they might touch if it were but the borders of his garment and as many as touched him were made whole All which in effect is also reported by Saint Matthew 56. S. Mat. 14.34 35 36. But Saint Iohn proceeds in the story cap. 6. setting down at large that Sermon of his wherein he reproveth the people flocking after him and all the fleshly hearers of his word preacheth unto them the bread which he will give telling that he is come from heaven and therefore that he is able to give such bread as can quicken the world even his own flesh and that himself is the bread of life to all that believe At which doctrin many of his Disciples were offended revolted from him and walked no more with him though he had told them that they should see by his ascension into heaven that he came down from heaven Yet the twelve would not forsake him because he had the words of eternal life and because they did believe and were sure that he is Christ the son of the living God Upon which confession of theirs made by St. Peter he intimateth the treason of Judas whom he saith to be a devill knowing that the devill would enter into him and put it into his heart that he should betray him About that time there came from Hierusalem into Galilee Pharisees and certain Scribes who observing the demeanour of Christs Disciples The Disciples eat with unwashen hands S. Mat. 15.2 and that some of them did sit down to meat and did eat with unwashen hands they took occasion from thence to fly upon Christ himself saying Why do thy Disciples transgress the tradition of the elders for they wash not their hands when they eat bread The Pharisees and all the Jewes had many washings and purifications by water superadded to those which Moses ordained as the washing of cups and pots and brazen vessels and tables to wash when they came from the market and to wash their hands before they did eat and such like they called these the traditions of the elders and did carefully observe them as necessary duties Traditions of the Pharises reproved and the neglect of them they utterly condemned Christ therefore defendeth his Disciples by reproving their hypocrisie whereby they laid aside the commandements of God for their traditions sake And by shewing wherein they did so For Moses said Honour thy father and thy mother and who so curseth father or mother S. Mar. 7.10 11. let him dye the death But ye say if a man shall say to his father or mother Corban that is to say a gift a gift devoted to the sacred treasury by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me Corban what it was he shall be free We read in the book of Kings that when Iehoash would repair the Temple which was then in decay 2 King 12.9 Iehoiada the Priest took a chest and bored an hole in the lid of it and set it beside the Altar That chest the Iewes called Corban a gift from the office which it had or use whereto it was put which was to keep and contain the money given towards the reparation of the Temple but the Greeks called it Gazophylacium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because the treasure was kept there Howbeit under the second temple it was no more a single chest but a capacious building called the Treasury The tradition of the Pharisees therefore was S. Mar. 12 41 S. Luc. 21.1 that they who would give to the Corban and put in their gifts there should not be obliged to any other charity no not to the reliefe of their own parents by which tradition of theirs they made the commandment of God of none effect This offended the Pharisees but he regardeth not the offence which they took seeing they were justly reproved and were the blinde leaders of the blinde S. Mat. 15.13 14. v. 16 17 18 19 20. S. Mar. 7.18 19 20 21 22 23. who should fall into the ditch with those that were led by them And to the people he yeelded the reason of that which they reproved and again to his Disciples shewing the ground of the Pharisaicall washing to wit that meats otherwise defile the soul to be false Having thus shaken off the cavilling Scribes and Pharisees he went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon cities of Phoenicia in the tribe of Nepthali yet never subdued but alwaies inhabited by Gentiles He went thither to obscure himselfe for a time for Saint Mark saith that he entred into an house and would have no man know it but he could not be hid S. Mar. 7.24 The dauâ—hter of the Canaanitish woman healed For a certain woman who was a Greek or Gentile of the stock and progeny of the Canaanites came to supplicate him on the behalfe of her daughter grievously vexed with a devill the faith of which woman was notable for she came and fell at his feet freely acknowledging him the Messiah Have mercy on me O Lord thou son of David At first he seemed altogether to neglect her for he gave her no answer Then to reject her for his disciples besought him to send her away 3ly To excuse himselfe as being sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel And when she would not be so answered but still persisted to worship him and to cry unto him then fourthly he reproached her calls her dog and that it is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to dogs That when she acknowledged to be true and yet beg'd the crumbes of his mercy then obtained she her petition S Mat. 15 28 S. Mar. 7.29 with that singular Elogium O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt For this saying go thy way the devill is gone out of thy daughter Being departed from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon he came unto the sea of Galilee S. Mar. 7.31 Concerning Decapolis through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis Which country took its name from those ten principall cities which were scituated in it That country I take it to be which the Scripture calleth Gilead and was a part of Galilee lying beyond Jordan towards the East and was so named of that heap of stones which Laban and Iacob made Gen. 31.47 48 Num. 32.26 Deut. 3 10.12 Josh 3.8 for a witnesse betwixt them and was given to the Reubenites and Gadites for their inheritance together with the halfe tribe of Manasseh Which those ten cities were from which that region took its name I will not contend there were many fair cities in that land At the request of the people of that place he healed a man that was deafe and had an impediment in his speech One cured that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech S Mar. 7.33 34 he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that could not speak but with great difficulty He cured him with greater ceremonie
AND MOST MYSTERIOUS HISTORY OF Mans Redemption WHEREIN Is set forth the gracious administration of Gods Covenant with Man-kind at all times from the beginning of the World unto the End Historically digested into three Books The first setteth down the History from Adam to the blessed Incarnation of Christ The second continueth it to the end of the fourth year after his Baptisme which was the three and thirtieth year of his age The third from thence till his glorious comming to Judgement BY MATTHEW BROOKES D. of Divinity Gen. 3.15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heele St. Joh. 3.16 For God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life St. Joh. 19.30 It is finished LONDON Printed by William Wilson for the Author Anno Dom. 1657. TO HIS MOST HONOURED FRIEND FRANCIS BVRWELL Esq SIR IT is not unusuall to those who write bookes to make choice of some noble friends to whom to dedicate them My ambition is to present you with the Dedication of this The great respects which I had from your dear Father to the last gasp of his breath continued and augmented by you have put me forwards to retribute to his memory to your owne merits in such a way as I am able Sr. There is great profit in reading of books if a good choice be made of them Historicall books will accomplish a gentleman for an history is not improperly defined to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a commemoration containing an exposition of some matter or thing which hath been acted or done upon the stage of the world So that by history we do as it were live and have lived at all times and in all places conversing with all sorts of people knowing the manners and severall constitutions of all nations and are present in all the occurrences of times by-past as if they were now in action But a Christian hath his unum necessarium and that is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death No historicall knowledge therefore more pertinent unto him then that whereby according to the Scriptures of the Divine canon he shall know the gratious administration of Gods covenant with mankinde shall see Christ in the Originall promise and in all the promises sacraments sacrifices and sacred ceremonies visibly set forth and represented in the legall worship and by persons ordained to minister in the same together with sacred places and functions till his coming in the flesh to fulfill all that which was promised and mystically shewed concerning himselfe And then shall behold him in the flesh as he was by divine dispensation shall hear his heavenly doctrine see his wonderfull works and miracles and how he abolished the old testament instituted the great and mysterious sacraments of the new And how having done all those things which were first requisite for him to do he suffered was buried descended into hell rose again the third day from the dead and having been conversant with his disciples for the space of forty daies after his resurrection he transferred the keyes of the kingdome of heaven from the Legall to the Evangelicall priesthood giving ample commission to his Apostles to go into all the world and to teach and baptize all nations and then ascended into heaven where he sitteth on the right hand of God and maketh intercession for his Church A sound faith requireth a right understanding for the things which we do not rightly understand we cannot rightly believe Therefore though to believe and to apply the great and most mysterious work of mans redemption to our selves effectually that we may be saved is the gift of God by the holy Ghost through faith yet to inform the understanding the history opened and cleared according to the Scriptures is most necessary This is that which I have endeavoured to do in such a method as I conceive most proper for the subject so transcendently mysterious and divine carefully observing the periods of the times and with what brevity and perspicuity I could to remember the learned of those things which they know and to teach the unlearned some things which they do not know avoyding in all things curiosity and ostentation of language Vpon the principall matters concurring with the history the explication whereof is more requisite I have insisted more largely And as for those things which cannot positively be defined or stated because not clearly evidenced in the Scriptures Ut potui explicavi nec tamen ut Pythius Apollo certa ut sint fixa quae dixi sed ut homunculus probabilia conjecturâ sequens Therefore must I apologize with the author of the Macchabaean history for If I have done well and as is fitting the story it is that which I desired but if slenderly and meanly it is that which I could attain unto 2 Mac. 15.38 Sir you have the devotions of Your much obliged and most observant friend MATTH BROOKES Reader IT cannot be but thou shalt meet with some faults in this Impression which I beseech thee to correct upon thine own observation principally these following fol. 17. Sect. 28. for invisible Church read visible Church f. 54. sect 78. for vessells r. vesâ—'s fol. 54. 79. for Scuttetus r. Scultetus f. 73. 10. for had paid it r. hath paid it f. 135. 75. for verietie r. verity f. 223. 24. for ingregrity integrity and in the same sect for St Peter Lombard saith Peter Lombard f. 225. 26. for emptitius emptitias every where for Sanhedrim Sanhedrin f. 240. 43. for degisereris dejicereris for stanti standi f. 244. 48. for Num Nunc. f. 249. 53. Quadripartitae Quadripartita f. 261. 67. for pdrmits permits f. 264. 69. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in the same section for wherewith he was buried was chre r. where with he was buried were left in the Sepulchre f. 168. and 169. for Not to them as to St Thomas Not to say unto them as to St Thomas f. 271. 74. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vale. THE FIRST BOOK OF THE SACRED AND MOST MYSTERIOVS HISTORY OF MANS REDEMPTION GOD made Man in his Image after his likenesse And Man being made in the Image and Similitude of God had free-will Man made in the Image of God which made him capeable of a speciall positive law according to which hee should live in all due obedience to his Creator preserving himselfe and all his posterity in that good condition in which he was created as well thereby to avoid both sin and death as also to render himselfe by his obedience a fit subject of a more cleare and perfect vision and fruition of God Aug. Enchir. cap. 25. Gen. 2.16 The law which God
Holy Ghost whereby the believer giveth his assent or credence unto Gods holy word and doth apprehend and apply to himselfe in particular as well the Originall promise as also all other promises of the saving good will and grace of God in Christ the promised seed to his glory and to the salvation of his own soul The efficient cause of which justifying faith primarily is God himself The efficient of justifying faith who is one divine essence distinguished into three persons the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost for faith is the gift of God as St. Paul saith Unto you it is given in the behalfe of Christ not onely to believe on him Phil. 1.29 but also to suffer for his sake Yet so as that instrumentally it is either internall or externall The internall is the Holy Ghost by his speciall working the shining of God in our hearts whereby faith is begotten in us 2 Cor. 4.6 while that he doth dispose our understanding to the saving knowledge of Christ and moveth our will to give assent and adhere thereunto The externall is the administration of the Gospell in the dispensation of the Word and Sacraments whereby the Holy Ghost doth ordinarily forme and confirm the work of faith in us although it must not be denyed that for the liberty of the power of his will God without the use of this ordinary meanes when and where he shall so please doth beget and work faith in the hearts of men Rom. 1.16 I am not ashamed of the Gospell of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greeke 17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written The just shall live by faith The matter of faith The matter of Faith if considered subjectively the proper subject thereof is the understanding and will of man so farre forth as each faculty is regenerate by the supernaturall grace and power of the Holy Ghost whereby the understanding discerneth those supernaturall benefits of faith offered in Christ to be true and the will applyeth them assuredly as good and saving O fooles and slow of heart of understanding and of will to believe all that the Prophets have spoken Luc. 24.25 But the matter of faith considered objectively in respect of the understanding is divine verity and in respect of the Will the sole singular grace of God promised in Jesus Christ both which are contained and circumscribed in the written word of God all which and onely which faith respecteth and embraceth as its adequate object and therein Christ crucified as its principall first and proper object Let us draw neare with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evill conscience Heb. 10.22 23. and our bodies washed with pure water Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithfull that promised The matter of faith in respect of the parts of it The matter of faith in respect of the parts thereof are diversly considered as well in regard of the subject as of the object For in respect of the understanding and divine will it is knowledge and assent knowledge whereby a man understandeth the whole word of God according to the principall heads thereof for the measure of grace revealed Assent whereby a man taketh it for granted and is firmly perswaded in his heart that all those things which he knoweth out of the Law and the Gospell are so certainly true that in them as in divine truths is setled rest to be found Rom. 7.16 I consent saith the Apostle unto the Law that it is good In respect of the will of man the principall and primary part of faith is confidence which is a most firm perswasion of the heart whereby all the faithfull doe appropriate the generall promise of Grace to themselves in particular Which confidence produceth a two-fold effect whereof the first is a sure ground or foundation upon which a mans faith standeth in opposition of all dangers internall and externall The second is a full trust in God S. Mat. 7.25 whereby a man doth depend on him that he may be saved It is the testimony of the Spirit which as St. Paul saith beareth witnesse with our spirit that we are the children of God Rom. 8.16 The forme of faith The form of faith consisteth in Relation whereby the believer doth apply unto himselfe the word of truth and the divine promises of the grace of God in particular So that look what the Scripture promiseth and propoundeth generally the believer appropriateth to himselfe by a firme perswasion As for example God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son S. Joh. 3.16 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life And this is it which the Scripture speaketh in generall termes and was first spoken to Adam after his fall and is further spoken in all the old and new Testament which yet the believer appropriateth to himselfe God so loved me that he hath given his onely begotten Sonne that I believing in him should not perish but have everlasting life The finall cause of faith for the first and principall end of it The finall cause of faith is the glory of God the Author of our faith and the Redeemer of our Souls But the next or secundary end is out owne salvation which the scripture therefore calleth the end of our faith and the reward of it as the Apostle St. Peter sayeth 1 Pet. 1.9 Receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your soules Here note by the way Observation that faith towards God is one and yet divers One in the species for though there are many sorts of Christians yet there is but one Catholique faith for faith is species specialissima One in regard of the object for the thing believed is one and the same upon which ground St. Athanasius in his Creed doth conclude peremptorily This is the Catholique faith which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved And the scripture accordingly One Lord one Faith one Baptism Divers both in number and in degree Eph. 4.5 In number Every believer hath his own faith proper and peculiar to himself which is his own faith and is not the faith of any other In degree for faith is in some more in others lesse according to the measure of the divine grace of God There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If God so cloth the grass of the field which to day is and to morrow is cast into the oven shall he not much more cloth you O ye of little faith But the woman of Canaan had a great faith S. Mat. 15.28 O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt Now this
circumcise the hearts of men according to that of Moses Deut. 30.6 The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy Seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul that thou maist live 6ly The drops of blood that were shed in circumcision did give them to understand the blood of the Messiah who was to be of the circumcised Seed and that his blood it was which should be shed for the remission of sins 7ly The great paines and forenesse of circumcision did represent as well the sufferings of Christ for us as also that they who will be his servants must be nothing curious to suffer all paines and persecutions and if need be to shed their blood for the name of Christ 8ly The day of circumcision which was the eighth day did set forth in a mystery the Resurrection of Christ for like as Christ rose again from the dead upon the eighth day according to the Jewes account who begin to reckon their week upon the Sunday even so that they who were circumcised had an eight day to look for the day of his Resurrection by vertue whereof they should rise again from the dead being first risen with him unto newnesse of life that is to say from a death of sin to a new and spirituall life Lastly that same opprobrium circumcisionis that shame and disgrace which the Jew had by reason of his circumcision among the Gentiles for which he was mocked despised reproached and scornfully termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apella Verpus c. did set forth the shame and scandall of the Crosse giving the People of God to understand thereby that the way to Heaven is not a way of popularity and honour but rather of ignominy reproach and worldly contempt Moses had learned that lesson by his circumcision Esteeming saith the Scripture the reproach of Christ greater riches Heb. 11.26 then the treasures in Egypt So great and excellent was the Mystery Most important was the use of this great Sacrament For The use of Circumcision first it was sigillum foederis the seal of the Covenant which God had renewed unto Abraham and to his Seed and did therefore serve greatly to confirm their faith for in that God had set to such a seal they needed not to doubt the performance thereof on his part Once God did make his covenant with Mankinde and with all his creatures that he would no more destroy them from off the face of the Earth by the Waters of a flood for confirmation whereof he placed his Rain-bow in the cloud as the seal of that covenant concerning which seal he speaketh and promiseth saying It shall come to passe when I bring a cloud over the earth that the Bow shall be seen in the cloud Gen. 9.14.15 and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh that the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh Such was the use of Circumcision when God should see the circumcision in the flesh of the fore-skin then would he remember the covenant that he had made with Abraham and with Abraham's seed to be the God of Abraham and of his seed after him And so was circumcision signum confirmationis Circumcision signum confirmationis a signe or seal of confirmation as well of the covenant it selfe on God's part as also of their faith in that covenant on their part 2ly It served to admonish them of their duties all their lives to the end that as often as they should look down upon them selves and see the signe or mark of circumcision in the flesh of their foreskin they might remember their covenant with God to be an holy and a peculiar people unto him and to serve him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of their life They did wear Gods badge or mark in their flesh whereby he had set his stamp or mark upon them for his own people to give them to understand that they must not defile themselves or suffer themselves to be defiled according to all the abominations of the wicked Heathen nor lead an unclean life according to the fleshly lusts of their owne heart And for this cause God was pleased that they should receive names in circumcision so when Abraham was circumcised Gen. 17.5 his name was changed from Abram into Ahraham And Saint John the Baptist S. Luc. 1.63 S. Luc. 2.21 though sanctified from his Mothers wombe and our blessed Lord himselfe because he would fulfill all righteousnesse had their names in their circumcision It was a note of that subjection and perfect obedience which they did owe unto the whole Law and so it was signum admonitionis Circumcision Signum admonitionis Jer. 4.4 a sign of admonition giving them alwaies to understand their duty and that they must on their part performe the conditions of the Covenant to God-ward Circumcise your selves to the Lord and take away the fore-skins of your heart 3ly It was a meanes ordained by God wherein and whereby to conferre his grace upon them and to conveigh his grace unto them For God doth not jest or toy with men in the outward signes but like as he doth make a sure performance of all that which he promiseth in his vocall word the Scriptures even so doth he make a sure performance of all that which he promiseth and setteth before the eyes of men in his visible word the sacred Rom. 4.11 and mysterious Sacraments And therefore St. Paul saith That Abraham received the signe of circumcision a seale of the righteousness of faith which he had yet being uncircumcised to what purpose that he might be the Father of all them that believe though they be not circumcised Circumcision Signum praebitionis that righteousness might be imputed to them also And thus it was signum praebitionis a signe of praebition wherein he performed that which he had promised Lastly Circumcision was an externall signe of the visible Church and made that outward distinction whereby the servants of God were to be known and distinguished from the idolatrous Heathen so that they who were not circumcised had not the visible character nor were to be reputed as visible members of the visible Church And unto this alludeth St. Paul when he saith Phil. 3.2 Beware of Dogs beware of evill workers beware of the concision The Dogs were the unbelieving Heathen the evill workers were the miss-living Christians the concision were those Iewes who after the abolition of circumcision by some instrument which they had did draw up the prepuce as men ashamed of their circumcision But the true circumcision is of the Christian For saith the Apostle We are the circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoyce in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh And thus was it signum distinctionis 3. Circumcision Signum distinctionis a
in the mount if yet either he or they had the interpretation of them revealed to the perfection of all that which the holy Ghost intended Here is Jacob's ladder it reacheth from earth to heaven God standeth upon the top of it by these rounds and spokes the forementioned mysteries God sent down his son to be known and believed in such a manner as was most convenient to the old testament and by these rounds and spokes they ascended unto God that stood at the top of the ladder and had a saving knowledge of Christ sufficient for them to salvation and everlasting life till the whole earth should be filled with a more clear and perfect knowledge of the Lord by his comming in the flesh Divina eloquia tanto quisque altiùs intelligit quanto altiùs in eis intendit saith Saint Gregory They therefore that are better studied in the Scriptures will finde out farther mysteries But if any one shall differ from me in judgment I envy not unto him a greater soundnesse and perspicuity In eo quippe numero sumus ut non dedignemur etiam nobis dictum ab Apostolo accipere Et si quid aliter sapitis id quoque Deus vobis revelavit forasmuch as we rank our selves in the number of those who disdain not to take unto us that which was spoken by the Apostles And if in any thing ye be otherwise minded God also hath revealed that unto you to apply the words of Saint Augustine to my selfe Ad Vincent Donatist Epist 48. Here then we will put an end to the first book of this our sacred and mysterious History The Recapitulation having shewed how and in what manner that covenant which God made with Adam and with all his posterity during the first period of time for the space of about three thousand and nine hundred threescore and ten years was administred till the promised seed did come the son of God made of a woman made under the law To redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons Gal. 4.4 5. By covenanting grace By conferring faith By administring the covenant barely inform of a promise from Adam to Abraham By renewing the covenant with Abraham By adding circumcision a seal of the covenant By instituting the paschall lamb another seal of the same covenant By disposing it into the form of a Testament By the legall and by the evangelicall parts of it Which evangelicall part of it was invested with the Tabernacle The Ark the golden Table The golden Candlestick The Altar of incense The Sacred incense The brazen Altar The brazen Laver The Leviticall priesthood The garments of the high Priest The consecration of the high Priest The Leviticall offerings The daies and months and times and years The holy City The holy Temple The holy persons All which things were typicall and mysterious relating to Christ to the new testament confirmed by his blood to the Evangelicall Church THE SECOND BOOK OF THE SACRED AND MOST MYSTERIOUS HISTORY OF MANS REDEMPTION NOw was the second period of time The second period of time come wherein that promised Seed should abolish the old Testament first by his coming in the flesh 2ly By his administration of the Covenant in the flesh and 3ly by his death He would abolish the old Testament and he hath abolished it by not urging or exacting perfect obedience to the Law in a double purity a purity of nature and a purity of workes He would abolish the old Testament and he hath abolished it by unvailing the Evangelicall part of it in that he hath put away the shadows by the body it self the figures by the truth it self the temporall priesthood of Aaron by an eternall priesthood of Melchisedec and all those sacrifices which were offered year by year continually by that sole singular sacrifice of himself offered once for all He would abolish and he hath abolished the old Testament by taking off the two old seales Circumcision and the Paschal lambe and by annexing in place thereof two new seales proper to the new Testament Baptism and the sacrament of his Supper He would abolish and he hath abolished the old Testament by transferring the keyes of the kingdom of heaven from the legall to the Evangelicall priesthood After which manner God will have his Covenant to be administred with men unto the end of the world Therefore it came to pass not without the speciall providence of Almighty God The Emperour Augustus his Decree that the Emperour Augustus having compleatly raigned one and forty years and the two and fortieth being then current there being peace all the world over to the end that he might know his own strength in his Empire the number of those who had the priviledge to be Citizens of Rome what people were then subject to the Roman Empire in every place how disposed to peace or war of what power and wealth what contracts consanguinities affinities they had among â—hemselves to the end that he might know how to impose tributes how to make wars in whom he might confide whom he had to distrust whom to fear set forth an edict or decree that all the world that is to say his whole Emperiall Dominion in all the parts and provinces subject to the same all the world over should be taxed described inventaried or inrolled by appearing personally before such persons as he had then deputed for that service and by giving in their names surnames parentage alliances estates arts trades and conditions of life what children what families c. to the end that all these things might remain upon Record to be made use of as occasion should serve For all this is meant by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 although our late Translation render it should be taxed and taxing but in the Margin have noted inrolled Luc. 2. S. Luc. 2.1 2 For this cause Publius Sulpitius Quirinius called by the Evangelist Cyrenius was sent with commission into Syria Judea being comprehended as a part thereof And because that Palestina was divided unto the tribes by lot and the severall tribes into severall families who had also in their severall families the Cities of the heads of their families therefore David being the head of his family and Bethlehem the city of David holy Ioseph with the blessed Virgin St Mary his espoused wife being great with childe both of them being of the tribe of Iudah and of the house and linage of David in obedience to the Emperiall decree went up from Nazareth the place of their habitation Nazareth S. Luc. 4.29 which was a little city of Galilee the lower built upon an hill in the tribe of Zebulon unto Beth-lehem Ephratah another city Mic. 5.2 Bethlehem Ephratah distant from Ierusalem about six miles toward the South and was scituate upon an hill threescore and twelve miles from Nazareth Southward there to be taxed or enrolled and to give in
a Sacrament the first sacrament of the new Testament for the mysticall washing away of sin I shall not doubt but that he did pray that those who are baptized might in that Sacrament receive the holy Ghost Therefore as he was praying the holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him That Dove was not the holy Ghost himself it was but a visible testification of the speciall presence of the holy Ghost But it descended to bear witness unto Christ and to his Baptisme a baptism not of water onely as St. Johns was but of water and of the holy Ghost It descended upon him S. Joh. 1.33 to the end that St John himself might know him to be that Baptizer And it descended upon him as he was praying to the end that his Church may know that his prayers were heard and that by his prayers he obtained that in his baptism we may receive the holy Ghost as St. Augustine saith Water exhibiting the Sacrament of grace without and the spirit working the benefit of grace within loosing the bond of sin reconciling the good of nature doe regenerate a man in one Christ that was generated of one Adam ad Bonifac. Epist 23. I will not dispute what grace it is which is conferred in Baptisme it sufficeth me to know that it is the grace of regeneration whereby we are born again and do rise again with Christ unto newness of life Rom. 6.3 Gal. 3.27 and of justification whereby we put on Christ It sufficeth me to know that it is the grace of sanctification whereby those that are baptized are purged and cleansed and made holy to the Lord. And therefore Faelix sacramentum aquae nostrae saith Tertullian Eph. 6.23 A happy Sacrament of our water because the sins of our pristine blindness being washt away we are made free to everlasting life De Bapt. cap. 1. And Jesus when he was baptized went up straight way out of the water and loe the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him S. Mat. 3.16 17. And loe a voice from heaven saying This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased Christ goeth into the wilderness to be tempted Having ended his prayers after that the holy Ghost had descended upon him visibly and his Father had proclaimed him his beloved son and therefore the Messiah from heaven wherein the sacred und undivided Trinity was most apparently manifested for the Father spake from heaven the son was there presently baptized the holy Ghost visibly descended a mystery not observed by the multitude he was directly and immediately led or driven by the Spirit into the wilderness that is to say he went thither by divine impulsion and by the motion and instinct of the holy Ghost that he might there be tempted of the Devill What wilderness that was it is not mentioned further then that St Mark saith that he was there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the wild beasts And therefore in all probability that great wilderness the wilderness of Arabia Petraea through which he led the wandering Israelites by the space of forty years S. Mar. 1.13 Wilderness of Arabia Petraea a wilderness incult dry barren without inhabitants frequented by wild beasts A great and terribâ—e wilderness saith Moses wherein were fiery Serpents and Scorpions and drought where there was no water Such there were none in Judea Deut. 8.15 or in all the land of Canaan though yet we read of many deserts there it is consequent therefore that this was that wilderness into which he went where he might be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the wild beasts For this wilderness extendeth it self from the borders of Egypt and the red sea to Jordan and to the place where St. Iohn baptized and from thence by the country of Trachonitis to the mountain of Libanus Itinerar Scrip. 432. And in this wilderness were the mountains Sinai and Horeb two tops of one and the same mountain where Moses and Elias types of Christ fasted by the space of forty dayes Into this wilderness he came and there fasted forty dayes and forty nights abstaining totally from all manner of sustenance and during all that time he did eat nothing as St. Luke saith By fasting he fitted and prepared himself to the conflict which he was to have with the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the tempter S. Luc. 4.2 S. Mat. 4.3 And by compleating the number of forty dayes he answered the Types Therefore went he fasting from Jordan in all likelihood towards mount Horeb one hundred thirty and six miles that so he might terminate his fast in that place where Moses and Elias the one being the law-giver the other the renewer of the law suppressed had terminated theirs The forty dayes being expired and he remaining in the same place the tempter the Devill the Prince of Devils who no doubt had tempted him before at severall times in his childhood and in his youth and in the wilderness for the whole forty dayes of his abode there as St. Mark S. Mar. 1.13 Luc. 4.2 and St. Luke do both of them expresly say came unto him thither to tempt him in a new manner and with stronger temptations then ever before the strongest of all that he could devise He saw that it was in vain for him to suggest sinfull thoughts or otherwise to attempt which way to creep into his heart by unlawfull desires by those waies he had alwaies received the repulse and fallen off with loss He must batter this fort with other manner of Engines if he mean to take it Wherefore he assumes a visible shape and tempeth him face to face comming unto him with the greater confidence in such a desolate place Christ did not provoke the Devill to this combat he sent him no challenge he was led or driven to it by the spirit when the Devill came he gave not the onset but the Devill assailed him and then he received him with divine resolution and fortitude threw him prostrate and trode upon him It was fore-seen and fore-told by the Prophet in the spirit of prophecie Thou shalt tread upon the Lyon and Adder Psal 91.13 the young Lyon and the Dragon shalt thou trample under feet That therefore he might trample under foot this Lyon this Adder this young Lyon this Dragon Then was Jesus led up of the spirit inâ—o the wilderness S. Mat. 4.1 to be tempted of the devill Never was the like combat never were the like combatants never such a brabium or reward fought for The combat was not corporall but spirituall The combatants the prince of Devils and chief captain of all the hellish army and the captain of the host of the Lord. The first temptation The prize or reward for which the combat was the precious souls of all mankind The Devill gives the onset for knowing him to be hungry he first
proper It is he who forgiveth all thine iniquities Psal 103.3 who healeth all thy diseases 2ly To the end that if any man would have a strong faith not to faint or waver in the day of temptation if he would believe all the articles of the faith and all the mysteries of christian religion faithfully he should then come to the miracles of Christ He hath wrought all his miracles for the glory of God By these he was manifested to be the son of God and the promised Messiah By these the doctrine of the gospell is confirmed By these the kingdome of Sathan is destroyed Who shall doubt who shall waver who shall faint having his faith confirmed by so many wonderfull miracles 3ly To the end that if any man would clense his waies as holy David counselleth his young man to do by taking heed thereto according to the word of God he should then have before his eyes the miracles of Christ To pray to him that opened the blinde eyes that he would open the eyes of his understanding to behold the wonderfull things of his law that he may see his own sinfull condition which is by nature the mercie of God and the merits of Christ to the end that he may know him Phil. 3.10 and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death For the excellency of which knowledge-sake Saint Paul accounted all things but losse To pray to him that restored feet to the lame that he would turn his feet out of every evill way lest he walk in the counsell of the ungodly to tread in the paths of pride with the proud of covetousnesse and voluptuousnesse with the covetous and voluptuous To pray to him that opened the deafe ears thar he would open his ears so as that he may hear and be obedient unto his most holy and most blessed word Seeing not the hearers only Rom. 2.13 but they that hear it and do it shall be justified To pray to him that cast out devills that he would cast out the suggestions and first motions of sin whereby the devill is in every one of us for that all they who receive those first motions and suggestions with delight and consent unto them and reduce them into act and persevere in the act without repentance have fulfilled the lusts of the flesh having nothing else to expect in their hardness and impenitent heart but that dreadfull doom denounced by Saint Paul Gal. 5.21 They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdome of God Finally to pray to him that raised the dead to life again S. Joh. 11.43 and called Lazarus out of his grave saying Lazarus come forth that he would so raise him from the death of sin unto a life of righteousness in this world that when the trump shall blow and the graves shall open and the earth surrender and the vast and huge seas yield forth those whom they have devoured he may then see God in the land of the living being raised to life immortall by him S. Joh. 11.25 who is the resurrection and the life This great miracle so wrought in Cana of Galilee and the nuptiall solemnities being ended Jesus went directly to Capernaum Jesus goeth to Capernaum It was a great mart town pleasantly scituated by the sea of Tiberias and was the metropolis of Galilee having commerce with Tyrus and Zidon which were distant from it about forty and foure miles and Capernaum it selfe was from Hierusalem about fifty and six miles in the tribe of Issachar being supposed to be the meditullium of the twelve tribes S. Mat. 9.1 and is said to be his owne city because he came often thither preached and did many great works there Hither he came accompanyed with his mother his brethren and his disciples And because the feast of the passeover drew near and he himselfe intended to go up to Hierusalem and to be there at that feast to the end that he might manifest himselfe there by his divine doctrine and by his miracles he stayed not many daies in Capernaum at that time but departed from thence with his disciples They were yet his disciples but by agnition and familiarity he intended to have them to be his disciples by vocation and by adhaesion A three-fold admâ—ssion of the disciples and then to go up to Hierusalem attended by them The order of the Evangelists therefore must be observed Saint John saith After this this his first miracle so wrought and the nuptiall solemnities ended he went down to Capernaum he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples who were admitted to be his disciples by knowledge of him and by acquaintance and familiarity with him and they continued there not many daies And the Jewes passeover was at hand and Jesus went up to Hierusalem S. Joh. 2.12 13. But first his disciples were gone to employ themselves in their own profession for they were fishers S. Mar. 1.16 17 18 19 20. S. Mat. 1.18 19 20 21 Therefore Jesus as Saint Matthew saith and with him Saint Mark almost totidem verbis walking by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishers And he saith unto them Follow me and I will make you fishers of men And they straight-way left their nets and followed him And going on from thence he saw other two brethren James the son of Zebedee and John his brother in a ship with Zebedee their father mending their nets and he called them And they immediately left the ship 22. and their father and followed him They followed him yet not so but that they returned again to their ships and nets to fish and to acquire a livelyhood for themselves and for their families though he had called them to be his disciples S. Luc. 5 1 And it came to passe after this that as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God he stood by the lake of Genezareth 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets 3 And he entred into one of the ships which was Simons whom before he had called to the discipleship and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land and he sat downe and taught the people out of the ship Now when he had left speaking 4 he said unto Simon Lanch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught And Simon answering said unto him Master 5 we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing neverthelesse at thy word I will let down the net And when they had this done they inclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net brake 6 And they beckoned unto their partners which were in the other ship that they should come and help them 7 8 And
he calleth hell because it warreth all for hell and the devill is the prince of it Eph. 6.11 2 Cor. 10.4 The gates of hell therefore do signifie those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those fortresses munitions and strong holds which the powers of hell do hold against the Church and from whence they assault it in all her members by force or fraud All which is meant by gates because the gates of castles and of strong holds are wont to have the best munition and to be most strongly fenced So that the gates of hell are not only heresies although heresies are of them as Saint Epiphanius lib. Anchor and Saint Augustine De symb ad Catechum do note but also persecutions in name in goods in liberty or in life and specially sins with all manner of evills which seek to subdue us to everlasting death As is well observed by Origen Saint Chrysostome Saint Gregory and others The gates of hell therefore may assault but they shall not prevail against the Church catholick utterly to extinguish it nor against any sound member of the same who is an homogeniall part of the whole rightly built and abiding upon the rock Psal 139.1 2 3 4. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth may Israel now say Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth yet they have not prevailed against me The plowers plowed upon my back they made long furrowes The Lord is righteous he hath cut assunder the cords of the wicked And this is the first part of that retribution which the Apostle Saint Peter received from his Lord S. Mat. 16.18 upon his good confession Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it A second part of his retribution was in expectance and to be made good in the future The keyes of the kingdom of heaven promised and given that was the keyes of the kingdome of heaven then to be given when he shall be risen from the dead and shall have fully accomplished the work of mans redemption Saint Peter for the present was not in capacity and Christ himselfe was not yet fully manifested to be the Saviour and redeemer of all mankinde That promise therefore must be performed in its season after his resurrection and he performes it the same day The same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut S. Joh 20.19 where the Disciples were assembled for fear of the Jewes came Jesus and stood in the middest and saith unto them Peace be unto you And when he had so said he shewed unto them his hands and his side Then were the Disciples glad when they saw the Lord. 20 Then said Jesus unto them again Peace be unto you As my Father sent me even so send I you And when he had said this he breathed on them 21 22 and saith unto them Receive ye the holy Ghost Whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained 23. The power of Christ to give the keyes of the kingdome of heaven is three-fold 1. The power of the Creator By what power Christ gave the keyes S. Joh. 1.3 Eph. 1.7 All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made Heaven it self was his creature how shall he not dispose the work of his own hands 2ly The power of the Redeemer in whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace Is he the redeemer of that Church of his part whereof singeth the songs of victory in heaven and is called the triumphant Church part whereof lyeth in the camp of warfare upon earth and is called the militant Church and must not then the keyes be his to open the doors of heaven by himself and by his ministers unto whom he shall commit them 3ly He is the head of his Church Eph. 5.23 as the husband is the wives head Is that head of his Church the Lord of heaven and hath he not the keyes to open the doors of heaven to that mysticall body whereof he is the head To that little flock of his who are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones 30 The keyes of the kingdom of heaven were his to give and he gave them according to his word and promise he did not delay to give them but being risen from the dead he gave them the same day The kingdom of heaven in the scriptures is compared to a city therefore called the holy Hierusalem Reu. 21.10 12 having a great and high wall and twelve gates Man was a citizen of that city till he sinned but by sinne he lost his freedom there in as much as there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lye 27 For his sinne he was banished this city and the gates fast lockt and shut against him He was cast out of Paradise and God placed cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life Gen. 3.24 So that there was found no way to return back into the city or into Paradise from whence man was expulsed But God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Him therefore did God give to open the gates of heaven which were shut and lock't by sinne and by the guilt thereof to bring in man and to open them to the faithfull S. Joh. 3.10 and to shut them against the unbelievers What keyes Christ had and what keys he gave to the Apostles Rev. 3.7 S. Mar. 2.7 S. Joh. 1.29 Who because he is the great King of this city he is said to have the key of David and openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth By a two-fold possession he is Lord of the keyes For 1ly As he is one God with the Father he hath the same keyes which the Father hath even the key of authority to forgive sinnes Who can forgive sins but God onely 2ly As he is the Son of the Father made man and by the merit of his death and passion is that very lambe of God which taketh away the sin of the world he hath the key of excellency and by a speciall prerogative doth open and shut the gates of heaven Neither of these keyes gave Christ to his Apostles the keyes which they had by his Donation were ministeriall keyes to the end that not by themselves but by the power of God and by the virtue of Christ his passion they might open and shut the gates of heaven These keyes as St. Chrysostome saith are the knowledge of the scriptures according to Tertullian the interpretation of the law and as Eusebius saith the
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee S. Mat. 16.17 but my Father which is in heaven And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter And upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevaile against it 18 And I will give unto thee the keyes of the kingdome of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven whatsoever thou shall loose on earth 19. shall be loosed in heaven No doubt but the Apostles did highly rejoyce and were exceedingly glad to receive such a promise frâ—m Christ and began also to think of the performance of it The keyes to be transfer'd from the legall to the Evangelical priesthood and when and when it should be that such keyes with such power should be confer'd upon them But they must not expect the accomplishment till after his resurrection for till then he might not by divine dispensation transfer the keys of the kingdom of heaven with that power of binding and loosing from the legall to the Evangelicall priesthood Therefore saith St. Matthew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From that time forth when he had first straightly charged them that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ least his passion should be hindred for had they known him to have been Jesus Christ indeed they would not have crucified him he began to shew unto his Disciples how that he must go to Hierusalem and suffer many things of the Elders 1 Cor. 2.8 and chiefe priests and Scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day As if he should say He foretelleth his passion death and resurrection when I I have been at Hierusalem and when I have suffered and when I shall be risen again from the dead upon the third day then will I make good my promise by giving unto you the keys of the kâ—ngdom of heaven At this all the Apostles being over-charged with sorrow and because he spoke it openly so that the people also too notice of his words Saint Peter the mouth of the Apostles the second time came unto him privately and began to rebuke him saying Be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee At this he is offended reproves him sharply calleth him Satan commands him to get behinde him for that by giving him such counsell he savoured not the things that be of God but those that be of men For what if the counsell that Saint Peter gave proceeded from that love and affection that he did bear unto his Lord who knew also that he did love him yet by giving him such counsell which was against the determinate counsell and fore-knowledge of God for the redemption of all mankinde by his death upon the crosse he was Satan and an adversary who must get behinde him viz. cease to withstand the will of God by carnall counsell From thence therefore he taketh occasion to admonish his disciples and the people how to follow him in persecutions and to bear his cross S. Mat. 16 24 25 26 27 28. S. Mar. 8.34 35 36 37 38. S. Luc. 9.23 24 25 26 27. valuing their precious souls above their temporall lives or the whole world telling them also that there were some standing amongst them who should not taste of death till they should see the son of man comming in his kingdomâ— intimating thereby that glimpse of his glory vvhich he would shew unto some of them by his transfiguration if not rather the destruction of Hierusalem which Saint John lived to see And after six daies saith Saint Matthew and with him Saint Mark but Saint Luke About an eight daies after these sayings S. Mat. 17.1 S. Mar. 9.1 S. Luc. 9.28 That is to say six compleat daies after he had so said not accounting the day that he spake nor the day that he ascended into the mount The transfiguration of Christ but only the six intervening daies Jesus taketh Peter James and John his brother and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart supposed to be the mount Thabor a mountain in Galilee of which something hath been said before where also it is thought as hath been before observed that he preached that famous Sermon unto his Apostles before the multitude repeated by the Evangelist Saint Matthew cap. 5.6.7 And was transfigured before them But why these three and none but these I can give no reason but the speciall favour and familiarity which they had with their Lord above the rest and why that he only knoweth But his speciall favourites he had in every degree He had many disciples multitudes of disciples but out of the whole number he made a more speciall choice of seventy that they might be more conversant with him than the rest S. Luc. 10.1 And them he sent two and two before his face into every city and place whither he himselfe would come There was a more speciall choice of twelve Apostles S. Mar. 3.14 that they should be with him and that he might send them forth to preach Of which twelve also he admitted three to a more intimate familiarity these were Saint Peter Saint James and Saint John his brother These only were permitted to be present when he went in S. Mar. 5.37 and raised up Jairus his daughter and these only he taketh with him into the mountain and was transfigured before them Not presently so soon as he had ascended but as he prayed or was praying He did not change the nature of his body but only the externall forme into a greater glory for his face did shine as the Sun and his raiment was white as the light white and glistering saith Saint Luke exceeding white as snow so as no fuller upon earth can white them saith Saint Mark. And so each Evangelist hath his owne expression It was for his disciples sake to whom he would shew a glimpse of his glory to the end that the humility of his passion might not offend them And it was for his servants Moses and Elias sake S. Mat. 17.4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13. S. Mar. 9.5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13. S. Luc. 9.32 33 34 35 36. whom he would entertain in robes of glory For Moses and Elias talked with him appearing in glory and speaking of his decease which he should accomplish at Hierusalem And so the other passages follow as they are set down by the Evangelists Of the motion made by Saint Peter as touching three tabernacles to be built there Of the Fathers testimony from heaven Of the disciples question concerning the comming of Elias and of Christ his answer thereunto And that first as he came down from the mountain he charged them to conceal the vision till after his resurrection which also they did questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean He abode with his three Apostles all night upon the mount and the next
non ipse auferret saith St. Augustine In whom sinne is not he came to take away sin For if sin had been in him it must have been taken away from him he himself should not have taken it away Tract 4. in 1. Johan 3. For who can remit sins but God onely who doth also remit them by those to whom he hath given the power to remit them S. Amb. lib. 5. com in Luc. 5. The second is What is the subject who are they upon whom this grace is to be collated Answ Every one that stands in need of it The subject and there are none to be found on earth who doe not need it For saith Mr. Calvin be the children of God never so holy yet in this condition are they alwaies that without remission of sins they cannot stand before God We must every day pray for our daily bread and we must every day pray for remission of sins No man is too rich to pray for daily bread no man is too righteous Object 1 to pray for remission of sins Against this it will be objected 1. That sins are remitted in baptism and not only Originall but also actuall sins now it is needless to pray for that which is forgiven already therefore that it is needless to pray for remission of sins Answ Sins are remitted in Baptisme and not only originall but also actuall sins therefore the Novatians the Melitians and the Donatists did deny remission of sins to those who had sinned after that grace received and in Baptisme we covenant with God to forsake the Devill and all his works the pomps and vanities of the wicked world and all the sinful lusts of the flesh In Baptisme we covenant to believe all the articles of the Christian faith and we also covenant to keep his holy will and commandements and to walk in the same all the daies of our life But because the best and most righteous of those that are baptized do not perfectly keep the conditions of this covenant for in many things we all offend therefore even the very best and most righteous of those that are baptized Jam. 3.2 must pray for remission of sins 2. It will be objected that sin perisheth so soon as the act is committed for sins are transient and vanish with the act How Object 2 can it be required of a man to pray for the remission of that which is not Ans The act of sin indeed is transient and passeth away but the guilt remaineth for sins transient in the act are permanent in the guilt Aug. lib. 1. de Nuptiis cap. 26. It is that guiltiness of sin for which we pray that it may be remitted 3. It Object 3 will be objected that the Church is holy 1 Cor. 1.2 Phil. 1.1 and the faithfull are called Saints Also that some have been found that have not stood in need to have their sins remitted Zacharias and Elizabeth were both righteous before God S. Luc. 1.6 walking in all the commandements and ordinances of the Lord blamelesse 15. Saint John the Baptist was filled with the holy Ghost even from his mothers wombe Answ The Church is holy and the faithfull are Saints and yet as Fulgentius saith every one of the saints is perfect imperfect perfect by hope of glorification to come imperfect by the present burthen of corruption and mortality Perfect because that in minde he serveth the law of God imperfect because that in the flesh he serveth the law of sin Ad Monim Therefore are we called Saints in this world because in affection we hold and wish for sanctity saith the book de ecclesiasticis dogmat cap. 86. Then are we just when we confesse our selves to be sinners and our righteousnesse doth not consist of our own merit but of the mercy of God Hieron lib. 1. adver Pelag. Zacharias and Elizabeth were both righteous before God and Saint John the Baptist was filled with the holy Ghost even from his mothers wombe But they were righteous before God not by an inherent but by an imputed righteousnesse not by the righteousnesse of works but by the righteousnesse of faith not by the legall but by the Evangelicall justice the imputed righteousnesse of Jesus Christ for the justification of a sinner in the sight of God Saint John the Baptist was filled with the holy Ghost from his mothers wombe not that he should not sin but as God said to Jeremiah Jer. 1.5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee and before thou camest forth out of the wombe I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations Even so was Saint John the Baptist filled with those graces of the holy Ghost from his mothers wombe which might best befit his wonderfull calling I do not deny but that many of the dear Saints of God even in this life do walk in all the commandements and ordinances of the Lord blamelesse to the world and to men though not blamelesse to God Blamelesse to the world and to men because without crime not blamelesse to God because not without sin Excellently Saint Augustine in his Enchiridion to Laurentius Neque enim saith he quia peccatum est omne crimen ideo crimen est omne peccatum It doth not follow that because every crime is a sin that every sin is also a crime Therefore we do say that the lives of holy men so long as they do live in this death may be found without a crime Peccatum autem si dixerimus quia non habemus but if we say that we have no sin S. 1 Joh. 1.8 as the holy Apostle saith we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Cap. 64. The third question is How far doth God remit sins Answ God doth not forgive sins by halfes How far God doth remit sins Jer. 31.34 When God saith I will forgive their iniquities and I will remember their sin no more his meaning is not to forgive the sin and to remember the punishment he will remit both the culpa and the poena according to that old distich Larga Dei bonitas veniam non dimidiabit Aut nihil aut totum te lachrymante dabit The large bounty of God will not divide the pardon in the midst He will forgive all or nothing upon thy contrition After what manner Fourthly it is demanded after what manner he doth remit them Answ Remission of sins is an action of God whereby for the merit of Christ he esteemeth and accounteth sin as no sin or as if it had never been committed Therefore holy David Psal 32.2 Isa 44.22 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity And the prophet Isaiah I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins Like as when a cloud is dispersed and gone there is no signe or remembrance of it no more is there any signe or remembrance of sin when God hath forgiven it
be the Son of God The vail of the temple rent Having rendred his sweet soul into the hands of his most holy and most heavenly Father forthwith the vail of the temple which was a most beautifull wall of firm stone and of great strength which divided the holy from the most holy which was only pervious to the high Priest as hath been said before was rent in twain from the top to the bottom together with the hanging or vail which was hung before it being of blue and purple and scarlet Exod. 23.31 and fine twined linnen of cunning work and made with cherubims For by the death of Christ the gates of heaven figured by that vail were opened and the middle wall of partition between the Iew and the Gentile was broken down And forthwith the earth did quake The earth did quake not universally but in Iudea and about Hierusalem and by vertue of this earthquake the rocks did rent The rocks did rent not all the rocks of the world but some particular rocks in Iudea where the earthquake was And forthwith the graves did open The graves did open and many of the bodies of the Saints which slept arose from the sleep of death but came not out of their graves so as to appear to any till after his resurrection and then they went into the holy city Hierusalem so called in respect of the temple and divine worship yet fixed there S. Mat. 27.51 52 53. S. Mar. 15.38 S. Luc. 23.45 though otherwise it was a valley of slaughter a den of theeves and the place of dragons and there they appeared unto many that knew them therefore it seemes they were of those who had not been long dead From which holy city after his resurrection it is piously to be conjectured they went up with him into the holy and heavenly Hierusalem which is above that so he that came down alone might go up with company He carried the soul of the thiefe into paradise together with his soul he carried the bodies of the saints into heaven together with his body All these miracles attending his death to the end that he might be believed and confessed to be the Son of God The Centurions confession though the Iewes remained still blinded in minde and hardned in heart so as neither to have remorse of conscience for the perpetration of so great a wickednesse much less to believe in him whom they had crucified The Centurion and the soldiers that were with him who had divided his garments and cast lots for his vesture and were appointed to watch and to see the execution done taking notice of the miracles of the darknesse and of the earthquake and of the manner of his death that he cried with a loud voice whereby they perceived that he did not languish and that he bowed his head and gave up the ghost whereby they also perceived that his death was voluntary and that it was in his power to die when he pleased S. Mat 27.54 S. Mar. 15.39 S. Luc. 23.47 they were all exceedingly afraid and the Centurion for his part confessed him to be the Son of God saying Truely this was the Son of God An egregious confession of an heathen man extorted from him by fear but servile fear serves oftentimes to a good end for if right use be made of it it will bring a man to the chast fear whereby God is loved for his own sake Serviliter times formido est mali nondum dilectio boni sed time tamen ut ista formido custodiat te perducat ad dilectionem saith Saint Augustine excellently Thou fearest servilly it is the fear of that which is evill it is not yet the love of that which is good But yet fear notwithstanding that so this fear may keep thee and bring thee to the love of that which is good De verb. Apost Ser. 18. I cannot say that this Centurions name was Longinus though some contend to have it so the Scripture names him not nor any of the antient Fathers But I shall easily be induced to believe that he who first confessed him upon his expiration to be the Son of God received further grace at his hand to confess him by blessed Marâ—yrdome It was the parasceue or day of preparation and every friday was a parasceue The parasceue or day of preparation to the sabbath ensuing for upon that day they did prepare and make ready such things as they would eat upon the sabbath But that sabbath day was an high day as Saint John observeth for upon that day they would eat the passeover Wherefore because the law had provided concerning those malefactours that were hanged upon the tree that their bodies should not remain all night upon the tree but that they must in any wise be taken downe Deut. 21.22 23. and buried the same day and because it was then drawing towards the Evening of the sabbath which would then begin so soon as the sun was set therefore the Jewes came unto Pilate and besought him that their legs might be broken to the end that they might the sooner die the subpedaneous part of the crosse being by that means made useless to preserve their life longer in torment and that they might be taken away Pilate having given them leave so to do the soldiers came and brake the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with him but seeing that Iesus was dead before they brake not his legs But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith not without great mystery came there out blood and water Saint John testifieth that he saw it and thereunto applieth two places of Scripture the one taken out of Exodus cap. 12. v. 46. A bone of him shall not be broken S. Joh. 19.31 32 33 34 35 36 37. which was literally spoken of the paschall lamb but spiritually meant of Christ The other taken out of the prophecy of Zecharias Zech. 12. v. 10. who foretold it of Christ They say that the pericardium which is a skin or filme about the heart containeth in it clear vvater to cool the heat of the heart Colum de re Anat. lib. 7. If this be true it is likely that skin vvas then pierced Hovvever the blood and the water setting forth in a mystery the great sacraments of the Church are pregnant proofes of a true and not a putative death O mors unde mortui reviviscunt quid isto sanguine mundius quid isto vulnere salubrius crieth out Saint Augustine O death vvhereby the dead revive vvhat is more clean then this blood vvhat is more salubrious then this vvound When the even was come which was the fourth part of the artificiall day The history of his buriall Arimathea called the Even as hath been observed before and began from the ninth houre Joseph of Arimathea a city scituate sixteen miles from Hierusalem towards the north-west
down into the place of the damned really and by locall motion so that he descended not onely by effect and virtue but by actuall descent the divinity being also present therewith by the hypostaticall union Which thing is no less no otherwise nor by any other faith to be believed but in the same measure in the same manner and by the same faith by which we believe his death and buriall For saith the Church of England As Christ dyed for us and was buried so also is it to be believed that he went down into hell Art 3. It is to be believ'd because it was predicted and foretold by the spirit of prophecie in the old Testament Thou wilt not leave my soule in hell It is to be believed because it was typed by Sampson and by Jonah the prophet It is to be believed because it pertained to his triumph over principalities and powers Psal 16.10 Jud. 16.3 Jon. 1.17 to spoile them utterly of all that they had and to enter as a conqueror into their strong city there to triumph over them and to spoile them of that dominion which they had there seeing that he was made not in his divinity for that he was before but in his humanity wherein he was crucified and wherein he conquered Lord of hell and of all infernall things It is to be believed because Saint Peter saith expresly That he went and preached unto the spirits in prison which sometimes were disobedient 1 Pet. 3.19 when once the long sufferings of God waited in the dayes of Noah while the Ark was a preparing wherein few that is eight soules were saved by water 20. He sealed up their just condemnation for their incredulity by exhibiting himself there who would not believe in him the seed of the woman who should break the Serpents head whom Noah had preached unto them that they might be saved Finally it is to be believed because this Creed and all other creeds are to be understood onely in the literall sense and without tautalogies which while some have not observed they have been put to miserable shifts and have thereby fallen into divers errours while some by hell understand the grave others those sufferings wherewith his soul was afflicted upon the cross others his captivity in the grave whereby his body lay in bondage under death till the third day some have flatly denyed the article it self and have not spared to style it a fiction some think the Creed to be corrupted and that the words in time got in by negligence Some have translated hell to the garden of Gethsemane and to mount Calvary and said that there he descended into hell both in soule and body by his sufferings in both and that he suffered there the torments of hell rejection desperation the second death Some also do describe as perfectly as if they had been there and do say that in hell there be four receptacles the one where the souls of the righteous Fathers who departed this life before the comming of Christ in the flesh and before his death were kept and thither went the soul of Christ say they by actual reality and brought them out from thence and this they call limbus patrum Another receptacle they say there is where the soules of penitent Christians are kept which have not been perfectly cleansed from the blemish of sinne in this life and this they call Purgatory A third wherein are kept the soules of children departing this life before baptisme which they call limbus puerorum or infantium And the fourth into which the damned are sent to suffer eternally by a double penalty of the loss and of the sense And this they call the hell of the damned into which if we will believe them Christ descended not by actuall reality as neither did he into purgatory and the limbus puerorum but only by a virtuall and operative descent But the Creed having told us what became of his body after death and that he was buried doth likewise tell us what his soul did after it was departed from his body and that he descended into hell so that his descending into hell did not pertain to his humiliation but to his glorification inchoated and begun which was manifested by his glorious resurrection whereby he was declared to be the Son of God with power Rom. 1.4 as Saint Paul saith but was fully consummated by his ascension into heaven When the third day was come after that his soul had done all those things in the heavenly paradise The history of Christ his blessed resurrection and in hell which he in his soul by divine dispensation was first to do and after that his blessed body had rested in the grave about the space of thirty six or thirty eight hours from the friday at what time he was laid into his sepulchre by Joseph of Arimathea and Nichodemus before the sun went down to the morning of the first day of the week to the end that he might fulfill the types and prophecies of the scripture Gen. 22. Gen. 41. Jon. 2. 3. S. Mat. 16.21 and also his Evangelicall word whereby he had promised his resurrection upon that day And that his Church in all her members might know and believe that he had fully conquered and subdued death And that he might fully manifest himselfe to be the Son of God S. Joh. 10.17 18. and Lord of life and that he dyed not by compulsion but of his own free will And to the end that he might make a gracious and effectuall application of his obedience and of his sufferings and of his death to all true believers by ascending into heaven Heb. 9.24 Rom. 8.34 S. Joh. 2.1 2. to appear in the presence of God and to make intercession for them and to be their advocate with the Father Upon all these respects and for all these great waighty causes he delayed no time but early in the morning somewhat before day and to that end that he might with all speed comfort his sorrowfull Disciples who as yet believed not that he would rise againe by his own power and virtue S. Joh. 20.9 he arose from the dead and went out of the sepulchre leaving behind him the linnen clothes and the napkin wrapped together in a place by it selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the stone which was rolled S. Jo. 20.6 7. yet remaining upon the door of the sepulchre Theoph. in Mat. 28. Then was there a great earthquake S. Mat. 28.2 for the Angell of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sate upon it His countenance was like lightning 3 and his raiment white as snow And for feare of him the keepers did shake and became as dead men Such was the cause of the earthquake 4. and of the comming of the Angell It was not to role back the stone to the end that his body might come forth