to us and more for making us capable to Beleeve it For as without revealing wee should never have knowne it So without Grace wee could never have Beleeved it But now by the Eye of Faith and by the Light of Grace we come to see as it were a glympse of that glorious Appearing when wee shall see God not in Idaeas represented by the Fancie but in the miraculous Verity of his owne Being which as none can see now and live so there shall be then no life but in seeing it no joy but in beholding it But though the Persons in the Trinity be all equall in Deity yet not all Equall in all respects For how then should it be true which Christ saith of himselfe Pater major est me The Father is greater then I Not greater then Hee onely as Man For this were no great matter nor greater then He as God for this were no possible matter but greater then He as Sonne for the Sonne is of the Father the Father is of None and in that respect is greater then the Sonne Not as God but as Father and therefore in the sense in which Christ saith The Father is greater then I in that sense doe I place the Father first in my Creede and say first I Beleeve in God the Father And though I cannot apprehend how God being but One should be Three yet I beleeve it and beleeving it I Adore it and though I cannot apprehend how Almighty One should be Almighty where Three be Equall yet I beleeve it and beleeving it I admire it Indeed if God were not Almighty he could not be God seeing his power should bee limited and a limited Power implies a greater Power that limits it which should be God rather then Hee and therefore not Almighty no God And againe if hee were not Almighty our Beliefe in him might be frustrate For his want of Might might be in that for which wee depend upon him and if no depending upon him then no beleeving in him neither but now being God and being Almighty we Beleeve in him not onely justly as God but securely as Almighty seeing whatsoever our want be yet he being Almighty can supply it how great soever our Danger be yet he being Almighty can Defend us how strong soever our Enemies be yet he being Almightie can Protect us and as wee are assured that he can so wee doubt not but he will seeing there is in him no lesse readinesse to doe it as being a Father then Power to bee able to doe it as being Almighty Here the Atheist inferres that God cannot truely be said to bee Almighty seeing there are many things which he cannot doe as he cannot Dye he cannot lye he cannot deny himselfe and if hee cannot doe these things then he cannot doe all things and If hee cannot doe all things then can hee not truely be said to be Almighty But who sees not the grosenesse of this subtilty seeing theve are not Actions of Power but Infirmities and not to be able to doe things which it is not Ability to doe but Infirmity what prejudice can this be to Almightinesse And yet it cannot so properly be said of God neither that hee is not able to doe these things as that hee is able not to doe them and so his not being able is indeed an Ability and an effect of Power and therefore no cause for this to deny his Almightinesse but to affirme it rather But what is more frequent with Heathen Writers then to call their fained God Jupiter Pater Omnipotens The Almighty Father and what doe we then Beleeve more in this then the Heathen doe Wee therefore Adde Maker of Heaven and Earth and this no Heathen man did ever beleeve For some of them thought the World to be made by chance and by the casuall concourse of Atomes Some againe thought it to bee Eternall and not to have beene made at all None of them ever ascribed the making it to God and therefore in our Creede we justly say God the Father as against the Jew and Turk we say Almighty as against the Atheist and we say Maker of Heaven and Earth as against the Heathen Indeed nothing doth so manifestly demonstrate the Almightinesse of God as the making of Heaven and Earth because hee made them when there was no matter to make them off as it is said In the beginning God made Heaven and Earth and againe In the beginning there was no Time so before Heaven and Earth there was no matter and to make them when there was no matter to make them off was to make Something of Nothing the most absolute Character of Almightinesse that can bee If we should say Maker of Man and Beast this would not serve to shew Almightinesse seeing there was matter whereof they were made for of Earth they were made both But to say Maker of Heaven and Earth is so evident an argument of Almightinesse that the Heathen themselves could not chuse but have acknowledged it if they had not beene blinded with their false Principle Ex Nihilo Nihil fit of Nothing is made Nothing a Principle true indeed in relation to Nature but false in relation to the Power of God to whom Nothing is as much as Matter and Matter is no more then Nothing seeing Matter and Nothing are all One to him Neither yet is the Almightinesse of God more evidently seene in making the Heaven and the Earth of Nothing so contrary to the course of Nature then it is seene in making them in a Frame so contrary to the course of Art For where in all Artificial Buildings the Roofe is alwaies contiguous by mediate Joynts unto the Foundation In this Frame the Heaven which is the Roofe is so farre from being contiguous to the Earth that there is Magnum Inane an Infinite extension of empty Ayre betweene them And where the Foundation in all Artificiall Structures is alwaies laid upon firme ground that it may sustaine and beare it up In this Frame the Earth which is the Foundation is laid upon nothing but thinne Ayre so farre from any firmenesse that it is alwaies in motion and yet the Earth it selfe never moving And if wee take the Sea as a part of the Earths Globe Is there not as great a wonder in that also seeing where all liquid things doe naturally overflow all that is under them here the liquid Sea is above the Earth and yet overflowes it not And now stand and wonder all yee Heathen acknowledge and admire the Almightinesse of God that is the Maker of Heaven and Earth But is God the Father the onely Maker of Heaven and Earth Is it not said in Saint John In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God all things were made by him and without him was nothing made that was made It is true indeed all Opera ad Extra all exteriour works are common to all the Persons in the Deity but
extra all exteriour workes and all are exteriour works that are not personall as they be common to all the persons in the Deitie so they may be affirmed of the whole Deity After the Article of beliefe He ascended into Heaven that Christ rose from the dead our next Beliefe is that he ascended into Heaven and indeed it followes well For as when he came downe from heaven he never left descending till hee descended into hell so now that he is risen he never leaves rising till he ascend up to Heaven And so my soule shouldst thou doe not thinke it enough to rise up from sinne and there stay but never leave rising till thou ascend up to Heaven as Christ did But what Ascend as soone as he was risen What time was there then for Thomas to put his hand into his side What time for Peter to take charge of his Sheepe Hee therefore ascended not presently after his up-rising but stayed forty dayes upon earth before he ascended in which time hee appeared nine times to his Apostles and Disciples But what needed he to have stayed fortie dayes if hee appeared but nine times Or why appeared hee but nine times if hee stayed fortie dayes Indeed to give the reason of the number of his times of appearing and why at other times hee concealed himselfe is perhaps a secret beyond our capacitie Onely in generall wee may conceive that hee appeared sometimes to make his Disciples assured of his Resurrection and he forbore appearing sometimes to weane them from their carnall desire of his presence He appeared sometimes to instruct them in many things which they knew not before and he forbore appearing sometimes to prepare their mindes for his ascending But howsoever by these his appearings hee manifested foure faculties of a glorified body that it can vanish away at pleasure that it can eate or fast at pleasure that it can alter shape at pleasure that it can enter where the doores are shut For all these Christ did after his rising by vertue of his glorified body But that his Body though glorified was at any time in more places then one at once is no where to be found in the holy Scriptures and can never bee proved by the Word of God But to what Heaven was it that Christ ascended Not as some foolishly interpret those words of David In Sole posuit tabernaculum suum as though hee placed his Tabernacle in the Sunne and went no higher For if this were so how could he come to sit at the right hand of his Father whose throne is in the highest heavens This ascending of Christ into heaven makes justly a high Festivall among us which wee call Ascension day but should we not rather call it Ascension yeare or some longer time then a yeare at least if wee meane it as long as the time hee spent in ascending For if it were lesse then yeares it may be written for a Wonder seeing Alpharabius a great Astrologer amongst the Arabians affirmes for certaine the starry-Starry-Heaven to be so high above the Earth that a man with reasonable journeyes could hardly goe it in eight thousand yeares and other Astronomers affirme the distance from the Earth to the nethermost Heaven to bee no lesse then fourescore Millions of miles And another expresseth the distance thus that if a Mill-stone were falling downe from Heaven it would be neere a hundred yeares in falling before it came to the Earth And if wee wonder at these things as indeed they are most wonderfull wee may consider what just cause there is to have this Attribute given to God to be the Maker of heaven and earth But though the distance of place be so great and the motion of a naturall body bee so slow yet what is this to a glorified body that makes no reckoning of distance of place but instar fulguris like Lightning is able to move from any part of the world to another in an instant that if we measure the length of the Festivall by the length of the time which Christ spent in Ascending we need not call it Ascension day but Ascension minute seeing his glorified body was able in a minute to passe from the Earth to the highest Heavens And though when hee began his Ascent from Mount Olivet hee set out at first so slowly that if he went no faster he was not like to get to Heaven in many yeares yet that was done but ad pascendos Discipulorum oculos as it were to feed his Disciples eyes to the end they might the better observe his Ascending and be the more sensible of it and perhaps to shew how unwilling hee was to leave them For afterward no doubt hee mended his pace and made use of the agility of his glorified Body and perhaps was arrived in Heaven while the Angel stood blaming the Apostles for gazing up after him But if he had been Ascended into Heaven sooner why did he not send the Holy Ghost downe upon his Apostles till after fifty daies that he began his Ascending that so hee might have kept his promise And loe I am with you alwayes to the ende of the world meaning either by himselfe or by the Holy Ghost where now there were fifty dayes in which they neither had Christ nor the Holy Ghost amongst them O my soule what presumption is this to inquire into Mysteries that are hidden from us and will be still till wee come our selves to heaven from whence the Holy Ghost was sent But what ground have wee for it that Christ indeed ascended into Heaven Seeing Saint Mathew and Saint John who were likely to have seene it speake nothing at all of it onely Saint Marke and Saint Luke who saw it not and had it but at the second hand record it to us and is it reason to beleeve them that speake but by heare-say when eye witnesses if any such thing were are silent especially in a matter of so great consequence as his Ascension is It is true indeed Saint Mathew for what cause I know not breaks off his Gospel before Christs Ascending but Saint John though hee speake not of it in the place where the other doe yet hee had delivered it at least intimated it before in his Gospel where hee mentions Christ to say What and if yee shall see the Sonne of man ascend up where he was before And Saint Paul a Witnesse without exception affirmes plainely That more then five hundred brethren at once saw him Ascending and himselfe also though he saw him not Ascend yet he saw him being Ascended that nothing can have a more sure ground of Beleeving nothing bee more certaine then Christs Ascending into Heaven And of his Ascention wee may easily conceive two speciall effects One which we are sure off the other which wee hope the first his owne glory that having received indignities on earth hee might receive the reward of them in Heaven the other our comfort that where he is we may be also
O blessed Saviour I know not whether more to grieve for thy Descending into Hell or more to joy for thy Ascending up to Heaven yet I must confesse there is advantage on the joyes part For though one of them was to thee most prejudiciall yet both of them are to mee most beneficiall There are many that ascend for we are all of a climbing nature but not into Heaven They ascend but with Symon Magus up into the Ayre the popular ayre of Ambition and glory of the World and alas they presently fall downe againe because the thin Ayre is not able to beare them up and the end of these men is worse then the beginning There is no Ascending good but into Heaven For once come thither there will be no falling down againe For though Lucifer did so once yet it is never like to bee done so any more It was never heard that any Ascended up to Heaven till now but onely Elias the Prophet a type perhaps of Christs Ascending who ascended up in a fiery Chariot and wee may marvell how hee could ever get to Heaven and not bee burnt by the way but indeed the fire of his Chariot was perhaps the ardour and burning love of Seraphins which like the fire that appeared in the Bush to Moses though it burnes it never consumes And thou my soule if with this ardour and burning love of God thou couldst enflame thy heart thou also might'st Ascend up to Heaven in a fiery Chariot as Elias did But though Elias went up into Heaven yet it cannot properly be said that he Ascended into heaven For he was taken up in a Fiery Chariot and to bee taken up is by the power of another to Ascend is by his owne power and this Elias did not nor ever any but onely Christ But though Christ ascended into Heaven yet he ascended not as the soules of the Saints doe He fitteth at the right hand of God to lye under the Altar when they come there but he Ascended to sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty For who indeed is fit to sit at the right hand of the Father but his onely Sonne And now by his Ascending a great alteration is made in the order of taking place in Heaven For where before the Cherubins or Seraphins or what other Order is the highest in the Hierarchy of Angels tooke their places next to God Now the humane Nature of Christ takes place before them all that if Lucifer were now in Heaven he might have juster cause to murmur at Gods partiality as he would call it then ever he bad when he first revolted But we must not here bee ledde with the weake conceit of flesh or with the vaine conceit of errour as though God were a body and had a right hand and a left hand like to us who is purus Spiritus a pure and simple Spirit but as we make account that to fit at our right hand is to have the highest place next our selves so when Christ is said to sit at the Right hand of his Father it is meant that all power is given him both in Heaven and Earth at least a power far supreme then any creature a soveraigne power over all creatures And this my soule makes well for thee and for us all for we may bee sure hee sits not there for his owne glory onely but as well also for the good of his Church that by sitting there he may bee the readier to make continuall Intercession for us for alas if it were not by this benefit how were it possible his little Flocke should have been able to withstand so many Assaults as have most violently beene made upon it in all Ages O Blessed Jesus thou well deservedst to sit at the right hand of the Father who didst offer up thy selfe a perfect sacrifice of obedience to thy Father Thou well deservest to have the highest place in Heaven who didst humble thy selfe to the lowest place in Hell Thou art worthy to have all knees bow to thee both in Heaven and Earth who didst drinke the bitter Cup of thy Fathers wrath to reconcile all things unto him both in Earth and Heaven And though in the time of thy Pilgrimage upon Earth thou wert faine to flee out of Judea into Egypt and faine to stand as a Prisoner at the Barre of Pilate and faine to hang nailed on the accursed Tree and faine after all to lie buried in a Grave all Postures of misery yet now at last thou art come to a Posture of rest For thou sittest and to a seat of glory For thou sittest at the right hand of thy Father and there shalt sit in rest and glory till the time come that thou come to give just sentence upon them who gave unjust sentence upon thee and to bee avenged of all thine enemies For as we beleeve that Christ sitteth at the right hand of his Father So we beleeve hee shall come from thence to judge both the quicke and the dead But how can wee beleeve that Christ shall come to judge the quicke and the dead From thence he shall come to judge c. when he professeth himselfe that hee Judgeth no man It is true indeed he judged no man while he was here upon earth to be judged himselfe but now that all power is given him both in heaven and earth wee beleeve it is a part of that power that he shall come to jduge both the quicke and the dead But when will the time of his comming bee O my soule thou maist well rest satisfied with that answer of Christ to his Apostles It is not for you to know the times and seasons which God hath lockt up in his owne breast Yet see the vaine inquisitivenesse of mans nature that would know that which is hidden from the Angels and more then this from the Sonne of man himselfe although it may seem strange that he should not know the day of Judgement who is himselfe to be the Judge and yet not strange seeing to appoint the day of judgement belongs to him that appoints the Judge and is perhaps one of the things which makes God say Secretum meum mihi My secret to my selfe but most of all my soule it may be enough for thee that thou art sure to heare newes of thy own judgement soone enough even as soone as thou leavest this sinnefull body and as for the generall Judgment thou needest not trouble thy selfe when or how long it shall be a comming seeing though it may perhaps encrease thy particular judgement yet it shall not alter it And as wee are uncertaine of the time so wee are no lesse uncertaine of the place For though we beleeve from whence he shall come yet wee have no beliefe whither he shall come It hath bene a received opinion by some that he shall come into the Valley of Jehosophat and keepe his Sessions there but alas what is the Valley of Jehosophat to receive
the first Gospell that was written of Christ was that of Saint Matthew which was not writteÌ„ til eight years after Christs death the other much later especially that of Saint John which was not written till thirty yeares after and therefore the Creede no doubt was delivered if not in forme as now it is at least in substance as now it is long before any Gospell was written And may it not bee further said that this Creed seemes to have been penned when Religion was first translated from Judaisme to Christianitie and therefore that there are no other Articles in it then such as are in opposition to the doctrine of the Jewes by introducing in their place the Christian beliefe For by the Article of beleeving in God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost we utterly renounce the doctrine of the Jewes who acknowledge no Trinity of Persons in the Deity By beleeving the Incarnation of the Sonne of God Christ Jesus and his passion under Pontius Pilate we renounce the doctrine of the Jewes who teach that the true Messias is not yet come By beleeving the Holy Catholike Church wee renounce the opinion of the Jewes who thought that the Church of God was bounded onely within Canaan and that no Church could be holy but that of Israel By beleeving the Communion of Saints we renounce the doctrine of the Jewes by which a Jew indeed would take no usury for money of a Jew but to any of another Nation they would use oppression to the very grinding of their faces By beleeving the forgivenesse of sinnes we renounce the Pharisees Justification by workes and sticke onely to the Publicanes Justification by Faith O God be mercifull to me a sinner By beleeving the Resurrection of the Body we renounce the errour of the Sadduces whom Christ confuted by this argument Have ye not read that which was spoken to you by God saying I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaak and the God of Jakob God is not the God of the dead but of the living By beleeving the life everlasting we renounce the opinion of the Jewes who depended onely upon temporall benefits and the blessings of this life and as for the life to come were as carelesse of it as ignorant And now seeing all the Articles of this Creed are in opposition to the doctrin of the Jewes what marveile that in it there is no Article for beleeving the Scriptures wheÌ„ as concerning the Scriptures that were then there was no opposition beweene the Christians and them It may with more reason bee demanded why in these Articles of beliefe there is no mention made of the Sacraments seeing Baptism and the Lords Supper were ordained by Christ himself and are things so necessary to be beleeved But is it not that of Baptisme Christ said Goe teach all Nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost and of the Eucharist he said Doe this in remembrance of me and so both these are things of Action which wee must not onely beleeve but doe and therefore fitter placed Inter agenda amongst the records of things to be done then Inter credenda amongst the Articles of things to be beleeved The Catholike Church is no sooner founded The Communion of Saints but the Communion of Saints followes presently upon it as was seene at the Pentecost after Châ—ists Ascending when the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles in cloven Tongues for then were present of all Nations under Heaven who it seemes made the representative body of the Catholike Church and then being all of one accord and having all things in common and distributing to every one as they had need they acted the Article we here beleeve If there were not a Communion of S t s the wicked should be more charitable then the godly for among the wicked there are leagues and confederacies and they hold together for the common good and oftentimes their lives are engaged for one another and if the wicked doe this the godly certainely will doe it much more and this makes me to beleeve assuredly The Communion of Saints But are there Saints then on earth Are not all men living sinners and can sinners be Saints Indeed not Saints by Canonization of men but by the Canonization of the Holy Spirit Not Saints in perfection but in Inchoation called Saints as Saint Paul saith because called to be Saints as having their Names written in the Booke of God in Heaven But we must here take heed of the Anabaptists Communion of Saints For by their Communion no man should have any thing in private but all should be in common and so none should be richer or poorer then another which would make Christs Praediction directly false where hee saith The poore yee shall have alwaies with you and would make all these exhortations voide Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven Charge them which are rich in this world that they be ready to give and glad to destribute Give Alme of thy goods and never turne thy face from any poore man But indeed this Communion is in part exprest by Saint Paul where he saith Doe good to all men but especially to those of the houshold of Faith For the being of one houshold implies plainely a common provision for al the house but implies withall a disparity of estates Indeede the first flowre that growes in the Garden of the Catholike Church is the Communion of Saints which as it begins in the Militant so it continues in the Triumphant Church Continues there when the other flowres are withered and gone For when Faith and Hope shall be no more yet Charity shall continue and not onely continue but be then most flourishing and if we did not beleeve the Communion of Saints wee could not truely say Our Father in the Lords Prayer for in saying Our Father wee professe this Communion But for the better understanding of this Article It may bee conceived that there are Saints on Earth and Saints in Heaven and this Article containes the Communion of them both both of the Saints on earth between themselves and of the Saints in Earth and Heaven with one another What though they bee farre distant and asunder Are not the feet so from the head are not the hands so from the heart Yet if there were not a relation and correspondencie betweene them neither the feet would bee able to move nor the hands to stirre and perhaps not the head in many things to doe his Office And this Communion consists either in Assistance or in Love but in Assistance for a time in Love for ever For as the Saints in Heaven assist us by praying that wee may so leade our lives in this life that we may come to bee admitted into their Societie in the next So we assist the Saints in Heaven by praying that the suite
yet in some respects they are sometimes appropriated more to One then to another heere therefore in speaking of Heaven and Earth the Originall of Creatures the making them is justly attributed to God the Father the originall Creator for otherwise it is so true that they all had a hand in making them that it is said of the Holy Ghost also that Spiritus Dei Incubabat the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and what was this but a Fomenting the worke of the Father and the Sonne by the Bond of Concord the proper worke of the Holy Ghost From hence we may learne that the World hath not been from Everlasting For if God be Maker of Heaven and Earth then Heaven and Earth were made and if made then made in time and if made in time then there was a time when they were not made But how could this bee seeing there was no time till they were made But yet there was a space of Duration and that space had beene from Everlasting and being from Everlasting how could it ever come to have an ende and an End it must have before Time could come to have a Beginning O my Soule These are no Thoughts for thee thy wings are too weake to fly so high a pitch Thy Plummets are too short to sound so great a depth It may bee sufficient for thee to know that although God made not the World from Everlasting yet hee made it then when from Everlasting hee had Decreed to make it but how hee brought Time out of Eternity is a mystery thou shalt never attaine to know till thou come thy selfe to attaine Eternity Thus farre wee are brought by Beleeving in God the Father And in his onely Sonne Jesus Christ our Lord. but seeing Father is a Relative and every Relative imples a Correlative and the Correlative to Father is Sonne this brings my Beliefe a degree further to Beleeve in his onely Sonne Jesus Christ our Lord Not his Sonne by Adoption as we are nor his Son by Creation and Grace as Angels are but his Sonne by Generation as onely himselfe is and such a Sonne as the Father Proclaimes to be His and tels the day when he begot him Hodie genui te This day have I begotten thee But what day was this day Not such a day as our dayes are which follow one after another but a day in which there is nothing Before nor after but the Past and the Present are both at once the Past in Genui the Present in Hodie indeed a day Not of Time but of Eternity which makes him Co-eternall with his Father One good degree of Equality And as the day of his Begetting is not like ours So neither is the manner of his Begetting like ours For where our Begetting is a Third from Two his Begetting is a Second from One and therefore must needs bee of One substance Both and this makes him Consubstantiall with the Father another good degree of Equality which kind of Begetting though it exceede our capacity yet it exceeds not our Beliefe and therefore though our Inquisitive Thoughts would faine bee making further Querees about it yet Faith makes us contented to take this for an Answer Generationem ejus quis enarrabit Who shall declare his Generation If then the day of his Begetting make him Co-eternall with the Father and the manner of his Begetting make him Consubstantiall with the Father have we not as good ground for our Believing in him as in the Father And though it may be thought no Power is left for the Sonne the Father being Almighty yet all Power is given to the Sonne both in Heaven and Earth for though the Father bee Almighty yet Almighty but as God and therefore Almighty as due to the Sonne who is God with the Father and as just cause wee have to say to the Sonne as to the Father Wee praise thee O God wee knowledge thee to bee the Lord. But how can the Sonne that is begotten be Co-eternall with the Father who Begets Seeing that which Begets is alwaies before that which is Begotten But is not this a fallacie They being Relatives Seeing nothing can Beget but there must bee something Begotten there cannot bee a Father till there bee a Sonne and therefore if the Father bee from Everlasting the Sonne also is from Everlasting and so are Co-eternall But though the Sonne may bee Co-eternall with the Father yet how can he be Consubstantiall with the Father Seeing the Substance of every thing is proper to it selfe and cannot bee communicated to another This indeed were true if the Father and the Sonne were Aliud Aliud and not onely Alius Alius but now being Both One God and onely Two Persons Seeing the difference of Persons makes no difference of Substance they remaine of One Substance Both and so are Consubstantiall Thus farre reacheth our Beliefe in the Divinity of the Son but seeing we beleeve him to be both perfect God and perfect Man this leades our Beliefe a degree further To Beleeve in Jesus Christ our Lord Termes belonging to his Humanity Jesus a Name given him by an Angel when hee was yet in his Mothers womb Because hee should save his people from their sinnes Christ a Name given him from his Office As being a Priest after the Order of Melchisedech annointed with the oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes Lord a Name given him from his Dominion For of his Kingdome there shall be no end O Blessed Son of God Let mee enjoy the benefit of thy Name Jesus that I may bee saved from my sinnes Let me enjoy the benefit of thy Name Christ that I may bee partaker of the oyle of gladnesse with which thou wert Annointed Let me enjoy the benefit of thy being my Lord that being thy Servant I may have thy Protection and Thou my Obedience But how happens it that having said in the beginning of my Creede I Beleeve I now come to say Our Lord and so where I went single out am now suddenly fallen into company It is true indeed I sayd I Beleeve when I spake but as regarding my owne person but now that I speake as regarding the Communion of Saints I say Our Lord. For though Saint Thomas said My God and my Lord as though hee would claime CHRIST wholly to himselfe yet that seemes spoken but in passion and to make amends for his former doubting But now that I speak deliberatly I can say no lesse then Our Lord seeing as Christ is a Saviour not of me onely but of all mankinde so he is the Lord not of me onely but of all that serve him and thus Christ is that Lord in whom is expounded the Riddle of David The Lord said unto my Lord For if hee be Davids Lord how is hee his Sonne and if he bee his Sonne how is he his Lord Indeed Both his Son as concerning the Flesh but his Lord concerning Divine Generation and if Davids Lord
which they make lying under the Altar may be heard and accomplished They pray for us that we may be partakers of the forgivenesse of sinnes and wee pray for them that they may be partakers of the Resurrection of the body But as this Communion of Assistance is but for a time so the Communion of Love will be for ever For we shall love one another and bee loved of one another as Members of one Body as Inhabitants of one Citie and as Fellow-labourers in the worke of exalting Gods glory a work which because it shall never end there shall therefore never be end of this Communion If the Communion bee of the Saints on earth betweene themselves this is visible charity as it is said If yee love not your brother whom yee see how can yee love God whom yee doe not see And it consists in supplying what wants soever we see in a brother as farre as wee are able and in doing to others as we would be done unto our selves If the Communion bee of the Saints in Heaven between themselves this is Intellectuall Charitie and it consists in a reciprocall love they beare one to another in regard of the love they beare all to God If the Communion be of the Saints in Heaven towards the Saints on Earth this is condoling charity and it consists in a griefe they take at any sinnes we commit least wee should not be found blamelesse at the great day of the Lords appearing If the Communion be of the Saints on Earth towards them in Heaven this is a congratulating charity and it consists in a pious rejoycing at the happinesse wee conceive they enjoy in the fruition of God and of his blessed Angels This Communion of Saints is a Gazophylacium or Treasurie where there is receiving indeed but not without contributing we must do our parts to it or never looke for any part in it and it is to be doubted there are many Hereticks amongst us concerning this Article that either understand it not or at least beleeve it not For if they did truely beleeve the Communion of Saints were it possible they should passe by the man lying wounded in the way and not doe as much as the Samaritan did take care of his curing It is no doubt good to observe the Rule that Charitie begins at home but it is good also to understand the Rule and to know what is meant by home for the Home of Charitie is included in the Communion of Saints and extends as farre as the releeving of a needy brother But alas because Charity seekes not her owne therefore she her selfe is not much sought after and while Charity is neglected this Article stands in our Creed but as a Cypher and as well we may forbeare to fay we Beleeve it as forbeare to shew by our actions that we Beleeve it Or rather better indeed to leave it out of our Profession then not to take it into our Practise And this Communion is therefore necessary to be beleeved because it is the flowre of Charitie and must be set in our hearts betimes that it may take the deeper root as that which shall continue when the flowres of Faith and Hope shall be faded and gone And now having spoken of the two Articles The forgivenesse of sinnes that properly relate to the Holy Ghost It followes to speake of the two next Articles which properly relate to the Sonne of God Christ Jesus whereof this is the first I beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes And indeed after the Communion of Saints this Article followes very fitly seeing there is seldome any mention made of Forgiving of sinnes but that there is mention made of Charity also as in the Prayer taught us by Christ we say not Forgive us our trespasses but say withall as we forgive them that trespas against us For Love covers the multitude of sinnes and the sinnes being covered they are the more easily forgiven afterward But whether the connexion of this Article to the former bee for this reason or no there are certainly of this Article many great reasons For if there were not Forgivenesse of sinnes the whole world should bee damned For all the World being guilty of sins and the Wages of sinne being death if that wages be not forgiven how shall any man be saved But seeing there are which are Elect and ordained to salvation this makes me assuredly to beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes If we should not beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes Why have wee Beleeved that Christ was Crucified For why was hee Crucified but to pay the penalty of our sins And the penalty being paid how can the sinnes but bee forgiven To what end was all the suffering of Christ but to satisfie his Fathers justice That laying the severity of his justice upon him hee might conferre the benefit of his mercy upon us and how is his mercy conferr'd but by Forgiving of sins If we should not Beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes how could wee beleeve that God were merciful seeing the chiefest act of Mercy consists in Forgiving And to deny God to be mercifull what were it but to deny him the most glorious and the most eminent of all his Attributes seeing his mercy is above all his workes Alas if we did not beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes in what miserable affliction should our mindes be For knowing first that we cannot but commit sinnes dayly and then knowing how grievously our sinnes provoke the wrath of God against us and lastly knowing how fearefull a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God in what a miserable condition should we be if we did not beleeve the Forgivenesse of sinnes If I should not beleeve the Forgivenes of sinnes what hope could I have they should ever be forgiven seeing all the meanes I have in my selfe to procure their forgiving is onely my beliefe that they shall be Forgiven O how comfortable an Article is this which makes it be truly said of Christ In odore vnguentorum tuorum curremus post te In the savour of thy sweet Ointments wee will run after thee For with this Oyntment hee healeth all our sores he makes us whole in all our diseases he makes us strong in all our Infirmities O my soule if at any time thou either by infirmity fall or by allurements be entised to commit sinne then have recourse to this Article I beleeve the forgivenesse of sinnes and thou shalt certainly find in it both rest and refreshing to thy fainting spirits And of what sins is it then that I beleeve the forgivenesse Indeede of all sinnes how great or many soever they bee for seeing there are no limits of Gods mercy neither is there any bound of his forgiving And therefore though mâ— sinnes be more then the haires of my head though a burden farre greater then I can beare yet I beleeve the Forgivenesse of them all But if I beleeve the Forgivenesse of all sinnes doe I not then beleeve
expresse but a very small part or rather indeed no part at all of it seeing of those how many soever yet they will have an end at last Everlastingnesse never It may best bee exprest by number In abstracto of which when never so many have bin preceding yet never the fewer will bee left behind O the wonderfulnesse of everlastingnesse enough to amaze our apprehension so wonderfull that when wee have wondred as much as we can wee may begin and wonder againe and he that shall stand wondring all his life long yet cannot be thought to have wondred enough Iustly therefore is it made an Article of our Creede seeing it exceeds our capacity it passeth our understanding it transcends our reason onely Faith is apprehensive of it And where is it then that this Everlasting life shall bee led Is it not that of the first thousand years we may perhaps give some account that it shall be led where wee shall reigne with Christ for so Saint John the Evangelist in plaine termes delivers it and Papias a Bishop and a Scholler of Saint Johns who was likely to have learned the meaning of his words affirmes more that it shall be led heere upon earth in all delights and pleasures both of body and minde and indeede most of the ancient Fathers of that Primitive time runne together by a line in this Exposition and yet by the later Fathers is this Opinion cleane exploded and the words of Saint John expounded in a farre differing sense and not without cause for seeing it is truely said that flesh and bloud shal not enter into the kingdom of heaven there is no likelihood that bodily or fleshly pleasures shall ever be allowed to have place in that kingdome Is it then that there shall be a new heaven and a new earth and then this life Everlasting shall be led And it is indeed most likely that as our bodies shall rise though in their old substance yet endued with new qualities So heaven and earth where they are to abide shall suffer the like alteration that so there may bee a correspondence between our bodies and them which could not be if the qualities of heaven and earth were not aswell altered as of our bodies But when is it that this life Everlasting shall beginne Indeed as soone as this momentary life shall end but yet but in part and therefore we beleeve the resurrection of the body first and then the life everlasting after because although the soule in its kind be living still yet till the body rise againe there will be no perfect life and it is not intended that our life should be everlasting in the imperfection of it which is the separation of the soule from the body but that the body rising againe and joyning with the soule it shall then bee everlasting And now my soule consider the difference of our future life from this that is present which shal be so much longer then this as eternity then a moment and so much better then this as happinesse then misery But wherein shall the happinesse of our future life consist For if bodily pleasures be restrained there will want a great part of that which wee now count happinesse Indeed bodily pleasures will be restained but not pleasures of the body but the body being raised up a spirituall body the pleasures also of the body shal be spirituall pleasures And how much the soul is better then the body how much the reason is better then the sense so much shall the pleasures of our future life bee better then the pleasures of our present life and if this doe not sufficiently expresse the difference Remember then how Christ hath exprest it that the pleasures of our future life shall bee such as neither eye hath seene nor eare heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man and by this certainely we may well conceive the infiniteness of the difference But what are these pleasures which eye hath not seene nor eare hath heard Indeed if wee could tell vvee should make Christs vvords but vaine yet in some sort perhaps vvee may conceive them For vvhat eye hath seene the faces of Cherubins in their brightnesse What eare hath heard the melody of Angels in their sweetnesse But which is most of all into what heart of man hath it entred what the glory of the Almighty God is and what joy it will be to us to be admitted into his blessed presence O my soule these are pleasures which if we could apprehend would drive us into extasie at least would raise up our minds from groveling in the base pleasures of this vaine world And who are they that shall bee partakers of this life Everlasting are they onely the godly or as well also the wicked Indeed as well the wicked as the godly but not the wicked so well as the godly For alas the wicked shall live everlastingly indeed if it may bee called life which is infinitely worse then any death to bee in perpetuall torment and paine insufferable Onely the godly shall live everlastingly the life which is onely worthy to bee called life in perpetuall joy and happinesse unspeakable Oh then if our lives shall necessarily bee everlasting and that the happinesse of the everlastingnesse depends upon this moment we now live Let us endeavour to spend our short time so that our everlastingnesse may be in joy and not in misery O my soule be alwaies thinking of this word Never Never shall the torments of the wicked have an end Never shall the joyes of the godly have an end not after a thousand yeares not after a million of yeares not after a million of millions of Ages but Never Never which if wee could apprehend or would but consider it would certainely be a Remora to us and give a stop to all our vaine courses And now having briefly run over these Articles of our Creed we may doe well to consider how happy the Church of God should be if it would content it selfe with these Articles as once it did For then the little Barke of Christ should not bee tossed with so many tempests of Schismes should not be torn with so many rents of Division as now it is but should enjoy the unity of faith in the bond of peace where now while new Articles are dayly obtruded upon our Consciences we seem to be in worse case with Articles of faith then the old Jewes were with the Ceremonies of the Law they overwhelmed with number we with novelty or rather indeed with both FINIS