the heart by Christs blood which also is and was signified by the outwarde washing of the bodie with water in baptisme The thirde witnesse hee calles blood alluding to the blood that issued out of Christs side vvhereby is signified the expiation or satisfaction made to Gods iustice for mans sinne The same use had the ceremoniall sprinkling with blood in the old testament typically signifying the sprinkling of Christs blood Now these three witnesses are not to be sought for in heauen but euerie Christian man must search for them in his owne heart and conscience there shall hee finde them in some measure And this water and blood flowing out of the side of Christ being now deade signifieth that he is our iustification and sanctification euen after his death that out of his death springs our life and therefore as Eve was made of a ribbe taken out of the side of the first Adam so springs the Church of the blood that flowes out of the side of the second Adam Hauing thus intreated of Christs execution let us nowe come to the last point namely the excellencie of Christes passion consisting in these two points I. a sacrifice II. a triumph For the first whē Christ died he offered a propitiatorie reall sacrifice to his father herein his death passiō differeth frō the sufferings deaths of all men whatsoeuer In this sacrifice we must consider 4. things I. who was the priest II. what was the sacrifice III. what vvas the altar IV. the time wherein this sacrifice was offered The priest was Christ himselfe as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrues prooues at large from the third chap. to the 9. and of him we are to consider these 4. points The first what is the office of Christs priesthood Ansvver The office of Christs priesthood stands in 3. things I. to teach doctrine therefore he is called the high priest of our profession that is of the Gospell which we professe because he is the authour and doctour of the same II. to offer up himselfe unto his father in the behalfe of man for the appeasing of his wrath for sinne III. to make request or intercession to God the father that he would accept the sacrifice which hee offered on the crosse for us The secōd is according to which nature he was a priest whether in his manhood or in his godhead or both togither Ans. The office of his priesthood is performed by him according to both his natures therfore he is a priest not as the papists would haue him according to his manhood only but as he is both God man for as he is a mediatour so is he a priest but Christ is a mediatour according to both natures ech nature doing that which is peculiar to it conferring somthing to the worke of redemptiō therfore he is a priest as he is both God mā The third point after what order is he a priest Ans. The scripture mētioneth 2. orders of priests the order of Levi the order of Melchisedeck Christ was not a priest after the order of Aarō yet notwithstāding in that priesthood were many notable rites wherby the priesthood of our Sauiour Christ was resembled we may note 5. especially First in the anointing of the high priests as of Aaron his sonnes after him oile was powred on his head it ran down to the verie edge of his garments wherby was signified that Christ the true high priest was annointed with the oile of gladnesse above his fellowes that his manhood was filled with the giftes and graces of
masters of families haue ouer their houshold when God shall call them out of this worlde They must haue care not onely that their families be well gouerned while they liue but also that after their death peace loue and good order may be continued in their posteritie And therefore the Prophet Esay is sent to Ezechias king of Iudah to bid him se◠his house in order for he must die signifying that it is the dutie of a good master of a familie not onely to haue care for the gouernment of his house whilst he is aliue but also that it may be well gouerned when he is deade The same also must be practised of Gods ministers their fidelitie must be seene in this that they haue not onely a care to feede their particular flockes while they are aliue but also they must further prouide for the people after their departure as much as they can Example whereof we haue in Peter who saith I will endeauour alwaies that ye may be able also to haue remembrance of these things after my departure The place of Christs ascension was the mount of Oliues neere Bethanie and it was the same place from whēce Christ went to Ierusalem to be crucified One place serue to be a passage both to paine and torments and also to glorie This shewes that the way to the kingdome of heauen is through afflictions In all ages there are many which haue Gods hand heauie vpon them in lingring sicknesses as the dead palsie and such like wherein they are faine to lie many yeares without hope of cure whereupon their beddes which should be vnto them places of rest and ease are but places of woe and miserie Yet may these men hence haue great comfort if they can make good vse of their sicknesses for the beddes whereon they suffer so much torment shal be places from whence they shall passe to ioy and happines Againe there be many that for the testimonie of the truth and for religions sake suffer imprisonment with many afflictions nowe if they can vse their afflictions well their prisons shalbe Bethanies vnto them although they be places of bondage yet God wil at length make it a place of entrance to libertie Many a man for the maintaining of faith and good conscience is banished out of his countrie and is faine to liue in a straunge place amōg a people to whome he is vnknowne but let him vse it well for though it be a place of griefe for a time as Bethanie was to Christ when he went to suffer yet God will make it one day to be his passage into heauen Thus much of the place of his ascending The third thing to be considered is the manner of Christs ascension and it containeth three points The first that Christ beeing now to ascend lifts vp his hands and blessed his disciples In the Scripture are mentioned diuers kinds of blessings The first when one man praieth to God for a blessing vpon an other and this blessing doe kings and princes bestow vpon their subiects and parents on their children and for this cause children are taught to aske their fathers and mothers blessing that they may pray to God to blesse them There is another kind of blessing when a mā doth not only pray for a blessing but also pronounceth it This did the priests in the old Testament and thus Melchisedeck when he met Abraham blessed him saying Blessed art thou Abraham of God the most high possessour of heauen and earth And this was the ordinarie dutie of the Priests prescribed by God himselfe and therefore the very forme of wordes which they vsed is set downe after this manner The Lord blesse thee and keepe thee the Lord make his face to shine vpon thee c. The third kinde of blessing is when a man doth not onely pray to God and pronounce blessing but by the spirit of prophecie doth foretell a particular blessing vpon any Thus Isaac blessed Iaacob and Esau particularly foretelling both their estates And Iaacob blessed the twelue Patriarks by the same spirit foretelling them what should befall them many hundred yeares after Nowe our Sauiour Christ did not blesse his disciples any of these three waies and therefore there remaineth a fourth kinde of blessing which he vsed and that was after this manner Christ in blessing his disciples did not onely pronounce or foretell a blessing that should come to his disciples but did conferre and giue the same vnto them For he is the fountaine and author of all blessings And therfore Paul saith that God the father hath blessed vs in all spiritual blessings in Christ. Hence we learne first that al those which denie themselues and flie to Christ and put their affiance in him shalbe freeed from the curse of the lawe and from the wrath of God due vnto them for their sinnes whatsoeuer they are Secōdly that the curses of men must not discourage vs from doing well For though men curse yet Christ blesseth and for this cause he saith Woe be vnto you when all men speake well of you as if he should say then you want the blessing of God And we must remember that when men shall curse vs for doing our dutie euen then the blessing of God shall be vpon vs and the curse causelesse shall not hurt And God saith to Abraham he wil curse them that curse him Thirdly we learne that no witchcraft nor sorcerie which often are done with cursing shall be able to hurt vs. For looke where Christ will blesse there all the deuils in hell can neuer fasten a curse This is found true by experience For when Balaam the wizzard should haue cursed the people of Israel and had assaied to doe it many waies but could not at length he said there is no sorcerie against Iacob nor soothsaying against Israel This is a notable comfort to the people of God that witches and sorcerers doe what they can shal neuer be able to hurt them It may be that their badde practises may annoy mens bodies and goods yet the Lord wil turne all to a blessing vpon his seruants either in this life or the life to come The second point is that Christ went apart from his disciples and ascended vpward towarde heauen in their sight For the right vnderstanding of this sundrie speciall points must be obserued The first that the lifting vp of his bodie was principally by the mightie power of his Godhead and partly by the supernaturall propertie of a glorified body which is to mooue as well vpward as downward without constraint or violence The second that Christ did goe from earth to heauen really and actually and not in appearance onely The third that he went visibly in the sight of his disciples The fourth that he went locally by chaunging his place and going from earth to heauen so as he is no more on earth bodily as we are nowe on earth It may be
obiected that Christ made a promise that hee would be with his Church to the ende of the worlde Answer That promise is to be vnderstoode of the presence of his spirite or Godheade not of the presence of his manhoode Againe it may further be alleadged that if the Godheade be on earth then must the manhoode be there also because they are both vnited together Answer It is not true that of two things conioyned where the one is there must the other be also For the sunne it selfe and the sunne-beames are both ioyned together yet they are not both in all places together For the bodie of the sunne is onely in the heauens but the sunne-beames are also vpon the earth The argument therefore followes not Christs manhoode subsibsts in that person which is euery where ergo his manhoode is euery where And the reason is because the Sonne of God subsists not onely in his diuine nature but also by it wheras he doth not subsist at al by the manhood but onely in it for he subsisted before all eternitie when the manhoode was not Nay rather because the manhoode doth subsist by the person of the Sonne therefore the person extendes it selfe further then the manhoode which is assumed and sustained by it and hath his existing thence For that very thing whereby any other thing either essentially or accidentally is extends it selfe further then the thing whereby it is As the humane nature whereby Peter is a man extendes it selfe further then to Peter namely to all other men and the whitenesse whereby the snow is white extendes it selfe further then to that snowe which a man holds in his hande The third point is that in the ascension a cloud tooke Christ from the sight of his Disciples And whereas hee caused a cloud to come betweene their sight and himselfe it signified vnto them that they must novve be contented with that which they had seene and not seeke to know further what became of him afterward and the same thing is taught vnto vs also we must content our selues with that which God hath reuealed in his word and seeke no further specially in things which concerne God For the like ende in the giuing of the law in Sinai God appeared in a cloud and when he did manifest his glorie in the temple which Salomon made a thicke cloud filled the same The fourth point to be considered is concerning the witnesses of his ascension which were his owne disciples in the mount of oliues at Bethanie and none but them Now it may be demaunded why he would not haue all the whole nation of the Iewes to see him ascend that so they might know that he was risen againe and beleeue in him Answ. The reason may be this â—t was his good pleasure that the points of faith and religion whereof this article is one should rather be learned by hearing then by seeing Indeed Christs owne disciples were taught the same by sight that they might the better teach others which should not see whereas nowe the ordinarie meanes to come by faith is hearing The vses to be made of Christs ascension are of two sorts some are comforts to Gods Church and people and some are duties The coÌ„forts are especially foure The first is this Christ Iesus did asceÌ„d vp into heaueÌ„ to lead captiuity captive a most worthy benefit By captiuitie is meant 1. sinne and satan which did and doe lead men captiue into perdition 2. death and the graue which held him captiue and in bondage for the space of three daies And he leads them all captiue two waies First in himselfe in that he began his triumph vpon the crosse as I haue shewed and continued the same till his very ascension secondly in all his members because by his mightie power being now ascended he doth subdue and weaken the power of sinne and satan which he manifesteth euery day by killing the corruption of their natures and the rebellion of their flesh But it may be demaunded how Christ doth lead his enemies captiue considering the deuill raignes euery where and the world and death and hell Answer Christs victorie ouer his and our enemies hath fiue degrees First it is ordained by God secondly it is foretold thirdly it is wrought fourthly it is applied lastly it is accomplished The ordaining of it was before all worlds the foretelling of it was in all the ages of the old testament the working of it was vpon the crosse and afterward the applying hath bin since the beginning of the worlde more or lesse and it is onely in part in this life that while Christ is in bruising of the heade of satan he againe may bruise his heele the accomplishment shall not be before the last iudgement From this great benefite bestowed on Gods Church there are many dueties to be learned First here is an instruction for all ignorant persons and impenitent sinners which abound among vs in euery place Whosoeuer they be that liue in the blindnes of their mindes and hardnes of their hearts they must knowe this that they are captiues and bondeslaues of sinne and Satan of hell death and condemnation and let no man flatter himselfe of what state or degree soeuer he be for it is Gods truth if he haue not repented of all his sinnes he as yet is no better then a captiue and vassall yea a very drudge of the deuill Nowe then what wilt thou doe in this case the best thing is to lay to thy heart this benefite of Christ. He is ascended vp to heauen to leade captiue and to vanquish the deuill and all his angels vnder whome thou liest bound and that not onely in himselfe but in his members Now then if thou wilt become a true member of Christ he will free thee from this bondage Therefore take heede how thou continuest longer in thy old sinnes and in thy grosse ignorance and seeing Christ hath made a way to libertie let vs come out of this spirituall bondage he is ascended for this ende and purpose to free vs from it therefore if we refuse this benefite our state will be the more damnable Any man that lies bound hand and foote in a darke dungeon and the keeper comes and sets open the prison dore and takes off his boults and biddes him come out if he refuse and say that he is well will not all men thinke that he is a madde man and will any be sorie for his case No surely Well this is the state of all impenitent sinners They lie fast fettered and bound vnder the power of sinne satan And Christ it is who is ascended into heauen to vnloose them of this bondage he hath set opeÌ„ the prison dore and hath vnlocked our fetters if we refuse to come out and lie still in our sinnes there remaineth nothing for vs but euerlasting thraldome Let vs therefore in the feare of God if wee haue a care of our owne soules receiue and
passe through And Esay saith that our sinnes are a wall betwixt God and vs that we cannot enter into heauen And Saint Iohn that no vncleane thing must enter into the heauenly Hierusalem Nowe seeing we haue shut our selues out of heauen by our sinnes it was requisite that Christ Iesus our Sauiour should goe before vs to prepare a place and to make readie a way for vs. For he is king ouerall he hath the keies of heauen he openeth and no man shutteth and therefore it is in his power to let vs in though we haue shut our selues out But some may say if this be the end of his ascension to prepare a place in heauen then belike such as died before the comming of Christ were not in heauen Answer As there are two degrees of glorie one incomplete and the other complete or perfect for the faithfull departed are in glorie but in part and there remaineth fulnes of glorie for them at the day of iudgement when soule and bodie shall be both glorified together so answearably there are two degrees of preparation of places in heauen The places of glorie were in part prepared for the faithful frō the beginning of the world but the full preparation is made by Christs ascension And of this last preparation is the place of Iohn to be vnderstood The vse of this doctrine is very profitable First it ouerthroweth the fond doctrine of the Church of Rome which teacheth that Christ by his death did merit our iustification and that we beeing once iustified doe further merit saluation and purchase for our selues a place in heauen But this is as it were to make a partition betweene Christ and vs in the worke of our redemption whereas in truth not onely the beginning and continuance of our saluation but also the accomplishment thereof in our vocation iustification sanctification glorification is wholly and onely to be ascribed to the meere merit of Christ and therefore hauing redeemed vs on earth he also ascends to prepare a place in heauen for vs. Secondly this serueth to condemne the fearefull lamentable and desperate securitie of these our daies Great is the loue of Christ in that he was content to suffer the pangs of hell to bring vs out of hell and withall to goe to heauen to prepare a place for vs there and yet who is it that careth for this place or maketh any account thereof who forsaketh this world and seekes vnto Christ for it Nowe least any man should say alas I knowe not the way therefore Christ before he ascended made a new and liuing way with his owne blood as the Apostle speaketh And to take away all excuses from men he hath set markes and bounds in this way and hath placed guides in it namely his ministers to shew all the passengers a straight readie course into the kingdom of heauen And though Christ haue done all this for vs yet the blindnes and securitie of men is such that none almost walketh in this way nor careth to come to this mansion place but in stead of this they walke in by-waies according to the lusts of their owne flesh When they are commaunded to goe eastward to Ierusalem they turne westward an other way when they are commanded to goe on forward to heauen they turne againe backward and goe straight to hell Men runne on all the daies of their liues in the broad way that leadeth to destruction and neuer so much as once make inquirie for a resting place in heauen but when the houre of death commeth then they call for the guide whereas all their liues before they haue run out of the way many thousand miles but then alas it is too late vnlesse it be the vnspeakeable mercie of God For they haue wandred so farre astray that in so short a space they cannot be able to come into the right way againe Yet generally this is the state of most among vs whose securitie is so much the more grieuous fearefull because Christ hath done al that heart can wish There is nothing else required but onely that by his grace we should walk in the way There was neuer any that knew the state of the people in these daies but he will say that this is most true which I say Besides as by this we are brought to a sight of the desperate securitie of this age so we may further learne our owne dueties Is Christ gone to heauen beforehand to prepare a place for thee thē practise that which Paul teacheth Haue thy conuersation in heauen The wordes which he vseth are very significant and the meaning of them is this Ye are free denizens of the citie of God and therefore as freemen in Gods house let all your cares and studies all your affaires and doings be in heauen In the world if a man make purchase of an house his heart is alwaies there there he pulls downe and builds againe there he makes him orchards and gardens there hee meanes to liue and die Christ Iesus hath bought the kingdome of heauen for vs the most blessed purchase that euer was hath paid the dearest price for it that euer was paid euen his owne pretious blood and in this citie he hath prepared for vs a dwelling place and made vs free denizens of it therefore all our ioy and all our affaires ought to be there But how shall a man vpon earth haue his conuersation in heauen Answ. We must converse in heauen not in bodie but in heart therfore though our bodies be on earth yet our hearts ioy and comfort and all our meditation must be in heauen Thus must we behaue our selues like good freemen in Gods house It must be farre from vs to haue our ioy and our hearts set on the things of this world Thirdly the consideration of this that Christ Iesus hath prepared a place for vs in heauen also hath trayned the way with his own blood must make euery one of vs to striue to enter in at the straight gate as our Sauiour Christ counselleth vs and that as wrastlers doe which striue for life and death Within this gate is a dwelling place of happines readie for vs. If a man were assured that there were made for him a great purchase in Spaine or Turkie so as if hee would but come thither he might inioy it would he not aduenture the daungers of the sea and of his enemies also if neede were that he might come to his owne Wel behold Christ Iesus hath made a purchase for vs in heauen there is nothing required of vs but that we will come and enioy it Why then should men refuse any paines or feare in the way nay we must striue to get in It may be we shalbe pinched in the entrance for the gate is both straight and low and we must be faine to leaue our wealth behinde vs the pleasures of this life and enter we must though we should be constrained
cunning men cunning women is that is of charmers inchanters figure casters a bad practise Christ at his ascensiō sēt his holy spirit vnto his Church people to be their guide comforter in their calamities and miseries and therefore when any man is in distresse he should haue recourse to the right meanes of comfort namely the word sacraments there he shall finde the assistance of the holy ghost Thus the prophet Isai informeth the Iewes when they shall say unto you inquire at them which haue a spirit of divination at the soothsayers which whisper and murmure Should not a people inquire at their God from the living to the dead to the law and to the testimony Rebecca when the two twinnes stroue in her womb what did she the text saith she sent to aske the Lorde Yet commonly the men of these daies leaue God seeke to the instruments of the deuill To goe yet further God useth for sundrie causes most of all to afflict his deerest children Iudgement saieth Peter beginnes at Gods house S. Luke saieth that a certaine woman was bound of satan eighteene yeeres but what was shee a daughter of Abraham that is a child of God When the like condition shall befall any of vs let us remember the end why Christ ascended up to heauen and pray unto God that hee will giue us his spirit that therby we may be eased deliuered or els inabled to perseuere and continue in patience and this is the true way and meanes to lighten and ease the burden of all afflictions And for this cause Paul prayeth that the Colossians might be strengthened with all might through his glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with ioyfulnesse For to whomsoeuer God giueth grace to beleeue to them also he giues power to suffer affliction by the inward worke of his spirite Secondly if Christ haue sent unto his church the holy spirite to be our comforter our duty is to prepare our bodies and soules to be fitte temples and houses for so worthy a guest If a man were certified that a prince would come to his house he would dresse it up haue all things in as good order as might be and shall not we much more endeauour to purifie and clense our soules and bodies from all sinne that they may be fitte temples for the entertainment of the holy ghost whom Christ Iesus hath sent to be our comforter The Shunamite was carefull to entertaine the man of God Elisha for shee saide to her husbande Let vs make him a litle chamber I pray thee with vvalles and let vs set him there a bed and a stoole a table and a candlesticke Now how much more carefull ought we be to entertaine God himselfe who is content to come and dwell with us and therefore we must adorne our bodies and soules with grace that he may lodge and suppe and dine with us as he hath promised but on the contrarie if we defile our bodies with sinne wee banish the holy ghost out of our hearts and suffer the diuell to dwell in us For the more a man defileth his bodie the fitter and cleaner it is for him And to conclude this point let us remember that saying which is used of some that Christ when hee went hence gaue us his pawne namely his spirit to assure us that hee woulde come to us againe and also hee tooke with him our pawne namely his flesh to assure us further that wee should ascend up to him Thus much for the benefites of Christes ascension Now follow the duties whereunto we are mooued and they are two First we must be here admonished to renounce the ubiquitie and the errour of the reall and essentiall presence of the bodie of Christ in the Sacrament of the Lordes supper as flatly oppugning this article of Christs ascension into heauen For it is flat against the nature of a true body to subsist in many places at once Secondly as the Apostles then did whē they saw Christ ascending up into heauen so must we do also while he was present with them they gaue him honour but when they saw him ascending they adored him with farre greater reuerence and so must we now for the same cause bow the knees of our hearts unto him Thus much of the second degree of the exaltation of Christ Now follow the third in these wordes And sitteth at the right hand of God the father almightie In the handling whereof we are first to shewe the meaning of the wordes secondly the comforts and benefits that redound to Gods Church thirdly the duties that we are mooued unto For the meaning of the wordes if we speake properly God hath neither right hand nor left neither can he be saide to sit or stand for God is not a bodie but a spirite the words therefore containe a borrowed speech from earthly kings potentates whose manner and custome hath beene to place such persons at their right hands whome they purposed to advance to any speciall office or dignitie So king Salomon when his mother came to speake with him rose up from his throne and mette her and caused a seate to be set at his owne right hand and set her upon it in token no doubt of honour which he gaue unto her To the same purpose Dauid saith Vpon thy right hand did stand the Queene in a vesture of golde And the sonnes of Zebedeus made sute to Christ that one of them might sit at his right hand and the other at his left in his kingdome Now their request was to haue the two speciall and principall dignities of his kingdome Thus we see it is manifest that the sitting at the right hand of an earthly prince signifieth aduancement into authority and honour and therefore the same phrase of speech applied to Christ signifieth two things First his full and manifest exaltation in dignitie honour and glorie and in this sense it is saide that to him is given a name that is above all names that at the name of Iesus every knee should bovve Secondly it signifieth his full and manifest exaltation into the authoritie and gouernment of his kingdome which spreadeth it selfe ouer heauen and earth So Dauid saieth The Lorde saide vnto my Lorde Sit thou at my right hand untill I make thine enimies thy footstoole Which place beeing alledged by Saint Paul repeating the wordes but changing the phrase is thus set downe He shall raigne till he have put all his enemies under his feete And to speake in breefe the scope of the wordes is to shewe that Christ God and man after his ascension is advanced to such an estate in which hee hath fulnesse of glorie power maiestie and authoritie in the presence of his father and all the saintes and holy angels Furthermore in the words three circumstances must be obserued The first is the place where Christ is thus aduāced noted in
God were but as an handfull of wheat in a mountaine of chaffe which can scarce be discerned This signe is in part alreadie past neuerthelesse it shall continue to the ende because men shall continually depart from the faith And the nearer the ende of the world is the more satan rageth and seekes to bring men into his kingdome Therefore it standeth vs in hand to labour for the knowledge of true religion and hauing learned it most heartily to loue the same The fourth signe is a generall corruption in maners This point the Apostle sets downe at large saying Toward the latter daies shall come perilous times wherein men shalbe louers of themselues couetous boasters proud cursed speakers disobedieÌ„t to parents vnthankefull vnholy and without naturall affection truce-breakers false accusers intemperate fierce despisers of them which are good traytours headie high minded louers of pleasures more then louers of God c. This generall corruption in the manners of men is noted by our Sauiour Christ when he saith When he commeth he shall scarce finde faith vpon the earth This signe hath bin in former ages and is no doubt at this day in the world For it is hard to finde a man that walketh iustly soberly and faithfully doing the duties of his calling to God and man The fifth signe of Christs comming stands in terrible grieuous calamities For Christs disciples asking him a signe of his coÌ„ming of the end of the world he saith There shal be warres rumours of warres nation shall rise against nation realme against realme and there shalbe pâ—stilence and famine earthquakes in diuers places meÌ„ shalbe at their wits ends These haue bin in former ages In the first 3. hundred yeres after Christ were ten most fearefull persecutions and since in Europe the Church of God hath bin woÌ„derfully persecuted by the Antichrist of Rome in the huÌ„dred yeres last past The sixth signe is an exceeding deadnes of heart so as neither iudgements from heauen nor the preaching of the word shall mooue the hearts of men So Christ saith It shal be in the coÌ„ming of the sonne of maÌ„ as it was in the daies of Noe in the daies of SodoÌ„ they knew nothing til the flood came fire froÌ„ heaueÌ„ destroied theÌ„ all This signe undoubtedly is manifest in these our daies howsoeuer it hath bin also in former times For where are any almost that are moued with Gods iudgements or touched at the preaching of the word nay rather men hardeÌ„ their hearts become secure and careles The small fruit that the word of God bringeth foorth in the liues of men shews this to be most true The seuenth last signe set down by the Apostle Paul is that there shall be a calling of the Iewes before the Lord come to iudgemeÌ„t but of the time wheÌ„ this calling shal be of the maner how or the number of them that shalbe called there is no mention made in the word of God Now it is likely that this signe is yet to come These are the signes that go before the coÌ„ming of Christ all which are almost past and therefore the end can not be farre off Now follows the signe that is ioyned with the coÌ„ming of Christ called the signe of the sonne of man What this signe is we find not in the Scriptures Some thinke it to be the signe of the crosse but that is friuolous some the glorie maiestie of Christ which shal be made manifest in his appearance which seemes to be otherwise by the very words of Christ. Then saith he shall appeare the signe of the sonne of man c. and then they shall see him come in the cloudes of heauen vvith povver and great glorie distinguishing the one from the other But I rather coniecture it to be the burning of heauen and earth with fire at the very instant of Christs comming mentioned by Peter VVe must not here dispute whence this fire shal come or how it shall be kindled for that the word of God hath concealed and where God hath not a mouth to speake there we must not haue an eare to heare The vses to be made hereof are these VVhen S. Peter had set downe the change that shall be at the comming of Christ and that heauen and earth must be purged with fire he makes this vse thereof Seeing all things must be dissolued what manner of men ought we to be in holy conuersation godlines and the reason is good For if heauen earth must be changed and purged at Christs comming then much more ought we to be changed to put off the old man of sinne to become new creatures created after the image of God in righteousnes and true holines If the bruit creatures must be renewed by fire then much more are we to labour that the fire of Gods spirite may burne vp sinne corruption in vs so change vs that we may be ready for him against his coÌ„ming els heaueÌ„ earth it selfe shal stand vp in iudgemeÌ„t against vs to our condemnation Secondly the consideration of this that the world shall be consumed with fire teacheth vs moderation and sobrietie in the vse of Gods creatures as in costly buildings gorgeous attire and such like VVhat madnes is this to bestow all that we haue on such things as at the day of iudgement shall be consumed with fire For looke whatsoeuer abuse shall come to Gods creatures by our follie the same shal then be abolished Thirdly we must consider that the cause why heauen earth must be consumed with fire is mans sinne by means wherof they are made subiect to vanitie corruption Here theÌ„ we haue iust occasion to acknowledge the greatnes wretchednes of our sinnes If any of vs had but seene the Iewes leprosie it would haue made vs to woÌ„der for the contagion thereof did infect not only the whole maÌ„ but his garmeÌ„ts also that were about him somtime the walls of his house but howsoeuer we caÌ„not now see that leprosie amoÌ„g vs yet we may see a worse For the leprosie of our sins doth not onely infect our garmeÌ„ts the things about us with our bodies but euen the high heaueÌ„s the earth are slained with the contagion thereof and are made subiect to vanitie and corruption yea by sinne in us the most glorious creatures in them as the Sunne Moone and Starres are become subiect to vanitie Oh then how wretched is the heart of man that makes no bones of sinne which is the most noisome thing in all the worlde the stinke whereof hath infected both heauen and earth If we could consider this we would not be so slacke in humbling our selues for the same as wee are Wee can not abide to looke on a poore lazar full of blanes and sores but if wee could see our sinnes in their right colours they would make us seem unto our selues ten thousaÌ„d times more
indeede no faith And this counterfait mocke-faith is farre more common in the world then true faith is Take a view hereof in our ignorant and carelesse people aske any of them whether he be certen of his saluation or no he will without any bones making protest that he is fully perswaded and assured of his saluation in Christ that if there be but one man in a countrie to be saued it is he that he hath serued God alwaies done no man hurt that he hath euermore beleeued and that he would not for all the world so much as doubt of his saluation These and such like presumptious conceits in blinde and ignorant persons runne for currant faith in the worlde Nowe the true testimonie of the spirit is discerned from naturall presumption and all illusions of the deuill by two effects and fruits thereof noted by Paul in that he saith that the spirit makes vs crie Abba that is father The first is to pray so earnestly with groanes and sighes as though a man would euen fill heauen and earth with the crie not of his lippes but of his heart touched with sense and feeling of his manifolde sinnes and offences And this indeede is a speciall and principall note of the spirit of adoption Nowe looke vpon the loose and carelesse man that thinks himselfe so filled with the perswasion of the loue and fauour of God ye shall finde that he very seldome or neuer praies and when he doth it is nothing else but a mumbling ouer the Lords praier the Creede and the tenne Commaundements for fashions sake Which argues plainely that the perswasion which he hath of Gods mercie is of the flesh and not of the spirit The second fruit is the affection of a duetifull childe to God a most louing father and this affection makes a man stande in feare of the maiestie of God wheresoeuer he is and to make conscience of euery euill way Nowe those that are carried away with presumption so soone as any occasion is giuen they fall straight into sinne without mislike or stay as fire burnes with speede vvhen drie vvoode is laide vnto it In a worde where the testimonie of the spirit is truly wrought there be many other graces of the spirit ioyned therewith as when one branch in a tree buddeth the rest budde also The testimonie of our spirit is the testimonie of the heart and conscience purified and sanctified in the bloode of Christ. And it testifieth two waies by inward tokens in it selfe by outward fruits Inward tokens are certen speciall graces of God imprinted in the spirit whereby a man may certenly be assured of his adoption These tokens are of two sorts they either respect our sinnes or Gods mercie in Christ. The first are in respect of sinnes past present or to come The signe in the spirit which concerneth sinnes past is godly sorrow which I may tearme a beginning and mother grace of many other gifts and graces of God It is a kinde of griefe conceiued in heart in respect of God And the nature of it may the better be conceiued if we compare it with the contrarie Worldly sorrowe springs of sinne and it is nothing else but the horrour of conscience and the apprehension of the wrath of God for the same now godly sorrow it may indeede be occasioned by our sinnes but it springs properly of the apprehension of the grace and goodnes of God Worldly sorrow is a griefe for sinne onely in respect of the punishment godly sorrowe is a liuely touch and griefe of heart for sinne because it is sinne though there were no punishment for it Now that no man may deceiue himselfe in iudgeing of this sorrow the holy Ghost hath set downe seuen fruits or signes thereof whereby it may be discerned The first is Care to leaue all our sinnes past the second is Apologie whereby a man is mooued and carried to accuse and condemne himselfe for his sinnes past both before God and men The third is indignation whereby a man is exceedingly angrie with himselfe for his offences The fourth is feare least he fal into his former sins againe The 5. is desire wherby he craueth strength and assistance that his sinnes take not hold on him as before The sixth is zeale in the performance of all good duties contrarie to his special sinnes The seuenth is reuenge whereby he subdues his bodie least it should hereafter be an instrument of sinne as it hath beene in former time Now when any man shall feele these fruits in himselfe he hath no doubt the godly sorrow which here we speake of The token which is in regard of sinnes present is the combate betweene the flesh and the spirit proper to them that are regenerate who are partly flesh and partly spirit It is not the checke of conscience which all men finde in themselues both good and badde so oft as they offende God but it is a fighting and striuing of the minde will and affections with themselues whereby so farreforth as they are renewed they carrie the man one way and as they still remaine corrupt they carrie him flat contrarie Men hauing the disease called Ephialies when they are halfe asleepe feele as it were some weightie thing lying vpon their breasts and holding them downe nowe lying in this case they striue with their hands and feete and with all the might they haue to raise vp themselues and to remooue the weight and cannot Behold here a liuely resemblance of this combate The flesh which is the inborne corruption of mans nature lies vpon the hearts of the children of God and presseth them downe as if it were the very weight of a mountaine now they according to the measure of grace receiued striue to raise vp themselues from vnder this burden to doe such things as are acceptable to God but can not as they would The token that respects sinne to come is Care to preuent it That this is the mark of Gods children appeareth by the saying of Iohn Hee that is borne of God sinneth not but keepeth himselfe that the wicked one touch him not And this care shewes it selfe not onely in ordering the outward actions but euen in the verie thoughtes of the heart For where the Gospell is of force it brings every thought into captivitie to the obedience of Christ and the Apostles rule is followed whatsoever things are true whatsoeuer things are honest c. thinke on these things The tokens which concerne Gods mercy are especially two The first is when a man feeles him selfe distressed with the burden of his sinnes or when he apprehends the heauie displeasure of God in his conscience for them then further to feele how he stands in need of Christ withall heartily to desire yea to hunger and thirst after reconciliation with God in the merite of Christ and that aboue all other things in the world To all such Christ hath made most sweete and comfortable promises
stands in two things the first is to gouerne the Church by such power and authoritie whereby he can and doth prescribe lawes properly binding the consciences of all his members the second is by grace to quicken and put spirituall life into them so as they shall be able to say that they liue not but Christ in them As for the Supremacie of the sea of Rome whereby the Pope will needs stand ministeriall heade to the Catholike Church is a satanicall forgerie For the headshippe as I may tearme it of Christ is of that nature or qualitie that it can admitte no deputie whether wee respect the commaunding or the quickening power of Christ before namâ—d Nay Christ needes no vicar or deputie for hee is all-sufficient in him selfe and alwaies present with his Church as hee him selfe testifieth saying Where tvvo or three are gathered togither in my name there am I in the middest among them And whereas all commissions cease in the presence of him that giues the commission it is as much pride and arrogancie for the Pope to take unto himselfe the title of the heade and universall Bishoppe of the Church as it is for a subiect to keepe him selfe in commission in the presence of his King The seconde rule is that there is no saluation out of the Church and that therefore euerie one which is to be saued must become a member a citizen of the Catholike and Apostolike Church such as remaine for euer out of the same perish eternally Therefore S. Iohn saieth They went out of us they were not of us for if they had beene of vs they woulde have remained with vs but this commeth to passe that it might appeare that they are not all of vs. And againe that such as be holy are in the citie of God but without that is forth of the Church are dogges inchaunters whoremongers adulterers c. And the Arke out of which all perished figured the Church out of which all are condemned And for this cause Saint Luke saieth that the Lorde added to the Church from day to day such as shoulde be saved And the reason hereof is plaine for without Christ there is no saluation but out of the militant Church there is no Christ nor faith in Christ and therefore no saluation Againe foorth of the militant Church there are no meanes of saluation no preaching of the worde no invocation of Gods name no sacraments and therefore no saluation For this cause euery man must be admonished euermore to ioyne himselfe to some particular Church being a sounde member of the Catholike Church The thirde rule is that the Church which here wee beleeue is onely one As Christ himselfe speaketh My dove is alone and my vndefiled is the onely daughter of her mother And as there is onely one God and one Redeemer one faith one baptisme and one way of saluation by Christ onely so there is but one Church alone The Catholicke Church hath two partes the Church Triumphant in heauen and the Church Militant on earth The Triumphant Church may thus be described It is a companie of the spirites of iust men triumphing over the flesh the devill and the vvorlde praising God First I say it is a companie of the spirites of men as the Holy Ghost expressely tearmeth it because the soules onely of the godly departed as of Abraham Isaac Iacob Dauid c. are as yet ascended into heauen and not their bodies Furthermore the properties of this companie are two The first is to make triumph ouer their spirituall enemies the flesh the deuill the worlde for the righteous man so long as he liues in this world is in continuall combâ—te without truce with all these enemies of his saluation and by constant faith obtaining victory in the ende of his life hee is translated in glorious and triumphant manner into the kingdome of glorie This was signified to Iohn in a vision in which hee saw an innumerable company of all sorts of nations kinreds people and tongues stande before the lambe clothed in long vvhite robes with palmes in their handes in token that they haue beene warriours but now by Christ haue gotten the victorie and are made conquerours Their second propertie is to praise and magnifie the name of god as it followeth in the former place saying Amen praise and glorie and vvisedome and thankes honour povver and might be vnto our God for evermore Hence it may be demanded whether Angels be of this triumphant Church or no Ansvvere The blessed Angels be in heauen in the presence of God the father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost but they are not of the mysticall bodie of Christ because they are not under him as he is their Redeemer considering they can not be redeemed which neuer fell and it can not be prooued that they now stande by the vertue of Christs redemption but they are under him as hee is their Lord and King and by the power of Christ as hee is God and their God are they confirmed And therefore as I take it wee can not say that angels are members of the mysticall body of Christ or of the triumphant Church The Church Militant may be thus described It is the company of the elect or faithfull living under the crosse desiring to be remooved and to be with Christ. I say not that the Militant Church is the whole bodie of the elect but only that part thereof which liueth upon earth and the infallible marke thereof is that faith in Christ which is taught and deliuered in the writings of the Prophets and Apostles and this faith againe may be discerned by two markes The first is that the members of this companie liue vnder the crosse and profite by it in all spirituall grace And therefore it is saide that we must through many afflictions enter into the kingdome of heaven And our Sauiour Christ saieth If any man will come after me let him deny himselfe and take vp his crosse every day and follow me The second marke is a desire to depart hence and to be with Christ as Paul saith Wee love rather to be removed out of this body and to be with Christ. And againe I desire to be loosed and to be with Christ which is best of all Where yet we must remember that the members of Christ doe not desire death simply and absolutely but in two respectes I. that they might leaue off to sinne and by sinning leaue to displease God II. That they might come to enioy happinesse in heauen and to be with Christ. Touching the generall estate of the Militant Church two questions are to be considered The first how farre forth God is present with it assisting it by his grace Answere God giues his spirit unto it in such a measure that although the gates of hell cannot preuaile against it yet neuerthelesse it remaines still subiect to errour both in doctrine and manners For that which
penned by the Prophets and Apostles the answear is that they doe it with adding to the Canon and by corrupting the natiue sense of the Scriptures in the very foundation and therefore they are but as a lanthorne that shews light to others and none to it selfe Fourthly it is further said that they hold the Creede of the Apostles and make the same confession of faith that we doe I answeare that in shew of wordes they doe so indeede but by necessarie consequents in the rest of their doctrine they ouerturne one of the natures and all the offices of Christ and therewithall most of the articles of the Creede And herein they deale as a father that in outward shew tenders the bodie of his child and will not abide the least blemish vpon it and yet by secret conveiances inwardly annoies the heart the braine or the liuer and so in truth destroies the same Fifthly it is alledged that Antichrist must sit in the Temple of God that is the Church therefore say some that desire an vnion between vs and the Papists popish assemblies are true Churches but the argument is not good For it is one thing to be in the Church an other thing to be of it And Antichrist is said to sit in the Church not as a member thereof but as an vsurper or as the pyrate in the ship of the marchant heÌ„ce it cannot be prooued that assemblies of Papists are Churches but that in them and with them there is mingled an other hidden Church in the midst whereof Antichrist the Pope ruleth though himselfe hath no part therein Lastly whereas some being no Papists think their Churches to be like a bodie diseased and full of soares and wounds froÌ„ the head to the foot the throat also cut yet so as life is still remaining we may better thinke their foule errours considered their worship of God which is nothing els but a mixture of Iudaisme and Paganisme that it is a rotten and dead corps void of spirituall life And therefore we haue seuered our selues from the Church of Rome vpon iust cause neither are we schismaticks in so doing but they rather because the grouÌ„d the proper cause of the schisme is in theÌ„ As for the Assemblies of Anabaptists Libertines Antinomies Tritâ—eits Arrians Samosaâ—eniaÌ„s they are no churches of God but conspiracies of monstrous heretikes iudicially condemned in the primitiue Church and againe by the malice of Satan renewed and revived in this age The same we are to thinke and say of the Familie of loue As for the Churches of Germanie commonly called the Churches of the Lutheranes they are to be reputed of vs as the true Churches of God Though their Augustane Confession haue not satisfied the expectation of other Reformed Churches yet haue they all the same enemies in matter of religion and doe alike confesse the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost and of the office of the Mediatour of faith and good works of the Word the Church and the Magistrate are all of one iudgement They differ indeede from vs in the question of the Sacrament but it is no sufficient cause to induce vs to hold theÌ„ as no Church for that there is a true or reall receiuing of the bodie and blood of Christ in the Lordes supper wee all agree and wee ioyntly confesse that Christ is there present so farre forth that hee doth truly feede vs with his very bodie and blood to eternall life and all the controuersie lies in the manner of receiuing we contenting our selues with that spirituall receiuing which is by the hande of faith they adding therto the corporall whereby they imagine themselues to receiue Christ with the hand and mouth of the bodie And though to maintaine this their opinion they be constrained to turne the ascension of Christ into a dispaâ—ition whereby his bodie being visible becomes invisible yet in the maine points we agree that Christ ascended into heauen that he entred into his kingdome in our name and for vs that we are gouerned and preserued by his power and might and that whatsoeuer good thing we haue or doe proceeds wholly from the grace of his spirit Indeede the opinion of the Vbiquitie of the bodie of Christ reviveth the condemned heresies of Eutiches and Nestorius and it ouerturneth by necessarie consequent most of the articles of faith but that was priuate to some men as Brentius and others and was not receiued of whole Churches and whereas the men were godly and learned and we are vncerten with what affection and how long they held this errour we rest our selues in condemning it leauing the persons to God Againe Popish Transubstantiation and Lutherian Consubstantiation are both against the truth of the manhoode of Christ yet with great difference Transubstantiation is flat against an article of faith for if Christs bodie be made of bread and his blood of wine which must needes be if there be a conuersion of the one into the other then was not he conceiued and borne of the Virgin Marie for it can not both be made of bakers breade and of the substance of the Virgin Againe it abolisheth the outwarde signe in the Lordes supper and the analogie betweene the signe and the thing signified but Consubstantiation doth not so neither doeth it ouerturne the substance of any article of Religion but onely a maine point in Philosophie which is that A body doth occupy only one place at once Furthermore the Churches of Heluetia Savoie the free cities of France the low Countries Scotland are to be reuereÌ„ced as the true churches of God as their ConfessioÌ„s make manifest And no lesse must we thinke of our owne Churches in England and Ireland For we hold beleeue and maintaine and preach the true faith that is the auncient doctrine of saluation by Christ taught and published by the Prophets and Apostles as the Booke of the articles of faith agreed vpon in open Parliament doe fully shewe withal now we are and haue bin ready to testifie this our faith by venturing our liues euen in the cause of religion against forraigne power and especially the Spainard and hereupon all the Churches in Europe giue vnto vs the hand of fellowship And whereas sundrie among vs that separate and indeed excommunicate themselues giue out that there is no Church in England no Ministers no Sacraments their peremptorie asseuerations wanting sufficient grounde are but as paper-shot They alleadge that our assemblies are full of grieuous blottes and enormities Ansvv. The defects and corruptions of Churches must be distinguished and they be either in doctrine or manners Againe corruptions in doctrine must be further distinguished some of them are errours indeed but beside the foundation some errors directly against the foundation and these ouerturne all religion wheras the former do not Now it can not be shewed that in our Churches is taught any one errour that raceth the foundation and consequently annihillateth the
Considering we looke for life euerlasting after this life we must not deceiue our selues lingring and deferring the time till the last gaspe but wee must lay the foundation of life eternall in our selues in this worlde and haue the earnest thereof laide vp in our hearts against the day of death But how is that done wee must repent vs heartily of all our sinnes and seeke to be assured in conscience that God the father of Christ is our father God the sonne our redeemer and God the holy Ghost our comforter For as Christ saith this is life eternall to knowe thee the onely God and whome thou hast sent Iesus Christ. And wee must goe further yet endeauouring to say with Paul that we liue not but that Christ liueth in vs which when wee can say wee haue in vs the very seede of eternall life The second degree is in the ende of this life when the bodie freed from all diseases paines and miseries is laid to rest in the earth and the soule is receiued into heauen The third is aftâ—r the day of iudgement when bodie and soule revnited shall both be aduanced to eternall glorie Againe in this thirde degree of life there be in all likelihood sundrie degrees of glorie Daniel speaking of the estate of the elect after this life saieth They that be wise shall shine as the brightnesse of the firmament and they that turne many to righteousnesse shall shine as the starres for evermore Now wee knowe there is difference betweene the brightnesse of the firmament and the brightnesse of the starres Agane there be degrees of torments in hell as aâ—peares by the saying of Christ It shall be easier for Tyrus and Sydon in that day then for this generation and therefore there be proportionall degrees of glorie And Paul saieth There is one glory of the Sunne another glory of the moone another glory of the Stars for one starre differeth from another in glory so is the resurrection of the dead In which words he applies the differences of excellencie that be in the creatures to set forth the differences of glorie that shall be in mens bodies after the resurrection Furthermore if we may coniecture it may be the degrees of glorie shall be answerable to the diuers measures of giftes and graces bestowed on men in this life and according to the imployance of them to the glorie of God and edification of the Church And therefore the twelue Apostles who were exceedingly enriched with the giftes of the spirite and were master-builders of the Church of the new Testament shall sit on 12. thrones and iudge the twelue tribes of Israel But it may be obiected that if there be degrees of glorie in heauen some shall want glory Ansvvere Not so though some haue more and some lesse yet all shall haue sufficient Take sundry vessels whereof some are bigger and some lesse and cast them all into the sea some will receiue more water and some lesse and yet all shall be full and no want in any and so likewise among the saintes of God in heauen some shall haue more glorie some lesse and yet all without exception full of glorie And whereas it is alledged that all the labourers in the vineyarde receiue each of them a pennie equallie for their hire the answere is that our Sauiour Christ in that parable intendes not to set foorth the equalitie of celestiall glorie and what shall be the estate of the godly after this life but the verie drifte of the parable is to shew that they which are called first haue no cause to bragge or insulte ouer others which as yet are uncalled considering they may be made equall or be preferred before them Thus much of life it selfe now followes the continuance thereof which the scriptures haue noted in calling it eternall or euerlasting And to this ende Paul saieth that Christ hath abolished death and brought not onely life but also immortalitie to light by the gospell And this verie circumstance serues greatly to commende the happinesse of the godly in that after they haue made an entrance into it they shal neuer see terme of time or end Suppose the whol world were a sea and that euery thousand yeeres expired a bird must carrie away or drinke up one onely drop of it in processe of time it will come to passe that this sea though verie huge shall be dried up but yet many thousand millions of yeres must be passed before this can be done Now if a man should enioy happinesse in heauen onely for the space of time in which the sea is in drying up he woulde thinke his case most happie and blessed but behold the elect shall enioy the kingdome of heauen not only for that time but when it is ended they shall enioy it as long againe and when all is done they shall be as farre from the ending of this their ioy as they were at the beginning Hauing thus seene what life euerlasting is let us now come to the use of the article And first of all if wee beleeue that there is an eternall happinesse and that the same belonges unto us then wee must use this present world and all the things therin as though we used them not and whatsoeuer wee doe in this worlde yet the eyes of our mindes must be alwaies cast toward the blessed estate prepared for us in heauen As a pilgrime in a straunge lande hath alwaies his eyes towarde his iourneyes ende and is then grieued when by any meanes hee is out of the way so much wee alwaies haue our mindes and heartes set on euerlasting life and be grieued when wee are by any way hindred in the strait way that leadeth thereunto wee haue a notable patterne of this dutie set out unto us in the patriarke Abraham who beeing called of God obeyed to goe out into a place which hee shoulde afterward receiue for inheritance and hee went out not knowing whither hee went and by faith aboade in the lande of Canaan as in a straunge cuntrey and as one that dvvelt in tentes Now the cause that mooued him was life euerlasting for the text saith Hee looked for a citie having a foundation whose builder and maker is God And wee ought euerie one of us for our partes to be like affected to all the things of this life neuer setting our hearts upon them but using them as a pilgrime doth his staffe in the way so long as it is an helpe and stay for him in his iourney hee is content to carrie it in his hande but so soone as it beginneth to trouble him he casteth it away Secondly all that professe the Gospell of Christ may hence learne to beare the crosses and afflictions which God shall lay on them in this worlde It is Gods usuall manner to begin corrections in his owne family upon his owne children and as Peter saieth Iudgement beginneth at Gods house Looke as a mother that waines her
all that he maketh and deuiseth to be used but yet so as the use thereof must be conformable to the vvill of the maker For this cause Moses that faithfull servant of God saieth that the people of Israel dealt wrongfully vvith the Lord why For he hath created them and proportioned them he is their father and he bought them yet they haue dishonoured him by corrupting themselues towardes him by their vice All creatures in heauen and in earth doe the will of the Creatour except man and the deuill and his angels for the Sunne the Moone and the starres they keepe that course which God hath appointed them but man though he be bound to doe the will of God because god is his Creator yet he rebells against him The potter if in tempering his clay he can not make and frame it according to his minde at length hee will dash it in peeces so God hee createth man not that he should doe his owne vvill but gods vvill and therefore that man vvhosoeuer he be that follovveth the lustes of his ovvne vvicked heart and vvill not be brought to be conformable to gods vvill but continues rebellious still the Lorde in his vvrath vvill confound him eternally Therefore it standes euery man in hand to yeeld himselfe plyable unto gods vvill to indeauour to obey it by keeping a good conscience before god and all men and by vvalking faithfully in his calling othervvise the ende vvill be confusion If a man haue a trade and other men come into his shoppe and use such instruments as be there to a wrong end though they vvere their owne yet it vvould grieue him to see it so god created all things for his ovvne use and for the accomplishing of his vvill but rebellious man conformes himselfe to the deuils vvill and thereby no doubt he grieuously offendeth god And thus much of the duties Novv in the third place follow the consolations unto Gods Church and people First as S. Paul saith God is a creator yea a faithfull creator The properties of a faithfull creatour are two I. he will preserue his creature no man is so tender ouer any worke as hee that made it for he can not abide to see it any way abused Now God being a faithfull creatour tenderly loues all his creature So Iob reasoneth with God that hee will not cast him off because he is the worke of his hands II. God will beare with his creature to see whether it will be brought to any good ende and use before he will destroy it And to use the former comparison The potter will turne and worke the clay euery way to make a vessell unto his minde but if it will frame no way then he will cast it away and dash it against the wall And so God who created man and still preserueth him and useth all meanes to make him conformable to his will before hee cast him away The Lorde did long strive vvith men in the olde worlde to turne them from their wickednesse but when nothing would serue them it is saide It repented the Lorde that hee had made man on the earth Amongst us euery one is the creature of God now if wee shall rebell against this our creator it may be he will beare with us for a time but if we continue therein and do not turne to him by repentāce he will bring upon us a finall destruction both in body and soule Yet I say before he doe this he will trie all meanes to preserue us and turne us unto him and afterwarde if nothing will serue then he will shew forth his power in mens confusion therefore it stands us in hand to looke unto it Secondly looke what power the Lord did manifest in the creation of all things the same power he both can and will make manifest in the redemption of mankind In the beginning God made all things by his worde and so likewise he is able still to make by the power of his word of a wicked man that is dead in sinne a true and liuely member of Christ which the Prophet Isay signifieth when he saith The Lord that created the heavens and spred them abroad hee that stretcheth forth the earth and the body thereof c. I the Lord haue called thee in righteousnesse This must not encourage evill men in their wickednesse but it serueth to comfort the people of God considering that the same God which once created them is also as able to saue them and will shewe himselfe as mightie in their redemption as hee did in creating them of nothing And thus much of the Creation in generall Now it follovveth that vve come to the handling of the partes thereof For it is not said barely that God is a creatour but particularly that he is a creatour of heauen earth of both which we will speake in order and first of the creation of heauen Heaven in Gods vvorde it signifieth all that is aboue the earth for the aire wherein we breath is called Heauen And according to this acception of the worde there are three heauens as Paul saith He was taken up into the third heauen The first of these Heauens is that space which is from the earth upvvard unto the firmament where the starres are Thus we reade often in the Psalmes the birdes which flie in the aire betvveene the earth and the starres are called the foules of the heaven and when God sent the floode to drovvne the olde vvorld Moses saith the windowes of heauen vvere opened meaning that God powred downe raine from the cloudes abundantly for the making of a floode to drowne the worlde The second heauen is that which conteineth the Sunne the Moone and the starres so Moses saith that God in the beginning created the Sunne the Moone and the Starres and placed them in the firmament of heauen Besides these two heauens there is a thirde which is inuisible and yet it is the worke of Gods handes and it is that glorious place where Christ in his manhoode sitteth at the right hande of the father and whether the soules of the faithfull departed are carried and placed and in which at the end of the world shall all the elect both in bodie and soule haue perfect ioy and blisse in the glorious sight and presence of God for euer But for the better conceiuing the trueth wee are to scanne and consider three questions First whether this third heauen be a creature for many haue thought it was neuer created but was eternall with God himselfe but it is a grosse errour contrarie to Gods vvorde For the Scripture saith Abraham looked for a citie meaning the heauenly Ierusalem this thirde heauen having a foundation vvhose builder and maker is God Further if it be eternall it must either be a creatour or a creature but it is no creatour for then it shoulde be God and therefore it must needes be a creature But some will say the
Lorde is eternall and this thirde heauen hath alwaies beene the place of the Lords abode and therefore it is also eternall Ansvver True it is that God doeth shewe his glorie and maiestie in the thirde heauen but yet that cannot obtaine his godhead as Salomon saith Beholde the heavens and the heavens of heavens are not able to containe thee Wherefore though God doeth manifest his eternall glorie in this thirde heauen yet it doeth not follow that therefore it shoulde be eternall for he needes no place to dvvell in for hee is every where filling all things with his presence excluded from no place The seconde question where this thirde heauen is Ansvvere There are some protestants say it is euery where and they hold this opinion to maintaine the reall presence of the Lordes body in or about the Sacrament But if it vvere euery where then hell shoulde be in heauen which no man will say but heauen indeed is aboue these visible heauens which we see with our eyes so the Apostle saith Christ ascended on high farre above all heauens c. And againe it is saide of Steven that beeing full of the holy ghost He looked up steadfastly into the heauens and sawe them open and the sonne of man standing at the right hand of God Thirdly it may be demanded why God created this thirde heauen Ansvver God made it for this cause that there might be a certaine place wherein he might make manifest his glorie and maiestie to his elect angels and men for the which cause it was created a thousand folde more glorious then the two former heavens are in which respect it is called Paradise by reason of the ioy and pleasure arising from Gods glorious presence And our Sauiour Christ calleth it the house of God his father because into it must be gathered all Gods children It is called the kingdome of heaven because God is the King thereof and ruleth there in perfect glorie True it is God hath his kingdome here on earth but he ruleth not so fully and gloriously here as hee shall in heauen for this is the kingdome of grace but that is the kingdome of his glorie where he so reigneth that he will be all in all first in Christ and then in the elect both Angels and men Now followes the duties wherunto we are moved principally in consideration of the making of the third heauen First if God created it especially for the manifestation of his glorie unto men that at the ende of this world by the fruition of Gods most glorious presence there they might haue perfect ioye and felicitie wee haue occasion here to consider the wonderfull madnesse of the vvorlde that reigneth euery where among men which onely haue regarde to the state of this life and cast all their care on this world and neuer so much as dreame of the ioyfull and blessed estate which is prepared for Gods children in the highest heauen If a man hauing two houses one but a homely cottage and the other a princely pallace should leaue the better and take all the care and paines for the dressing up of the first would not euerie man say he were a mad man yes undoubtedly And yet this is the spirituall madnesse that reigneth euery where among men for God hath prepared for us two houses one is this our bodie which we beare about us which is an house of clay as Iob saith VVee dvvell in houses of clay whose foundation is dust which shall be destroyed before the moth and as Peter saith a Tabernacle or tent which wee must shortly take downe and wherein we abide but as pilgrimes and strangers Againe the same God of his wonderfull goodnesse hath provided for us a second house in the third heauen wherein we must not abide for a time and so depart but for euermore enioy the blessed felicitie of his glorious presence For all this marke a spirituall phrensie possessing the mindes of men for they imploy all their care and industrie for the maintaining of this house of claye whose foundation is but dust but for the blessed estate of the second house which is prepared for them in the kingdome of heauen they haue no regarde or care They vvill both runne and ride from place to place day and night both by Sea and lande but for vvhat Is it for the preparing of a mansion place in the heauenly Ierusalem Nothing lesse for they will scarse goe forth of the doore to use any meanes whereby they may come unto it but all their studie is to patch vp the ruines and breaches of their earthly cabbine Now let all men iudge in their owne consciences whether as I haue saide this be not more then senselesse madnesse Againe the body is but a tabernacle wherein we must rest as it were for a night as a stranger doeth in an Inne and so away but the second house is eternall in the heavens an everlasting seate of all felicitie And therefore our dutie is aboue all things to seeke the kingdome of heauen and the righteousnesse thereof as Christ himselfe biddeth us And if the Lorde haue there prepared such a place for vs then wee must in this worlde use all good meanes whereby we may be made worthy the fruition of it also fitte and ready at the day of death to enter into it which at the day of iudgement we shall fully possesse both in soule and body and there reigne eternally in all happinesse with God Almightie our creatour the father the sonne and the holy ghost But some may say how shall a man so prepare himselfe that he may be fitte for that place Ansvver This the holy ghost teacheth us for speaking of this heauenly Ierusalem hee saith There shall enter into it none uncleane thing neither whatsoever vvorketh abomination or lyes The meanes then to make our selues fitte is to seeke to be reconciled to God in Christ for our sinnes past and withall to indeauour to haue an assurance of the free remission and pardon of them all in the blood of Christ. And as touching that part of life which is to come wee must remember what S. Iohn saith Euery one that hath this hope purifieth himselfe meaning that he which hath hope to reigne with Christ in heauen vseth the meanes whereby he may purifie and keepe himselfe from sinne as also he saith after that he which is borne of God keepeth himselfe and the wicked one toucheth him not Signifying that all such persons as are truly iustified and sanctified carrie such a narrowe and straite watch ouer the whole course of their liues and conuersations that the deuill can neuer giue them deadlie wounds and wholly ouercome them Now the man that is resolued in his conscience of the pardon of his sinne for the time past and hath a steadfast purpose in his heart to keepe himselfe upright and continually to walke in righteousnesse and true holinesse all the daies
Christ teacheth when he saith that the angels of little ones doe alreadie behold the face of the father in heauen And the wicked angels before their fall were placed in heauen for they were cast thence VI. That there be certaine distinctions and diuersities of angels it is very likely because they are called thrones and principalities and powers Cherubim and Seraphim But what be the distinct degrees and orders of angels and whether they are to be distinguished by their natures gifts or offices no man by Scripture can determine VII The ministerie of angels to which the Lord hath set them apart is three-fold and it respecteth either God himselfe or his Church or his enemies The ministery which they performe to God is first of all to adore praise and glorifie him continually Thus the Cherubims in Esaies vision cry one to another Holy holy holy is the Lord God of hosts the world is full of his glorie And when they were to publish the birth of the Messias they begin on this manner Glorie to God in the highest heauens peace on earth And Iohn in his vision heard the angels about the throne crying with a loud voyce Worthie is the Lambe c. to receiue power riches and strength wisedome and honour and glorie and praise And indeed the heighest ende of the ministerie of angels is the glorie of God The second is to stand in Gods presence euermore readie to do his commandements as Dauid saith Praise the Lord yee his Angels that excell in strength that doe his commandements in obeying the voice of his word And here is a good lesson for vs. VVe pray daily that we may doe the will of God as the Angels in heauen doe it let vs therefore be followers of the holy angels in praising God and in doing his commandements as they doe The ministerie of angels concerning the Church standes in this that they are ministring spirits for the good of them which shall be heyres of saluation The good is three-fold in this life in the ende of this life and in the last iudgement againe the good which they procure to the people of God in this life is either in respect of bodie or soule In respect of the bodie in that they doe most carefully performe all manner of duties which doe necessarily tend to preserue the temporall life of Gods children euen from the beginning of their daies to the ende Dauid saith that they pitch their tents about them that feare the Lord. When Agar was cast foorth of Abrahams familie and wandred in the wildernes an angell comes vnto hir and giues hir counsell to returne to hir mistres and humble hir selfe VVhen Elias fled from Iesabel he was both comforted directed and fedde by an angell And an angel bids the same Elias be of good courage and without feare to go to King Achazias reprooue him Angels bring Lot and his familie out of Sodom and Gomorrha before they burne the cities with fire brimstone VVhen Iacob feared his brother Esau he saw angels comming vnto him and he plainly acknowledgeth that they were sent to be his protectours and his guides in his iournie Abraham beeing perswaded of the assistance of Gods angels in all his waies said to his seruant The Lord God of heauen who tooke me from my fathers house c. will send his angell before thee The wise men that came to see Christ are admonished by Angels to returne another way Ioseph by the directiō of an angel fled into Egypt that he might preserue Christ frō the hāds of the cruel tyrāt the tēts of the Israelites was garded by angels The 3. children are deliuered frō the fierie furnace Daniel out of the lyōs den by angels Whē Christ was in heauines they ministred vnto him cōforted him they brought Peter out of prisō set him at liberty Againe the Angels procure good vnto the soules of the godly in that they are maintainers and furtherers of the true worship of God and of all good meanes whereby we attaine to saluation The law was deliuered in mount Sina by angels and a great part of the Reuelation of Iohn They expound to Daniel the 70. weekes They instruct the Apostles touching the returne of Christ to the last iudgement Angels forbid Iohn to worship them but to worship God the creatour of heauen and earth They set the Apostles out of prison and bid them teach in the temple An angel brings Philip to the Eunuch that he may expound the scriptures to him Lastly they reueale the mysteries and the will of God as to Abraham that he should not kil his sonne Isaac to Marie and Elizabeth the natiuitie of Iohn Baptist and of Christ our Sauiour al this they do according vnto the wil of God Gal. 1.8 Beside all this angels reioyce at the conuersion of sinners by the ministerie of the Gospell And for the Churches sake they protect not onely particular men but euen whole nations and kingdomes The ministerie of Angels in the ende of this life is to carie the soules of the godly into Abrahams bosome as they did the soule of Lazarus And in the day of iudgement to gather all the Elect that they may come before Christ and enter into eternall fruition of glorie both in bodie soule The third last part of the minsterie of angels concerns Gods enemies it is to execute iudgements on all wicked persons and impenitent sinners Thus all the first borne of Egypt are slain by an angel VVhen Iosua was about to sack Ierico an angel appeared vnto him as a captaine with a drawn sword to fight for Israel When the host of Senacherib came against Israel the angel of the Lord in one night slue an hundred eightie and fiue thousand Because Herod gaue not glorie vnto God the angel of the Lord smote him so as he was eaten vp of lice and died And thus we see what points we are to marke touching the good Angels Now followeth the vse which we are to make in regard of their creation First whereas they are Gods ministers to inflict punishments vpon the wicked here is a speciall point to be learned of vs that euery man in the feare of God take heede how he liueth and continueth in his sinnes for the case is dangerous considering that God hath armies of angels which stand readie euery where to execute Gods heauie iudgements vpon them that liue thus Whē the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord Moses saith they were naked that is open to all the iudgements of God euen destitute of the guard of his good Angels VVretched Balaam that wizard went to Balaac to curse the children of Israel and as he went it is said the angel of the Lord stood in his way with a drawne sword and if the asse had not beene wiser then his master the
essence of God vnlesse we will make euery mans soule to be God neither doth it spring of the soule of the parents for the soule can no more beget a soule then an angel can beget an angel And Adam is called a liuing soule and not a quickning soule And earthly fathers are called the fathers of our bodies and not of our soules It remaines therefore as beeing most agreeable to the Scriptures that the soules of men are then created by God of nothing when they are infused into the bodie And though the soules of men haue a beginning yet they haue no end but are eternal And when they are said to die it is not because they cease at any time to subsist or haue beeing in nature but because they cease to be righteous or to haue fellowship with God Whereas our bodies are Gods workemanship we must glorifie him in our bodies and all the actions of bodie and soule our eating and drinking our liuing and dying must be referred to his glorie yeâ— we must not hurt or abuse our bodies but present them as holy liuing sacrifices vnto God And whereas God made vs of the dust of the earth we are not to glorie and boast our selues but rather to take occasion to praise the great goodnes of God that hath vouchsafed to honour vs beeing but dust ashes And after that man is created what is his life alas it is nothing but a little breath stop his mouth and his nostrils and he is but a dead man By this we are put in minde to consider of our fraile and vncerten estate and to lay aside all confidence in our selues and for this cause the Prophet Esay teacheth vs to haue no confidence in man because his breath is in his nostrils Againe let vs marke the frame and shape of mans bodie Al other creatures go with their bodies eyes to the ground-ward but man was made to goe vpright whereas all other creatures haue but foure muscles to turne their eyes round about man hath a fifth to pul his eyes vp to heaven-warde Nowe what doth this teach vs surely that how so euer wee seeke for other thinges yet first of all and aboue all wee should seeke for the kingdome of heauen and the righteousnesse thereof and that our whole desire should be set to enioy the blessed estate of Gods children in heauen Secondly it teacheth vs in receiuing Gods creatures to returne thankfulnesse vnto God by lifting vp the heart to heauen for the same These are very needefull and profitable lessons in these daies for most men in deede goe vpright but looke into their liues and they might as vvell goe on all foure for in their conuersation they set their whole hearts vpon the earth as the beast doth and their eyes vpon the thinges of this worlde hereby they doe abase them selues and deface their bodies and beeing men make themselues as beasts we shall see great numbers of men that runne and ride from place to place to prouide for the bodie but to seeke the kingdome of heauen where their soules should dwell after this life in ioy for euer they will not stirre one foote Thirdly mans bodie by creation was made a temple framed by Gods own hands for himselfe to dwell in therefore our dutie is to keepe our bodies pure and cleane and not to suffer them to be instruments whereby to practise the sinne of the heart If a man had a faire house wherein he must entertaine a prince and should make hereof a swinestie or a stable would not all meÌ„ say that he did greatly abuse both the house and the prince euen so mans bodie beeing at the first made a pallace for the euerliuing God if a man shall abuse it by drunkennesse swearing lying fornication or any vncleannesse hee doth make it in stead of a temple for the holy Ghost to be a sâ—ie or stable for the deuill For the more filthie a mans bodie is the more fit it is to be a dwelling place for sinne and Sathan Fourthly man by creation was made a goodly creature in the blessed image of God but by Adams fall men lost the same and are nowe become the deformed children of wrath our dutie therefore is to labour to get againe our first image and endeauour our selues to become new creatures If a noble man should staine his blood by treason after his death the posteritie will neuer be at rest till they haue got away that spot Man by Adams fall is become a limme of the deuill a rebell and traytor against Gods maiestie and this is the state of euery one of vs by nature we are at enmitie with God therefore we ought to labour aboue all things in the world to be restored in Christ to our first estate and perfection that so we may become bone of his bone flesh of his flesh beeing iustified and sanctified by his obedience death and passion Fiftly man was created that there might be a way prepared whereby God might shew his grace and mercie in the saluation of some and his iustice in the deserued damnation of others for their sinnes and in the creation of man Gods eternall counsell begins to come into exequution Hereupon it stands vs in hand to make conscience of euery euill way beeing repentant for all our sinnes past and hauing a constant purpose neuer to sinne more as we haue done that by our good conuersation here in this life wee may haue assurance that we be eternally chosen to saluation by the Lord himselfe Lastly whereas wee haue learned that the soule of man is immortall wee are hereby taught to take more care for the soule then for the bodie For it can not be extinguished When it is condemned euen then it is alwaies in dying and can neuer die But alas in this point the case is â—lat contrarie in the worlde for men will labour all their life long to get for the bodie but for the soule they care little or nothing at all chuse it whether it sinke or swimme goe to heauen or to hell they looke not to it This doth appeare to be true by the practise and behauiour of men on the Lordes day for if the nomber of those which come to heare Gods worde were compared with those which runne about their worldly wealth and pleasure I feare me the better sort would be found to be but a little handfull to a huge heape or as a droppe to the Ocean sea in respect of the other But wilt thou goe an hundred myle for the encrease of thy wealth and delight of thy bodie then think it not much to go ten thousand miles if neede were to take any paines for the good of thy soule and to get foode for the same And thus much for the duties Nowe follow the consolations Although by reason of the fall of man wee can haue but little comfort nowe yet the creation doth conâ—â—rme the vnspeakeable prouidence of
be inferiour to the father yet doth it not hinder but that he may be equall to him as he is the second person in trinitie or as he is God by one and the same Godhead with the father IV. He that is made of God to be this or that is not God but Christ is made of God as Paul saith Christ is made vnto vs wisdome righteousnes c. Answer Christ is said to be made not because there was any beginning of his Godhead or any chaunge or alteration in his person but because in the eternall counsell of the father he was set apart before all times to exequute the office of a Mediatour and was withall in time called and as it were consecrated and ordained thereunto in his baptisme he is made therefore in respect of his office but not in respect of his person or nature V. God hath no head Christ hath an head as Paul saith God is Christs head Answ. God that is the father is head of Christ not as he is God simply but as he is God incarnate or made manifest in the fâ—esh and in respect of the office to which he willingly abased himselfe VI. Hee which giues vp his kingdome is not God Christ giues vp his kingdome Then saith Paul shall be the end when he hath deliuered vp the kingdome to God euen the father Answer Christ is king two waies as he is God and as he is Mediatour as he is God he raignes eternally with the father and the holy Ghost but as he is Mediatour in the ende of the worlde when all the companie of the elect are gathered his kingdome shall cease not simplie but in respect of the â—â—tward manner of administration for the exequution of civill and ecclesiasticall functions shall cease And whereas in the same place it is said that Christ shalbe subiect vnto God eternally after the ende it must be vnderstood partly in regard of the assumed manhood partly in respect of his mysticall bodie the Church most neerely ioyned vnto him in heauen VII The first borne of euery creature of many brethren is a creature not God but Christ is the first borne of euery creature of many brethren Ans. He is called the first borne by allusion to the first borne in the old testament for as they were principall heires hauing double portions allowed them the chiefe or gouernours of the familie so Christ is made heire of the world and the head of Gods familie which is his Church elected and adopted in him And againe he is called the first borne of euery creature because he was begotten of the substance of his father before any creature was made and therfore it is not here said that he was first created but first begotten By the reasons which haue bin alleadged as also by the insufficiencie of the contrarie arguments it is more then manifest against all heretikes that Christ is very God Yet to stoppe the mouthes of all Atheists to satisfie all wauering doubtings minds I will adde one reason further The gospel of S. Iohn was chiefly penned for this end to prooue the dietie of Christ among other arguments alledged this is one that Christ gaue a resolute a constant testimonie of himselfe that he was the sonne of God very God now if any man shall say that sundrie persons since the beginning of the world haue taken vpon theÌ„ that falsely to be gods I answer that neuer any creature tooke this title honour vpon him to be called God but the fearefull iudgements of God were vpon him for it In the estate of mans innocencie the deuill tolde our first parents that by eating the fruite of the tree of knowledge of good and euill they should be as gods knowing good euill now they beleeued him affected diuine honour but what came of it surely Adam with all his posteritie is shut vp for it vnder eternall damnation Herod likewise araied in royall apparell sitting on the iudgement seate made an oration to the men of Tyre Sidon who gaue a shout saying the voice of God not of man Now because he tooke the glorie of God to himselfe did not returne it to him to whoÌ„ it was due immediatly the angel of the Lord smote him And so if Christ had bin but a meere man not very God as he auouched vndoubtedly the hand of God would haue bin vpon him likewise for his confusion but when he suffered for vs and bare the punishment due for our sinnes he most triumphed And the iudgements of God were vpon Herod Pontius Pilate Caiphas vpon all those that were enemies to him and to his church afterward that partly in life partly in death Wherefore seeing that God can not abide that his glorie should be giuen to any creature seeing for that cause he takes reuenge on all those that exalt themselues to be gods it remains that the testimony which Christ gaue of himselfe that he was God is vnfallibly true without all question to be beleeued of vs. And to conclude I would haue all the deuils in hel with the cursed order of Lucians Porphyrians and Atheists whatsoeuer to answer this one point howe it could come to passe that Christ by publishing the doctrine of the Gospell that is as contrarie to mans reason will and affections as water to fire should winne almost the whole world to become his disciples and to giue their liues for him vnlesse he were God indeed as he confessed himselfe to be There be sundrie speciall reasons wherefore it was necessarie that Christ should be God I. There is none which can be a Sauiour of bodie soule but God I euen I am the Lord and besides â—e there is no Sauiour And I am the Lord the God from the land of Egipt and thou shalt knowe no God but me for there is no Sauiour beside me II. There must be a proportion betweene the sinne of man and the punishmeÌ„t of sinne now the sinne of man in respect of the offence of the maiestie of God is infinite in that he is infinitely displeased with man at the breach of his lawe therefore the punishment of sinne must be infinite and hence it followeth that he which suffereth the punishment beeing man must withall be God that the manhood by the power of the Godhead may be supported that in suffering it may vanquish death and make a satisfaction III. He that must be a Sauiour must be able 1. to deliuer men from the bondage of their spirituall enemies namely sinne and Satan 2. to restore the image of God lost by the fall of Adam and to conferre righteousnes and life euerlasting 3. to defend them from hell death damnation the flesh the deuill the world 4. to giue them full redemption from all their miseries both in bodie and soule and to place them in eternall happines all which none can doe
vnderstood with two caveats The first is that infirmities be either certaine vnblameable passions or else such defects as are sinnes in themselues nowe Christ takes the first onely and not the second Secondly infirmities be either generall or personall generall which appertaine to the whole nature of man and are to be found in euery man that comes of Adam as to be borne vnlearned and subiect to naturall affections as sorrowe anger c. Personall are such as appertaine to some particular men and not to all and arise of some priuate causes and particular iudgements of God as to be borne a foole to be sicke of an ague consumption dropsie pleuresie and such like diseases Now the first sort be in Christ and not the second for as he tooke not the person of any man but onely mans nature so was it sufficient for him to take vnto him the infirmities of mans nature though hee tooke not the priuate infirmities of any mans person And the reason why Christ would put on not onely the substance and faculties of a true man but also his infirmities was that hee might shewe him selfe to be very man indeed also that he might suffer for vs both in bodie and soule and that he might giue vs an example of patience in bearing all manner of euill for Gods glorie and the good of our neighbour Now the things which may be alleadged to the contrarie for the infringing of the truth of Christs manhood are of no moment As first because Christ appeared in the forme of a man in the old testament beeing no man therefore he did so at his comming in the newe testament but the reason is not like For Christ in the old testament as the angell of his father in some speciall affaires tooke vnto him the bodie of a man for some space of time but he did not receiue it into the vnitie of his person but laid it downe when the busines which he enterprised with men was ended Now in the fulnes of time he came from heauen as the angell of the covenant and for that cause he was to vnite into his owne person the nature of man And when as Paul saith that Christ came in the similitude of sinnefull flesh his meaning is not to signifie that he was a man onely in resemblance and shewe but to testifie that beeing a true man indeede void of sinne was content to abase himselfe to that condition in which he became like to a miserable sinner in bearing the punishment for our sinne For Paul doth not say that he tooke vpon him the similitude of flesh simply as it is flesh but of the flesh of sinne or sinnefull flesh The third question is why the sonne of God must become man Answer There be sundrie reasons of this point and the most principall are these First of all it is a thing that greatly standes with the iustice of God that in that nature in which God was offended in the same should be a made satisfaction to God for sinne nowe sinne was committed in mans nature Adam sinned first and in him all his posteritie therefore it is very necessarie that in mans nature there should be a satisfaction made to Gods iustice and therefore the sonne of God must needes abase himselfe and become man for our sakes Secondly by the right of creation euery man is bounde in conscience to fulfull euen the very rigour and extremitie of the morall lawe But considering man is nowe fallen from his first estate and condition therefore it was requisite that the sonne of God should become man that in mans nature hee might fulfill all righteousnes which the law doth exact at our handes Thirdly hee that is our redeemer must die for our sinnes for their is no remission of sinnes without shedding of bloode but Christ as he is God can not die For no passion can befall the Godhead Therefore it was needefull that hee should become man that in mans nature hee might die and fully satisfie Gods iustice for mans offence Lastly hee that must make reconciliation betweene God and man must be such an one as may make request or speake both to God and man For a Mediatour is as it were a middle person making intercession betweene two other persons the one offended the other offending Therefore it is necessarie that Christ should not onely be God to speake vnto the father for vs and to present our praiers vnto him but also man that God might speake to vs and we to God by Christ. For howsoeuer before the fal man could speake to God euen face to face yet since the fall such feare possesseth mans corrupt nature that he cannot abide the presence of God but flieth from it Nowe whereas I say that it was necessarie that the sonne of God for the causes before alleadged must become man the necessitie must be vnderstood in respect of Gods will and not in respect of his power For if it had so pleased God hee was able to haue laide downe an other kinde of way of mans redemption then by the incarnation of the sonne of God and he appointed no other way because he would not Thus much of the Incarnation in generall Now followe the duties vvhich arise of it And first vvee are taught hereby to come to Christ by faith and vvith all our heartes to cleaue unto him Great is the deadnesse and sluggishnesse of mans nature for scarse one of a thousande cares for him or seekes unto him for righteousnesse and life euerlasting But wee shoulde excite our selues euerie vvay to dravve neare to him as much as possibly vvee may for when hee was incarnate hee came neare unto us by taking our nature upon him that wee againe whatsoeuer wee are might come neare unto him by taking unto us his divine nature Againe when Christ was incarnate he was made bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh therfore proportionally we must labour to become bone of his bone flesh of his flesh which we shall be when we are mistically united unto him by faith born anew by his spirit Moreouer Christ by his incarnation came down frō heauen to vs that we being partakers of his grace might ascend vp to heauen by him And thus we see how the meditation of Christs incarnation should be a spurre to pricke vs forwarde still more and more to come to Christ. Secondly Christs incarnation must be a patterne vnto vs of a most wonderfull and straunge humilitie For as Paul saith Beeing in the forme of God and thinking it no robberie to be equall with God made himselfe of no reputation and tooke on him the forme of a seruant and humbled himselfe and became obedient to death euen to the death of the crosse Yea so farrefoorth abased hee himselfe that as David saith he was a worme and no man And this teacheth vs to lay aside all selfe-loue and pride of heart and to practise the dueties of
to the flesh As for his soule it was not deriued from the soule of the virgine Mary as a part therof but it was made as the soules of all other men be of nothing by the power of God and placed in the bodie both of them from the first moment of their being hauing their subsistance in the person of the sonne And here vve must take heede of two opinions the first is of the Anabaptists which hold that the flesh of Christ came downe from heauen and passed through the virgine Marie as through a pipe without taking any substance from her the places which they alledge for their purpose are manifestly abused For whereas Christ saith of himselfe that he descended from heavē his speech must be understood in respect of his godheade which may be saide in some sorte to descend in that it was made manifest in the manhoode here upon earth And vvhereas Paul calleth him heavenly the Lorde from heaven it is not in respect of the substance of his bodie but in respect of the glorious qualities which he received after this resurrection The other opinion is of the Papistes that hold the bread in the sacrament to be turned substantially into the bodie of Christ which thing if it be true then the bodie of Christ is made of bread kneaded and tempered by the hand of the baker and not of the substance of the virgine Mary As for the manner of the making and framing of the humane nature of Christ it was miraculous not by generation according to the ordinarie course of nature but by an extraordinarie operation of the holy Ghost aboue nature and for this cause it is not within the compasse of mans reason either to conceiue or to expresse the manner and order of this conception The Angell ascribes two actions to the holy Ghost in this matter the one to come upon the virgine Marie the other to overshadovv her by the first is signified the extraordinarie worke of the holy ghost in fashioning the humane nature of Christ for so much the phrase else-where importeth The seconde signifieth that the holy ghost did as it were cast a cloud ouer hir to teach vs that we should not search over much into the mysterie of the Incarnation It may be obiected against this which hath beene saide that if Christ be in this manner conceiued by the holy Ghost then the holy ghost shalbe father to Christ and Christ his sonne Answer The reason is not good For hee that is a father is not a bare efficient cause but one which in the effecting of any thing conferres the matter vnto it from him selfe whereof it shall be made Now the holy ghost did not minister any matter vnto Christ from his owne substance but did onely as it were take the masse and lumpe of mans nature from the bodie of the virgine Mary and without ordinarie generation made it the bodie of Christ as Basill saieth Christ was conceiued not of the substance but of the power not by any generation but by the appointment and benediction of the holy ghost The second pointe in the conception is the sanctifying of that masse or lumpe which was to be the manhood of Christ. And that was done upon speciall cause first tha◠that it might be ioned to the person of the Sonne which coulde not haue beene if it had beene defiled with sinne Secondly Christ was a Saviour as hee is both God and man now then beeing man if hee had beene sinnefull himselfe he could not haue saued others but should haue stood in need of a Saviour for himselfe This sanctification hath two partes the first is the stay and stoppage of the propagation of originall sinne and of the guilt of Adams sinne which was on this manner God in the beginning set downe this order touching man that what euill or defect soever he brought upon himselfe hee shoulde deriue the same to euerie one of his posteritie begotten of him and hereupon when any father begets his childe hee is in the roome of Adam and conveyes unto it besides the nature of man the verie guilt and corruption of nature Now for the preuenting of this euill in Christ God in great wisdome appointed that hee should be conceiued by the holy ghost without any manner of generation by man And by this meanes he takes substance from the virgine without the guilte and corruption of the substance But it may further be obiected thus All that be in Adam haue sinned in him but Christ was in Adam as hee is man therefore he sinned in him Answer The proposition is false vnlesse it be expounded in this manner All that were in Adam haue sinned in him so be it they come of him by generation Paul saith not that out of one man but by one man sinne entred into the world to shewe that hee propagates his corruption to no more then he begets Againe Christ is in Adam not simply as other men are but in part namely in respect of substance which hee tooke from him and not in respect of the propagation of the substance by ordinarie generation other men are both from Adam and by Adam but Christ is from him alone and not by him as a begetter or procreant cause The second parte of sanctification is the infusion of all purenes and holinesse into the manhood of Christ so farre forth as was meete for the nature of a redeemer The duties to be learned hence are these First whereas Christ was sanctified in the wombe of the virgine Mary we likewise must labour to be sanctified in our selues following the commandement of God Be ye holy as I am holy S. Iohn saith that he which hath hope to be with Christ in glorie in heaven purifieth him-selfe even as he is pure no doubt setting before himselfe the exāple of Christ as a patterne to follow in all his waies And because our hearts are as it were seas of corruptiōs we must daily clense our selues of them by litle litle following the practise of the poore begger that is alwaies peecing and mending and day by day pulles away some ragges and puts better cloath in the roome And if we shall continually indeauour our selues to cast off the remnants of corruption that hang so fast on and make a supply thereof by some new portions of Gods heavenly grace we shalbe vessels of honour sanctified meete for the Lorde and prepared unto euerie good worke Christ could not haue bin a fit sauiour for us vnlesse he had first of all bin sanctified neither can we be fit members vnto him unlesse we be purged of our sinnes in some measure truly sanctified The comfort which Gods people may reape of the sanctificatiō of Christs manhood is great For why was he sanctified Surely if we marke it well we shal find it was for the good benefit of his elect For Adā Christ be two roots as hath bin shewed Adam by
is the naturall sonne of Neri and the legall sonne of Iechonias Now Saint Luke sets downe the naturall descent of Christ from Dauid by Nathan and Saint Matthew the other descent which is legall by Salomon whome Christ succeeded in the right of the kingdom being borne the king of the Iewes none that could possibly be named hauing more right to it then he By this discent of Christ we haue occasion to consider that Christ was euen in his birth the most excellent and noble man that euer was descending of the eternall father as he is the sonne of God and as he man descending of the Patriarks and of the renowmed kings of Iudah And this his nobilitie he conuaies in part to his members in that he makes them the sonnes of God a royall priesthood and a peculiar people to himselfe inriching them also with the reuenewes of the whole world and with the title and right to the kingdome of glorie in heauen as their inheritance And withall Christ beeing the liuely patterne of true nobilitie by his example men of blood are taught not to stand so much on their pedigree and their ancetours as though nobilitie stood in this that man descends of man but to labour with all that they may to be the sonnes and daughters of God by regeneratioÌ„ in Christ. This in deede is the ornament of the blood the best part in the noble mans skutchin and the finest flowre in his garland And though a man be neuer so noble or great an estate yet if he be not a repentant sinner he is base and vile and his nobilitie stinks in the nostrils of God Christ in his genealogie doth not so much as vouchsafe to name those his ancetours that ruled wickedly and hereupon Saint Matthew omitteth three kings of Iuda Achaziah Ioas Amaziah whereas neuerthelesse hainous offendours that repented are mentioned as Ruth and Thamat and Bathshabe Thus much of the incarnation of Christ Now followeth the third and last point which is to be considered in the description of Christ namely the estate of Christ after his birth which is two-fold the estate of humiliation and the estate of exaltation The estate of humiliation is the condition of Christ the Mediatour in which he abased himselfe euen to the death of the crosse that by that meanes he might performe the office of a priest in making satisfaction to the iustice of his father This estate agrees to the whole person of Christ according to both natures For first of all his manhoode was abased and humbled in that it was made subiect to the infirmities of mans nature as also to the miseries and punishments which were due vnto man for sinne Secondly his Godhead was abased not as it is considered in it selfe For so it admits no alteration or chaunge But in respect of the flesh or manhoode assumed vnder the which as vnder a vaile the Godhead lay hid from the first moment of the incarnation to the time of his resurrectioÌ„ without any great manifestation of his power and maiestie therein The order of these two estates must be marked First is the estate of humiliation and then in the second place followes the estate of exaltation As Christ saith of him selfe O fooles and slow of heart to beleeue c. ought not Christ to haue suffered these things and to enter into his glorie And here we for our part must learne a lesson The same which was true in Christ the head must be verifyed in all his members they must also haue their two-fold estate First in this life the estate of humiliation secondly after this life the estate of glorie And as Christ first entred into the state of his humiliation and then into glorie so it is with his members first they must be abased in this life and secondly exalted in the worlde to come He that will raigne with Christ and be exalted must first suffer with him and be humbled hee that will weare the crowne of glorie must weare first a crowne of thornes they that will haue all teares wyped from their eyes must here first in this life shed them And the children of God before they can sing the song of Moses and of the seruants of God and of the lambe must first swimme through the sea of burning glasse wherby it is signified that those which after this life would sing songs of praises to Christ must in this life be cast into a sea of miserie And if this be true then we may heare learne that it is a wretched case for a man in this life to haue perpetuall ease rest and quietnes both in bodie and soule goods and good name for we see by Christs example that through aduersitie we must come to happines and if a man would haue rest and peace in the life to come then in this life he must suffer trouble persecution and sorrow Indeede in the iudgement of the world they are blessed that alwaies liue at rest but before God they are most miserable and as oxen which are made fat in the best pasture readie for the slaughterhouse euery day Secondly here is an excellent consolation for those which professe the Gospell of Christ in the time of trouble and persecution they must reioyce because the state of humiliation in this life is a signe that they are in the plaine and right way to saluation and glorie A man is to take his iourney into a farre countrey and inquiring for the way it is told him that there are many plaine waies but the straight and right way is full of woods and hills and mountaines and great daungers now when he is traueiling and comes into those places he gathereth certenly that he is in the right way so the child of God that is going to the kingdome of heauen though there be many waies to walke in yet he knowes that there is but one right way which is very straight and narrow full of trouble sorrow and persecution full of all manner of crosses and afflictions and when in this life he is persecuted and afflicted for good causes whether in bodie or in minde if he be content to beare his crosse it agreeth plainly that he is in the right way vnto saluation for thorough many afflictions wee must enter into the kinâ—dome of heauen The humiliation of Christ is first of all set downe in the Creede generally and secondly by his parts or degrees Generally in these words suffered vnder Pontius Pilate Where we must consider two things the passion it selfe and vnder whome it was For the first that we may the better conceiue the passion in his owne nature seuen speciall points must be opened I. The cause efficient The principall cause of the passion as it is the price of our redemption was the decree and prouidence of God as Peter saith expressely that Christ was deliuered by the determinate counsell and foreknowledge of God The impulsive cause that mooued God to worke
our hearts will not rend when as hard rocks cleaue asunder Thirdly the mooving of the earth the rending of the rocks asunder may be a signe vnto vs of the vertue of the doctrine of the Gospell of Christ which is nothing els but the publishing of the passion of his death which being preached shal shake heauen and earth sea and land It shall moue the earthen hard and rockie hearts of men and raise vp of meere stones and rocks children vnto Abraham But the maine vse and end of this point is to prooue that he that was crucified was the true Messias the sonne of God and therefore had the power of heauen and earth and could mooue all things at his pleasure The sixt signe of the power of Christ is that graves did open and many bodies of the saintes which slept arose and came out of their graues after his resurrection and went into the holy citie and appeared unto many The use of this signe is this it signifies unto us that Christ by his death upon the crosse did vanquish death in the graue and opened it and thereby testified that he was the resurrection and the life so that it shall not haue euerlasting dominion ouer us but that he vvill raise us up from death to life and to euerlasting glorie The seuenth signe is the testimonie of the Centurion with his souldiours which stood by to see Christ executed S. Marke saith when he saw that Christ thus crying gaue up the ghost he said truly this was the sonne of God Thus we see it is an easie matter for Christ to defend his own cause let Iudas betray him Peter denie him and all the rest forsake him yet he can if it so please him make the Centurion that standeth by to see him executed to testifie of his innocencie But what vvas the occasion that mooued him to giue so worthy a testimonie S. Matthew saith it was feare and that feare was caused by hearing the loud crie of Christ by seeing the earthquake and thinges which vvere done And this must put us in minde not to passe by Gods iudgements which daily fall out in the worlde but take knowledge of them and as it were to fix both our eyes on them For they are notable meanes to strike and astonish the rebellious heart of man and to bring it in awe and subiectiō to God After that the two first captaines with their fifties commanding the prophet Elias to come downe to king Achaziah were consumed with fire from heauen the king sent his third captaine ouer fiftie with his fiftie to fetch him downe but what doth he it is said he fell on his knee before Eliah and besought him saying O man of God I pray thee let my life and the lives of these fiftie servants be pretious in thine eyes But what was the cause why he prayed thus Surely he obserued what iudgements of God fell upon his two former fellowe captaines Beholde saith hee there came downe fire from heauen and devoured the two former captaines with their fifties therefore let my life be pretious now in thy sight Thus laying to his owne heart and making use of Gods iudgements hee humbled himselfe and was spared with his fiftie And Habbaccuk saith When I hearde the voice namely of Gods iudgements rottennesse entred into my bones and I trembled in my selfe that I might be safe in the day of the Lorde Nowe what this feare of the Centurion was there is a further question and it is verie like that it was but a sudden motion or a certaine preparatiue to better things For he was but an heathen man and had as yet no knowledge of Christ and whether hee repented or not it is uncerten and wee must not maruell at this for there are many sudden motions in shewe verie good that upon like occasions rise in the heartes of naturall men When God plagued the land of Egypt then Pharaoh sent for Moses and confessed that the Lorde was righteous but he and his people were wicked and desired Moses to pray to God to take away the plague who did so but so soone as the hand of God was stayed he returned to his olde rebellion againe And as a dogge that commeth out of the water shaketh his eares and yet returneth into it againe so is the maner of the world when crosses and calamities befall men as sicknesse losse of friends or goods then with Ahab they outwardly humble them-selues and goe softly they use to frequent the place where the word is preached and Gods name called upon but alas common experience shewes that these things are but fittes arising of uncerten and flittering motions in the heart For so soone as the crosse is remooued they returne to their old byas againe become as bad as backwarde as euer they vvere being like to the tree that lies in the water which for a while is greene but afterward withereth And therefore wee for our partes when wee haue any good motions come into our hearts as the beginnings of further grace wee must not quench them but cherish and preserue them remembring that the kingdome of heauen is like a graine of mustard seed which vvhen it is sowne is the least of all seedes but afterward it groweth up into a tree that the foules of the heauen may build their neasts in it like to this are the first motions of Gods spirite and therefore they must be cherished and maintained And thus much for the 7. signes of the power of Christs godhead Now follovves the second part of the triumph of Christ which containeth signes of his victorie upon the crosse notably expressed by Paul when he saith And putting out the handwriting of ordinances which was against us which was contrary to us he euen tooke it out of the way fastened it upon the crosse hath spoiled the principalities powers and hath made a shew of them openly hath triumphed over them in the same In vvhich wordes hee alludeth to the manner of heathen triumphs for it was the custome of heathen princes when they had gotten the victorie over their enimies first to cause a pillar of stone or some great oke to be cut down and set up in the place of victorie vpon which either the names of the chiefe enemies vvere set or their heads vvere hanged or vvords vvere written in the pillar to testifie the victorie This being done there follovved an open shewe in vvhich first the conquerour prepares for himselfe a chariot of victory wherin he vvas himselfe to ride and then the chiefe of his enemies bound pinioned vvere led openly after him Novve on the same maner upon the crosse there was a pitcht field the Emperour on the one side was Christ his enemies on the other side were the vvorld the flesh hell death damnation the deuill and all his angels all vvhich banding themselues against him vvere all subdued by him
his godheade But his godhead could not descend because it is euery where and his bodie was in the graue And as for his soule it went not to hell but presently after his death it went to paradise that is the third heauen a place of ioy happines Luke 23.43 This day shalt thou be with me in paradise which vvordes of Christ must be understood of his manhood or soule not of his godhead For they are an answer to a demaÌ„d therfore unto it they must be sutable Now the thief seeing that Christ was first of all crucified therfore in all likelihood first of all die makes his request to this effect Lorde thou shalt shortly enter into thy kingdome remeÌ„ber me then to which Christes answere as the very words import is thus much I shall enter into paradise this day there shalt thou be with me Now there is no entrance but in regard of his soule or manhood For the godhead which is at all times in all places caÌ„ not be said properly to enter into a place Again when Christ saith thou shalt be with me in paradise he doeth intimate a resemblaÌ„ce which is betweene the first secoÌ„d Adam The first AdaÌ„ sinned against God was presently cast foorth out of paradise Christ the second Adam hauing made a satisfactioÌ„ for sinne must immediatly enter into paradise Now to say that Christ in soule descended locally into hell is to abolish this analogie betvvene the first second Adam III. Ancient councels in their confessions and creeds omitting this clauseshew that they did not acknowledge any reall descent and that the true meaning of these words he descended was sufficiently included in some of the former articles that may appeare because when they set downe it they omit some of the former as Athanasius in his creed setting downe these words he descended c. omits the buriall putting them both for one as he expounds himselfe else where Now let us see the reasons which may be alledged to the contrary Ob. I. Mat. 12.40 The sonne of man shall be 3. dayes 3. nights in the heart of the earth that is in hell Ans. I. This exposition is directly against the scope of the place for the Pharisies desired to see a signe that is some sensible manifest miracle hereunto Christ answeres that he will giue them the signe of Ionas which caÌ„ not be the descent of his soule into the place of the daÌ„ned which is impossible but rathet his buriall after it his manifest glorious resurrectioÌ„ II. The hart of the earth may as wel signify the graue as the center of the earth For thus Tyrus bordering upon the sea is said to be in the heart of the sea III. This exposition takes it far granted that hell is seated in the middest of the earth wheras the scriptures reveale unto us no more but this that hell is in the lower parts but wher these lower parts should be no man is able to define Obiect II. Act. 2.37 Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption Answer These wordes can not prooue any locall descent of Christs soule For Peters drift in alleadging of them is to prooue the resurrection and he saith expressely that the wordes must be vnderstoode of the resurrection of Christ vers 31. He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ. What namely these words his soule was not left in hell c. Nowe there is no resurrection of the soule but of the bodie onely as the soule cannot be said to fall but the bodie It will be replied that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot signifie the bodie and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the graue Answer The first word signifies not onely the spirituall part of man the soule but also the whole person or the man himselfe Rom. 13.1 1. Cor. 15.45 And the second is as well taken for the graue as for hell Apoc. 20.14 Death and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are cast into the lake of fire Nowe we can not say that hell is cast into hell but the graue into hell And the word in this text must needes haue this sense For Peter makes an opposition betwâ—eene the graue into which Dauid is shut vp and the hell out of which Christ was deliuered vers 2â— 31. Againe it will be saide that in this text there be two distinct parts the first of the soules comming forth of hell in these words Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell The second of the bodies rising out of the graue in the next words neither wilt thou suffer my flesh to see corruption Answer It is not so For flesh in this place signifies not the bodie alone but the humane nature of Christ as appeares vers 30. vnlesse we shall say that one and the same word in the same sentence is taken two waies And the words rather carrie this sense Thou wilt not suffer me to continue long in the graue nay which is more in the time of my continuance there thou wilt not suffer me so much as to feele any corruption because I am thy holy one Obiect III. 1. Pet. 3.19 Christ was quickned in spirit by the which spirit he went and preached to the spirits which are in prison Answer The place is not for this purpose For by spirit is ment not the soule of Christ but his Godhead which in the ministerie of Noe preached repentance to the olde world And I thinke that Peter in this place alludes to another place in Genesis 6.3 where the Lord saith My spirit shall not alwaies striue with man because he is but flesh And if the spirit doe signifie the soule then Christ was quickned either by his soule or in his soule But neither is true For the first it can not be said that Christ was quickened by his soule because it did not ioyne it selfe to the bodie but the Godhead ioyned them both Neither was he quickened in soule for his soule died not It could not die the first death which belongs to the bodie and it did not die the second death which is a totall separation from God onely it suffered the sorrowes of the second death which is the apprehension of the wrath of God as a man may feele the pangs of the first death and yet not die the first death but liue Againe it is to no ende that Christs soule should goe to hell to preach considering that it was neuer heard of that one soule should preach to another especially in hell where all are condemned and in conscience convicted of their iust damnation and where there is no hope of repentance or redemption It will be answered that this preaching is onely reall or experimentall because Christ shews himselfe there to conuince the vnbeleefe of his enemies Answer This which is said is flat against reason For when a man is iustly condemned
of a whale that so he might chastice him and thus doth he deale with his owne seruants to make them conformable to Christ. And further when it pleaseth God to lay his hand vpon our soules and make vs haue a troubled and distressed conscience so as we doe as it were struggle with Gods wrath as for life and death and can finde nothing but his indignation seazing vpon our soules which is the most grieuous and perplexed estate that any man can be in in this case howsoeuer we cannot discerne or see any hope or comfort in our selues yet we must not thinke it strange nor quite despaire of his mercie For the sonne of God himselfe descended into hell and death carried him captiue and triumphed ouer him in the graue and therefore though God seeme to be our vtter enemie yet we must not despaire of his helpe In diuers Psalmes we reade howe Dauid was not onely persecuted outwardly of his enemies but euen his souâ—e and conscience were perplexed for his sinnes so as his bones were consumed within him and his moysture was turned into the drought in sommer This caused Iob to cry out that the arrowes of God were within him and the venyme thereof did drinke vp his spirit the terrours of God did fight against him and the griefe of his soule was as waightie as the sand of the sea by reason whereof he saith that the Lord did make him a marke and a butte to shoote at and therefore when God shall thus afflict vs either in bodie or in soule or in both we must not alwaies thinke that it is the wrathfull hand of the Lord that begins to bring vs to vtter condemnation for our sinnes but rather his fatherly worke to kill sinne in vs and to make vs grow in humilitie that so we may become like vnto Christ Iesus Secondly whereas Christ for our sakes was thus abased euen vnto the lowest degree of humiliation that can be it is an example for vs to imitate as Christ himselfe prescribeth Learne of me that I am meeke and lowly And that we may the better doe this we must learne to become nothing in our selues that we may be all in all forth of our selues in Christ we must loath and thinke as basely of our selues as may be in regard of our sinnes Christ Iesus vpon the crosse was content for our sakes to become a worme and no man as Dauid saith which did chiefely appeare in this lowest degree of his humiliation when as death did as it were tread on him in his denne and the same minde must likewise be in vs which was in him The liking that we haue of our selues must be meere nothing but all our loue and liking must be forth of our selues in the death and bloode of Christ. And thus much of this clause as also of the state of Christs humiliation Nowe followeth his second estate which is his exaltation into glorie set down in these words The third day he rose againe from the deade c. And of it we are first to speake in generall then in particular according to the seuerall degrees thereof In generall the exaltation of Christ is that glorious or happie estate into which Christ entred after he had wrought the worke of our redemption vpon the crosse And he was exalted according to both natures in regard of his Godhead and also of his manhood The exaltation of the Godhead of Christ was the manifestation of the glorie of his Godhead in the manhoode Some will peraduenture demaunde how Christs Godhead can be exalted seeing it admits no alteration at all Answer In it selfe it cannot be exalted yet beeing considered as it is ioyned with the manhood into one person in this respect it may be said to be exalted and therefore I say the exaltation of Christs Godhead is the manifestation of the glorie thereof in the manhood For though Christ from his incarnation was both God and man and his Godhead dwelt in his manhood yet from his birth vnto his death the same Godhead did little shew it selfe and in the time of his suffering did as it were lie hid vnder the vaile of his flesh as the soule doth in the bodie when a man is sleeping that thereby in his humane nature he might suffer the curse of the law and accomplish the worke of redemption for vs in the low and base estate of a seruant But after this worke was finished he began by degrees to make manifest the power of his Godhead in his manhood And in this respect his Godhead may be saide to be exalted The exaltation of Christs humanitie stoode in two things The first that he laide downe all the infirmities of mans nature which he carried about him so long as he was in the state of a seruant in that he ceased to be wearie hungrie thirstie c. Here it may be demaÌ„ded whether the skarres wouÌ„ds remain in the bodie of Christ now after it is glorified Ans. Some think that they doe remain as testimonies of that victorie which Christ obtained of his our enemies that they are no deformitie to the glorious bodie of our Lord but are themselues also in him in some vnspeakable manner glorified But indeede it rather seemes to be a truth to say that they are quite abolished because they were a part of that ignominious and base estate in which our Sauiour was vpon the crosse which after his entrance into glorie he laid aside And if it may be thought that the woundes in the hands and feete of Christ remaine to be seene euen to the last iudgement why may we not in the same manner thinke that the vaines of his bodie remaine emptied of their blood because it was shed vpon the crosse The second thing required in the exaltation of Christs manhood is that both his bodie and soule were beautified and adorned with all qualities of glorie His minde was inriched with as much knowledge and vnderstanding as can possibly befall any creature and more in measure then all men and angels haue and the same is to be said of the graces of the spirit in his wil and affections his bodie also was incorruptible and it was made a shining bodie a resemblance whereof some of his disciples sawe in the mount and it was indued with agilitie to mooue as well vpward as downeward as may appeare by the ascension of his bodie into heauen which was not caused by constraint or by any violent motion but by a propertie agreeing to all bodies glorified Yet in the exaltation of Christs manhood we must remember two caveats first that he did neuer lay aside the essentiall properties of a true bodie as length breadth thicknes visibilitie locallitie which is to be in one place at once and no more but keepeth all these still because they serue for the beeing of his bodie Secondly wee must remember that the gifts of glorie in Christs bodie are not infinite but
finite for his humane nature beeing but a creature and therefore finite could not receiue infinite graces and gifts of glorie And hence it is more then manifest that the opinion of those men is false which hold that Christs bodie glorified is omnipotent and infinite euery way able to doe whatsoeuer he will for this is to make a creature to be the creator Thus much of Christs exaltation in generall Now let vs come to the degrees thereof as they are noted in the Creede which are in number three I. He rose againe the third day II. He ascended vnto heauen III. He sitteth at the right hand of God the father almightie In the handling of Christs resurrection we must consider these points I. why Christ ought to rise againe II. the manner of his rising III. the time when he rose IV. the place where V. the vses thereof For the first it was necessarie that Christ should rise againe and that for three especiall causes First that hereby he might shew to all the people of God that he had fully ouercome death For els if Christ had not risen how should we haue bin perswaded in our coÌ„sciences that he had made a full perfect satisfactioÌ„ for vs nay rather we should haue reasoned thus Christ is not risen therefore he hath not ouercome death but death hath ouercome him Secondly Christ Iesus which died was the sonne of God therefore the author of life it selfe and for this cause it was neither meet nor possible for him to be holdeÌ„ of death but he must needes rise from death to life Thirdly Christs priesthood hath 2. parts one to make satisfaction for sinne by his one onely sacrifice vpon the crosse the other to apply the vertue of this sacrifice vnto euery beleeuer Now he offred the sacrifice for sinne vpon the crosse before his death and therefore beeing deade must needes rise againe to performe the second part of his priesthood namely to applie the vertue thereof vnto all that shall beleeue in him and to make intercession in heauen vnto his father for vs here on earth And thus much of the first point Nowe to come to the manner of Christs resurrection fiue things are to be considered in it The first that Christ rose againe not as euery priuate man doth but as a publike person representing all men that are to come to life eternall For as in his passion so also in his resurrection he stood in our roome and place and therefore when he rose from death we all yea the whole Church rose in him and together with him And this point not considered we doe not conceiue aright of Christs resurrection neither can we reap sound comfort by it The second is that Christ himselfe and no other for him did by his owne power raise himselfe to life This was the thing which he meant when he said Destroy this temple in three daies I will build it vp againe more plainly I haue saith he power to lay down my life and I haue power to take it again FroÌ„ wheÌ„ce we learn diuers instructions First wheras Christ raiseth himselfe from death to life it serueth to proue that he was not only maÌ„ but also true god For the body being dead could not bring again the soule ioyn it self vnto the same make it selfe aliue againe neither yet the soule that is departed from the bodie can returne againe quicken the bodie and therefore there was some other nature in Christ namely his Godhead which did revnite soule and bodie together and thereby quickned the manhoode Secondly if Christ giue life to himselfe being dead in the graue then much more now being aliue and in heauen glorified is he able to raise vp his members from death to life We are all by nature starke dead in sinne as the dead bodie rotten in the graue and therfore our dutie is to come to Christ our Lord by praier intreating him that he would raise vs vp euery day more and more from the graue of our sinnes to newnes of life He can of men dead in their sinnes make vs aliue vnto himselfe to liue in righteousnes and true holines all the daies of our life The third thing is that Christ rose againe with an earthquake And this serueth to prooue that he lost nothing of his power by death but still remained the absolute Lord of heauen and earth to whome therefore the earth vnder his feete trembling doth him homage This also prooueth vnto vs that Christ which lay dead in the graue did raise himselfe againe by his owne almightie power Lastly it serueth to conuince the keepers of the graue the women which came to embaulme him and the disciples which came to the sepulchre would not yet beleue that he was risen againe But how came this earthquake Answer Saint Matthew saith there was a great earthquake For the angell of the Lord descended from heauen c. This shewes that the power of angels is great in that they can mooue and stirre the earth Three angels destroied Sodom Gomorha An angel destroied the first borne of Egypt in one â—ight In the host of Senacherib one angel slue in one night 14500 meÌ„ Of like power is the deuil himself to shake the earth and to destroy vs all but that God of his goodnes limits restrains him of his libertie Well if one angel be able to shake the earth what then wil Christ himselfe do when he shal come to iudgemeÌ„t the secoÌ„d time with many thousand thousaÌ„ds of angels oh how terrible will his comming be Not without cause saith the holy Ghost that the wicked at that day shall cry out wishing the hills to fall vpon them and the mountains to couer them for feare of that great and terrible day of the Lord The 4. thing is that an angel ministred to Christ being to rise again in that he came to the graue rolled away the stone sate vpoÌ„ it Where obserue first how the angels of God minister vnto Christ though dead buried whereby they acknowledge that his power maiestie authoritie is not included within the bondes of the earth but extends it selfe euen to the heauens themselues and the hosts thereof and that according to his humanitie Wicked men for their parts laboured to close him vp in the earth as the basesâ— of all creatures but the angels of heauen most readily accept him as their soueraigne Lord and king as in like manner they did in his temptation in the wildernes and in his agonie in the garden Secondly that the opinion of the papists and others which think that the bodie of Christ went through the graue-stone when he rose againe is without warrant For the ende no doubt why the angel rolled away the stone was that Christ might come foorth And indeede it is against the order of nature that one bodie should passe through another without corruption or alteration of either
the word of God is the pipe whereby he conveieth into our dead hearts spirit and life As Christ when he raised up dead men did onely speake the word they were made aliue and at the day of iudgement at his voice when the trump shall blowe all that are dead shall rise againe So it is in the first resurrectioÌ„ they that are dead in their sinnes at his voice uttered in the ministerie of the worde shall rise againe To goe further Christ raised three from the deade Iairus daughter newly dead the widowes sonne dead and wound up and lying on the hearse Lazarus dead and buried stinking in the graue and all this he did by his very voice so also by the preaching of his word he raiseth all sortes of sinners euen such as haue lien long in their sinnes as rotting and stinking carrion The Sacraments also are the pipes and conduits wherby God conveigheth grace into the heart if they be rightly used that is if they be receiued in unfained repentance for all our sinnes and with a true and liuely faith in Christ for the pardon of the same sinnes and so I take it they are compared to flagons of wine which reuiue the Church being sicke and fallen into a sownd As for the measure of life derived from Christ it is but small in this life and giuen by little and little as Ose saieth The Lorde hath spoiled vs and he will heale us hee hath wounded us and he will bind us up After two daies he will revive us and in the third he will raise us vp and we shall live in his sight The Prophet Ezechiel in a vision is caried into the middest of a field full of dead bones and hee is caused to Prophesie ouer them and say O ye drie bones heare the vvorde of the Lord and at the first there was a shaking and the bones came togither bone to bone and then sinewes and flesh grew upon them and upon the flesh grewe a skinne Then he prophesied vnto the windes the second time and they liued and stood upon their feete for the breath came upon them and they were an exceeding great armie of men Hereby is signified not only the state of the Iewes after their captivitie but in them the state of the whole Church of God For these temporall deliverances signified further a spirituall deliuerance And we may here see most plainely that God worketh in the heartes of his children the giftes and graces of regeneration by little and little First he giueth no more then flesh sinewes and skin then after he giueth them further graces of his spirite which quickeneth them and maketh them aliue unto God The same also wee may see in the vision of the waters that ranne out of the Temple First a man must wade to the ancles then after to the knees and so to the loines then after the waters grovve to a riuer that can not be passed ouer and so the Lord conueieth his graces by little and little till at the last men haue a full measure thereof Thirdly the resurrection of Christ serueth as an argument to proue unto us our resurrection at the day of iudgement Paul saieth If the spirite of Christ that raised up Iesus from the deade dvvell in you hee that raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies Some will say that this is no benefite for all must rise againe as well the wicked as the godly Ansvver True indeede but yet the wicked rise not againe by the same cause that the godly doe They rise againe by the power of Christ not as hee is a saviour but as hee is a iudge to condemne them For God had saide to Adam that at what time he should eate of the forbidden fruite he should die the death meaning a double death both the first and the second death Nowe then the ungodly rise againe that God may inflict upon them the punishment of the second death which is the rewarde of sinne that so Gods iustice may be satisfied but the godly rise againe by the power of Christ their heade and redeemer who raiseth them up that they may bee partakers of the benefite of his death which is to enioy both in bodie and soule the kingdome of heauen which he haâ—h so dearely bought for them Thus much for the comfortes Now follow the duties and they are also three First as Christ Iesus vvhen he was deade rose againe from death to life by his owne power so we by his grace in imitation of Christ must endeauour our selues to rise up from all our sinnes both originall and actuall vnto newenesse of life This is worthily set downe by the Apostle saying We are buried by baptisme into his death that as Christ was raised vp from the dead by the glorie of the father so we also should walke in newnesse of life and therefore vve must endeauour our selues to shevve the same power to be in us euery day by rising up from ouâ— owne personall sinnes to a reformed life This ought to be remembred of us because howsoeuer many heare know it yet very â—ewe doe practise the same For to speake plainly as dead men buried vvould neuer heare though a man shoulde speake neuet so loude so undoubtedly among us there be also many living men which are almost in the same case The ministers of God may cry unto them daily and iterate the same thing a thousand times and tell them that they must rise up from their sinnes and lead a new life but they heare no more then the deade carkasse that lieth in the graue Indeede men heare with their outward eares but they are so farre from practising this dutie that they iudge it to be a matter of reproch and ignominie And those which make any coÌ„science of this duty how they are laden with nicknames taunts who knoweth not I need not to rehearse theÌ„ so odious a thing now a daies is the rising froÌ„ sinne to newnes of life Sound a trumpet in a dead mans eares he stirres not and let us crie for amendment of life till breath goe out of our bodies no man almost saieth what haue I done And for this cause undoubtedly if it were not for conscience of that dutie which men owe unto God we should haue but fewe ministers in England For it is the ioy of a minister to see his people rise from sinne and to lead a new life whereas alas men generally lie snurting in their corruptions and rather goe forwarde in them still then come to any amendment such is the woonderfull hardnes untovvardnes that hath possessed the heartes of most men He which hath but halfe an eie may see this to be true Oh how exceedes atheisme in all places contempt of Gods worshippe profanation of the Sabbath the whordomes and fornications the crueltie and oppression of this age it cryes euen to heauen for vengeance By these such like
people of the land became Iewes Well now behold there is a greater matter among us then this for there is the handwriting of condēnation the law therin the sentēce of a double death of body soule satan as wicked Haman accuseth us seekes by all meanes our condēnatiō but yet behold not any earthly Hester but Christ Iesus the sonne of God is come downe frō heauen hath taken away this handwriting of condemnation cācelled it upon the crosse is now ascended into heauen their sits at the right hand of his father makes request for us in him his father is well pleased yeeldes to his request in our behalfe Now then what must we doe in this case Surely looke as the Persians became Iewes whē they heard of their safety so we in life and conversation must become Christians turne to Christ embrace his doctrine and practise the same unfainedly And we must not content our selues with a formall profession of religion but search into our own harts flie unto Christ for the pardō of our sins that earnestly as for life death as the thief doth at the bar whē the iudge is giuing sentēce against him Whē we shall thus hūble our selues thē Christ Iesus that sits at the right hād of god wil plead our cause be our atturny unto his father his father againe wil accept of his request in our behalfe Thē shall we of Persians become Iewes of the childrē of this world become the sōnes of god Secōdly when we pray to God we must not doe as the blind world doth as it were rush upō God in praying to him without cōsideratiō had to the Mediatour betweene us and him but we alwaies must direct our praiers to God in the name of Christ for hee is aduanced to power and glory in heauen that he might be a fitte patrone for us who might preferre and present our praiers to God the father that thereby they might be accepted and we might obtaine our request So likewise wee must giue thankes to God in the name of Christ for in him and for his sake God doth bestowe on us his blessings Thus much of Christes intercession the other benefite which concernes Christs kingly office is that he sitts at the right hand of his father for the administration of that speciall kingdome which is committed to him I say speciall because he is our king not onely by the right of creation gouerning all things created togither with the father and the holy ghost but also more specially by the right of redemption in respect of another kingdome not of this world but eternall and spiritual respecting the very conscience of man In the administration wherof he hath absolute power to command forbid to condemne absolue and therefore hath the keies of heauen hell to open shutt which power no creature beside no not the angels in heauē can haue For the better understanding of this which I say wee are to consider first the dealing of Christ toward his own Church secondly his dealing in respect of his enimies And his dealing toward his own church stands in 4. things The first is the collecting or gathering of it this is a speciall end of his sitting at the right hand of his father Christ said to his disciples I haue chosen you out of this world the same may truly be saide of all the elect that Christ in his good time will gather them all to himselfe that they may be a peculiar people to God And this action of his in collecting the Church is nothing els but a translation of those whom he hath ordained to life euerlasting out of the kingdome of darknes in which they haue serued sinne satan into his owne kingdome of grace that they may be ruled and guided by him eternally And this hee doth two waies first by the preaching of the word for it is a powerfull outwarde meanes whereby hee singleth and sorteth his owne seruants from the blinde and wicked vvorlde as Paul saith He gaue some to be Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the gathering together of Saints And hence we learne two things The first that euery minister of Gods word and euery one that intendeth to take vpon him that calling must propound vnto himselfe principally this end to single out man from man and gather out of this world such as belong to the Church of Christ and as Ieremie saith to separate the pretious from the vile The second that all those which will be good hearers of Gods worde must shew themselues so farre forth conformable vnto it that it may gather them out of the world and that it may worke a chaunge in them and make them the seruants of Christ and if the preaching of the worde doe not worke this good worke in our hearts then the end will be a separation from the presence of God Christ when he came neere Ierusalem and considered their rebellion whereby they refused to be gathered vnto him wept ouer it and said O Ierusalem Ierusalem thou which stonest the Prophets and killest them that are sent vnto thee how often would I haue gathered thy children together as the henne gathereth her chickins vnder her wings and thou wouldest not And by this he teacheth that if the preaching of the worde turne not vs to Christ it turnes to our destruction The other meanes of gathering the Church and that the more principall is the inward operation of the spirit whereby the minde is inlightened the heart is mollified and the whole man is conuerted to God And this ordinarily is ioyned with the ministerie or preaching of the word as appeares by the example of Lydia Saint Luke saith God opened her heart to be attentiue to the doctrine of the Apostle And by the example of Paul when Christ saith Saul Saul why persecutest thou me at this very speach he is conuerted and said Who art thou Lord what wilt thou that I doe And this is manifest also by experience There is nothing in the world more contrarie to the nature of man then the preaching of the word for it is the wisdome of God to which the flesh is enimitie Here then it may be demaunded how it can be in force to turne any man to God Answer The word preached is the scepter of Christs kingdome which against the nature of man by the operation of the H. Ghost ioyned therewith doth bend and bowe the heart will and affections of man to the will of Christ. The second worke of Christ is after the Church is gathered to guide it in the way to life euerlasting He is the shepheard of his Church which guideth his flocke in and out and therefore Paul saith They that are Christs are guided by his spirit And by Esay the Lord saith those his seruants which are turned from idolatrie he
and therefore it standeth them in hande not to content themselues with this that they know and teach others Gods wil but they themselues must be the first doers of the same The fourth common gift of the holy Ghost is Abilitie to bridle and restraine some affections so as they shall not breake out into outragious behauiour Haman a wicked man an enemie to Gods Church when he saw Mordecai the Iew sitting in the kings gate that he would not stand vp nor moue for him he was full of indignatioÌ„ neuertheles the text saith that he refrained himselfe And when Abimelech an heathen king had taken Sara Abrahams wife God said vnto him I know that thou diddest this with an vpright heart and the text addeth further I haue kept thee that thou shouldest not sinne against me And thus the Lord giueth to men as yet without the spirit of sanctification this gift to bridle them selues so as in outward action they shall not practise this or that sinne For why did not Abimelech commit adulterie surely because God kept him from it Againe in the histories of the heathen we may read of many that were iust liberall meeke continent c. and that by a generall operation of the holy Ghost that represseth the corruption of nature for the common good Here then if any man aske how it commeth to passe that some men are more modest and ciuill then others seeing all men by nature are equally wicked the answeare may be not as the common saying is because some are of better nature then others for all the sonnes of Adam are equall in regard of nature the childe new borne in that respect is as wicked as the eldest man that euer liued but the reason is because God giueth this common gift of restraining the affections more to some then to others This must be considered of vs all For a man may haue the spirit of God to bridle many sinnes and yet neuer haue the spirit to mortifie the same and to make him a new creature And this beeing so we must take heede that we deceiue not our selues For it is not sufficient for a man to liue in outward ciuilitie to keepe in some of his affections vpon some occasion for that a wicked man may doe but we must further labour to feele in our selues the spirit of God not onely bridling sinne in vs but alâ—o mortifying and killing the same In deede both of them are the good gifts of Gods spirit but yet the mortification of sinne is the chiefest beeing an effectuall signe of grace and proper to the elect The fifth grace and gift of the holy Ghost is to heare and receiue the word of God with ioy In the parable of the sower one kinde of badde grounde are they which when they haue heard receiue the word with ioy And this is that which the author of the Hebrues calls the tasting of the good vvord of God and of the povvers of the vvorld to come We knowe that there is great difference betweene tasting of meate and eating of it They that sit downe at the table doe both tast and eate but they that dresse the meate doe onely see and tast thereof so it is at the Lords table Many there be that haue this gift truly both to tast and eate of the bodie and bloode of Christ offered in the word and sacraments and some againe doe onely tast and feele the sweetenesse of them and reioyce therein but yet are not indeede partakers thereof Now if this be so then all those which heare the worde of God must take heede how they heare and labour to finde these two things in themselues by hearing I. that in heart and conscience they be thoroughly touched and humbled for their sinnes II. that they be certeÌ„ly assured of the fauour and loue of God in Christ and that the sweete promises of the Gospell doe belong to them and in consideration hereof they must make conscience of all sinne both in thought word deede through the whole course of their liues And this kinde of hearing bringeth that ioy which vanisheth not away Thus much of the benefits of the holy Ghost common to all men both good and bad now follow such as are proper to the Elect all which may be reduced vnto one namely the Inhabitation of the spirit whereby the elect are the temples of the H. Ghost who is said to dwell in men not in respect of substance for the whole nature of the H. Ghost cannot be comprised in the bodie or soule of man but in respect of a particular operation and this dwelling stands in two things The first that the holy Ghost doth abide in them not for a time onely but for euer for the worde dwelling noteth perpetuitie Secondly that the holy Ghost hath the full disposition of the heart as when a man commeth to dwell in an house whereof he is lord he hath libertie to gouerne it after his owne will now this disposition of the hearts of the faithfull by the holy Ghost standeth in fiue speciall notable gifts euery one worth our obseruation The first is a certen knowledge of a mans owne reconciliation to God in Christ. As it is said in Isai By his knowledge my righteous seruant shall iustifie many And Christ saith This is life eternall that they knowe thee to be the onely very God and vvhome thou hast sent Jesus Christ. This knowledge is not generall for then the deuils might be saued but it is particular whereby a man knoweth God the father to be his father and Christ the redeemer to be his redeemer and the holy Ghost to be his sanctifier and comforter And it is froÌ„ the speciall worke of the H. Ghost as Paul saith The spirit of God beareth witnes to our spirits that we are the children of God And we haue receiued the spirit which is of God that we might knowe the things that are giuen vnto vs of God The second gift is regeneration whereby a man of a limme of the deuill is made a member of Christ and of a child of satan whome euery one of vs by nature do as liuely resemble as any man doth his owne parent is made the child of God Except a man saith our Sauiour Christ be born againe by water and the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen Iohn Baptist in saying that Christ baptized with the H. Ghost and fire compares the spirit of God to fire and water To fire for two causes I. as it is the nature of fire to warme the bodie that is benummed and frozen with cold so when a man is benummed and frozen in sinne yea when he is euen stark dead in sinne it is the propertie of the holy Ghost to warme and quicken his heart and to reuiue him II. Fire doth purge and eate out the drosse from the good mettall now there is no drosse nor canker that hath
long suffering as God is with us The second propertie of long suffering is to keepe the affection of anger in moderation and compasse It is not alwaies a sinne to be angry and therefore it is said of Christ in whome was no blemish of sinne that he was angry yet wee must looke that our anger be moderate and not over-long as Paul saith Let not the sonne goe dovvne vpon your wrath The fift fruite of the spirite is gentlenesse whereby a man behaueth and sheweth himselfe friendly and courteous to euerie man as Paul saith to Titus Put them in remembraÌ„ce that they speake evill of no man that they be no fighters but soft shevving all meekenesse unto all men vvhether they be good or badde This gentlenesse standeth in these pointes First to speake to euerie man friendly and louingly II. to salute friendly and courteously III. to be readie upon euery occasion to giue reuerence and honour to euery man in his place It is made a question of some whether a man is to salute speak unto them that are knowen to be lewd wicked men but here we see what our dutie is in that we are taught to be curteous to all men both good and badde yet so as wee approoue not of their sinnes as for that which S. Iohn saith of false Prophets Receive them not neither bid them God speed it is to be understood of giuing an outward approbation to false teachers The sixt fruit is goodnesse which is when a man is ready to doe good and become seruiceable in his calling to all men at all times upon all occasions This was to be seene in that holy man Iob he saith that hee was eyes to the blind and feete to the lame a father unto the poore and when he knâ—w not the cause he sought it out And S. Paul shewed this fruite most notably after his conuersion for he saith that hee vvas made all things to all men that he might save some Hee was content to undergoe any thing for the good of any man And as we haue heard the godly are trees of righteousnes bearing fruit not for themselues but for others and therfore Paul in the Epistle to the Galatians giueth this rule Do service one to another in love In these daies it is harde to finde these duties perfourmed in any place For both practise and proverbe is commonly this Every man for himselfe and God for us all but it is a gracelesse saying and the contrary must be practised of all that desire to be guided by the spirit The seuenth fruite is faith Faith or fidelitie standeth in these two duties One to make conscience of a lie and to speake everie thing whereof we speake as we thinke it is and not to speake one thing and thinke another A rare thing it is to find this vertue in the world now a daies who is he that maketh conscience of a lie and is not truth banished out of our coastes considering that for gaines and outward commodities men make no bones of glosing and dissembling but alas the practise is damnable the contrarie is the fruite of the Holy Ghost namely to speake the truth from the heart and he that can doe this by the â—estimonie of God himselfe shall rest in the mountaine of his holinesse euen in the kingdome of heauen The second point wherin fidelitie consisteth is when a man hath made a promise that is lawfull and good to keepe and performe the same Some thinke it is a small matter to breake promise but indeed it is a fruite of the flesh and contraâ—â—wise a fruite of the spirite to perfourme a lawfull promise and a mans word should be as sure as an obligation and in conscience a man is bounde to keepe promise so farre foorth as hee vvill to whom the promise is made Indeed if a man be released of his promise he is then free othervvise if wee promise and doe not perfourme we doe not onely cracke our credit before men but also sinne before God The eighth fruite of the spirit is meekenesse which is a notable grace of God when a man prouoked by iniuries doth neither intend nor enterprise the requitall of the same And it standes in three duties The first is to interprete the sayings and doings of other men in better part as much as possibly may be The second when men mistake and misconstrue our sayings and doings if the matter be of smaller moment to be silent and patient as Christ was when hee was accused before the high priestes and Pharisies this being withall remembred that if the matter be of weight and moment vve may defend our selues by soft and milde answeres The thirde is not to contend in word or deede vvith any man but vvhen vvee are to deale vvith others to speake our mind and so an end The last fruite of the spirit is temperance whereby a man bridleth his appetite or lust in meate drinke and apparell In bridling the lust these rules must be observed I. Eating and drinking must be ioyned vvith continuall fasting after this manner Wee must not glutt our selues but rather abstaine from that vvhich nature desireth and as some use to speake leaue our stomackes craving II. A man must so eate and drinke as aftervvarde he may the better be inabled for Gods worship Creatures are abused vvhen they make us unfitte to serue God The commoÌ„ fault is on the sabbath day men so pamper themselues as that they are made unfitte both to heare and learne Gods vvorde and fitte for nothing but to slumber and sleepe but following this rule of temperance these faultes shall be amended III. This must be a caueat in our apparell that we be attired according to our callings in holy comelinesse The Lorde hath threatned to visite all those that are cloathed in straunge apparell And holy comelinesse is this when the apparell is both for fashion and matter so made and worne that it may expresse and shew forth the graces of God in the heart as sobrietie temperaunce grauitie c. and the beholder may take occasion by the apparell to acknowledge and commend these vertues But lamentable is the time looke on men and women in these daies and you may see and reade their sinnes written in great letters on their apparell as intemperance pride and wantonnesse Euerie day new fashions please the world but indeede that holy comelinesse which the Holy Ghost doeth commend to us is the right fashion when all is done And these are the nine fruites of the spirit which wee must put in practise in our liues and conuersations Fourthly if we beleeue in the holy ghost and thereupon doe persuade our selues that hee will dwell in us wee must daily labour as wee are commaunded to keepe our vessâ—ls in holinesse and honour unto the Lorde and the reason is good If a man be to entertaine but an earthly prince or some man of state he would be
like manner as I haue said there be two witnesses of our adoption Gods spirit our spirit now if it fall out that a man want the principall which is the spirit of adoption he must then haue recourse to the second witnesse and search out in himselfe the signes and tokens of the sanctification of his owne spirit by which he may certenly assure him selfe of his adoption as wee knowe fire to be fire by the heate though it want a flame Againe it may be demanded on this manner how if it come to passe that after inquirie we finde but fewe signes of sanctification in our selues Ansvver In this case we are to haue recourse to the least measure of grace lesse then which there is no sauing grace and it stands in two things an heartie disliking of our sinnes because they are sinnes a desire of reconciliation with God in Christ for them all these are tokens of adoption if they be soundly wrought in the heart though all other tokens for the present seeme to be wanting If any shall say that a wicked man may haue this desire as Balaam who desired to die the death of the righteous the answere is that Balaam indeede desired to die as the righteous man doeth but hee could not abide to liue as the righteous hee desired the ende but not the proper subordinate meanes which tend unto the end as vocation iustification sanctification repentance c. the first is the worke of nature the second is the worke of grace Now I speake not this to make men secure and to content them selues with these small beginnings of grace but onely to shew how any may assure themselues that they are at the least babes in Christ adding this withall that they which haue no more but these small beginnings must be carefull to increase them because hee which goes not forwarde goes backwarde Lastly it may be demanded what a man should doe if he want both the testimonie of Gods spirit and his owne spirite and haue no meanes in the world of assurance Answer He must not utterly despaire but be resolued of this that though hee want assurance now yet he may obtaine the same hereafter And such must be aduertised to heare the word of God preached and being outwardly of the Church to receiue the sacraments When we haue care to come into the Lordes vineyard and to converse about the wine-presse wee shall finde the sweete iuyce of heauenly grace pressed forth unto us plentifully by the word and sacraments to the comfort of our consciences concerning Gods election This one mercy that God by these meanes in some parte reveales his mercie is unspeakeable When sickenesse or the day of death comes the dearest seruants of God it may be must encounter with the temptations of the deuill and wrastle in conscience with the wrath and displeasure of God as for life death no man knowes how terrible these things are but those which haue felte them Now when men walke thus through the valley of the shadow of death vnlesse God shoulde as it were open heauen streame downe unto us in this world some lightsome beames of his love in Christ by the operation of his spirite miserable were the case euen of the righteous Thus much of Election now followes Reprobation in handling whereof we are to obserue three things I. what it is II. how God doth execute this decree III. how a man may iudge of the same For the first Reprobation is Gods decree in which because it so pleased him he hath purposed to refuse some men by means of Adams fall and their owne corruptions for the manifestation of his iustice First I say it is a decree that is euident thus If there be an eternall decree of God whereby he chooseth some men then there must needs be another decree wherby he doth passe by others refuse theÌ„ For electioÌ„ alwaies implies a refusall Againe what God doth in time that hee decreed to doe before time as the case falles out euen with men of meane wisedome who first of all intend with themselues the things to be done and after doe them But God in time refuseth some men as the scripture testifieth and it appeareth to be true by the euent Therefore God before all worlds decreed the reiecting of some men Now in this decree 4. pointes are to be considered The first is the matter or obiect thereof which is the thing decreed namely the reiection of some men or the manifestatioÌ„ of his iustice upon them This may seeme strange to mans reason but here we must with all submission strike our top-sailes for the worde of God saith as much in plaine termes The Apostle Iude speaking of false Prophets saith that they were of old ordained to this damnation And Paul saith in emphaticall termes that God makes vessels of wrath prepared to destruction and that some are reiected whome he opposeth to them which are elected to saluation The second pointe is the impulsiue cause that mooued God to set downe this decree concerning his creature and that was nothing out of himselfe but his very will and pleasure He hardened Pharaoh with finall hardnesse of heart because he woulde and therefore he decreed to do so because he would And our Sauiour Christ saith I thanke thee O father Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and men of vnderstanding and hast opened them vnto babes But upoÌ„ what cause did God so It follows in the next words It is so O father because thy good pleasure is such And if it be in the power and libertie of a man to kill an oxe or a sheepe for his use to hunt and kill the hare and partridge for his pleasure then much more without iniustice may it be in the will and libertie of the creatour â—o refuse and forsake his creature for his glorie Nay it standes more with equitie a thousand folde that all the creatures in heauen and earth should ioyntly serue to set forth the glorie and maiestie of God the creatour in their eternall destruction then the striking of a flie or the killing of a flea should serue for the dignitie of all men in the world For all this it is thought by verie many to be very hard to ascribe unto God that is full of bountie and mercie such a decree that upoÌ„ his verie wil but let us se their reasons First of all they say it is a point of crueltie for God to purpose to create a great part of the world to damnation in hell fire the answere is that by the vertue of this decree God can not be said to create any man to damnation but to the manifestation of his iustice and glorie in his due deserued damnation and the doing of this is absolute iustice Secondly it is alledged that by this meanes God shall hate his own creature and that before it is but
the resurrection of the dead should be both of the iust vniust Now what did this mooue him vnto Marke herein saith he that is in this respect I endeauour my self to haue alwaies a cleare coÌ„science towards God and towards man And let vs for our parts likewise remember the last iudgement that it may be a meanes to mooue vs so to behaue our selues in all our actions that we may keep a good conscience before God and before men and let it also be a bridle vnto vs to keepe vs backe from all manner of sinne For what is the cause why men daily defile their bodies soules with so many damnable practises without any remorse of conscience Surely they neuer seriously remember the day of the resurrection after this life wherin they must stand before Christ to giue an account of that which they haue done in this life whether it be good or badde Thus much of the duties now marke it is further said The resurrection of the bodie If the bodie rise it must first fal Here then this point is wrapped vp as a confessed truth that all men must die the first death And yet considering that the members of the Church haue the pardon of their sinnes which are the cause of death it may be demaunded why they must die Ansvveâ—re VVee are to know that when they die death doth not seaze vpon theÌ„ as it is in his own nature a curse for in that respect it was borne of Christ vpon the crosse and that for vs but for two other causes which wee must thinke vpon as beeing speciall meanes to make a man willing to die I. They must die that originall corruption may be vtterly abolished for no man liuing on earth is perfectly sanctified and originall sinne is remaining for speciall causes to the last moment of this life then it is abolished and not before II. The godly die that by death as by a straight gate they may passe from this vale of miserie to eternall life And thus Christ by his death makes death to be no death and turnes a curse into a blessing And to proceede It is not here said the resurrection of the soule but of the bodie onely what then will some say becommeth of the soule Diuers haue thought that the soules then though they doe not die yet are still kept within the bodie beeing as it were a sleepe till the last day But Gods word saith to the contrarie For in the Revelation it is said The soules of the godly lie vnder the altar and cry How long Lord Iesus And in the Gospel of Luke Dives in soule did suffer woe and torments in hell and Lazarus had ioy in AbrahaÌ„s bosom Againe some others think that mens soules after this life doe passe from one mans bodie to another and Herod may seeme to haue beene of this opinion for when newes was brought him of Christ he said that Iohn Baptist beeing beheaded was risen againe thinking that the soule of Iohn Baptist was put into the bodie of some other man And for proofe herof some alledge the example of Nebuchadnezzar who forsaking the societie of man liued as a beast and did eate grasse like a beast and they imagine that his owne soule went out of him and that the soule of a beast entred in the roome thereof But this indeede is a fonde conceit for euen then he had the soule of a man when he liued as a beast being only strickeÌ„ by the hand of God with an exceeding madnes whereby he was bereft of common reason as doth appeare by that clause in the text where it is saide that his vnderstanding or knowledge returned to him againe Againe some other thinke that the soule neither dieth nor sleepeth nor passeth out of one bodie into an other but wandereth here on earth amoÌ„g men ofteÌ„times appeareth to this or that maÌ„ this is the opinion of some hereticks of the common people which thinke that dead men walke and for proofe hereof some alleadge the practise of the witch of Endor who is said to make Samuel to appeare before Saul but the truth is it was not Samuel in deede but onely a counterfait of him For not all the witches in the world nor all the deuils in hell are able to disquiet the soules of the faithfull departed which are in the keeping of the Lord without wandring from place to place For when men die in the faith their soules are immediatly translated into heauen there abide till the last iudgement and contrariwise if men die in their sinnes their soules goe straight to the place of eternall condemnation and there abide as in a prison as Peter saith In a word when the breath goeth out of the bodie the soule of euery man goeth straight either to heaueÌ„ or hel and there is no third place of aboad meÌ„tioned in scripture To conclude the resurrection of the bodie is expressely mentioned in the Creede to shew that there is no resurrection of the soule which neither dieth nor sleepeth but is a spirituall and inuisible substance liuing and abiding for euer as well forth of the bodie as in the same Thus much of the third prerogatiue or benefit now followeth the fourth last in these words And life euerlasting To handle this point to the full and to open the nature of it as it deserueth is not in the power of man For both the Prophet Esai and Saint Paul say that the eye hath not seene and the eare hath not heard neither came it into mans heart to thinke of those things which God hath prepared for those that loue him Again Paul when he was wrapt into the third heauen saith that he saw things not to be vttered Neuerthelesse we may in some part describe the same so farre forth as God in this case hath reuealed his wil vnto vs. Wherefore in this last prerogatiue I consider two things the first is life it selfe the second is the continuance of life noted in the word euerlasting Life it selfe is that whereby any thing acteth liueth moueth it selfe it is twofold vncreated or created Vncreated life is the very godhead it selfe wherby God liueth absolutely in himselfe from himselfe by himselfe giuing life and being to all things that liue and haue beeing this life is not meant here because it is not communicable to any creature Created life is a qualitie in the creature and its againe twofold natural spiritual Natural life is that wherby men in this world liue by meat drinke al such means as are ministred by Gods prouidence Spirituall life is that most blessed and happie estate in which all the Elect shall raigne with Christ their head in the heauens after this life after the day of iudgemeÌ„t for euer and euer And this alone is the life which in the Creed we confesse and beleeue it consisteth in an immediate coniunctioÌ„ and communion
to keepe the sabbath so strictly as the Iewes were yet vvhen we haue any busines or worke to be done of our ordinarie calling vve must not take a part of the Lordes sabbath day to do it in but preuent the time doe it either before as Ioseph did or after the sabbath This is litle practised in the world Mē think if they go to church before after noone to heare Gods worde then all the day after they may doe what they list and spend the rest of the time at their owne pleasure but the vvhole day is the Lordes therefore must be spent wholly in his seruice both by publicke hearing of the word and also by priuate reading and meditation on the same To conclude the doctrine of Christes buriall Here it may be demanded how he was alwaies after his incarnation both god and man considering he was dead buried and therefore bodie and soule were sundred a dead mā seemes to be no man Ansvv. A dead man in his kinde is as true a man as a living man for though bodie and soule be not united by the bond of life yet are they united by a relation which the one hath to the other in the counsell and good pleasure of God and that as truly as man and vvoman remaine coupled into one flesh by a couenant of mariage though afterwarde they be distant a thousand miles asunder and by vertue of this relation euery soule in the day of iudgement shall be reunited to his owne bodie euery bodie to his own soule But there is yet a more straighter bond betweene the body soule of Christ in his death burial For as when he was liuing his soule was a meane or bond to unite his godhead his bodie togither so whē hee was deade his verie godhead was a meane or middle bond to unite the bodie and soule and to say otherwise is to dissolue the hypostaticall union by vertue wherof Christes body and soule though seuered ech frō other yet both were still ioyned to the godhead of the sonne The use and profite which may be made of Christes buriall is two-folde I. It serueth to worke in us the buriall of all our sinnes Knovve yee not saieth Paul that all who haue beene baptised into Christ have beene baptised into his death and are buried vvith him by baptisme into his death If any shall demaund how any man is buried into the death of Christ the answere is this Euery Christian man and woman are by faith mystically united unto Christ and made all members of one body whereof Christ is the head Now therefore as Christ by the power of his godhead when he was dead and buried did ouercome the graue the power of death in his own person So by the very same power by means of this spirituall coniunctiō doth he worke in all his members a spirituall death buriall of sinne and naturall corruption When the Israelites were burying of a mā for feare of the soldiers of the Moabites they cast him for hast into the sepulcher of Elisha Now the dead man so soone as he was down had touched the body of Elisha he revived stood upon his feet So let a man that is dead in sin be cast into the graue of Christ that is let him by faith but touch Christ dead buried it will come to passe by the vertue of Christs death buriall that he shalbe raised frō the death bōdage of sin to become a new mā Secōdly the buriall of Christ serues to be a sweet perfume of all our graues and burials for the graue in it selfe is the house of perditiō but Christ by his burial hath as it were cōsecrated and perfumed all our graues in stead of houses of perdition hath made them chambers of rest sleepe yea beds of downe therfore howsoeuer to the eye of mā the beholding of a funerall is terrible yet if we could then remember the buriall of Christ consider how he thereby hath changed the nature of the graue euen then it woulde make us to reioice Lastly we must imitate Christs buriall in being cōtinually occupied in the spiritual burial of our sins Thus much of the buriall Now followeth the third and last degree of Christes humiliation He descended into hell It seemes very likely that these wordes were not placed in the creed at the first or as some thinke that they crept in by negligence because aboue threescore creeds of the most ancient councels fathers want this clause among the rest the Nicene Creed But if the ancient learned fathers assembled in that councel had bin perswaded or at the least had imagined that these words had bin set down at the first by the Apostles no doubt they would not in any wise haue left them out And an anciēt writer saith directly that these words he descended into hell are not found in the Creede of the Romane Church nor used in the Churches of the East if they be that then they signifie the burial of Christ. And it must not seeme strange to any that a worde or twaine in processe of time should creepe into the Creede considering that the originall copies of the bookes of the old and new Testament haue in them sundry varieties of readings and words otherwhiles which from the margine haue crept into the text Neuerthelesse considering that this clause hath long continued in the creed and that by common consent of the Catholicke Church of God it may carry a fit sense expositiō it is not as some would haue it to be put forth Therfore that we may come to speak of the meaning of it we must know that it hath 4. usual expositiōs which we wil rehearse in order then make choise of that which shal be thought to be the fittest The first is that Christs soule after his passion vpon the crosse did really locally descend into the place of the damned But this seems not to be true The reasons are these I. All the Evangelists and among the rest S. Luke intending to make an exact narration of the life and death of Christ haue set downe at large his passion death buriall resurrection ascension and withall they make rehearsall of small circumstances therefore no doubt they woulde not haue omitted Christes locall descent into the place of the damned if there had bene any such thing And the end why they penned this historie was that we might beleeue that Iesus is Christ the sonne of God beleeuing we might haue life euerlasting Now there could not haue bene a greater matter for the confirmation of our faith thē this that Iesus the sonne of Mary who went downe to the place of the damned returned thence to liue in happinesse for euer II. If Christ did go into the place of the damned then either in soule or in body or in
shine unto them and to say that faith is partly by nature partly by grace is the condemned heresie of the semi-Pelagian for wee can not so much as thinke a good thought of our selues The last defect in the platforme is that they ascribe unto God a wrong end of his counsels namely the communication of mercie or goodnesse in eternall happines For the absolute soueraigne ende of all gods doings must be answerable to his nature which is not mercy and loue alone but also iustice it selfe and that is the manifestation of his glorie both in iustice and mercy by the expresse testimonie of scripture Againe if this were so all men without exception should be saued because God can not be frustrated of his end purpose if but one man be damned he is daÌ„ned either because God wil not saue him or because he cannot If they say he will not then he is changeable if he can not then he is not omnipotent considering his purpose was to convey happines to all creatures Thus much of the efficient cause of the Church namely Gods predestination which doctrine could not here be omitted coÌ„sidering no man can beleeue himselfe to be a meÌ„ber of the Church unlesse withall he beleeue that he is predestinate to life euerlasting Now we come to the second point namely the Mysticall vnion which is the very forme of the Church whereby all rhat beleeue are made one with Christ. To the causing of this union 2. things are required a Donation or giuing of Christ unto that man which is to be made one with him a Coniunction betwene them both Of the first the Prophet Esai saith Vnto us a child is borne unto us a sonne is given Paul who spared not his own sonne but gave him for us all how shall he not with him give vs all things also And touching it sundry points must be considered The first is what is meant by this Giuing Ansvvere It is an action or worke of God the Father by the holy ghost whereby Christ as redeemer in the appointed time is really communicated to all ordained to saluation in such manner that they may truly say that Christ himselfe with all his benefites is theirs both in respect of right thereto and in respect of all fruite redounding thence and that as truly as any man may say that house and lande giuen him of his ancetours is his owne both to possesse and to use The second point is what is the verie thing giuen Answer Whole Christ God and man is giuen because his humanitie without his godhead or the godhead without the humanitie doth not reconcile us to God Yet in this giuing there must be a diuers consideration had of the two natures of Christ for the communication of the godhead is meerely energeticall that is onely in respect of operation in that it doeth make the manhood personally vnited vnto it to be propitiatorie for our sinnes and meritorious of life eternall And to auouch any communication of the godhead in respect of essence were to bring in the heresie of the Maniches and to maintaine a composition a commixtion of our natures with the nature of God Againe in the manhood of Christ we must distinguish betweene the subiect it selfe the substance of bodie and soule and the blessings in the subiect which tend to our saluation And the communication of the aforesaide manhoode is in respect of both without separation for no man can receiue sauing vertue from Christ vnlesse first of all he receiue Christ himselfe as no man can haue the treasure hid in the field unlesse first of all he haue the field and no man can be nourished by meate and drink unlesse first of all he receiue the substance of both And this is the cause why not only in the preaching of the word but also in the institution of the Lordes supper expresse mention is made not only of Christs merite but also of his verie body and bloode whereby the whole humanitie is signified as appeares by that place where it is said that the Word was made flesh And though the flesh of it selfe profite nothing as S. Iohn saith yet as it is ioyned to the godhead of the sonne and doth subsist in his person it receiueth thence quickening vertue to reuiue and renewe all those to whome it shall be giuen Lastly among the blessings that are stored up in the manhood of Christ for our saluation some are giuen unto vs by imputation as when we are iustified by the righteousnesse indeed inherent in his manhood but imputed vnto us some by infusion as when holinesse is wrought in our hearts by the spirit as a fruite of that holinesse which is in the manhood of Christ deriued from it as the light of one candle from another The thirde point is in what maner Christ is giuen unto us Ansvv. God the father giueth Christ unto his Church not in any earthly or bodily manner as when a King bestoweth a gift with his owne hand and puttes it into the hande of his subiect but the manner is altogither celestiall and spirituall partly because it is brought to passe by the meere diuine operation of the Holy Ghost and partly because in respect of vs this gift is receiued by an instrument which is supernaturall namely faith whereby we lay hold of apply unto our selues the Euangelicall promises And this maner of giuing may be conceiued thus A maÌ„ that neuer stirred foote out of England holdes and enioyes lande in Turkie but how comes it to be his Thus the Emperour was willing and content to bestow it and the man for his part as willing to accept and receiue it and by this meanes that which at the first was the Emperours by mutuall consent becomes the mans In the same manner God the Father hath made an Evangelicall couenant with his Church in which of his mercy hee haâ—h made a graunt of his owne sonne vnto us with righteousnesse and life euerlasting in him and we againe by his grace accept of this graunt and receiue the same by faith and thus by mutuall consent according to the tenour of the couenant any repentant sinner may truly say though I now haue mine abode upon earth Christ in respect of his manhood be locally in heaueÌ„ yet is he truly mine to haue to enioy his body is mine his blood is mine As for the giuing receiving of the body blood of Christ in bodily maner which the Papists maintaine in auouching the reall transubstaÌ„tiatioÌ„ of bread and wine in the sacraments into the body blood of Christ and the Lutheranes also in teaching that his body and bloode is substantially either in or with or under the bread and wine is an erronious conceit flat opposite to sundrie points of the Christian faith For Christ to this verie houre retaineth still the essence and essentiall properties of a true bodie and wee